League of Legends Patch 9.6 tier list: mid lane

Which mid laners rule League of Legends following the Patch 9.6 adjustments?

Patch 9.6 brought no real system changes to the League of Legends landscape, save for buffs and nerfs to a select few champions like Silas, Neeko, Jayce, and Kayle. How has that affected our tier list for Patch 9.6?

The tier list

S tier: Zed, Sylas, Ahri
A tier: Vladimir, Katarina, Fizz, Kassadin, Yasuo, Talon, Malzahar, Veigar, Lissandra, Lux, Leblanc, Karthus
B tier: Zilean, Taliyah, Vel’Koz, Zoe, Xerath, Twisted Fate, Ekko, Anivia, Diana, Jayce, Neeko, Orianna
C tier: Corki, Swain, Cassiopeia, Aurelion Sol, Ziggs, Annie, Kayle, Viktor, Morgana, Akali, Syndra, Irelia, Galio, Ryze, Azir
D tier: Aatrox, Heimerdinger, Brand

Rising champions

Taliyah (C tier to B tier)
It’s a bit unclear what’s going on here with Taliyah, but more and more tier lists are ranking her as a mid laner. The ones that do all rate her considerably high (B-tier or above). Clearly, the Stone Weaver is seeing some change to the meta that makes her shove-and-roam mid lane playstyle work a bit better, so keep an eye for her to continue rising next patch as well.

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Kayle (D tier to C tier)
It’s unsurprising that Kayle got ranked higher in our tier list now that she’s been out for a few weeks and players are getting used to her new kit. For the record, there is a lot of disagreement as to Kayle’s strength in the meta, more than almost any other mid laner. Some tier lists we surveyed felt she was A tier, while others didn’t find her worthy of inclusion at all.

In any case, Kayle rose significantly despite receiving nerfs to her late game power in Patch 9.6. I’d expect she’ll keep climbing into Patch 9.7 as more and more players figure her out.

Diana (C tier to B tier)
Diana is not, in my mind, a “buy low, sell high” rising champion like Taliyah is. She’s not being ranked more, nor is she being ranked particularly higher than previous, save for a few select tier lists like Proguides and U.gg.

If I were to guess, she’ll remain in the B-tier or possibly drop back to the C-tier in our next tier list. Let’s just chalk it up to a bump in her play rate due to our recent champion profile and be done with it.

Falling champions

Jayce (A tier to B tier)
I never really bought the Jayce is a bit too oppressive argument when it came to soloQ, considering he never spiked above the low A-tier range in our power rankings. Yes, he was getting a lot of prominence in pro play, but he wasn’t dominating.

Still, the nerf hammer came down from the skies and Jayce has taken a heavy drop in this tier list. He’s still a viable pick, don’t get me wrong, but he’s probably not pick/ban worthy now if he ever was.

Annie (B tier to C tier)
Annie’s been solidly B-tier for a while now, but never has she been close to an A-tier mid laner. As of Patch 9.6, only one site (U.gg) ranks Annie as higher than a B in the mid lane. She is probably going to remain in the mid-to-high C-tier, perhaps slipping back into the low B-tier, for a while.

Ziggs (B tier to C tier)
Very similar story to Annie here, but with one notable exception being Ziggs was typically ranked a bit higher than Annie in the past (mid-to-high B-tier versus mid-to-low B-tier). Alas, for the Hexplosive Expert, it seems he’s going to remain a fairly off-meta pick unless he gets some buffs or the meta shifts.