With the Season 11 item overhaul that Riot brought to League of Legends came what has to be the biggest addition to a singular role in LoL’s history. This being in the support role with the addition of the Imperial Mandate. With stat gains in Health, Mana Regeneration, and Ability power at a cost of under three-thousand gold (2500 currently) it is a very versatile item but it is not the stats that has made this item so strong (Moonstone has the exact same stat line and cost, yet is not seeing anywhere near as much usage or fame). Instead, it is the passive that the item comes with.

This passive consists of having any enemy champion you apply CC with an ability to being marked (the application of the mark doing damage too) with any allied damage popping the mark to deal bonus damage and grant both offensive parties a movement speed steroid. This combination of effects makes Mandate extremely powerful. So, now we know why the item is strong, but who can use it, and that’s the whole point of this piece. In Season 11’s preseason, we have seen a number of picks both new and old in the support role that make use of IM and in this piece, I will break some of them down for your benefit/understanding.

Nami

When the introduction of mythic items came in, many people thought (myself included) thought that Nami was one of the biggest losers of the off-season due to not having a good mythic to make use of due to her cooldown durations and minimal non-ultimate CC (the common thought being that only her Q: Aqua Prison would proc IM). However, this assumption would be proved wrong as Nami mains and OTPs would soon find (and a huge thank you to the Nami mains subreddit for this info [I know my meager 200k mastery is nothing compared to you guys]) that applying Nami’s E: Tidecaller’s Blessing on an ally would not only buff set ally but would make their next attack (spell or AA) on a champion proc both parts (as the effect of the buff on Nami’s E is bonus damage and a slow) of Imperial Mandate! The end result of this is that Nami now has an exemplary choice of a Mythic and is a sleeper OP pick in the eyes of many and should rise in the enchanter tier list alongside Janna.

Nautilus

Nautilus, unlike his fellow aquatic champion in Nami, has been at the forefront of the meta in LoL for some time now, and Season 11’s changes so far haven’t dampened (not sorry) this effect. In fact, it has done quite the opposite as it has given the Titan of the Depths greater tank itemization to work with. However, while a traditional tank support would gravitate towards building the tank support mythic in Locket of the Iron Solari, there is an argument to made for taking Mandate as your mythic.

This effect comes in two parts, the first being in Imperial Mandates AP component. While most support tanks like Braum make little to no use of ability power, Nautilus does, with not 1, not 2, but 3 damaging abilities. AP is something Naut can love (just ask s9 world champion DoinB who terrorized the LPL with AP Nautilus in mid). The second part is the fact that the anchor-man has four different ways to set up/apply marks on opposing champions through his passive (snare), Q (displacement), E (AOE slow), and Ultimate (knock-ups, yes potential multiple targets). Mandate is viable on Nautilus and should be run on him at support unless you’re the only tank on your team.

Snare Sisters

When Riot designed Imperial Mandate it was very obvious which type of champion it was designed to be used by AP PICK SUPPORTS. This is very obvious in the idea of land a skill shot snare, ally follows up then you run them down/run away to end the trade. The power here is evident but which of the snare sisters should you pick, well that depends, all are good thanks to IM but each has a unique second which are as follows; Morgana is your blind pick as Black Shield utility is so versatile, Lux is your sniper as her range on her entire kit is immense and fills the niche well, Zyra is the chokehold specialist and is your go-to in low CC/disruption needs, and finally Neeko who is really just, unfortunately, second fiddle to Zyra here (only pick if you really like her). Another pick to mention here is Anivia. While she isn’t a snare sister, the recent buffs to her Q projectile speed may make her viable in two roles here (shoutout to Swain's building Rylai’s Crystal Sceptre + IM in support too, very fun).

Conclusion

So, there we have it, a look at some of the best users of what is to be one of the most defining items of the new season, especially in the support role (we have seen Imperial Mandate on ADCs like Ashe and Mid laners like ASol). Now whether you want to pick a snare sister, an IM enchanter like Nami (or Janna), or even a tankier IM user like Naut please, for the sanity of your ranked teammates, test your use of the new items (or champion for some of you) in bot and then normal games as risking your LP with information you don’t know but should is a big no-no if you want to climb the ranked ladder. With that, I once again leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.