The Kings and Queens of the Support role: A look into the favored Champions of Competitive League
RudeStyle analyses why Janna, Alistar, and Thresh have made such a big impact upon Competitive League of Legends.
When you think of support what comes to mind almost instantly? Is it the all-rounder Thresh? The Queen of disengage Janna? Or even the brawly Alistar? These are the three supports at the moment which dominate the Competitive League Of Legends Scene, which has naturally transcended into a rise of popularity for all 3 of these Champions.
(Pictures from League Of Legends Wiki)
The EUW LCS fully embraced this, Alistar was pick or ban in 81% of games, picked for 53 games and banned away for 21, Janna boasted a 61% W/R and a 7.2 KDA overall. Thresh was the middle man in EUW, he was picked more than Janna and less than Alistar but had a lower KDA and W/R than Janna but higher than Alistar's.
The NA LCS had also welcomed Alistar, he was pick or ban in 89% of games, he was by far the most dominant support. The second most picked Champion, Thresh who had appeared in 1 less game than Alistar at 36, had a pick/ban of only 46%. The NA LCS thrived on the play-making Supports which showcased exceptional performances from different players including Adrian 'Adrian' Ma and Alan 'KiWiKiD' Nguyen.
But, why are these Champions so strong in this Meta? How do they differ from the fallen Kings and Queens of Support? Let's take a look.
Thresh offers what other Supports wish they could, a little bit of everything. He can engage just like Leona with his hook, he can save his teammates with his Lantern more efficiently than the likes of Tahm Kench and he can peel for his carry just like Janna (albeit less effective) with his Flay. His ultimate also zones enemies from him and his carry which is extremely useful for trapping or escaping from enemies. He also has decent scaling thanks to his passive, Damnation. All these factors make him incredibly useful compared to other options, this also makes him great for almost every different meta whether it's Tanks,Assassins or Poke and fits various compositons such as Pick comps and Heavy Engage comps. He allows whats considered to be the most boring role to become a playmaker and has seen competitive play ever since he debuted into League Of Legends. Just based on the attention this Champion gets from the community, he'll never die.
Janna, the bane of all Solo Queue players. A Support who deals with the likes of Alistar and Leona well, due to her heavy disengage style which counteracts their heavy engage playstyle. She heals and shields allies with a bonus of movement speed and attack damage while truely blowing her enemies away with her Howling Gale and Monsoon. She fits the poke and siege composition styles extremely well because of how great she is against all the heavy engage while buffing them at the same time. Allowing them to work optimally without being burst down quickly from the gap closers and ranged CC abilities the enemies may have. She is the perfect example of how annoying League of Legends can be.
Alistar, The undisputed King of Supports this summer. Alistar is extremely efficient due to his brute force of an engage with his headbutt and pulvarize combo which has made or broken (the enemy) LCS games. He works well with the LCS laneswap style where he can roam with the jungler while the AD Carry is farming alone and force plays across the map. Having Alistar on the team creates massive pressure for the enemy, often forcing them on the defensive. He works extremely well in tower dives due to his ultimate creating a massive boost in Alistars defensive stats making him the optimal Champion to lock down enemies under tower while taking turret aggro, thus creating major leads in the early game which teams thrive on. Alistar himself can force teams back in fear of being engaged upon, which to avoid players would have to use flash during his headbutt animation as it's about to land, this creates objective control. Alistar is also decent for the 2v2 lane phase, he has OK sustain from his E and can force favorable fights on the enemy. He caters for everything aggressive about League Of Legends - exciting, fast, and clean teamfights.
Overall, these 3 supports have helped shape the meta, they provide a unique niche whether its disengage, hard engage or a little bit of everything. They are a tier above the rest.
Thanks for reading and if you want to discuss or give feedback/advice be sure to contact me @RudeStylein3D on Twitter!
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