Breaking the Meta: Subzero008's Guide to Playing the New Double-Mid Meta (WIP)

I know this guide is way incomplete. I published it in this state so that people can see it. A lot of the info here is disorganized; it's more of a stream-of-consciousness thing. Just assume that every section here is WIP.

Also, FINALLY! I CAN MAKE A GUIDE TITLED BREAK THE META WITH ABSOLUTELY ZERO EXAGGERATION!

Simple. No jungler. Instead, mid lane is composed of a mage and a support tank.

Disclaimer: I am fairly certain that a non-tank support is possible, but for the purpose of simplicity, and the fact that this is, well, a new meta, we shall go with tanks for now.

You can encounter a few hiccups along the way. Here's how to deal with them.

1. Enemy mids who can clear safely. Firstly, there is no mage that can clear a wave quickly at level one. This is where the support comes in, and zones them out back to their tower, restricting their farm. Of course, they're inevitably going to get to a point where they can oneshot the wave from their tower, but the idea is to milk your early game advantage for all it's worth until you can take your first set of mid camps, and snowball from there. And if worst comes to worst, there is always Hercules and Sobek.

2. Enemy jungler gets fed off of other lanes. Okay, most of the time, you can simply keep on the pressure in the mid lane, since if the enemy jungler is over there, he isn't here, not to mention most junglers retreat once a gank has been completed. You can use this gap of time to take mid camps or rotate or push like mad, but let's assume a worst case scenario.

Let's say that the enemy jungler gets three kills at the three minute mark and does this all before the mid camps respawn. He's a level above you both, and he's very scary. However, levels aren't everything. You still have plenty of CC that gives you a heavy advantage in a fight. Ymir can freeze the enemy jungler before securing mid camps with HoG, avoiding a fight entirely.

Alternatively, simply pressuring mid like mad can work. The jungler does not have Watcher's Gift, which means if he is forced to camp your lane, he will slowly lose his lead.

Otherwise, you will normally be able to win a 2v1 fight for mid lane, and getting towers will help the rest of your team out.

(To be perfectly honest, this is the most uncertain part of this meta. Need more data. And also, a normal team comp would also have trouble with a snowballing enemy jungler.)

3. What if we are shut down? Firstly, the normal meta can also get shut down, even more easily due to the high-risk-high-reward itemization that junglers have. Secondly, you can consider this entire guide as "how to not get ROFLstomped when doing this meta."

4. Teamfights. Sometimes, you need damage that you don't have. This is a matter of team comp, discussed in another section. (Not here yet, will add soon.)

Simple enough. Just play like a normal mid laner, but with less emphasis on poking and harass and more on farming. Farming is especially important, as it helps both you and your partner out.

I mean, if your MLG is going in, you should go in and help, but you shouldn't make harassment a priority. You should also focus on getting mid camps when the timer is up, which translates to warding, recalling, making sure the enemy mid is low enough to not risk a fight, etc.

Other than that, just outplay and crush the enemy mid. Then you could rotate, take towers, etc.

In terms of build and such, you should generally level your damage skill first. This increases self-sufficiency. A good team should be able to work well together as well as apart, and this helps with both making trades and clearing camps, both of which are important.

At the start of the game, help your solo laner by soloing their blue camp before returning to mid lane. For this purpose, you need Watcher's Gift and Hand of the Gods, with the remaining 400 gold free to spend as you see fit.

You face three kinds of mid laners: Pushers, like Ao or Ra, Farmers, like Scylla or Zeus, or oddballs that don't really fit into either category, like Isis or Agni. Mid laners can shift roles, and all of them eventually become farmers, but you must vary your approach depending on the god.

For pushers, focus on disrupting their level 1-2 farm. Generally speaking, you can easily zone them due to them being forced to use their main clear skill on the wave, making them nearly helpless if you choose to attack them. If they turtle behind tower, feel free to push hard, depriving them of farm.

For farmers, you need to outpush them. Most farmers like Scylla or Zeus are too slippery or too dangerous to risk a direct fight, so take advantage of them being weak early and push them to death. For some mages like Scylla, outpushing is your best bet, although certain MLGs like Sobek can force her to stick around (and die).

Oddballs require a unique approach to each of them. Agni is the easiest one to counter; he relies on his dash to clear, so punish him severely for that.

As a general rule, exploit their weaknesses to the max, whether that is their weak lane presence or poor clear or something else.

The first mid camps are insanely important. Recall early if need be, to be in top shape for the inevitable contesting of the mid camps, or go very aggressive on the enemy mid to force them to recall. You could even try to start a fight.

Going to their side's camps first is best; the enemy jungler cannot use his HoG if you stun him first, virtually guaranteeing you securing the first set of camps. Depending on your own preference and position in the game, your ally mid could either be helping you, potentially getting a kill, or be taking the other mid camps if you feel confident enough to risk it. In the case of the former, be sure to rush to and take the other mid camps as soon as possible, if your allies have no rotated to get them already.

Now, for laning, you want to generally always be on the sidelines, avoiding the enemy mid's clearing ability, if they use it, and sneaking in a hit or two, or at least making them go away.

Minions: These little guys are both your best friend and your worst enemy. They do a **** ton of damage to you early, but they also do a **** ton of damage to the enemy as well, and early game is where you want to press your advantage. In order to succeed in the double mid meta, you must learn to work with your own minions while neutralizing the enemy's. You can potentially walk intentionally into the enemy's damaging ability, forcing them to retreat, but this only works early. You could also try CC-ing the enemy after they provoke minion damage, which can hurt a lot. Just make sure to minimize the damage you take from their minions.

Jungle: You always want to be on the lookout for the enemy jungler, as they can screw you over. Ward, so you don't burn you CC right as the enemy jungler shows up and latches onto your mid laner.

Post-Level 5: This part gets dangerous for you all, as the enemy mid laner might get his ultimate before you do. Do not take any risks at this point and try to farm quickly, to reach level 5 ASAP.

From there on, just stick to the guidelines. Zone and poke and harass, while taking mid camps. You can push the lane to get an early tower or rotate to gank, if you have time, but that's after the enemy mid laners has been (temporarily) neutralized, whether it is from outfarming him into insignificance or forcing him to recall or killing him.

Play defensive. This comp has no jungler, so you want to take few risks. Don't huddle around tower all early game, but just be careful and don't be stupid and be a little less daring than usual. It's the difference between dashing forward to secure a kill or being content with forcing them to recall.

Uh, in general, you want highly damaging push mages. Anubis (who doesn't suck thanks to the presence of a peeler), Ao Kuang (similar to Anubis), Poseidon, etc.

You want damage because the lack of an assassin can hurt your teamfights, and you need to be able to push because getting last hits and clearing waves is the entire cornerstone of this meta.

Mid Guardians: A mid guardian is truly a guardian, having to defend not only his partner, but the location itself. Your role is primarily defensive, but doing so also requires some offense in order to be a threat. A mid guardian needs:

1. Decent clear. The Mid Lane Guardian (henceforth known as the MLG) to take mid camps alone and quickly if need be, on top of being able to hold the lane alone. That's because as the support, you must cover your partner while they recall, or clear a wave off your tower, or other stuff. A good partner must able to work alone as well as together.

2. Enough CC and/or damage to defend your partner. This one should be obvious; you need to pose a threat to be a threat.

3. Have the ability to peel your partner from a rotation or gank. The difference between this and number two should be emphasized: Peeling is different from just CC or damage. Fenrir's Brutalize or Ares' Shackles are soft peeling, discouraging the enemy to disengage by either damage or slowing, but not immediately forcing a disengage. Something like Ymir's Frost Breath, on the other hand, is literally the best forms of peeling in the game. Able to stun multiple hostiles, lock enemies down for a long time, and being very difficult to miss.

4. Combo potential. Fenrir, aside from his ultimate, does little to combo with his ally mid laner beyond raw damage. Hercules, on the other hand, has plenty of combo potential, from pushing the enemy mid laner like a ragdoll for five miles, to shoving them back into the path of abilities like Ao's tornadoes, or Hades' Devour Souls, or even the very angry minion wave.

5. Sustainability. Lane presence is tremendously important in this system, and being constantly forced to recall will leave your mid laner underleveled and alone, never a good combination. You need to be with your partner on a reliable basis, especially in the early game or when you fall behind. This could be accomplished through either early game tankiness, such as Ymir, or healing, like Hercules or Guan Yu.

6. Early game power. The objective of the duo mid system is to push your early game advantage for all it's worth. You cannot do that as a hyper carry support. That is why Guardians as the easiest to use here.

Actual List: A tier is 6/6 categories or 5/6 with something exceptional, B tier is 5/6 or 4/6 with something exceptional, etc.

Ymir: A Tier, due to having the best peeling in the game bar none, having amazing zoning skills and early game power, being the tankiest level one character, a universally effective stun, and on top of all that, fantastic clearing ability for a tank.

Hercules: A Tier, with one caveat: You'll need synergy between you and your mid laner that is incredibly rare in solo queue. He has tons of CC, better survivability than most tanks, amazing damage, great clear speed, and amazing peeling...at the cost of having the most chaotic CC in the game, often disrupting your ally's efforts. Play him with care and restraint and you'll be rewarded with one of the best duo mid supports in the game. Just beware of his potential to screw his own team over.

Athena: A tier. Your peeling is good, your damage is high enough to zone, your CC synergizes excellently with most mages, your passive gives you quite a bit of survivability, and your clear is...decent, I guess. But the best part is her amazing mobility, giving you global map presence.

Sobek: B tier. His peeling is decent, his survivability is fantastic, his clear speed is alright. But he suffers from having an unpredictable form of CC, on top of low damage. However, his ability to pull enemies with his dash gives him an interesting niche with his survivability and sustain, making him one of the best zoners in the game.

Ares: B tier. Ares cannot peel at all, and this is a HUGE detriment against junglers like Bastet or Ne Zha. His CC isn't that great, either, and his clear is average at best. However, his ultimate and his insane damage give him a unique role in duo mid - unlike other MLGs, he can make damage trades by himself, and he can brutally punish enemy junglers who come to gank by forcing the under tower. Pairs well with mages who can peel for themselves.

Bacchus: Do Not Ever Use Ever Tier. Just don't. His damage is alright, but his peeling is subpar, his CC is subpar,