Support champions may not be designed to carry the game but they are extremely powerful in League of Legends. There are plenty of champions that can be played as a support but let’s take a look at the champions who were specifically designed to assist their team. Today, we’ll be taking a look to appreciate the best support champions that Riot Games has ever introduced to League of Legends which made the role a lot more iconic to play.
The Best Support Champions Ever
Support champions are often designed to play a facilitative role with very few of them specifically designed to have kill pressure by themselves. The best support champions don’t aim to take down the enemy on their own but instead elevate their allies or create openings that allow for their entire team to succeed. That often means taking the back seat and not having flashy moments that average viewers find amazing.
When ranking the best support champions ever created, we’ll rank them according to how much they contribute to the overall identity of the role. These champions are what makes playing support so fun and they are the characters that Riot Games definitely can’t remove if they want people to enjoy playing this role. Let’s take a look at those champions that can be considered Riot Games’ best-designed support champions ever.
5. Soraka
When you hear the word “support” in most games, the word “healing” is often associated with it in most RPGs. As Soraka was part of the original League of Legends roster, Riot Games also thinks the same. Out of all the champions in the game, there isn’t another unit that can beat Soraka in terms of healing output which automatically makes her one of the units that support players go to when they think their teams need more healing.
Soraka is an absolutely iconic champion overall and it’s actually bananas. Unfortunately, being a pure healer isn’t actually a great thing in League of Legends so we can’t place her any higher than this rank. However, it wouldn’t be right to not put her in the top 5 if we’re talking about the best support champions ever created. After all, this champion has been teaching people the importance of Grievous Wounds for the past decade.
4. Braum
When it comes to support, one of their goals is to protect their allies, and one champion that perfectly exemplifies this is Braum. Tank champions often have their own identity and even those that are placed under the support category often don’t feel like a support champion since their contribution is oftentimes just a powerful engage ability or being able to soak damage while the AD Carry does their thing.
In Braum’s case, he also has a powerful engage ability and his primary role is to soak most of the damage in fights. However, he is able to do all those things while blocking damage from his allies instead of relying on the enemy player to brainlessly target a full tank while their carries safely fire away in the back line. His existence counters so many champions in the game and ensures that his allies are always safe from powerful projectile abilities.
3. Rakan
Rakan might have been created specifically for Xayah as one part of the greatest LoL couples in the lore and in game but as a standalone unit, he has built himself up to be one of the best support champions ever created. One way to play support is to disrupt the enemy team while being able to protect your allies and Rakan is a champion that does both those jobs extremely well. He dances around the battlefield providing support for his allies while charming the enemy team.
The great thing about Rakan as a support champion is it breaks the stereotype of having your champion stand in the backline waiting for something to happen. With this champion, you can choose to either stay in the middle of the fight or move back to protect your ally. Being able to choose how you want to play according to the situation makes Rakan such an excellent support champion to play for intermediate to advanced skill-level players.
2. Lulu
Enchanters are a popular choice among support players but the main problem with a lot of them is that aren’t as impactful by themselves and heavily rely on the AD Carry being extremely competent at playing the game. Lulu is the best enchanter in the game as she allows her entire team to succeed instead of simply hoping their ADC doesn’t run it down during the laning phase which is what most enchanters hate to see.
As an overall support champion, she is extremely fun to play because she can play both disruption and protection which is something that a lot of other enchanters also excel at but with less depth compared to Lulu. She does everything that the other enchanters do but with more utility brought to the team. Most enchanters specialize in buffing specific AD Carries but Lulu can work with a lot of the choices and is a good counter-pick against specific aggressive choices from the enemy team.
1. Thresh
Thresh is probably one of the best-designed champions in League of Legends history since he exemplifies all the fun mechanics of the game. One of the most fun and skill-expressive mechanics in this game is the Hook mechanic that a lot of support champions have in their kit. Thresh has one of the most fun hook mechanics in the game but doesn’t relegate him into committing his identity into a hard-engage champion, unlike other champions that have these abilities.
Thresh is absolutely fun to play and has a high-skill expression as well. He can be super disruptive while being able to fulfill his role as a sentinel that protects his allies from danger. All of his abilities are really well-designed and has a ton of ways to use them according to the needs of the situation. This champion plays for their team and is rewarded when the player sees the most selfless plays available.