League of Legends Patch 9.5 tier list: mid lane edition

Patch 9.5 brought a bevy of changes to the League of Legends mid lane roster, including buffs to Akali and Neeko and nerfs to Sylas. How will our tier list be affected?

Patch 9.5 only brought minor changes to the League of Legends mid lane meta last week. No major item changes, a few champion tweaks, and that’s it. But what does our data, aggregated from multiple data-based and expert tier lists, say about the effect those changes had on the meta?

Mid tier list

S tier: Zed

A tier: Ahri, Kassadin, Vladimir, Sylas, Leblanc, Katarina, Yasuo, Vel’Koz, Talon, Malzahar, Xerath, Fizz, Anivia, Lissandra, Lux, Jayce, Zoe, Zilean, Karthus, Twisted Fate

B tier: Veigar, Ziggs, Ekko, Corki, Orianna, Annie, Neeko, Morgana, Cassiopeia

C tier: Aurelion Sol, Syndra, Azir, Diana, Galio, Swain, Viktor, Ryze, Irelia, Akali, Taliyah, Aatrox

D tier: Heimerdinger, Wukong, Kayle, Brand, Mordekaiser, Malphite

Rising champions

Sylas (B tier to A tier)

Unsurprising that as players get more and more practice with Sylas that his effectiveness will continue to rise. He’s gone from C tier to A tier over the last three patches, despite receiving some nerfs in Patch 9.4. Don’t be surprised to see him even higher next week after dodging the nerf gun in Patch 9.5.

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Vel’Koz (B tier to A tier)

Vel’Koz has always hovered around that mid-A to high-B tier for me. He’s a fairly simple champion with a lot of tools to impact a team fight, but he rarely gets touched with either buffs or nerfs. Surprising that he’s gotten a bit higher, considering how many assassins are doing well in the current mid lane meta.

Zilean (B tier to A tier)

Similar story to Vel’Koz, Zilean is a solid champion in the mid lane who can effectively aid his teammates with that crucial ult, speed-up, and extra level advantage. He doesn’t get touched in patch notes either, but he remains a top-tier champion for players who want to climb.

Falling champions

Yasuo (S tier to A tier)

Glory, glory, hallelujah, Yasuo has been knocked out of the S tier! Dark days are behind us my friends, as clear skies await!

Yasuo obviously got a round of nerfs in Patch 9.4 after the crit item reworks, but probably also got hit by the hotfix to Conqueror and subsequent nerf in Patch 9.5. The Unforgiven is struggling mightily as of now, though some sources like MetaSRC and Tierlist.gg still consider him to be A tier.

Diana (B tier to C tier)

Diana has often been floated as a champion in need of a rework. For all the time we’ve been tracking her, she’s never been much higher than B tier in any role. She could use some love from Riot in some way until the rework ever comes through.

Buffed champions

Akali

She may not have moved in the tier list from the last patch, but the buffs from Patch 9.5 have definitely had some impact. She is overall on the rise and opinion of her by most tier lists is consistent that she’s bad – though not absolutely trash.

Neeko

You’ve probably seen that on-hit Neeko has become a bit of a flavor-of-the-month pick, not only in the mid lane but also in the top and ADC roles. It’s been picked quite a few times in competitive matches over the last few weeks, owing largely to people building her attack speed.

I’m not sure if Riot is going to nerf this unconventional out of the meta, but for now, at least some tier lists think she’s S or A tier. However, the general opinion is probably right: strong in the hands of a good player but weak in those who can’t play her well.

Nerfed champions

Sylas

As noted above, despite the nerfs Sylas got in Patch 9.5, he’s doing just fine in the mid lane. I wouldn’t be shocked if Patch 9.6 gives him a few more nerfs to keep him from getting to S tier.

Conqueror users

Obviously, Yasuo, as discussed above, got absolutely hammered by the repeated nerfs to Conqueror. Irelia is another user who really loved Conqueror when it was reworked, but now is suffering since it entered its weakened state. She had the biggest drop of any champion not named Yasuo in Patch 9.5, although she remains solidly in the C tier just as she was in Patch 9.5.

What do you think of the Patch 9.5 meta for the mid lane? Let us know who you’ll be using to climb in the comments!