Mages are one of the core champion classes in League of Legends. They’ve played a huge role in the game’s meta since its very beginning, being powerful magic damage dealers and carries in multiple roles.
But finding the best mage champions in LoL is not an easy task. After all, there are over 50 champions in the game that are considered mages, all with different playstyles, strengths, and weaknesses.
However, here I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 mages in League, ranked based on how powerful they are, how useful they can be, and how well they can carry games in both low and high elo.
So if you’re looking for a mage champion to main or one trick, scroll down and find the one that suits you the most!
The 10 Best Mage Champions in LoL
10. Anivia
Anivia, the winged demigod from Freljord, has been one of the most influential mage champions in the history of League of Legends. Players like Froggen have shown us Anivia’s best side and proved to everyone how good the champion is at carrying games.
Anivia is a control mage with lots of different tools that often overpower her opponents in one way or another. For example, Anivia can slow targets down and stun multiple enemies at once, allowing her team to collapse on them.
This crowd control is super efficient in team fights because it allows Anivia to dictate the tempo. On top of that, Anivia has her W – Crystallize, a giant wall of ice that prevents enemies from passing through. And that often keeps her safe from the enemy jungler.
For Anivia’s damage, I can only say positive things. This champion scales amazingly well in the late game and deals tons of AoE magic damage. Yes, her early game might be a bit weaker but once you get a few items she becomes a super strong carry mage.
A part of Anivia’s efficiency is her R – Glacial Storm which is a toggle-on-and-off type of spell. And when Anivia puts it on the ground, the ability clears the minion wave in almost 2 seconds, leaving her free to roam and help her teammates.
Anivia’s most basic combo is Q + E + AA. This sequence always triggers Electrocute and does great burst damage. So, it’s a good way to trade with your opponent during the laning phase.
9. Vex
Vex is one of the newer mages on Summoner’s Rift but her efficiency and carry potential was recognized instantly by high elo and professional players. And if you’re looking to climb as a mid laner with a mage champion, Vex should be one of your main choices!
Even though she’s a useful pick all around, Vex works the best as a counter to mobile champions in League of Legends. Her passive applies a fear effect through her active abilities and helps you keep all enemies away, especially the assassins and the junglers.
And so, Vex is a safe pick that allows you to play the mid lane aggressively. She can trade very well through her E + Q combo, as well as deny a lot of minions from the opposing laner thanks to the fear.
Once Vex gets to level 6, she becomes a much scarier champion to face. Her R – Shadow Surge is an ability that deals a lot of damage and lets Vex dash to her target. Upon dashing, she can use all of her abilities to burst down the target or apply a fear effect.
The great thing about Vex is that her ultimate ability can be cast from a great range, it passes through minions (so it only hits enemy champions) and even resets when the primary target is slain.
What this means is that Vex can effectively 1v5 the enemy team if she carefully uses her cooldowns. This is a huge plus for solo queue where team fights are disorganized and chaotic. And Vex thrives in them!
All in all, Vex is one of the most fun mages in League and you should definitely try her out!
Read Also: Top 10 Best Healers in LoL
8. Lissandra
Lissandra has never been the most popular mid laner, or the best mage champion in LoL. However, her kit is absolutely fantastic and offers amazing advantages that can easily win you games in solo queue.
Lissandra’s biggest strength as a mage isn’t damage but crowd control. She can root multiple enemies at once with her W, slow them down with either Q or E, and even stun the most critical target on the enemy team with her R – Frozen Tomb.
When you play Lissandra mid, it’s all about poking the enemy laner with Q and setting up ganks for your jungler with the E + W combo. After level 6, Lissandra can lock down an enemy champion for over 3 seconds, making her one of the most feared mages in LoL.
One thing that gives Liss a great advantage and makes her one of the best counters to assassins in the mid lane is that she can use her R on herself. This freezes her, heals her, and allows her to deal AoE damage to all enemy champions around her.
In other words, Lissandra’s R can be used as a substitute for Zhonya’s Hourglass to dodge important spells such as Zed’s Death Mark.
And don’t get me wrong, Lissandra’s damage is really amazing, especially if you get ahead early on. Her full combo can often one-shot a squishy enemy, but applying all the crowd control effects is what really matters here.
7. Syndra
When we think of control mages in League of Legends, Syndra is one of the champions that first pops into mind. And rightfully so, she’s been a go-to pick of many mid laners, including the professionals.
What really gives Syndra an edge in the mid lane is the fact that she can bully most champions in the role. Her abilities are relatively long-ranged and can control the position of the enemy laner as well as the whole flow of the laning phase.
Syndra has a big burst damage combo through Q + E + W. It can be repeated every 10 seconds or so either to trade effectively in lane or try to score a kill. But Syndra can also drive the enemy out of lane simply by spamming her Q.
Once you unlock Syndra’s ulti, the kill potential doubles. Her R is a point-click ability that does a lot of damage and can help you eliminate the key target on the enemy team. And it’s a perfect spell for assassinating players in solo queue.
One thing that can set Syndra behind is the fact that she’s squishy and lacks mobility. In high elo, enemy junglers are prone to ganking Syndra over and over again, especially when her Flash is down.
However, if you can play carefully and not overextend, Syndra is one of the best mages you can ever play in LoL!
Read Also: The Best Mythic Items for AP Mages
6. Veigar
Veigar is another old champion that still holds a title as one of the best mages in League of Legends. And here’s why.
Veigar has fantastic tools that let him control the team fight and obliterate the entire enemy team. He has more than enough damage to carry games in solo queue, especially from the mid game onward.
Veigar has two major strengths – crowd control and burst damage. His CC comes from his E – Event Horizon which is a large cage that can trap and stun multiple enemies at once. It creates a no-go zone for his opponents and lets him and his team reposition if needed.
As for Veigar’s damage, a large role here plays his passive – Phenomenal Evil Power. Veigar can stack bonus ability power through minions and champions, allowing him to scale more than the usual mage in League of Legends.
In fact, it’s not crazy to see a Veigar with 1000 AP in the late game. But what’s crazy here is that with 1000 AP, his abilities hit harder than any other champion in League of Legends.
For example, Veigar’s W + Q combo can take down the enemy ADC in the late game and his R can execute a target from 50 or 60% HP.
Because of this, Veigar is one of the best late game mid champions in LoL. With him, it’s all about farming in the early game and trying to get as many stacks as fast as possible. The fact is that Veigar will always have more AP than the enemy mid laner, so he’s always ahead of them.
Veigar is one of my personal favorite champions for climbing in solo queue, so here are my top 10 Veigar tips for you.
5. Ahri
Ahri is one of the most beloved champions in League of Legends. She’s stolen the hearts of many mid laners and carried many teams to victory, even in professional matches.
Ahri is an assassin mage, a type of champion who deals insane bursts of damage and is highly mobile. She can maneuver through the battlefield in amazing ways and create kill opportunities the way most players don’t expect.
Ahri’s main tools include her E – Charm, her Q – Orb of Deception, and her R – Spirit Rush. With her ultimate, Ahri can dash closer to her target, Charm them with E, and burst them down with Q. This combo can be lethal to squishy champions which are usually Ahri’s primary targets.
What makes Ahri such an effective mage/assassin is that her ultimate gets one more charge with each champion takedown. So even if she spends all her 3 dashes, Ahri can dash once or twice more if she keeps slaying enemy champions.
In most players’ opinion, this is one of the best abilities for chasing down kills, especially in solo queue. It allows you to keep up with any enemy and keep damaging them as they’re running away.
Because Ahri can one-shot targets, the key to playing her successfully is to be more of an assassin and less of a control mage. The ideal setup is sometimes you sitting in a bush and waiting for the enemy ADC or support to come by so you can eliminate them from the fight.
However, Ahri can clear waves efficiently, roam around the map, and deal huge amounts of AoE magic damage. So, she’s one of the most fantastic mages you can ever play!
Read Also: 7 Best Mid Laners Against Tanks
4. Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is another mid laner that gets a lot of love from professional and high elo players. She’s one of the best carry champions in the role and can 1v5 the entire enemy team if played correctly.
Cassiopeia always starts slow in the early game but her power grows with each level. She’s a mage with a playstyle very close to that of a marksman and depends on the mechanical skill and an overall understanding of team fighting.
Here’s what I mean by that.
All of Cassioepia’s abilities are relatively short-range or in the same range as the average auto-attack. And the way you deal damage with Cassioepia is by applying a poison first (with Q or W) and then spamming your E – Twin Fang while moving and kiting around.
What’s really key on Cassiopeia is that you need to dodge critical spells that are coming from the enemy team. This champion doesn’t have dashes and no defensive spells either, so it’s important to learn how to kite and peel.
On the other hand, Cassiopeia offers a lot of magic damage and crowd control. Her passive allows her to not build boots so she can get one more item in her inventory than the enemy mid laner.
And lastly, Cassiopeia can control multiple enemies at once and even prevent them from Flashing away thanks to her W – Miasma.
Read Also: Top 15 Best Off-Meta Mid Laners in LoL
3. Vladimir
Since the dawn of time, Vladimir has been one of the best mages in League of Legends in terms of potential for carrying games. And if you’d like a champion that can always win a team fight no matter what, Vladimir is your guy.
What really differentiates Vladimir from many other mages in LoL is that he’s a battle mage and can fight endlessly. And while most mages are only good at being offensive and dealing damage, Vladimir is simply exceptional at surviving and staying alive.
Vladimir’s whole concept is about draining the life of his enemies and keeping his health up. And that’s exactly the way his ability kit works in League.
Generally, Vladimir spends his laning phase farming minions and getting as much XP and gold as possible. His Q – Transfusion is a point-click spell that allows him to heal himself and stay perfectly safe early on.
On top of this, Vladimir has his W – Sanguine Pool that lets him become untargetable and dodge key abilities from the enemy team. Thanks to it, Vladimir can avoid getting caught, especially when the enemy jungler comes to gank.
Vladimir really begins to shine in the mid and late game team fights. His R – Hemoplauge is an AoE effect that deals damage to all affected enemies and heals Vladimir too. And if he uses it on multiple champions, he can practically heal from 1% HP to 100% HP in a matter of seconds.
Lastly, Vladimir doesn’t use mana as a resource for casting spells which also makes him an easy champion to play in the mid lane.
Read Also: 15 Best Mid Laners for Beginners (Easy Picks)
2. Orianna
Orianna is probably the most popular control mage in League of Legends. She’s been used as an AP carry in more professional matches than any other mage and there are more than a few reasons why.
First of all, Orianna is a safe pick in the mid lane regardless of the matchup.
Against other mages, Orianna goes even and can often control them by positioning her ball aggressively. And against assassins, Orianna can bully them during the early game and shield herself to block a bit of their damage.
Next, Orianna is both a carry mage and a supportive mage for her team. Because she can shield her teammates and activate her spells through them, her kit works as an enchanter too.
For example, Orianna can shield Rengar just as he’s about to jump on an enemy. And when he does, Ori can activate her R and W from Rengar’s position to help him assassinate his target.
On the other hand, Orianna has more than enough damage to carry team fights on her own. Her Shockwave is one of the most impactful abilities in the whole League of Legends. And if you use it at the right time and in the right spot, you can single-handedly win a team fight.
Just look what Faker is able to do on Orianna in professional matches.
One thing that prevents people from playing Orianna is her unique design and the fact that the damage is dealt through her ball. But if that comes naturally to you, she’s a much-worthy pick to practice and dominate the Rift with!
Read Also: The 10 Most Fun Mid Lane Champions
1. Ryze
Out of all the mage champions that Riot Games have designed and put in League of Legends, Ryze has been the best one in all aspects of the word.
First of all, Ryze has been reworked a couple of times. And each edition of Ryze has been significantly different than all other ones. But despite that, Ryze didn’t lose his core identity of the battle mage that simply overpowers everyone!
Second, Ryze is one of the best scaling champions in LoL. Not only do his abilities scale with bonus AP but also with maximum mana. And the more mana Ryze has the harder his spells hit.
Some players think that this is simply too OP because it doubles the power that Ryze can get compared to the other mages in the mid lane. And at times, it certainly is like that!
Next, Ryze’s specialty is in dealing lots of magic damage from close range on repeat. There are a couple of ways to combo his abilities but you mainly look to either lock a target down with E + W or burst someone with E + Q.
Since Ryze excels in 1v1 fights, he’s also an efficient split pusher in LoL. He can match any top or mid laner in the side lane and defeat them if played correctly.
In team fights, Ryze’s strengths lie in rooting one target and bursting them down before anything else happens. His R – Realm Warp can be a fantastic tool for engaging or disengaging because it effectively teleports all of his allies away.
That said, Ryze has everything a mage champion needs to carry games in solo queue. And I recommend him wholeheartedly!
Read Also: How to Find Your Main Champion?
Conclusion
Of course, there are more than 10 exceptional mages in League of Legends. And frankly speaking, I can talk for hours about Viktor, Zoe, Taliyah, and Twisted Fate.
But the 10 champions you see here are the ones that have really left a mark on LoL on a broader scale, so they definitely deserve to here.
That said, I hope you liked my list and found it fun as well as informative. Good luck, my friends!
