Ask a Diamond [Week 4: Mid lane]

[quote=NateDog13][quote=luizdeh] [quote=NateDog13]snip [/quote] Thanks for the reply! Ok so [[lulu]] is all about trying to ignore her and doing stuff elsewhere or killing 2v1? Can do. I think I've got good roaming since I mained [[gragas]] forever and absolutely loved pretending to be a jungler. The champ question was more on the lines who else should I add to my roster actually. I've always played [[gragas]] -> [[kayle]] -> [[orianna]] and fatman is weird right now. I added [[nidalee]] a while back because sometimes I like to annoy people and wanted to add something else for variety, counterpicks and different play-styles. Per suggestion, I'm gonna add [[fizz]] because URF COMES OUT OF THE GROUND I don't like Katarina's... anything. This makes for a pretty solid roster imo, that should fit any situation. Seems enough. Another question: I harassed the living shit out of my opponent early, got a CS lead and them out of lane. I'm a level 5 [[orianna]] that knows where the enemy jungler is. I have the opportunity to roam now, so I: 1. go wherever the enemy jungler isn't. 2. go bot if my jungler is going there regardless of enemy jungler. 3. go gank a lane my jungler isn't ganking. 4. shove lane and recall because I don't have ultimate. 5. fake a roam bot, ward dragon and recall. I've done #5 many times because it gets the jungler's attention and makes the enemy duo step back a bit. But it really goes unnoticed some times and it's a little frustrating. I ask because out of the champions I play, she's the one I get less things from roaming pre-6. [/quote] It should be frustrating, Orianna really isn't a roamer. She's more of a teamfight carrier, not a roamer carry like Katarina is, or Fizz can be, or Kassadin was. Yaknow what I mean? I think in this case that you should keep trying to do what your doing if it helps your team in some way, but just realize it's not as effective with Orianna because it doesn't fit her natural role.[/quote]

[quote=I want to be a Blitzball]Any ideas on how to play the new [[Kassadin]] and some good/unfavorable matchups? Also should you still build like you did pre-rework? Or does full damage work aswell? (Athene, Deathcap etc)[/quote]

[quote=NateDog13][quote=I want to be a Blitzball] Any ideas on how to play the new [[Kassadin]] and some good/unfavorable matchups? Also should you still build like you did pre-rework? Or does full damage work aswell? (Athene, Deathcap etc) [/quote] Currently from what I've seen, Kassadin is still in a very poor state, and a lot of people are messing around with mostly AP Bruiser builds, the previous Kassadin builds seem to be pretty dead at this point. We'll see how Riot continues to go about changing him, but it seems like he's gonna be sitting around in the "mess around with" champion pool.[/quote]

[quote=tehAsian][quote=I want to be a Blitzball] Any ideas on how to play the new [[Kassadin]] and some good/unfavorable matchups? Also should you still build like you did pre-rework? Or does full damage work aswell? (Athene, Deathcap etc) [/quote] I can answer this. Max Q in trade intensive lane, E otherwise. Usually you want E for waveclear and because the slow increases/rank. It's also Max W second ALWAYS. Build Flask > Tear + Dorans first back > Boots1 > Seraphs + Boots2 > Zhonyas > Lich Bane > Rabadons + Void Staff. DO NOT BUILD ROA. Favorable matchups include Nid, Yasuo (surprisingly), champions who suck at trades early generally. Bad matchups are champions like Syndra/Leblanc who can bully you and burst you even through shield, but I'm pretty sure you can outplay it. Then just keep roaming and getting kills, like pre-rework.[/quote]

[quote=I want to be a Blitzball]Thx, also are [[ryze]] and [[jayce]] strong mids or more niche? When should you pick them?[/quote]

[quote=NorthernRedStar][quote=I want to be a Blitzball] Thx, also are [[ryze]] and [[jayce]] strong mids or more niche? When should you pick them? [/quote] [[Ryze]] is actually stronger top laner currently due to his ranges having had some small regains. He is sometimes picked mid lane to counter some assassins. Haven't seen [[Jayce]] much. He's sort of a weaker version of [[Nidalee]] in the current meta.[/quote]

[quote=Uuskilu]How are Kennen, Cho gath and Vladimir in mid right now? I know Cho falls off late game due to lack of mobility and tankiness as an assassin but I think it's still viable , kinda looking for reassurance on that one I guess[/quote]

[quote=NateDog13][quote=Uuskilu] How are Kennen, Cho gath and Vladimir in mid right now? I know Cho falls off late game due to lack of mobility and tankiness as an assassin but I think it's still viable , kinda looking for reassurance on that one I guess [/quote] Those three you listed are currently around the lower-mid tier of mid laners, there are a lot better picks, but if you know how to deal with the current meta picks and you have a lot of experience on each of these champions they can work.[/quote]

[quote=NorthernRedStar][quote=Uuskilu] How are Kennen, Cho gath and Vladimir in mid right now? I know Cho falls off late game due to lack of mobility and tankiness as an assassin but I think it's still viable , kinda looking for reassurance on that one I guess [/quote] If you pick [[Vladimir]] mid, the enemy's probably gonna pick an assassin to wreck you, i.e. [[Zed]]. He's a niche top lane pick. Most mid laners are able to outtrade too hard early-mid. [[Kennen]] is a top/mid (mostly top) lane bully pick who's not really favored by the current meta. Can work though if you're good. Any [[Cho'gath]] experts here? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen him played in ranked or normals (EUW) for like half a year. EDIT: [quote]Those three you listed are currently around the lower-mid tier of mid laners, there are a lot better picks, but if you know how to deal with the current meta picks and you have a lot of experience on each of these champions they can work.[/quote] Beat me to it.[/quote]

[quote=Nera]How does Annie mid do nowadays? What kind of build should she have by endgame? How does Lux do now that the meta of assassins is mostly over in the midlane? Is she once again viable? How viable is Malphite mid? I have seen a friend pick him against the assassins of the midlane specifically and he just obliterates them as they have trouble getting through his passive shield and harrass him harder than that while he just harrasses them till they have to either b or get killed. What are the current top picks for midlane as of late? What makes you a good midlaner? The amount of roaming you do? or the amount of pushing you can do while you enemy mid laner is gone? Nera[/quote]