Ranking the most powerful Support picks in 13.16 for your Ranked climb! here are the best supports in LoL
Teams heavily rely on the amount of map awareness, clutch saves and team sustain that Support players provide. At the same time, their powerful crowd control abilities can set up game-winning plays, especially when the player has already mastered the support champ they’re using.
How well the botlane performs heavily influences each game. When it’s time for you and your buddies to go on that competitive grind, you’re going to want to maximize your win potential with the strongest bot comp in the season. Supports also don’t have the largest committed champ pool in the game, so knowing which ones to go with during a change in the meta can be crucial to your ranked climb, especially when a new competitive split starts.
Knowing the meta gives you an edge over your opponents that can lead your team to the victory screen. With that in mind, let’s dive into the strongest lane partners in 13.16 that your ADC could ask for. Here are the best support champs in LoL in patch 13.16.
Top 5 Best Supports in League of Legends
Heimerdinger
Pros
- Strongly counters short-ranged champs
- Dependable wave clear during late-game
- Strong roam potential
- High disrupt with E stun and slowing abilities
- Movement speed increase from passive lets you escape ganks easily
- Excellent in zoning and locking down objectives with enhanced turrets
Cons
- Predictable in long-ranged team fights
- A high skill-ceiling mage
- Skills disrupt the ADC’s CS in the laning phase
- Only engage tool is a noticeable projectile
Heimerdinger Runes and Items
Heimerdinger has stayed a strong A-tier pick in recent patches, but with the emergence of strong mid-range tanks in the role, the revered inventor lands the top spot in our 13.16 best Supports list. With high burst potential and high-powered turrets that let you win any damage trade, Heimerdinger’s kit gets even more lethal when you maximize his scaling with AP-based runes. Grab Arcane Comet and Scorch to continuously outdamage overextending foes, and run it with Taste of Blood to give him the sustain he needs to survive the midgame. At the same time, Treasure Hunter awards you more gold per assist/kill, which helps you stack your inventory faster than your opponents.
Speaking of items, the optimal build for Heimerhinger this patch gives a special focus on Rylai’s, since the added survivability and +20% slow works with what makes Heimer great. Right now, supports like Xerath, Alistar and Thresh are all seeing more hours of play in lower ELOs. Being proficient in playing a quick, medium-range poke specialist with an AOE slow would do well to counter sluggish foes on the Rift. And there’s nothing like landing a stun on a high-prio target for your team.
Xerath
Pros
- Powerful & long-ranged pokes
- Abilities follow up nicely with meta ADC ults
- Passive lets you regain mana overtime just by auto-attacking
- Consistent damage output
- Buffed ult compensates for lowered mana pool
Cons
- Depends on how well you can land your skill shots
- Mana was nerfed in the 13.14 patch
- No movement abilities
- No dependable self-peel
- Extremely vulnerable to assassin champs
Xerath Runes and Items
LoL’s previous patches veered the Magus’ skillset towards the midlane, but his changes have actually made him more of a threat in the support role. So far, the tradeback of Xerath’s recent base mana nerf is mainly felt in his new passive procs on turrets and Rite of the Arcane’s scaling damage on consecutive champion hits. This makes Xerath an incredibly potent champ, especially if you’re looking for a safe pick who can finish enemies off from a distance. To become even more of a deadly laser, run Manaband to give you more sustain in the long-term while Transcendance lowers your cooldowns. Inspiration runes synergize well with this loadout to help you build items faster.
Xerath excels in poking the enemy down pre-6, and can burst the ADC down past that. To make sure you get those picks early, start with either Bulwark to maximize your passive or Liandry’s for that extra burn damage. Afterwards, build Morello and Shadowflame in the mid-game to start bursting squishies. Lastly, remember to finish your Q first, as you’ll mostly play near the backline. Because of this, boosting your poke damage is good practice.
Sona
Pros
- Easy to play
- Passive greatly increases overall ability haste
- Huge range
- Levelling her R decreases the base cooldown for all her abilities
Cons
- Low HP pool
- Weak early game
Sona Runes and Items
The enchanter meta is still relevant this season, so Nullifying Orb and Conditioning would provide ample defenses for Sona in the laning phase while also having Summon Aery to strengthen her poke. Revitalize seems the obvious choice to take for a healer build, but if you need more sustain, go Bone Plating.
More offensive builds can have you take Precision for your secondary runes, so if you’re looking to harass the enemy botlane duo as one of the best supports in LoL, equip Presence of Mind and Cut Down, while choosing two +9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP) bonuses. Having these will help your ADC harass enemies in lane while you earn more gold and control the pace of the game.
Sona becomes a walking AOE buff in the late game, healing and shielding vulnerable allies while turning her entire team into a deathball with Song of Celerity. Knowing this, Staff of Floating Water and Ardent are mainstays when it comes to the best items for Sona, with Wardstone being swappable with other legendaries like Mikael’s Blessing or Redemption if you ever need more team sustain.
Alistar
Pros
- Built for engage
- Exists for teamfights
- Passive sustains you as well as a nearby ally champion
- Good roaming potential
- A well-timed ultimate can turn an entire match around
Cons
- Weak before level 3
- High cooldowns
- Slow disengage
- Limited range on abilities
- Suffers against long-range champs
Alistar Runes and Items
Alistar’s runes give him more crowd control for your ADC to start doling out hurt, starting off with Glacial Augment. Running with this Inspiration augment lets you counter-engage and even peel for your lane partner. Minion Dematerializer is also present to offset Alistar’s underwhelming AD when you farm. When you get to the midgame, Flashtraption makes you unpredictable before setting up game-winning fights by giving you a blink ability while Flash is on cooldown. Lastly, take Font and Bone Plating to give your squishy ADC even more protection against pokes while they farm for items.
The mainstays for any Alistar Support build includes Steelcaps along with Knight’s Vow, but you can also run Mercury Treads if you’re up against a Lux or a Morgana. Bulwark is also set in stone since you’re helping push lane, and it works just as well with Wardstone. But what makes or breaks this build is Radiant Virtue’s mythic passive. You’re running Alistar as a main support engagement champ, so it makes sense to buff him at his strongest. Use Radiant Virtue’s AOE heal and HP buff to last longer in the middle of the fight and be a CC monster. If the need arises, feel free to swap it out with Locket of the Iron Solari for group shielding or Evenshroud for increased team lethality.
Rakan
Pros
- High mobility
- Consistent AP scaling that helps his passive shield
- Strong engage plays compliment your ADCs long-range follow-ups
- Versatile abilities
- Easy to roam with
Cons
- Easy to kill in the early game
- Weak to crowd control effects
- Can’t be competent without teammates
- High cooldowns when you start
Rakan Runes and Items
Rakan’s playstyle may take some time for new players to get used to, but his micro is basically set in stone. Guardian elevates Battle Dance by giving your ADC more sustain, while Unflinching gives you more survivability in his weaker phases. Font of Life also works really well with his Q, and Cheap Shot gives you more damage in tight skirmishes. With big ADC items getting nerfed in the 13.16 patch, getting some valuable shielding almost becomes key when you’re farming lanes.
Start building Ionian Boots and Bulwark in the first fifteen minutes before Radiant Virtue, which will maximize your ult’s potential in tight teamfights. Heading into the midgame, pick up Staff if your allies need more survivability, or Wardstone if you need more map control. Knight’s Vow was included to help your carry survive those tough clashes. You’ll need to play around enemy assassins who run Infinity Edge however, as they can wreck your backline before you have a chance to engage in front.
Check out our latest Best Jungler Champs guide here!
Patch 13.16 LoL Support tier list
By its definition, Support champs protect their allies, increase map awareness and set up teamfights with valuable CC. Knowing that, you might see off-meta picks on the Rift every so often. We even include some in our list! So to make you more familiar, we’ve included the most popular champ picks this patch in our tier list below:
- S: The best supports in Patch 13.16
- A: Very powerful champions that are dependable in blind match-ups
- B: Strong supports in the right scenario
- C: Viable champions that require a strong level of experience
- F: The least optimized picks in the current meta
