The short version of the LoL mid tier list for patch 26.21: Ahri, Ekko, Twisted Fate, Vex and Xerath are the S tier, Ahri is still the safest blind pick in the game, Viktor drops to A after his 26.21 nerf, 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 for the whole of patch 26.20, 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 26.19, 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 26.21 context: what this mid tier list is built on
Patch 26.21 went live on 21 October, two weeks after 26.20, the patch Worlds is being played on. 26.20 was light for mid. The official patch 26.20 notes nerfed Cassiopeia’s base health and mana, buffed Swain mid (W damage up to 70-250, cooldown down to 20-16 seconds) and gave Neeko’s E more damage and root time. Hextech Rocketbelt also lost 10 ability haste, which matters for every mage who was buying it as a Flash.
The patch 26.21 notes are the bigger mid patch, and none of it is in our numbers yet:
- Viktor nerfed: move speed 335 to 330, and his Q shield drops from 40-140 (+25% AP) to 30-130 (+20% AP). Riot’s stated aim is to make him weaker in early skirmishes.
- Yone nerfed: Q ratio 110% AD down to 105% AD.
- Qiyana nerfed: Q damage down 10 at every rank.
- Locke adjusted: less mana growth, a pricier W and a smaller health store early, paid back with more E damage and a bigger late Q refund.
- Buffs for the bottom of the list: Azir gets 50 mana per level instead of 40, Orianna’s Q and W ratios go up 5% each, Ryze’s late Q flux damage rises to 100%, and Vel’Koz’s passive does more damage.
- Twisted Fate: Destiny now reveals untargetable champions.
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 26.20 (op.gg labels it 16.20, the client version), last checked October 2026. 26.21 is too new to have a usable sample, so we moved champions for its changes by judgment. 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 26.21 still rewards control mages and punishes coinflip assassins, with Ekko as the exception who earns his place. The full Emerald+ mid tier list:
| Tier | Champion | Win rate | Pick rate | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Ahri | 51.23% | 9.41% | Most picked mid and op.gg’s number one, 2.97% ban rate means you always get her |
| S | Ekko | 51.69% | 4.89% | 51.4% or better in every bracket from Silver to Master+ |
| S | Twisted Fate | 51.04% | 5.16% | Map pressure through R, almost never banned (1.31%) |
| S | Vex | 51.85% | 3.20% | Highest win rate of any mid above 3% pick, eats dash-heavy assassins |
| S | Xerath | 51.00% | 4.29% | Outranges most of the meta, wins lane vs Viktor |
| A | Viktor | 50.42% | 9.00% | Third most picked mid, nerfed on 26.21 |
| A | Fizz | 51.37% | 5.07% | Best mid in Gold at 52.52% |
| A | Vladimir | 50.99% | 4.23% | Blind-safe scaling, Vex’s worst common matchup |
| A | Hwei | 50.96% | 3.73% | Strong numbers, steep learning curve |
| A | Lux | 50.92% | 4.09% | 52.47% in Silver, still above 50.5% in Diamond+ |
| A | Lissandra | 50.87% | 5.43% | Safe, anti-assassin, great with divers |
| A | Katarina | 50.57% | 6.68% | Climbs to 51.30% in Master+, worse vs point-and-click CC |
| A | LeBlanc | 50.54% | 5.27% | Climbs to 50.78% at Diamond+, high skill floor |
| A | Yone | 50.32% | 8.68% | Number one in Silver at 51.99%, nerfed again on 26.21 |
| B | Zoe | 51.04% | 2.87% | Rises to 51.65% in Diamond+, one-trick territory |
| B | Annie | 50.94% | 1.79% | Quiet, simple, Ahri’s second-worst matchup |
| B | Aurora | 50.87% | 2.62% | Held her 26.19 buff, pick rate settling |
| B | Kassadin | 50.50% | 2.95% | Weak before 16, no longer a hard Viktor counter |
| B | Diana | 50.45% | 3.41% | Bruiser builds got a 26.20 W buff |
| B | Syndra | 50.10% | 7.38% | Popular and even, slipping slowly |
| B | Locke | 49.84% | 7.35% | 31.65% ban rate, reworked numbers on 26.21 |
| B | Malzahar | 49.74% | 5.25% | Best popular mid in Silver (52.57%), drops off above Emerald |
| B | Yasuo | 49.71% | 9.21% | 24.06% ban rate, strong only in dedicated hands |
| B | Veigar | 49.66% | 3.33% | 52.45% in Silver, 49.00% at Diamond+ |
| B | Zed | 49.64% | 8.12% | 24.01% ban rate, feast or famine |
| C | Qiyana | 49.52% | 2.76% | Best mid in Master+ (52.55%), nerfed on 26.21 |
| C | Akali | 48.88% | 5.75% | Loses to too much of the S tier |
| C | Galio | 48.81% | 3.95% | Down almost a point, under 49.5% in every bracket |
| C | Irelia | 48.37% | 2.84% | Top laner visiting mid, and it shows |
| C | Sylas | 48.03% | 6.95% | Popular, 17.92% banned, down a full point |
| C | Taliyah / Cassiopeia | 49.19% / 47.60% | 1.50% / 1.13% | Taliyah buffed on 26.21, Cassiopeia nerfed on 26.20 |
| D | Azir | 46.74% | 1.80% | Classic pro-play mage, solo queue trap, mana buff on 26.21 |
| D | Orianna | 46.27% | 2.91% | Lowest win rate of any mid above 2.5% pick |
| D | Mel | 45.40% | 2.26% | Bottom of the list and still banned 10.93% |
| D | Ryze | 45.39% | 1.99% | Buffed on 26.21 after the 26.19 nerf flattened him |
Where we deviated from the raw numbers: Yone is A on our list and Yasuo is B, even though Lolalytics has Yone S+ at 52.33% and Yasuo S at 51.76% in the same bracket on patch 26.20. Lolalytics works out win rate from each player’s own tier, which reads about 1.7 points higher than op.gg across the whole role (its Emerald+ average is 51.71%), and both brothers lean hard on mastery. Viktor drops from S to A on a nerf the data has not seen yet: he loses move speed and shield in exactly the early skirmishes that decide his lane. We put Vex in S on a 3.20% pick rate because her matchup spread against the popular assassins is still the best in the role. Locke stays in B despite a sub-50% win rate, since he is op.gg’s top-ranked mid in Master+ and the Emerald+ number 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 26.21
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 over patch 26.20, 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 51.23% win rate on a 9.41% pick rate means a huge, average-skill playerbase is winning on her, and a 2.97% ban rate means she is basically always open. She went up almost half a point since 26.19 without being touched. Charm plus three R dashes gives you a pick tool, an escape and a roam tool in one kit.
Bad matchups: Zoe (Ahri wins 47.36% over 3,108 games), Annie (48.18%, 2,254 games) and Fizz (48.20%, 4,477 games). Twisted Fate is close behind at 49.09%. 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.
Ekko
Ekko is new to our S tier, and the case is consistency. He won 51.69% at Emerald+ on 4.89% pick, and he sits between 51.40% and 52.19% in every bracket from Silver to Master+. Very few mids hold a number like that from low elo to high. Lolalytics agrees, with Ekko at the top of its Emerald+ mid list at 53.38%. His all-in at level 3 and 6 wins most melee and short-range matchups, and Chronobreak forgives the dive that went wrong.
Bad matchups: Vladimir (Ekko wins 49.13%, 2,119 games) and Akali (49.14%, 2,544 games) are his worst common lanes, and neither is a disaster. Gragas and Gwen beat him harder in samples under 400 games. He farms Orianna (60.04% over 1,429 games) and Cassiopeia (58.50%).
Who should skip him: players who struggle to judge all-ins. Ekko’s power is one committed combo, and an Ekko who walks up, pokes and walks back is giving away his only real advantage.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate sits at 51.04% in Emerald+, 51.28% in Diamond+ and 51.16% in Master+. His win rate climbs at every bracket from Gold to Diamond+, and he is banned in 1.31% of games. Gold card plus a global ultimate turns a won side lane into a won game, and 26.21 lets Destiny reveal untargetable champions too. 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: Swain (TF wins 47.01%, 585 games), who got buffed on 26.20, and Aurelion Sol (47.77%, 965 games). Ranged picks with wave clear and long trades, like Kog’Maw and Ziggs mid, beat him in smaller samples. He farms Akali (54.65% over 3,449 games), Azir (57.87%) and Ryze (56.10%).
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 51.85% 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: Sylas (55.77%), Yone (55.07%), LeBlanc (54.59%) and Akali (54.22%), all over 2,000 games or more. That covers a big chunk of the popular mid pool.
Bad matchups: Vladimir (46.08%, 1,083 games), Xerath (47.46%, 1,340 games) and Veigar (47.62%, 987 games). Immobile mages that trade from range or out-sustain her 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 51.00% in Emerald+, 52.44% in Gold and 52.41% in Platinum, where he is the best mid in the bracket. He has the longest range in the role, and one of the three most picked mids can do little about it: Xerath beats Viktor 52.74% of the time over 6,855 games.
Bad matchups: Katarina (Xerath wins 45.89%, 2,251 games), Locke (46.22%, 2,763 games), Fizz (47.06%, 2,331 games) and Ekko (47.64%, 1,782 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 26.20, last checked October 2026.
| Bracket | Best pick (win rate) | Also strong | Why it works there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | Malzahar (52.57%) | Xerath 52.57%, Lux 52.47%, Veigar 52.45%, Fizz 52.24% | Point-and-click R punishes a lack of vision and QSS |
| Gold | Fizz (52.52%) | Xerath 52.44%, Vex 52.13%, Lux 52.11% | Nobody dodges skillshots or E consistently yet |
| Platinum | Xerath (52.41%) | Ekko 52.19%, Vex 51.98%, Fizz 51.67% | Long-range picks still land, teams still facecheck |
| Emerald+ | Ahri (51.23%, 9.41% pick) | Vex 51.85%, Ekko 51.69%, Fizz 51.37% | Safe, flexible, rarely banned |
| Diamond+ | Ekko (51.50%) | Vex 51.76%, Zoe 51.65%, Twisted Fate 51.28% | Map play and clean all-ins get punished less by coordinated opponents |
| Master+ | Vex (52.07%) | Qiyana 52.55%, Zoe 51.63%, Ekko 51.40% | High-skill picks finally reach their ceiling |
Two patterns stand out. Malzahar and Veigar both win above 52.4% in Silver and fall to 49% or lower by Diamond+, because good players buy QSS and dodge the cage. Zoe and Qiyana go the other way: Qiyana wins 45.51% in Silver and 52.55% in Master+, a seven-point swing, though her 26.21 Q nerf will take some of that away. 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 26.19
Mid moved more on 26.20 than its short patch notes suggest. Here is what shifted in op.gg’s Emerald+ data between the full 26.19 and 26.20 patches. The 26.19 changes behind some of these are in the official patch 26.19 notes.
| Champion | Patch 26.19 | Patch 26.20 | Direction and cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swain | 49.62%, 0.61% pick | 51.06%, 0.94% pick | Rising: 26.20 W damage and cooldown buff |
| Zoe | 50.48% | 51.04% | Rising: no direct change |
| Ahri | 50.77%, 9.04% pick | 51.23%, 9.41% pick | Rising: no direct change, still the default pick |
| Yone | 49.99%, 7.83% pick | 50.32%, 8.68% pick | Rising: organic gain, which is why Riot nerfed his Q on 26.21 |
| Diana | 50.26%, 3.01% pick | 50.45%, 3.41% pick | Rising: 26.20 W shield buff for bruiser builds |
| Sylas | 49.00% | 48.03% | Falling: no direct change, down a full point |
| Galio | 49.59% | 48.81% | Falling: no direct change |
| Cassiopeia | 48.34%, 1.29% pick | 47.60%, 1.13% pick | Falling: 26.20 base health and mana nerf |
One pick to watch: Swain mid. Riot buffed his W specifically to help him in mid on 26.20, and he gained almost a point and a half. On under 1% pick rate that is mostly Swain players, but he is already one of Twisted Fate’s worst matchups, so expect to see him more in October.
Where this tier list is wrong
Win rate is not skill-neutral. Vex at 51.85% on 3.20% 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 26.20 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. Veigar is B on our list and Vex is S, but Vex wins that lane only 47.62% of the time over 987 games. If you get last pick, the matchup matters more than the letter, and our counter-pick guide by lane covers how to use it. Mid priority also decides who gets to the river first, so it is worth knowing which junglers are actually worth playing around on the current jungle tier list.
It is built on last patch’s games. The numbers are a full patch of 26.20, and 26.21 nerfed Viktor, Yone and Qiyana and buffed Azir, Orianna, Ryze and Vel’Koz after those games were played. Patch 26.22 lands on 4 November, 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 26.21: a 51.23% win rate on a 9.41% pick rate in Emerald+ over patch 26.20 (op.gg, last checked October 2026), and she is almost never banned. Vex and Ekko post higher win rates, and Ekko holds his across every bracket.
Is Viktor still good in mid?
Yes, but he is no longer S. He won 50.42% on a 9.00% pick rate in Emerald+ on 26.20 with a 13.96% ban rate, and then 26.21 cut his move speed and Q shield. Xerath (Viktor wins 47.27% over 6,856 games) and Locke (47.26%) are the lanes that beat him most.
What is the easiest mid laner to climb with in low elo?
Malzahar, Xerath, Lux and Veigar all win above 52.4% in Silver on op.gg’s patch 26.20 data. Malzahar is the simplest of them: shove, press R on the carry, repeat.
Why is Locke banned so much?
Locke is banned in 31.65% of Emerald+ games and 37.07% of Master+ games despite a 49.84% Emerald+ win rate. Most players ban him because they do not know how to play the matchup yet, not because he is overtuned. Riot trimmed his mana and early health store on 26.21 and gave him more late damage.
Is Yasuo or Yone better mid this patch?
Yone, narrowly. He won 50.32% against Yasuo’s 49.71% in Emerald+ on 26.20 and leads Silver outright at 51.99%, though his Q was nerfed again on 26.21. 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 26.22 lands on 4 November, so expect another reshuffle and some pro-play picks leaking into solo queue after Worlds.
To recap: Ahri is the safe S pick, Ekko is the most consistent mid across every bracket, Twisted Fate is the map-play pick once you reach Diamond, Vex is the best counter-pick in the role, Viktor drops to A after his nerf, and in Silver or Gold you should be on Malzahar, Xerath or Fizz rather than copying a Master+ list. Re-check the numbers when 26.22 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.
