In League of Legends, mid lane is all about establishing control early on.
The dynamic of the role is guided by the player that manages to position themselves better than their opponent, win the early game trades, and dictate the pace of the rest of the laning phase.
To do this consistently, you need to develop an aggressive playstyle which by itself is fruitless when you play non-aggressive champions.
Take Kassadin, for example. Since he’s a late game hyper-carry, he always gets pushed in and dominated, no matter who he’s up against. Yes, he can take control later on, but if the enemy mid laner is decent then they won’t give up their advantage easily.
In any case, here I’ve put together a list of 7 extremely aggressive mid lane champions that you can always rely on to overshadow your opponents and carry more consistently.
1. LeBlanc
When I’m in my zone, LeBlanc is the first champion I look to use for dominating early on and closing games as fast as possible. She’s equipped with all the right tools for the job and oftentimes the more aggressive you are on LB the better the outcome is.
First off, LeBlanc can be aggressive as early as level 1. If your team doesn’t go for an invade (or you don’t answer one) you can always start the game W first. This allows you to dash in and quickly do two basic attacks which will proc Electrocute instantly.
I almost never see this strategy in low elos but it’s something Master and Grandmaster LeBlanc players do all the time. The amount of damage the combo does is really high and it sets you up for later trades in an ideal way.
My goal with LeBlanc is to hit level 2 first and quickly do the Q+W combo. Add one auto-attack and you’ll Electrocute again and you can go back with your W before your enemy can even retaliate.
Level 3 is where you’re likely to get a kill on LeBlanc. Depending on how well you’ve positioned yourself, you can dash in with your W, throw the E chain, and then cast Q and Ignite. The damage of this combo is enough to bring down even tanky mid laners, so always go for it.
The cool thing about LeBlanc is that you can always roam and spread your aggression to the entire Rift. This is especially important after level 6 when you can double one of your basic abilities to make sure your KDA improves.
So when you play LeBlanc, be as aggressive as possible and gank bot and top lane early on!
2. Syndra
If I have an unfavorable matchup as LeBlanc, I often switch to Syndra, the second most dominant mid laner early on. Syndra has fewer “bad” matchups than LB and she can hold her ground against any champion in League of Legends.
Syndra is simply unmatched when it comes to establishing control early on. As soon as the minions clash, you can walk up to the enemy laner and start spamming your Q. You can dictate where they stand and move, so it’s an excellent way of getting a position advantage.
Once you have that, it’s very easy to trade and extend any gold and XP lead you might have. Any time your opponents want to CS, you can hit them with the Q+E combo. And when they’re running away, the W+Q combo can always let you catch up to them.
Using Syndra in such an aggressive manner guarantees you control over the mid lane and the surrounding jungle. As a result, your jungler can also play more offensively, given that he’s also on an aggressive jungle champion.
On the other hand, playing so aggressively also benefits Syndra because of her passive. If you’re constantly poking the enemy laner and combining your abilities right, you’ll quickly stack up Transcendent and evolve her spells to deal even more damage.
Syndra is a notorious champion after level 6 because her point-click ultimate can execute enemies even from 50% HP. So if you’ve created a lead during the laning phase, you should double your aggression and always look for kills when Unleashed Power is available.
3. Yone
Yone is an AD mid laner I often pick to counter long-range mages. It’s a bit weird to realize that the laning phase is Yone’s weakest point, yet he wins early on against most mid lane champions.
Yone can be very aggressive while being perfectly safe at the same time, thanks to his E. Once you unlock this ability (on level 2 preferably), you can dash forward and harass your opponent with the third cast of your Q, applying damage and flying back to safety.
This combo can be repeated every 15 seconds or so and it gets more powerful with each level. On level 3, Yone’s W will even give you a shield to make these trades even more favorable.
Using Yone in such a way gives little to no chance to the opposing player to do anything. Your aggression is controlled and disciplined, only applied when you have all of your tools ready. And if you do this consistently, you’ll create leads big enough that the enemy can’t come back from.
Depending on how good your opponent is, you can always be even more aggressive on Yone. When you stack up your Q, it’s your time to go in and poke them with the knock-up. Against champions like Orianna or Lissandra, you can always go in because your damage and durability are always higher.
After level 6, things get so much easier for Yone. This champion is incredibly effective at locking up the enemy carries and assassinating them all while being one button away from safety.
Yone’s biggest weakness is crowd control, so make sure to get a bit of tenacity for the late game.
Read Also: 7 Most Aggressive Top Laners
4. Fizz
For many seasons, I was a Fizz main. And during these years, I learned nearly all matchups on this champion and realized that there’s no situation where you shouldn’t play aggressively and apply pressure as much as possible.
Here’s the thing – Fizz is a really safe but aggressive pick. He has lots of damage and his abilities are structured in a way to give you all the advantages you need to win the early game trades.
The first strategy I often do on Fizz, especially against mages, is on level 1. I walk up to them with my finger on the E button. When they inevitably cast a spell at me, I use Playful/Trickster to dodge it and land on top of them. Then I do two auto-attacks and proc Electrocute.
This isn’t a very hard thing to do but it requires you to stay alert. And you can repeat it on level 2 as well. However, I’d suggest you keep your HP bar up since level 3 is when Fizz can always get a kill, no matter what.
On level 3, Fizz becomes the most aggressive mid laner in the game. He can walk up to the enemy, W+Q through them, and jump away to safety with E. This combo can even be used while the opponent is under their turret and you won’t get damaged at all.
I suggest you pressure your enemy like this as much as you can. Because as soon as you hit level 6, you can throw your R at them and collect a free kill. Thanks to Fizz’s mobility, not even Flash can save them.
Roaming and ganking is what I love doing on Fizz as well. Even if you have one ally with CC, you can always take down enemies and impact the entire flow of the game. It’s really difficult to stop Fizz once he gets ahead simply because of how slippery he is.
5. Zed
For many mid laners, Zed is just the AD version of Fizz and Fizz is just the AP version of Zed. These two champions share lots of similarities and their playstyles are nearly identical. And this also means that their aggression is almost on the same level.
What I really like about Zed in particular though is how safe he is while also being dominant in the lane. On level 3, he can cast a W shadow forward, slow the enemy champion with E, and throw two shurikens at them with Q.
This combo always triggers Electrocute and Zed doesn’t even need to dash in and put himself in danger. It works just as well on ranged champions as on melee picks, so no one can really stop Zed from playing aggressively.
Once you unlock Zed’s R, you can become the most aggressive player in the game. This spell allows you to focus all of your damage on a single enemy (preferably the ADC/mid laner) and assassinate them. Once the job is done, you can press R and go back to safety.
Zed’s aggression is often rewarded because the more kills you collect early on the surer your path to victory is. Your build involves only lethality items so if you have lots of armor penetration while your enemies are still building their core items, you’ll always be ahead of them.
Here’s my max lethality build so you can see how much ahead you can get.
6. Viktor
Many high-elo mid laners regard Victor as the best control mage in League of Legends. He’s a champion that does very well early on and becomes an amazing hyper-carry in the late game, regardless of who he’s up against.
Viktor’s aggression also starts from level 1. You can always start the game by walking up to the enemy laner, casting Q to deal damage and receive a shield, and then auto-attacking. This is especially important to do if you play with First Strike because of the bonus gold.
On level 2, Viktor has access to his E which is his main ability when it comes to poking and playing aggressively in lane. Before it’s evolved, you want to use it primarily for harassing your opponent and denying them CS.
Once your E gets upgraded, you can start using it on the minion wave too. Victor is notorious for being able to clear minion waves with a single ability, so use it to push your opponent under their turret and roam elsewhere.
Viktor also has high movement speed and he’s pretty good at kiting opponents. This is why you should never fear being aggressive on him since you can outrun most enemy champions, even on ganks. Not to mention that it’s recommended to play Viktor with Ghost on top of Flash.
In the late game, Viktor is one of the few mages that allows you to play so offensively. He can always split push and 1v1 the enemy that comes to stop him. Or he can team up with his allies and unleash insane AoE damage in a fight. He can do everything!
7. Azir
Those of you that have played against a really good Azir player in the mid lane know the true struggle. This champion can annoy and tilt even the chill players with his aggressive toolkit and playstyle.
Here’s what happens when Azir decides to play up to his potential. On level 2, he spawns a soldier with his W and charges him forward with Q which also allows him to auto-attack a few times from a safe distance.
This way of poking actually does a lot of damage and it lets Azir dictate where the enemy can stand where he can not. Consistently doing this results in zoning the mid lane opponent completely and forcing them back to base.
The icing on the cake is that Azir can always hold onto his E and spare one soldier for his escape. So no matter how aggressive you are and how many times the enemy jungler comes to punish you, you can always dash away to your turret and avoid trouble.
Azir’s build often focuses on magic penetration as well as ability power. This means that his playstyle is rewarded, especially after level 6 when he can swoop in and push all enemies with his R, Emperor’s Divide.
So, I can’t help but recommend Azir as well!
Conclusion
Developing an aggressive playstyle in League of Legends takes a conscious effort. You have to know what you’re doing as well as why you’re doing it. And, of course, you should never be overly aggressive for no reason and risk being ganked and punished.
The 7 champions I listed above are always good picks when you want to take control of the game early on but they aren’t the only ones. Remember, you can also play your own champion aggressively even if they aren’t on this list, but they might not be as effective.
My last advice for you is to main LeBlanc is you’re into AP champions and Zed if you’re into AD. Both of them allow you to play extremely aggressively and dominate solo queue.
