Reign of Gaming

I'm going have to disagree with moving Leona down on the list due to the description of a "support" that you have given.

1. Leona does a really good job of zoning enemy champions; not by actually hitting them, but by her presence. If the enemy hasn't warded one of the bushes, leona can easily get the jump on a champ and keep it in place, whilst a last-hitting ally can just turn around and get 1-3 easy shots in.  After doing this once and winning the trade-off, the enemy will be more weary of being aggressive, thus saving your carry the trouble of being extra alert on trading hits and more focused on last hitting. She has no healing,shields, or mana-return spells however like other supports, so your partner may have to boots/3pot it. She supports well by making the enemy lane hesitate to trade hits, if trades occur, the double stun assures you win the trade, protecting your carry from future trades.

2. I always build Gp5 items on leona. First 3 items are always philosopher stone, heart of gold, and boots.  You don't need the last hits if your carry is paying attention to leona's harass (although I do take a few last hits if the carry has to B, or if it is clear that they aren't in range or won't be able to get the last hit on a certain minion), and I don't upgrade the Gp5 items until my other items are complete/I feel that the team requires it. She have enough defense through her W and base armor/resist item to withstand trades with minimal gold, allowing her to purchase gp5 items.he supports well by making the enemy lane hesitate to trade hits, if trades occur, the double stun assures you win the trade.

3.  Who doesn't buy wards? Anyways, the gp5 items allows her to buy wards, just like any other support.

4. Aside from Alistar and Galio, Leona probably has the 3rd best gank potential from the whole list, with the best damage potential from the list.  The fact that she can immobilize-->stun-->shield damage-->ulti-stun for 4-8 seconds of cc, while the lane partner is just whacking on them is the best gank you can probably ask for.  She can roam really well and ganks are superb if lane partner is present.

The ONLY downside to her, besides the one you mentioned of "if she engages, she has to be commited" would be the requirement of landing her Q.  It's possible to roam and/or stun champions without it, but she is severely hampered if she doesn't.  If anything, she deserves to be next to Blitzcrank, as they fill the same role of harassment, but leona is built more tanky whilst Blitzcrank is built more DPS-like.

Nautilus should be on this list. He's like Leona except his CC can hit more people. He brings so much to team fights

Why isn't Nidalee on the list? I know she's better top lane, but she's still a better support than Annie or Karma.

Why Malphite is not even in the list?

I tested 5-6 times and we won 100% of the games. I know he is not propery a support becuse he has no "support ability". But Shard has a nice range and you can harrass the carry and be safe from dmg thanks to  passive. Your carry will farm more and you wll ein the lane easy, you are a nightmare for ad carry such vayne ecc ecc.

And when you hit lvl 6 is double kill when a gang come. In team fights is one of the strongest initiator and most of the dmg in late game come from ad sources. I mean great early, mid and late game, strong cc, sustain, ecc ecc.

At least i would put him in the list :D (its even a lot more fun than all the other supports)

my first post, zion00

why is annie in this list XD?

Quote from srks »

why is annie in this list XD?

Well, Annie support does actually work, but I think the primary reason Elementz included her is to point out the fact that even Annie is better than Karma.

I'd guess that this is a step to show just how bad karma currently is.

Hey Elementz, 

I just wanted to make a case for Sona being moved further up the tier list (to the top of tier 2 / ahead of Blitz and Nunu).  Outside of specific team comps, most teams lean towards 'safer' champions in tourny play (not really all in, such as an EZ or LB who rely on a strong early game while falling off late).  Because of this, Sona is still a really strong competitive pick.  Her laning harass and sustain is strong...while not the strongest it is, however, strong enough to be noticeable.  Her ult is also an aoe stun that can secure a kill, aid an escape, or really help in a team fight.  She is an overall solid pick with no real weaknesses in her game...the only issue is that she isn't overtly powerful (which is why I don't think she is tier 1...just should be moved up a bit in tier 2)

Blitz, on the otherhand, is very hit and miss.  As stated, a good pull can win the fight...a bad one can lose.  Even players who are super comfortable with the champion will not pick Blitz outside of a specific setup for the reason that you are just NOT guarenteed to do well with him.  I do think that he is strong, and perhaps undervalued, but, while his reward factor is high, I think that his risk factor should be accounted for and, as such, he should not be above the safer pick, Sona.

Nunu is a decent support with a recent buff to his MR/lvl.  I think he is a very viable support, however I do not feel that he brings as much to the fight as Sona.  In the laning phase, Nunu is EXTREMELY reliable on his AD carry to play the lane as other supports usually have the ability to out harass him (Lulu) or just outsustain him (almost any).  His attack speed debuff on his iceball is really strong, but the slow isn't too noticable until later lvls of the spell.  His ult can be really strong in certain situations, but in other situations it is easily disrupted, or just doesn't deal much dmg.  The debuff it provides is great, but it relies on Nunu being in the middle of the fight when he doesn't have a lot of defensive abilities to make him get back out alive.   

In all, I think that Sona should be moved up due to her solid abilities throughout the game and a strong ult to boot.  Also, I'd really like to thank you for updating these tier lists and sharing your thoughts with the community! 

I actually made an account just to agree with this post. As a dedicated support player who is fairly comfortable with unconventional supports such as Blitz and Nunu, I generally prefer Sona over either of them. Sona isn't my first pick, but if I am playing with an Amumu or Kennen, or laning with a Miss Fortune, I always go Sona. Also, if the enemy team has more than one AoE champions, she's a strong pick. Her ult, if properly timed (i.e. when you're close enough to get the majority of the enemy team/your teammates are prepared to immediately engage) just dominates teamfights.

When I want to play it safe, I play Janna or Soraka, but when I feel like being aggressive I play Sona. She gives me an aggressive playstyle without having to risk being in melee and having no sustain. When you play champs like Nunu/Blitz/Leona, you have the potential to dominate your lane hard, but you are really relying on your enemy to make mistakes, and a smart player is going to ward the bush and stay behind their minions, Rocket McGrabberson.

I like the way the new tier lists are looking!

I do not have any particular experience with Zilean but is he essentially not viable as a support? He is somewhat of a forgotten champion and I wanted to know your point of view on him as support.

I'm not seeing why Taric is valued competitively. Especially over Blitzcrank.  Blitzcrank is harder to kill and does more damage and has better roam ganks.  He's also can zone people under their turret much better than most supports. When I look at Taric, he just seems a lot more mana inefficient in general and it's entirely possible to play passive sucessfully against a Taric lane because he doesn't have much range.

And Soraka seems pretty overrated.  She has good laning phase that can be countered by say Blitz due to how squishy she is, but she doesn't have nearly as much utility in teamfights as most other supports. Take Sona, she actually has very similar if not better sustain potential than Soraka if she's consistently using her heal to sustain two targets, but also transitions much better offensively than Soraka due to Power Chord utility and her ultimate at level 6, and she also dominates more lanes in ones where she can be aggressive.  What does Soraka do when the team's jungler comes to gank?  Silence lol?  Almost every other support actually matters during ganks.

Galio support I feel is at least as good as Leona.  He's very iffy in the laning phase, but if he can land his skillshots consistently his initiation and damage are both reallly strong, and his W is one of the best defensive steroids in the game by a landslide. And then of course Galio ult is Galio ult.

Quote from A2ZOMG »

I'm not seeing why Taric is valued competitively. Especially over Blitzcrank.  Blitzcrank is harder to kill and does more damage and has better roam ganks.  He's also can zone people under their turret much better than most supports. When I look at Taric, he just seems a lot more mana inefficient in general and it's entirely possible to play passive sucessfully against a Taric lane because he doesn't have much range.

The main problem with Blitz is that he doesn't bring any useful sustain or buffs for the carry. Alistar also has two hard CCs on shortish cooldowns but he can heal. Taric has a great stun and gives his carry heals and a huge armor aura. Blitz is a strong laner but supports that can heal/buff just make much better laners. 

In my opinion, even if they are not top tier, orianna and nidalee are mising.

not the very best, but in some combinations and teams are still viable, both off them can be quite good. both can ward the bottom brushes for free, both have a good harrass and still can heal/shield. 

orianna has a strong ult cc, nida good escape qualities

and another thing: if yorick is in this list, why not pantheon? thx to his passiv he has a good sustain, the spear as harrass, the jump for stun and his ulti, he can do quite much even without farm

I'm not seeing why Taric is valued competitively. Especially over Blitzcrank.  Blitzcrank is harder to kill and does more damage and has better roam ganks.  He's also can zone people under their turret much better than most supports. When I look at Taric, he just seems a lot more mana inefficient in general and it's entirely possible to play passive sucessfully against aTaric lane because he doesn't have much range.

Taric is a lot safer champion than Blitz.  He provides sustain in lane through his heal, and he also has a GUARENTEED CC.  Blitz relies on a skillshot grab and auto attack knockup.  The skillshot can be dodged (flashed) or spell shielded on reaction and is also usually prevented by good positioning (being behind creeps / out of range) as well as good movement.  This is the reason why people are usually looked upon as 'bad' when they get grabbed by a Blitz, it is usually easily preventable.  Taric, on the other hand, just has to run in range to stun...and it always stuns.  He also gives his lane a heal, armor buff, and an armor debuff to the enemy with some okay burst to boot.  

And Soraka seems pretty overrated.  She has good laning phase that can be countered by say Blitz due to how squishy she is, but she doesn't have nearly as much utility in teamfights as most other supports. Take Sona, she actually has very similar if not better sustain potential than Soraka if she's consistently using her heal to sustain two targets, but also transitions much better offensively than Soraka due to Power Chord utility and her ultimate at level 6, and she also dominates more lanes in ones where she can be aggressive.  What does Sorakado when the team's jungler comes to gank?  Silence lol?  Almost every other support actually matters during ganks.

Soraka's ult provides a global heal.  That means she can help her teammates in a close fight REGARDLESS of her position / their position on a map.  Her sustain is also unmatched in the game, the amount of healing she provides her lane on top of mana just gives them an almost infinite ability to stay in lane.  She also does extremely well going into team fights / late game where her healing / utility stay as strong as the best supports through her silence, sustain, and buffs / debuffs.  I think that Soraka is tier 1 material without a doubt.