League of Legends has over 150 Champions under its belt. Each of them has its unique quirks, mechanics, and functions. Because of that, it might be hard to group Champions into any collective, but we find ways of doing so by looking at certain shared aspects.
One of these shared aspects is how well the Champion performs at specific points in the game. We call this scaling, and all Champions are better or worse at it. Some may be amazing for the early game, while others have to wait to reach their full potential.
The latter Champions are the subject of this article. They’re what we might call “scaling Champions,” i.e., Champions that perform best in the later parts of the game.
We’ve compiled the 7 best Mid Lane scalers, but we’ve also written lists on other roles such as Top or Jungle. Be sure to check those out and keep an eye on our website for more.
Without further ado, let us begin with our list!
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7. Viktor
Recently featured in Arcane, League’s hit anime series, he was bound to appear in a list. Viktor’s passive hextech item amplifies his abilities and damage and takes its time to do so. He’s a slow burner and a meticulous Champion that requires more than a few minutes to reach his full potential.
Viktor’s early game is slow but not weak. He isn’t at an absurd level of power right off the bat, though he will get there eventually. By upgrading his item, he also upgrades everything on his kit. He’s more or less a textbook scaling Champion, having the mechanic built into his abilities by default.
He will be a total beast once he reaches the mid and late games. With a fully upgraded passive, Viktor’s abilities turn from poking to lethal, being able to one-shot people in a split second. Everything he does is now ten times more potent than before, and you should watch out. If Viktor is allowed to scale without interruption, it’s inevitable for him to singlehandedly eviscerate the enemy team.
Though he takes his time, it sure pays off in the end. People playing Viktor shouldn’t be fooled by his early weakness, as he sheds it by the 25-minute mark.
Also read: Best Hybrid Champions in League of Legends
6. Kassadin
Kassadin is yet another slow burner, though he doesn’t have concrete mechanics that make him a scaler like the previous entry. You will notice this with many Champions on these kinds of lists. Some will be scalers by default, with Riot designing their kits in such a way. On the other hand, others are scalers only by nature, like Kassadin here.
He starts weak, with relatively long cooldowns and poor Mana availability. Farming and leveling is Kassadins’ primary goal in the early game. Even when he gets to level 6, it isn’t his power spike. It’ll have a long cooldown, insignificant damage, and an insane Mana cost.
After he builds his mythic item, Kassadin starts picking up pace – rapidly. It will take him only a few kills and levels to get him to a formidable level of power, one that only continues growing as the game progresses. After level 11, Kassadin becomes a beast with low cooldowns and tremendous damage.
By level 16, Kassadin will be a god of one-shotting, capable of deleting the health bars of even the tankiest opponents. I highly recommend you give him a try as he was undermined by Riot on several occasions. Continuous nerfs may have pushed him out of the meta, but he still lingers on as an infamous scaling mage.
5. Vladimir
Vladimir, like Kassadin, isn’t a scaler by default. However, with how his damage and might increase with each passing minute – he was bound to be included on this list. He has a much stronger early game, capable of pressuring his opponent quite a bit. With great sustain, damage and abilities, Vladimir is a well-rounded Champion that’s strong from start to finish.
Before level 6, Vladimir is focused on poking and harassing his enemy in the Lane. Farming isn’t as easy since the animation and auto attacks are awful. But thanks to his no-cost Q, Vladimir can farm and harass with ease. After level 6 he will exponentially grow in power with each level gained, and he should focus on leveling up as much as possible.
He doesn’t need many items to reach his power spike. A mythic and a legendary are well enough to make Vladimir a foe to be reckoned with. His damage can shred through the health bars of Tanks and squishies alike, allowing him to dominate the enemy team easily. His healing can also cause him to enter an immortal state that will drive people crazy.
All in all, Vladimir is a fantastic, blood-sucking mage that will have you screaming for help with no one hearing you.
4. Yone
Yone has come up a lot recently in our lists. This is because he seems to have only become even more OP than he originally was. His popularity is soaring, and the Champion is genuinely Riot’s most giant stain upon this game. And that’s not an easy thing to claim, with so many broken messes released in the past few years.
Yone’s early, mid and late games are all equally impressive. He starts off strong, not that much, but he still can do some heavy lifting. By the mid-game, after buying his mythic and maybe more, Yone becomes a nearly unkillable beast. His late-game needs almost no comment, as it’s something that I’ve never seen in my 9 years of playing League.
He can singlehandedly win games and go 1v5 without a scratch most of the time. He’s tough to pin down or disable, managing to escape his death consistently. That damned spell allows him to shred you to pieces and return to safety in a matter of seconds. It’s like Riot combined Zed and Yasuo and thought that was a good design direction.
To say he’s a good scaling Champion is an understatement. He’s the scaling Champion, capable of doing everything you’d ever want. Even with a score of 0/10, he can put up a fight that will leave you scratching your head.
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3. Anivia
Anivia has gotten much more attention in recent months. It’s nice to see people still playing a Champion as old as the game itself. Though Anivia has received many buffs over the years, it’s still a good thing to have the old guys around. Anyhow, Anivia’s scaling is excellent and even too good at times.
Her early game is passive, with Anivia focusing on getting levels and farming. She is exceptionally reliant on items, as there’s not much about her kit to amplify damage that much. Her E is her primary source of damage, and having only one spell as a nuke isn’t the most significant thing in today’s environment.
As Anivia gets some levels and items, she becomes a formidable mage who can do quite a lot. Her E will be more than a nuke, able to deal hundreds if not thousands of damage in a single cast. The Ultimate is a fantastic team fight spell with excellent utility and damage. Anivia also has the annoying passive skill that allows her to be much more aggressive than the usual Champion.
She reminds me a lot of Trynda, only ranged and AP. She can tower dive, engage multiple opponents, etc., while remaining safe and surviving the encounter with her passive.
All in all, she’s a good Champion that you should pay attention to.
2. Ziggs
Ziggs is one of the best pushers in League of Legends. His scaling is nice but not as great as others on the list. However, it manifests itself differently; therefore, it isn’t precisely directly comparable. Ziggs will grow in strength with each passing minute, able to destroy Turrets more effectively as time goes on.
He will prioritize blowing stuff up, especially structures. Ziggs has some of the most insane damage against structures that I’ve seen. Most AP Champions are good in this regard, but Ziggs takes it a notch further. He can destroy a Turret in seconds using his attacks and C4, which can immediately destroy any Turret with 30% or less HP.
Though his overall damage against everyone will increase with time, Ziggs scales best against structures. Being such a destructive little guy, I’d say he’s more of a utility Champion than a mage. Whatever the case, Ziggs is among the best scaling Champions League offers and is a pain to deal with once he starts focusing down your base.
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1. Corki
Another old yet gold Champion that’s been around. His current state is his strongest, and the scaling is particularly emphasized. His passive activates every few minutes, meaning that Corki will have peak moments multiple times in a game. With each item, his damage exponentially increases, being able to delete people in seconds.
He does AP damage despite building AD. This makes Corki one of the best hybrid Champions ever, if not the best. He’s a headache to play against since you’ll have to build double the defenses to prevent him from annihilating you with nothing more than basic attacks. Once he employs his abilities, it becomes even more of a nuisance.
That W passive makes him have some of the most robust team fight potentials. His impact, power, and overall strength are significant and should be feared. Feeding Corki is a death sentence, and you should stay clear if he gains an advantage. Preventing him from snowballing isn’t that easy either, as he doesn’t need much to achieve greatness.
I highly recommend Corki to the folks that love playing ADCs. He’s as good on Bot as in the Mid Lane, and you should check him out. I love him, and you will, too, as soon as you pick him up.
Conclusion
Scaling Champions are many in League of Legends. Some perform better; others aren’t so great. The list above shows that the Mid Lane has its fair share of these Champions, offering a few formidable foes. Whenever you meet the entries above on the Rift, you should pay extra attention as not to hasten their scaling process. Check out our website for more on the topic and other exciting articles.
I hope you’ve found this list informative and fun to read, and I wish you all the best on the Summoner’s Rift!
