League of Legends Patch 9.14 tier list aggregation – mid lane

Nerfed champions

Aatrox

Although Riot gave Aatrox a big buff to the healing amplification and cooldown reduction on his R – World Ender but make no mistake, Patch 9.14 was intended to be a buff for one reason. They removed the revive after getting one takedown during his ult. Aatrox’s win rate has actually improved after these changes (50.3% to 51.1%) and he rose in our tier list from B to B+.

Akali

Aatrox got a bunch of changes in Patch 9.14 and has since required two bug-fixes and a hotfix buff to offset all the changes. However, in the patch itself Akali got base stat buffs, a ratio buff to her Q – Five Point Strike as well as ratio buffs to E – Shuriken Flip. The reason that Akali is listed as a nerfed champion isn’t because of the cooldown nerf to her R – Perfect Execution but it’s the change to her W – Twilight Shroud where her obscured vision was changed to invisibility and the duration is no longer extended if Akali leaves and re-enters stealth.

The net result of all these changes is that Akali rose in our tier list from D to C tier and her win rate remained about where it was in Patch 9.13. That said, it’s one of the worst among mid laners (45.5%) which is why some Akali enthusiasts like TF Blade are calling for Riot to revert this rework.

Diana

Diana got an insane buff back in 9.13 that Riot attempted to walk back in Patch 9.14. But despite reducing the missile speed on her Q – Crescent Strike and a couple of bigfixes, Diana is still doing alright. She’s rocking a 49.2% win rate (down from 51.6% last patch, but with a pick rate above 6%) and she’s rocketed up into the A tier.

Galio

A bunch of Galio’s abilities got various buffs to cooldowns and base stats on his passive Colossal Smash and Q – Winds of War. Like Akali and Aatrox, though, Galio is in the nerf bin because of a huge gameplay mechanic, losing the ability to flash while channeling W – Shield of Durand and that channel being interrupted by hard crowd control.

This change completely removes the initiation that made him such a strong support, but in the mid lane it also removes a lot of the playmaking ability. Yes, Winds of War does more damage (and wave clears better) to compensate, so Galio returns to the tier list for the first time in four patches, but he is where he’s been since Patch 9.7, the F tier.

Lux

Like Galio, the Lux nerfs were more aimed at her support (specifically the one to her W – Prismatic Barrier), but she also got nerfs to her Q – Light Binding‘s mana costs and cooldown, as well as removing the cooldown refund on her R – Final Spark for hitting enemy champions (she did get a cooldown reduction and AP ratio back to compensate though). She has been a consistent mid lane monster in the A tier and that didn’t change just because of some nerfs to her mid lane. However, her win rate did drop slightly (51.2% to 50.1%) so we’ll keep an eye on her to see if she drops in the future.

Mordekaiser

We touched on the nerfs to Morde heavily in our top lane tier list, so if you want a detailed description check those out. Morde is still doing fine as a mid laner after the changes, rising in our tier list (B+ to now A tier) with a 51.9% win rate in the mid lane.

Sylas

Yet another attempt to balance the house of cards on top of a table with two legs that are too short in the middle of a hurricane that is Sylas. He got base stat nerfs, buffs to his Q – Petricide Burst (on the damage to minions) and buffs to his W – Chain Lash (base and AP buffs), but nerfs to his E – Abscond/Abduct (only gaining a shield against magic damage after dashing ) and his R – Hijack (on the cast range, cooldown, and AD ratio conversion).

The net result is that Sylas rose from D tier to B tier as a mid laner in Patch 9.14 because of all the damage for all-in trades he got in this patch. Plus, the new magic damage shield he got on his Abscond/Abduct when he dashes massively helps his dueling potential. And as for his win rate, why it’s gone steadily up since Patch 9.12, now at 49.4%. Thanks Mr. Rito!

Jayce

Jayce’s nerfs were really directed at top lane (trying to bring ranged top laners in line with the mostly melees up there) so we dove into a bit more detail about the nerfs there. However, he did return to the mid lane in Patch 9.14, but he’s only in the D tier with a 49% win rate that’s up slightly from his 48.5% win rate last patch.

Neeko

Again, the nerfs were more meant for top lane Neeko, but Riot has seemed to be pushing Neeko more into her originally-intended role as an AP mid. So how is she in that role in Patch 9.14? Not too shabby, as she’s a B+ tier pick with a 49.5% win rate.