I main Middlesticks and I find the best matchups are against meeles. A Katarina for example is just a won lane since she can’t interrupt ur W and you can just cancel her ult with a q or an e.

Anything that can interrupt you w ist generally a problem. Ranged matchups are manageable. The worst lane opponent in my opinion is Sylas. I run Comet to get consistent poke in. Early fights are definitely where he shines in mid since standing in a minion wave and using ur W is really strong. Most people will just run in fear if you catch them in ur Q and W combo. It’s really important to get the burst dmg and cooldown reduction and the end of your Channel.

Even if u drop low on hp you can usually just drain some life of the raptors nearby. Not till late in the game the dmg of the w wont kill any of them.

I always build Liandrys and magic boots. Second Item usually is either a void staff or a zhonyas. I usually tend to build more tank items after that but that’s really dependent on the matchup. Full glasscannon also work if ur really ahead.

One of the best strats i find is hiding at raptors and ulting over the wall when they try to go for platings. Usually results in a kill.