When it comes to playing support in League of Legends, there’s a lot to keep track of. The best support for each patch can change based on the meta, the type of support you play, and even the patch updates.
Supports can be divided into three categories: Enchanters, engagers, and poke supports. Some champions cross into multiple categories, so it’s a pretty safe golden triangle to follow. But there are supports in Patch 14.13 you should pick that fall into these categories.
Understanding the different support categories, their purpose in the bot lane, and their strengths and weaknesses is key to choosing the best champions for your team, your playstyle, and against enemy compositions. You can learn more about these categories further in the article. But, for now, these are the five best League supports in Patch 14.14.
Best LoL support champions in Patch 14.14
The best support champions in LoL Patch 14.14 are:
- Leona
- Pyke
- Braum
- Lulu
- Nami
Leona
Leona has remained unchanged for years. That’s a result of arguably the most unique and rewarding kit among League champions. If you play her right, your bottom lane matchup is bound to go your way.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Aggressive kit. – Great lane poke. – Perfect at binding multiple champions. | – Long cooldowns. – Lacks versatility. – Must land skill shots. |
As Leona, you want to pair up with an aggressive AD carry. With your kit and a champion that can follow up pretty easily, you can create a deadly duo. The support champion has a perfect kit to go in as early as level two, and if you win your early-game skirmishes, you will become unstoppable.
There’s a catch, however. Casual Leona players often overestimate their strength and go for unfavorable trades. If you do that and fall behind early, there’s a huge chance you won’t be able to come back to the game. In the end, Leona is a champion who relies on one specific, offensive way of playing, and it’s pretty impossible to do if you’re on the back foot.
| Areas of Interest | Best options for Leona |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Resolve – Aftershock – Font of Life – Second Wind – Overgrowth Rune tree two: Precision – Triumph – Legend: Haste – Offense: Ability haste – Flex: Movement speed – Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Plated Steelcaps/Mercury’s Treads – Celestial Opposition – Warmog’s Armor From here, your items will be situational. For more support build, go for Knight’s Vow and Locket of the Iron Solari. However, if you just want to bulk up, especially against an AD-heavy composition, Thornmail and Frozen Heart are also sensible options. If none of them fits your game, you can also go for Zeke’s Convergence. For AP and move speed, choose Stormsurge for ability haste and more mana, choose Malignance; or for ability power and armor, choose Zhonya’s Hourglass. |
| Best summoner spells | – Flash – Ignite |
| Best skill order | – Shield of Daybreak (Q) – Zenith Blade (E) – Eclipse (W). Once you’ve unlocked these three, max R, W, E, and Q, in that order. |
| Best ADCs to pair with Leona | – Ashe – Brand – Twitch – Ezreal – Jinx – Kai’Sa |
| Toughest support matchups for Leona | – Pyke – Senna – Tahm Kench – Zyra – Braum |
Pyke
Pyke has reemerged in Patch 14.14. He’s back to slitting throats and wreaking havoc on the Summoner’s Rift. Contrary to every other support on the list, Pyke isn’t a typical “stick to your ADC” type of champion. Instead, he wants to be as aggressive as possible to pick up a potential early snowball. Pyke can do that by looking for hooks in the laning phase, or by joining his jungler in their adventures on the other parts of the Summoner’s Rift.
However, if you pick Pyke into a matchup that’s going to be impossible for you and your ADC to handle, you might lose the game from the get-go. It’s best to lock him against bottom lane duos that aren’t too aggressive or tanky on their own.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Deadly in lane and late game – Unique support gameplay | – Doesn’t provide his ADC with any utility – Needs to be ahead or on par with the rest of the team to be useful – Doesn’t fit in every team composition |
Since Pyke relies on getting as many kills as possible, especially with his ultimate, it’s pivotal you increase his damage. You can do that by picking the Domination tree with Hail of Blades as the main rune. Bone Plating and Unflinching from the Resolve tree make up for a bit of much-needed sustain.
| Ares of Interest | Best options for Pyke |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Domination – Hail of Blades – Sudden Impact – Zombie Ward – Ultimate Hunter Rune tree two: Resolve – Bone Plating – Unflinching – Offense: Adaptive Force – Flex: Adaptive Force – Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Boots of Swiftness – Celestial Opposition – Umbral Glaive While most supports will collect items that provide additional stats and aid to your team, Pyke should go the assassin route. This means picking up items like Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Night, Axiom Arc, Voltaic Cyclosword, and Maw of Malmortius. |
| Best summoner spells | – Flash – Ignite |
| Best build path | – Bone Skewer (Q) – Phantom Undertow (E) – Ghostwater Dive (W) Once you’ve unlocked all three, max out your hook Q, E, W, in that order. |
| Best ADCs to pair with Pyke | – Seraphine – Ziggs – Ashe – Kai’Sa – Miss Fortune |
| Toughest support matchups for Pyke | – LeBlanc – Poppy – Maokai – Leona – Rakan |
Braum
I think we can all agree that Braum is everyone’s favorite support or at least one of them. Lore-wise, the champion is very noble, and on the Summoner’s Rift, he takes care of every ally he can.
Braum’s gameplay allows you to adapt to almost any game. If you need him to be an aggressive champion that will engage fights, he’s a suitable choice. The same goes if you need someone to stand in front of you and soak in damage.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Great engage – Immense sustain – Easy and fun to play – Can be played both agressively and defensively | – Is pretty tied to his ADC – Can be useless when fallen behind |
With Braum’s primary role being a tank, regardless of the approach you’re taking, there are no better runes for him than ones from the Resolve tree.
| Areas of Interest | Best options for Braum |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Resolve – Guardian – Font of Life – Bone Plating – Unflinching Rune tree two: Inspiration – BIscuit Delivery – Cosmic Insight – Offense: Attack speed – Flex: Health based on level – Defense: Health based on level |
| Best items | – Plated Steelcaps – Warmog’s Armor – Celestial Opposition While Pyke follows a different build path, Braum, similarly to Leona, has a much more traditional one. After obtaining the items listed below, simply pick others that will be the best for your current game. These include, for example, Knight’s Vow, Locket of the Iron Solari, Thornmail, Spirit Visage, or Frozen Heart. |
| Best summoner spells | – Flash – Ignite |
| Best build path | – Winter’s Bite (Q) – Unbreakable (E) – Stand Behind Me (W) Once you’ve unlocked all three, max your Q first, then E, and round up with W. |
| Best ADCs to pair with Braum | – Miss Fortune – Ezreal – Twitch – Zeri – Jhin |
| Toughest support matchups for Braum | – Taric – Shaco – Rakan – Seraphine – Pyke |
Lulu
Despite her yordle size, Lulu, the Fae Sorceress, is one of the best buffing and assisting supports in League. Her kit revolves around supporting her teammates. While she doesn’t have much in the way of damaging abilities and is quite squishy, her pros sometimes outweigh the cons.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Great at poking. – Offers crowd control. – Excellent assist and buff support. – Low cooldowns. – Lots of utility. | – Barely any damage. – Her kit isn’t for fighting. – She relies heavily on her teammates. – Mana management. – Squishy. |
Because Lulu is quite squishy, she’s an easy target, and with her little legs, she often can’t get away fast enough. But with specific runes, items, and summoner spells, she has a little more survivability, and when paired with the best ADCs that mesh well with her kit, she can buff them so much that they become a damage-dealing God.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Lulu |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Sorcery – Summon Aery – Manaflow Band – Transcendence – Scorch Rune tree two (option one): Resolve (Survivability) – Bone Plating – Revitalize – Offense: Ability haste – Flex: Adaptive force – Defense: Health Rune tree two (option two): Inspiration (Haste) – Biscuit Delivery – Cosmic Insight – Offense: Adaptive force – Flex: Adaptive force – Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Dream Maker – Ionian Boots of Lucidity – Ardent Censer After this, two of the best items to get are Moonstone Renewer (ability power, ability haste, mana, and mana regeneration) and Staff of Flowing Water (ability power, ability haste, heal and shield power, and mana regeneration). Redemption or Mikael’s Blessing are good healing and shielding options if you need a sixth item. |
| Best summoner spells | – Flash. – Ignite. |
| Best build path | – Help, Pix! (E). – Glitterlance (Q). – Whimsy (W). Once you’ve unlocked all three, max out your E, W, R, and Q. |
| Best ADCs to pair with Lulu | – Kog’Maw – Ashe – Jinx – Twitch – Vayne |
| Toughest support matchups for Lulu | – Zyra – Leona – Sona – Braum – Taric |
Nami
Last but not least, we have Nami, a true Enchanter support. Thanks to her versatile kit, she’s an all-round great pick for numerous matches. Nami is immensely fun to play but can be hard to get to grips with at first due to how much she depends on skill shots.
| Pros | Cons |
| – A lot of strong crowd control – Versatile – Easy to play | – Requires you to land skill shots – Easy to catch and eliminate |
Due to her unique kit, there is no perfect rune combination for Nami. Players usually pick Sorcery tree for additional mana and poke from the Summon Aery rune, and we believe that is the best option. Round that up with some Resolve survivability, and you’re good to go.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Nami |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Sorcery – Summon Aery – Manaflow Band – Transcendence – Scorch Rune tree two: Resolve – Bone Plating – Revitalize – Offense: Adaptive Force – Flex: Adaptive Force – Defense: Health based on level |
| Best items | – Ionian Boots of Lucidity – Dream Maker – Imperial Mandate While you can have fun with different champions’ builds, that’s not the case with Nami. Once you complete the core three choices listed above, you ought to go for Shurelya’s Battlesong and Moonstone Renewer. You can have some fun with the sixth item, though, Staff of Flowing Water or Redemption often fit the most. |
| Best summoner spells | – Flash – Heal |
| Best build path | – Ebb and Flow (W) – Tidecaller’s Blessing (E) – Aqua Prison (Q) Once you’ve unlocked all three, you’ll want to max your W, E, Q. |
| Best ADCs to pair with Nami | – Ziggs – Zeri – Kog’Maw – Draven – Nilah |
| Toughest support matchups for Nami | – Taric – Maokai – Nautilus – Leona – Pyke |
Support categories and their roles in the bot lane
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 significant early-game damage. Because of their lack of poke, they can capitalize on enchanters during the laning phase but can’t deal effectively with poke supports since they whittle down your health before you can even consider 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.
If you’re having trouble picking a support champion for you or your team or simply want to know which supports are crushing it in the meta, these are the five best supports in Patch 14.14.
