How Does Kai'Sa Fare in the Mid-Lane?

Kai’Sa is one of the champions in the League of Legends roster who has great mobility and can also dish out good amounts of damage to the enemy mid-laner. Back in 2020, Kai’Sa was a meta pick in mid-lane but slowly faded out of the picture. Now, she has been slowly rising to meta again in the mid-lane and pros like T1 Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok have been prioritizing her. Apart from spamming her in Korean Solo Queue, Faker picked Kai’Sa in T1’s series against Kwangdong Freecs in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK). Season 12 of League of Legends has already witnessed some pretty wild picks and strategies pop up and has changed the way the game is played. Now, it seems like mid-lane Kai’Sa will be a top pick for pro players in the coming weeks.

Why is Kai’Sa picked in the mid-lane?

The key to playing Kai’Sa in the mid-lane is to go the ability-power (AP) build and the champion will have the power to one-shot enemies. The League of Legends community seems to consider Kai’Sa’s playstyle very similar to that of Corki’s, but just a bit weaker. League of Legends player and streamer Isaac “Pekin Woof” Marconis commented that the mid-lane Kai’Sa was being picked as a counter pick to LeBlanc and playing her into the normal mid-laners would make it a challenging matchup. On the other hand, a ranged champion like Kai’Sa outshines and comes on top while dealing with melee champions in the same lane.

The one major drawback to playing her is that she is relatively weaker without her spell evolutions.

Kai’Sa’s passive Second Skin allows her to evolve abilities and makes them stronger. Her basic attacks stack Plasma, dealing increasing bonus magic damage. Allies' immobilizing effects help stack Plasma. Additionally, Kai'Sa's item purchases upgrade her basic spells to have more powerful properties.

Faker has been building Manamune first and then he rushes AP items like Luden’s Echo. Another problem with playing Kai’Sa in the mid-lane is that she depends on her teammates to perform well on the side lanes so that the pressure on the mid-lane is maintained. As a ranged champion, Kai’Sa can keep the waves pressed to the enemy’s tower and then look to roam with her jungler.

According to a report by Game4v, Gen.G’s mid-laner Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon also shared his thoughts on this interesting pick. He reportedly said that the champion is a good pick in the current meta because it allows players to bounce back even when the lane is lost. He added that when he tried out the champion in the mid-lane in 2020 it did not work so well because there was no bounty system in the game.

According to U.GG, Kai’Sa mid, in Platinum and higher tiers, has a pick rate of 2.6% and a ban rate of 2.2%. With over 36K matches, Kai’Sa mid in Solo Queue only has a win rate of 44.82%. The win rate may be low as amateur players do not understand why she is being picked in the mid-lane. The pick’s success will definitely depend on the team composition and also how well the team can execute their plans in-game.

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