Discover the Top 5 Most Popular Mages in APL 2023

Which Mage is the hot pick for Season 3 2023? The mid lane holds significant importance as it's the shortest path for teams to advance towards the enemy nexus, making picking an effective champion advantageous for the entire team. 

Currently, we witness the emergence of numerous mid lane champions. However, not every card can help players climb ranks or support the team perfectly. To aid gamers in finding a mid lane Mage that satisfies all needs from wave clear, burst damage, to mobility and efficient ganking, here are the top 5 Mid Mages most favored by APL 2023 pro players. Let's delve right in.

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Top 5 - Liliana

Liliana, wielded by top mid laners, serves as the primary damage source for the entire team, fully utilizing her wave clear, burst damage, and tower pushing capabilities. Not only a TikTok sensation, but Liliana also excels in tournaments, effortlessly scratching the Dark Slayer's essence as usual.

Being a potent carry, it's understandable that resources are frequently allocated to Liliana. In tournaments, players of this foxy lady seldom find themselves idling, instead, they support their teammates actively. Particularly tricky to predict in the hands of professionals, Liliana might appear in the Dragon lane, creating tense bloodthirsty situations, or unexpectedly emerge in the top lane to deal with foes. Additionally, this hero doesn't discriminate against allies. In the APL, we witness her synergy with long-ranged marksmen like Violet, Joker, Elsu, forming a duo capable of inflicting significant damage in the Dragon lane, ensuring enemies are always low on health if Helen isn't around.

Teams employing Liliana often forgo the Tome of the Reaper, even when facing opponents with healing capabilities like Y'bneth, Taara,... opting instead for the Holy Book. However, this is in scenarios where the team boasts ample burst damage. Conversely, if the team is weak in the early game, acquiring the Tome of the Reaper is imperative.

Top 4 - Krixi

Despite being one of the original mages in Arena of Valor, Krixi still asserts her dominance and dangerous prowess. She's an incredibly effective top lane ganker, needing just one knock-up combined with teammates' damage to secure kills instantly.

A handy gear tip for Krixi in APL 2023 that I've learned is if you want to rush the Tome of the Reaper early but don't want to compromise on damage, you can build the Orb of the Magi first and then quickly complete the Tome of the Reaper, as the Orb of the Magi is considered a condensed version of the Boomstick. Afterwards, depending on the enemy team composition, from the Orb of the Magi, you can either go for the Berith's Agony Mask or the Boomstick.

Krixi truly shines in bush ambushes and accurate knock-ups, with a simple combo even Warriors and Tanks can lose a significant portion of their health. In this meta, we see the return of Krizzix and the KRI trio comprising Krixi - Kriknak - Krizzix can make enemies scatter with Cociel's crowd control, Krixi's wide-area damage, and Kriknak's damage output, even Tanks would cry out in pain. Without Krizzix, you can also pair her with Thane or Baldum, which works well. Krixi in tournaments is a mage that doesn't require a lot of gold, you can sacrifice 1 - 2 waves to hide in the Dragon lane bushes, however, if you fall behind too much, she becomes quite harmless, so optimizing ganks and farming is crucial.

Top 3 - Yue 

In contrast to Tulen, who is the hot pick in ranks, Yue is the mid lane mage favored by pro players in Arena of Valor. This is also the hero that pro players create the most eye-catching highlights with.

Yue has some painful and long-range enhanced ability slashes, so except for Tanks, if the enemy hasn't built magic resistance, they can go down in the early stages of the match. With strong wave clear, quick minion clearing, and the ability to self-protect in her ultimate, there's no reason why you shouldn't pick this card to climb ranks.

In tournaments, Yue ranks higher than in regular ranks because pro players prefer directly targeting enemy health, making them weak is already a success. If Yue is in the hands of teams with strong control abilities, just two painful early game wave clears will ensure the enemies lose their advantage. The reason she isn't favored in ranks is because it's quite challenging to secure kills. When you've dealt 80 - 90% damage to enemies, your teammates rush in to deal the finishing blow, leaving you with no kills but only assists, which frustrates many gamers. Heroes that can synergize well with Yue include Elsu, Joker, Baldum, Krizzix, bringing unexpected discomfort to opponents.

Top 2 - Zata

Zata is an incredibly terrifying mage in ranks, but mostly considered a niche pick in tournaments. However, in APL 2023, this hero seems to have garnered attention and made a comeback with an impressive number of picks despite the difficulty in flying freely.

The explanation for Zata's resurgence lies in the remarkable rise of Krizzix. When Cociel opens his ultimate to accelerate or uses the Universal Gravitational Field to approach and trap enemies, Zata can completely fly and swiftly deal damage to them. With many teams having a weak early game lineup like Yan, Wonder Woman, Slimz,... Zata becomes an essential hero for late-game scaling, as he exerts immense pressure upon reaching level 4.

In APL 2023, one hero that makes it difficult for Zata to fly is Ilumia with her knock-ups, pushing him away, although in a solo showdown, Ilumia truly stands no chance against this card. However, in team fights, Ilumia indeed exerts significant pressure, creating an annoying barrier that makes the bird struggle to reach the main targets. The gear choices for Zata that pro players opt for can be Berith's Agony Mask, Skadi's Ice Ring, Ancestral Glory, Tome of the Reaper, and even Apocalypse Staff depending on the situation of the match. Although Zata struggles to fly in tournaments, this comeback is undoubtedly a bright spot that will garner more attention in future seasons.

Top 1 - Iggy

With dominant pick and ban rates at APL 2023, Iggy has proven to be unexpectedly hot in tournaments. Iggy's benefits for the team include wide-area damage, good wave clear, excellent damage over time, alongside the ability to provide excellent vision with his Blaze.

Late-game heroes, hot picks, if they fail to build magic resistance in time, just one ultimate from Iggy will leave them weak. Only a few heroes can escape, like Liliana with her annoying transformations or Zata, Tulen with explosive escapes, along with marksmen like Elsu, Violet, Slimz,... who can maneuver quickly. Even in the early stages, Iggy's visits to the top lane have brought a lot of pressure in terms of wave clear, if he gets his ultimate early, he can even create a very effective tower siege advantage.

Similar to Yue, heroes paired with Iggy will be those with good wave clear capabilities or highly mobile Assassins like Nakroth, Aoi,... to bolster damage. If Iggy is ahead, it's wise to invest gold to build a Holy Book in slot 4, making him a true monster, otherwise, you can use Skadi's Ice Ring or the Boomstick, both are solid options. If facing a tanky and dangerous hero, then building a Berith's Agony Mask is indispensable.

Conclusion

Above are the essential insights into the 5 most chosen Mage heroes by APL pro players. What's your evaluation of these cards? Let me know your thoughts.