Best Supports In League Of Legends

Over the years, the support position in League of Legends has evolved to be one of the most influential, as players are either able to dictate the pace of the game alongside their jungler or snowball their ADC into oblivion.

As with any role, the support meta is constantly in flux, and understanding who the best support champions in League of Legends are right now can help players dominate the bottom lane and transition their leads onto the map. Understanding what makes these support champions strong is also essential, and players should know what their conditions for success are, in any given game. By picking support champions who are currently strong, players will increase their chances of climbing.

Updated November 14, 2024, by Joe Grantham: The fact that League of Legends gets patched every two weeks means that the meta is constantly evolving, and players must always keep an eye on how strong their favorite support champions are. The best supports in LoL right now are mostly made up of enchanters, who excel at peeling for their carries. However, these immobile and squishy healers also need to watch out for hook champions who counter them and happen to be strong currently. While pure engage supports aren’t in the best shape in this meta, a few, such as Poppy, are still viable options. These are the best supports for Patch 14.22 in LoL.

27 Seraphine

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 4%

• Key Strengths: Damage, CC, & Shields.
• Niche Value as a Support: Her ults can be game-winning in teamfights.

With changes to items and to Seraphine herself, she has risen from the depths to become a solid support in League of Legends. Perhaps her greatest strength is her all-around power, providing a bit of everything. In lane, she has good range and poke damage that will keep enemies at arm’s length.

Beyond the laning phase, Seraphine excels in large fights where her shield can be applied to all. Best of all, however, is her ultimate which charms enemies, but for each champion hit (friend or foe) her ult extends. This means that a great Serpahine ult can win the game.

26 Nautilus

Win Rate: 49% – Pick Rate: 8%

• Key Strengths: Engage, tankiness, and CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: The best single-target lockdown.

For players who are looking to go in at every opportunity and get fights started, there is no more straightforward option than Nautilus. His single target lockdown is unrivaled, and his hook is the easiest hit out of all the hook champions.

Players will want to pick Nautilus alongside aggressive ADCs who need kills to thrive, but his one-dimensional nature can hurt him. Once Nautilus is in a fight, he has few ways of getting out, especially as he isn’t that durable. He also has some punishing counters, such as Thresh, Janna, and Braum, amongst others.

25 Zilean

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 2%

• Key Strengths: Damage, CC, speed-ups, & a revive.
• Niche Value as a Support: Zilean can revive a key carry.

Zilean has almost always been strong, but his relatively un-flashy play style means he is often forgotten about. However, if players are willing to give him a go, they will soon have their opponents in tears.

Due to his E which can slow down or speed up by 99%, enemies will feel crippled when targeted, while his own allies zip around at lightning speeds. If an enemy thinks they can pick off Zilean or one of his friends, they best think again, as his ultimate will spoil all the fun by reviving his ally.

24 Leona

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 6%

• Key Strengths: Lots of CC and tankiness.
• Niche Value as a Support: Surprising damage early.

Leona is a great champion for beginners to try out given her simplicity, both in terms of mechanics and her play style. For example, with how tanky she is, players can make a few mistakes and still live.

Leona excels at locking down single targets and is best paired with an aggressive ADC who can follow up and snowball their way to an early victory. She also deals a surprising amount of damage in the early game.

23 Xerath

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 4%

• Key Strengths: Incredible range and high damage potential.
• Niche Value as a Support: Xerath outranges every support.

Xerath is one of the few artillery mages in League of Legends, and primarily designed for mid lane. However, like other mages, he can also function as a support, where the aim is to poke the enemy, and hopefully kill them to become a secondary carry.

Support picks like this can be particularly good if the team is lacking AP damage or against engage champions who will have a miserable time being poked from so far away. Xerath’s main strength lies in his range, but as a support he also provides a stun and slow to set up plays.

22 Rakan

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 6%

• Key Strengths: Engage, peel, and high mobility.
• Niche Value as a Support: Has unique ability interactions with Xayah.

Rakan is one of the most flexible supports as he can play for lane, roam, or instead wait patiently for teamfights where he arguably thrives most. He is also one of the best users of the Solstice Sleigh support item, making use of the bonus movement speed.

Rakan offers a healthy mix of buffs in the form of heals and shields, as well as CC with his knockup and charm. Sadly, however, his lover Xayah is not in a great spot at the moment, meaning they can’t dominate games together as frequently with their unique interactions.

21 Blitzcrank

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 6%

• Key Strengths: One hook often results in a kill.
• Niche Value as a Support: Puts fear into the hearts of the enemy Bot Lane.

Blitzcrank is one of the most feared champions in League of Legends and has a ban rate of 17% to prove it. With his infamous Q ability, Rocket Grab, he hooks in the unfortunate player to himself. Paired with his single target knockup and an ADC with burst, successful hooks often translate into kills.

However, few Blitzcrank players realize that they can generate unlimited pressure in lane and deny many minions, all without using their hook. Simply pushing up in the lane with the ability ready is enough to zone most enemies off and make their experience miserable. His Ultimate, Static Field, should not be disregarded either. It can do some serious magic damage while silencing the enemy team, leaving them defenseless.

20 Zyra

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 3%

• Key Strengths: Damage, zone control, and CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: The mage support with the most CC.

Out of the viable mage supports in League, Zyra is currently among the best and benefits greatly from HP stats returning to her favorite item, Liandry’s Torment, given how squishy she is without it.

Compared with the other mage supports, Zyra also has the most CC, with a root on her E and a large AOE knockup on her ult. This helps Zyra remain useful at all stages of the game, even if she gets behind and isn’t dealing much damage.

19 Sona

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 3%

• Key Strengths: Heals, buffs, and a long CC ultimate.
• Niche Value as a Support: One of the best late-game supports.

Due to her incredible scaling, Sona is always a champion with great potential, but few metas allow her to survive the early game. However, with most of her current counterparts being enchanters, Sona is in a decent spot. Players just need to remember to ban pesky hook champions like Blitzcrank or Pyke who will make Sona’s time on the Rift miserable.

With near-constant heals, shields, and movement speed boosts for all of those around her in the mid and late-game, Sona excels at teamfighting. While her abilities are very easy to use, the key to becoming a good Sona player is positioning, as she is always one misstep away from a quick death.

18 Maokai

Win Rate: 52% – Pick Rate: 3%

• Key Strengths: Tankiness and CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: Acts as a flex pick.

Support may not be Maokai’s intended role, but with a boat-load of CC, he will almost always be a solid pick. Additionally, his strong ultimate is better this season with the addition of the support item, Solstice Sleigh. When he roots enemies from afar, he and his allies have an easier time catching up with them.

Other than that, Maokai is a good all-around tank support who can use his CC both to protect his squishy allies and to lockdown the enemy for easy kills. His saplings can help with control of the bushes, and he has a surprising amount of damage.

17 Bard

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 5%

• Key Strengths: Playmaking, damage, and CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: Can impact the entire map with unmatched roams.

Despite extensive changes to the terrain, Bard is still finding angles to gank and influence the entire map with his Magical Journeys. He is also a good fit for the Trailblazer item, which gives him ramping movement speed to roam with and a trail so that his following allies are also sped up.

Outside of roaming, Bard offers a little bit of everything, from long-range engage to peel, tankiness, and a fair bit of damage. He can take a while to get used to, however, given how different he is from the rest of the support roster. While he isn’t as strong as he used to be, Bard is still a potent threat in the hands of his mains.

16 Lux

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 7%

• Key Strengths: Poke, burst damage, & CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: The best burst damage and one-shot potential among supports.

Lux is typically known as a great mid laner for beginners, but this also makes her a perfect support for those new to the role. She is currently one of the best mage supports and has the highest burst potential.

By hitting her binding, players set themselves up for an E and ult for terrific damage, all from an incredibly safe range. In the bot lane, this CC can also be capitalized on by her lane partner, which means snowballing is a real possibility. If players want to carry with damage from the support position, Lux is arguably the best option. To add to her supportive ability, she also has a shield that can be applied to all.

15 Soraka

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 4%

• Key Strengths: Heals and a silence.
• Niche Value as a Support: The best healer in the game.

While she isn’t as powerful as some of the other enchanters, the strength of protecting allies still makes Soraka a good pick. With a heavy emphasis on healing rather than shielding or disengaging, Soraka is perfect against poke, as she quickly nullifies any damage done without having to worry about full-blown fights.

The difficulty with Soraka is positioning and making use of her high movement speed towards low-health allies. The best Soraka players also know exactly when to use her silence, which can cancel any ability that is being channeled. It also prevents new spells from being cast.

14 Rell

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 7%

• Key Strengths: Engage, CC, teamfighting, & tankiness.
• Niche Value as a Support: The best AOE engage.

Rell is hit or miss for most players, with some finding her clunky and others absolutely loving her. When played to her true potential, she is easily one of the best engage supports in League, especially for teamfights.

By jumping in with her W and pressing R to pull enemies in, Rell can dismantle any backline and set up her team for some epic wombo-combos. The remount on her W is also extremely powerful for picking off unready opponents. While she isn’t as strong as she was in previous patches and always has counters, she’s still a solid pick for those who love causing chaos.

13 Milio

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 6%

• Key Strengths: Peel, disengage, and extra damage for his friends.
• Niche Value as a Support: A unique ability to remove CC from allies.

As one of the most recent additions to the support roster, Milio is also one of the strongest and has been pretty much since release. What makes Milio one of the best supports at the moment​​​​​​ is his ability to buff up allies, providing them with heals, shields, movement speed, and extra damage.

ADCs who are particularly strong in the current meta benefit greatly from Milio’s buffs and, with his W – Cozy Campfire – attached, they can dish out plenty of his passive procs with the bonus range gained. His ultimate is also great against many forms of hard engage, but players picking Milio first should be wary of champions with knockups that counter him.

12 Vel’Koz

Win Rate: 52% – Pick Rate: 3%

• Key Strengths: Range, damage, some CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: With his Q angles, Vel’Koz can hit those hiding behind minions.

Despite being designed for the mid lane, players will likely see support Vel’Koz more often. With two targets to hit, rather than one, players are more likely to land their Q, which can also be annoying for enemies who think they are safe behind their minions. This is due to the unique angles he can find with his Q.

With fantastic range, Vel’Koz can whittle away at squishy bot laners or even burst them down once he gains access to his ultimate. The knockup on his E provides crucial CC that makes him viable as a support and is a decent answer to enemy engages.

11 Pyke

Win Rate: 50% – Pick Rate: 10%

• Key Strengths: Damage, pick potential, and great roaming.
• Niche Value as a Support: Provides his allies with bonus gold.

Pyke is a unique support champion; taking the secondary role as an assassin means he is automatically going to be one of the most aggressive supports in the game. Pyke currently has a 50% win rate and is an asset to any team composition as he can freely roam across the map to all lanes.

Pyke will synergize with any aggressive ADCs, as he can use his Bone Skewer harpoon to pull in enemies and stun them using his Phantom Undertow. He is especially useful when he reaches level six, as he can share gold from kills using his Ultimate, Death From Below, allowing his ADC to benefit from more gold from assists.

10 Karma

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 8%

• Key Strengths: Strong laning, damage, shields, & CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: Karma can use her ult from level 1.

Karma is always a solid support, and while she doesn’t have the highest of highs, she’s always there helping out her team in small ways that add up. In lane, she has the potential to be dominant when paired with strong ADCs, and at the very least she should go even. This is largely down to her Q and the ultimate version of it.

When looking for or avoiding teamfights, the ultimate version of her team-wide shield and speed-up can be absolutely crucial, especially after purchasing heal and shield power.

9 Taric

Win Rate: 53% – Pick Rate: 2%

• Key Strengths: Protection, tankiness, and CC.
• Niche Value as a Support: Can make the whole team invulnerable.

Taric normally isn’t that strong and has never been a popular option. However, the current meta leans in his favor, and while he isn’t an enchanter per se, he can protect his allies just as well while also proving tankiness and Crowd Control.

For the best results, players will want to play Taric alongside Bot Laners, who are more willing to get up close and personal with the enemy, as they can trigger his stun for him. Examples include Nilah and Samira.

8 Braum

Win Rate: 51% – Pick Rate: 6%

• Key Strengths: Protection, CC, and tankiness.
• Niche Value as a Support: Free wins against melee engage champions.

For quite some time, Braum has been one of the most underrated supports, especially as a counter-pick for melee engage champions. However, even though most engage supports aren’t too hot currently, Braum has recently found success against other meta supports and offers an alternative to enchanters while still protecting his fellow bot laner.

While Braum is best known for his shield that stops incoming projectiles, good Braum players know how to play him aggressively too, jumping forward to minions for a surprise ult or even just a slowing Q to get the party started.