Hi! I've been a big fan of Poppy for a long time. When I heard she was getting a rework, I was stoked. And boy, did Riot hit it out of the park with this kit. She really shines in top, jungle, and as support surprisingly enough. No no no - hear me out! I promise. It's fun, effective, and she stays relevant throughout the game.

OK - let's talk about what makes Poppy such an outstanding support. It's simple - Every. Single. Ability.

Every ability in her kit helps you snowball and protect your carry.

Passive - Iron Ambassador
Periodically, you get bonus range and toss your buckler as your basic attack to attack damage and deal bonus magic damage. The shield falls somewhere near her target, and if she picks it up she shields herself for 15% max health. If she KILLS whatever she's hitting, the shield bounces back to Poppy immediately.

This allows Poppy to easily nail her relic shield attacks for gold as well as creates an easy engage on the enemy. Proc relic shield, get your iron ambassador shield, engage.


Hammer Shock (Q) - Base damage + % health, and a slow. Helps buy your carry time to both engage or disengage.

Steadfast Presence (W) - Probably my favorite ability for Poppy as a support. NOT ONLY does she gain 12% bonus armor and magic resist (24% when below 40% health!) as a passive perk, but when activated she blocks dashes (any non-blink gap closer, dash, etc.) AS a support, you can literally place yourself in between your carry and the enemy team and know that there's no way they are getting through you (unless they flash or blink). This can and WILL save your carry.

Heroic Charge (E) - The end-all be-all of kill setups. This ability charges Poppy right into her enemy. If the enemy hits a wall, they are stunned for upwards of 2 seconds when maxed out, and take physical damage. (This is the beginning of Poppy's support wombo combo.)

Keeper's Verdict (R) - A support's dream ultimate. A channeled (WHILE MOVING) ability that slams into the enemy and sends them flying back towards their summoner platform. After hitting the first enemy, it will ALSO send enemies back that are caught in the AOE (granted, a small AOE) of the first enemy it hits. Poppy's ultimate in bot lane ALSO allows taking dragon earlier much safer, as you can toss anyone away that feels like trying to rain on your dragon parade. Feel like taking out the enemy AD carry? Just position yourself, toss their support back, and heroic charge your way to a free kill.

For support, I take the following runes:

Quintessences:
* 2 Greater Quintessence of Armor
* 1 Greater Quintessence of Health

Marks:
* 9 Greater Mark of Armor

Seals:
* 8 Greater Seal of Armor
* 1 Greater Seal of Health

Glyphs:
* 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

Beefy, right off the bat. Pretty standard for tanky supports.

Basic Masteries above - to be updated with descriptions for each

I always take hammer shock (Q) first as it has a nice slow and base damage + % health on hit. Taking heroic charge (E) first is safer for your AD carry, as you can push the enemy away if needed. Either way, whichever one you take at level one, take the other at level 2.

Max Q first for the damage and slow, Heroic Charge(E) 2nd for the engages and to save your carry from some scary situations, and Steadfast Presence (W) 3rd for stopping the dashes - (important note: this also works for several tank gap closers - it's incredible.)

+ Strong early game
+ Easy to snowball your carry if played correctly
+ works great against MOST supports

- No inherent escape: getting caught out and/or carry not following up on your engage will probably hurt. A lot.
- Correct use of Heroic Charge (E) to secure kills for your carry requires good positioning.

Will update more....

I've had a blast playing support Poppy, and I hope you give it a try. I'll be adding a lot more to this as time allows, but I wanted to get the bare bones quick guide up and running.

Feel free to leave any tips, comments, suggestions, etc. to help guide my updates. Thanks!