There’s no doubt that the mid lane is one lane that has some of the most action throughout the matches. Whether you’re watching two mages go off against each other or two assassins fighting to get the upper hand on the other, the mid lane never fails to pack a ton of action each and every second you play.
A mid laner is the key to every single team in the World Championship right now. They’re usually the shot-callers of the team and they’re also one of the key instigators into making sure that their team gets past the early game successfully.
That being said, some mid laners are going to really stand out at this year’s World Championship. They may be from North America or they may be from China but either way, they’re going to bring to the table a playstyle so electrifying that you’ll end up wanting more when the show is over.
Pobelter’s game hasn’t changed since day one and his game is what makes his team so strong. He can play all types of playstyles from a mage that sits back behind the line and deals consistent damage to an assassin that completely bursts down the backline.
His mid lane presence is going to be one that you definitely cannot ignore. If you ignore it, then there’s going to be trouble. During his time in the NA LCS, he has developed himself into a top three player, contesting for the one spot alongside TSM’s Bjergsen and 100 Thieves’ Ryu and right now, it could very well be considered that Pobelter is the best mid laner in North America right now.
His game is nearly unmatched in every single aspect in the North American region. His CS is impeccable and his game knowledge is unmatched even by Bjergsen and Jensen who have been around for quite a while.
Whenever he’s on a champion favorite such as Ryze, there’s very little one can do to stop him if he can grab a lead. He’s currently undefeated on Ryze and boasts an 8.3 KDA on the champion. During their match versus Cloud9 in the Summer Split finals, Pobelter’s Ryze was a key piece as to why they were able to win the match.
The damage output he had alongside the pressure he put with his champion combined to make an unstoppable force for Team Liquid. If one player can do that by himself, picture the potential he’ll have if he can do that with a team backing him.
Team Liquid is definitely going to be prioritizing Pobelter as one of their key pieces to their game plan at Worlds and that’s the right decision for them. Pobelter has been shown to be a very strong asset to their roster and with him, they’re definitely going to be making plays left and right.
You’re going to be foolish if you don’t count on Ryu to be a major force for 100 Thieves, especially since this is going to be 100 Thieves’ first rodeo at the World Championship. Ryu has the raw mechanical talent and mindset to ensure that his team does well at their first appearance.
The international stage can be a crushing one, especially for the weak-minded but for Ryu, it’s his playground. He thrives under the pressure and plays best when the odds are stacked against him. He’s the captain of the team whenever there’s no captain to lead. However, he doesn’t lead by mouth. He leads by his example and his examples are strong KDAs and big plays that make openings across the map. Just take a look back at the NA LCS Summer Split and you’ll see what I mean.
If 100 Thieves didn’t have the play Team Liquid in the semifinals, they would’ve most definitely won the entire thing and the reason behind this is because Ryu knows how to meticulously pick apart a team. He doesn’t boast the best stats but the power behind him is the fact that he knows the weaknesses of a player or set of players and exploits them as much as possible.
If he knows that a player is weak and doesn’t know how to play versus assassins, he’s going to play an assassin that not only gets under that player’s skin but also benefits his team as a whole. If he knows that a player is very strong when he gets ahold of a certain type of champion, he won’t hesitate to switch to a counter even if it means sacrificing his KDA or positioning in the mid game.
And if that isn’t enough, take a look back at the experience he’s garnered over the years. Not only has Ryu played for the NA LCS, he’s also played for the EU LCS and the LCK and during his time on the EU LCS, he managed to make it to a World Championship.
During his time at the LCK, he played on KT Rolster and nearly took down South Korea Telecom at their very best. This goes to show the type of experience we’re talking about when it comes to Ryu. He isn’t just a star-studded player because he’s been around for a while. He’s a star-studded player because he’s been around different levels of competition and at Worlds, that’ll make all the difference.
Caps has kept the legacy of Fnatic in good shape since his arrival and he’s still keeping it going to this day. In fact, he might even be creating new branches of Fnatic’s legacy left and right. At such a ripe age, Caps is going to be one of the most dominant and hotheaded players out there and he can use it to his advantage to take down some of the better teams.
The thing that separates Caps from the other mid laners is his young age and the ambition he holds behind it. At the ripe age of eighteen, Caps has already become the next new hope for Europe. At least year’s World Championship, he made his appearance known and this year, he’s going to be looking to expand a legacy for himself.
Like the famous mid laner before him, xPeke, Caps holds a strong arsenal of skills that he can use to his advantage whenever he wants. He knows how to take down an opponent solo but also knows how to rebound onto his team if they need his help.
Despite his novice status, Caps knows how to see the field from an experienced veteran’s point-of-view. Furthermore, he may play for himself but he knows how to put other teammates ahead of his needs, especially when one of those teammates is Fnatic’s very own Rekkles. However, even with all of the assets that Caps provides, this isn’t the one main reason he’s on the list. In fact, this reason alone has propelled him to a top two mid laner in Europe right now and a top ten mid laner in the world and that reason is that he can play almost any champion he wants in the mid lane.
While most mid laners tend to stick to generic picks such as Syndra and Malzahar, Caps isn’t afraid to expand his champion pool. Sometimes, he’ll want to play an unorthodox mid laner such as Yasuo and other days, he’ll completely change the spectrum and play something never before seen. During their playoff match versus Misfits, Caps did something that even made his teammates doubt him and that was pulling off a Vayne mid pick. Any experience viewer would know why this is such a risky pick for Fnatic. For one, Vayne is meant for the AD Carry role and second, Vayne is one of the weakest champions in the game. While she can provide some of the highest damage output, one wrong move and you’re guaranteed to be killed almost every time you fight.
Despite this, Fnatic’s Caps played the Vayne mid almost impeccably in such a crucial match where a loss would almost certainly mean their exit from the playoffs. Caps even came up huge during one extremely crucial team fight where he managed to pin down Misfits’ AD Carry and kill him. To add to the tension, Misfits were on the door of Fnatic’s base and if they won that fight, it would’ve meant game over for the team.
Right now, he’s been playing several orthodox picks in the mid lane, anything from an assassin Irelia to a burst Pyke, champions very rarely seen played in that playstyle. Caps can provide a lot of diversity to a team so accustomed to the fundamentals and he performs these flexible picks extremely well.
Korea and China might have some of the strongest mid laners in the world but Caps has proven that he doesn’t fall under the pressure. Furthermore, adding on with the fact that he can play several champions never before seen in the mid lane, Caps is hard to actually take down. He can easily switch from playing an accustomed mid lane playstyle to playing something never before seen and playing it as if he was an expert in the field. Don’t underestimate Caps because if there’s one hope for Europe, it’s this mid laner right here.
Xiaohu, a name not easily forgotten, recently made international headlines for his mid lane prowess these past two years. At his peak, he was compared to be better than Faker during South Korea Telecom’s 2017 year and this is for good reason too.
Xiaohu exhibits a precise and deadly game with almost perfect accuracy. He never messes up and when he does, it’s extremely hard to notice. That’s why, whenever South Korea Telecom played Royal Never Give Up in the past two years, they’ve had such hard times taking them down. Usually, SKT has been used to letting their mid laner, Faker, and bot lane duo to carry but with Xiaohu, that’s not possible. Faker has almost never gotten a solo kill on Xiaohu. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Xiaohu tends to control the mid lane versus almost any opponent, save a few exceptions.
The main reason that Royal Never Give Up was able to have such a decisive victory over Kingzone Dragonx this year at MSI was because Xiaohu literally tore apart Kingzone’s mid laner, Bdd, with staple champions in his arsenal. Whenever Xiaohu can get his hands on a pocket pick like Vladimir or Ryze, the team they’re facing better be ready for a tough times. Xiaohu never does bad on a champion such as Ryze or Vladimir and he rarely ever loses with a pocket pick champion.
Xiaohu is easily the strongest mid laner in China right now and will be going into the World Championship as one of the top three best mid laners. He’ll have major competition, of course, but that doesn’t mean he won’t rise to the adversaries. You saw him last year at the World Championship and that year, they were an inch away from taking down SKT in the semifinals. This year, with a much stronger Xiaohu and a better Royal Never Give Up, Xiaohu could make this China’s year for a World Championship title.
Invictus Gaming has had a shaky season where they tend to do really well in the regular season but fail to meet expectations during the playoffs. With the addition of Rookie onto the team, Invictus Gaming has seen these results change.
Rookie provides a consistent game plan that yields results and he never deviates from this game plan. His game plan is to make sure he can get his damage out by any means possible. Preferring to play burst mages or assassins, Rookie’s carry potential is insanely high.
Known for his Zoe, Orianna, and Yasuo, Rookie almost never loses on these champions. Playing each of these champions to near perfection, whenever Invictus Gaming needs a crucial win, they make sure to prioritize using Rookie as their main weapon. In fact, it’s rare to never see Rookie never get more than four or five kills in a game because he tends to solo-kill his opponent so many times. Even Xiaohu has had considerable trouble taking down Rookie due to how strong Rookie can play in a match.
He’s like Fnatic’s Caps but on a whole different level. He had a near one hundred percent win rate on Orianna and Zoe during the Summer Split regular season while boasting two one hundred percent win rates on Lulu and Ryze. Furthermore, of these four champions, none of them fall below a 5.0 KDA, showing how important it is to him to make sure he gains kills and pushes ahead of his opponents. With this arsenal of mastered champions, Rookie will definitely be a threat to watch out for.
He’s going to be on the international stage now and this is going to give him a chance to showcase the skills he displayed in China. Unlike most players, Rookie doesn’t sink under the pressure. He rises to it and with Rookie no longer being a novice to the world, he’s going to be an even bigger power player than before.
Any die-hard Kuro fan will know that Kuro used to be a large power player over the past few years. He used to be all about KDA and making huge plays across the maps. At his peak, no one could outmatch him in a 1v1. Unfortunately, he couldn’t transition this skill over to team fights and pressuring lanes and this limited his potential. That’s why, even though he could sometimes outmatch SKT’s mid laner at his best, he could never win the war against SKT.
Now, Kuro has matured and he’s turned into a much more stable player. He no longer goes for the flashy plays but instead builds up pressure and then releases it at the perfect times to ensure that they can win a key objective. If you look at any match with Kuro in it, he’s always one step ahead of his mid laner. While his mid laner is looking for kills and pressuring their own lane, Kuro is adding vision control and pressuring side lanes to help them open opportunities to grab kills and objectives.
However, that doesn’t mean that Kuro isn’t an expert at getting kills and enforcing a strong KDA. During the Summer Split regular season, he had a 13.00 KDA on Vel’Koz and a near one hundred percent win rate on Swain while also having an 8.00 KDA to add on to the festivities.
He’s also still extremely strong on assassins like Talon and Syndra, champions he was known for back in the day when he could take down names like SKT’s Faker and Pawn during their glory days. Now, he’s more of a general and he’s going to be calling the shots at the World Championship.
Afreeca Freecs has an extremely strong team right now full of mechanically strong players and knowledgeable coaches. However, without any form of leadership, they won’t be getting anywhere. With Kuro, Afreeca Freecs will be led in the right direction and they’ll have a shot at a World Championship.
Crown is back at the World Championship for the third time in his career and he’s looking to win another World Championship. Last year, we got to see his raw talent, especially against South Korea Telecom where he managed to oust Faker in the mid lane.
Now, this year, he’s going to prove that he can hold onto the title that he so desperately fought for. The thing that separates Gen.G from most teams is that they play an unorthodox fashion in a single unit. You never know what the team is going to do but when they do it, they do it with a synergy unmatched by most teams.
At the center of this is Crown. He holds the team together and ensures that they don’t fall apart, especially in critical times where the pressure is at its highest. The reason he’s so strong is because he’s consistent. He’s consistent in lane and he’s consistent in the team fights. He doesn’t falter from the competition. If you watch his performance when he’s fighting in a lane versus in a opponent, it doesn’t differ from in team fights.
There have been several times where the team fight rested on Crown’s hands and he didn’t let his team down. In the past, Gen.G has been known to scatter during team fights, especially when they’re caught off-guard by the enemy. However, Crown is the one who unites them back. If the AD Carry is split off from the team, he’ll make sure to fill in and deal the damage needed. If the tank is split up from the team, then Crown will make sure to use whatever crowd-control available to keep the enemy away.
Crown knows what’s best for the team and will do everything in his power to make sure that Gen.G lives to fight another day. He did it in 2016 and they made a miracle run to the World Championship. He did it in 2017 and they won a title. If he does it again in 2018, they might make history.
Of course, any competitive bettor on the League of Legends scene will want to know the pieces behind having a successful betting experience and the mid lane is one of the key fundamentals to making sure that you have everything in your hands.
The mid lane makes or breaks a game. Not only are they one of the main damage dealers throughout the match, they’re also the lane that is usually most affected by different metas. Furthermore, they also are in charge of roaming and ganking different lanes. A strong mid laner means a strong team nine times out of ten. That’s why the mid lane is such an important role in League of Legends. The first step to choosing a team to bet on is knowing the mid laner.
The better mid laner almost always wins and in League of Legends, those odds are extremely high. All of the mid laners listed are not only extremely strong in their own respective cases but they’re also on extremely strong teams, making each of these teams very viable options to bet on for future cases.
The World Championship is a showcase of skill and talent and that never diminishes from this tournament. Dozens of teams come to compete in this tournament but only one will come out as the World Champion.
Every single team that has won the tournament has had one extremely strong mid laner in their presence and that’s because a mid laner is what helps a team function. All of the mid laners listed above are mid laners you need to watch if you want to have a strong betting experience.
These are some of the strongest mid laners on the scene right now and they’re going to be some of the strongest at tournament. This means that these teams will be the ones dominating the scene and following these steps will almost ensure a strong betting experience on your part.
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