Not every strong champion always wins, and conversely, a weak champion doesn’t guarantee failure, especially in League of Legends – a game that heavily relies on player skill. However, playing according to the meta and utilizing strong meta champions is one of the primary factors that can help you secure victories more easily in crucial Ranked matches.
Here are the top 5 out-meta mid lane champions that players, no matter how confident, should avoid using in patch 10.5:
1. Irelia
Irelia has been quite weak throughout Season 10 so far. She currently holds the lowest win rate in the mid lane (45.70%), despite being quite mobile, dealing good damage, and having great synergy with the Conqueror rune. However, a series of nerfs at the end of Season 9 severely impacted Irelia’s strength, and now very few can master her.
Recent buffs to the Blade of the Ruined King and the Goredrinker will certainly help Irelia a little, but that’s not enough to make her a viable choice in the current meta. Unless the meta shifts towards slower control mages, Irelia will always be overwhelmed by opponents, giving the enemy jungler and mid laner opportunities to take the lead.
2. Akali
According to experts, Akali is the most unbalanced champion in the game, and this is even clearer when looking at her statistics in patch 10.5. She currently has the second-lowest win rate in the mid lane (45.88%), just slightly ahead of Irelia; however, she can still carry the team if played by a skilled player.
When watching professional tournaments, it is easy to see that Akali is still regarded as a strong choice in most matchups. Her abilities, when pushed to the highest limits at a professional level, remain very powerful, but in Solo Queue, most players cannot reach that level. Conversely, Akali can be quite weak in this environment due to the skill disparity among different player tiers. Therefore, until Akali is revamped once again, it’s best to avoid her as much as possible.
3. Lucian
Lucian was once very strong and used in the mid lane, but the return of champions like LeBlanc and Cassiopeia has left him with little room to operate in this position during Season 10. He has a win rate of 46.02%, just slightly higher than Irelia and Akali.
However, both Irelia and Akali scale very well into the late game, while Lucian cannot do the same. He often puts his team at a disadvantage, forcing the bot lane, top lane, or jungler to pick an AP carry to diversify the team’s damage. After reaching three core items, he can easily be outclassed by most other mid lane champions, while providing no additional utility for the team.
4. Ryze
Ryze was once an unstoppable force in the mid lane and is still a reliable choice in professional play. However, the focus on early and mid-game pressure due to changes to Dragons in Season 10 has excluded him from the mid lane champion pool.
Now, Ryze has a win rate of only 46.21%, which is significantly lower than the average. This is largely due to Ryze needing too much gold and time to reach his power threshold. With a meta that prioritizes mid laners’ focus on Dragons and Rift Heralds, Ryze simply cannot compete with other mages who can reach their power spikes earlier and clear waves easily right from the start.
5. Corki
Corki is another champion, similar to Ryze, who relies on scaling into the late game. However, Corki often takes too long to reach that threshold, with core items like Trinity Force and Infinity Edge – some of the most expensive items in the game.
Corki also lacks lane pressure in the early game, which can force the jungler to abandon important objectives, putting his team at a greater disadvantage compared to the enemy. Although he can still deal tons of late-game damage, making Corki not a terrible choice, many other champions can do the same with fewer and cheaper items.