Mid Rakan Guide from a Master Tier Mid Rakan Player

Intro: This is a serious pick, not a troll or for-fun pick. I'm not here to say "You HAVE to play Mid Rakan" or "Mid Rakan is busted, play him NOW to climb." I'm just saying this pick exists and can totally work as a pocket pick or counter pick.

Table of Contents 1. Build 2. Before Laning Phase 3. Laning Phase 4. Mid-to-Late Game Macro 5. Champion Matchups & Synergies. 6. Closing Remarks

1. Build

Summoner Spells Flash + Ignite (Recommended) / Flash + Teleport (Not Recommended)

Runes & Skill Order At level 3, you could put a point in E depending on the situation, but I usually go for a second point in W.

The item build is     I almost always buy Dark Seal early.

For 350 gold, the item is great value, and the extra AP on takedowns lets you create more plays.

Sure, it delays your core items a bit, but your first core, Rocketbelt, is only 2600 gold, so you barely feel the delay.

For boots:    Go with either Swifties or Sorcs. (I used to always get Sorcs, but lately I've been going Swifties for the overall mobility and value.)

2. Before Laning Phase

Level 1, take W and use it to check the mid lane brush. (Please don't just AFK under tower.)

It doesn't matter which brush you check, but top brush is usually where the vision fights happen these days, so I tend to check that one.

If you run into the enemy while heading into the brush, just ignore them and walk in.

CC coming from outside vision (e.g., Nautilus Q, Twisted Fate W) is easy to see and dodge with Rakan's W.

Some of you might worry about someone waiting in the bush, but don't. Unless you left base late or had weird pathing, both teams reach the brush around the same time.

3. Laning Phase

If the enemy gets in W range, go aggressive with W -> auto -> auto -> Electrocute for a trade.

Thanks to Rakan's passive shield and the W + Electrocute damage, you'll win most trades. (Same goes even if you tank a few minion hits.)

But there are champions you shouldn't trade with early on (LeBlanc is the biggest one), so don't just spam W mindlessly.

After you get Q, trade with W -> auto -> Q -> Electrocute.

Q's heal makes it even easier to come out ahead in trades.

From there, look for kill pressure with Ignite, or join jungle skirmishes to build up that mid gap.

Once your W can one-shot the ranged minions (usually at rank 5 W, or rank 4 if you're ahead), quickly clear the wave and then roam or stick with your jungler to keep exerting pressure.

Especially when you have ult, you'll win most fights thanks to Rakan's value, unless you're super behind or the enemy plays perfectly.

If your jungler comes to gank, try to give them the kill.

4. Mid-to-Late Game Macro

Rakan's waveclear isn't great. Most champs can clear with two AoE abilities, but Rakan only has one, so even after killing the ranged minions, it takes a while to clean up the melees.

So, only hold the side lane as much as you need to, and generally play around your team. (I'm fine with giving up the tier 1 side turret. The gold it gives isn't much, and it gets harder to defend later, so just sack it and defend the tier 2. Without jungle vision, the enemy will find it hard to push the side lane anyway.)

When Rakan is off the map, the enemy feels the pressure. The second they spot you with your team, they feel it again.

Eventually, the enemy has to bring their side laner to the group, and that's when you use Rakan's strengths to win the teamfight.

If they don't bring the side laner, that's fine too.

Rakan can force engages, so you can just use the numbers advantage to crush the teamfight.

5. Champion Matchups

This is entirely based on my own opinion and experience, and it doesn't cover every champion.

  Sylas: Up until levels 7-9, you can win lane if you don't make mistakes in trades. However, Sylas's inherent value is better than Rakan's, making it harder to win as the game goes on. But winning lane phase makes it easier to out-macro as Rakan, so I still have a fairly high win rate here.

  Twisted Fate: Depends on his build. If he goes Rod of Ages, his damage falls off later and you can't win. If he builds full-damage Luden's, you can easily one-shot him even in the late game. Laning phase slightly favors Rakan, but around level 9, TF's waveclear becomes so fast it outclasses yours, creating a gap in map pressure. Also, TF can join fights or roam faster than you with his ult, so even if you win lane, you often lose the macro game. Ultimately, it comes down to how well you can intercept or predict the enemy TF's movements, giving me a 50% win rate here.

  Orianna: This one's just hopeless. You absolutely cannot win lane. Her late game value is better too. She outranges you, and she out-damages you. Unless the enemy is bad, you will never get a good W angle and just get poked all laning phase. Honestly, I don't even know why my win rate is 100% against her. My guess is that Rakan is more flexible in teamfights and has better roaming, so that might be why.

  Ahri: Before level 6, you can absolutely maul her. Before 6, your map presence is also higher, making the jungler's life easier. Once both of you hit 6 and have ult, you can't just slug it out like before, but Ahri also can't find a kill angle on you, so it becomes a roaming contest. Your teamfight impact is also stronger late game, so Ahri really can't do much.

  Taliyah: Surprisingly doable. Laning is a bit rough, but unless you make it super obvious you're about to W, it's hard for Taliyah to react with her E. The problem is late game: just placing her "Lego" (E) blocks your engage entirely. So, it comes down to who can make more plays in the early-mid game with roams.

     Zoe, Azir, Aurora, Xerath: You can't win lane against any of these four. If you W into them, you'll just take damage and have to run out. So just survive laning phase, join fights as much as possible, and bring it to a late-game teamfight.

  LeBlanc: Just fking ban this guy. Unless you're predicting and blocking her W with yours, you can never stop her W with Rakan's W. (She just uses W2 to jump back.) If she tries to trade with W, don't try to outplay her; just use W and get out. You can't beat this mfer even if a Bronze player is piloting her.

6. Closing Remarks

Mid Rakan is significantly weaker than other mid lane champs, so it's hard to solo carry.

You need teammates who won't just throw away the feast Rakan sets up for them.

That's why I recommend playing Mid Rakan not in the very low elos, but in ranks where people have a basic understanding of the game.

Also, if you can duo, queuing up with a jungler is a great way to snowball the game together.

Rakan has amazing synergy with dive + burst junglers like Xin Zhao and Lee Sin, so you can blow one enemy up and start the fight on your terms.

Anyway, I hope you all climb to your desired rank.

Thanks to everyone who read this long guide.