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New Mid Lane Champions Tier List for 13.22

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Hello, this is Librarian Husky. In today’s article, we’re going to give you the Patch 13.22 midlane tier list. The middle lane meta between solo queue and professional play is closing just a bit as the world championship continues.

Patch 13.22 Midlane Tier List Overview

We’ll be giving you some of the top picks of the patch as well as a plethora of picks that you might want to stay away from. So, make sure that you stay tuned. Let’s go ahead and get right into this tier list, starting off with C tier.

C Tier Analysis

C tier is where all the borderline playable stuff goes. Things like Corki have been really strong in the past but have been nerfed into irrelevancy, or they don’t quite have a place in the meta. Another good example here is Heimer mid. Heimer simply does not have the good matchups that he used to have, lacks solo carry potential, and is in general a little bit too easy to play against. This is going to be our full dedicated C tier. As you see, certain flex picks like Kled aren’t doing quite so hot right now, neither are Corki, Ryze, and AP Varus. I would recommend that you stay away from these champions.

B Tier Breakdown

B tier is where the average, not so standout champions go. Things like Ekko mid have decent matchups in most situations, but his extreme gold reliance makes him hard to compete with the champions in A and S tiers. Therefore, Ekko is kind of in the average bracket. B tier is where we’ll find picks like Katarina, Malzahar, Vladimir, Karthus, and AP Gragas. The champions in this tier are of course stronger than the champions present in the C tier but they’re not quite as strong as the ones in A tier. These will be our average picks.

A Tier Insights

A tier is where we start seeing the good champions, the ones that have really strong matchups, oppressive lanes, or really strong character game plans.

Zed, for example, hasn’t been performing super well in the control mage meta on top of the nerfs that he received to the Hydra build. This leaves Zed in more of a good place. It’s still an okay champion, better than a lot of the champions in the average tier, but not quite strong enough to stand out.

To make a champion like Zed, Katarina, or even Viktor work, you’re going to have to put in significantly more work than the champions that are present in the S tier and OP tier. The champions in the good tier have defined strengths and very clear-cut counterplay. They’re quite easy to deal with once you understand them.

S Tier Explanation

Our next tier, S tier, is where champions defy conventional counterplay. In this tier, it doesn’t really matter if you understand how to play against these champions perfectly. They are always a threat, capable of gaining momentum, and easy to play even for newer players. The champions in the S tier exemplify excellence in their roles and strategies, making them consistently reliable choices in a variety of game situations.

Conclusion: Understanding the Meta

In summary, understanding the current meta and the tier list is crucial for any player looking to improve in the midlane. While champions in the C and B tiers can still be viable in certain situations, those in the A and S tiers offer a more consistent and powerful performance. Remember, the key to success in the midlane is not just about choosing the right champion but also understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and how to adapt your playstyle accordingly. Stay informed, practice regularly, and you’ll find yourself climbing the ranks in no time.

S Tier Picks: Lux and Ziggs Overview

In this article, we’re giving you the top four picks in the S tier so that you can understand what makes these champions so strong and how you can play them and play against them. Just a quick reminder: if you ever want to learn any of the champions presented in this tier list, head over to gamle.com, where I have spent hundreds of hours making courses for you to get into these champions as quickly as possible. See you on the website.

Lux: Dominating the Current Meta

Our first S tier pick here is going to be Lux. Lux is actually having a great time in the current meta. She does pretty well against assassins as long as she’s able to survive the lane phase. She has good matchups against champions like Syndra and Orianna, which are at the forefront of the meta currently. Most importantly, no matter how behind Lux is, she will still be able to provide utility to her team through her light binding, massive slows, and sheer pick potential. Unlike a lot of the champions in the good tier, if you catch somebody in a full combo with Lux, they are generally not going to be walking away.

Lux’s Strategic Playstyle and Optimal Itemization in Patch 13.22

For Lux mid, we want to go Teleport into other mages and then Exhaust into the majority of other assassins. It is very hard for a champion like Zed or Talon to actually kill you through Exhaust because the damage reduction forces them to hit all of their skill shots. If they miss an auto reset or a skill shot, they’re definitely going to feel it, and we can easily turn around and burst them.

Lux’s itemization is also quite good: we go Luden’s Tempest, followed by Sorcerer Shoes, into Horizon Focus. This build path is another reason why Lux is in the S tier. All of the stronger mage items are able to fit snugly into her build, especially the overbuffed Horizon Focus. This item is becoming a hot topic currently, and all the champions capable of building this are incredibly strong in the current meta. On the majority of our mages, we want to go for Horizon Focus third, so make sure to keep that in mind.

Ziggs: A Formidable S Tier Choice

Now, let’s go ahead and cover another S tier, Ziggs. Since the buffs to his Q and the nerf to his armor, Ziggs is still overperforming, but not quite enough to be in the OP tier. This champion is really strong in the right hands, has incredible wave clear, really good matchups, and is capable of completely destroying an entire enemy base if left unchecked.

The anti-snowball changes a couple of patches ago have really allowed Ziggs to shine in all the right ways. Where most champions can’t afford to actually sit there and take plates, Ziggs gets to detonate them instantly using his passive and his W. While plates have a slightly reduced gold return, they are still really strong as an early game tool.

The relentless pressure that Ziggs exerts is unmatched in this regard. If you want to still take plates and make a lot of money in the early game, Ziggs is a solid choice.

Ziggs: A Top Tier Mage

There is no better mage for you than Ziggs. This champion is really solid, and the best part is that you don’t actually have to interact with your lane opponent to access all these strengths. You can simply clear with W from the other side of the lane and then safely hit the turret when you have the chance.

Talon: A Versatile S Tier Assassin

Talon is our next pick for the S tier. This AD assassin, unlike Zed, actually has a lot of kill pressure no matter which build we go for. If you are against a tankier or more bruiser-heavy composition, then you can easily go Conqueror plus Gore Drinker on this champion to make sure that you can scrap with even the tankiest of them.

If the enemy team is all squishies, but you need to roam, Youmuu’s Ghostblade is also a good option. If they’re all squishy and you just want to blow them up as soon as possible, then you can choose between Duskblade and Eclipse. This flexibility is what allows Talon to be such a highly rated assassin, where the vast majority of AD assassins actually aren’t that great.

Maximizing Talon’s Potential: Overcoming Bad Lane Phases with Strategic Moves

Even if we have a bad lane phase on Talon, we can always jump over a wall somewhere with a QR into W combo, instantly proc our bleed, and then run away. Most other assassins don’t get this luxury, which is part of the reason why Talon is so strong, especially in lower ELO brackets.

Syndra: A Strong but Challenging S Tier Pick

Finally, last but not least, our final pick for S tier is going to be Syndra. Unlike Orianna, Syndra can actually have a bad matchup here and there. On Orianna, it’s okay for us to make a mistake because of her marvelous self-heal. We have the massive slow from Orianna’s W as well as Shockwave. Syndra doesn’t quite have that luxury. While Syndra’s W does have a slow, it lacks the movement speed bonus that Orianna’s W also has. It is also substantially easier to hit an OriannaShockwave than it is to hit a ball combo on Syndra.

Strategic Placement of Syndra in the S Tier: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities

If we don’t have a ball in the proper position or we’re expending the rest of our cooldowns, it becomes challenging. For these reasons, I won’t put Syndra in S Plus tier for the average player. Instead, we’ll keep her in regular S tier, just because she’s a bit harder to pilot than some of the champions in OP tier.

That being said, if you want to put the work and time into Syndra, this is a very solid champion that will reward your time and effort with a boatload of LP, especially if she’s going to be strong next season with the Mythic item removal and the item rework as a whole. On the horizon, traditional control mages usually do the best.

Vex: A Versatile Control Mage with Assassin Traits

Vex has really good wave clear tools; her Q is on a 3-second cooldown in the ultra-late game, which is lower than Zed’s shurikens. Her self-peel is fantastic due to her W and E. Her ultimate reset potential in team fights allows her to carry. This champion essentially has it all. She combines the safe lane phase that all control mages have with a more high-octane assassin sort of ultimate.

Vexonly loses to champions that out-range her, such as Xerath, but this also changes post-level six. As soon as that Xerath or Orianna steps a little bit out of their turret and ends up eating a VexR, it is going to be quite easy to blow them up. The best-case scenario for the champion getting hit is them surviving with about 20% HP, but most of the time, they’re not actually going to be able to survive, and we’re just going to kill them outright.

Vex’s Itemization and Flexibility

Vexhas a very diverse Mythic option set. She can go Everfrost, Luden, and also into Crown, depending on the enemy team. If the enemy team is heavy dive, we don’t generally need more damage due to our spammable, low cooldown, high impact abilities, so we can go Crown. If the enemy team needs to be controlled a bit more, then we can go Everfrost. This will allow us to start a fight by ringing in, using our Everfrost, hitting a clutch E, and then holding onto our W plus RQ.

The layered CC from this Mythic item allows Vexto be an absolute menace in basically every team fight, which makes it one of her highest spot mythics. Full damage, however, is also a viable alternative for this champion. If the enemy team is quite squishy, or we’re picking up an Hourglass earlier on in a build, we can simply go Luden and then dive bomb into the enemy team and try to take one to three people with us.

Rune Flexibility and Counterplay

Another great thing about Vexis that she can basically take whatever rune that she wants. If you’re against a melee, you can go Aery. If you are against a ranged champion, you can go Electrocute, and First Strike is also a viable alternative on the champion, so we could access the busted inspiration tree. The only true flaw that Vexhas is her weakness to ranged champions, but once again, one well-placed R can change that in an instant.

Ney: An Underestimated Champion in OP Tier

Next up in OP tier is Ney . This champion is incredibly slept on and has been for a long time. Ney ate three to four nerfs immediately after release because she was simply too effective in everyone’s hands, and that is without a doubt the case again. Unlike Talon, Ney can actually skip the majority of the lane phase by simply spamming her Q, which then allows her to scale. Unlike Talon, however, Ney doesn’t have great early game damage. What makes Ney an S Plus tier champion is the fact that she’s able to stalemate essentially every lane and then hyperscale.

Nefir: A Dominant Assassin in the OP Tier

No other assassin can match Nefir . She has the damage of something like Qiyana without the terrible levels 1 through 3. Instead, Nefir can stalemate any lane. She gets to use the busted First Strike page and rush her Eclipse as soon as possible.

What makes this champion super strong with strong>Eclipse at the moment is that if we land a Q while our strong>Eclipse is up, it will instantly proc due to the bleed and the dog attacking simultaneously. This allows us to have a 100% uptime on this item and always get an effective use of the cooldown while it’s available.

Maximizing Impact with Nefir’s Eclipse Procs and Ultimate Resets

When paired with Nefir’s incredibly high bonus AP scaling, especially later on in the game, it is not uncommon for you to get three to four strong>Eclipse procs in a fight that’s a little bit drawn out, as well as three to four resets of your ultimate. This is hilariously strong. We don’t actually have to land on this champion; we can very easily sit back, spam our Q, wait until level 6, wait until our strong>Eclipse is done, before we actually start skirmishing.

Nefir’s Team Fight and Skirmish Capabilities

What makes this champion so good, even outside of that, is that we’ll always have priority on our jungler skirmishes around the mid lane because of our W’s long radius. We can very easily flash into W range or E into W’s range to assist our jungler and help them pick up kills in the skirmishes. That is just another reason why this champion is in the OP tier. If you haven’t played Nefir , you need to pick her up now.

Orianna: A Consistent Threat in Competitive Play

Next up in the OP tier has to be Orianna. This champion has been running amok since her buffs. She is present in essentially every single Worlds game, and it’s quite clear as to why. She has an incredibly safe laning phase, her harass is downright oppressive, and her team fight presence is always sky-high because of Shockwave. She has good utility and basically no real bad matchups. Even the worst matches for Orianna, we can turn around quite easily with a well-placed Shockwave. We’ll have presence at basically every single Drake fight, and we can always fight for mid control, no matter what.

Mastering Orianna: A Control Mage Paragon

If you want to learn a control mage, there is no better champion for you to learn than Orianna. She has a hit-and-run playstyle, but we could also go for more sustained damage, utilizing our positioning. As long as we position correctly on this champion and abuse her long range, there is not really a single champion in the game that can put up a fight against her. Champions like Lux and Xerath can go even against Orianna, but going even against Oriannais always a little bit scary because of just how strong Shockwave can be in team fights.

Orianna: A Strong Contender with Horizon Focus

Oriannais also one of the better users of Horizon Focus, which is proving to be one of the strongest items of the patch. A standard Oriannabuild will look like basically every other mage build: Luden’s Tempest, Sorcerer Shoes or Ionian Boots, depending on your play style, and then we can go for Horizon’s Focus afterwards. Now that we have covered Orianna, let’s go ahead and cover the last two OP tier picks. Both of these champions are melee assassins with a more scaling focus.

Kassadin: The Ultimate Mage Counterpick

Number one is going to be Kassadin. Even though this champion did receive some substantial nerfs in Patch 13.22, they did not succeed in slowing this champion down too much. The high value and prevalence of control mages essentially allow Kassadin to scale in every single game that he’s against one. If the enemy jungler isn’t super high tempo and Kassadin is allowed to hit level six, you will have a nightmare on your hands very soon.

Kassadin: Dominating Mage Matchups with a Solid Build and Strategy

As of right now, Kassadin is the ultimate mage counterpick and he also does quite well into the number one blind pick of the patch, which is going to be Sylas. Kassadin is also very tanky, which allows you to make a lot of mistakes on him.

We go Rod of Ages, followed immediately by Archangel’s Staff, and then boots of our choice. The scaling and build path on this champion are basically foolproof; all we need to do is not feed on him, which is quite easy if we’re playing against a control mage. Go flash plus teleport on this champion and don’t be afraid to experiment with multiple rune setups.

Sylas: The OP Tier King

And finally, last but not least, our OP tier king is going to be Sylas on this patch. This is the ultimate blind pick, as long as Kassadin is banned. That is his only true bad matchup. If the enemy team has great ultimates, then fantastic, Sylas is going to pop off. If the enemy team has terrible ultimates, then congratulations, Sylas is going to pop off. This champion is very strong. His trading in lane is super oppressive. If he’s ever able to get a kill or two, then he’s going to snowball out of control.

You need to be abusing this champion while you have the chance. I recommend going ignite into the majority of lanes and simply just beating the crap out of your opponent as often as you can. But if that play style is not for you, you can easily go flash plus teleport and then play a more scaling-oriented play style.

Optimizing Sylas Gameplay: Skill Maximization and Effective Teamfight Strategies

Regardless of how you choose to play Sylas, max your W first and then your E second. That way, you’re able to have a larger teamfight presence. Make sure that you go front to back and then try to kill the squishies when you have the opportunity to, but don’t overexert yourself. If you play this champion as a bully, as you should, then he’s going to pop off in about every single game. His matchups right now are incredible, his scaling is immense, and his damage is super high.

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