In competitive League of Legends, the role of mid laner has come to be associated with playmaking, shot-calling, map control, and roaming. The mid laner serves as a quarterback-esque position, where the main goal is to scale up and get your teammates ahead through perfectly executed wave management and maintaining lane priority. Usually, mid-lane players are the most popular names on the team simply because of how influential the role is on the map
Mid laners must master mechanically intensive, skill-shot-oriented picks such as Zoe to stay relevant as a competitive player. In the history of League of Legends esports, the mid lane has forged some of the most gifted players and iconic names. All statistical information provided in this article was obtained through Liquipedia's League of Legends page, Games of Legends, and Leaguepedia.
Updated on January 19, 2023 by Rosa Baumgartl: Over the past two years the esports world has only grown, with more teams joining the competition, bringing with them more rising stars to compete in the mid lane. Some of the all-time classics still continue to impress, and therefore deserve to be added to this list of the best mid laners. Though none have replaced our all-time top spot yet, there are certainly some that are vying to be number one soon.
19 George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis
Doublelift once described HotshotGG as someone who could "kite ranged champions as a melee character". Though he transitioned out of pro play and now acts as co-founder and president for CLG, he remains of the best mid laners, NA.
He played alongside the likes of popular commentator Kobe, Saintvicious, and more. He's also played the role of jungle and top competitively, as well. Perhaps his role as mid-lane player was secondary to his natural skill with the game. But when Faker thinks your LeBlanc is better than his, well...
18 Henrik Hansen "Froggen"
Known for his god-tier Anivia plays and record accurate farming, Froggen had been playing competitive League of Legends consistently since Season one. Despite being invited to play in 15 different teams across NA and EU, his main role has continued to be mid lane, favoring high damage champions such as Kassadin, Leblanc and Ahri. Despite being known as the best Anivia player in the world, having even defeated Faker in a one on one mirror match up, Froggen hasn't been winning many championship games lately.
His last competitive game was in 2020 playing for Dignitas, where they placed eighth out of ten in the LCS 2020 Summer season. Playing seven out of the 20 games on Orianna with a winrate of 71 percent, Froggen couldn't carry Dignitas to victory.
17 Marek "Humanoid" Brázda
The once and current MAD Lions mid-lane player got his start in 2015 as part of the Dark Tigers EU team. Though a newer player, he sits at 168W and 115L with a KDA of 3.2. His priority champions include Orianna, Ryze, and other control mages.
However, his favorites include Azir, Syndra, and Taliyah — a champion who has not, historically, gotten pro play. Though he doesn't have a storied career of highlights yet, Humanoid is definitely someone to watch if he can continue to grow as a player.
16 Felix "Abbedagge" Braun
Though the bot lane for 100 Thieves, FBI and Huhi, have been lauded as the best bot lane duo in NA, Abbedagge holds his own, too. The German pro joined the Mysterious Monkeys in 2016 and has consistently performed despite jumping to various teams.
He has a KDA of 4.0, 80L. 105W, and only gives up first blood seven percent of the time. Like many pro mid laners, he prefers control mages, but has been known to pull out an Akali, Silas, or even a Corki from time to time. Fans and casters alike call him "Fakerdagge" on especially good plays.
15 Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng (이서행)
Kuro is one of the greatest mid-lane players to never win a World Championship title, albeit, he has made it very close on numerous occasions. With more than 600 career games under his belt, Kuro maintained an overall win percentage of almost 60 percent, cementing him as one of the most long-standing, dominating, mid laners in competitive League of Legends.
Kuro is a Viktor savant holding about a 74 percent win rate on the champion over 46 games played. He is an LCK champion, KeSPA Cup champion, and World Championship finalist. Kuro is most remembered for being an outstanding KDA player with an overall career KDA of 4.8 and was the fifth player to reach 1000 kills in the LCK.
14 Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg
Originally a European prodigy, Bjergsen came to North America all the way back in Season 4 in hopes of elevating the region. Over the next seven years, Bjergsen would become the most celebrated North American mid laner to ever compete in the LCS. Bjergsen is most known for his dominating Zilean performances, yielding an overall win rate of 71 percent on the champion.
Bjergsen’s career achievements include six LCS Championships, an IEM Championship, and a Rift Rivals Championship. Although Bjergsen might not be one of the most dominating mid laners to ever play the game in a global context, he is by far the best mid laner to have ever competed in the North American LCS. Bjergsen retired with an overall win rate of 368 wins and 234 losses averaging a KDA of 5.4.
13 Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong (곽보성)
Bdd has been an active mid laner since Season 6 initially starting his career on CJ Entus, before rising to prominence on Longzhu Gaming in Season 7. Although Bdd is touted as being one of the greatest mid-lane talents Korean League of Legends has ever produced. However, his career has been rife with team change and international struggles.
Bdd has played alongside iconic names such as Smeb, PraY, and Score, winning two LCK titles alongside PraY. In 2019, Bdd joined Gen.G in hopes of chasing a World Championship title. Bdd is known for scaling picks such as Azir, Taliyah, and Galio. His competitive record sits at 304W and 224L.
12 Lee "Crown" Min-ho (이민호)
Statistically, during his career, Crown seemed to be a middling player with an overall career KDA of 3.1 and an overall win rate of about 55 percent. However, in 2017, Crown, alongside his teammates on Samsung Galaxy, were the most dominant players in the World, coming out victorious against SKT T1 and ending their legacy as potential back-to-back-to-back World Champions.
During his 2017 World Championship run Crown averaged a 5.0 KDA. Unfortunately, Crown was very lackluster at assassin mid champions, thus, he thrived in control-centric mid-lane meta. Crown’s achievements include three LCK Regional Championships, an IEM Championship, and a World Championship.
11 Heo "ShowMaker" Su (허수)
ShowMaker is a relative newcomer to the competitive League of Legends scene, starting his playing career in 2017 with DAMWON Gaming. Although he has only competed for four Seasons, ShowMaker has begun forging a legacy for himself. In his short time competing, ShowMaker has won Challengers Korea, Rift Rivals, an LCK Regional Championship, and LCK Regular Season Championship, a KeSPA Cup, and a World Championship.
ShowMaker is proficient on a vast array of champions from assassins to scaling control mages and boasts a staggering win rate on them. He is most known for his Zoe, Syndra, and Leblanc gameplay. DAMWON Gaming, now known as DAMWON Kia, have shown consistent growth over recent years. This means that ShowMaker can further cement his legacy as one of the World’s best mid laners.
10 Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez
Despite starting his competitive career as a top laner, it quickly became clear that xPeke was meant for the flashy plays of mid lane. xPeke began competing in 2011 with Team Birth and was eventually picked up by Fnatic, even forming his own team, Origen, and taking them to the semifinals in the 2015 Worlds. His claim to fame is the intense backdoor race that won Fnatic IEM Global Challenge in Katowice, beating SK Gaming, and earning xPeke the title of MVP.
At one point, xPeke managed to get three accounts in the top ten EUW leaderboard playing as super mobile mid laners such as Leblanc, Zed and Kassadin. However, his final games in the 2017 LCS were catastrophic losses, as he played from the botlane as Support, and retired soon after.
9 Yuan "Cryin" Cheng-Wei (袁成伟)
Cryin is one of the best mid-lane players with the least competitive experience. He only joined the LBL in 2018 on Young Miracles before he rose to prominence on RNG. In 2021 alone, he earned three first-place wins in the LPL 2021 Spring Split, LPL 2021 Spring Playoffs, and the MSI 2021 competition.
Unlike god-tier players like Faker with hundreds of games, Cryin only has about 150 competitive games under his belt. That makes his 64 percent win rate and 4.8 KDA all the more impressive.
8 Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer
The Belgium mid laner Nisqy began playing competitively in some lesser-known teams in 2015, immediately favoring mid lane and champions such as Ahri, Sylas and Lissandra. He was eventually picked up by big names such as Fnatic, Splyce, Cloud9 and finally MAD Lions. He's known for his amazing use of Sylas's ultimate ability to unexpectedly turn fights around.
Nisqy's fantastic positioning plays also earn him a lot of respect, such as the 2022 match against Misfits where his flash meant that Ahri's Orb finished off Zanzarah's Trundle on the backswing. Nisqy's winrate as of 2022 is 57 percent, 201 wins to 151 losses. His games may not be as flashy as some other famous mid laners, but at 24 years old, he is an up-and-coming star in the esports community.
7 Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang (김태상)
During his World Championship run in 2019, Doinb completely redefined the mid-lane role picking a bevy of champions that were considered quite niche, if not individualistic. During the 2019 World Championship, Doinb locked in an unusual roster of champions such as Rumble, Malphite, and Nautilus to play against his opponents.
While many considered this quite unusual, Doinb aided in FunPlus Pheonix securing a World’s Championship trophy, with an overall record of 14 - 4 in the tournament. What makes Doinb even more impressive as a player is that he has maintained a high level of skill since his debut in Season 5. He is incredibly fun to watch, and to this day, locks in highly controversial picks in the mid lane such as Kled and Nocturne.
6 Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther
Caps rose to prominence on Fnatic in 2017 playing alongside the impressive AD Carry, Rekkles. Caps is known for being a mechanical prodigy, mainly showcasing his ability to outplay most of his competitors on mage champions such as Syndra, Sylas, Leblanc, and Ryze. Caps trophy case includes accolades such as six LEC titles, three LEC MVPs, a mid-Season Invitational championship, and two World Championship finals appearances.
Caps boasts an overall competitive win rate of 273W and 145L. At the beginning of Season 11, Caps and Rekkles reunited on G2, forming the greatest team Europe has ever assembled, in hopes of finally bringing a World Championship title to EU.
5 Heo "PawN" Won-seok (허원석)
There was a time PawN was known as the most dominant mid laner in the world even when compared to the likes of Faker and Rookie. In Season 4, PawN absolutely steamrolled through his competition both globally and domestically. This led to the iconic moment in the Season 4 World Championship semi-finals where legendary mid laner, Dade, passed on his white leather jacket dubbed “the general’s jacket” to PawN.
PawN was notorious for his insanely aggressive playstyle on assassin picks such as Talon, Leblanc, and Fizz. It is important to note that, in his prime, PawN bested some of the most iconic mid laners to ever play the role. His overall competitive record is 258W to 110L, giving him an overall win rate of just over 70 percent.
4 Song "Rookie" Eui-jin (송의진)
Rookie is the only mid laner comparable to Faker in terms of overall career stats. Over his seven-year-long professional career Rookie has competed in just shy of 700 games with a 59 percent win percentage. His accolades include an LCK Championship, an LPL Championship, an LPL Regional Championship, a Demacia Cup, a Rift Rivals Championship, a NEST Championship, and a World Championship, including a handful of personal awards.
Rookie utilizes the definition of a controlled aggression playstyle, tending to favor mage champions such as Syndra, Orianna, and Azir. Rookie is remembered in the League of Legends scene for aiding Invictus Gaming in bringing home the first World Championship to China. In stark contrast to his name, Rookie is a far call from being a newcomer and continues to compete to this day.
3 Luka "Perkz" Perković
Hailing from Croatia, Perkz made a name for himself quickly when he first joined GSI Gaming in 2014. However, he has not always competed as a mid-lane player; his first first-place win came during the LEC 2020 Spring Split on G2 as ADC.
But now, he stands out as one of the best mid-lane players as one of the pillars of the Cloud9 team. Fun fact: Perks was the third player ever to reach 1000 kills (after Jankos and Rekkles) in the LEC. He currently has 355W, 201L, a KDA of 4.0, and 64.5 percent kill participation score.
2 Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen
The Danish player's entrance into the League of Legends esport scene was tumultuous to say the least. In 2012, he began playing competitively under the name ViegoDX, when he helped found Team Solo Mebdi. Only a year later, he was permanently banned for poor sportsmanship and DDOS activity.
By 2015 his ban was overturned, and he reemerged as the aptly named Incarnati0n as he was picked up by Cloud9. Since then, he has also played for Team Liquid and Dignitas, scoring a 75 percent winrate in the LCS 2022 primarily on Orianna, Leblanc and even Zilean. One of Jensen's best plays occurred in 2020 versus Dignitas when his perfectly calculated angles scored him a shutdown on Chaser's Lee Sin, and Cloud9 claimed the victory. However, when it comes to Faker, Jensen doesn't quite stand up, as a 1v1 in 2022 Worlds proved during a white-knuckle dual between Jensen's Akali and Faker's Sylas.
1 Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (이상혁)
Faker, known as the Unkillable Demon King, is the greatest mind to ever play League of Legends in any position, period. He has produced countless iconic moments since his debut, from his legendary Zed outplay against Ryu in Season 3, to his Zoe, chain flash, double kill, against DRX. Faker’s accolades include nine LCK Championships, two Mid-Season Invitational Championships, a Rift Rivals Championship, an IEM Championship, and three World Championships.
Getting into Faker’s competitive statistics, his win rate currently sits at 521W to 263L. Faker is proficient at a plethora of champions in the mid lane with his most renowned being Ryze, Zed, and Leblanc. Faker is without a doubt the most popular League of Legends player of all time with a track record and legacy to back him up. Faker is currently chasing his fourth World Championship title with T1.