While all-in Support Champions do involve more risk, the payoff is high for your LP (and your ego). In this guide, we’ll rank the best all-in Support Champions this season and cover all you need to know about them.
Many Support mains prefer to assist from the backlines, offering heals, attack buffs, and shields while they watch their ADCs transform into unkillable machines. However, let’s be real: Being your ADC’s shadow isn’t quite as satisfying as being in the spotlight and carrying them through your own flashy plays and combos.
That’s where all-in Support Champions come in (or we should say dive in). These Champions take the lead and use their stellar engages and playmaking to set up game-changing fights and picks for their ADCs. While all-in Support Champions do involve more risk, the payoff is high for both your LP and ego.
Of course, some all-in Support Champions are better performers than others. We’ll rank the best below this season and cover all you need to know, from their playstyles and abilities to their strengths and weaknesses.
Alistar might not be the flashiest Champion around, but what he does have is one of the most reliable hard engages in the game: His W and Q combo. This allows him to dash straight to his target at an unstoppable speed, stun them, and then knock them up into the air. Very few Champions can escape this multi-layered CC, especially in the early levels.
This combo becomes all the more devastating once he unlocks his ultimate, “Unbreakable Will.” This ability cleanses all crowd control effects — meaning the enemy will have even less means to retaliate against his engage — and also reduces incoming damage, allowing him to effortlessly tank the brunt of their attacks.
Of course, Alistar’s hard engage isn’t the only reason that he makes a phenomenal all-in Support. His E ability offers another source of consistent CC, and his passive provides him with fantastic sustain in practically any situation, whether a drawn-out lane fight or a team skirmish around a crucial objective.
Alistar is also easy to pick up and comes with fewer “risks” than other all-in Support Champions, making him a good choice for even beginner Support players. However, be mindful that he does have a relatively limited range.
If you want to give your enemies a speed run to the “light” (aka the gray screen of death), then Leona is certainly a Champion to consider adding to your roster. Her early game all-in engage is by far the deadliest out of all the Supports featured here. If she manages to land her E and Q combo, it’s almost a given that she’ll secure first blood for her ADC or at least blow through their summoner spells. It’s also incredibly easy to land, considering the Q stun is a simple auto-attack.
Her strong early game all-in isn’t all she offers. She’s tanky with a surprising amount of roaming potential, and she can peel reliably at every stage of the game. Once she hits level 6 and unlocks her long-ranged CC ultimate, she also gains a whole new way to engage on her targets (and break their mentals in the process). She can even use her ultimate to CC multiple targets at a time.
Just like Alistar, Leona’s kit is relatively simple and easy to pick up. However, she can be easily poked down by ranged Champions, particularly during the laning phase. You’ll need to be careful with your positioning to ensure you’re always healthy enough to pull off your all-in combo.
Thresh is an all-in Support who is renowned in League for being one of the most difficult Champions to play. While this may deter many players, if you’re committed to investing the time and practice into him, the payoff is surely worth it. Thresh can single-handedly carry the lane (and game), no matter if his teammates fall behind.
From his long-ranged hook to his Flay, he has a whole range of ways to engage on his opponents and send them to their demise. He’s also tanky enough to stay in a fight and peel his ADC without breaking a sweat.
What makes Thresh a particularly great all-in Champion is that he doesn’t just have to resort to engaging on his opponent to come out on top. His kit offers a ton of playmaking potential and allows him to serve practically any purpose for his team. He can act as the frontline in a teamfight, play defensively and peel his carry, or focus on securing picks across the map.
There’s nothing that Thresh is necessarily “bad” at — the only limitation, of course, is the player’s ability to use his kit effectively.
While Nautilus isn’t as tanky as the likes of Leona or Alistar, his kit does have something else: A targeted point-and-click CC that even the slipperiest of ADCs can’t avoid (it’s quite literally unstoppable).
This ability alone is enough to make Nautilus a contender for this list. However, he does have plenty of other strengths. He has great ganking potential, a means to disengage if he misplays, and can readily adapt his build and playstyle to suit his team’s needs. His passive also makes it so that his auto-attacks root his enemies every few seconds.
Nautilus does have a strong level 2, and you’ll want to use this to your advantage. When played right, it creates phenomenal pressure and can throw off the enemy carry entirely. However, as we’ve touched on above, Nautilus is relatively squishy, especially when his shield is on cooldown. It’s important to use his shield carefully and time it with the enemies’ harass.
Alistar, Leona, Thresh, and Nautilus are all fantastic all-in Support Champions who will allow you to experience what it feels like to be a carry. Of course, they each have their fair share of strengths and weaknesses, and which Champion is best for you will ultimately depend on your preferences and skill level.
For instance, Thresh offers the most versatility and playmaking potential out of all the Supports featured here. However, he isn’t the best choice for beginners due to his mechanical complexity and high skill ceiling.
We recommend trying out these Champions first in Normals to get a better feel of their unique playstyles and abilities. You’ll know in your heart once you find “the one” (and hey, a new OTP may even be born).
