League of Legends Patch 9.18 mid lane tier list aggregation – Fizz splashes into S tier

New Additions

Galio

Galio got some buffs in the last few patches that were clearly aimed at bringing him back into a solo lane. It appears he’s back, with quite a vengeance, rebounding all the way into our B tier (when we last saw him in 9.14, he was in the F tier). He currently has a 52.4% win rate in mid with a 5.2% pick rate, which means the stats back up placing him this high.

New subtractions

Kayle
Renekton

Poor Kayle barely returned to the mid lane tier list for a single patch before immediately dropping right back out. As for Renekton, he had a nice little run as part of the influx of melee Bruisers coming into the mid lane. But, just like Camille before him, the croc is swimming back up to the top lane.

Rising Champions

Ahri (A+ to S tier)
Talon (A+ to S tier)
Fizz (A+ to S tier)
Kassadin (A to A+ tier)
Ekko (B+ to A+ tier)
Zoe (B to A+ tier)
Pantheon (D to A+ tier)
Neeko (C to B tier)
Sylas (C to B tier)
Aurelion Sol (F to C tier)
Annie (D to C tier)
Karma (F to D tier)

Observations

Annie, Aurelion Sol, Ekko, and Zoe got buffs in Patch 9.18, so we will discuss those changes and their impacts later in the article. Of the remaining champions, two – Talon and Fizz – got what I call a “placebo” rise, meaning although they rose in this patch’s tier list their power in the meta is about what it was in the last patch. Their change in our tier list was tiny, they moved up into the next tier after being just below that threshold in 9.17, and there was no noticeable change to their win rate.

Then there are the champions who stabilized from an aberrant drop out of a tier they had been in consistently, like Ahri, Neeko, and Karma. Again, none of these champions are actually stronger than they were during the last patch, but they suffered a “placebo” drop that has now corrected itself.

So that leaves Kassadin, Pantheon, and Sylas as the remaining mid laners whose rise in Patch 9.18 isn’t readily evident to us. Kassadin is the strongest and easiest to explain as he has been increasing in our tier list along with his win rate and pick rate since his buffs on 9.16. Now, he’s moved all the way up to the A+ tier from the B+ tier where he was in 9.15, his win rate is up (only by about 0.8%), and his pick rate has gone up over 3%.

Pantheon, of course, has gone through some growing pains following his rework. He’s been mired in the F tier since, but now he’s gotten the biggest boost of any mid laner in Patch 9.18. His win rate in mid is 53.3%, just outside of the top 10.

Finally, Sylas has been bouncing around the B+/B/C tiers for the past five patches or so. Although he is one of the most-picked mid laners (9.2%) his win rate has been dropping during the last five patches. at 47.7%, don’t be surprised if Sylas is in the C tier again next patch.