The best support champions in League of Legends

There’s a lot to keep track of when playing support in League of Legends, and some of that can change based on what type of support you play as. Support can be split into three categories: Enchanters, engagers, and poke supports. Some champions cross over into multiple categories, it’s a pretty safe golden triangle to go by.

Enchanter supports

Enchanter supports, like Soraka or Nami, focus on keeping the bot lane carry alive through the laning phase with heals and shields. Enchanter supports usually go well into poke supports because they can out-sustain the poke, but struggle into engagers due to a lack of mobility and relative squishiness.

Engage supports

Engage supports, like Alistar or Leona, look to all-in the enemy bot lane during the laning phase with crowd control and high early-game damage. They can capitalize on enchanters during the laning phase because of their lack of poke, but can’t deal with poke supports effectively since they whittle down your health before you can even think about engaging.

Poke supports

Poke supports, like Zyra or Brand, succeed by annoying the enemy laners as much as possible with long-range abilities, forcing them to waste their potions or heals. If an enemy gets greedy, they also have a fair amount of burst in their kits to delete them from Summoner’s Rift. Because of this, they can deal with engage supports. But enchanters can usually out-sustain a poke support’s mana pool, rendering their poke ineffective.

With all of this in mind, let’s break down the best supports for League’s Patch 13.24.

Best League of Legends support champions

Thresh

Pros

• The most versatile support
• Great engage potential
• Can reposition allies with lantern

Cons

• Squishy early on
• Struggles from behind

Regardless of the meta, Thresh is always able to find himself a spot among the top supports. He might not be the No. 1 pick but he’s a consistent pick that can be played in nearly all matchups. His versatile kit and the tools he offers to the table are every ADC’s dream. His win rate isn’t positive, but 49.82 percent isn’t awful either. Additionally, he has an enormous 10.95 percent pick rate according to LoLalytics. If you’re not sure what champion to play this meta, you can always rely on him. 

Item build

The main keystone rune for Thresh is now Glacial Augment instead of Aftershock. This is because the slow effect makes it easier to stick to the enemies during skirmishes. Even if they Flash or try to dash away, the slow will be enough to keep the chase going. While Thresh does lose a few resistances, Aftershock doesn’t offer the same reliability as Glacial Augment. 

Perfect Timing, Biscuit Delivery, and Cosmic Insight are the minor runes of the Inspiration tree. You can swap out Biscuit Delivery for Minion Dematerializer if you want to play with the minion wave and make unexpected engages.

For the secondary tree, go for Resolve and choose Bone Plating and Unflinching. The first allows you to tank more damage during trades, while Unflinching grants extra tenacity. The latter is valuable for teamfights and skirmishes later into the game.

Build-wise, you usually want to build Locket of the Iron Solari as the main Mythic item. Since you will be in the middle of the mix most of the time, the active shield can be a great way to neutralize part of the enemy’s damage while also protecting your allies. High Elo players prefer Shurelya’s Battlesong, as the extra movement speed bonus can be better for dodging spells, chasing, or running away from enemies. 

There are two different build paths to consider. You can either decide to rush Zeke’s Convergence for additional damage or Knight’s Vow for a more supportive build and tank the damage for your carry. Choose the order based on the game state, but you’ll likely build them both. For the final item slots, pick up Watchful Wardstone and Redemption to have an AoE healing during skirmishes and teamfights.

Ability priority

After the buffs to the spells, Thresh should now go for R>Q>E>W.  His Q, Death Sentence, has a low cooldown once Thresh builds enough ability haste, allowing him to apply multiple crowd controls in quick succession. After that, max E, Flay. second for the additional damage. Given that the balance team lowered the lantern’s cooldown, it’s fine to max it last.  

Game plan

The laning phase is highly dependent on the matchup, which is what makes Thresh hard to master. While learning everything takes time, the main guideline is to try using your ranged auto attacks to harass the enemy laners in the middle of the minion waves and then look to get small trades with your hook or Flay. If you have a bully ADC early on, like Caitlyn or Draven, trade more aggressively. Otherwise, sit back and try to punish enemies when they overstep. You have a great setup for tanks, so waiting for the jungler is also a good idea.

Once you get some item components, you can also start to roam around the map after recalls. It’s something that high Elo players often do to impact other lanes, especially when bot laners end up farming only. Make the enemies feel your presence and use it to your advantage. 

Later into the game, play with the vision control and look for potential picks in bushes or fog of war. If you manage to hook the right carry, go all in with your combo and let your carries do the job. Avoid walking forward too much since you’re vulnerable to getting caught; unless you have Flash, you won’t be able to get away. 

Maokai

Pros

• Good at engaging
• Great teamfighting champion
• One of the tankiest supports

Cons

• Can be easily countered in the laning phase
• Doesn’t provide much utility and heals

Maokai has been one of the most versatile picks in League for the past few years. The Twisted Trent has been a stellar pick in three positions: Top, Jungle, and obviously, Support.

It’s more than understandable when looking at his kit, though. Maokai provides some of the strongest crowd control in the form of his ultimate, Bramble Smash (Q) and Twisted Advance (W). This allows him to become a beefy front line, and he doesn’t require much gold to do so, therefore picking him for support is a perfect way of building your front line.

Item build

Just like most engage supports, Maokai wants to lock down his targets and prevent them from getting away. As support, he won’t have as much resistances and health as he’d ideally like, therefore, Aftershock is a perfect choice when it comes to main rune. It presents you with additional magic resist and armor after immobilizing an enemy, which is your main task. On top of that, that shield explodes shortly after, so given you’re still in a teamfight, you become an even bigger threat.

For the remaining minor runes from the Resolve tree, you want to go for Font of Life, Conditioning, and Overgrowth. Font of Life adds to your engage kit by marking enemies you impair with your actions. When allies hit marked enemies, they heal. Conditioning and Overgrowth, on the other hand, are typical tank runes which increase your health and resistances throughout the game. In the second tree, go for Triumph and Legend: Tenacity for some sustain and additional tenacity.

Build-wise, Maokai should build Radiant Virtue as his core item, naturally. Afterward, you should aim for tanky items, depending on the enemy composition. Picks like Thornmail, Dead Man’s Plate and Force of Nature fit perfectly. But, if you’d like to build some damage as well, Abyssal Mask and Demonic Embrace are fully viable as well.

Ability priority

When playing Maokai, your ability priority is R>Q>W>E. Bramble Smash (Q) is Maokai’s main damaging and crowd control ability early in the game. Later on, you want to put points in Twisted Advance, since it’s your secondary CC out of primary three abilities.

Game plan

Deciding on the game plan depends on both your bottom lane and enemies’ compositions. Maokai can provide a strong two-versus-two lane, but given you don’t play against long-range duo which will poke you down before you can even take action. But, with your CC, it’s fine to ask jungler for help and pin down enemies to get ahead.

In teamfights Maokai strives for engaging. Nature’s Grasp (R) has an incredibly long range and is a perfect setup for you and your team to follow. Depending on where you fight, you should look for sideway flanks so you hit as many enemies with it as possible. Once you do, you follow with W and Q combo, and wait for the rest of your teammates to do the job.

Senna

Pros

• Scales infinitely
• Ranged support
• Deals more damage than traditional supports

Cons

• Low mobility
• Requires great understanding of wave management
• Squishy champion

Despite the predominant presence of tanky engage supports, there is one ranged champion standing out from the rest: Senna. She has been rising in popularity, boasting an impressive 50.48 percent win rate, especially in the higher ends of the ranked ladder, according to LoLalytics.

Her utility and scaling make it perfect for those who are looking to carry games from the support role. Senna is basically a second marksman in every team comp she plays in, dishing out damage with her abilities and auto attacks. 

Item build

Just like most marksmen, Senna’s keystone rune is Fleet Footwork, which gives a boost of movement speed when activated and heals her. It’s an overall strong rune that works at all stages of the game, but it gains increasing power the more stats she builds later in the game.

For the remaining minor runes, you would usually go for Presence of Mind, Legend: Alacrity, and Cut Down. The first is great for getting extra mana during trades or picking up kills. Legend: Alacrity, instead, is the only viable rune from the row, and the attack speed bonus is always nice to have.

In the last row of the Precision tree, though, you can decide between Cut Down and Coup de Grace. The former is usually better since Senna is a squishy champion and will always have the bonus damage activated against tanks, but Coup de Grace is stronger when you’re snowballing hard. Choose according to the enemy team comp. 

When it comes to the secondary tree, go for Boneplating and Revitalize. The latter synergizes with her healing from her Q and shield from her ultimate. Boneplating, on the other hand, is good for early-game trading and prevents Senna from getting shut down instantly in the first moments of the laning phase.

Umbral Glaive is still her core item, followed by Eclipse, Boots of Swiftness, and Rapid Firecannon. Against beefy front lines, you can swap out Rapid Firecannon for Lord Dominik’s Regard for higher damage output. Close off the build with Edge of Night and Guardian Angel to make sure you don’t get shut down at the start of a fight.  

Ability priority

When playing Senna, your ability priority is R>Q>W>E. Her Q, Piercing Darkness, is the main source of damage and healing, so always max it first. After that, max Last Embrace to increase the overall damage and the root duration. Since E, Curse of the Black Mist, is a situational spell, max it last. Always take points on the ultimate Dawning Shadow whenever you can. 

Game plan

Senna’s main focus throughout the game is collecting as many souls as possible. The more stacks you have, the stronger the champion becomes. That said, Senna is quite weak early on, and she can be quite vulnerable to ganks and picks on the map.  Therefore, try to play safely early on without going for aggressive trades. You can farm lots of gold with your support item while also picking up souls from enemy champions. Make sure to have good vision control when pushing so you don’t get killed during ganks.

If you’re able to do the farming game consistently, you will be in a great position even if you don’t kill the enemy laners. In the mid to late-game, Senna will be essentially a secondary AD carry, greatly increasing the team’s overall damage. As long as she’s careful with her positioning, she will become a menacing presence.

Pyke

Pros

• Carry-oriented support
• Great mobility
• Ultimate resets
• Most successful at the highest Elos

Cons

• Cannot build health; squishy
• Struggles against crowd control
• Mechanically intensive to reach maximum potential

Just like Blitzcrank, Pyke is another great pick if you want to exploit squishy champions with little mobility. His assassin-like kit and high damage make him a perfect counter to build up big leads to snowball and take over the game.

Nonetheless, Pyke is not an easy champion to pick: It requires great mechanical proficiency and a good killer instinct to pull off the needed plays and split-second decisions.

Item build

Pyke’s rune setup hasn’t changed much over the years: You should still go for Hail of Blades for the quick burst of attack speed to win early-game skirmishes and to add significant damage later to his combos. 

For the remaining minor runes, go for Cheap Shot, Zombie Ward and Ultimate Hunter. The first two are fairly standard, and both work great with Pyke’s combos and ward-clearing potential. Now that Pyke has a new Mythic item, Ultimate Hunter is the rune that gives the greatest value, lowering the cooldown of the ability and adding a lot of extra damage whenever a fight is initiated.

You can choose between Resolve or Inspiration for the secondary rune tree. The most common pick is Resolve with Second Wind and Unflinching for better survivability. If you’re playing against tanky supports that want to trade hard, swap out Second Wind for Bone Plating, 

Following the introduction and changes of the lethality items, Pyke’s build is now slightly different from the past. While he still rushes Umbral Glaive first to reveal and remove wards, his Mythic item is no longer Duskblade of Draktharr but Youmuu’s Ghostblade. For a roaming champion like Pyke, he can take full advantage of all the effects coming from this item. 

Pyke needs to quickly move on the map and exert a strong map presence, and Youmuu’s Ghostblade is the best item at doing so. Not to mention the stats it offers are highly efficient, and the item only costs 3100 gold. For boots, choose one between Mobility boots, Mercury’s Treads, and Plated Steelcaps, depending on what resistances you need the most. 

To round off the build, get Edge of Night, Guardian Angel, and Maw of Malmortius. If you don’t need the extra magic resistance, Vigilant Wardstone is always a strong alternative to improve your vision game.

Ability priority

When playing Pyke, your ability priority is R>Q>E>W. His Q, Bone Skewer, is Pyke’s most important ability outside his ultimate, which you can use to either grab people or stab them to quickly deal damage. Max E, Phantom Undertow, second for the increased damage and the lower cooldown. And  now that his W’s bonus movement speed doesn’t scale with the level of the ability anymore, it’s not worth putting more than one point into it early on.

Game plan

As Pyke, the main goal of your pick is to be a constant menace during the early-to-mid game. Whether it’s through roaming or aggressive trading, you should be putting pressure on your enemies. Your damage is higher compared to most supports, so unless huge misplays happen, you should come out on top. Once you get Umbral Glaive, proceed to roam around the map and deny the enemies’ vision. Thanks to the cleared wards, you will be able to keep up with the gold economy.

In teamfights, look to kill the squishy targets and one-shot them with the Q>E>auto attack>R combo. If you manage to execute one target, enjoy the multiple resets during the fight and get those great montage moments.

Rakan

Pros

• One of the most mobile engage supports
• Lots of crowd control
• Strong two-vs-two trading

Cons

• Squishier compared to other supports
• Requires coordination with allies to maximize combos
• Dependent on bot lane partner

Rakan was yet another champion that got buffed in recent buffs. While the buffs didn’t seem that big, he has been finding great success, boasting a pretty high win rate among all supports at 51.49 percent. (according to LoLalytics).

While he doesn’t have the same numbers as Annie did when she was buffed in Patch 13.3, Rakan is one of the strongest champions currently.  

Item build

In a meta full of Summon Aery or Glacial Augment, Rakan brings some fresh air when it comes to the rune choices. His keystone rune is Guardian, which grants extra shielding to its nearby allies. It works great with his swift in-and-out kit and is a strong rune for early-game trading. 

For the secondary tree, you always want to go for Domination with Ultimate Hunter and Zombie Ward. Rakan is heavily reliant on his ultimate to get strong engages, so having it ready as soon as possible is always nice. Zombie ward, on the other hand, provides extra vision when clearing enemy wards, increasing the overall vision control of your team. 

Build-wise, Rakan is a heavy Shurelya’s Battlesong user. It’s the main Mythic item that he has been building ever since the item reworks: the movement speed bonus synergizes perfectly with his own kit, further increasing the distance he can travel with his combos and ultimate. 

After that, you want to get Redemption for the active effect, but more importantly the extra healing and shield power. While you usually wouldn’t get past three items, you round off the build with Watchful Wardstone, Knight’s Vow, and Chemtech Putrifier. If the enemy has plenty of sustain and healing, you can consider rushing Oblivion Orb early to get access to antiheal. 

Ability priority

Rakan should go for R>W>E>Q. His Grand Entrance (W) is the main damaging spell, as well as potential engage or disengage. After that, you want to max Battle Dance (E) for increasing shields. Since maxing Gleaming Quill is the least reliable spell to hit and its cooldown got lowered early on, it’s not necessary to max it until later.

Game plan

Rakan offers stronger early-game trading thanks to his mobility and shields he provides. With that in mind, you can consider fighting aggressively early on. As soon as you see the opponent overstepping, get a quick engage and let your bot lane partner follow up with the damage. Dash around using your Battle Dance (E) to draw some distance or dodge potential spells. If you’re able to do this consistently, you can look to get some takedowns. You can coordinate turret dives or ganks, especially when you unlock your ultimate. 

Just like most supports that have great engage tools, you can also look to roam around the map. Given his mobility, it’s much easier to execute roam ganks with him. 

In the late-game teamfights, your main goal will be to dash in and taunt as many targets as possible. It’s quite easy to do when you have Flash ready since you can go in from afar and surprise the enemies. Once you do that, your job is basically done. Your teammates should be able to do the rest.