League of Legends Patch 9.17 mid lane tier list aggregation – no changes at the top
By Josh Tyler
New Additions
Kayle
Nocturne
After Kayle‘s recent buffs in 9.17, which we will discuss later on, it’s not surprising that she is getting a look in the mid lane. This is the first time she’s been in our tier list as a mid laner since Patch 9.9.
For Nocturne, though, this is merely a return to the mid laner tier list after dropping out last patch. Although off-meta, Nocturne mid has been in our tier list three of the last four patches.
New subtractions
Camille
Cho’Gath
Both of these melee mids jumped into the mid lane for a few patches as powerful counters to champions like Kled that began to enter the lane. Now, after several patches in the F tier, both of these champions have dropped off the tier list completely.
Rising Champions
Malzahar (A to A+ tier)
Yasuo (B+ to A tier)
Syndra (C to A tier)
Diana (B to B+ tier)
Cassiopeia (B to B+ tier)
Ekko (B to B+ tier)
Lux (B to B+ tier)
Qiyana (D to B+ tier)
Anivia (C to B tier)
Veigar (C to B tier)
Ryze (D to C tier)
Pantheon (F to D tier)
Lissandra (F to D tier)
Observations
Among the rising champions, we first see that Kayle, Ryze, and Pantheon got buffs in Patch 9.17, explaining their improved standing. We’ll discuss each of them on their own later in the tier list.
A couple of the remaining champions – Lux and Veigar – got very small adjustments moving up into the next tier after being just below that threshold in 9.16 and neither had a significant improvement to their win rate in this new patch. In all likelihood, they’ll drop back in another patch or two when their ranking stabilizes.
On the other hand, Diana got a different type of stabilization change. She was previously in the B+/A tier for the previous patches, but after a brief dip in Patch 9.16 she’s regained that ground.
That leaves ten champions in the mid lane who rose in our tier list but didn’t do so due to a direct buff in this patch or a stabilization move. Ekko and Syndra both received buffs in 9.16 which would explain their perceived strength being higher. It’s important to note, however, that although Syndra’s win rate rose from 9.16 to 9.17 by 1.3%, Ekko’s has remained stable over the last few patches.
Of the other mid laners remaining, we saw win rate spikes for Cassiopeia (51.8% to 53.5%), Anivia (50.8% to 51.3%), and Ryze (47.8% to 48.9%). These champions all rose in accordance with their win rates in our tier list, so they’re clearly better off, even if the reason for their win rates improving isn’t completely evident.
That leaves Malzahar, Yasuo, and Qiyana, all champions who had a significant rise in our tier list without any real explanation as to why. These would all be candidates for a stabilization drop next patch, other than the fact that they got a significant boost in our ranks. In particular, Qiyana rose almost the equivalent of two full tiers in one patch!
This could be due to players getting better at using her kit, but it’s surprising that her win rate (49.8% to 48.8%) and pick rate (6.5% to 6.4%) haven’t improved from 9.16. I’ll be interested to see whether Qiyana’s ranking rebalances.