My name is Kinky Rhydon, and I am here to show you why Galio support is one of the most interesting/OP supports you can play. At first glance, Galio is a rough support to some. No hard CC and no heal (for ADC) makes him look like just another troll pick, but with a closer look, you will see his vitality as a support. Best shield buff in game, HUGE poke/slow for harass, a speed boost for disengage/engage, and his flash/ult combo wins almost any team fight/lane fight. Keep reading if you believe....

Pros

+ Great Poke harass
+ Shield is OP and heals you
+ Speed Boost for quick moves
+ Naturally Tanky
+ Tanky mr = AP
+ You know the ult ;)
+ With Spirit Visage... Unkillable

Cons

+ Mana hungry early
+ No real sustain for ADC
+ Ult can be broken with good CC
+ Hard pokes to land in lane
+ No CC before ult makes ganks hard to run from

For marks, I run a different build than others to make up for the lack of armor you will have during the game. I run 5 Marks of Armor and 4 Marks of Magic Pen. These give you some extra magic pen on your pokes and some armor to keep you alive during trades.

For seals, I run the basic 9 Seals of Armor. Once again, you are acting as the shield of the team, and you need the D for late game.

For glyphs, I run 9 Glyph of Magic Resistance. MR is what Galio strives for with his 1/2 MR to AP passive. This gives you power + tankiness.

My quints are up for debate. I run 2 Quint of Health for the HP early, and 1 Quint of MR which gives you the Def and AP you want.

With this rune make up, you start out with great defenses and a good amount of poke power to send most ADC (if you land your shots) home in the first few minutes.

As a Support/Tank, Galio needs defense, as well as the utility that the support tree provides. Running 14 down the Defense tree gives Galio the extra HP, armor, and MR that any tank needs, but does not make you place all of your masteries in the tree. The 16 masteries spent in the Support tree gives Galio the mana, mana regen, and gold advantages that any support role champ requires to stay up in the game. Galio's overall build is actually cheaper than building an APC so reaching his build as a support is very doable.

Galio's kit can be seen as an APC, but his abilities easily give way to a support role if used properly.

Resolute Smite: Galio's bread and butter when it comes to lane harass. This poke becomes devastating in early laning phases, but you have to be able to predict how the other champs will react/move. This has a good slow which can allow for easy trades for the ADC, but if you spam the ability, you will find yourself losing a lot of mana quickly so use it when you see an opening.

Bulwark: The best shield buff/Defensive stat boost in the game right now. This shield is amazing in bot lane for the ADC. In a good fight in bottom lane, this shield will allow your ADC to have lvl 18 type defense, while they are actually healing you when the ADC is hit. With the ADC shielded, you can engage and not be afraid to take some hits because most bots will aim ADC until you are in their face, so even if you take some upfront damage, the heals will keep you in there for a while.

Righteous Gust: Galio's speed boost. This ability is really nothing more than a engage/disengage for ganks or trades. It does do some ok dmg but at low levels the mana cost is just to high for you to be using it all the time, or leveling it up early for that matter. Put a point in pre 6 and then wait for late game on this one.

Idol of Durand: The dreaded Galio ult. This is the team fight changer. This ability paired with Bulwark can make you an unkillable killing machine if used in the right order. The ability will draw in all attacks and increase the dmg you put out when the channeling is broken, so having Bulwark on you will allow those hits to heal you as the enemy team just keeps racking in the damage you will unleash. A good flash/ult can turn a one-sided fight into an Ace quickly.

My order is as follows:

Q>W>Q>E>Q>R>Q>W>Q>W>R>W>W>E>E>R>E>E

Max the Q for lane pokes and dmg, then run for maxing Bulwark.

Early in lane, you want your presence to be felt and your damage to be respected. Using your Q to poke on occasion can remind them that this is not a free lane. Remember that at level 1, with no AP runes or masts, you are going to have roughly 20-30 AP, so your Q is going to be hitting for 100+. Make sure to read how the enemy ADC moves and where they locate themselves. Your Q is slow, so usually aim for behind the ADC which will either land, or force them to move up into your ADC's range.

When trading in lane, make sure to watch your mana, and how hard the enemy bot is attacking. If two or more autos from their ADC is aimed at yours and they show no signs of letting up, shield the ADC and Q the enemy ADC. This will draw its fire to either you, or they will retreat slightly. With your Q dmg (if you land it) on the ADC, your ADC will see a good chance to trade since the enemy is slowed, and then any attack to your ADC with Bulwark up will heal you so you need to join the fight and get in their face.

Once both lanes are 6, it is usually a trade to see which side has the stronger bot lane. This is where you shine. The trick to Galio's ult is getting into range so you need to read the situation. If they push on you first and aim for you ADC, you need to Bulwark your ADC, then Q, E, and rush their ADC. This will either swing them the other way, or they will keep heading for your ADC (which is what you want) once in range, let it rip. The 2 seconds of motionless terror will allow your ADC to lay down the dmg, or get away. Galio's ult at lvl 6 does a HIGH amount of damage, and the best part about it is that you can get ready to line up and Q + E at the ADC when it breaks to pump out the max dmg of your kit. Now the other situation you need to know about is when they don't want to get close to you at lvl 6. This is when your E and flash come in. Get as close as you can without being "too close" whether that is in your side bush, or even theirs, you E and flash will get you up in their face VERY quickly. Once you are close but not "too close" to them, you want to roll out your Bulwark on yourself so you have the extra AP and heals on yourself for the ult, a Q (if in range) at the ADC, E right at the ADC, then flash into you E for the speed boost. At this point you need to ult quickly once the enemy ADC is in range so they can't flash out, then BOOM. You can walk away with literally 0 damage done to your side, and a double kill for your ADC if used correctly.

Your ult is a God send in team fights and throughout the game, and the flash/ult combo is your most deadly tool. Be sure to read the situation before making any rash decisions because your team could only be relying on your ult to win.

After the laning phase, you move into the group fights where you, and your ult, are usually the deciding factor. At this point you should have your Spirit Visage built so do not be afraid to take a few hits when setting up for the fight. You have a good poke range when the teams are looking each other down, so do not be afraid to throw a few Q's. Now when the team is ready, you have to move if you want to set the best ult up as possible. Find the ADC or APC and make sure getting them in your ult is the least you can do, but aim for the team if you can. Using your Q to slow 1 or two is a great engage into your combo, once your target is picked, E + flash can get you into your ult range. At this point in the game, you want to Bulwark yourself before ulting or you may take a huge chunk of damage. Bulwark with Spirit Visage can allow you to walk away from the ult with full health. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT MISS. At least grab the ADC or APC and 1 other or you have a wasted ult. Your team will either praise you as a God if you use it well, or blame you for the lost team fight if you have a bad ult. Using bushes around objectives + flash can give you an easy set up if you have your team so be aware of the situations around you.

Once you ult has been used and their team is fighting or running, use your Q to slow/dmg main targets and E to catch them. Your team will love the extra 40% movement from your E when it comes to chasing the enemy.

A winning bot lane requires both sustain and power. Galio can offer some powerful pokes and some good sustain from Bulwark and Relic Shield, but to conquer your lane, you need the right synergy with your ADC. All ADCs can bring positives and negatives to the lane, but with Galio, a few really shine through. With the high range of Galio's Resolute Smite, you can poke/slow the enemy to give high range ADCs a great opportunity to land some easy pokes. With the speed boost from Righteous Gust can give some closer ranged powerhouse ADCs a chance to get a few jabs in if the enemy turns their back. BUT the best ADCs can use Galio's kit to max the trade potential when confronted on bot.

Caitlyn: Caitlyn's synergy with most supports is pretty high, but with Galio's kit, she can really shine through with her massive range for poking. A great combo when laning with Caitlyn is to let her build her passive, Head Shot, up. Galio's Q can slow the ADC to allow Caitlyn easy access to land that Head Shot on the ADC, which the two attacks together can be devastating early. When it comes to level 6, Caitlyn may not be the best champ to wipe the lane clean, but the synergy in the laning phase is close to unbeatable.

Draven: Draven.... Draven Draven Draven. Just kidding. Draven is actually a great pair with Galio. Galio's Resolute Smite poke/slow can walk Draven to an easy kill at level 2. Draven overall dmg early is his gift to the lane, and landing a slow for him will end up with him landing two Spinning Axes and a knock off to allow for even more follow up. He is a powerful pair in lane, who even underfed at level 6, has to ability to off bot lane caught in your ult.

This is actually the first build I have put on Mobafire, so I am not done with the crafting of this masterpiece. So please feel free to try out this build and tell me what you think. I will add strats and such at a later point so keep an eye out if you like what you see. Find me on LoL at Kinky Rhydon.