The short version of the LoL mid tier list for patch 26.19: Ahri, Viktor, Twisted Fate, Vex and Xerath are the S tier, Ahri is the safest blind pick in the game, and the Yasuo/Yone brothers are still more ban than pick once you get past Platinum. Everything below is built from Emerald+ win, pick and ban rates, then adjusted by people who actually play mid on ranked orders every day. You get a master S to D table, a breakdown of every S pick with the matchups that beat it, what rose and fell since last patch, and the best mid for your specific rank bracket.
This is the patch list, so it changes every two weeks. If you want picks that hold up across patches, that is our evergreen list of the best mid laners to climb with. This page is for the question “what do I lock in today”.
Patch 26.19 context: what this mid tier list is built on
Patch 26.19 is live and it is the first of the two Worlds patches. Patch 26.20 lands on October 7 and is the one Worlds is played on, so Riot kept 26.19 light for mid. Three changes matter here, all from the official patch 26.19 notes:
- Aurora buffed: E base damage goes from 70-230 to 80-240, and the R rift lasts 2.25/2.75/3.25 seconds instead of 1.75/2.5/3.25.
- Ryze nerfed: Q’s flux bonus drops from 25/50/75/100% to 15/40/65/90% and E costs more mana. He was already losing.
- Nasus nerfed: Q base damage down 10 at every rank (30-110 from 40-120). Mid Nasus was a real thing in Emerald, and this was aimed at it.
How we built the list: every win rate, pick rate and ban rate in the tables comes from op.gg’s Emerald+ mid lane data, all regions, patch 26.19 (op.gg labels it 16.19, the client version), last checked September 2026. Riot does not publish official win rates. The tier letters are ours. We start from win rate weighted by pick rate, since a 52% champion picked in 1% of games is a specialist stat and not a meta verdict. Then we apply operator judgment, and every time we move a champion away from where the raw number puts them, we say so.
The LoL mid lane tier list, S to D
Mid on 26.19 rewards control mages and punishes coinflip assassins. Four of our five S picks are ranged champions that win lane on their own and hand the jungler free priority. The full Emerald+ mid tier list:
| Tier | Champion | Win rate | Pick rate | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Ahri | 50.70% | 9.06% | Most reliable blind pick in the role, 2.87% ban rate means you always get her |
| S | Viktor | 50.20% | 9.36% | Most-picked mid in the game, scales into the best teamfighter in the role |
| S | Twisted Fate | 51.53% | 5.26% | Map pressure through R, almost never banned (1.24%) |
| S | Vex | 52.41% | 3.14% | Highest win rate of any mid above 3% pick, eats dash-heavy assassins |
| S | Xerath | 51.49% | 4.46% | Outranges most of the meta, wins lane hard vs Viktor |
| A | Fizz | 51.32% | 5.03% | Top 5 in op.gg’s Silver, Gold and Platinum lists |
| A | Hwei | 51.48% | 3.84% | Strong numbers, steep learning curve |
| A | Ekko | 51.14% | 4.10% | 26.18 buffs still carrying him, beats Xerath |
| A | Lissandra | 50.77% | 5.48% | Safe, anti-assassin, great with divers |
| A | LeBlanc | 50.54% | 5.55% | Climbs to 50.87% at Diamond+, high skill floor |
| A | Syndra | 50.46% | 7.60% | Recovered from the 26.18 nerf, beats Viktor |
| A | Katarina | 50.37% | 6.70% | Steady around 50.5% from Platinum to Master+, worse vs point-and-click CC |
| A | Yone | 50.09% | 7.89% | Number one in Silver at 52.02%, falls off by Master |
| B | Lux | 50.99% | 4.03% | Best mid in Platinum, fades in Master+ |
| B | Aurora | 50.82% | 2.98% | 26.19 buff landed, pick rate up by half |
| B | Zoe | 50.65% | 2.89% | Rises to 51.99% in Master+, one-trick territory |
| B | Kassadin | 50.41% | 3.15% | Hard-counters Viktor, weak before 16 |
| B | Qiyana | 50.33% | 2.69% | Excellent in skilled hands, 10.35% ban rate |
| B | Vladimir | 50.32% | 4.26% | Blind-safe scaling, beats Vex |
| B | Veigar | 50.02% | 3.48% | 52.43% in Silver, below 49% at Diamond+ |
| B | Locke | 49.68% | 6.53% | 30.30% ban rate, beats Xerath and Viktor, loses to assassins |
| B | Yasuo | 49.67% | 8.87% | 22.27% ban rate, strong only in dedicated hands |
| B | Malzahar | 49.66% | 5.15% | Ranked first in Gold by op.gg (52.24%), drops off above Emerald |
| B | Zed | 49.46% | 8.17% | 24.57% ban rate, feast or famine |
| C | Galio | 49.53% | 3.93% | Master+ staple (5.19% pick there) that stays under 50% |
| C | Anivia | 49.52% | 2.37% | Fine, never better than fine |
| C | Nasus | 49.26% | 1.81% | Q nerf hit, still banned in 27.31% of games |
| C | Akali | 48.96% | 5.57% | Loses to too much of the S tier |
| C | Sylas | 48.82% | 7.09% | Popular, 19.08% banned, under 49.5% at every bracket we checked |
| C | Irelia | 48.61% | 2.87% | Top laner visiting mid, and it shows |
| C | Cassiopeia / Taliyah | 48.38% / 48.34% | 1.33% / 1.34% | Specialist picks with no current window |
| D | Azir | 47.10% | 1.80% | Classic pro-play mage, solo queue trap |
| D | Orianna | 46.00% | 3.28% | Lowest win rate of any mid above 3% pick |
| D | Mel | 45.35% | 2.36% | Bottom of the list and still banned 12.77% |
| D | Ryze | 44.30% (Master+) | 3.00% (Master+) | Nerfed on 26.19 while already losing |
Where we deviated from the raw numbers: Yone is A on our list and Yasuo is B, even though Lolalytics has Yone S+ at 52.15% and Yasuo S at 51.52% in the same bracket. Lolalytics works out win rate from each player’s own tier, which reads about 1.5 points higher than op.gg across the whole role, and both brothers lean hard on mastery. We put Vex in S on a 3.14% pick rate because her matchup spread against the popular assassins is the best in the role. Locke got pushed up to B despite a sub-50% win rate, since he climbs to 50.94% in Master+ and the win rate is dragged down by people still learning him. The r/leagueoflegends thread asking why everyone bans Locke comes to the same conclusion: most people ban him because they do not know the matchup yet. His numbers do not say he is broken.
S-tier mid laners on patch 26.19
Each of the five S picks does a different job. The matchup numbers below are op.gg Emerald+ win rates for the S pick in that specific lane matchup on 26.19, with sample sizes so you can tell a real trend from a small sample.
Ahri
She is the highest-floor pick in the role. A 50.70% win rate on a 9.06% pick rate means a huge, average-skill playerbase is winning on her, and a 2.87% ban rate means she is basically always open. Charm plus three R dashes gives you a pick tool, an escape and a roam tool in one kit.
Bad matchups: Annie (Ahri wins 46.18% over 929 games), Zoe (47.66%, 1,133 games), Katarina (47.94%, 2,159 games) and Twisted Fate (48.01%). Point-and-click or long-range burst stops her from charming first.
Who should skip her: anyone who plays her like a lane bully. Ahri wins through roams and picks, so if you sit mid and trade all game, you are wasting the kit.
Viktor
He is the most-picked mid in the game (9.36%) and stays the most-picked in Master+ at 9.87%. The 14.87% ban rate tells you the rest. Once his abilities evolve, he is the best teamfight zoner in the role.
Bad matchups: Kassadin (Viktor wins 45.70%, 1,164 games), Xerath (46.11%, 2,518 games), Zoe (46.52%) and Hwei (47.04%). Anything that outranges his E or dives past his W before the stun lands.
Who should skip him: players who roam. Viktor’s value is wave control and scaling, and a Viktor who leaves mid at level 4 is just a slow mage with a lost wave.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate sits at 51.53% in Emerald+, 51.98% in Diamond+ and 52.48% in Master+. He is the only S pick whose win rate climbs at every bracket, and he is banned in 1.24% of games. Gold card plus a global ultimate turns a won side lane into a won game. On our own Master+ mid orders he is the champion we reach for when a lobby has no clear lane to exploit, because R lets you manufacture one somewhere else on the map.
Bad matchups: Diana (TF wins 46.88%, 512 games), Aurora (47.18%, 708 games) and Katarina (48.83%, 1,239 games). Short-range all-ins that punish the Q-and-shove pattern. He farms Akali (55.65%) and Orianna (56.29%).
Who should skip him: anyone who does not track the map. TF with no roams is a weak laner, full stop. If that part of the game is shaky, our guide on how to roam as a mid laner without bleeding the wave is the homework.
Vex
Her 52.41% is the highest Emerald+ win rate of any mid above 3% pick rate, and her passive fear is built to punish dashes. Look at who she beats: Akali (57.43%), Yone (57.38%), Sylas (57.16%) and LeBlanc (56.35%). That covers a big chunk of the popular mid pool.
Bad matchups: Diana (45.09%, 377 games), Xerath (46.51%, 501 games) and Vladimir (46.84%, 412 games). The sample sizes are smaller here, so read these as tendencies. Immobile mages that trade from range give her passive nothing to proc on.
Who should skip her: players who blind pick. Vex is a counter-pick. First-time her into Xerath and you will spend 14 minutes under tower.
Xerath
Xerath posts 51.49% in Emerald+ and 53.06% in Gold, the best number of any mid in that bracket. He has the longest range in the role, and the most-picked mid in the game can do nothing about it: Xerath beats Viktor 53.89% over 2,518 games.
Bad matchups: Ekko (Xerath wins 43.28%, 580 games), Locke (44.36%, 1,073 games) and Fizz (45.07%, 934 games). Anyone with a gap-closer that dodges the Q charge-up. He has no dash, and everyone knows it.
Who should skip him: players who struggle with positioning in teamfights. A Xerath who stands one step too far forward is dead before his W lands.
Best mid laner by rank bracket
The best mid in Silver and the best mid in Master are different champions, and picking off an Emerald+ list in Silver leaves win rate on the table. Here is the top of op.gg’s mid list at each bracket on patch 26.19, last checked September 2026.
| Bracket | Best pick (win rate) | Also strong | Why it works there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | Malzahar (52.65%) | Yone 52.02%, Veigar 52.43%, Fizz 52.36% | Point-and-click R punishes a lack of vision and QSS |
| Gold | Xerath (53.06%) | Malzahar 52.24%, Fizz 51.85%, Lux 51.96% | Nobody dodges skillshots consistently yet |
| Platinum | Lux (52.73%) | Fizz 52.09%, Xerath 52.32%, Vex 52.22% | Long-range picks still land, teams still facecheck |
| Emerald+ | Ahri (50.70%, 9.06% pick) | Vex 52.41%, Twisted Fate 51.53%, Xerath 51.49% | Safe, flexible, rarely banned |
| Diamond+ | Twisted Fate (51.98%) | Vex 52.33%, LeBlanc 50.87%, Syndra 50.45% | Map play gets punished less by coordinated opponents |
| Master+ | Twisted Fate (52.48%) | Zoe 51.99%, Hwei 51.57%, Locke 50.94% | High-skill picks finally reach their ceiling |
Two patterns stand out. Malzahar and Veigar are top-4 in Silver and fall below 49% by Diamond+, because good players buy QSS and dodge the cage. Twisted Fate and Zoe go the other way: the better the lobby, the more their map tools pay off. Pick for the bracket you are in today.
If you would rather skip the part where you learn Xerath’s Q range one lost trade at a time, our League of Legends boost covers division climbs, placements and duo queue from Iron through Master, with mid mains who play this exact list every day. It is a shortcut through the grind, and the champion pool knowledge is still yours to learn afterwards.
Rising and falling vs patch 26.18
Mid moved more on 26.19 than the short patch notes suggest, mostly from knock-on effects rather than direct changes. Here is what shifted in op.gg’s Emerald+ data between 26.18 and 26.19.
| Champion | Patch 26.18 | Patch 26.19 | Direction and cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | 50.19%, 2.02% pick | 50.82%, 2.98% pick | Rising: direct E and R buffs |
| Yone | 49.85%, rank 12 | 50.09%, rank 8 | Rising: no direct change, organic gain to confirm on 26.20 |
| Yasuo | 49.11%, rank 18 | 49.67%, rank 9 | Rising: no direct change, same trend as Yone |
| Syndra | 49.80% | 50.46% | Rising: recovered after the 26.18 W nerf |
| Ekko | 51.67%, rank 4 | 51.14%, rank 15 | Falling: no new change, the early 26.18 spike settled |
| Nasus | 50.86%, 35.94% banned | 49.26%, 27.31% banned | Falling: Q base damage nerf |
| Zed | 49.82% | 49.46% | Falling: no direct change, small slide |
| Ryze | 46.81% | 44.30% (Master+) | Falling: nerfed while already bottom of the role |
One pick to watch: Lucian got a mid-targeted change on 26.19 that moves damage from his passive into his Q. He does not have enough mid games yet to rank, but if the Worlds teams play him in mid, expect him to show up in your Diamond games by mid-October.
Where this tier list is wrong
Win rate is not skill-neutral. Vex at 52.41% on 3.14% pick is partly a selection effect: the people locking Vex are mostly players who know when to pick her. Put her in the hands of an average player blind picking into Xerath and that number collapses. The same goes for Hwei and Zoe. Low-pick, high-win-rate champions are telling you about their mains as much as about the champion.
The trackers disagree. op.gg and Lolalytics do not measure the same thing, and on 26.19 they disagree by a full tier on Yone and Yasuo. We picked one method and stuck to it. Another reasonable person with the same data could put Yone in S.
Counter-picking beats tier-picking. A B-tier champion in the right matchup beats an S-tier champion in the wrong one. Kassadin is B on our list and Viktor is S, but Viktor wins that lane 45.70% of the time. If you get last pick, the matchup matters more than the letter, and our counter-pick guide by lane covers how to use it.
It expires in two weeks. Patch 26.20 lands on October 7, and pro play at Worlds usually drags a couple of mids back into solo queue whether the numbers support it or not.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the best mid laner right now?
Ahri is the safest answer on patch 26.19: a 50.70% win rate on a 9.06% pick rate in Emerald+ (op.gg, last checked September 2026), and she is almost never banned. Vex and Twisted Fate post higher win rates but depend more on the matchup.
Is Viktor still good in mid?
Yes. He is the most-picked mid in Emerald+ at 9.36% with a 50.20% win rate and a 14.87% ban rate, and he stays the most-picked in Master+. He is S tier, but Kassadin and Xerath both beat him in lane.
What is the easiest mid laner to climb with in low elo?
Malzahar, Veigar and Fizz lead Silver by win rate on 26.19, all above 52% on op.gg. Malzahar is the simplest of the three: shove, press R on the carry, repeat.
Why is Locke banned so much?
Locke is banned in 30.30% of Emerald+ games and 34.16% of Master+ games despite a sub-50% Emerald+ win rate. Most players ban him because they do not know how to play the matchup yet, not because he is overtuned.
Is Yasuo or Yone better mid this patch?
Yone. He sits at 50.09% against Yasuo’s 49.67% in Emerald+ and leads Silver outright at 52.02%. Both get banned more than they get played well at high rank.
How often does the mid lane tier list change?
Every patch, which means every two weeks. Patch 26.20, the Worlds patch, lands on October 7, so expect a reshuffle and some pro-play picks leaking into solo queue in October.
To recap: Ahri and Viktor are the safe S picks, Twisted Fate is the best mid once you reach Diamond, Vex is the best counter-pick in the role, and in Silver or Gold you should be on Malzahar, Xerath or Fizz rather than copying a Master+ list. Re-check the numbers when 26.20 hits. And if you would rather have the climb handled while you learn the pool, our LoL boosting team runs division climbs, placements and duo queue games on your schedule, from Iron up to Master.
