A Complete Rune Set Up Guide for Mid Laners (Assassins/Mages) by Glaceox Gaming

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Here's the complete rune set up guide for Mid laners! (Assassins/Mages) Read the caption below for a more in-depth analysis. 

Assassin mids: (Yasuo, Zed, Fizz, Akali)

◦ Keystone:

Always take Electrocute unless you're playing against a really cancer poke lane, where taking Fleet Footwork is really good (Especially on Akali). Yasuo/Akali should usually only take Fleet Footwork or Conqueror because of how their kit works (Better at slightly extended trades than a short burst)

◦ Domination/2nd rune:

The extra 10% damage rune is absolutely broken if you are confident you can use it to snowball early game especially in a good match up mid (Zed vs Aurelion Sol etc). If not, just taking Brutal is a standard choice for bursty champions that look to go in and out of the fight asap (Zed, Fizz). For Akali and Yasuo, Triumph is a good option since taking extended fights will always lead to you being lower hp (Triumph will save you and help you make some montage plays here and there).

◦ Resolve/3rd rune:

Take Hunter - Titan against teams with a lot of crowd control, the tenacity is VERY important as an assassin. Or, you can take Regeneration against really annoying poke champions that don't allow you to breathe in lane. You could also take Spirit Walker to cheese early game with the extra 50 HP (probably good with the extra 10% damage rune for the highest base stats early game).

◦ Inspiration/4th rune:

Hunter - Genius is a good rune for champions that don't naturally build cooldown reduction (Akali/Fizz), whereas Zed builds CDR naturally and Yasuo doesn't scale off CDR. Sweet Tooth is EXTREMELY OP in lane, especially against cancer poke champions that make you half hp at level 2/3. Pathfinder is also a good option to take if you're looking to roam instead of 1v1 kill your opponent (8% movement speed is really insane).

Mage mids: (Lux, Ziggs, TF, Annie, Ahri Aurelion Sol, Orianna, Maybe Seraphine?)

◦ Keystone:

Aery should be the standard rune for mages that can shield/buff allies and poke heavy champions because of how versatile it is and what it provides (Orianna, Lux, Seraphine, Ziggs etc). If not, taking Electrocute is really strong for mages that want to burst and combo spells together (Ahri, Annie, Aurelion Sol).

Although, 1 thing to be noted is that after the nerf to Aurelion Sol, he isn't as oppressive early game and Conqueror might be a better scaling option for him (Debatable). Kleptomancy is also probably the most useful rune on TF because he doesn't utilise the other keystones that well (Extra supportive buffs from Klepto). You could also maybe try going aftershock on TF versus really hard matchups like Zed.

◦ Domination/2nd rune:

Gathering storm is BY FAR the most value rune in this game, in solo queue where teams aren't coordinated and can't close out games easily, you get A LOT of value from the stats this rune provides. You can also opt into Brutal for more early game damage which might be especially important for burst mages (Annie, Ahri). Weakness can be considered usable if you intend to build supportive items on Mid champions (Seraphine, Lux) instead of following a damage oriented build.

◦ Resolve/3rd rune:

Take Hunter - Titan vs a lot of crowd control, the extra HP also does help against assassins. Or take Regeneration in matchups where you can easily bully the opponent out of the lane (or if you are both champions that want to trade frequently). Backbone is really good into physical damage assassins (AD) because mages start with lower armor than magic resist, so it automatically gives you an extra 10 armor.

◦ Inspiration/4th rune:

Taking Manaflow band here is good because of how many extra value it gives you early game Being able to spam more spells in laning phase is a big deal). In hard matchups you can take Sweet Tooth (This rune is really OP in lane), it also helps you scale faster because of the extra gold 😃 Lastly, Hunter - Genius is really good and might be the GO-TO RUNE in the future because of how Mages will eventually start building (lack of viable CDR items to stack).