Best Supports in LoL Patch 13.12
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Paul Goño
Looking at the best Support picks to climb Ranked in the 13.12 meta, as well as the current tier list for the role in LoL.
Easily the most selfless role in League of Legends, the Support player's purpose in every game is to assist their allies while increasing map awareness. Their contribution to the team's vision score is the highest, enabling people on your side to carefully plan and execute game-winning plays. Support skills usually provide valuable crowd control (CC), while also being able to heal or shield team members. As such, they always begin every game at the botlane, assisting the AD Carry during the “laning” phase.
Often enchanter types, the champions in the Support category are as diverse in their playstyles as they are useful. With some performing better in the 13.12 meta, it's important to learn which ones offer the best chance of winning to climb the ranks ASAP. That being said, here's the list of the best supports to climb with on patch 13.12.
Best Supports to climb with on LoL patch 13.12
Janna
Pros
- Strong CC lets her peel and self-peel
- One of the best roaming champions in the game
- Good range on her abilities
- Big playmaking potential with her Q and her R
Cons
- Squishy during the laning phase
- No healing capabilities apart from her ultimate
- Extremely weak to hook champs
- Mistiming her ultimate can spell disaster in a teamfight
Janna Runes and Items
Janna's kit becomes very dependable in the early phases of the game, but what makes her special is how well her kit can abuse Glacial Augment. Since the 30% slow can be increased by shield and heal power, Janna's E along with support items like Moonstone Renewer can increase that slow to upwards of 75%. This can be done in the first 15 minutes of the game by the average silver/gold player.
With the emphasis on bottom lane, you're going to want to keep the pressure on botside. Knowing that, Echoes of Helia is a worthwhile investment. Stacking the damage you do with your Q improves Glacial's slow, heals an ally and dishes extra magic damage to a nearby enemy. Her kit's versatility makes her one of the best support champs to start with.
Milio
Pros
- Powerful passive which applies to all of his abilities
- His Q and his W lets you bully your opponents during the laning phase
- Becomes invaluable during late-game teamfights
Cons
- Is most efficient when he's in the thick of it
- Medium-ranged enchanter
- Low peel potential
Milio Runes and Items
Being an all-around champ, Milio requires high AP to be viable, but also needs to stay alive during those crucial skirmishes. That means high movement speed and sustain, but Cozy Campfire's heal unfortunately only becomes significant during the mid-game. All that considered, Guardian gives you some margin for error, with Font incentivizing your ADC to push the advance.
With patch 13.12's Attack Speed nerfs for AD Carries, Ardent Censer became the most appealing choice to augment our build, mainly due to the AS boost and additional magic damage, which stacks with his Fired Up! passive. Additionally, you may swap out Mikael's Blessing with Frozen Heart depending on how much CC the enemy team has.
Rakan
Pros
- Great counter engage
- Strong crowd control lets you set up impactful plays for your team
- Ultimate is extremely powerful in teamfights
Cons
- Lengthy cooldowns in the early game
- Easily kited
- Slow during the laning phase
- Unreliable damage
Rakan Runes and Items
Rakan's slow movement speed in the early game means that he'll need to play safe and rely on Bulwark for gold. Wardstone lets you give your team more vision for longer, however you can exchange it for Gargoyle Stoneplate if the situation demands a tankier build.
Moving onto his runes, we've optimized his survivability and healing potential with Revitalize and Bone Plating. If you're playing him right, you won't always always see the enemy turret, but when you do, you're going to want to pack a punch with Demolish. Interchange this with Unflinching if your enemies have a clear CC advantage.
Thresh
Pros
- Strong engage champion
- Dependable disengage
- Stacking his passive for armor and AP makes him almost unkillable
- Limitless playmaking potential
Cons
- High cooldowns
- Easily killable during the laning phase
- Depends on how well you can land your hooks
- Low movement speed
Thresh Runes and Items
Thresh's high skill ceiling has made him a favorite in pro play, and for good reason. You can set your team up for huge plays if you land your hooks, so an obvious choice for his kit is Glacial Augment, which scales with Ability Power and Shield power. Additionally, Perfect Timing can be swapped with Hextech Flashtraption depending on your playstyle.
Item-wise, Locket provides a ton of sustain for your allies during drawn-out teamfights, but can be replaced with Evenshroud which is a fantastic engage Mythic in 13.12. Furthermore, his passive ability Damnation can infinitely farm Ability Power and Armor, stacking with Glacial and making him a tank in the late game.
Soraka
Pros
- Great poke and CC in the early game
- Global ultimate ability
- Strong heal in the midgame
Cons
- Highly vulnerable if caught out of position
- Limited synergy with most ADCs
- Is prioritized during teamfights
Soraka Runes and Items
Moonstone's chain heal passive is perfect for maximizing Soraka's Astral Infusion HP trade. What's more is that Redemption's versatility will help you increase your healing output even when you're down and out. Save Chemtech Purifier as your last item, or opt for Anathema's Chains if you find yourself focused by the enemy jungler.
Mana sustain becomes a big problem when you start to roam. Since Soraka's itemization should focus on her HP, use Scorch and Manaflow Band to strengthen your poke while increasing your mana pool. Be the best support Soraka by focusing on survivability while slowly reinforcing your Ability Power.
Patch 13.12 LoL Support tier list
By its definition, Support champs protect their allies, increase map awareness and set up teamfights with valuable CC. Knowing that, you might see off-meta picks on the Rift every so often. We've included the most popular picks in our tier list below:
- S: The best supports in Patch 13.12
- A: Very powerful champions that are dependable in blind match-ups
- B: Strong supports in the right scenario
- C: Viable champions that require a strong level of experience
- F: The least optimized picks in the current meta
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