The Midlane Metagame

So hi, I'm Bass Ultra, only 1000+ elo. I'd like to outline some of the things I've noticed about the mid lane in this meta.

Mobility

You are on the center of the map. This means that you're the one that can gank both the top lane and bot lane. Therefore you should have the mobility for ganks/getting in fights. A great example of this is Twisted Fate and his ultimate, Destiny/Gate. Once he hits level 6 he can simply push the lane and gank either lane, rinse and repeat. Other great examples are Gragas, Ahri, Diana, Kennen, Karthus, Kassadin, and LeBlanc. These champions either have global pressure or high mobility to pull off 3vs1 top lane ganks or 4vs2 bot lane ganks.

tl;dr: Champs that can gank really well are awesome.


Super Power Farming

Let's take a look at some of the champs listed on my first point. Twisted Fate, Ahri, Diana, Karthus, Kassadin all have something in common. Their ganking/global pressure abilities tick in at level 6. So what? So you farm like crazy. And I don't just mean last hit every minion, I mean push your lane (while making sure to get all the cs), and while your opponent is busy trying to last hit under the tower, walk up to your wraith camp (or wolves camp) and kill them. Once a while take your opponent's wraiths too when their jungler is busy somewhere else. This will allow you to get more xp and gold farm over your opponent, levelling up more, and getting more gold to buy items.

tl;dr: Be a dick and take your jungler's creep score.


Magic Resist and Magic Penetration/Reduction

Magic Resistance
Mid lane is where most AP Champs go. So how do you counter their magic damage? Build magic resist, of course. But I don't mean in your item builds, pack some magic resist runes and masteries. And Abyssal Scepter. Everyone seems to have recently found how awesome this item is mid game. It gives AP, Magic Resist, and Magic Resist reduction, which translates to more damage.

Magic Penetration/Reduction
Penetration and Reduction is the key to more damage. Basically mid game everyone's magic resist isn't too high just yet, and having lots of penetration/reduction means you'll be dealing true damage to their support, carry, possibly the opposing mid. Sorceror's Shoes, Abyssal Scepter, and Haunting Guise are your friends.

tl;dr: Have Magic Resist so you don't get destroyed by the other mid, have Magic Penetration and MR Reduction so YOU can destroy the other mid.

quote Chaosfire

Swain roams well too.

Swains ganks are terrifying D:::. Especially if they already have some CC in your lane, prepare to get CC locked . Lol that reminds me, a Shen Top Lane and Rammus Jungle cause CC locks all day . But swain is one of my least favourite mids to play against. Oh and a good malzahar. Neither of these characters I can actually play properly myself . Yet they own me.... But I'm usually support anyway atm.

quote Chaosfire

quote Phoenixmon

quote Chaosfire

Swain roams well too.

Swains ganks are terrifying D:::. Especially if they already have some CC in your lane, prepare to get CC locked . Lol that reminds me, a Shen Top Lane and Rammus Jungle cause CC locks all day . But swain is one of my least favourite mids to play against. Oh and a good malzahar. Neither of these characters I can actually play properly myself . Yet they own me.... But I'm usually support anyway atm.

Swain is on my list of people that I hope nobody will ever learn how to play, 1 because I love the champ and it makes me sad to face them, 2, because it would be terrifying.
The list is basically Swain, Udyr, Hecarim, Skarner, Maokai. My favorites

Swain is a champion I've only ever seen one good one, Udyr I've never seen played well, Hec I can play him alright, skarner is awkward but I can lane Maokai quite well .

Maokai's saplings are easy to dodge in lane, if he comes on to you with his snare then he's oh so easy to punish and trade afterwards with. His innate passive is nice sustain for the laning phase, but not enough against an Anivia, Cassio, TF, Kassadin, to name a few.

That is his position in Mid-lane, anyways.

Swain is a very strong champion, but should only be used to counter pick. If anyone has trouble with Kassadin, Swain is your answer. Destroys him until 6, and afterwards Kassadin can't burst his sustain fast enough, meaning he still destroys him.

10/10 would bang for Kassadin counter.

Unfortunately people are realizing that Executioner's Calling is a great item for ADC's and may very well pick that to counter you. Match that with all the ignites that are oh so popular and he's got a tough time filling his role as a tanky-mage in teamfights.

Mobility mages are pubstompers, especially TF. People lack the communication or awareness to identify that TF has left Mid, or Ahri is coming down to bottom through your jungle, and it's crippling.

In Ranked 5's, I love playing against a TF, because once I tell my team he's MIA, they're (usually) good enough to drop everything and back the hell off, until I counter push the lane and he's forced to come back. If TF hasn't gotten kills in the laning phase, he's failed his task, and is set back for the teamfights against a mage with more reliable damage like Karthus, Xerath, most other mids, tbh.