Ever since champions like Jayce and Nidalee hit the rift, the strongest of the poke champions have all made the spotlight and eventually subsequently nerfed. However, there stands one that rarely, if ever, sees the spotlight. 
Introduction
Ever since champions like Jayce and Nidalee hit the rift, the strongest of the poke champions have all made the spotlight and eventually subsequently nerfed. However, there stands one that rarely, if ever, sees the spotlight.
An underground pick for a long time and recently picked up by Unicorns of Love in a professional level game, Varus provides large-scale utility and massive range poke.
How to Play Varus Mid
Varus mid is played as an attack damage caster with standard AD runes and prioritizing R> Q> E> W.
The only difference between mid lane Varus and regular Varus is that many prioritize spamming his Q rather than stacking pure damage (think ARAM style).
This means that they tend to rush a Manamune, then stack armor penetration items such as brutalizer and last whisper. Some recommend Blade of the Ruined King for self-peel and tank killing power, but it's also possible to go straight to Black Cleaver instead to maximize your Q's power. but an alternative is to go bloodthirster instead to maximize your Q damage.
Benefits of Varus Mid
Compared to Nidalee's 1500 range Javelin Toss, Varus' Q maxes out at 1625 range and can also go through targets (albeit with reduced damage).
When maxed, it is very potent and its projectile speed is fairly difficult to dodge.
Additionally, he provides some amazing waveclear and excellent primary or secondary intitation via his ultimate, which was recently buffed for increased missile width.
Disadvantages of Varus Mid
The majority of disadvantages of Varus mid are basically the same as many other "poke" type champions like Kog'maw including:
- Low mobility;
- Lower all-in damage early on; and
- Forces team to usually wait for poke damage before engaging.
As an AD mid, he also forces your top or jungle to try and pick something with magic damage, but with the Cinderhulk meta favoring a lot of AP junglers that hasn't been an issue.
Thoughts on Varus Mid
For the most part, I actually think that Varus mid is balanced in Tier 2, if not actually closer to Tier 1 in power and will be adding him to the list on the 5.8 patch update.
He provides almost everything you want in a mid laner, and is definitely fairly simple to play in comparison to a lot of other mid laners.
i saw an ap varus mid once
ReplyDeleteShouldn't it be: "When maxed, it is very potent and its projectile speed is fairly [difficult] to dodge."?
ReplyDeleteIndeed...I need more sleep
ReplyDelete#sp4zie
ReplyDeleteI see Default ADC mid Varus , LCS :D
ReplyDeleteThe runes aren't that standard. PoE plays varus with 2 attack speed quints (1 damage quint), and CDR per level blues. You can play it with health per level yellows.
ReplyDeleteWith the Black Cleaver change and not being built from a Brutalizer any longer, would you still grab an early Brutalizer? If not, how does this change affects his build and will Varus mid be good with the reworked Black Cleaver?
ReplyDeleteWith the latest black cleaver rework, going bloodthirster instead is also a viable option for pure damage. I think Brutalizer is still worth it, and upgrading to Ghostblade gives him decent mobility.
ReplyDeleteuol vs fnc,final,first game...varus mid able to carry with decent peel and some nasty ks :D
ReplyDeleteWhich team used it. I love both UOL and NATTTIC. but I root for FNATIC , it's old school fave team.
ReplyDeleteAP Varus is totally playable, actually. Not as good as AD Varus, but totally playable. Tier 3 worthy on the Tier list.
ReplyDeleteIt works because the %-health damage on his W scales with AP, as does his R.
I'll openly admit it isn't good, but it works.
ap varus is lamer
ReplyDeleteUoL used it, worked pretty well.
ReplyDeleteif riot adds some random ap scaling on his E or Q i think he will be a very legit choice
ReplyDeletehttp://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/TRLH3/1001130066?gameHash=96d4cf113afcd471
ReplyDeleteVarus is a pretty solid mid-laner right now, would definitely agree with the high Tier 2 placement. Many ADCs are functional mid-laners.
ReplyDelete-
Feels appropriate to bring up mid Corki here, since it's similar in many ways and sees a significant amount more play competitively.
People tend to start with AD and resistances on it, rush a Trinity Force, and then get Sorcerer's Shoes, a Luden's Echo, and a Liandry's Torment.
Quite confused as to why competitively Trinity Force is being opted towards rather than Lich Bane, since the Luden's is generally rushed next.
Let me compare the two items:
Lich Bane gives 75% base AD + 50% AP magic damage, compared to 200% base AD from Trinity Force. Lich Bane gives 80 AP compared to 30, 5% movement speed compared to 8%, and 250 mana compared to 200 mana. Trinity Force gives 30 AD, 30% attack speed, 10% critical strike chance, 250 health, and Phage passive.
Lich Bane gives more potent autoattacks and abilities, which would seem to work better with his kit as an AP mid than the other combat stats he recieves. But, maybe not? I can see how Trinity Force would be stronger earlier into the game, with Lich Bane scaling significantly better. So, is Trinity Force being bought then for its better early-game statistics? Trinity Force also gives more sustained damage than Lich Bane, but again, that's only really relevant early-mid game.
Any sort of additional insight here would be great. Been thinking about this for a few days, still not entirely convinced that it's worth getting the Trinity Force instead.
Definitely. I think I'd rather see it on his E so as to add some AOE damage to the off-build.
ReplyDeletei never used him in bot tbh i play him in mid either ap or ad xD
ReplyDeleteThey extra move speed and rage passive would give Corki significantly more kiting ability, and the 30 AD and 30% attack speed are strong even on AP Corki, since all of his spells scale with AD aside from his W, which is primarily an escape ability anyway.
ReplyDeleteSpellblade passive is something I really make an effort to heavily utilize on Corki, mid or bot lane. I tend to rush Sheen. Gives a really significant boost in damage.
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of counter pick, when he knows Vlad is a short range mage and does not have some dash (just a tiny MS boost which costs 20% HP).
ReplyDeleteAnd such "weird" pick did not continue because against any assasins (Zed, LB, Ahri, ...) or just Xerath he would screw up :) .
But if people in Yolo queue thinks Varus is new FoTM I would be very happy, Freelo waiting!
It's just Ez and Corki are better mid-laners , given the same build.
ReplyDeleteAs a blind guy I approve of your sleepiness affecting your eyesight during proofreading
ReplyDeleteHad one Varus mid in ranked Plat 1... Firstpicked him, fed a zed to 5/0 and went afk. I hate this shît.
ReplyDeleteThen it was his mistake, you dont go Varus mid agaisnt a rival with a extreme proximity skill
ReplyDeletethat zed was smurf
ReplyDeleteHad to play this as anivia. I was bored out of my mind. He took barrier and started flash. Seriously the gayest shit. I wish people would stick picking these cheese boring champions.
ReplyDeleteStrangely whenever I play AP corki I always rush Luden's, I feel like you make more out of it than either Tri Force or Lich bane with the extra waveclear off all your spells (W doing over 300 dmg per second in some builds is quite funny), hitting The Big One with the Luden's proc will often chunk off about 1/3 to 1/2 of someones health.
ReplyDeleteI normally don't even get either item until 3rd as I feel that depending on the situation Liandry's or Athene's will always be a better choice second item, despite how well Spellblade works on Corki I generally don't want to be in AA range as AP corki unless I'm going in to finish off a kill. Yeah you lose Tower killing power but you make up so much more in siege and poke