Mages and the revamped Statikk Shiv have been the two utmost defining characteristics of League of Legends’ mid lane meta for the past several months, both within solo queue and professional play. In nearly every situation, choosing a champion that fills one of these niches—or both—is crucial to bursting through waves of minions and opposing health bars with ease.
Unfortunately, this has done very little to help the problem the mid lane champion pool has struggled with for a number of years: vastness in size but difficulties in maintaining each champion’s efficiency. As League is an ever-changing MOBA, players often focus on learning matchups with champions that sit atop the meta, leaving the less-popular picks waiting for their chance to shine in some future patch.