We examined the win rates and pick rates of all the supports in Patch 14.7 to find the best five picks of the live patch!
The following data was extrapolated from LeagueOfGraphs. Over a million matches from the past couple of days were sampled for these stats, at elos above Platinum. The data is sorted from lowest to highest win rate.
5. Soraka
As we saw from our last article on the most successful Patch 14.7 bot laners, hypercarries are in fashion. What do hypercarries need? That's right, enchanters. Soraka is one of the best enchanters right now, taking fifth place with a win rate of 52%.
The Starchild is known primarily for her healing capabilities. Her ultimate is a global heal while Astral Infusion (W) is a point-and-click heal that costs her both health and mana. This is indicative of Soraka's playstyle in general; she's a very unflashy champion that does little damage and will struggle to keep herself alive... but, she will definitely keep her hypercarry bot laner standing. Her silence gives her some poke power in the early game and has the potential to cancel various deadly enemy abilities such as Death Lotus, Rite of the Arcane, and Bullet Time.
Soraka's offensive capabilities are pretty lacking, so we'll be focusing entirely on her healing and shielding power in her build. Grab Summon Aery as your keystone and Heal in your Summoners. Upgrade your World Atlas into Dream Maker as soon as possible and grab Boots of Lucidity. Round out your build with Moonstone Renewer and Redemption. Take stock of your team. If you have an attack speed or auto attack reliant bot laner, take Ardent Censer, or if you have a more niche AP bot laner, take Staff of Flowing Water. Shurelya's Battlesong and Mikael's Blessing can keep your teammates alive as well, if you're dealing with excessive engage or crowd control. Max W, then Q, then E.
4. Nami
Another enchanter that's seen a win rate boost in Patch 14.7 is Nami, who now sits at a respectable 52.3%. Nami's freshly been buffed and the results are already showing.
Nami parallels Soraka in many ways, including her great healing abilities and general squishiness, but Nami has much more crowd control and damage. She's fantastic with any hypercarry as she can empower their attacks to slow, and follow that up with a stun (Q) and knock up (R). Any bot laner that needs a target to be stationary will love a Nami by their side.
Once again you'll want to grab Summon Aery and Heal, and upgrade your World Atlas to Dream Maker. Nami diverges slightly now to grab an Imperial Mandate. This item marks enemies that you've CC'd and allows ally champions to deal more damage against them. Finish off your build with the usual assortment of enchanter items - Ardent Censer, Shurelya's Blessing, and Redemption, for example. Max W, then E, then Q.
3. Janna
Our third highlighted enchanter - The Storm's Fury, who boasts a win rate of 52.4%.
We're going further along our enchanter spectrum, skirting closer and closer to more offensively-capable supports. Janna is a competent shielder and even has an area-of-effect heal, but her primary attributes are crowd control and poke damage. She's one of the best peelers in the game, with a slow, a knock-up, and a knock back built into her kit.
Since we're focusing on offense now, take Arcane Comet and dip into the Domination Tree for Taste of Blood and Relentless Hunter. Instead of Heal, opt for Ignite. Next, upgrade your World Atlas into Zaz'Zak's Realmspike and build Imperial Mandate once you've completed your Boots of Swiftness. This mix of AP items will give you a strong early game before you segway into a more utility-focused build, with the usual assortment of enchanter items to keep your carry alive - Ardent Censer, Redemption, and Shurelya's Battlesong. Max W, then E, then Q.
2. Taric
Although he does technically have both a heal and a shield, the Shield of Valoran is our first outlier in the win rate standings, as he is not technically an enchanter at all! This engage/tank support sits at a win rate of 52.8%.
Taric is a tanky melee support with the ability to make his entire team invulnerable for a short duration. He's fantastic at peel, engage, and disengage - so it's no wonder that he's popular in a meta with so many hypercarries. Although he does a surprising amount of damage in the early game, Taric himself is vulnerable to poke due to his short attack range, so that's something you'll need to be careful with until you get swole with all your tank items.
Much like Blitzcrank or Thresh, Taric will generally opt for Glacial Augment instead of a primary Resolve tree, to ensure he can keep enemies he engages on locked down. You'll want to get Ignite and try to apply your kill pressure in the early game to get ahead. Your core is Celestial Opposition, Plated Steelcaps, and Locket of the Iron Solari. Finish up with some more tank items like Winter's Approach and Knight's Vow. Max E, then Q, and W.
1. Sona
After a slew of buffs in Patch 14.7, the Maven of Strings has soared up to claim the title of the most successful support of the patch, with a win rate of 53.2%.
Sona is much more like Soraka and Nami than the last two supports - a healing enchanter through and through. Sona is in the bottom 10 of champions in terms of base Health, and of course she is almost entirely immobile but for the movement speed buff on her E - this is something you'll have to be very careful about during the laning phase. In team fights, you’ll redeem yourself either way, as Sona can immobilise the entire enemy team with Crescendo and keep her carry alive with numerous buffs.
Once again, you'll want to grab the Summon Aery keystone, Heal in your Summoners, and build Dream Maker as soon as possible. Your other core items are Ionian Boots of Lucidity and the Moonstone Renewer. Some people like an early Tear of the Goddess to build into Archangel's Staff, but you can also keep things simple with Ardent Censer or Staff of Flowing Water, Redemption, and Shurelya's Battlestong; which complements your AoE speed boost well. Max W, then Q, then E.
