How to Play Mid Lane in League of Legends
Learn how to play Mid Lane in League of Legends! Apart from the Top and ADC lane, the middle lane is the one that can influence the result of the game the most. This goes both ways, as the mid-laner is the pivotal player in securing an advantage over the crucial lane in the game. If you, as a mid laner, manage to win the laning phase, then the 5v5 skirmishes that will happen on your lane will much likely result in your team winning because of the fewer objectives on the enemy mid lane.
The same can be said for the other team if you lose your lane, therefore you need a good solid foundation to know how to play this very important role in the League. This is why we’ve written a guide on how to properly play the mid-lane, and we hope that it will help you in becoming a better player in this particular lane.
Farming is the most important feature of a good mid laner
We know that farm is also very important for ADC and Top laners too, but mid laners are very heavily dependent on the farm to secure a good position in their lanes. Most of the time, mid-laners are going to be ganked often and you won’t have as many opportunities to secure a kill if you’re constantly being camped. Therefore, having to out-CS your opponent is the main goal that you should aim towards, and you should use the farm as the main income of gold in the game.
This is why when you come back to the lane you should own one item more than your enemy mid-laner that hasn’t paid that much attention to farming. Some of the time, you need to be a little aggressive when it comes to poking and “scaring” out your enemy from taking the last hit on a minion. That way, you’ll secure more farm for yourself and your enemy will not only miss CS but also experience and HP to trade with you.
A small pool of champions is always a good idea
And this is usually applied to players who are climbing from lower ELO towards higher divisions, but it doesn’t mean that the most experienced players don’t play with the same champion pool. It’s always good to learn 3-4 champions in every category of champions, such as mages or assassins. Therefore, you’ll have a counter-pick champion at almost any given point, which is a very important thing in the game.
If you can counter your enemy mid laner, it means that you’ll be able to out-pace them early in the game, out-farm them and gain a much-needed advantage that could easily turn into a snowball process for your team. Also, make sure that you pick a champion that suits your playing style so that you’ll always be the best version of yourself out there on the Rift!
Map Awareness is really important due to the nature of your lane
You should know that the mid-lane serves as a “crossroad” on the Rift, and most of the time it will be visited by other champions. When it comes to enemies, the jungler and the support may be the most frequent visitors in your lane, trying to make a play on you and shed some plates early in the game from your turret. As for your teammates, these same roles will also visit the lane more frequently than others, and having the right knowledge of their position could help you in facilitating a play on the enemy.
For example, if you know that the enemies are lurking around your lane, but you also see that your jungler or support are sitting around Drake and waiting for a potential play to come up, you can help them by “luring” the mid laner towards you. Setting up the play could be done by you missing some abilities on purpose, and the enemy will think that they got you now, not knowing that you did this on purpose and your teammates are here to complete the ambush. However, all of this can be done if you have enough map awareness and know where your teammates at a are given moment.
Roaming is very important for a mid-laner!
Apart from the jungler, the mid-laner is the one that visits other lanes most frequently. This is why the mid-laner has the role called “roam”, in which it visits the top or bot lane if they are struggling and help them in gaining an advantage over the enemies. However, for a roam to be successfully completed, you’d have to pay attention to your lane too.
Most of the time, you’d have to push your lane up until the turret and make sure that the enemy doesn’t have a vision of you. You should “mask” the roam like you’ve gone into the base for itemization so that the enemy bot or top lane won’t even suspect that you are preparing for a play on them.
Also, your teammates could facilitate the play by playing the “victims” in this situation, where they’ll lure the enemies towards them and you’ll be able to jump immediately. Champions like Ahri, Diana, Akali, and Orianna are very good in the roaming process, and as a mid-laner, you should always push towards taking some kills. This is mostly because you have lost a valuable experience and gold in mid-lane after you left it, so you have to compensate for it somehow!
Conclusion
Mid-lane is, as we said above, one of the most important lanes in the game and it has probably the highest carry potential of all lanes. For you to be a good mid-laner, you not only need to know the mechanics of a mid-lane champion but the tactic that should be implemented in the Summoners Rift so that you’ll out-master your enemies. We hope that our guide has helped you in gaining much-valued confidence and knowledge in being a better mid-laner! More importantly, we hope that you’ll apply our tips to become a better version of yourself out there!
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