League of Legends meta can be challenging. You can be successful by sticking to strategies, or you can wander away from it and see where the bumpy path takes you. Just because a champion isn’t “meta,” this doesn’t mean he/she cannot be useful.
With those thoughts in mind, let’s step outside and take a look at the ten best off meta supports in League of Legends.
Before we begin, these aren’t any esoteric champions…over the years, there have been mains in specific roles, and never really turned into a mainstream support pick. Some of these picks have an atypical playstyle, and that may be one of the issues.
If you’re the type of support player who is passive, this list might not be for you. We’re telling you right now; these champions are so aggressive that they can single-handedly take care of business. When compared to AD carries, they’re much more capable early on in the match. If you manage to master either one of these support champions, you can create a whole lot of chaos in the bottom lane, especially if the enemy players aren’t familiar with how to play against our off-metal picks.
Now that we said all that, let’s move forward and look at the five off-meta support picks (these are listed in no particular order)
1. Poppy
Many people seem to love Poppy, and we can understand why. Poppy is known for taking an occasional walk through the jungle and well-known as a top laner. If you have confidence in your mechanical skill and you’re willing to give it your all, then Poppy would be a tremendous off meta support champion for you.
Her Q has a slow, and her E offers a nice little stun, but the caveat here is you’ll need to land it first. Her W (Steadfast Presence) can come in handy because regardless of whether the target is outside or inside, it can block any dash.
Apart from having an impact on the lane, you’ll also be able to neutralize some junglers. The W will prevent ganks from Nautilus, Jarvan, Gragas, Sejuiani, Kha’Zix, Rengar, and so on. All of them have dashes or jumps, and if you do your W correctly, you’ll be able to prevent those potent engages.
If you do it just right, her ulti can be very powerful. “Keeper’s Verdict” can do a whole lot of damage, and if you had ever played Poppy before or faced her on an opposing team, you probably already know this.
Her Q does a nice amount of damage as well, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that huge.
Many people turn away from Poppy because she does take some time to learn – she’s not the type of champion you just pick up and play. She doesn’t have a built-in shield, but if you land your passive and pick up her buckler, you can still shield yourself. Poppy also lacks point-and-click- CC.
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2. Anivia
Anivia is an old champion, yet many people still choose her as their main. In mid-lane, Anivia is at the top of the list when it comes to dealing damage. Her Q (Flash Frost), E (Frostbite), and Glacial Storm combo offer a nice mixture of CC and AOE damage. She’s not the toughest champion in the game, but she can force trades thanks to her Rebirth Passive.
Anivia is an ice-themed champion, so it’s relatively safe to assume she has some nice CC under her belt. Take her Flash Frost as an example; she uses this to stun enemies, even during minion waves. Then her Glacial Storm is an AOE slow that is nearly spammable – it does a decent amount of damage as well.
As a support champ, the most exciting part of Anivia would be her synergy with Vayne. Crystalize can be cast behind an enemy, acting as a wall, and this makes it so that Vayne’s Condemn can be used anywhere.
AP isn’t at the top of the list for a support Anivia, so she can put more focus on her mana regeneration to make her CC abilities more spammable …yes, more spammable than they already are. As an off meta support champion, Anivia can opt for a tanky build so that she can take some of the damage off of her squishier teammates.
3. Camille
Camille, a champion that is well known for her versatility, is number three on our list of the 10 best off meta supports. Due to her Adaptive Defenses passive, Camillie is a good high-damage bruiser – if you itemize the right, you can turn her playstyle into a bursty assassin.
Her Q (Precision Protocol) makes it so that she can quickly eliminate her enemies, regardless of how they are built. Her W (Tactical Sweep) comes in handy for pushing the lane. Her E (Hookshot/Walldive) can be utilized to gain access to the enemy’s backline or to escape.
Compared to some of the other League of Legends fun off meta supports, Camille may not have a proper stun. However, due to her Hextech Ultimatum, she has a reliable all-in. This can be used to isolate either the enemy support or the enemy Marksman. Combine this with Hookshot/Walldive, and you have yourself a potent support.
Once Camille has her ultimate ready, she should run with a jungler – this will make for better ganks.
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4. Ashe
Ashe is a classic beginner champion with a straightforward kit and great range. Her passive, Critical Slow and Frost Shot have given her the reputation as a utility champ. With attack speed items, she is capable of dealing a consistent amount of damage. She also can stun key targets with her Enchanted Crystal Arrow – she can stun them for up to 3.5 seconds.
Ashe involves CC and Vision. As a marksman, she has a lot of utility due to her high-range stun and permanent CC. Her E (Hawkshot) makes her a great support champion. Picking up items focused on ability cooldown and managing regeneration will make her W (Volley) become a spammable AOE slow.
Ashe does great when paired with a short-ranged or melee bot lane champ like Lucian or Yasuo.
5. Orianna
A quick look at her kit makes me wonder why Orianna isn’t picked as a support more often. You could argue she doesn’t have a reliable crowd control spell, but other supports have been picked for far less. She has a poke, a shield, devastating combos when used with the right teams, and you can make for sick plays when you use them right.
Building AP doesn’t just increase how much your poke hurts, but it also increases how much you shield your allies for. Essentially, it’s hitting two birds with one stone. Her passive Clockwork Windup also makes sure her auto attacks don’t fall off too much during the mid to late game. Her first 3 spells have low cooldowns.
Besides the aforementioned lack of a reliable crowd control ability, her only real problem is mana management during the early stages of the game. This could also translate into late game problems if you aren’t careful, especially considering how often you can use her poke. When maxed out, Command: Attack has a cooldown of 3 seconds. It’s often tempting to just spam that during the laning phase to bully the opposing bot laners.
You might have also noticed that Orianna has quite a bit of reach with her spells, mostly because of the different ways she can position her ball. Because of this, she’s a great pick for diving teams who like to siege towers. In fact, just having her ball placed in certain areas can act as a sort of deterrent and zone out enemies. It’s very similar to Blitzcrank or Thresh just hiding in a bush.
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6. Shen
Shen has probably been my favorite support, even before his rework. Not too many people use him, but back when Heart of Gold (R.I.P.) was still a thing, it actually wasn’t that bad. With the way he works now, along with all the items meant for supports, Shen is actually way more viable as a support. While he’s commonly played in top lane, his skillset actually all work great for a support champion.
His passive, Ki Barrier, makes Shen naturally tanky. His other abilities that affect other champions (which is all of them, by the way) lower the cooldown. This makes him great for dashing in and out of small skirmishes, and he benefits more from a guerilla style hit-and-run support rather than one quick clash where all the abilities are thrown.
His Q, Twilight Assault, basically scales with AP and the opponent’s max health. This works great on tankier champions. Spirit’s Refuge is a skill great for when your AD Carry and your enemies in bot lane just start trading blows. It’s also great for repelling enemy tower sieges. Shen’s E is a CC, escape tool, and chase, rolled into one skill. It’s one of the skills that really make him a ninja.
Finally, Shen’s Ultimate Stand United makes it so that he has a global presence. It can quickly turn a 1v1 match into a 2v1. While the cooldown is quite long, using it when you have your full combo ready often results in an enemy champion needing to respawn. Shen is a tanky support who offers a lot of utility and can actually dish out damage too. The best part? Shen doesn’t use mana, so you can focus on tanky or AP items, either to soak up more damage, or for extra shielding and damage you can dish out yourself.
7. Veigar
Veigar is a special case, mostly because of Phenomenal Evil Power. Each stack gives Veigar 1 AP, which he can use to scale into monstrous proportions in the later parts of the game. Not only that, it also lowers the cooldown of his W, Dark Matter, which already offered low cooldown and high damage from the get-go.
Instead of Frostfang, Veigar’s builds now often include items like Zaz’Zak’s Realmspike and Luden’s Companion. These items still allow Veigar to poke enemy champions effectively, gaining gold and building stacks of Phenomenal Evil Power.
His ultimate, Primordial Burst, remains a reliable execute, scaling with AP to eliminate squishy targets. The late game Rabadon’s Deathcap, despite adjustments, continues to significantly boost his AP, aiding in his transition from a support with strong crowd control to a formidable AP carry. Veigar’s playstyle still requires caution due to his low range and lack of escapes, especially during laning phase.
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8. Sion
Sion is on this list because he is very similar to Veigar in the sense that he can stack HP indefinitely, has a long CC (though unreliable), can poke early game, and scales well late into the game. First, I want to talk about Soul Furnace and Steel Shoulderguards (or Relic Shield, if you go with that route, which we’ll talk about in detail later).
With the passive of Soul Furnace, Sion gains 4 HP when he kills a unit (increased to 15 when he kills larger monsters or assists with a champion kill and assist). The passive of Soul Furnace works with the minion execute from Steel Shoulderguards, and this is what helps him stack HP early on. This makes items like Warmog’s Armor more viable on him in midgame, should you opt for a tankier build.
Soul Furnace increases the shield Sion obtains based on AP and maximum health. It damages enemies based on Sion’s own AP and the enemy champion’s maximum health. Because of this, both AP and tank builds are viable on Sion. Choosing one over the other changes his playstyle a bit. I believe the value of Sion really comes from how well his abilities work together, particularly when he is built as a tanky support.
His ultimate, Unstoppable Onslaught, is an amazing initiating skill. His signature passive, Glory in Death, ensures that Sion can still contribute to the team during a clash even if the enemy team focuses him down first after a well-placed R.
9. Gragas
Similar to Sion, Gragas is a support who can benefit from either an AP, tank or even a hybrid build. At his core, Gragas is a naturally tanky champion with utility because of his ultimate and E ability. Body Slam is a great initiation tool that actually has multiple uses.
You can use it to chase, escape, and knock enemies backwards. His ultimate, Explosive Cask, knocks enemies away from the point of impact. It’s similar to the initial burst of Janna’s ultimate. As you can see, he has a lot of ways to displace enemies.
When using Resolve runes, in particular, Gragas is able to sustain himself in the lane and during the roaming phase because of how well Happy Hour and Drunken Rage work so well together. Gragas gains a percentage of his HP every time he uses any of his skills.
Drunken Rage is also the reason why Gragas is so naturally tanky, because it gives him a percentage of damage reduction that scales with his ability power. Meaning, building AP items not only makes him hurt more, but also ensures he has a certain degree of survivability when it is active. Despite his large stature, he’s actually a very slippery off meta support champion that is relatively difficult to kill when played right.
10. Ahri
Last on our list of the 10 best off meta supports; we have Ahri – this is one of the most popular champions in LoL. However, we mostly come across her being played as a source of AP damage in the mid-lane. Her W (Fox-fire) and Q (Orb Deception) are her two main forms of damage. Her passive gives her a nice movement bonus, and her Spirit Rush gives her extra mobility during fights.
With Ahri’s mobility, she can easily move close to her enemies, making landing her skill shots a lot easier. However, her CC that her E (Charm) provides makes her a good meta-support champion. Her kit allows her to get close enough to get a 2-second stun in, so anyone that gets hit by her will be at risk of taking damage from two champions.
Ahri guarantees damage, which makes her a good perfect combination for Jhin with his Deadly Flourish passive. If you don’t like to play support champions, have a look at the 10 best off meta junglers
Conclusion
So there you have it – the top 10 best off-meta support champions in LoL. We hope this list helps you find the off-meta support champion you’ve been looking for. If you know of a good off-meta support champion that you feel deserves his/her spot on this list, please tell us about them in the comment section.
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