The role of mid is mainly the tempo controller. This role requires great skill as this is mostly a 1-on-1 match. The mid hero is also often designated as a secondary source of damage, and sometimes, even transition into a carry position. The mid hero can impact the game in several ways: they can leave their lane and gank other lanes, they can hunt low level heroes and pick them off, push towers, and create space for the carry to do their work.
Mid positions can also impact the game every two minutes with each rune spawn. A lucky rune spawn can lead to an easy kill or can give that hero a great advantage against their laning counterpart. Another crucial timing for mid heroes is when they reach level 6 where they can have access to their ultimate skill. However, not all ultimates are game changer as far as the one-on-one matchup is concerned.
Like carries, mid roles are also flexible depending on the chosen hero. There are heroes which have high kill potential such as Zeus, but are easily harassed themselves with heroes with longer range or is easily killed as Zeus lacks mobility. On the other hand, there are mid laners who are melee heroes such as Dragon Knight, Timbersaw, or Juggernaut who have skills that let them survive harassment, thus be able to sustain themselves in the mid position.