Heroes that "must" solo mid or else risk losing lots of potential later on

[ElementUser]

To clarify, this is not the list of "good middle heroes". This is a list of heroes that pretty much need solo middle lane or else they'll most likely suck later on (unless they have a good early game or their other lanes made up for it).

:defi:
:souls: (Except for special circumstances like the Glac/SS dual lane with pulls, but that won't happen)
:doct:
:thun:
:poll: (in HoN anyway, dual laning is very very circumstantial for him because of his E and he needs the right lane partner to do well)
:dead:
:bloo:
:monk:

Special exceptions:

:corr: - he needs some sort of cc hero (preferably ranged) to get his Conduit up high enough. Still incredibly good mid otherwise.
:elec: - it really depends. If you're sidelaning then you either need a godly babysit or do a pure roam build. Still incredibly good for mid otherwise. It's preferable if your lane only has 1 hero that can break your Grip channel.
:wret: - *can* do a suicide solo sidelane, not recommended unless necessary/your team lineup is good for it. Mid is still more preferable.
:bubb: - *can* do a suicide solo sidelane, not recommended unless necessary/your team lineup is good for it. Mid is still more preferable.

Feel free to agree/disagree & comment on this list and/or add more heroes to this list.

[CHICA`SUCIA]

Pebbles doesn't have to solo, nor does CD, Who plays defiler these days pfft.

Things to add
Fayde
Bubbles (Sidelane Bubbles in every situation is BAD, unless solo)

[ElementUser]

Some heroes got "meta'ed out" like Defiler and SS, but it still doesn't change the fact that they're useless in side lanes.

Added Bubbles, though I disagree on Fayde.

CD is...well meh. Someone pointed out to me that Conduit's great no matter where you are, but I never see enough good CD sidelanes to really believe that he can sidelane pretty well. I guess it depends on matchups too.

[Apostate]

Wasn't Magmus+ CD a very popular sidelane combo not that long ago?

Bloodhunter deserves a spot, I think. The only way he can possibly do any good is if he wrecks mid enough to get huge level advantage, and he has no abilities that help him get kills in a sidelane situation.

[ElementUser]

Yeah fair enough about BH, though he's in the same boat as Defiler/SS/"other meta'ed out" heroes.

I haven't been keeping up on things too much and I'm going off of what I know, so I don't know about the Magmus+CD "trend" (if any). Magmus makes any ranged hero a good combo with him though :P.

Removed Pebbles because of the imbaness of stuns - but he's still best paired up with someone like Glac if sidelaning.

[Dasherz_]

Personally I would take Hag and bubbles off that list and to some extent elect as he can get good farm with a babysitter and still do alot of damage at early levels.

Bubbles and hag are some of the best suicide laners with their escape moves. Neither do anyless damage without early game items and both can catch up in farm once the game opens up more later on. Im not saying they dont needs farm just that they dont need solo mid. They d need a solo lane though.

[Kyonko]

Is it exclusively middle lane, or could you substitute a solo lane for it? Say, with a jungler?

[Ackwell1]

Nice list, but theres few heroes who shouldnt be even picked tb and bh. Who ever says defiler isnt strong sucks... Defiler is perfect hero to solo win games, good aoe nuke for harras and pushing lanes before runes, awesome teamfight silence + ult which can also be used to push extremely fast. I personally just mid with any hero, cause im alot better in 1v1 situations than 2v2.

[Sandtrap]

Basically any hero is far better off with a glac/ds sitting them over being in a solo lane, if you want the heroes that doesn't benefit from it as much compared to leaving them alone I suppose at least cd and elec should be removed from that list, both are incredibly strong in dual lanes (and for cd arguably even preferable).

[Chronomical`]

I would remove cd for sure.
Even did a cd and succ lane? Talk about rape conduit.

[ElementUser]

Okay, I moved some of the heroes into a special list. They are still most likely way better in mid though

[zstarkey42]

You won't really do much with heros like :gemi::monk: in lanes either. They need levels more than anything as well.

[FabryPerot]

Pebbles...

[ElementUser]

Pebbles can do fine in a sidelane if he has a ranged CC partner, he just needs farm to get PKey. Levels are very beneficial but it's not as much of a necessity like the other heroes I listed.

I haven't played Gemini or MK much so I wouldn't know much about them

[Farosarg]

I'd put Artesia on the list pretty much straight up. She peaks incredibly early which means that fast levels on her are really really valuable. Devourer is another. Sure you can lane him on the side but chances are that even if he gets a couple of kills on the lane he won't have that snow-balling take-off that he generally has from the mid lane with level advantage and more effective roaming with runecontrol. Same is also true for Chipper. He wants the fast levels for his combo to be effective within his best window of influence.

[TheShiny]

Yeah Fayde needs that early level advantage to be able to gank properly. I always feel I suck with Fayde when I don't get to go mid cause of this reason. So Fayde is someone I wouldnt recommend anything else then playing mid with. I'm sure theres alot of cool stuff to do in lanes but its my personal opinion.

Also Devo is someone I don't like dual lane with. He gets so powerful with level advantage and rune control that theres hardly a better ganker early game. I know he can be played a good role in a lane but it will never be nearly as powerful as with rune control and a few extra levels on your back.

I don't agree with Defiler. Actually don't think its a very good mid hero at all. She is very powerful in lanes due to her pushing and very fragile if she plays the same agressivly game in mid cause she can't really do much more then silence to prevent being ganked. So if you want to push hard with her, imo its better to push the top lane cause you'd need the backup when pushing that you cant get in mid.

Just personal thoughts mixed with a little bit of experience on the matter.


EDIT: Just realized I pretty much said the same thing as others in the thread, sorry I only read the first post before I wrote it all.

[Tommysmamma]

Chipper + Monkey would be 2 definite midders imo.

Dev and Gemini can easily go sides. Devo + slith / glaci / ds is extremely fun and efficient and you can certainly snowball with him even if you go sidelane. Gemini just goes to afk farm jungle + the side lane you are in once he hit's lvl 6, or stay and farm lane + roam, wouldn't say he needs mid that much. Artesia is very strong mid, but has an amazing lane presence aswell. Tag her along with some decent ranged hero with a nuke and she works wonders.

Now that jungling him isn't that great anymore, I would count Zeph on the "needs mid"-list aswell. He just sucks major ass if he goes dual lane compared to the awesomeness that is 400+ gpm by going mid.

[Tony`]

:damp:
Needs the solo experience to maintain that level dominance for the snowballing to take appropriate effect. Unlike :pebb: he doesn't need a Portal Key to instagib, so just giving him an early level advantage over the opposition will help him immensely. I feel solo mid is the only way to play this hero.

:trem:
In a 2v2 lane I feel like two heroes(especially dual ranged) will make short work of his mounds, thus gimping his overall presence in lane. Same for suicide lane, except gets much less farm than he would solo mid. When he does solo mid, he gets a massive farm advantage if played properly. Not to mention how mobile and problematic his mounds make him when he does go solo mid. No other lane benefits :trem: more than solo mid.


:silh:
Personally, I think :silh: loses out on a lot of potential when not going solo mid. She benefits greatly from a farm advantage as well as a level advantage. When she does solo mid, she has an instagib-esque potential for an extended period of time. When she lanes it is a while until she can flash farm with a level 4 Death Lotus unless you don't level Relentless Salvo(not advisable) and Shadow. I'm willing to see other opinions on this, however.

:tund:
Similar to :dead:, an efficient ganker who needs early levels to dominate the game.

Just what came to mind...

[man_guy]

Only must solo mid are :thun: :defi: and maybe :doct: (dunno cause I never play him). The rest are highly preferable to be in a solo lane that isn't necessarily mid since you end up with two solo lanes commonly with junglers.

[Ackwell1]

Add dampeer to the list, he is pretty much useless w/o mid. I stomped my way up from 1600s with dampeer mid. Also ppl saying devo needs mid youre wrong, devourer can complete the most lethal lane combos. Try devo with revenant, its guaranteed fb. Reve slows the target with defile and devo follows with rot, ive managed to fb even against jerazial repeling... After that reve can just invis you and you walk to your enemies and sstart to rot or you simply just hook them.

[zstarkey42]

If you play :gemi: with stats, there's no point in sending him to sidelanes. He will be nothing but a big creep that can escape, with almost no lane presence other than being a little pertinent against harrassment. He can't do squat before he reaches 6, and by then no other lane other than mid gives you the flexibility to farm and roam at the same time with fire and ice. Like other heros mentioned here, the whole point of him is to have a level advantage over the other team.

:monk: needs levels badly because he is unable to combo with his low mana, so a bottle and rune control are vital for him to keep the pace. He also peaks to his full potential rather early and the mid-lane helps him accomplish that. Plus, ganking side lanes with runes and against underleveled opponents pretty means it's an instagib job if done correctly.

None of these 2 are particulary strong mids (well MK might be against squishies), but it's something you have to endure for them to be in their full potential late early-mid game. In fact I wouldn't even picking any of these 2 if your team already has 1 of the mid-only heros in your list.

[clim15]

The only heroes that require solo mid are the ones that are all of the following:
-Level dependent
-Nuke creep waves for CS
-Have no escape mechanism

i.e. Soulstealer, Defiler, Thunderbringer. Maybe Dr Repulsor. If you put any of these solo easy lane they will push the lane up and die. There heroes cannot handle a 1v1 sidelane against someone of equal skill.
Common mids like Deadwood, Devourer, Tremble, MK and Bloodhunter, succ, etc can solo a easy lane because they don't push up the lane by nuking the waves. All of these heroes can handle a 1v1 scenario in a sidelane.

[zstarkey42]

The only heroes that require solo mid are the ones that are all of the following:
-Level dependent
-Nuke creep waves for CS
-Have no escape mechanism

i.e. Soulstealer, Defiler, Thunderbringer. Maybe Dr Repulsor. If you put any of these solo easy lane they will push the lane up and die. There heroes cannot handle a 1v1 sidelane against someone of equal skill.
Common mids like Deadwood, Devourer, Tremble, MK and Bloodhunter, succ, etc can solo a easy lane because they don't push up the lane by nuking the waves. All of these heroes can handle a 1v1 scenario in a sidelane.

Yeah, but what's the point of sending some of those heros to sidelanes if some of they lack the synergy with others to be able to accomplish anything there? Even if they're in a solo sidelane, some of those have pretty big ganking or roaming potential (Tremble, DW come to mind) and by relegating them to only 'ganking' their own lane with the help of a jungler instead of potentially ganking all 3 lanes if they went mid.

I'm not sure how higher ranked people play, but I would rather have 'good' laners in lane, that have a good presence and can actually kill people before they hit 6. Isn't that the whole point of sending ult/level dependent heros mid, like these :monk::gemi::bloo::dead::trem:? To me, sending any of these heros to sidelanes only gimps their potential since there's much better options for lane control and early kills before they hit 6.

[clim15]

You act as if tremble and deadwood need to start in the middle lane to be able to roam and gank. Tremble is everywhere once he hits 6, and deadwood can easily tp gank or counter tower dives regardless of his lane. They just need levels.

If you're playing a sidelane solo ganker and you're only ganking your lane, you're doing it wrong. TP scrolls plus the fact that at 6 minutes you can run back and they don't know if you're TPing to gank another lane or pulling your jungle = you can tp gank your suicide lane. It's easy to gank all 3 lanes as deadwood solo short lane. Short = run thru sideshop trees. Mid = wait til night, tp, grasp. Long = tp, grasp, kill easy. You don't even need to run past rune wards.

There is no reason to bring up synergy with other heroes to accomplish anything. This is about what heroes need mid, not what teams should send x hero mid.

[Karming]

I have seen some great aggressive DW lanes, the damage he can pelt out with some CC is pretty impressive allowing him to get some decent farm even when he isn't mid. Sure he doesn't get the instant 6, but he definitely does not falter being a sidelaner with someone like Glacius.

The others I would agree with, not a fan of people pushing Polly onto a side lane or a TB.

Really though, people should not knock DW till they've tried it.

KT

[Frood]

Personally I would take Hag and bubbles off that list and to some extent elect as he can get good farm with a babysitter and still do alot of damage at early levels.

Bubbles and hag are some of the best suicide laners with their escape moves. Neither do anyless damage without early game items and both can catch up in farm once the game opens up more later on. Im not saying they dont needs farm just that they dont need solo mid. They d need a solo lane though.

For the most part you don't send a hero to mid to get them extra farm, you send them to get them a level advantage. Most carries are better off with a babysitting ds/glac etc. in terms of farm than they are mid.


And I mostly agree with the list, but in the past 2 days I've won games where I sidelaned with thunderbringer and poly, but it definitely wasn't ideal.

[Ped``Ophelia]

I've done well with fayde and tb side lane. Just rush a mana ring.

[Spankle]

I don't think TB deserves to be on the list. I've played as and against a TB in the long lane many times. His chainlighting is a royal pain in the ass for an carry or solo short laner. Exceptional harass ability and generally you're ultimate is not needed so early in the game because people are last hitting. Not rushing in for kills with people barely escaping or intiating team fights. Atleast they should be but in my bracket this is generally not the case 18 deaths by 10 min mark :/

[Theburned]

Doctor Repulsor can jungle, no problem

[Worgenclaw]

I did not list all the champs but some but mid heroes should be 1. Strong gankers 2. Maintain Rune Control 3. Gain benifit from early game levels 4. Maintain control of a 1v1 push/pull 5. Endure/Counter harassment

I believe these heroes should only be played mid, strong rune control or amazing gankers. Doctor Replusor, Tremble, Blood Hunter, Fayde, Soul Stealer, Nomad, Devourer, Deadwood, Wretched Hag, Monkey King. There potential side lane makes them much weaker then other sidelane picks.

These heroes do well mid and should be played there before other heroes but can side lane, mostly due to the fact they are good gankers. Lord salforis, Night Hound, Moon Queen, Zephyr, Artesia, Pharoah, Pebbles, Bubbles, Defiler, Valk, Gauntlet, Chipper, Torturer, Emerald Warden.

Theses heroes are equally good in any lane. Blitz, Draconois, Arachna, Gunblade, Aluna, Bombardier, Pyromancer, Polywog Priest, Witchslayer, Thunder bringer, Flint, Rampage, Silhouette.

These heroes should NOT mid, they either have support elements or require support that are worthless in solo or are just bad at mid. Wildsoul, Scout, Andromeda, Sandwrath, Nymphora, Geomancer, Monarch, Rhapsody, Martyr. Dsham, Moraxus, engineer, ect

[Farosarg]

These heroes should NOT mid, they either have support elements or require support that are worthless in solo or are just bad at mid. Wildsoul, Scout, Andromeda, Sandwrath, Nymphora, Geomancer, Monarch, Rhapsody, Martyr. Dsham, Moraxus, engineer, ect

DSham is an amazing mid, can gank effectively and in mid he becomes an early-midgame powerhouse. You just don't see him there since he is a great babysitter as well but he can handle both mid and sidelane solo remarkably well.

[`SiLHouRape]

martyr mid is brutal lol,it's just not the greatest hero to have farm on,a decent martyr will **** on just about anything mid though

[Fairy_]

WS solo mid is huge :)