Poppy Build Guide by ratedoni

Introduction

Code:

Hello World, this is Rated Oni and this is my Poppy support guide, yes, you read right; thanks to the new changes in the meta and new support items it is easier for Poppy to get those items she needs. Not only that but I see that Poppy is an underused champion that has a lot to give to any team. With this done don't forget to give me your feedback, that is the only way I can make this guide and any other I could do later on a good and useful guide to all LOL players out there. So, you might be asking yourself, why use Poppy as a support? Isn't she a top lane champion, well, yes, but think about it, what's more fun than using a champion that was not designed at that position and doing well? Annie support? Yeah right, she is a mid champion, no matter that she has a stun and great sinergy with adc champions. Elise jungle? uh hu. Lulu and Soraka mid? Give me a break. Another reason to try different things is that this is a game, with over a hundred champions to choose there are a lot of different things we can do, telling others that we have to use something in one way will only make us try it in another just to rebel. We do crazy things like Tristana AP or Vel'Koz Support because it is fun, and crazy. So, with that in mind, let's take a look to what I mean by Poppy support. Rght now working in the changes of 4 season, among them, changes to items, nerfs, feedback and also how Poppy interacts with different champions. Still searching for the optimal item build, not perfect, there is no perfect item build since it depends on teammates, enemies and how the game went, there is a core, but not an static item build, the fun is in experimenting. // SPECIAL THANKS: Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

Pros / Cons

Pros + Strong Power. + Great stun in her Heroic Charge. + Her Heroic Charge + Devastating Blow really REALLY hurts. + Good for chasing due to her Paragon of Demacia + Not easy to coutner pick since not many people know how to use her. + Her ultimate can change how a fight goes. // Poppy is incredibly strong and her own natural tankiness can make other champions think twice before going straight for your AD Carry, also her Heroic Charge is extremely scary, not only pushing someone into your teammates, towers or away from their own teammates but if used well can stun them and it will HURT which leaves awindow of opportunity for your ADC. Is hard to get away from a Poppy since she has Paragon of Demacia to get close and augment her own armor and her Heroic Charge in a minion to get close to the opponent. Her combo is very simple, just E+Q and like I said, it will REALLY hurt.

Cons - No sustain in lane - If you are focused it will be hard to play - Susceptible to true damage - Hard to gauge when to use ultimate - Have to use Heroic Charge correctly - Melee damage - Small mana pool // With the good comes the bad, so let's begin with one major problem, Poppy, like Leona has no sustain either for you or your AD Carry. What do I mean? That unlike Soraka or Taric there is no way you can heal your ADC or even put a shield, so she is more susceptible to poke since she needs to get close to the enemy to initiate something so ganks and attacks from the other team can hurt a lot. Another thing is that her abilities can be sometimes hard to use or decide when to use them, Heroic Charge needs for you to slam your opponent against a wall or object like a tower or inhibitors, that means that you won't always stun, her ultimate can be hard to use also and your mana bar is not very big

Masteries

Masteries

1/5

2/5

2/1

3/5

1/1

3/1

3/5

3/5

3/

1/5

3/1

3/1

1/5

1/5

// With Poppy you can go several routes, it depends if you want to go all full attack or want to be a tank. In this case I went for a 0/21/9 build, focusing in my defense and health regeneration, placing special attention to Juggernaut and Perseverance (even though perseverance was heavily nerfed, I blame you Mundo) giving you tons of health, on the other side, I went for the obvious Alchemist but gave 3 points in Meditation to mitigate a little the initial mana problem with her and only 1 point with Fleet of Foot since you can use Paragon of Demacia to move quickly.

Runes

Runes
Greater Quintessence of Health Regeneration 3	Greater Glyph of Magic Resist 9	Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Mark of Armor 9

Spells

Flash: // What can be said that hasn't been said already? Flash is a does all spell. Chasing, escaping, positioning, it does all that. Nothing like flashing behind an opponent and using Heroic Charge to send them to your tower is so evil.

Ignite: // Just what you need to give that last damage to kill those pesky escaping champions.

Teleport: // If you want you can use Teleport instead of Flash, well used it can turn a handicapped match into a 2v2 or make a timely safe.

Abilities

• Valiant Fighter: // This passive is maybe not that flashy as Leona's Sunlight or Lux´s Illumination but believe me, sometimes this can save your life. It is very simple, any attack that hurts more than 10% of your current health is then reduced to only 50% of that attack, tell me if that is not incredible? That's why you want health regeneration and more armor and health. Sadly, this is just for you in the same way of Blitzcrank's Mana Barrier.
  
• Devastating Blow (Q): // Poppy's main source of damage, Devastating Blow hurts, no matther when or how, it will always hurt, get some AP on her and see the health of the other team dissapear.
  
• Paragon of Demacia (W): // This ability comes in two parts, a passive that augments your attack and armor everytime you attack or gets attacked for 5 seconds and can stack up to 10, the ammount gets higher every level. Her active gives you 10 stacks automatically and augments your running speed, great for getting quickly to lane or for chasing and retreating.
  
• Heroic Charge (E): // Your main ability as a support, Heroic Charge makes you rush into your enemy and drag him/her a short way, if you hit a wall or structure the opponent will be stunned and hurt even more, tell me if it is not awesome. Use it to get quick kills with your AD Carry or peel the oppponent champions off of your teammates. One tip is that you can use it against an enemy minion as a quick getaway if you are being chased.
  
• Diplomatic Immunity (R): // The ability that makes Poppy oh so fun to use, to activate it you target an opponent champion, after that, for 6/7/8 seconds depends the level, you will do 20/30/40% more damage to the target and only the target attacks and abilities will hurt you, that means, pop it (no pun intended) in the middle of a teamfight, shrug all the damage and abilities of the other characters and unleash hell upon your poor target and get away quickly. Note, turret damage will still hurt you.

Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

> > >

// We want to have one point first in Heroic Charge and then Devastating Blow and Paragon of Demacia for the bonus in attack, armor and speed, after that max first Devastating Blow due to the sheer amount of damage that it deals, then Heroic Charge to make your combo even stronger. Leave for the end Paragon of Demacia, mostly because the armor bonus is not the greatest. Finally level up Diplomatic Immunity any time you can like any other ultimate.

Items

Item Sequence
Hextech Gunblade 3400	Targon's Brace 850	Guardian Angel 2400	Frozen Heart 2700	Ruby Sightstone 1600	Greater Stealth Totem 250

// As your first item, go for Relic Shield, mainly due to the amount of health and health regeneration that it gives you, sure, it has been nerfed lately, taking away the health regeneration. Also one of the main problems with Poppy is her last hitting and laning phase, guess what, you won't have that trouble, so with it you can have easier gold and give more to your carry; upgrade it to Targon's Brace when you have the chance for extra health regeneration. Go for Face of the Mountain late game for the shield iif you need it.

// usually, this would be the core for any Poppy no matter what, but things change when you are a support, and I mean it, leave Trinity Force either for your top or or if your ADC is Lucian or Ezreal. I know, Poppy is a hybrid champions that can benefit inmensely from all the bonuses from Trinity Force. Yes, it gives AD, AP, AS, Crit, Movement, and other things, but you as a Poppy support don't need much of that, you are there to initiate and peel off mostly, get into the fray, save your ADC and all that, so, for me, you can go for other things instead of Trinity Force, you can burn me, scream at me and all that, but this is my decision.

// Poppy is not slow, but having good boots is essential for a support. It gives you 25 speed, and 105 if you have been out of combat for 5 seconds, buildings and minions count; useful to go back quickly or to chase someone. If you see that you don't need it that speed you can instead buy Boots of Swiftness for the shorter slow or Ninja Tabi for the blocking.

// This is major item for my Poppy support build. It gives you 65 AP, 10 life steal, 20% spell vamp and 45 AD, what more can you ask? It goes great with Poppy and the active is amazing in chases and teamfights. You can start with Hextech Revolver which costs 1200 or if ou have 1400 buy Bilgewater Cutlass and obtain an amazing active effect that not only hurts but slows the opponent 25% for 2 seconds, once you have gunblade the slow goes u to 40% with only 60 seconds cooldown which goes down by 3 seconds every time you hit a champion with a basic attack or an ability.

// Incredible armor that can be bought instead of the warmog, not only for lane but also for the team bonus it brings to your teammates in the team battles at the middle or late game, but if you see that either your jungle or top is going for this don't try it since the bonus won't stack and go inmediatly for the warmog sinc enot only is a good amor, the health regeneration can make you a monster, in conjunction to your ulti when are you going to die?.

// very warmog, such health, much health regeneration. Either this or Locket of the Iron Solari are good armor options.

// A great tool for vision and map control, remember, is not only the supports job to mantain wards on important objectives but it is always great to mantain vision at all times in the case of ganks or to see where the other team is. also, the health is not bad at all.

// What can I say about Guardian Angel? It gives you both armor and magic resistance and revives you with 30% of health and mana, although it can only do that every 5 minutes, but still, is a great tool to remain alive a lot of time, believe me, as Poppy you can expect to buy this is you don't want Warmog due to the amount of armor you get from this item. // A great armor to buy giving you 95 in armor, 20 CDR and 400 mana, it allows you to survive ADCs or heavy AD champions but also allows you to use your E+Q combo manu more times due to not only your CDR but also the great amount of mana that you get.

Summary

// Poppy is an incredible champion that even though doesn't have much use in higher elo like other champions like Shyvana, Lee Sin or Dr. Mundo she is a lot of fun to use and can be a nice champion to use, either on support or top, just keep practicing her Heroic Charge for the perfect 1-2 combo and see your enemies running for their lives. Also that Poppy is one of the cheapest champions doesn't hurt so you can get her early and terrorize bot lane with her. Good luck in the summoner's rift and any question, feedback or comments are appreciated. // SPECIAL THANKS: Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.