Mel Mid Lane Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Ghost
How to play
Attack after using your spells Casting abilities makes your next basic attack fire extra projectiles. Use that attack between spells when you can reach the enemy safely.
Save your reflection for a dangerous spell Your 2nd ability reflects incoming projectiles. Save it for a dangerous spell instead of spending it to block a small hit.
Keep hitting enemies before your ultimate Build marks with spells and attacks, then use your ultimate to finish weakened targets.
Guide author
Royal
Royal has reached Rank 1 in EU and NA, and Legend and Sovereign on the Chinese server. Created by Royal with input from high elo and professional players and the WildRiftGuides Discord community.
Rank 1 on this champion? Help improve this guide and receive credit. Contact us on Discord.
Strengths
- Huge range on her poke and snare lets her win lanes without ever stepping into danger.
- Rebuttal (2nd) combines brief non-turret invulnerability with all-around projectile reflection, though non-projectile spells are only prevented.
- Golden Eclipse (Ult) damages every enemy carrying Overwhelm regardless of distance, enabling global pressure after Mel has contributed a stack.
Weaknesses
- No dash or blink, so a dodged snare leaves her with nothing once the reflect is on cooldown.
- Heavy on mana early, so spamming waveclear and poke can leave her empty when a fight starts.
- Mobile divers who wait out one reflect window can run her down with little resistance.
Mel Mid Lane Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Mel Mid Lane, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Early ability power improves her spells, Searing Brilliance (Passive) bolts, and the damage Overwhelm stores. The first Overwhelm stack stores a larger base amount; later stacks add smaller amounts rather than storing a fixed share of each hit.
BOOTS
Magic penetration improves her spell damage and the post-mitigation damage represented by Overwhelm's stored execute check.
CORE BUILD
The mana pays for repeated casts, while the added damage helps build Overwhelm stacks and push their stored post-mitigation total toward the passive execute condition.
Crits against low health targets, which pushes enemies into the range where her stored damage pays out.
Multiplies her ability power, and every stack she stores scales with it.
Cuts the magic resist that would blunt a payload she spent the whole fight storing up. Choose it when enemies have not built much magic resist, so trading Void Staff's extra damage for more ability haste and an area heal after takedowns is worthwhile.
A second defensive window next to Rebuttal (2nd). Rebuttal (2nd) surrounds Mel rather than covering one direction, makes her invulnerable to non-turret damage for 0.75 seconds, and reflects hostile champion projectiles that collide with it. Buy Seeker's Armguard early for armor and ability power.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
Her bolts touch several enemies at once, so the stacking bonus counts multiple champions while she stacks on all of them.
Her stacked damage can trigger the mark, and the movement speed helps a mage with no dash. Rebuttal (2nd) is an all-around barrier, not a directional shield.
Her bolts land from range, so the reveal and amplification trigger on the poke already building her stacks.
The raw penetration alternative to Cryptbloom. Build it when a magic resist frontline is what blunts her payout. Choose it over Cryptbloom when enemies are stacking magic resist and maximum personal damage matters more than ability haste and team healing.
Build this when the enemy has shields that keep absorbing the damage she was storing.
Build this when the enemy heals faster than she accumulates stacks. Buy Oblivion Orb early, since the anti-heal works from the component.
RUNES
KEYSTONE
Her root and slow set up a target who cannot dodge it, so Comet lands almost every time.
PRIMARY
Her damage comes from casting constantly to build stacks, so more mana is directly more damage.
Ability haste means more casts, which is literally more stored damage for her ultimate.
Her poke is a volley and back off, and Scorch adds damage to that trade.
SECONDARY
She has to hold position to land her damage, and this blunts the burst thrown at her for standing there.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Take this over Bone Plating in safer lanes against teams that permit repeated spell trades. Shorter Radiant Volley (1st), Solar Snare (3rd), and Rebuttal (2nd) cooldowns give Mel more poke, control, and defensive response windows.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Must take. She has no dash, and her reflect only answers what is aimed at her, not what is already on top of her.
Ghost
Mel builds Overwhelm with both attacks and ability damage, while every ability cast stores up to three Searing Brilliance (Passive) stacks for extra bolts on her next attack. Ghost helps her keep the spacing needed to continue either pattern.
SITUATIONAL SPELLS
Barrier
Take this over Ghost against burst that kills her before her reflect is up. Her damage ramps the longer she stays in the fight.
Ignite
Take this over Ghost when you can kill the lane opponent rather than farm through them, since that lead is what pays for roams. The Grievous Wounds also makes it strong into champions with a lot of healing.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 11st Ability
Q - 23rd Ability
E - 32nd Ability
W
Mel Mid Lane Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Mel Mid Lane, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Ahri
Rebuttal (2nd) can reflect Ahri's projectile Charm (3rd) and Orb (1st) while making Mel invulnerable to non-turret damage for 0.75 seconds, but it does not reflect Spirit Rush (Ult) itself. Time the barrier for the projectile portion instead of treating her entire dash combo as one reflected spell.
Syndra
Rebuttal (2nd) only copies hostile projectiles that collide with its barrier; it does not generically reflect every part of Syndra's sphere-and-Scatter combo. Use the invulnerability through non-projectile damage and reflect only the actual projectile components.
Vex
Mel gives Vex no Gloom (Passive) mark from dashing because she has no dash, but Looming Darkness (3rd) also applies Gloom (Passive) on hit even when the target never moves. Track Doom's (Passive) fear and do not assume Vex's passive is inactive simply because Mel stays still.
Mel Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Irelia
Irelia resets Bladesurge (1st) when it kills the target or consumes a mark applied by her E (3rd) or ultimate; she does not automatically reset merely for dashing to Mel. She can still chain marked minions around Solar Snare (3rd) and wait out Rebuttal's (2nd) 0.75-second window.
Kassadin
Once his ultimate is online he blinks past your snare over and over, and your reflect is on too long a cooldown to answer that, so he trades between windows.
Viktor
Viktor out-ranges your volley and out-scales you, his shield soaks your poke, and his sustained laser gives your reflect nothing clean to catch, while his gravity field controls the ground you need to stand on.
Aurelion Sol
Aurelion Sol's Singularity (3rd) drags champions inward but does not root them, while Breath of Light (1st) is a sustained non-projectile beam that Rebuttal (2nd) cannot reflect. Mel can use the brief invulnerability and movement speed to leave the area, but the scaling zone control remains difficult.
Mel Mid Lane Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Mel Mid Lane, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.