5 Least Picked Mid Laners in Professional League of Legends
Professional players have some of the deepest champion pools in the world. Some may say deeper than the Mariana Trench. However, have you noticed the trend in pro play where they usually pick the same champions over and over again?
You frequently see the same champions in professional League of Legends for a number of reasons including current meta strength and what skills they bring to their team’s composition. For instance, a split pusher, an assassin, someone who has good roaming potential etc etc.
In this Mobalytics guide, we will discuss 5 champions who you very rarely see in the Mid lane of professional League of Legends. Before we get into the list though, comment who you think will be on the list. You can find extra stats, tips and tricks and much more about any of today’s champions on their Mobalytics champion page.
There are many champions that may have been played in alternative roles in professional League of Legends. Because of this, we will only include traditional laners in our least picked articles. All of the stats are taken from GOL.GG and the filters we are using are for all seasons and worldwide.
5 Least Picked Mid Laners in Pro League of Legends
- Brand
- Pyke
- Annie
- Heimerdinger
- Mordekaiser
1. Brand
Brand is a good champion on paper for pro play. He has lots of poke, good wave clear and an Ultimate that is great in team fights. But why is Brand never picked in pro play?
Pros will generally pick champions that can fulfil many roles or offer their team a lot of play-making potential. Unfortunately, Brand doesn’t really have that. He lacks and major form of CC and the CC he does have is really hard to hit. Similarly, Brand is very squishy and immobile. These 3 things are some of the major factors why he isn’t played.
In Solo Queue, he doesn’t perform much better, in all honestly. He gets countered by a lot of the current meta champions. Brand performs much better in the Support role in Solo Queue.
Quick Tips
- Try and poke as often as you can with your W, but make sure to keep an eye on your mana pool.
- In team fights, try to cast your Ultimate when the enemy is bunched together so it can bounce between multiple champions and deal more damage.
- A good time to use your W is when the enemy is inside the minion wave. This will allow you to push and poke the enemy at the same time.
2. Pyke
There was a point in time where Pyke was played (it felt at least) in the Mid lane in pro play. But he fell of pretty hard after Riot hit him with several nerfs including removing the damage his E did to minion waves.
Don’t get me wrong, Pyke offers a lot more to the table in terms of play-making potential and kill pressure, but he doesn’t have any wave clear. Most notably, champions in the Mid lane have lots of wave clear so they can quickly push or prevent a push. Pyke can no longer do this.
In my humble opinion, I don’t think it’s worth picking Pyke in Solo Queue. There are far better champions out there who have a lot more consistency and have more tools to offer your team.
Quick Tips
- Once you’ve got an item or two, your pushing power will increase dramatically. Whenever your Ultimate is up, push the wave and roam to assist your side lanes.
- Track the enemy’s cooldowns and use your Ultimate accordingly. If they have Flash, expect them to Flash away from your Ultimate.
- In team fights, try to flank from the side with your Q. Picking someone off is a great way of winning the team fight.
3. Annie
Annie is one of the most popular champions thrown about when learning the Mid lane. She is very basic and helps you learn the basics of the Mid lane. However, while she is good in low ELO and for learning Mid, she isn’t played in pro play.
Like Pyke, Annie doesn’t have a lot of play in pro play because she lacks wave clear. While her W does give some wave clear, it comes online much later compared to another mage like Syndra. She is also squishy, easy to kill, immobile and lacks range.
Annie is good for low ELO Solo Queue. She is good in low ELO because she is easy to play and has good burst and all-in potential. This is good for Solo Queue. I wouldn’t really recommend her in higher ELO though.
Quick Tips
- Look for trades around your stun. Pre-level 6, use the stun on your Q rather than W as you’re guaranteed to land the stun if you use your Q.
- Annie is really good at starting team fights if she can flank the enemy. Running at them is going to be difficult, but you could set up death bushes and wait for the enemy to walk by before throwing out Tibbers.
- If you’re not able to kill the enemy, you should try and roam with Tibbers and try to impact your side lanes. Push mid lane and then roam.
4. Heimerdinger
You don’t really see Heimerdinger at all anymore. There was a very brief period where he was played in the ADC role, but Heimer is one champion you never see in the Mid lane in pro play even though he has a ton of good tools to help his team.
The dominating factor to why Heimerdinger isn’t played is because of how much time he takes to set up. He needs to have stacks for his turrets, and then he also needs time to place them and adapt their positioning as teams move around. In pro play, they also know to destroy the towers first.
Heimerdinger was recently buffed, so he is a bit better. You’ll find more success on other Mid laners though who have more kill pressure and who are not so reliant on preparing fights beforehand.
Quick Tips
- Set up your Turrets before the laning phase starts to save mana early and to get the first push.
- Fight the enemy inside your Turret range. Do not fight outside them as you will miss out on extra damage.
- Throw your bomb just behind the enemy instead of their current position to increase the likelihood of you stunning them. Do this inside your Turret range for extra damage.
5. Mordekaiser
The last champion on our list is Mordekaiser. Mordekaiser is not played at all in the Mid lane. There was a point in time, like many of the champions on our list where he saw some action in alternative roles. Mordekaiser used to be a solid Top laner in pro play.
Mordekaiser is pretty tanky and can deal a lot of damage. His Ultimate can take someone out of the fight and make a fight 4v4 for his team. The problem is, pros will build items that counter Mordekaiser which doesn’t always happen in Solo Queue.
If you like Mordekaiser, then play him in the top lane. He gets countered way to easily, and he struggles against all of the best picks in Solo Queue right now.
Quick Tips
- Focus the biggest threat on the enemy team with your Ultimate in team fights. This will make it easier for your team to handle the rest of them.
- As many Mid laners will be ranged, try and stay as far back as possible so the enemy is unable to harass you down with their basic attacks.
- When the enemy Jungler ganks your lane, take the weakest champion into the Shadow Realm and try to turn the exchange around. Only do this however if you can kill the enemy. No need to try it if you can escape.
Final Thoughts
If you wish to learn more tips and tricks to play any of these champions, then I would recommend you check out the Mobalytics App. Maybe if the pros used the App, we would see some of the champions on our list being played in professional League of Legends!
