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Recommended Items
Runes: Aggressive lane
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+10-180 Bonus Health
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Threats & Synergies
Ashe
[ADC] Ashe is the antithesis of everything Poppy wants to do in-lane. She has tons of easy to hit slow and can easily cripple your movement. Play safe and wait for her to make a mistake, overextension is death.
Smolder
[ADC] Smolder has great lane presence thanks to his long range poke and mobility abilities. If smolder hits his slow, look for an opening to stun your enemies, he can catch up with his flight. Slowing and pinning enemy champs will allow smolder to hit his abilities very easily, leading to a massive amount of damage.
Smolder
[ADC] Smolder has great lane presence thanks to his long range poke and mobility abilities. If smolder hits his slow, look for an opening to stun your enemies, he can catch up with his flight. Slowing and pinning enemy champs will allow smolder to hit his abilities very easily, leading to a massive amount of damage.
Champion Build Guide
I had hoped to create a guide to Poppy Support on Zar but it seems their platformed is in preservation mode unfortunately, so I figure I'd write one here instead. This will be my first guide for the platform, and I'll be putting a lot of effort into it, so please give me any critique or suggestions that may improve the guide for future viewers. Thanks!
So, what's with Poppy support finding prevalance? Well, she offers a massive amount of CC and durability for your carry during laning phase as well as into the lategame.
A good Poppy can completely oppress a lane, making her enemies consider if leaving tower is ever a safe option or if warding that bush is really worth the risk of a Poppy sitting in wait. Even if laning phase doesn't go well, your abilities transfer great into objective control and peeling for your carries.
Big Trist tweaks, sizable buff for the most part. Will keep an eye on her. Did a minor rewrite of the runes since several have been nerfed pretty harshly and the extra scaling health isn't as important without easy Warmog's.
14.18
Minor Hwei and Lulu buffs, and Maokai/Smolder nerfs. Varus toned back down.
14.17
Minor nerfs to Ashe and Senna, sizable Varus buff, will have to see where this puts him. More nerfs to Warmog's. Why'd they nerf Celestial?
14.16
Minor changes, rewrote my thoughts on some of the items. Warmog's is good but it's not recommended every game.
14.15
Minor changes to some ADCs and some items that Poppy mostly doesn't buy.
Minor boot nerfs across the board.
14.14
Warmog's Heart health threshold increased to 1500 bonus health from 1300. Less viable to rush now but still good. You need to buy a kindlegem after Warmog's to activate the passive now.
14.13
No notable changes.
Becomming a big fan of Warmog's.
14.12
No notable changes.
Can people stop playing Cait / Lux for like 3 games?
Removed conditioning & unflinching from rune recommendations, added Electrocute experimental runes.
Watched some of Coach Cupcake's videos, added a segment for shards and warding.
14.11
Minor changes to botlane champs but nothing too drastic.
Roaming has become a bit less important with the extra resistances turrets have, go for first turret in the botlane.
14.10
Removal of Zeke's mana makes the item somewhat moot for Poppy.
Overlord looks to be a solid Poppy item but will have to test some more for support.
More cleaver buffs.
New boots look interesting, but swifties is probably still the default.
Bloodthirster got its crit removed, it kinda looks cool for Poppy now?
Slight relentless hunter nerf makes it a bit less desireable.
Legend Tenacity has been removed, wasn't that important for Poppy anyway. Jack of all Trades though looks real interesting.
14.9
Decent hits to Steraks, Sundered and Eclipse, doesn't affect support too much.
Blitz and Pyke should be a bit less oppressive.
14.8
No notable changes
14.7
Not too much of note, I think the Camille buffs are enough to label her in the matchups segment. Nerfs against Bloodsong continue to punch down the power of support.
14.6
Finally, some Smolder nerfs. Shouldn't affect his laning too much, though the MS hit is pretty big.
Support item gold end gain reduced by 200 and big nerfs to gold from hitting enemies. Hope you like farming. Even more Sleigh nerfs
14.5
Decent Kog buffs, I think he's still fine in the mid-tier threat section since although the slow is annoying, it's not debilitating.
Sivir's extra armor will make her slightly tankier in laning phase but shouldn't be too big an issue.
Big hit to TF's AD Ratio which I'm glad for, super oppressive champ if played well.
Pretty big hits to Solstice Sleigh, just solidifies Bloodsong as an amazing support item pick for Poppy with the damage amp.
Reasons to play +++ the enemy team is dash-dependent ++ the enemy team is assasin-stacked ++ your team is squishy + your jungler needs help securing objectives If the enemy team has a large amount of dashes, a Poppy anywhere in the game can ruin their plans with a well timed Steadfast Presence When the enemy team has an abundance of assassins Poppy can be a great asset with both her Steadfast Presence and gratuitious amounts of resistance she can build. Ideally, you shouldn't be the only tank on your team (looking at you, top lane), but if that's the case you really need to be a beefy support. Poppy is one of the tankiest support choices, especially with low eco builds. If you have a jungler who might have issues winning a fight with the enemy jungler and can't easily steal, Poppy's Keeper's Verdict can be a great boon to objective control. Just try to keep vision on jungle objectives and ult the enemy jungler away when the objective is ~5-10 seconds away from death. |
Reasons not to play --- the enemy team is crowd control heavy -- the enemy team is poke heavy - the enemy team is mobile without dashes The greatest hamper to a Poppy's freedom of movement is an enemy team stacked with crowd control abilities. The majority of these abilities will usually come from the enemy support and midlaner. Either get these champs behind early so they are easy to takedown or focus on other enemies. If the enemy has a poke-heavy team composition, you'll find it tricky to survive any amount of time both during laning phase and once the teamfighting begins. You can build resistances but if there's both an AD and AP poke champ, you'll never have enough resistance for both. Sure, Poppy's Steadfast Presence is amazing for dampening enemy mobility, but some enemy champs don't use dashes at all, yet are still incredibly mobile. These champs are going to be very tricky to pin down. |
With the new support items, Poppy has a decent amount of freedom in her choices.
After using an ability, your next attack will increase the damage vulnerability of the next champion you attack. You can use any of your abilities and then use Iron Ambassador to trigger the damage vulnerability. This is great when your carry can easily exploit it with their range or mobility. |
Massively reduce the damage you take after first taking damage (20 second cooldown). This helps greatly when fighting assassins and high-damage fighters, as well as surviving your engage into the enemy team. |
After landing any of your abilities, heal yourself and your carry as well as giving you both a decent movement speed boost. This extra sustain is great for poke-heavy lanes and keeping your team healthy. |
Poppy also has quite a lot of freedom regarding boots, though it's usually a pretty clear choice in most games.
My personal favorite boots, swifties are great for maintaining mobility in the middle of a fight and getting the angles you need to pin enemies. The added slow resist is very helpful into slow-heavy teams.Great into: |
Decent boots for when the enemy team has equal damage types and you want to maximize the uptime of Steadfast Presence and Keeper's Verdict. |
Great boots for surviving against mages and maximizing your tenacity. A must have into teams with multiple CC mages.Great into: |
Great for heavy-roaming builds but generally situational, build if your ADC is safe on their own to farm. |
Good boots into an AD stacked enemy team. Since the boots give a flat % reduction to the damage from enemy attacks, it can greatly amplify the effectiveness of your armor. Great into: |
Armor Engage and tenacityChase enemies and reduces slowing effects Great into:ADC nulificationLarge armor, mana, slow down enemies' attacks speed Great into:Spellblade and slowCauses AoE slowing fields, good for keeping mobile targets pinned. Great into:Carry survivalKeep your carry (or carries) alive, and heal off of their attacks Great with (anyone who can output a ton of damage):Crit reductionHas an AoE active to slow nearby enemies, great for running carries down with your team. Great into:MicrowavePurchase if you plan to stick to enemies Great into:Melee-stacked enemy teamAntihealThorns damage and grevious wounds. Don't underestimate the thorns damage once you stack armor Great into:Team Speed AmpEmit a trail that speeds up your slower allies and discharge your speed to slow enemies when attacking. Great with:MicrowaveHealing microwave, purchase if you plan to be in the thick of 4-5 enemies in a fight. Great into:Melee and/or Short-ranged stacked enemy team (Unending Despair has a rather large radius)Ultimate AmpAoE slow after casting Keeper's Verdict. Useful for CC chaining slippery enemy champions, but generally not recommended. Great when:Building for ultimate and ability haste. |
Mixed & Health Teamfight sustainPurchase if you need sustain in teamfights, along Frozen Heart, as its sustain scales with your mana. Great with:Long GamePurchase if planning for a long game. Usually not worth it but if the enemy team is melee stacked it may be worth it. Great into:Melee stacked enemy team with a plan to play for late.Ally burst-protectionShield your squishy teammates from burst champions every 90 seconds. Great with:Resistance ampBuild as a final item to a full resistance build to maximize resistances. Great with:Bruis-ifyGain a portion of your bonus health as AD. Pretty good to cap off a high-HP build if you need a bit more damage. Great with:Vision dominanceFor maximizing vision control, purchase if the enemy team has multiple users of stealth, wall jumps and ganking. Great into:Roaming and PlaymakingA powerful item in the right situation, tops you up on health between fights and roams. Lets you take bad trades for free and the movespeed is very good on Poppy. Also great into skirmish lanes where you'll take lots of long-range damage. Great when:You plan to roam aggressively and bounce between lanesand Great into: |
Magic Resist Subvert enemy MRGreat if both teams have 2-3+ AP champs. Your AP teammates can exploit the enemies' lack of MR and you can survive longer. Great when:Both teams have 2+ AP champsSustained MRPurchase if you anticipate long duration battles with 2+ AP champions. Great into:\ MicrowaveMR sunfire, purchase if you plan to stick to enemies. Great into:AP poke protectionProtection against sustained AP poke, make sure to let it recharge between hits. Great into:Shield ampGreat amplification item with either several ocean drakes or multiple heal/shield items. There probably won't be any other healers on your team. Great with: |
"That's not a hammer! This is a hammer." - Poppy
AD Enemy armor shredReduce up to 30% of an enemy's armor through repeated attacks, great into armor-stacked teams. Allows your AD carries to deal much more damage. Great into:SustainLess of a pick for typical support assassin poppy builds since she won't have much gold, but if you get fed this can be a good buy. Great when:You're mixing a tank and AD build.AntihealViable alternative to Thornmail into an AP stacked team. Great into:%HP damageAnti-HP item, great into high-health but ineffective into heavy-armor. Great into:CC deflectionHelps break through heavy CC teams if you struggle to make contact. Great into:Survive initial engagementIf you anticipate bring burst down after killing your target, take this to try to survive more fights. Not useful if your team can't save you after the engagement. Great when:You'll likely die after your engage but you'll win the fight.Vision controlCheap early source of damage and vision denial tool. The earlier purchased, the better. Great when:You want to roam and gank heavily. Also good when the enemy support likes to buy immense amounts of control wards.AP burst protectionAP burst protection, but shouldn't be necessary in an AD build, very situational. Great into:Rapid killsGreat assassin engage tool but only useful when you can get quick kills. Don't build into a team with more than one tank. Great when:Enemy team is fragile and immobile.Shield reductionAD anti-shield item, situational but can be very helpful for the team. Great into:Anti-tank and slowAD Anti-tank & slowing item. Great for pinning down mobile bruisers and tanks. Great into:Movement amp and slowAD movement-amp & slow. Great for helping allies hit their abilities on slowed enemies. Great with:Engage-aidAD Engage-aid. Good if you struggle getting near enough enemies to engage. Great into:CC-heavy enemy team composition |
Gain bonus resistances when immobilizing champs and emit a shockwave of damage when engaging Keystone of choice when: ++You need extra resistance to survive engaging +The enemy team is easy to pin down +You'll be playing aggressive early +No-one else on your team can frontline |
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"Veigar, you are SOOO scary." "And you are very brave, Poppy, speaking to me." - Veigar
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"Look at all that shiny armor. Sorry I gotta mess it up." - Poppy
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"Just needs a few adjustments." - Rumble
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Early Greed | Specialty | Scaling |
Greedy shard for early leads. Take if you aim to get ahead early. |
Solid shard for poppy, helps you hit Iron Ambassador easier and gives a bit more damage in early engagements. |
Not generally recommended, only take if you need to play for late game and won't be fighting early. |
^ |
The extra movement speed is great for engagement and disengagement. |
Not a great pick for Poppy, she doesn't need more health to be tanky. |
Early health bonus is great for early engagements |
Take if you're into a lane where you won't be able to engage and need to move around crowd control. |
Slightly more competitive in this slot, but still not a great pick. |
Keep the tribush clean to prevent ganks, try to keep your jungler undetected when possible.
Blue team oracle scanning
Red team oracle scanning
Keep vision on the enemy jungler whenever possible. The riverbush is a bit of a trap since both sides can easily clear it. Try to ward far into the enemy jungle whenever it's safe.
Botside warding
Place vision in the center of the midlane bush so it covers the whole bush.
Lane warding
Topside warding
Place vision in the center of the midlane bush so it covers the whole bush.
Place vision in the tip of the blue river bush so it covers the whole bush.
"I, uh, kinda just hit the baddie with my hammer. Can't we just call this one 'Hammer'?" - Poppy
When you first get to lane, the lane will likely look similar to this.As Poppy, you want to not only look for openings to pin and poke your enemies, but you want to stoke fear into your enemies. Make them consider if moving up for that melee minion is safe or if it will just get them killed. Make them use all their wards just trying to keep an eye on you.
After a moment, the lane will either shove towards or away from you depending on carry pick and playstyle. It's very important to recognize which as soon as possible so you can position accordingly.
In this situation, I'm playing slightly aggressively towards their support, though it's very important to watch your carry. I wouldn't be able to engage here unless they moved up. If the enemy support had easy to hit CC , I'd certainly be playing in the back of the bush or playing behind it entirely. Unless you can get an early level 1-2 pin, you're playing for the enemy to misplay, so try to avoid deaths into unfavorable matchups.
Take this example. We have the waveclear advantage and the enemy has to play riskily to farm. In this case (unless the enemy botlane is superior and we have the wave pushed too far), I'd always be looking for a pin on the enemy carry or support. If you take Hexflash, the enemy's reaction time here will be greatly reduced.
And as one final example, let's take a look at this, say, everyone just got back to lane after first back. It's tricky to make a play with this, sure you could try to go for the enemy close to the wall but your carry is too far back to make the trade profitable. You'd either want to wait for them to move up and hope they don't check your bush or just fall back. You can also try to camp in the Alcove if you think coming from behind would secure a takedown.
Here's a diagram I drew up, the orange lines and shaded regions represent ideal pinning angles. You'll want to aim for these lines of engagement as it maximizes your chance of securing a stun without the enemy having enough time to get away.
The two red arrows indicate good spots to hide and dodge skillshots from champions throwing abilities in the bush to check it. You can stay in these spots until you're about to engage, in which you should move to the edge of the bush (be careful not to accidently stick out)
Thanks to these communities for helping me with the making of this guide:
Poppy Mains Discord.
Ashe Mains Discord.
Twitch Mains Discord.
Caitlyn Mains Discord.
Draven Mains Discord.
Ezreal Mains Discord.
Camille Mains Discord.
#PoppyAbusersChat of the Unofficial League of Legends Discord
And many other Discord, Reddit and assorted forum posts I looked through when making this guide.
Please let me know if there's anything I should change about it or add to best inform the average player of the potentness of Poppy Support Gaming. Thanks! Kc.
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