Hey, I'm Millatanious (Millaliveson) and I'm ranking gold IV currently. I started the game late in season 4 and was inactive for season 5,6 and 7. I have been playing all roles apart from ADC. I mostly prefer support because it feels rewarding to be able to solo carry a game (even if you aren't called out for it). I mostly play engage supports such as Thresh, Rakan and Leona. I am mastery level 7 for Thresh and Rakan and have a 65% win-rate on Rakan.

Rakan has always been meta so for a support players it is vital to pick him up. He is a mobile engaging support who can easily change the tides of a teamfight with his ability to chain CC. Unlike most "ardent" supports Rakan not only buffs the adc but has a lot of roaming power in the early/mid game.

+Very mobile so you can support bot and mid.
+Can knock-up and charm multiple enemies.
+Can shield two people and heal five people, he works very well with ardent.
+With Xayah he automatically becomes the strongest support.
+He has a charm which will always land.

+Not very tanky so if picked off you will probably die.
+Landing W becomes unreliable against mobile marksmen.

Flash is a must pick on Rakan because it can be so useful in many different scenarios. It can help you get in range to use your shield towards allies or make your ult land instantly.

For a secondary summoner spell I would take ignite or exhaust. You would take ignite in most lanes as Rakan because it makes him so much more stronger because it reduces the effectiveness of the enemies heal. Take exhaustin a slow lane that you cannot win such as against an enemy zyra or morgana.

Rakan's passive is quite a gimmick it doesn't really change the game often but it's nice to have at times, especially against a poking lane such as Morgana and Caitlyn. The passive's cooldown get's lowered as you use spells which is ok and the overall cooldown gets lowered as you level up. Rakan's second passive lover's leap can be a really good escape tool if you and your ally Xayah are being chased. A trick I like to do is make the Xayah start the recall whilst Rakan uses his CC to hold off the enemies and in the last second dash to Xayah using E and then instantly pressing B when next to xayah in order to start your recall.

Rakan's q is a decent ability, it does a fair bit of damage but it's range and width are terrible, it's not a threat to the enemy but it's nice to have for your adc. The heal is AOE and it can be triggered off enemy champions and epic monsters (Baron and Drake). Since the heal is AOE it can set off ardent for all your teammates.

Rakan's W is his bread and butter ability, it does AOE magic damage and its a knock-up. The damage is fair for a support and can really chip away at the enemy laner's HP. If you get picked off you can use the jump to get over walls or even give your team enough time to steal an objective. You can use Rakan's ult whilst in the W animation to get a knock-up and a charm instantaneously, this trick can be really helpful against Sivir as the charm will destroy her shield and the knock-up will have to hit.

Rakan's E is very useful because it is basically a lee-sin w but he can dash twice to an ally rather than to wards. Late game the shield is so strong even after the ardent nerfs and the cooldown can be as low as 3 seconds. The speed of the dash varies with Rakan's overall MS. In teamfights you should use your shield to buff you carries which are usually your mid and ADC.

Rakan's R is definitely his strongest ability as it is unavoidable unless everyone focuses their CC on you which still benefits your adc as now they can't be picked off. This ability can be used for escaping because it charms the enemy and makes you faster as your run through people. You can also buy time for you adc to escape using the spell and then using E to get to them. Sometimes if there is too much CC I take Banshee's veil to become resistant to CC and ensure I can land my combo.

Sorcery is my personal favourite for Rakan as it makes his poke slightly better and increase his speed which is important for him. I always take Summon Aery because it helps with his poke and makes his shields slightly stronger. Then I take nimbus cloak, celerity and scorch. Nimbus cloak and celerity for MS and damage and scorch for the poke. For secondary I take Inspiration and take Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight. Magical Footwear just makes your boots better for greater MS and Cosmic Insight for lower cooldowns so you can use items to protect your adc more often.

You could take Aftershock but I wouldn't really recommend it, especially due to the current meta.

-Get boots as soon as possible so you can roam.
-Rush Ardent as it buffs your teammates, increases your movement speed and increase you AP.
-Then get Redemption because it is one of the best support items, it increase shield power and sets off ardent.
-Then get Locket of the Iron Solari because it can stop late game assassins trying to oneshot your adc.
-If your against an AD team you should take Knight's Vow or Zeke's Convergence.
-If your against an AP team you should take Mikael's Crucible or Athene's Unholy Grail.

When you play Rakan you should always be in front of your adc so you can tank skillshots. Your aim is to look threatening towards the enemy so it isn't to bad to walk up and auto attack an enemy champ, your passive and Aery can help with this. Laning Phase is easy for Rakan because as soon as he walks in he can own the lane. When pushed in or the enemy has backed you can roam to mid or drake with the jungler.

Remember never to engage if no one is nearby. Because Rakan is fast you might get tempted to try fight someone that is low on health but they can easily kill you especially if you don't have ignite up.