Shoutouts and Recommended Materials

Rito Pls Make a Half-Court Ziggs Skin!

Before I get into what Ziggs Support is, I ask that you empty your cup. What does this mean? Let go of any pre-conceived ideas about what you think Ziggs can do or should do. Everything you see in this guide is contrary to what has been "standard" on Ziggs for the past 8 years. The runes, items, and even skill order is completely different. I can only describe it as playing almost a different champion.

Ziggs Support can be considered a ranged artillery utility support, one of the best in both classes due to his massive aoe on his spells as well as having the most versatile non-ult ability in the game that allows him to deal ridiculously high damage to towers via Satchel Charge.

With a low budget build that fits into the support style of play, you are able to have low cooldown hard CC, a fairly decent amount of damage for manipulating waves & poke damage for enemy champions, and the ultimate siege tool for taking towers.

Figuring out which items to place in that budget to maximize minion, champion, and tower damage is the tricky part. There are two foundational principles behind the choices.

NOTE: These principles are for my specific style of play. There are many ways to play Ziggs in the support role, but this is what I found the most successful after 2 years of experimentation.

First, Think utility over damage. Ziggs is not a mid-ranged burst mage, or at least shouldn't be played as one. There are a wealth of better mid-ranged burst mage supports ( , , , , etc.) if that's the intended pathway to play. Ziggs excels best when poking at a massive distance, with only a secondary consideration on the burst and follow-up empowered basic attacks.

This means that Ziggs is especially interested in maximizing Ability Haste as fast as possible, in order to deal more raw poke damage through more Bouncing Bomb as well as have more opportunities to make use of Satchel Charge. This philosophy of 100+ A. Haste is reflected heavily in the runes & items.

Second, Think macro over micro. Focus on winning the game more than winning the lane. While this concept might seem a bit contradictory and puzzling to some, I want you to rethink what Ziggs is capable of.

Remember principle #1? There's a reason why you don't want to play like a typical AP support. Instead of thinking things like "How fast can I 100-0 the enemy carry?" this allows you the freedom of thinking thins like "How fast can I open the map by taking towers?"

This is why I ALWAYS take Teleport on Ziggs no matter what role I play him in. Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, Support, doesn't matter I always take TP because I'm looking at cross-map plays that can net myself and my team advantages in gold leads, group fights/skirmishes, map pressure, etc.

While this makes your laning power less potent against duo lanes with combat sums ( ), it does allow you agency to join in favorable situations like countering a gank, securing a herald, taking a tower with herald, etc.

Now you have a good idea what Ziggs Support is, let's find out the strengths & weaknesses in the next chapter.

Pros

Cons

RAP GOD IS GOOD!

*To the tune of "Ultimate" by Denzel Curry*

I got the skills to seal the deals to pay the bills! Secure the kills and keep it real!
Auto fills don't give me the chills cause I got grills to spill some thrills and pop some pills!
I write with quills on windowsills that all my grills done painted teal with that Gold Seal!
I grill my veals on diamond grills with 20 grills while we still watch Netflix & chill!

Mad rhyming rap skills aside, there is a few things that Ziggs does and does not do that your typical champion in the bot lane (carry or support) would generally do or not do.

For some strengths, Ziggs has high damage potential. However, most of it is better used on wave clear than champion damage. Unlike most carry and support champions, Ziggs has an AoE displacement CC on a short cooldown (Think Draven or Alistar but with longer range and more frequent use). He also has some ridiculous synergy with certain champions that are in the meta and out of the meta. (See the Teamwork chapter for more information.)

He does have weaknesses too. No direct team utility in his kit means he isn't a healer like Soraka, shielder like Seraphine, stat buffer like Janna, haster like Zilean, etc. None of his spells interact with ally champions in any way. Also, he is very weak defensively meaning he can't tank hits and live to tell about it in most scenarios like the hard-engage initiator meta supports. ( Alistar, Rell, Leona, Nautilus, etc.)

The best utility spell in the game

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Now I've shared his strengths & weaknesses, let me share with you 5 reasons on why Ziggs's Satchel Charge is the best utility spell in the game. Note: These subsections apply to any position you play Ziggs and isn't just limited to Support. This is helpful information for any Ziggs player:

Undeniable Vision

Ziggs's can be used to check for vision since the bomb will give vision in about 500 units from the center. This is very valuable for scouting areas that are dangerous to face check. It can also be used to check the health of objectives like Herald, Dragon, or Baron when the enemy has vision control ( ) and regular wards would be disabled/destroyed.

Area-of-Effect Damage

While Ziggs support won't have as much damage as your typical mid or bot lane Ziggs, the base damages are still fairly decent. You can use your for manipulating the waves and the max level damage is fairly respectable in a full combo rotation. With enough haste, it does about as much damage as frequently as you would throw

Tower Execution

The built-in tower execution mechanic is the unique skill for Ziggs that no other champion in the game has. And here is a secret technique you may not find on some other Ziggs guide sites on Mobafire, Proguides, Game Leap, Skillcapped, etc. Ziggs can execute towers without the need for minion waves. This is very important information because some people did not already know that towers take reduced damage when there are no enemy minions in its range to prevent backdoor attempts.

Ziggs does not need to wait on a minion wave to secure a tower take down. Whenever you see the bomb icon over the tower, throw your and walk away like a boss as the announcer says "Your team has destroyed a turret!"

Hard Crowd Control

Having access to hard CC makes any champion in the support role stay relevant at all stages of the game. Ziggs's will knockback enemies relative to the edge where it hit them.

It can be used to disengage tanks/divers/assassins that try to jump on you or your carries. Another good use is setting up picks/catches onto enemies out of position by knocking them into your teammates (like a miniature Gragas ). And let's not forget that it can knock enemies out of their dashes. (Examples: Alistar , Leona , Thresh , etc.)

In the Team Work chapter, I will discuss certain synergies where the CC can cause certain champions to shine by enabling their kits to be utilized more effectively. Examples include Kai'Sa, Samira, Veigar, Yasuo, and more!

Reliable Mobility

You're probably wondering what I mean by "reliable" mobility. Well, I'll share how I define it. I consider a mobility spell reliable when you are able to freely cover distance without requiring other units. Alistar has a point/click dash with his , but it requires him to have a target. Leona/ Thresh/ Nautilus need to land their skillshots in order to dash to their target. Braum needs an allied (non-ward) unit to jump to. These examples are not reliable for mobility.

Now, let's look at some examples of reliable mobility like Pyke's , Rakan's or Rell's . These skills don't require you to land a skillshot nor target an ally/enemy to give you mobility. The same can be said about Ziggs .

Lastly, Ziggs can jump over walls. While this may sound like it should be a given, some supports with relliable mobility can't pull this off. Galio Support may have reliable mobility in lane, but he can't cross walls or other terrain with his . Currently at the time of this guide, no other Artillery has reliable mobility. ( Jayce's To The Skies needs a target and Zoe's always puts her back to where she jumped.) Ziggs is the only Artillery in the game with reliable mobility.

Bonus: The Perfect Satchel

I added this bonus here to show a mechanic that Ziggs can pull off and it combines the last 2 points I discussed about CC & Mobility. This concept comes from Nami's . Nami mains teach each other a skill mechanic called "The Perfect Bubble" and it's one of her best disengage skills.

TPB combines Nami's with the suspension CC (airborne CC but affected by tenacity & can be removed by , , , , , & ) This allows her (or her allies) to stop enemy movement while simultaneously speeding up her (or her allies') movement to successfully disengage.

TPS is essentially the same concept but for Ziggs and is a useful mechanic to master no matter what role you play Ziggs into. Instead of knocking up in place and giving you movement speed to run away, it instead becomes a gap-opener that will disengage most chases altogether.

How it works: If you place one edge of your on your character and the opposite edge on your enemy, it will propel you both in opposite directions. Placing the center between you and your pursuer then detonating will place you about 500 units in one direction and the enemy 250 units away. That's about 800 units of space off of one ability! And if you use this to interrupt a dash, then congratulations you have foiled their engage!

Because of Ziggs having these unique skills, he can be very valuable in a team composition that is based on [1]sieging towers and objectives with [2]long range poke and [3]benefiting from good disengage. Ziggs has all three of those qualities and it makes him arguably the best support to have in a siege comp.

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Flash is a standard that is usually mandatory for most champions.

Teleport is the "big brain" summoner spell that has multiple uses. You can TP after your first or second back if you want to pressure tempo. Usually you will want TP to get back into lane or to go top or mid if their enemy outer towers are low. Or you can counter gank top or mid and pressure the enemy to commit to a bad fight. You can even use it in your own lane to trick the enemy duo that they are getting TP ganked. This does require "big brain" thinking to use effectively.

These two are the standard summoner spells I take in my games. Here are some alternatives to consider:

Ghost seems like an odd choice to have on Ziggs Support, but makes more sense when you consider the previous analysis discussed in the earlier chapters.

As with most artillery champions, Ziggs is generally very far from fights. This makes close-range spells like and fairly ineffective. As the game goes on, Ziggs begins having trouble being close enough to use the close-ranged summoner spells optimally.

Heal would seem like the next best choice for support, but it suffers in utility from Ziggs's fragility. Because Ziggs dies in a very all-or-nothing way (usually on a suicide kamikaze mission like a true bomber), Heal becomes useless for surviving against burst damage from gap-closers. This means Heal would be mostly for teammates, but that forces Ziggs into suboptimal positioning to stay in range to actually use Heal at all. Ziggs has to be an extremely selfish support in order to be extremely generous.

On the other hand, Ghost amplifies Ziggs's kiting power to absurd levels and provides indirect utility by being able to reach teamfights or teammates more quickly. Ghost doesn't have as much utility during the laning phase, but this is made up by his safety-by-distance approach to harass, which requires no trading. It does make the laning phase more unforgiving, but Ziggs can be an unforgiving champion in the first place.

Exhaust and Ignite is a summoner spell I don't usually take when I play artillery style supports like Vel'Koz, Lux, & Xerath. However, since I've changed to using Resolve keystones like Grasp, the shorter range needed to proc the HP gain has altered how I play the laning phase. Use your Exhaust only when you need to try and prevent heavy burst damage. If you need Ignite, then make it count for helping to take an important objective after using it.

If considering taking other sums, these are the other summoner spells you should consider:

Barrier is usually not recommended, but should only be considered if the enemy team sees you as more of a threat than your teammates and they are trying to commit everything to burst you.

Cleanse is something to consider starting in a 2v2 matchup or having later in the game where one crucial CC could mean losing a lot of hp, lane pressure, or just dying.

Smite is not an important one to take, but it can be helpful if you need it to help secure objectives. Also, it's an amazing start to super leash your jungler and smite cannons. With the dominating popularity of Rift Scuttler skirmishes, Smite is good for executing those crabs for gold, experience, & team vision/speed.

Clarity is one I highly recommend you take in ARAM. If you don't need to go all out aggressive & threaten with exhaust or ignite, getting more mana is amazing! If it was available outside of ARAM I would always take this.

These New Runes are the BOMB!

This section on Runes for Ziggs Support will cover the two distinct styles of play for the position: One style focuses on Ziggs as a utility focusing on disruption & CC. The other focuses on being a damaging carry with a focus on magic penetration & nuking towers. The following rune paths will provide descriptions for both of these styles.

These are the runes I recommend for Utility Support Ziggs:

Utility Support Ziggs Resolve/Sorcery Runes Explanation

Resolve is taken as a primary for Utility Support Ziggs. It's purpose it to turn a good defense into a great offense. Resolve takes the primary slot for the ability to literally demolish towers with and increase its power with . Having and the resists from are a bonus. The extra HP stacking is very helpful for sustaining in lane and making you harder to take down. It is well worth the loss in damage from Comet since you aren't the primary damage source.

Sorcery is taken as a secondary for Support Ziggs. You are reliant on landing your spells so mana & haste are all necessary to function. Sorcery takes the secondary slot for the ability to have increased mana from and bonus Ability Haste with cooldown resets from . It was a tough decision to not include Gathering Storm but the mana & haste are more important. Assuming you play the early & mid game correctly, you won't need the late game insurance policy in case the game gets drawn out & you need some oomph to "Unleash the unholy fire of Teemo himself."

These are the runes I recommend for Carry Support Ziggs:

Carry Support Ziggs Sorcery/Resolve Runes Explanation

Sorcery is taken as a primary for Carry Support Ziggs. It helps with CDR and AP since mana in the early game isn't too much of an issue due to having a flat 65 mana cost. Sorcery takes the primary slot for the ability to have relevant damage with , increased mana from , Ability Haste & cooldown reductions from , and the free scaling AP from . The Keystone should be the norm and is always acceptable as a keystone on Ziggs no matter what he buids or what position you play. If was easier to proc I'd consider using that instead. The T1 rune can be considered as your backup mana pool because once you finish stacking it, it helps you with getting that one more spell. The T2 rune gives us much needed haste to reapply your passive Short Fuse. And the T3 rune is an insurance policy in case the game does gets late & you need that oomph to "Unleash the unholy fire of Teemo himself."

The Resolve runes I use will make use of the bonus health offered and turn it into an offensive stat. Resolve takes the secondary slot for the ability to literally demolish towers with and increase its power with . While defensive HP isn't very useful for an artillery champion, being able to proc demolish makes it an offensive choice that doesn't have as many trade-offs as other options.

Ever since Season 9 changed how runes give stats, there are no more awesome Trait names that are based on your rune choices for Primary/Secondary. Instead, you get to choose your stats in 3 areas: Offense, Flex, and Defense. For this Ziggs build, I put emphasis on mid and late game strength more so than early game dominance.

Ability Haste, Flat AP, and Armor The only Stat Shard that might seem strange is the Ability Haste. Why go for it if it means having less stats for lane phae? I've found that the 8 haste you get has more value than the 9 AP. While all of Ziggs's spells scale with AP, having the extra haste allows you to more frequently cast spells, which reduces the cooldown on your and allows for more dps, better wave control, better tower damage, etc. Plus, the utility provided by is measured in how frequently you can use it & not by how much damage it can deal.

The Offense spot will be Ability Haste to allow more frequent spell usage.
The Flex will be Adaptive so you can start with some AP.
The Defense will be Armor because physical damage is the most prevalent.

If you would like to try alternative options, these subsections will show you the benefits you can have for taking Inspiration/Sorcery or Inspiration/Resolve.

The Alternative Inspiration/Sorcery Rune Setup

I like to make use of the utility offered by the Inspiration path to make use of Keystone runes that provide gold efficient options that offer effective tactical advantages. Inspiration takes the primary slot for the ability to adapt to the different situations of the game with or the CC catching portential of or the situational randomness of . Also, there's the free boots from , increased mana from , and an excellent bonus to summoner haste from . Inspiration helps with poke, pushing, & skirmishes even more compared to runes from other trees.

Sorcery as a secondary helps with Haste and AP since mana in the early game isn't too much of an issue due to having a flat 65 mana cost. Taking gives us much needed haste to more frequently cast spells and reapply passive on-hits. And is an insurance policy in case the game gets later and you need that oomph to "Unleash the unholy fire of Teemo himself." Similarly, can be considered for replacing Storm if you don't need that unholy fire. Usually if your team can win before 30 or 40 minutes, MFB is acceptible as a better pick.

The Inspiration/Sorcery rune setup would look something like this:


I Used to Not Take Sorcery as Primary. Normally, the Sorcery path easily finds among the best for Ziggs with its focus on amplifying poke damage through mana, haste, and AP. However, that is not the primary focus of this intended style of play. Champions like Brand, Lux, Sona, Vel'Koz, & Zyra have better overall poking dps than Ziggs would. should be the norm and is acceptable as a keystone. But for the role of being the tower taker for the team, it doesn't help out as much as & & do.

But some of this mentality changed with patch 8.7 changing functionality. Since it's fairly easy to stack, it is very much a QoL addition. But since giving up Trans or GS for mana is not recommended, it works better as the 3rd rune after the Sorcery keystone.

If you wish to have MFB, the recommended rune setup would look like this:



I personally prefer Phase Rush over Comet for kiting and escaping rather than dealing more damage. Giving up biscuits is the most effective trade-off since you need those free boots & summoner haste.

The Alternative Inspiration/Resolve Rune Setup

I like to make use of the utility offered by the Inspiration path to make use of Keystone runes that provide gold efficient options that offer effective tactical advantages. Inspiration takes the primary slot for the ability to adapt to the different situations of the game with or the CC catching portential of or the situational randomness of . Also, there's the free boots from , faster item access from , and an excellent bonus to summoner haste from . Inspiration helps with poke, pushing, & skirmishes even more compared to runes from other trees.

Resolve as a secondary helps with turret damage and HP since mana in the early game isn't too much of an issue due to having a flat 65 mana cost. Taking gives us much needed turret damage to make taking tower plates easier as well as get closer to the execution threshold. And helps the former as well as makes you harder to take down. It's also an insurance policy in case the game gets later and you need that oomph to survive a bit longer in a fight.

The Inspiration/Domination rune setup would look something like this:


I personally prefer Future's Market over Biscuit Delivery so that I can have quicker access to key items like Ionian Boots of Lucidity or Kindlegem. Giving up biscuits is the most effective trade-off since you need those free boots & summoner haste. You can go without 150 extra mana & lane sustain in order to impact the game with much needed core items.

Now that we've covered the 2 main paths of Resolve & Sorcery as well as the alternative Inspiration, you might be wondering why I don't take runes from Domination nor Precision? I urge you to read the following subsections so that I can explain why they aren't as optimal as the other options. I also explain why I don't take Inspiration as a primary in most of my games.

Why No Domination?

Domination focuses too much on burst for Ziggs to make use of.

This Keystone rune had too many nerfs & doesn't work on towers anymore.
Without , Ziggs can't reliably make good use of the bonus penetration it offers.
This could have it's uses for vision control.
by the time you would get the 30 AP stacked, the game would be decided already.
This has some issues with situational usefulness. It's good for trinkets & certain item actives.
This could possibly be used for moving between lanes and looking for towers.
Ziggs is not reliant on having his ult all the time.

The only runes to consider for a possible secondary would be & . It's not worth the loss of Sorcery or Demolish stats.

Why No Inspiration?

Inspiration was originally my go-to primary back when Runes Reforged were first introduced.

These Keystones runes were selected based on what matchup you had. Get if you want AoE slows from items. Get if you want to have random options. Get if you want to impact the map and have godlike macro.

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The runes to consider for a possible secondary would be & . Sorcery is the most important rune path & Resolve is needed for tower threat. Sadly we can't take 3.

Why No Precision?

Precision's attack speed bonuses aren't very appealing for Ziggs since he likes to use his spells against opponents rather than attacking with constant basic attacks.

None of the Keystones help with taking towers.
These only benefit you on takedowns. PoM is good for giving mana regen in lane, but as I've said multiple times it's not necessary.
This is okay, but other Legend options lack usefulness in taking towers.
The bottom runes don't contribute to tower damage either.

Precision in general is not a good option for tower damage since a majority of the benefits come from champion takedowns.

As you may be reading this guide, you might have wondered at some point the reasoning why take Resolve as a primary/secondary on Ziggs? This subsection will explain in more detail the benefits of having Resolve on Ziggs.

Why I Take Resolve for Primary on Utility Support?

Sorcery is normally considered a great primary because the pros are really great and there aren't any notable cons. All of the Keystones can be utilized from long range. Plus, Ziggs can practically use every rune in the Sorcery path. However, the issue with taking the standard Arcane Comet is that the damage is less impactful with less AP on a support budget and support itemization.

So instead of focusing on trying to land more lane poke, I decided to use a "Hit-&-Run" approach of taking favorable trades in a duo lane with Guardian. This puts more emphasis on going for more basic attack trades when spells are on cooldown.

Demolish & Overgrowth synergize with the added HP to deal more tower damage. And to finish the page I went with Conditioning over Bone Plating or Second Wind. Even though you deal overall less damage to champions, you deal more damage to towers as well as have some tankiness to deal with champion damage.

Why I Take Resolve for Secondary on Carry Support?

Resolve is normally not that great as a primary because the pros are vastly outweighed by the cons. Not enough positive gain for opportunities cost. All of the Keystones require you to be close to an ally or enemy champion. The only good runes to consider is Demolish since it directly contributes to tower damage. However since you typicall only get HP from AP items that have it like , , , , , etc. the damage it deals is usually not very potent.

However, a long time ago in patch 8.10, the base damage on Demolish got buffed. And being able to proc on towers does about an extra 500 damage. That's about 10% of an outer tower's HP. And in the early game that could mean establishing map control much earlier than expected. Then in 8.23, the damage was nerfed but the charge duration was shorter and more reliable to proc.

Overgrowth may seem like an unlikely second rune, but it outweighs other options and can be seen as a scaling stat similar to . The initial returns may not be great, but the late game payoff has more use than or since you don't have built-in healing & tenacity isn't mandatory. Also, the tier 2 options are too situational. You don't get many resistances in a carry build so is less valuable. You should be far away from damage so won't help you survive. And giving damage reduction in the lane phase might sound good, its gold efficiency gets outweighed by & even after the lane phase.

Now let's look at the runes to use and the reasoning behind these choices.

The top rune is preferred. The lesser ones are optional

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Guardians of the Space Odyssey (Utility Support) If the Odyssey skin theme was a parody of Guardians of the Galaxy, Ziggs would be the equivalent of Rocket Raccoon! Jokes aside, Guardian's activation is usually considered impractical for a backline damage character. However, making use of the shield and speed boost helps with trading in lane as well as escaping ganks with your partner. Having the extra effective HP to help with staying in the laning phase can be benficial. Moreso in the mid & late game. Consider it as a way to sustain in lane & gradually build up momentum when you get to a tower. Guardian is typically not very good. Ziggs has no ally-targeted spells. And positioning too close to your lane partner can be bad against AoE spells. You could use it to help leash for your jungler. This puts it on a long cooldown, but by the time you get into lane, it won't matter as much at level 1. I used to run Grasp, but it was very inconsistent to stack in most games. And it's heavily meta dependent. When the meta has low mobility melee supports who peel for their carries ( , etc.) then Grasp is very beneficial for abusing in these matchups as free HP. However, the current metagame favors utility supports abusing ( , etc.) or hard engage supports that can initiate fights ( , etc.) Ziggs with Grasp doesn't perform well into either of those matchups due to his disadvantages in ranged-vs-ranged & level 2 all-ins. The Aftershock rune has a conditional use. And since the bonus stats you get are not very useful for taking towers, there is less need for this rune. And since it has a high cooldown as well as a small damage radius, it's difficult to use properly. Sure if you pop a summoner spell like Flash or Ghost you can get in range to use its damage, but that is dangerous when you don't have the resists. This is the rune to take to help you win lane better than the other options. Both alternatives have issues with proper utilization and jeopardize positioniong.

Demolition Derby Being able to constantly push waves and poke the bot lane to force them to farm under tower can be frustrating for your enemy. But threatening tower damage in their face when they try to last-hit under tower is a nightmare! As long as you have Demolition not on cooldown, you have a scary threat on their tower. Imagine a Tristana using a second consecutive max damage Explosive Charge on the tower as soon as she just finished blowing off a chunk of its health with the first. That's how important Demolish is to winning lane. FoL can be fairly decent with theoretical applications. Every time someone steps on a mine, you apply it. Every time you knockback a champion, you apply it too. But the healing is very inconsistent and can be unreliable. I'm only putting this here in case you want to play Ziggs Support in a game mode where there aren't any destructible towers (Ascension) or very few (ARAM). Shield Bash is almost completely useless. I don't like saying "Useless" but the only use I could find is one where you take Barrier or have shield-sharing teammates. ( ) Even with Guardian, you'd only proc it once every 45 seconds. Definitely not worth. Demolish has a condition that Ziggs easily meets. The others have worse payoffs.

Assessing your Win Conditioning (Utility Support) Conditioning has the better overall value of the three options to choose from. Your effective HP is a bit higher with some resistances. And if you happen to have a Zeke's Convergence, you get even more resistances! It is definitely worth the wait. Bone Plating has the issue of being on too long of a cooldown between uses. And it's very unlikely that in a situation where you would have it ready the enemy would pop all 3 plates. Due to infrequency of the damage reduction as well as it being outscaled by Conditioning, I don't recommend its use. The Second Wind rune is another conditional use. Ideally, you shouldn't be at a low health value to need the healing. There are some situations where it would be preffered for surviving a hard lane, but if the enemy has any armor or magic penetrations, Conditioning helps better. This rune compliments all of the bonus HP you want to stack. The alternatives have problems with staying relevant after lane phase (Bone Plating) or is impractical in situations where you don't take a lot of damage (Second Wind).

Getting Over Growing Pains Overgrowth's health gain is usually considered meh for a backline damage character. However, making use of Demolish means that your larger heath total can be seen as extra damage. Having the extra HP to help with tower damage in the laning phase can be benficial. Moreso in the mid & late game. Consider it as a secondary Gathering Storm since it is similar. Both runes gives you more effective damage as the game gets later. Sorta like an extra insurance policy. Revitalize is only here as an option to consider use with FoL. Even then, it would still be underwhelming. The Unflinching rune has a conditional use. And since the bonus stats you get are not very useful for taking towers, there is less need for this rune. Other alternatives are usually more preferred. But if you pop a summoner spell like Flash or Ghost along with Phase Rush, you can be almost immune to slows. This rune helps better than the other options. The alternatives have higher restrictions on their payoff (Unflinching) or isn't absolutely necessary (Revitalize).

Rito PLZ Make Arcane Comet Look Like a Basketball! (Carry Support) For poke damage, Arcane Comet is really good since you can safely land a hit on an enemy champion & not take a lot of damage (preferably none at all). Most of the time you will be trying to make trading as one sided as possible. When your AC is up, try to use one of your CC abilities to guarantee it hits. While Arcane Comet lets you be a damage threat in lane, sometimes it can be unreliable in a bad matchup where getting the proc is unlikely due to the enemy having high mobility. Phase Rush is an alternative to consider if you are looking to outrun speedy opponents or crippling slows. With PR you can make some clean getaway plays or even run out of dangerous slowing CC. Ziggs is not reliant on having AC available to be effective. However, PR is an additional option that can be safer to take with having more mobility to work with. Summon Aery may seem like an extra poke option to have, but isn't absolutely necessary & is outperformed by Comet in almost every scenario. I have it here in case you would take FoL/Rev as a secondary option. Choosing the more optimal keystone can be decided on information given to you in champion select. If the enemy support is a warden ( ) or vanguard ( ) or enchanter support ( ) with little to no engage, AC would be the better pick. It is usually the better option if you can abuse your range advantage to get free poke. If you have some good mechanics & can make optimal use of it, PR can work well in situations where the enemy team has a ridiculous amount of gap closers that could make it difficult to land skillshots. For AC, Bouncing Bomb is a near-guaranteed hit. Even if it doesn't hit, adding ample harass damage with your Short Fuse passive is how you acquire some lane dominance over your lane opponents. For PR, one of the best benefits is using your Satchel Charge in a 3-hit combo to make it out of most bad situations. With a WEQ combo mid air, you can put some distance between your pursuer. SA is good for shielding allies when you apply CC to enemies & heal them with FoL.

The Alternative Band I used to say MFB is just too much mana. Before the patch 8.7 changes to the rune, when you had to do your first back it was likely that mana would run out before poking out the enemies. And by the time you bought your first Sapphire Crystal, mana lasts for ample time. When you'd finish your support item, mana was less of an issue. Now, you can cap out MFB and constantly regen mana! Zigg's ult can be used for some good poke too. He isn't very reliant on having his ultimate at all times since you will usually use it for clearing waves and assisting with teamfights and skirmishes while not being near them. This is where Comet comes in handy. Nimbus giving you movement speed when you use your spells would only be useful if running away from or towards a fight so it doesn't have much use. Null Orb is sometimes taken by certain champions to help protect against high burst magic damage. Even in situations where they have a high burst mage/assassin that is solely targeting you with all of their burst, the shield is negligible because this build is not about AP stacking, but rather penetration stacking. I would consider MFB over NBC because you are always going to be spending mana and only occasionally using your R. MFB may seem like an excessive amount of mana, but since you only build mana from Lost Chapter upgrades and you aren't getting Tear of the Goddess it becomes mandatory. Orb is too situation specific to be considered. Even then it gets very little use unlike the others.

Transcending Practicality Tough choices here. Haste vs. MS vs. AP. It boils down to this: getting another 10 Haste through AP items is really difficult on a support budget, and having around 60 Haste is tremendously important for a poke-centric and sieging playstyle. Getting to 100 Haste lets you half the cooldowns on all of your spells. At 150+ Haste, you are almost at URF-level spell casting. The item builds only gives Haste from a few items paths. 20 from > , 20 from > , 20 from > , 20 from > , 30 from + = , and 40 on completion of Vigilant Wardstone. And Transcendence gives you 10 Haste after reaching level 8. After testing, if your full item build was: and you had blue buff, Transcendence would give you 163 Ability Haste... which is about 66% cooldown reduction. So much more value than what Celerity would give even if you had over 9000 move speed. If going for Absolute Focus, poke damage is gimped once you lose 30% HP. And since you have less haste & no cooldown reducing effect, this hurts total poke and tower damage added through AP anyway! Plus, by the time you finish another Kindlegem or Codex, you will usually be level 10 anyway. I wouldn't fault anyone for going for the other options, but I find it superior to have both extra haste and more frequent spell casts. Transcendence helping you reach 60 Haste is too important for poking and sieging to pass up. Celerity & Focus delay reaching it by pushing Haste further down the build, which ironically hurts poking and sieging.

It's Always Calm Before the Storm (Carry Support) Scorch was my initial go-to since it seems to favor poke more than late-game AP, but I soon found that having two champions to hit actually reduced the efficacy of Scorch a fair share. During the laning phase, Scorch would only be adding about 50 damage per person (after resists) between each back. During sieges, Scorch would hit somebody incidentally and then lose relevancy for the next 20 seconds. Waterwalking is a niche pick that would only really serve it's purpose when you stand in river & press R to clear a wave or contribute to a kill. Gathering Storm adds better mid & late game sieging damage at the cost of marginal poke early. This is a fair trade-off. Gathering Storm for better mid/late game poke and siege. Scorch's damage gets split between both opponents, which creates underwhelming poke. Note: Op.gg shows Ziggs win rate falls to below 48% after 35 minutes. GS will get the most value at 30 minutes with 24 AP but if you get to 40 minutes with 48 AP, focus on ending the game fast or you will most likely be outscaled.

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

I'll blow you away with these mad skills!

For Ziggs Support, the skill order is W max for tower damage & CC, then Q max for low cooldown damage, E max last for more damage & stronger slows, and finally R max when you get the points at 6/11/16.

This skill sequence is optimal in the early game for securing that first tower. By taking 3 points in W , you can execute the first tower (which has 5000 HP) if it is at or below 1500 HP (30% max HP) in one hit. Around level 10. With very little or even no AD or AP required.

Unlike the standard Q max order, increases in mana cost per rank so it is better used for pushing and poking for gold in the early game. Around the mid game is when the poke becomes more prevalent. E is useful as a one-point wonder since you only really need it for more wave clear and slowing enemies.

Bonus: What it takes to execute a tower without a Satchel

I will follow up on the previous paragraph with an example. To give you a good comparison of doing 1500 damage to a tower in one hit, let's assume you are a level 13 Ziggs with Short Fuse doing 100 + 50% AP on-hit damage. And since it is 150% more effective against structures, it would be 250 + 125% AP. Add Lich Bane for an extra 40% AP. Along with 150% base AD added that is 250 + 165% AP magic damage to structures.

In this specific scenario, 1500 seems a bit too unrealistic, so lets drop that down to 1050. In order to do 1050 damage in one attack to a tower with both Short Fuse & Lich Bane, you would need about 607 AP at level 13... which is usually about 20 minutes into the game. This is not accounting for penetration & resistances either. To pull that off, you need to be uber fed with AT LEAST 3 completed items that costs around 10k-12k gold!

And I could use other examples like a Nasus with 600 Siphoning Strike stacks + Trinity Force + Sterak's Gage + Demolish. That's about as much damage you can do to a tower with just and no AP required!

The Magic Numbers

What I'm about to share with you is the results of 3 years of experimentation with Ziggs interacting with turrets. This information is... literally written in stone or whatever materials turrets are made out of.

What I call "The Magic Number" is the highest health threshold a turret has to be in order to throw your to instantly destroy it. While there are different numbers for each level of the ability as well as which tower you are attacking, the numbers themselves are as stationary as the towers they destroy.

This section will save you time in your games by not having to calculate what 32.5% of 3600 is in the middle of a game while your team sieges mid lane inner tower. (Yes I did that before, got it wrong, didn't destroy the tower, and inted... not my best moment!) Understand that the percentages for are 25/27.5/30/32.5/35 depending on your rank of the ability. Turrets in order (Outer/Inner/Inhibitor/Nexus) have 5000/3600/3300/2700 health.

Now, let's understand exactly how executes a low health turret. When a turret is at the threshold indicated by the bomb icon, will deal 100% of the turret's current health as true damage (in game it'll look like a magic damage crit number, but you can tell it's true damage when you look at the end-of-game numbers and see the True Damage Dealt graph higher than both junglers combined). This is very important to know because it does not factor in tower armor/MR, how many plates are left, Bulwark stats, nor the fortification bonus.

Outer Turret: This is the most important as pre-14 minutes, this is how you generate a 2k gold lead over your enemy counterpart with little/no counterplay. At 5000 HP, Ziggs can hexplode the Outer at 1250/1375/1500/1625/1750 HP. This is why it's crucially imperative that your team prioritizes Rift Herald . RH will make getting to this threshold very easy when the tower is at 3.5 plates or lower. It's guaranteed a free tower (and free gold) at that point.

Inner Turret: This is not as important as the Outer, but it's very helpful to know these numbers when sieging with a Herald charge/other teammates or when you are side-laning/picking-off a low HP Inner. At 3600 HP, Ziggs can hexplode the Inner at 900/990/1080/1179/1260 HP. The numbers are lower because the turrets have lower max HP the closer they get to the Nexus. Keep this in mind to avoid the embarrassing... premature detonation.

Inhibitor Turret: This is another important section as destroying these means open Inhibitors. If played right, this can draw a lot of pressure to you or your teammate(s) with you into a split push scenario. (I'll cover later in the Split Pushing chapter.) At 3300 HP, Ziggs can hexplode the Inhib Tower at 825/907.5/990/1072.5/1155 HP. Note: unlike Outers & Inners, Inhib Towers can regen 3 HP/sec up to every third of it's HP. Don't get baited by forgetting this. If your is maxed, then as long as the tower is at 1/3, you should be fine.

Nexus Turret: These are similar to the "Grave" and "Ward" mini bosses you fight before facing the final boss "Graveward" (Reference from Borderlands 3). Having good timing here can mean the difference between shaving off enough seconds to end the game or having enemies respawn/base/TP to stop you... and in very rare cases be the decider of who wins a base race! At 2700 HP, Ziggs can hexplode the Nexus Towers at 675/742.5/810/877.5/945 HP. Note: similar to Inhib Towers, Nexus Towers can regen 6 HP/sec up to every third of it's HP. Don't get baited by forgetting this. If your is maxed, then as long as the tower is at 1/3, you should be fine.

Finally, I understand that this is a lot of info to take in and memorize. And using it in a game can be challenging as well. So I'll simplify it for the sake of having less numbers to worry about. I'll just share the first rank and maxed rank numbers. The Magic Number for Outers is 1250/1750. Inner is 900/1260. Inhib is 825/1155. Nexus is 675/945. The lower number is for standard Ziggs who max last and the higher is for Supports who max it first.

Those are your magic numbers. Use them wisely in your decision making to make magic happen.

Shut Up And Take My Money!

Play Video

After years of extensive scenario testing and number crunching, the results of hundreds of experiments have revealed an optimal utility build that is very cost-effective for taking over games... and the core item combo only costs 10k gold.

I have also included the optional, but optimal damage efficient build path. Demon King Teemo would be proud for the destruction you will bring to the enemies' structures.

First, here is the standard starting items for both the utility path and carry path for Ziggs Support.

Health Potions are for people who get into range to be hit. By not buying potions, you essentially give yourself a 25-100g lead against the enemy support. This allows you to upgrade with less gold. You can start with a control ward or one potion.

If you want to go for a high risk high reward early game play, you can buy only the and try to invade the enemy bot side buff. Your goal is to throw Qs into the buff bushes or river bushes near max range and get some free mana for stacks. If you are with teammates, you are able to proc all of your tribute stacks and/or clear a ward and get the gold.

Buying potions is up to your discretion. It's not mandatory to have, but can be useful in a hard lane.


↓


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On your first back, always buy boots, regardless of path. Your support item auto upgrades as you play the game so look to finish the quest by the time you get your mythic item.

Now I'm going to split the rest of the item section into different subsections. The first is going to cover the utility path that is the most optimal way to play Ziggs Support. This works best with the Guardian rune page.

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While it may be a controversial opinion, Ziggs does make good use of as it gives him good mobility and nice stats. I personally don't swap my trinket to , but I also buy an enormous amount of control wards that make up for it, while also liberally using totem ward charges.

This is the standard build I came up with. The reason why it's very gold efficient comes from the starting item choice.

Liandry's Torment has the same mythic passive as Shurelya's Battlesong but costs 700 more gold. The damage is pretty good, but I find that it gives too much extra mana and no HP. I'd consider it optional but only worth it if you are willing to deal with the extra gold investment & delay of other items.

After getting your second Kindlegem, you have all of the basic necessities. Getting to this point costs exactly 4700g. The next part comes down to the state of the game:

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In a majority of games, you will want to prioritize finishing Zeke's Convergence before Cosmic Drive because it's 600 gold cheaper. You might be wondering why build this item on Ziggs when it gives 0 AP? Well, it does have it's benefits of giving you mana since you don't build Lost Chapter, a cheap way to get an extra 20 haste (+5 with ), and an active that's very easy to proc by allowing a fed carry to do bonus damage to whomever you CC with .

By the time you finish Zeke's Convergence, your build will have cost you 7200g (disregarding consumables).

Surely you can already understand why Cosmic Drive is such a good item for Ziggs. However, on a support budget, it can be a bit challenging to complete since it costs 3000 gold. But it is well worth the price when you have access to its stats. With a combination of , by the time you finish you will have exactly 169 AP... just enough to give you the bonus 20 haste & move speed!

This is the standard 5-item build I came up with. Getting all of these items costs exactly 10200g without accounting for any bought. With Vigilant Wardstone as a last item, full build only costs about 12k gold. Add a couple plus some wards, it will be about 13k gold or a little more.

Why Wardstone Rocks as a 6th item & why other alternatives aren't very feasable

Now to address the elephant on the page. Why do I get this item? Why not another AP item? Why not buy an item that builds out of Fiendish Codex? These are some FAQ's I would get a lot in games and after games.

The Wardstone line is amazing as a 6th item because you can keep your last slot open for holding as well as get bonus HP & Haste. And when it upgrades, you get even more haste and an increase to how many wards you can have on the map. Add the bonuses to your AD, AP & Haste, and you can easily reach 150+ Ability Haste at full build.

With that said, now let me address the issue I had with Codex & Kindle upgrades that followed.

For the options, others don't work well with Zigg's kit... except maybe Hextech Rocketbelt but it's costs over 3k gold & can't be bought with ... plus its use isn't a necessity. Knight's Vow is a horrible choice for Ziggs because it has a range limit to your bonded ally (unlike ) and you don't want to be sharing damage for a carry.

And with the options, there aren't any plausible alternatives. That leaves us with only two options. The couple that costs 2600g. Even though they all offer nice AP stats, the completions would delay other important items or not be completed by the game's end.

Banshee's Veil may seem to be a good upgrade from Codex since your range guarantees the enemy has to commit hard to popping it. But for the purposes of tower taking, the stats it offers aren't very efficient in relation to the cost. Sure the AP is nice, but the item as a whole isn't very efficient. Most of the money on this item goes to the spell shield. And finally, it is only really relevant if your team is really far ahead and the shield helps prevent throwing. Even though it's nice to have when it could save you from one crucial ability, the spell shield doesn't increase your tower damage.

Please don't buy Zhonya's Hourglass. I explained in the runes section why Stopwatch is not good for Ziggs. The gold efficiency is so bad on this item that it only becomes efficient if it prevented a death. Theoretically, you could spend 650 gold on a and use it once if you know that a very important fight is going to happen, but I wouldn't bother upgrading after it breaks.

The Lost Lost Chapter

Okay, so Lost Chapter is typically the core component for mages. Unfortunately for this specific Ziggs Support build, Lost Chapter and its upgrades are not easy buys... mainly because of the 3200 gold costs. The component by itself is very cost efficient, gold efficient, and damage efficient for what it offers, but upgrading it at the expense of delaying cheaper useful items is an issue. I will explain why the upgrades should not be considered mandatory:

Everfrost gives some amazing stats. If you took Glacial Augment then you get even more use out of it's active. This item is the most gold efficient of the 3 for Ziggs Support. The main issue comes with when you would buy it. By rushing this as a first item, you delay boots. This can be a big issue since mobility is important for a support. However, it is really great in the early game with it's fairly decent base damage, slowing utility and short cooldown.

Liandry's Torment was originally my go-to mythic of choice for an option to give a lot of ability haste with a mythic passive. The problem I had (besides the cost) was the lack of usefulness when sieging towers. It's good for champion damage, but that's not the focus of how I play support. Shurelya's Battlesong is 700 gold cheaper and has the same mythic passive. You can finish Ionian Boots of Lucidity with that saved gold and have more impact on the map.

Luden's Tempest is the other big gold sink of 3200g. But as for assisting with your potent poking power, it does work its wonders. Due to the lack of additional items with spell effects (Liandry, Morello, Rylai, etc) the Echoes effect is less potent. I explain reasonings later in this section. The mythic passive is AMAZING as it increases your magic penetration!

The main themes that all 3 upgrades have are an abundance of superfluous mana, opportunity costs outweighing potential gains, and effects that don't actively contribute to taking towers. (HP burn, Icy beam, & Echo procs all deal no damage to towers). Because there are cost effective alternatives that increase both poke and tower damage, most of these items will stay "lost" without a proper function for most of the game until super late game where everyone has lots of gold.

Elixir of Sorcery is the most efficient item in the game for damaging towers... and dealing poke damage too. Comparing it to Amplifying Tome, you get 150% more AP for only spending about 15% more gold as well as having mana regen & bonus true damage.

Deciding when to buy depends on the state of the game. I would recommend purchasing one after you finish . If your team is snowballing in the mid game, this is definitely a good way to get an even bigger gold lead & close out a game early.

SitRep: Situational Representation

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Here are some optional items to consider depending on the enemy composition:



Chemtech Putrifier is an alternative option for 6th item in a very specific game where the enemy team has "OP healing" as a win condition. If you need to prioritize giving you and your teammates the ability to apply grievous wounds, then substitution for Vigilant Wardstone is justified.



Redemption might puzzle some minds & induce some head scratching as this is an unorthodox item on Ziggs. It's more useful early on for pseudo ganks, and overall immediate impact. It's really, really good for 2v2s/skirmishes. Another thing to note is that it heals ally minions & damages enemy minions. Great for wave manipulation.

"Redemption: It's the 'Redeeming' quality of the build!"
-Quote from Aqua Dragon on his Malzahar Jungle.



Anathema's Chains is an even bigger question mark. It's very situational, but I would get it if I needed to lockdown someone to CC them longer & make them feel like dead weight. It's also a good pickup if your team has good CC as well & the enemy has a diver/assassin that wants to jump on you or your back line.

The Carry Ziggs Support build and why it's an alternative

A couple of seasons ago, I would prioritze getting cheap magic penetration items to be an effective damage carry against champions and towers. That changed when season 11 introduced the new item system. Magic penetration is only really accessible through Mythic Items/Passives, Sorcerer's Shoes and Void Staff.

At the start of season 11, Imperial Mandate was really strong on Ziggs as he could easily proc the bonus damage with his kit. After it got nerfed, the other support items were lackluster. So I tried other options like Hextech Rocketbelt, Night Harvester, and Liandry's Torment. But none came close to Luden's Tempest. So here's a brief build for a carry-style support build for Ziggs Support using the Arcane Comet alternate rune page. Note: Spellthief's Edge with no potion is the recommended start to get a headstart on item completion.

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While it might not seem like much, 7000 gold for 2 items & T2 boots is a lot on a support budget. Recalling what I mentioned in the utility build, this build will cost exactly 1000 more gold than the support item + 1 pot start then getting 2 items ( & ) + T2 boots ( ). The utility combo of 2 items & T2 boots: 2500 + 2500+ 950 + 50 = 6000. But when it comes to damage, this is all you need to be relevant for the whole game.

As for other item options, there aren't very many to choose from. Both Cosmic Drive and Lich Bane cost 3000 gold each. The decision to choose one over the other comes from the needs that need to be filled depending on the state of the game: If you need more haste, then get . Want to chunk turrets with a super attack? Get . In it's current form, the latter is very gold inefficient. Even with a lot of AP, the spellblade effect isn't worth the gold investment.

Rabadon's Deathcap is the most expensive item in the game and is not required to be a utility nor a carry. When it comes to doing damage, penetrations will ALWAYS be more valuable than raw stats. Please refer back to the video at the beginning of this guide. I highly discourage this item.

So there you have it. Full build for a carry-oriented Ziggs support is:


This will cost you a grand total of 13000 gold without factoring in consumables. Needless to say, it will require you to get super fed to get full build at an estimated 30-35 minutes. And by that time, the game is probably decided. Note: Op.gg shows Ziggs win rate falls to below 48% after 35 minutes. It's a very strong full build, but very impractical and very rare to see in most games.

Having the right tools for the right job can be challenging to accomplish. But is worth it in your quest to ball so hard that has to fine you for a bounty.

It makes the dream work!

S-Tier: Very easy to win lane with. You cover each other's strengths & weaknesses.

• Tristana: Auto push on CS, Rocket Jump & Buster Shot for self peel, plus Rapid Fire & Explosive Charge wreck towers. Everything you would want in a partner.
  
• Yasuo: In past seasons, this used to be seen as trolling. Now, you get a strong pushing lane with easy hard engage. His Last Breath is very easy to setup with Satchel Charge & follow up with Mega Inferno Bomb.
  
• Veigar: Ah, the 2 most cunning Yordles with a genius strategy called "Operation: Death Cage" that is sure to secure lane victory. If he traps an enemy in Event Horizon, then you just toss a Satchel Charge to knock them into the stun & both of you throw everything at the stunned target. Guaranteed kill at level 6!
  
• Kai'Sa: She has really good synergy with Second Skin, deals hybrid damage, and her item variations puts her in a good spot. You can provide her with easy backline access with your Satchel Charge.
  
• Swain: While this may seem a bit unorthodox, this combo covers each other's weaknesses of getting outranged (Swain) and CQC (Ziggs). As a bonus, Ziggs can setup a free Ravenous Flock pull with a well-placed Satchel Charge.
  

A-Tier: Great laning partners. They can help you access the tower by poking.

• Miss Fortune: Her lethality items help wreck towers & her laning power is oppressive with Double Up & Make it Rain.
  
• Jhin: Both of you have long range, good poke, & tower damage. Lethality & Whisper are good for tower taking.
  
• Senna: Start Doran's Ring and rush Liandry's Torment after Ionian Boots of Lucidity. This combo works well since you both have long range, CC & cross-map ults with Dawning Shadow. Really fun to play!
  
• Ashe: She has good wave management, Hawkshot is amazing for getting vision in blind spots, her poke with basic attacks + Volley are nice, & Enchanted Crystal Arrow can setup your Mega Inferno Bomb or stall out chasers.
  
• Ezreal: His Sheen upgrade as well as Essence Flux are great for damaging towers. Plus he can be independent in lane while you roam.
  

B-Tier: Good to lane with. They can function well. Even with your zero utility.

• Seraphine: What's better than one utility mage? TWO! There are some crazy combos! She can root/stun with her Beat Drop on an enemy you hit with Satchel Charge or Hexplosive Minefield. Teamfights are the way to go!
  
• Sivir: Really good wave clear, her Spell Shield can block for you, & On The Hunt has multiple purposes. Her item timings are long, but rewarding if they come through.
  
• Heimerdinger: Ah, the 2 smartest Yordles with a genius strategy of endless wave pushing. With both of you pushing & zoning, getting 1st tower is very likely unless they send 4-5 bot. And his UPGRADE!!! options can help any situation.
  
• Jinx: She can Get Excited! very frequently when the two of you take towers and make long range plays. And he can easily combo off of your spells with a Deadly Flourish for more CC & damage.
  
• Samira: She loves engaging on airborne carries with her Daredevil Impulse. What better way to enable her by using your low cooldown CC multiple times to CC enemy carries?
  

C-Tier: Great laners, but not great partners. Synergy is not that good.

• Draven: You don't have hard cc initiations or ally utility for him to take advantage of. But he is strong enough to win lane by himself if you assist him by poking down the enemy laners and zone away any divers. And his Whirling Death can combo with your Mega Inferno Bomb for long range snipes.
  
• Lucian: His play style encourages up close fighting, which is something you shouldn't try for. At least The Culling clears waves.
  
• Kalista: Her Fate's Call can be a life saver. But other than that, she can suffer from your lack of utility & hard engage.
  
• Caitlyn: Great poke, her Yordle Snap Trap makes a great sieging tool, & overall strong early game.
  
• Varus: His lane power isn't bad. His Piercing Arrow poke, Blighted Quiver on-hit damage/execution power, & Hail of Arrows heal reduction are nice for having a strong early game. Plus, Chain of Corruption can setup your Mega Inferno Bomb.
  

D-Tier: Typically weak laners. They tend to suffer from your lack of utility.

• Xayah: She has a very well-rounded, balanced kit that is good at just about everything. Her self peel in Featherstorm is nice to have, but she can function better with some utility.
  
• Vayne: You can make up for her lack of wave clear & help her get cs. She is a decent partner for laning with, but it takes 2 items for her to start to become a threat. You can combo your spells with her Condemn stun.
  
• Twitch: His laning power is not that good and he'd rather roam for picks than siege towers. His monstrous late game is no joke though. Spray and Pray gives him more AD & lets him outrange towers.
  
• Kog'Maw: His on-hit items ( ) & Bio-Arcane Barrage do not affect towers, he has a heavy reliance on peel & enhancements, and he plays to not lose lane. Because of that, you will spend most of your time on your side of the river. Try to avoid this combo if possible.
  
• Aphelios: Mr. 200 years needs 3 items to take over games & needs a LOT of peel to set him up to carry. One of the worst lanes to play since you can't effectively enable him. The root on Binding Eclipse can set up CC chains & he can be a strong tower threat when he's holding Crescendum, the Chakram.
  

The Solo Voyage of a Bombastic Yordle

• Tower Damage: With a maxed Satchel Charge, the enemy team cannot ignore you in a side lane since you will get a tower if it's low. Split pushers in general tend to have some tower threatening damage. Since you have built-in damage on & can execute them without much effort, you become a threat they have to deal with.
  
• Vision Control: Since you have wards, you can set up vision where the enemy is likely to intercept you. Another thing to note is that your Satchel Charge can give vision. Part of being a good split pusher is having knowledge of enemy positions.
  
• Escape Mechanisms: With a combination of bonus speed from items ( & ), mobility in you summoner spells ( & ), and your CC ( & ), running away from people becomes more reliable. Another part of being a good split pusher is knowing how to waste the enemy's time chasing you.
  
• Fighting Power: Even without a lot of AP, this Ziggs build has lots of Haste from the mythic passive on Shurelya's Battlesong and the special passive on Cosmic Drive. Extra Haste makes your damage more frequent against enemies challenging your split push. In the rare case you completed Liandry's Torment as your mythic, tanks and fighters are susceptible to your poke & burst as well. Having some kill pressure increases your threat as a split pusher.
  
• Wave Clear: All of Ziggs's spells are AoE. This makes it easy to push waves. And his Mega Inferno Bomb can clear most waves with its really high base damage & AP scaling. Being able to shove waves into towers makes split pushing effective.
  
• Team Assistance: Since your Mega Inferno Bomb has ridiculous range, you can contribute damage to a team fight or defend against a siege by not even being present. Or you can make sick objective steals on Dragon or Baron & make Thug Life highlights and say #DealWithIt in all chat. Being able to assist your team with long range spells and Teleport is a traditional given for side laning.
  

Bonus: Hullbreaking the Meta

So Riot decided to add a new AD Splitpushing item called Hullbreaker to the game to make the tactic more viable. I have done many games of testing and I found this item actually has some use in this build... HOWEVER! it is very situational and I would only recommend it in games where you need to avoid fighting a 5v5 teamfight due to enemy superior composition, gold leads, or weaknesses to not grouping.

Now, I know what you are thinking: SOUNDS GOOD, DOESN'T WORK!

The item gives no AP, no Haste, and requires you to NOT group near teammates to use its effect. Typically the exact opposite of what you want in an item. But when it comes to actually side laning alone, it increases your threat level as enemies REALLY can't ignore you.

If you wish to build this item, then I recommend first finishing your core items of Shurelya's Battlesong, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Shard of True Ice, & Cosmic Drive. After finishing, then comes the challenge of getting to 2800 gold. Building the Phage and then waiting for the rest of the gold to complete the item is preferred.

Once you have Hullbreaker tell your team that you are going to stay in the side lane. Another good use for the item is as a deterrent to enemy Top Laners who tend to build this item. ( , , , , etc.) You won't be able to duel them, but you can stall them by clearing their waves.

Overall, this item is very niche & I would not recommend it in a majority of games. Also, because split pushing effectively requires understandings of topics most support players don't typically need (like macro sense, wave manipulation, tower knowledge, etc.) I definitely wouldn't recommend this for the average player. It's a "Big Brain" concept that needs lots of practice to use effectively.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK (Note: I, Rasta Da Masta, am not responsible for any tilt caused to teammates nor LP lost due to poor execution of this item.)

1st Quarter: Laning Phase (Game Start to ~10 mins)

• Ball on enemies and minions with .
  
• Stack with .
  
• Avoid spamming other spells unless necessary.
  
• Keep the area thoroughly warded.
  

By starting with Spellthief's Edge, you're all set to shoot some free throws. However, don't just shoot air balls and bricks. Aim with purpose. Square up little yordle! Every time you shoot, think to yourself: did I hit their wave and their laner? Did I force another potion? Did I push away their support?

On that note, keep an eye on your Short Fuse cool down. If it's 4 seconds or less away from recharging, you may want to hold the Bouncing Bomb trigger finger until you use that empowered attack. You can use that attack on a minion if hitting a champion is too risky.

You absolutely should not be getting hit. Ziggs has that 3-point range while other standard supports can only dunk or layup or shoot free throws. That means damage is very likely to be avoidable. Be aggressive with pushing and poking. The idea here is to never take a hit to get off a hit. Make the lane as one-sided as possible.

Remember that if you press Q, sometimes it will bounce over a small area while it's in mid-air flight.

Your kill potential pre-6 isn't terribly massive. Don't be too aggressive until then. That means in some matchups, saving Satchel Charge instead of trying to hit the enemies with it is preferred. Your job in most lanes is to push the wave under the enemy tower, poke them with spells and your passive on-hit, and try to chip down the tower. Saving your and knowing when to use it is very important since it has a very long cool down until level 10 and 40 Ability Haste.

Avoid using Hexplosive Minefield for poke! Your mana regeneration can only barely regenerate the mana drain of your bombs, so adding on top of that will get you oom quickly. You should largely use it only when helping clear waves or when the enemies have committed to a fight.

Once you have your Mega Inferno Bomb, you can almost one-shot squishy laners. This is the time when you can be very forward about landing your Satchels & pulling off some combos with your other spells for an easy kill. If you notice incoming help, look to setup an opportunity for , though watch out for any incoming CC.

2nd Quarter: Early Game (10 to ~20 mins)

• Look to group in other lanes with low towers for 1st tower gold.
  
• Make aggressive TPs if the opportunities are there.
  
• Set up vision near big neutral objectives like Dragon & Rift Herald.
  
• Roam around and look for picks.
  

With Frostfang + Bandleglass Mirror, you're able to almost indefinitely spam spells. Pushing should be a bit easier with more mana & regen & AP. And with your Short Fuse passive, you can chunk towers down easier.

Try to call for ganks from the jungler or even roams from mid/top. With some coordination, getting that first tower should be fairly easy. You can also to countergank for mid/top if it seems favorable. Enemies very rarely expect to get TP ganked by a support so the element of surprise can tip the outcome in your favor. Or as they say in basketball terms: a Pick & Roll!

By this time you should have stacked up. Ziggs can walk in the river and press R to get that half-court shot on the enemy mid laner and/or their wave. You can get assists mid & pressure bot lane at the same time.

Remember that your tower execution power increases with each W rank.

By the time you hit level 9, you should typically have , , and completed. Also, is an optional condition depending on how much gold you have. This is usually around 13-15 minutes. When you have these items, you have completed your early game power spike. At level 10, you get the extra 10 Haste from Transcendence to bump it up to 73. Your peeling power is stronger with that 8s W cooldown. Also, if you took it, Gathering Storm gives you 8 AP at 10 minutes.

3rd Quarter: Mid Game (20 to ~30 mins)

• Continue maintaining strong vision control of the map.
  
• Try to be near areas of potential conflict to enemies from downtown!
  
• Use to kite and chase better during teamfights or escape pursuers.
  
• Chase down lone, low health opponents and kill them.
  

Your role before fights remains straightforward. Your mana regen is also now sufficient to spam wildly. Don't intentionally miss. We don't like air balls! Usually it's often sufficient to just present the threat of Bombs even if you don't hit it. By the time you hit level 13, each spell cast will take 6s off of your passive cool down. Watch the timings of Short Fuse so you can use them optimally... especially when hitting towers.

When enemies get closer, get yourself farther. Try to stay close to the tip of your spell's range and make sure the areas around you are warded well.

Don't be afraid to use to arrive to fights several seconds earlier. It's on an impressively short cool down. So try to get creative with its various uses.

Keep an eye on your carries and see if you can help them out against melee enemies by using . It can interrupt most leaps & dashes with it's knock back. Be careful when using it. Depending on how you angle it, you can use it to knock people away from your team and/or use it to knock people towards your team.

Your ult is on a relatively short cool down. You can probably get the best use out of it for clearing waves in side lanes by killing caster minions to build up slow pushing waves. It's also good at defending against pushes since destroying minion waves helps stall their siege.

By the time you hit level 13, you should typically have completed Cosmic Drive or Zeke's Convergence depending on if you need the stats or enabling a fed carry. Also, you might have finished an extra Kindlegem to finish the other choice if fed enough gold. Situational items are also good based on circumstances. These item completions usually happen around 23-27 minutes. This is generally your mid game power spike. If you have the rune, at 20 minutes, Gathering Storm will give you 24 AP. Really good value. That's about 450g worth of free AP.

4th Quarter: Late Game (30 to ~40 mins & higher)

• Less vision makes warding tough. Be cautious and use Farsight Trinket to scout.
  
• With its low cooldown, you should have ready for every teamfight.
  
• Prioritize protecting the caries over throwing out damage.
  
• Look to sneak through enemy jungles to execute low HP turrets.

Though you do impressive damage to objectives, so do your carries. The difference is that they are just as fragile and usually have more gold. If they need some protection, give them some peel while throwing the longer-range spells into team fights.

Try to save your ult until the enemies have gotten busy with the rest of your team. Using it much earlier will almost certainly be a wasted opportunity.

In some niche scenarios, when time is absolutely critical, consider using your ult on barons/dragons as you're taking them so you can get out as quickly as possible.

By the time you hit level 16, you should typically have completed your full build with an upgraded Vigilant Wardstone. And that happens around 33-47 minutes. This is usually your late game game power spike. You should have 160+ Ability Haste and a 5s to spam.

A typical full build should look something like:
.

If you hae it, at 30 minutes Gathering Storm will give you 48 AP. 80 AP at 40 mins, 120 at 50, and 168 at 60. If for whatever reason you (or the enemy) couldn't end the game, you should be able to at this point with your power.

Overtime: Super Late Game (50 mins & higher)

• Don't get caught out & don't go warding alone. Death Timers are really long. (70+ seconds)
  
• Buy less elixirs & stockpile money to buy AP items
  
• Keep prioritizing protecting the carries over throwing out damage.
  
• Only look to split if you have vision control & and objective is up.

At this stage of the game, gold leads & deficits have less meaning as everyone approaches full builds & max levels. This is usually when Gathering Storm really kicks in. As gold becomes more abundant, You should look to sell your gold generating items. If selling your vision tools can win you a fight with more damage, the trade off is worth it.

If you happen to have a ridiculous amount of gold (over 10k), a new full build should look something like:
.

With this new build, you are no longer a "Support" since you got rid of your vision tool. You have the damage output of a mid lane Ziggs and should be feared as one. This should only be treated as a Thanos moment where you can only see victory if you take matters into your own Yordle hands & say, "Fine. I'll do it myself."

Becoming more of an offensive damage threat can help close out the game. If the enemy has towers still, focus on getting them. But try not to suicide for them. Your biggest priority is staying alive. Taking towers, peeling for the team, pushing waves, throwing out poke, etc. isn't as important when it comes to just surviving.

Similar to basketball games, that "Sudden Death" feeling starts to happen. Anxiety might build up & it could affect your performance positively or negatively. Try to keep a calm head and consider your win conditions as well as your loss conditions. One team will win because they played better than the other team... or one team will win because mistakes were made on the other team.

Use your game knowledge wisely and have good decision making. Smart decision making skills as well as vast game knowledge are requirements to make this work. Use these tactics with your item selections to make them work for your intentions and you can figure out what steps to take to get that win!