Orianna is a champion that is never far from being in the meta as she is an immense control mage who offers great damage output fused with a lot of utility in a shield, a movement speed steroid, and a large displacement CC on her ultimate.

However, her main way of relocating her ball, her Q, Command: Attack, is quite short-range. Its range is actually shorter than the range her ball can be separated her from before it will blink back to her. This means that champions that carry the ball into an enemy team with ease are of great importance to her, as they can set up for huge wombo combos through her ultimate, Command: Shockwave. Therefore, in this piece, I will go over some of the champions who can setup the wombo combo in the form of a ‘Ball Delivery System' or BDS.

But before I dig into the candidates I must first identify what it takes to be a satisfactory BDS. To be a BDS, you need to meet several requirements. The first of which is a targeted gap closer, as you need to guarantee that the ball will at least hit one key target. The second requirement is that the BDS candidate must be a bruiser or tank as they need to be able to survive going in as the primary engage and mages and marksmen just don’t have enough survivability here. And finally, the third requirement being an area-of-effect CC ability to wombo combo with, creating a CC chain on multiple people which then results in big damage and (provided all being well) a won teamfight.

Wukong

The Monkey King has been far from the meta in recent seasons of LoL (his last notable appearance was a counter pick in mid for Caps on season 8 Fnatic), but the Vastayan bruiser does have potential in the role of a BDS for Orianna? As a jungler, Wukong can still get the mix of damage items and tank stats needed to be a ball carrier, and since his E, Nimbus Strike, can be used to dash to a targeted enemy, he can ensure that Orianna’s ball will make it to a target in a teamfight. But what about following up on the Orianna ultimate? Well, his ultimate; Cyclone, is a massive AOE knock-up for any enemy that Wukong comes into contact while he spins his staff round in a large radius.

So is Wukong a bruiser/tank? His jungle itemization says yes he is a bruiser. Does Wukong have a targeted gap closer? Nimbus Strike says yes. And does Wukong have an AOE CC to follow up with? Cyclone says yes. These three requirements being met together means that Wukong can most definitely be a BDS for Orianna.

Alistar

Alistar, unlike Wukong, has seen play recently, KT Rolster’s support Snowflower recently piloted the champion to an MVP performance in the LCK. But does the Minotaur have the potential to be a BDS for Orianna? Well, Alistar is known as a tank support and this is supplemented by the fact that his ultimate Unbreakable Will gives him notable damage reduction for a duration after the cast. Now, we all know that Alistar has one of the best non-ultimate engages in all of LoL with his Headbutt/Pulverize combo (W into Q) but one important part of that combo is the fact Alistar’s W, Headbutt, is a point and click ability that is targeted on the enemy’s location (which is why it can be flashed given correct timing). The second half of Alistar’s engage combo is the other part as to why he is such a threat, knock-ups are a commonly seen CC nowadays in LoL (we’ve even had a bounce-house meta in recent years) but Pulverize has still remained one of the most effective knock-ups in LoL given its AoE nature around the cow.

So is Alistar a bruiser/tank? His nature and ultimate definitely tick that checkbox. Can Alistar close the gap on a target while carrying the ball? Head-butting in may be blunt but it gets the job done. And can he follow up on a Shockwave? Well, he pulverizes that question out. Yes, Alistar can definably function as a BDA for Orianna.

Yasuo

Yes, everyone’s least favorite flex laner makes this list, and as much as we have all faced the whole ‘Our Yasuo vs their Yasuo,’ chasm of difference, he does have what it takes to be a BDS. Yasuo is a bruiser by definition, but he is a squishier one at that. However, we have seen tankier variants in the past building items such as Phantom Dancer and Frozen Mallet. This is also supplemented by the fact that Yasuo can mitigate a lot of the damage he has coming his way via the usage of his W, Wind Wall. Yasuo is known to be part of some of the dirtiest wombo combos and one of which is a wombo between himself and the Lady of Clockwork as her ultimate Command: Shockwave is an AoE displacement, meaning that the combo of Command: Shockwave into Last Breath can be lethal to any and all champions caught in it. This all combined with the fact that Yasuo can dash through an entire minion wave and then onto a target of his choice with repeated uses of his E, Sweeping Blade, makes for a deadly pairing.

Now basic synergy is all well and good, but that’s now what we are looking here, we are looking at whether Yasuo functions as a BDS for Orianna. So, can Yasuo serve as a bruiser? His damage, itemization versatility, and Wind Wall combine for a big yes here. Can gap close onto a target? Sweeping Blade sweeps in to clear the question. And finally, can Yasuo follow up on Command: Shockwave? Well, Last Breath holds his enemies up to knock that question down.

Honorable Mentions

Now there are several other picks that don’t quite meet all that is required to get their own place on this piece, but they do have some of the requirements and for that, they do get a quick mention. They are as follows:

• Gragas – Has the survivability and a decent dash in Body Slam, but the fact it isn’t targeted and an anti-synergy between Orianna and Gragas ultimates is limiting
• Sejuani – Again has the survivability and a decent dash but poor synergy between their collective kits is not ideal
• Sylas – Has gap closer that is also a stun is a great setup but is reliant on the skillshot, plus the fact that Sylas can be nuked down due to a lack of resistances limits him in a BDS role.
• Hecarim – A run in gap closer is risky plus a tendency for Hecarim to go out of the ball's range means, if Hecarim does play a BDS role, he is just restraining himself too much

Conclusion

So, there we have it, 3 main champions (and some fringe options) that Orianna can put the ball on, wait for them to go in then ultimate for the wombo combo. Now I must warn you that it does take synergy between players to pull this off in most cases but when you do pull it off it is A LOT of FUN. So if you are going to run this a lot I would recommend doing it in a duo queue (if you are lucky enough to have such a loyal friend to do this with you, friends can take you far so hold on to them) but if you do the sheer power of Orianna being unlocked to her maximum potential which can result is some sweet, sweet victories on Summoner's Rift. With that, I once again leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.

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