Nemesis and ShowMaker, two of the biggest League of Legends pros in recent years, agreed on the “weak” state of mages due to their current itemization options, as well as recent nerfs to mid-lane in general.
League of Legends’ newest season has launched with a bunch of changes, including jungle pets and brand-new items for players to toy around with. With these changes, we’ve seen classes like fighters benefit massively, whilst other roles like AD carry are left feeling absolutely hopeless.
The introduction of the “tank item”, Jak’Sho, the Protean alongside buffs to items such as Ravenous Hydra have left fighters insanely tanky, unkillable sustain machines practically dominating and suffocating out all other classes.
One of these classes that have come under the spotlight has been the classic mid-lane mage. Mid-lane has been the home of mages since the inception of League of Legends, which champions like Orianna, Xerath, and Lissandra as classic picks to assist in filling in said spot.
However, mages in the middle lane have felt particularly weak this season, a sentiment that is shared by both League pros ShowMaker and Nemesis.
When asked on stream to comment about the state of mages in the new season, Nemesis pointed directly to a video of ShowMaker.
“How miserable my life is. Why was I born as a mage?” ShowMaker toted whilst watching his Nexus crumble as Xerath.
He then proceeded to explain the poor state of mages and compare them to other roles and champions.
“Give me any skill for survival. K’Sante has two or three skills for survival. It’s unfair. For these lame mages, make something like Ravenous Hydra! Jak’Sho the Protean for Mages!”
ShowMaker blamed items in particular as a reason for the weakness of traditional mages and vented frustration about the limited choice of decent items for the class as a whole.
“How can I play mage? Honestly. AP Items are trash. Without exception.”
Nemesis seemed to agree with the statements ShowMaker had made but also added a small ounce of hope for the role.
“I do have to say mid-lane got a bit of a buff this patch because a lot of mid-lane champs have utility, and the tenacity rune being nerfed means mid-lane champs are stronger by a little bit.”
It’s yet to see if Riot will be buffing the traditional mages any time soon, but with the sweeping changes Riot is making to AD carries and their items, we might yet see some on the horizon.
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