The best mid champions in League of Legends patch 14.20 thrived following the update release on Oct. 9. While some champs finally shook off their strongest rivals with buffs, others took advantage of nerfs credited to their counters.

While you can get away with off-meta picks in lower brackets, the gameplay experience gets significantly more competitive as you approach Emerald. One of the better ways to stay current with the trends is by checking out what the best players are doing in the game through statistics. Every patch, I assemble myself a list of champions to prioritize by checking out the win, pick, and ban rates of upper tiers like Challenger and Grandmaster.

At the time of writing, the following five are the best mid-champs in LoL patch 14.20, and the state of the meta may continue to change as players figure out more ways to extract the value out of other champions.

Yone

Yone’s been one of the most popular champions in League in the last months. His strong showing at Worlds 2024 contributed to a surge in popularity, and the patch 14.20 was also kind to Yone.

Following the update, Yone received a critical damage buff as his crit percentage on Mortal Steel, the Q ability, increased to 90 percent from 80 percent. Yone currently averages pick and ban rates close to 20 percent in tiers above Diamond, a testament to how contested he’s. Considering the champ’s been averaging over a 55 percent win rate in most tiers justifies the interest so far.

Syndra

Syndra may not be able to dish out reliable damage, but there’s a place for burst in every lineup. If you’re about to play against another champion with low mobility, it may just be the perfect game for Syndra since she has all the tools a mid-laner needs.

Wave clearance, constant chip damage at the enemy, and high score potential are the first three boxes you’ll be checking with Syndra. Towards the late game, you can easily one-shot squishy opponents and give your team's number’s advantage. Syndra’s currently averaging win rates close to 55 percent in the highest stage of LoL’s ranked ladder.

Aurora

Aurora’s been on top of mid-laner lists since this summer. Her ability to lane safely with high potential turned Aurora into one of the strongest mid-champs in League. Though she received a handful of nerfs since then, Aurora still averages win rates close to 54 percent in tiers Master and above.

Despite the power downgrades, Aurora is still a beast in teamfights as she can dive in to take out fragile enemies. However, the champion struggles versus stun-heavy lineups. Aurora can easily switch to the top lane during matches, so she offers some level of variety that might catch enemy teams off-guard.

Orianna

Orianna is one of the consistently best mid-laners in LoL. Having been in the game since 2011, Orianna always took roles within the professional scene, even becoming the most-played champion at Worlds 2023.

There’s a decent reason behind Orianna’s popularity since she pretty much does it all. Wave clear, utility, ganking potential, scalability, and great teamfight potential with a game-changing ultimate.

Vex

Vex has a unique place in the current League meta. She’s a mage that gets to play like an assassin. Her abilities allow Vex to take over lanes, and the ultimate is a fear factor for enemy ADCs and squishies.

If Vex has a dominating early game in the lane, you can expect her to pop up in other lanes, and each ultimate hit could turn into a takedown. Though Vex’s not as contested as Yone, she still averages 53-54 percent win rates in tiers above Diamond. With the current meta favoring ADC and action in the bottom lane, a snowballing Vex could cause ADCs to act out and get stuck in a reconnect loop.