Ranking supports in today’s competitive meta proves incredibly difficult, as many of them prioritize and play the same. Supports body block for the carry or they heal/buff the carry. This often results in ADC picks shining, rather than support picks.
Instead of ranking the top support picks, here are three unique and possibly surprising LCK support picks.
Pantheon
Pantheon support is seeing more and more play in the LCK. Typically a mid or top lane champion, Pantheon utilizes his kit in solo lanes to one shot champions.
But as support, his role parallels Braum’s. He provides a shield, a stun, and a projectile shot, helping facilitate the ADC’s role.
Pantheon jumps on the enemy’s AD, which differs slightly from Braum’s jump on an ally. His W, Shield Vault, stuns, allowing for easy damage. His E, Aegis Assault, then blocks ALL incoming damage from the direction he faces, allowing for safe, quick trades in the bot lane.
Aegis Assault proves especially effective as support Pantheon blocks two champions, rather than just one in a solo lane. This maximizes the shield’s utility.
Pantheon’s kit prospers in early game. His Q, Comet Spear, passes through minions, dealing damage to all units the spear passes through. By helping the ADC push the lane, Pantheon helps the allied jungler acquires bot lane pressure.
His ultimate, Grand Starfall, pressures the entire bot-side of the map. The skill teleports him to where he needs to be. The move can be used to disperse the enemy team, group up with the allied team, or even collapse on misplaced enemies.
Most of Pantheons kit is functional without a high income. His stun stuns regardless of items, his shield blocks regardless of items as well, and items do not make his ultimate travel further or faster.
A couple years ago, Pantheon support would have seemed troll. But in Patch 10.15, the LCK teams consider the pick valuable. His kit allows fantastic peel for the ADC, and strong lock down for team fights, exactly what competitive Korean teams want to spearhead the bot lane.
Sett
Riot created Sett with the intentions of playing him top lane. But his crowd control reliant kit, even without a large income source, functions fantastically in the bot lane as well.
Similar to Pantheon support, Sett support focuses on starting smart skirmishes. His E, Facebreaker, initiates the fight by pulling the enemy in.
Facebreaker is biggest reason Sett support works. Casting the spell instantly triggers the Area of Effect pull. Unlike typical grab champions, Sett’s E spans a wide range. Alongside the movement speed increase provided by his Q, Knuckle Down, Facebreaker is near impossible to out maneuver.
Once enemies are pulled in, Sett’s trading potential shines. Thanks to his W, Haymaker, the more damage he soaks up, the bigger the acquired shield, and the more damage he deals out. With two champions in the bot lane, Sett makes quite the effective brawling sponge.
A proper early level engage from Sett proves is hard to contest. From his base damage, to his tanking potential, Sett support dominates squishy match ups. Similar to Pantheon, he does not require an expensive item set to pull off his abilities. Even without gold, he packs quite a punch.
Yuumi
Anyone who still plays bot lane knows about Riot’s furry little mischief, Yuumi. An annoying pick, Yuumi managed to sneak into Korean competitive play, providing heals and speed buffs to whomever she so pleases.
Unlike the other Ardent supports, who burden the team with the risk of getting caught out, Yuumi carries little risk for the team. In fact, the team carries her.
Unable to be targeted when attached to an ally, she heals the team with minimal counter-play. The Yuumi pick sees frequent competitive play in the LCK thanks to her ability to heal and peel for the ADC while remaining invulnerable.
Her ultimate, Final Chapter, provides Area of Effect crowd control. With the aid of the movement speed from her E, Zoomies, ADCs manage to deal damage effectively.
She saw so much competitive play, in fact, that Riot had to nerf her in patch 10.13.
Now, the Yuumi pick is situational. The team fights essentially become 4.5 versus five. But for certain LCK teams, the Yuumi pick is exactly what the ADC needs to carry the game.
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