While definitely not the most glamorous role, supports are the backbone of any team – or at least, they should be when done correctly. They are what I like to call the unsung heroes of the game, as they often – as the name suggests – support from the backlines rather than show off flashy moves to outplay opponents.
They are also mostly responsible for vision and dewarding and oftentimes may face the tough decision to sacrifice themselves if the AD carry is caught out of place. This causes the other roles to shine brighter than the supports on a surface level. Still, it’s still one of the more rewarding classes when a plan comes together.
Knowing you were indirectly responsible for a well set-up gank or pulling off a clutch save when the enemy assassin dives your carry is certainly rewarding in its own way. Today, we’re going to go through some of the best supports you can play right now.
There are different types of supports, such as enchanters, initiators, kill-lane supports, and a lot of different variations. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to look at their overall kit in the meta and see how they stack up with some of the best this season.
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1. Nami
The Tidecaller is a champion that has been ever-present in the support scene for a while, and for good reason. She brings a lot to the table and gives a bit of everything. She can disengage, CC, and initiate with Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave.
Ebb and Flow is a poke and heal that’s great for the laning phase. Tidecaller’s Blessing is a boon for AD carries that move slow and hit hard. Because her kit has so many goodies, she’s always a decent pick regardless of the enemy composition.
She does come with a few caveats, however. If there was ever a time to akin the term jack-of-all-trades master of none, now would be the time. She doesn’t particularly excel in any one thing, such as peeling or healing – that is to say, other champions simply do it much better. However, being a swiss army knife in bot lane does come at a price.
2. Renata Glasc
When she first came out, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one excited when I saw her kit. She is a fun champion to play and the way her kit works is very unique. Her skills are geared toward teamfighting, and she has one of the best initiations or turnarounds in the game with her ultimate Hostile Takeover.
It’s particularly brutal when you get a squishy and a carry in one go. Bailout is also one of the few skills in the game that can technically revive an ally. The 3-second window it gives is invaluable and very potent during a clash when a lot of things can happen.
She has a lot of utility that comes with pokes, but someone this mechanically heavy suffers from a lack of any real escape. While relatively immobile, she is excellent at keeping enemies at bay, zoning opponents and discouraging them from being bunched up together for fear of her ultimate, and keeping her allies alive. The way her kit works is just amazing this season.
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3. Pyke
While the Bloodharbor Ripper has been flooding (pun intended!) the mid lane recently, he still excels as a support simply for his glass cannon and assassination-style of gameplay.
He hurts, and his passive Gift of the Drowned Ones discourages players from building health on him, as it inefficiently gets converted into more damage when gearing towards specific HP-increasing items. It does come with built-in sustain though, which works great with his mobility since Pyke is a champion you want to be always in a clash with.
Despite being very squishy, he shines the most in the thick of things. His skills allow him to be very sneaky with Ghostwater Dive and Phantom Undertow. He can peel with Boneskewer to catch unsuspecting victims.
His ultimate, Death from Below works great for blinking around the battlefield and escaping. Because of the meta right now, Pyke naturally building lethality works in his favor, and being able to move around the map quickly has earned him a well-deserved spot on this list.
4. Senna
Personally, being able to infinitely scale has always been appealing for me. In theory, it sounds like you have the potential to be a monster. Some champions scale to this degree, but not all are immediately felt.
In fact, in most real-life scenarios, it becomes a bit of a hassle and you fall off relatively quickly if you don’t keep up. Some champions who scale infinitely, however, are impactful and you can really feel it, such as Veigar, Nasus, and naturally Senna.
Through Piercing Darkness, she has a singular skill that can poke, heal, and take Mist Wraiths all at once. Hitting champions also gives her the added benefit of building up stacks. (https://skinnyninjamom.com/)
She gains a lot of benefits easily-felt with her passive, such as increased range – which she definitely needs to be at a safe distance with her abysmal, non-existent escape mechanisms – attack damage, critical chance, and eventually lifesteal.
She also has built-in CC that can potentially root multiple champions through Last Embrace and has a great global presence through her ultimate Dawning Shadow, which does decent damage as well when the enemy champions are grouped together in tight nooks.
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5. Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank is the original kill-lane support in the bot lane, and there’s a good reason for that. He does one thing very well, and that is to pick off opponents and CC them into oblivion. He also benefits a lot from mana, as it gives him a certain degree of tankiness when he dives into the heart of the battle to knock up opponents.
Because of the meta, squishier champions have been a more favorable pick this season, and that is where Blitzcrank thrives.
He gains a spike of power so hard in level 2, most opponents just steer clear of the brush regardless of whether or not you’re in it. They most certainly will have to use more wards on their brush instead of the river, and that in itself is great for the laning phase.
His Rocket Grab is also one of the safest hooks in League, offering little to no penalties if you fail, except for losing the element of surprise, of course.
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6. Lux
This season has been really great for Lux. Her skills offer an amazing range, and she can poke, CC, and execute enemy champions from a very safe distance. Good position is key here, and her ability to peel and separate enemy champions from the rest of their team either allow your team to pick one-off or force the enemy team to commit to an unfavorable clash.
Like Blitzcrank, her mere presence actually zones her opponents, simply because of how good she is at punishing people who get caught in Light Binding. Lux doesn’t have one single skill that defines her, mostly because her kit works so great together and is really annoying to play against.
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7. Thresh
Thresh makes it on this list mainly because of how well he can CC and protect his carry. Like Senna, he starts off with a little below-average stats but builds them up infinitely through collecting souls. His ability to displace opponents and pick them off is amazing. Enemy Lee Sin or Master Yi jumping on your carry? No problem. Flay them away and put them in The Box.
His peeling is right up there along with champions like Janna, and his catch potential through Death Sentence is amazing. While he hasn’t been as popular this season, he is one of those champions who are really just a staple in the role regardless of how the meta goes.
If you ask me, it’s a testament to how well designed he really is, and that is another reason why he deserves to be on this list.
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