League of Legends: Patch 10.4 Mid Lane Aggregated Tier List

League of Legends. Photo courtesy of Riot Games. /

We take a look at the League of Legends mid lane meta in Patch 10.4.

Patch 10.4 was a bit lighter on the mid lane meta than usual, with just a couple of mid laners getting adjustments. We’ll see just how much the League of Legends mid lane meta has shifted after these changes!

Mid lane tier list

S tier: Diana, Fizz, Kassadin (⇑⇒)
A+ tier: Katarina (⇐), Vladimir (⇐), Yasuo (⇓), Ekko, Cassiopeia, Zed (⇑), Talon, Ahri (⇑⇒)
A tier: Qiyana
B tier: Malzahar (⇐), Zoe (⇓), Twisted Fate (⇓), Rumble, Orianna, Sylas, Leblanc (⇓), Anivia, Aurelion Sol, Pantheon (⇑), Mordekaiser (⇑), Sett (⇑)
C tier: Vel’Koz (⇓), Viktor (⇓), Syndra (⇓), Nocturne, Pyke, Veigar, Lux, Ziggs, Galio, Xerath, Ryze (⇓), Irelia, Cho’Gath (⇑), Zilean
D tier: Annie (⇐⇓), Lissandra, Lucian, Azir, Aatrox (⇑), Malphite, Akali, Ornn (⇑), Neeko (⇓), Renekton (⇑), Taliyah (⇒)
F tier: Corki (⇓), Swain (⇓), Heimerdinger (⇓), Morgana

Dropped: Tristana, Karma

Key

* = new to the tier list this patch
⇑ = improved (rated at least one tier higher than the previous patch)
⇓ = declined (rated at least one tier lower than the previous patch)
⇐ = borderline-up (within 10% of being in the next-higher tier)
⇒ = borderline-down (within 10% of being in the next-lower tier)

Observations

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The meta has firmly shifted to being assassin-heavy, as six of the top ten champions are classic assassins, while two others (Diana and Yasuo) are pseudo-assassins as a diver and fighter, respectively. Only two mages remain at the top of the tier list, both being battle mages.
Pantheon took the biggest jump in Patch 10.4, rising up from the D tier all the way to the low-B tier. Panth mid’s win rate is down to below 50%, but his pick rate has been steadily climbing in Platinum+ over the past few patches, now at 6.4%. We should also note that two sites did leave him off their tier lists and none had him higher than A tier.
Heimerdinger actually took the biggest hit to his ranking in Patch 10.4, as he fell to the F tier down from the high-D tier last patch. While Heimer’s win rate (53.5%) is certainly impressive, I fear he is hit hardest by his 0.5% pick rate as a mid laner, which caused half the sites we pulled data from to omit him from their tier list.
The best win rate champions in the mid lane are Cassiopeia, Nocturne, Zilean, and Pyke. In addition to having the best win rate of them all (53.5%), Cass is the only one of these champions to have over a 5% pick rate. The next-closest mid laner with an over 5% pick rate is Fizz, with a 51.7% win rate.
Irelia remains the lowest win rate champion in mid with a 43.6% win rate in Patch 10.4. She does have over a 5% pick rate, which cannot be said for contemporaries at the bottom of the win rate list Lucian (45.7% win rate), Akali (45.9%), and Ryze (46%).

Buffed Champions

Lux

Lux’s buffs were aimed at helping her support strength (the damage and cooldown buffs to her Light Binding), but the ability to flash while casting her Final Spark certainly helped her mid presence. She rose slightly in our tier list, but remains in the C tier.

Sylas

The Unchained actually fell in our tier list after the buffs he got to his Chain Lash’s base damage. I’m not sure what to make of that, since his win rate did go up (slightly) in Patch 10.4 and he has the second-highest pick rate in the mid lane. Sylas is likely a bit stronger than the other sites gave him credit for, but I’m not sold that he should be moved up to the A tier.

Nerfed Champions

Aurelion Sol

The nerfs to Sol’s Celestial Expansion dropped him a bit in our tier list, but he remained in the B tier just going from high to mid-B. He still has a top-ten win rate among mid laners and a pick rate below 2%. However, Aurelion Sol mains will be disappointed to see that his win rate fell from 54.9% to 52.6% following these nerfs.

Which mid is best to main?. dark. Next

Methodology: These rankings were determined by finding the average standardized score of a champion from nine different tier lists from sites around the internet. This is done by assigning a certain weight to each different score, rank, or grade given by these sites (for instance, both a “Diamond” rating and “A” grade would be worth a 90 score). The standardized score is then determined by looking at the average score given to all champions in every role by that site as well as the standard deviation of scores given (so that sites that give out more high grades will not have their As be worth the same as a site that gives out very few high grades).

The full, underlying data can be found here. This link also includes the full listing of how the scores are assigned. Champions must be rated by at least half of the sites audited in order to qualify for our tier list.

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