Guide · Mid

Vex Guide

the Gloomist

Mage

Tier A Mid

Vex, the Gloomist, is a mage champion. Across our 318 analysed ranked games, Vex is mostly played in Mid (100% of its games), with a 50.3% win rate in that role: tier A among Mid champions (#13 of 42, ranked by win rate). Vex's damage is mostly magic (90%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 53.2% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 171 games) versus 46.1% in short games (under 25 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.21

Average KDA

7.7 / 6.4 / 7.8

ratio 2.4

Damage / min

924

CS / min

6.9

Gold / min

420

Kill participation

47%

Vision / min

0.81

Averages measured over 318 Mid games played with Vex, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Written guide · based on the official ability texts

Vex is a counter-mobility mage: her passive empowers her regularly so that her next basic ability terrifies and interrupts dashes. Every dash by a nearby enemy gives her a consumable mark for bonus damage and a reduced cooldown. Shadow Surge marks then makes her dash onto the enemy.

Vex's strengths

Her passive terrifies and interrupts dashes: it is a direct answer to assassins and engages.
Every enemy dash gives her a mark that deals bonus damage and reduces the cooldown of her empowerment.
Shadow Surge marks from afar and can be recast to dash onto the target.

Vex's weaknesses

Against champions with no dash, she benefits less from her marks.
Her empowerment is periodic: wasting it has a cost.
Fragile against quick bursts if her shield is not ready.

Role in team fights

Vex protects her team from engages: her empowered ability terrifies the diving enemy, Personal Space gives her a shield, and Shadow Surge lets her finish a marked carry. She is very effective against compositions that rely on dashes.

The anti-dash

When: An enemy dashes.

Your empowered ability terrifies and interrupts the dash; the applied mark deals bonus damage if consumed.

The hunting ultimate

When: A carry is visible.

Shadow Surge marks a champion then is recast to dash onto them and deal damage.

See all 4 Vex combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Wait until your empowerment is ready to terrify. Looming Darkness slows and applies Despair.

Common mistakes

Wasting your passive empowerment.
Casting the ultimate on a target who can flee.
Neglecting the marks: they reduce the empowerment's cooldown.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Zhonya's Hourglass, Shadowflame, and Luden's Echo (82 games, 53.7% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (51.3% over 269 games).

82 games · 53.7%

33 games · 57.6%

32 games · 50.0%

Skill order

Max order : Q > W > E68.8% · 32 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q		●		●	●		●		●
W			●					●		●		●	●
E	●													●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 40 games).

Starting items

Doran's Ring

Health Potion

Health Potion62.5% · 40 games

First completed items, in order

Luden's Echo

Shadowflame

17 games · 58.8%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3762 gold, 76 CS, 4934 XP. At 15 min: 5898 gold, 116 CS, 7666 XP.

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes51.3% · 269 games

Chainlaced Crushers44.4% · 18 games

Crimson Lucidity38.9% · 18 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite50.2% · 221 games

Flash + Teleport50.5% · 91 games

Most-played runes

Electrocute + Sorcery

50.5% · 212 games

Primary tree · Domination

Taste of Blood79%

Grisly Mementos84%

Ultimate Hunter98%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band89%

Transcendence81%

Shards

Attack speed94%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling78%

Electrocute + Precision

56.0% · 25 games

Primary tree · Domination

Taste of Blood84%

Grisly Mementos76%

Ultimate Hunter84%

Secondary tree · Precision

Coup de Grace72%

Presence of Mind72%

Shards

Attack speed92%

Adaptive force96%

Health92%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Vex's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team52.9% · 87 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Luden's Echo 54.9%

Shadowflame 49.1%

Zhonya's Hourglass 51.5%

Rabadon's Deathcap 64.7%

Stormsurge 75.0%

Blackfire Torch 38.5%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team48.4% · 97 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Luden's Echo 54.0%

Shadowflame 54.4%

Zhonya's Hourglass 52.6%

Stormsurge 52.2%

Rabadon's Deathcap 54.5%

Blackfire Torch 18.2%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team50.0% · 134 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Luden's Echo 50.5%

Shadowflame 51.8%

Zhonya's Hourglass 56.7%

Stormsurge 68.1%

Rabadon's Deathcap 46.2% ▼

Blackfire Torch 36.4%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Vex in Mid

LeBlanc Vex: 43.8%16 games

LeBlanc has the edge in 56% of the 16 Mid duels against Vex. See the LeBlanc guide.

Yasuo Vex: 53.3%15 games

Yasuo has the edge in 47% of the 15 Mid duels against Vex. See the Yasuo guide.

Who Vex is strong against

Yasuo53.3% · 15 games

LeBlanc43.8% · 16 games

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Vex's matchups.

Vex Mid: what our games say

Laning phase against the Mid average

Measure	Vex	Mid average	Gap
Gold at 10 min	3762	3783	−22
CS at 10 min	76	77	−1
XP at 10 min	4934	4838	+96
Gold at 15 min	5898	5945	−48
CS at 15 min	116	117	−0
XP at 15 min	7666	7477	+189

Measured over 40 Vex games with a timeline; the average covers 72 champions played Mid in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

short under 25 min46.1 %89 games

medium-length 25 to 35 min53.2 %171 games

long over 35 min48.3 %58 games

Best result: medium-length (25 to 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Abilities

PassiveDoom 'n Gloom

Vex periodically becomes empowered, causing her next basic Ability to fear enemies and interrupt dashes. Whenever a nearby enemy dashes, Vex applies a mark that can be consumed for bonus damage that also reduces the cooldown of her empowered state.

QMistral Bolt

Launch a damaging missile that accelerates mid-flight.

WPersonal Space

Gain a shield and damage nearby enemies.

ELooming Darkness

Summon a damaging and slowing zone that applies Gloom to enemies.

RShadow Surge

Fire a missile that marks an enemy champion. Recast to dash to them and deal damage.

Other Mid champions to know

Most played

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Frequently asked questions

What is the best build for Vex?

The most-played core build is Zhonya's Hourglass, Shadowflame, and Luden's Echo (82 games, 53.7% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (51.3% over 269 games).

Who counters Vex?

Vex's toughest matchups in Mid are LeBlanc (43.8% win rate over 16 games) and Yasuo (53.3% win rate over 15 games).

What are Vex's best matchups?

Vex posts its best win rates against Yasuo (53.3%) and LeBlanc (43.8%).

What game length suits Vex best?

Win rate varies with game length: 53.2% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 171 games) versus 46.1% in short games (under 25 min).

Which runes should I play on Vex?

The most-played rune page uses Electrocute with the Sorcery secondary tree (212 games, 50.5% win rate).

Full Vex page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides