The best jungle-mid duos to play in LoL Patch 13.13

It’s time to get some LP.

Image via Riot Games

Ever since the start of the League of Legends season 13, players have been grinding hard on the solo queue ladder to get to their deserved rank and beyond. 

Thanks to the introduction of the new LP gains in Patch 13.4, it has become easier to move up and down the ranks. At the top of the solo queue ladder, we’re already starting to see several players breaking above 1,700 LP. 

Aside from the better mechanics and stronger game knowledge, high-Elo and professional players are quick to pinpoint the strongest champions of any given patch, as well as the strongest bot lane duos.

That being said, League has seen the rising importance of the jungle-mid synergy, which is responsible for most of the early- and mid-game action and has the highest potential of helping their teammates all over the map. 

If jungle and mid can work well together, it can create a great advantage that often leads to victory, especially in an uncoordinated environment like solo queue. 

There are lots of combinations and different jungle-mid duos that can be played. That said, we will go over the best jungle-mid duos to play in Patch 13.13, giving you the most meta-adherent options and explaining why they are so powerful. 

Best jungle-mid duo pairing in Patch 13.13

Graves-Fizz

The jungle meta is mainly dominated by champions who are able to use the resources and carry the game. Additionally, you want these picks to excel in both power farming and possibly invading. 

Even though Graves is not one of the fan favorites currently, he’s the pocket pick for many junglers who need to be the backbone of the team. He does a fantastic job when ahead but he also requires a lot of setup and help from his teammates during the early game. 

One of the best mid laners to play alongside Graves is Fizz, for two reasons. The first is that both champions are strong in bursting down single targets which is essential when performing ganks or during skirmishes. 

The second and most important reason is Fizz’s ability to set up good ganks for Graves and allow him to finish off the enemy. Thanks to Fizz’s ultimate Chum the Waters or his Playful Trickster, he can provide good crowd control and give enough time for Graves to get closer. This duo is also great for roaming and diving given the mobility they have so take advantage of it whenever possible.

One downside, however, is that both champions are quite resource-intensive. You’d always want to give most of the gold to one of the two so he can snowball faster: choose according to the enemy team composition. 

Kindred-Leblanc

Another similar bot lane duo to Graves and Fizz is the pairing of Kindred and Leblanc. One advantage these two have compared to the other duo is the ability to play more aggressively early on. Leblanc can quickly move to where Kindred needs help with her dashes and provide enough follow-up damage to kill a target. 

The new Statikk Shiv also fixed one of Leblanc’s main weaknesses: wave clearing. Even though the item got nerfed in this patch, Leblanc can still abuse this build to always get good lane priority and roam around to where she pleases. 

Having that assurance in the mid lane, Kindred is more free to play how he wants and looks to pick up as many passive stacks as possible. Leblanc spikes well in the mid game while Kindred catches up later and will take over in the game-deciding teamfights. The numbers are backing up this duo’s success: Nearly 53 percent win rate in more than 14,000 games, according to U.GG.

Rek’Sai-Katarina

Despite some minor nerfs in Patch 13.13, Rek’Sai still remains one of the best jungle champions in the game. The void champion offers unparalleled early-game presence with her ganking potential and mobility from her tunnels.

Additionally, the new bruiser build allows her to maintain relevancy at more stages of the game, delaying her fall-off in the late game. In the last patch, Ahri was considered the best partner for Rek’Sai but now that the nine-tailed fox is losing value and getting beaten by many other champions, a new duo is on the rise: Katarina. 

Even though the mid lane assassin doesn’t provide crowd controls or a good setup like Ahri, she compensates for that with faster, quicker, and stronger burst damage. 

If Rek’Sai is able to land her knock-up, Katarina can use her daggers to quickly jump onto an enemy and finish him off before the enemy can respond. And if the damage is not enough, Rek’Sai can use the ultimate to take the kill. As long as one of the two can initiate a snowball, the team will find itself in a commanding position to take the victory. If you’re looking to climb the solo queue ladder with a partner, this is a reliable combo to play this patch.

Evelynn-Zed

While Rek’Sai and Kindred are the priority choices when it comes to AD junglers, Evelynn remains the queen of the AP champions. By pairing her up with Zed, both champions are able to take advantage of each other’s strength and become a fearsome duo. 

The trick to mastering this pairing is understanding their spikes and when they need to fully utilize them to build a big enough lead to take over the game. Both Evelynn and Zed are not that exceptional in the early game so focus on farming up and hitting level six as soon as possible. Once you unlock the ultimates, that’s when the show begins. 

With Evelynn’s stealth, as well as Zed’s ability to quickly jump onto squishy enemies, this duo is guaranteed to pick up a few kills in the mid game and build a decent gold and experience lead over the opponents. Thanks to the burst damage they have, it should be a piece of cake to make it work. 

Ideally, you want to have both champions with resources but if they are limited, Evelynn should be the one getting them: She is much stronger than Zed later on and her magic damage will force the enemies to purchase two types of resistances, spending extra gold and messing up their gold economy. 

By playing Evelynn and Zed in tandem, the results are positive, according to U.GG: over 55 percent at Platinum Elo and above is remarkable, especially considering how Zed is only averaging 50 percent when played alone. These two champions are mechanically intensive but they will net great success when mastered. 

Syndra-Rek’Sai/Kindred

With Leblanc abusing her new build on this patch, it’s logical that her ban rate has heavily increased over the past week. If you’re looking for an alternative when Leblanc is unavailable, look none other than Syndra.

Even though she didn’t receive any major buffs or nerfs, the Dark Sovereign does a great job at countering most of the other mid lane meta champions. Thanks to the higher range and burst damage, Syndra can neutralize the enemies both during the laning phase and in the following stages of the game.

Since she has a stun on her E, Scatter the Weak, she can easily set up an easy gank for the jungler. In this particular meta, Rek’Sai and Kindred are the best choices available to pair up with so go for either of those whenever they are not banned. If you need a third choice, the third-best champion, according to U.GG, is Rengar with a 51 percent win rate at Diamond Elo and above.

About the author

Davide Xu

Davide is a League expert with nearly 10 years of experience and knowledge. Once a young talent that wanted to go pro, he now enjoys talking about the game and competitive scene.@Dovi_X on Twitter

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