This year’s Worlds may have already been done and dusted but it’s always good to revisit some of the action and game-winning strategies and combos that helped define the current meta. Pro players who took part in this year’s Worlds have shown different ways of playing certain champions, placing them in different lanes where their skills suit the best.
That very principle has also applied to how mages are usually played. Casual and competitive players alike do not limit mages in the mid lane as magic damage in LoL can be dealt even by some non-mages. In that case, it’s only fair that champions that rely on magic damage be given a bit of flexibility around the map.
No matter what role they play on the battlefield, certain mages have skill sets most players consider broken or overpowered. These mages are either strongly sought-after in matches or just outright banned. The same thing happened in this year’s Worlds where strong mages have either been benched on the team’s ban selection or be picked right away. If you are interested in who these mages are, here are the top 10 most hotly contested mages in Worlds 2021:
LeBlanc
Known through the lore as a master of deception, LeBlanc is usually played as a mid lane hero who can easily escape enemies through her invisibility that gets triggered once her health gets low enough. She also has decent crowd control and offensive abilities, making her a reliable hero when it comes to synergy. In this year’s Worlds, she got involved in 100 games: she got banned 71 times and got picked 29 times. Out of all the games she got picked, she won 15 of them.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate is another reliable hero with quite an effective escape mechanism and decent damage output due to his deck of cards. His passive allows him to earn gold quicker than most mages when he kills enemy units. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 92 games: he got banned 64 times and got picked 28 times. Out of all the games he got picked, he won 15 of them.
Ryze
Ryze is a mage who, like Twisted Fate, has a teleportation ability that can be used to reposition or disengage himself and his allies. Meanwhile, his other abilities can deal massive damage depending on his bonus mana while his Overload is spammable. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 82 games: he got banned 49 times and got picked 33 times. Out of all the games he got picked, he won 15 of them.
Kennen
Kennen is a mage who is usually played in the Baron Lane due to his moveset. His passive gives him slight crowd control while his abilities help trigger that passive. He can also dish out lots of magic damage, especially during team fights where his ultimate and passive together can leave opponents helpless. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 75 games: he got banned 45 times and got picked 30 times. Out of all the games he got picked, he won 20 of them.
Sylas
Sylas is a strong mage who specialises in using his chains to whip opponents or latch onto them. His ultimate enables him to mimic an opponent’s ultimate, making him a dangerous champion to go against. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 46 games: he got banned 17 times and got picked 29 times. Out of all the games he got picked, he won 14 of them.
Zoe
Zoe is a mage who can deal lots of damage thanks to her passive which grants additional magic damage on her next normal attack after casting an ability. She also has the ability to mimic an enemy’s summoner spell or item trigger, after which she fires three magic missiles at the nearest target. In this year’s Worlds, she got involved in 38 games: she got banned 19 times and got picked 19 times as well. Out of all the games she got picked, she won 12 of them.
Syndra
Syndra is a mage who can be played in either the mid lane or the Baron lane due to her abilities that are built around her Dark Sphere. Her passive makes her abilities even stronger once they reach their maximum level. In this year’s Worlds, she got involved in 31 games: she got banned 12 times and got picked 19 times. Out of all the games she got picked, she won 14 of them.
Azir
Azir is a mage who is most reliable on securing map control through his passive that enables him to summon a turret on top of a destroyed one, regardless of which half of the map it is in. His abilities enable him to summon sand soldiers who will fight on his behalf. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 28 games: he got banned 14 times and got picked 14 times as well. Out of all the games he got picked, he won seven of them.
Orianna
Orianna is a well-balanced mage in that she is both beneficial in offence and defence. Her passive deals a stackable additional magic damage to one target of her normal attacks while Orianna’s abilities are done by her trusty magic ball which either attacks enemies or shields allies. In this year’s Worlds, Orianna got involved in 22 games: she got banned five times and got picked 17 times. Out of all the games she got picked, she won six of them.
Ziggs
Ziggs is a mage who is mostly played in the Dragon lane due to his strong damage output and increased laning potential. His weapons of choice are different bombs that explode in different magnitudes. One of the bombs work on vulnerable towers while his ultimate bomb can be thrown from a distance to deal more massive damage. In this year’s Worlds, he got involved in 18 games: he got banned nine times and got picked nine times as well. Out of all the games he got picked, he won six of them.
These ten mages have varying skill caps which is why pro players make sure to create the best combos and completely study each champion’s abilities. If you wish to learn how these champions are played, you can practice them in bot matches first. Learning how to play these meta-relevant heroes could give you an advantage if you have the chance to pick any of them.