MacroMind matchup data: real ranked games, not opinions
Smolder vs Varus
Smolder vs Varus in Mid: who wins more often?
Across 33 ranked games in Mid, Smolder beats Varus in 42% of them.
Global ranked sample: games from every region and every rank pooled together, not one server's stats. Data runs through patch 26.12; curves updated 2026-08-07.
By 15 minutes the median game has Smolder behind by 934 gold.
Smolder at 15:00
- Gold: -934
- CS: -10
- XP: -441
Typical gap to Varus, from 33 games that reached 15:00.
Your Smolder game plan against Varus
In the median game here, the first death comes near 5:11 and level 6 lands around 5:29. Until your spike is online, treat the all-in window with respect.
Smolder in Mid: the items that actually get built
The most-finished Smolder core is Essence Reaver, Spear of Shojin, Rapid Firecannon: 51.5% across 1,128 games when all three got done. All matchups, patches 26.1-26.12.
Most games start Doran's Blade + Health Potion; the first finished item is usually Essence Reaver (6,293 games).
Skill plan: Smolder players max Q first and take Q at level 1.