Who am I

I'm a EUW karma master player who recently hit rank 1 in EUW on Karma. I wanted to share what I've learned with whoever wants to pick up this champ

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- Karma is a very versatile champ that will always work.
- Various itemization and runes can open up a ton of playstyles.
- Very fun and rewarding to play
- Is more knowledge based than reaction based, you don't need F1 drivers' reaction time.

Let's now discuss each viable rune and summoner for Karma

Sorcery
This will always be your main runes tree, as others are just trolls or simply under perform

Keystone Arcane Comet: (almost)Always take this in lanes you think you can win, as it will make it 100 times easier. Against squishy champs or against no shields it will give you enormous poking power Keystone Summon Aery: Most of the times if you take this it's because you need big shields, so you'll most probably take this with gathering storm. Take Summon Aery when you need to peel teammates from assassins or from picks or are in a losing bot matchup. First rune Manaflow Band: ALWAYS take manaflow, as Karma needs mana for laning phase. The other two are utterly useless. Second rune Transcendence: You will usually prioritize ability haste when against a lot of meaty opponents or when you want to play for late. Second rune Absolute Focus: Take this when you know fights are gonna be quick with a lot of short events (such as against assassins or squishy comps) or when you want to stomp lane. Third rune Scorch: Having this rune in winning matchups and comps will give you a really big edge against your opponent. Even in that case, it's usually not the best idea to take this against big shields and sustain, such as against Alistar or Lulu Third rune Gathering Storm: Take this in losing bot matchups or when you need to shieldbot or peelbot.

Now, off to the secondary runes

Inspiration
You will always pick these two when going inspiration. Go insp when you need a bit of peeling in lane and still want a bit of dmg in teamfights.

First rune Cosmic Insight: Incredibly useful /w Transcendence when against beefy opponents, as it will give you infinite utility. Second rune Biscuit Delivery: Not incredibly but can give you more pressure in lane as you will always be full hp and mana

Resolve

First rune Revitalize: If you're going resolve it's because of this rune. Always take this for big shield and self sustain. Always take this when you need to peel or are against big burst damage. Second rune Bone Plating: Take bone plating against big burst damage and in lanes with combo/burst damage, such as Pyke or Leona. Second rune Conditioning: If you don't need the survivability and only need to peel, this is usually a better cookie-cutter choice.

Domination
Take these secondaries for big damage against squishy comps.

First rune Ultimate Hunter: Always take this when going domination, as Karma gets infinite bonus utility with Mantra Second rune Zombie Ward: If you're a newbie I suggest you pick this as your secondary as it's a no-brainer and will give a ton of utility for objectives and ganks. Second rune Cheap Shot: Only take this when you're really really confident with cannon playstyle or when you want to absolutely solo stomp the lane. Not good for newbies.

Summoners

First summoner Flash: Do I have to explain why you need flash? Second summoner Ignite:Your goto summoner. If you know your matchup very well you can apply it early when you're sure you're gonna get the kill. Second summoner Heal: Only take this when your lane is absolutely impossible and need to shieldbot or peelbot. Usually the ADC will be the one to get Exhaust

PASSIVE ABILITY

Gathering Fire - Dealing damage with spells reduces Mantra cooldown by 4 seconds. Karma gains infinite utility with Mantra, so having it always off cd is extremely important to use this champion at her best. You get a cd reduction when Damaging with Inner Flame Damaging with Soulflare circle explosion Damaging with the cast of Focused Resolve Damaging with the root of Focused Resolve This means that if you hit Soulflare and keep the tether of Focused Resolve you get 16 seconds off of Mantra, which is huge. The utility of Mantra means that hitting abilities with as many instances as possible will be a main priority. For example, hitting 2 champions with Soulflare will guarantee a 16 seconds cut from your ult instead of 8 (as long as they remain in the circle). Using Soulflare after Focused Resolve will guarantee the second hit from the circle explosion.

Q

Inner Flame - Karma's main poking tool. It's a easy to hit, low range skillshot that deals AP dmg and slows enemies. Laning phase will usually be a cicle of Waiting your Inner Flame cd - Getting closer with bushes - Poking - Backing off - Repeat. You can't afford to not hit Inner Flame, as Karma is utterly useless if you don't. Hitting Inner Flame should be your absolute main focus while laning. If you're having difficulties, there are some tips to keep in mind to make it easier. Inner Flame biggest strength is that it has a big splash damage. This means that if the enemy is standing near minions, you can use Inner Flame towards the minions (which are obviously easier to hit) and hit them. As long as they're close they can't dodge. Using this to your advantage will make you a great Karma player. Try to read what your opponents wants to do. It's not mind reading magic mumbo jumbo, it's really easy actually. Your opponents will have a set of basic things that they're gonna do. For example, the ADC will want to get the gold of minions. so if you see a low health minion you can be sure that the ADC will get close to it to kill it. Knowing this, it's easy to predict where he will go to last hit the minion. Other champs have useful cds like your Q and will also have a cyclic pattern. For example, if you see that a Thresh has Q up and wants to engage, you can predict where he will go, since he needs a certain range and a clear view of the champ to hook them. If you're at max range and absolutely need to hit Inner Flame to get the kill, try to wait the Focused Resolve root, so that you cannot miss. If the kill is free you can stand right next to the opponent. Being really close means that you will almost never miss your Inner Flame. The empowered Q is Soulflare and it explodes in the same area, but it will always explode and will leave a detonating circle where it hit. What this essentially does is give your Q more range: since it always explodes, even when it doesn't hit, you now have your normal range + the explosion range, even with no minions. This is perfect for dealing big damage while still keeping your distance.

W

Focused Resolve - It's a point and click tether that roots enemies for a bit, and it's one of the main skill expressions of a Karma player. It's your main peeling or engage tool You will learn how to space this ability with time and practice, but there's a quick tip you can learn to get A TON of kills botlane of off bad positioning. If you manage to cast W and you stay on top of the champion you want to root THEY CAN'T FLASH OUT because W range is bigger than flash's range. It's empowered version is Renewal: it has a longer root and heals you on both instances of damage, based on missing hp percentage. It's your main survivability tool and a way of getting back lane pressure if you're low hp. Use Renewal whenever you think you're gonna die in the fight unless you heal yourself with this ability.

E

Inspire - A standard shield that gives bonus movement speed. It's your main peeling tool and requires a costant focus on the fight. You need to be aware of your teammates and of your opponents. Do they have an assassin? Do they have Enchanted Crystal Arrow up? Is someone missing? Do we have a strong teammate we need to peel? Is someone in our team out of position and in risk of dying? Asking yourself questions like this will tell you when and to who you should put your shield. If no one is in risk of dying you can use Inspire as a tool to aid repositioning, guarantee a safe poke (to you or one of your teammates) or as a gap closer when you want to engage with Focused Resolve. It's empowered version is Defiance. It gives a bigger shield to your target and a smaller shield to everyone around him, in a big range (it also gives the bonus ms to everyone). Use this to either peel enourmous upcoming damage (for example, an Aurelion Sol ult is gonna land and CC a lot of teammates) or to give a ton of ms to everyone to reposition or pick someone ( Defiance+ Staff of Flowing Water+ Shurelya's Battlesong = A TON of movement speed)

R

Mantra - This ability empowers your next basic ability you use. There's not much to say about this since it's usage depends on what empowered ability you have. To know when to use each, read the paragraphs above. If you're confident and know for sure that you're gonna use an empowered ability in a short amount of time (for example, you're bushing and you see an enemy approaching) you can cast R a little before, just to save some seconds of cd (CD starts once you cast R, even if you delay the empowered ability).

Ionian Boots These are you go-to boots. They're always good

Sorcerer's Shoes Only go this when playing cannon playstyle. I suggest you never take this in higher elo.

Solstice Sleigh If you're a newbie I suggest you use this as your default support item, as it gives a lot of utility and helps with repositioning/small sustain. If you're not a newbie, I suggest you take this against comps where either spacing is essential or you need a better gap closer for you and your team. For example, if you're playing against a lot of immobile champs, Solstice Sleigh will give you god tier spacing. If you have a lead/have a dive comp/have champs like Hecarim I suggest you go with this item.

Zaz'Zak's Realmspike This is usually the most popular support item for Karma but it's usually NOT the best choice because it's actually hard to use well if you have no experience. Start taking this when you're confident with this champion. I suggest you go Zaz'Zak's Realmspike when you're looking for damage against beefy bruiser/tank comps ( Zaz'Zak's Realmspike paired with Imperial Mandate will give you enough damage for the rest of the game) or when you're stomping with cannon playstyle and want to try to snowball even more.

Dream Maker Usually a nice choice that will give you utility no matter what. I usually take this when losing lane (and the other options are bad) or when I need peeling against burst damage, such as against assassins like Qiyana or when losing against mages like Lux. It's damage reduction actually isn't a shield so it isn't affected by Serpent's Fang.

Imperial Mandate If you're low elo this is usually the item that will get you out of it. It's incredibly easy to proc with Karma and it gives utility and a ton of damage. Rush this item when you're stomping or when you want damage against beefy comps but still want to build support (you can go Imperial Mandate and then build peeling items such as Echoes of Helia or Moonstone Renewer).

Moonstone Renewer This is a really good item on Karma, especially because every single shield given by Defiance procs Moonstone Renewer, so you give a MASSIVE shield to everyone. Beware the champions that can build Serpent's Fang: if you're behind and against champions that can build it you may be better off playing utility. If not, it's usually always a good item, especially in higher elo.

Echoes of Helia This is usually a really good item when you're winning lane but still want to peel or when are against a lot of beefy melees. In this last case, Echoes of Helia healing will make your team immortal. It's usually not the best choice in lower elo.

Staff of Flowing Water This item is in a pretty bad spot right now but the bonus ms and ap it gives is still kind of good. Take this if you have a lot of ap champions or when you want to stack bonus ms with Solstice Sleigh, Shurelya's Battlesong and Staff of Flowing Water.

Shurelya's Battlesong It's a really good item on Karma since it's active is a perfect tool for repositioning or making picks. It's easy to use so it's good even for newbies. ALWAYS take this when going utility karma.

Dawncore If the enemy comp have no champs that can build Serpent's Fang this item is almost a guaranteed win, especially in higher elo. With this you can stack a ton of shield power and make everyone absolutely immortal. Nevertheless, raw shield power is not good for early game Karma, so I suggest you pick this only after other support items such as Moonstone Renewer, Echoes of Helia or even Imperial Mandate. Unless you really need shields on a specific target instead of the whole team, it's HIGHLY suggested you always go Moonstone Renewer before this.

Locket of the Iron Solari This is a good item when you want a bit of shield+tankiness but don't want to go full shieldbot or when they have colossal burst damage and need a ton of shields in a specific instant, such as against a really fed assassin or against Fiddlesticks or Kennen.

Redemption It's a generally ok item as the shield power and the active ability gives a pretty nice survivability to your team, but it's not particularly strong in any case. Take this only if all the other options are bad.

Mikael's Blessing I think it's pretty obvious but you should take this when they have a particularly strong CC that can be teamfight-losing, such as Enchanted Crystal Arrow or Dark Binding.

Knight's Vow It's a perfect peeling item. Take this when you you have an important teammate you need to always keep alive, especially when the enemy can build Serpent's Fang.

Now, on with the "fun" items (full ap builds).

Malignance When going full ap, this is the best item to keep a lead. If you aren't ahead, I suggest you go with this only when against beefy comps.

Luden's Companion ONLY take this as a first item against squishy comps with no big shields.

Shadowflame It's usually a nice 2nd or 3rd item when there's nothing better. You get some nice bonus dmg, both against beefy and squishy comps.

Liandry's torment This item gives you A LOT of damage against beefy comps. If you take this with Cosmic Drive you can 1v9. It's usually best as a first item or after Imperial Mandate if you're really stomping lane.

Cosmic Drive DO NOT take this if you're not really confident with this champion. It's really hard to manouver, but if you're not a newbie, this item will make you a spacing monster. This, paired with Inspiration will always give you the best repositioning in teamfights.

Horizon Focus It's usually best when paired with Luden's Companion for big burst damage against squishy comps.

Cryptbloom Take this when the enemy is stacking mr and you need the magic pen.

Rabadon's Deathcap Take this as a last item against squishy comps for the colossal damage it gives you. It may be best when paired with Gathering Storm.

Banshee's Veil Take this when you're going full ap but they have a specific strong cd, such as Enchanted Crystal Arrow or Dark Binding.

Janna

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Really easy This is one of the easiest matchups for you. You have a lot of damage early game and Janna doesn't have enough shield to block your poke. You're looking to play very aggressively, controlling bushes and always looking for Qs. As long as you hit your Q and shield Janna's Zephyr poke, you will always win lane.

Braum

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Easy This is a very good matchup for Karma as Braum can hardly do anything without getting demolished. You're looking to play very aggresively, control bushes and poke them out. The only real danger in this matchup is Braum passive, as it gives them them the upper hand when fighting with equal resources. I suggest you poke and ONLY fight when they're low, because the CC and bonus damage from his passive is unshieldable early game.

Swain

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Really easy This is a really easy matchup, especially in lower elo. Swain can't poke as much as you without getting demolished and he has no shield or heals. The only danger comes from Nevermove, as it can open kill opportunities. Dodge his E, poke with Soulflare, keep an eye on the jungler and you should win.

Rell

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Easy This champion has literally 0 damage and can hardly deal with you. The only way you lose this matchup is through bad positioning, as an hard engage by Rell when you're out of position will most of the times result in a death. Rell has no sustain or shields so this is a lane where you should play the poking game. Most of the times in lower elo you can afford to play hyper aggressively.

Brand

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Easy As with every matchup with no shields or sustain, this is a lane you win by playing the poking in lane. Brand in particular has a lot of damage and can punish you pretty hard if you get CC'ed, so I suggest you poke with Soulflare to avoid getting caught. This is the only lane where you may want to get Second Wind if the adc can also poke.

Renata

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Easy This champion is in a pretty bad spot right now so you'll hardly find her. If you do, you should be able to poke her out since her shield is really small and can't block your poke. The only risks in this matchup are hard engages with Bailout with strong ADCs. Avoid engaging with equal resources, punish them when out of position and poke, poke. Also, try to dodge Handshake. It's pretty slow, so it should be easy to dodge with Inspire.

Senna

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Pretty easy Even with the new enchanter build rising up, Senna can hardly keep up with the constant high damage poke with Inner Flame. Also, especially in early game, she has really low survivability, so if you find her out of position you should be able to punish her hard. She's pretty strong late game so this is a lane you should be looking to stomp. Scorch is usually preferred.

Soraka

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Pretty easy Your only and absolute focus in this lane should be to dodge Starcall, as it lowers the Astral Infusion hp cost and gives it a bonus heal to both Soraka and whoever she heals. Sustain in early game is a really big problem for Karma, but Soraka can't really afford to heal unless she hits Starcall because the hp cost is too high and the tradeoff is not good. Poke her with Soulflare and DODGE Starcall.

Thresh

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium This is one of my favorite matchups. Whoever performs better with his champ wins lane. In lanes with no sustain or shields, Karma can easily win by poking. Poke, poke poke with Inner Flame, but beware Thresh when Death Sentence is up. In early he has no real damage himself and gives no boosts to his adc, so your survivability with Inspire and Renewal is usually enough to survive engages on you. But if he hooks your adc you probably won't be able to protect him as your shields in early are really weak. Ganks in this lane can be game-losing, so always ward and track the jungler's position

Lux

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium This lane is much easier in low elo and harder in high elo. The only problem you have with her is that she can poke at an higher range than you. Try to always shield her Lucent Singularity poke. Be aware of her Light Binding and DO NOT STAND NEAR WALLS as a good Lux will ALWAYS hit you if you do. Usually hard engages are really effective against her: if you find her out of position, run at her and engage. Refer to spells section for tips on how to use your root effectively.

Bard

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium/Hard This is a lane that will get much harder the higher you climb. Bard passive gives him a lot of roaming potential that you simply cannot match. Usually the best thing to do here is either try to punish the lonely adc or go gathering storm shieldbot and try to protect teammates late game. Always keep an eye on him, his recalls and always ping lanes when he's missing.

Nami

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium Squishy champs usually have an hard time against Karma because she has really big damage early game. Even then, Ebb and Flow heal is a pain in the ***, but it's usually not the problem. The biggest danger in this matchup is Tidecaller's Blessing bonus damage as it's really huge, especially if she rushes Imperial Mandate. You win this lane by poking with Soulflare, trying to bait Tidecaller's Blessing and engaging only when it's on cd. If you don't, they may turn around and burst you down.

Leona

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium Early game you'll have trouble with champions that are meaty and have a gap closer, such as her Zenith Blade. Leona has no sustain and she usually won't use Eclipse to mitigate damage, so poking is the easiest way to win. If you have a strong team and they can't build Serpent's Fang, going Summon Aery and shieldbot might be an easy win, especially in higher elo.

Rakan

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium/Hard In early game you have to watch out for two things: dodge his Gleaming Quill as it heals if it hits, mitigating your poke, and being aware of his Grand Entrance as it gives him a lot of kill pressure. After 6 till mid game he becomes absolutely uncontainable as The Quickness kill pressure is just too high. Usually shieldbot or peelbot is almost mandatory in this lane, unless you manage to stomp (this happens only in low elo).

Sona	Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium This is almost a mirror matchup. You win only be using your abilities like you should. Hit Soulflare, shield her poke with Inspire and engage when out of position. Hard engagess might be a more viable choice.

Nautilus

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard This is an incredibly difficult matchup for you as Dredge Line gives him infinite kill pressure. Usually Summon Aery with Gathering Storm and shieldbot/peelbot build is absolutely mandatory. Try to not feed in lane, play for jgl and look at map for roam occasions.

Blitzcrank

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard This is a really hard lane for Karma. Lane is unplayable but you can mitigate his impact mid and late game by going Summon Aery, Gathering Storm and Revitalize. Play the snoozers game in laning phase and shieldbot in late game.

Alistar

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard Triumphant Roar is a constant heal that will absolutely nullify your poke. Usually your adc will be the one to win this lane, so going shieldbot is the preferred choice. Beware the interactions between Focused Resolve and his Headbutt

Morgana

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard This matchup isn't that bad but she can turn around fights with Dark Binding+ Tormented Shadow damage and Black Shield, which can mitigate your damage and block Focused Resolve's root.

Lulu

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard Lane is hard because she nullifies your poke with her shield. Teamfights are worse because she gives more utility than you, especially with hypercarries. This is a matchup you either ban or you pray the player is bad. Shieldbot or utility is mandatory. Cannon or blaze is unplayable.

Amumu

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium/Hard Depending on their adc this could be a volatile lane, but winning isn't excessively hard. Perma poke with Soulflare and play behind, shielding his engages. I place this in the hard section because he can punish your mistakes incredibly hard.

Heimerdinger

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard Champs with spawns are a big problem for you because they can zone you out and prevent you from poking. Shieldbot or utility + Gathering Storm is mandatory, as lane is unwinnable.

Seraphine

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Medium/a She can't really stop you in lane but she will give much much more utility in late game. This is usually a lane you're looking to stomp with hard engages. Don't get caught out of position by her or her jgl because falling behind in this lane can be game-losing.

Zyra	Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard Refer to the Heimerdinger section.

zilean

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Hard Unless you're playing in low elo, shieldbot in this matchup may be mandatory, but you can still take Arcane Comet because pre-6 Zilean is really weak against you, so you can use that to try to stomp.

Maokai

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Really hard This is an incredibly hard lane as he is uncontainable. You usually can't win lane yourself, unless you're playing in low elo. If you have a strong adc go peelbot or shieldbot and let him carry. If you don't (or if you see any opportunities) roam other lanes and play for jgl.

Yuumi

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Really hard This is a really tough matchup. Even early game, she has enough shields to completly nullify your poke. Playing for the lane is usually useless, so I suggest you go utility and play for objectives and roaming.

Milio

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Really hard The difficulty of this matchup usually depends on your adc. Adcs such as Jhin or Zeri that have medium-low dmg early and are squishy usually have an incredibly hard time against him, so you should go shieldbot. If you have strong adcs like Lucian or Draven you might still want to go comet and try to stomp lane. IMMEDIATELY disengage once he uses Cozy Campfire, as the bonus damage he pumps from Fired Up! is uncontainable early game.

pyke

Spoiler: Click to view Difficulty: Impossible This is a lane you will win only in low elo or against bad pykes. If you don't know who to permaban I suggest you ban him Gift of the Drowned Ones nullifies your poke on him with 0 cost, so if you want to poke I suggest you only hit his adc because poking him is a waste of mana. Unless you flash his Phantom Undertow every engage of his will result in a death. I suggest you go Bone Plating, Revitalize, Gathering Storm and Summon Aery + shieldbot or peelbot build.

You've seen me repeat a lot of times in this guide "You should go utility/shieldbot/peelbot/cannon/blaze", but this usually means something more other than what you are supposed to build and what runes you should take. Usually, in low elo the playstyle you choose is more than a preference than anything. For starting to climb, choose a playstyle you like and stick with it for a bit (pls don't just dive head deep into cannon karma)

Lets now take a quick look at every playstyle.

IN EARLY GAME Since you'll probably be going Scorch and Cosmic Insight you should be pretty strong in laning phase. Refer to the matchup section for more details, but you should be able to slowly kill their botlane through chip damage with Inner Flame. Don't be afraid to hard engage with Focused Resolve: unless you're in a counter matchup, early game Karma rules the game. Tracking the jungler is essential to know when and where to ward. If you can, you might want to give up first grubs to take first drake. Then, recall when second grubs are spawning and take them (grubs have a shorter respawn time, so usually by the time you finish second grubs the second drake won't have spawned yet.

Utility Karma

IN LATE GAME With Shurelya's Battlesong you should enable picks and hard punish enemies when out of position. You don't have really important shields, so you can play in close to mid range to look for roots with Focused Resolve in teamfights, which will usually dictate where to fight will go. Look to hit as many people as possible with Soulflare to get a big cd reduction from Gathering Fire.

IN EARLY GAME This is usually the preferred choice by many, because Karma is mostly known for her big Soulflare damage. With this playstyle, you should absolutely look to stomp lane to stack as much AP as possible and explode enemies. This playstyle is indicated only against squishy teams. Play hyper aggressively and remember you have enormous damage, so don't be scared. You don't have heal or shield power, so the only thing that will keep you alive is perfect spacing with Focused Resolve and Inspire.

Cannon Karma

IN LATE GAME This is where you take the name of Cannon Karma. Your Soulflare damage can win teamfights before they even begin, especially if you manage to hit a squishy target such as a mage or the adc. It's honestly the only thing you should look for: burst people down with Soulflare and space out melees who try to engage you.

IN EARLY GAME This will usually be the default choice in losing lanes. Do only low risk plays and try to not get near. Usually you will only enable your teammates in various plays. Your main focus in laning phase should be warding objectives and pushing the enemy botlane away if they try to kill your adc.

Shieldbot/Peelbot Karma

IN LATE GAME Remember this and you will win every shieldbot game(if they can't build Serpent's Fang): The most annoying thing you can do for the enemy team is staying alive. You might want to hit a Inner Flame, or root someone, but usually the best thing you can do is STAY ALIVE and let your immortal teammates carry. Play in the backline and never get out of position. Playing low risk will usually make you win. Also, focus on their threats. Who's fed? Who's an assassin? Who has important cds? Keep this in mind and you will easily find where to play and on who you should put your shields.

I didn't make an entire section for Blaze Karma since it's really similar to both Utility and Cannon playstyle, just with a particular build.







Note: these last 2 sections are not centrated on Karma only. They are a quick overview on how to play enchanter support.

Level 2

The difference in kill pressure between a Level 1 champion and a Level 2 one is enormous, primarily because you have one more entire ability than your opponent. This means that reaching level 2 before your enemy gives you an immediate kill window that can win the lane and perhaps even the game, all before the 5 min mark. First, let's see how you get to level 2: to go from level 1 to level 2, assuming you are in lane when the first wave comes, you need 3 casters and 6 melees,which is basically the first wave + 3 melees. If those 9 minions die before yours, you get the level 2 first. This means that you should do whatever you can to make sure that happens. The most obvious thing you can do is hit the minions whenever you can, so that they get low and your ADC can kill them, but MAKE SURE TO NOT USE ITEM STACKS on the first wave, because if you do, your next waves might crash under their tower (unless you want them to crash). But if you only hit minions this might become a coinflip on whoever can clear the wave first. You also need to make sure that your enemy cannot hit the first minions. You do that with spacing with bush control and zoning with Inner Flame pressure.

B.Control

The best way to get an advantage at the first three level is using bushes as a leverage to get ahead through poking. The main things to keep in mind for having effective bush control are Awareness and Micro play. First, you need to be aware on where the enemy support is. If they have a champ like Leona or Pyke, not knowing in which bush they are will almost always result in a death. And a really early death can mean a lost game.. Knowing where they are will dictate your decisions. There's a really nice bush tec you can learn to poke your enemies with 0 risk. In league, when you auto from inside a bush, your enemy gains vision on the bush you're autoing from. To make them lose vision you either need to wait, go in another bush or use an ability that gives you stealth. But there's a way to attack (almost) from a bush without giving vision: if you barely get out from the bush for a split second, auto and then get back inside the bush, they won't get vision. Experiment with this and i can assure you will win more games. With this tech and bush control, you can guarantee a first level 2 and a lot of chip damage, especially if the enemy support is either weak really early or they are melee.

Roaming

Support is usually played botlane, but that doesn't mean that it's the only lane you can impact. In higher elo, support is a key component also in winning Midlane and Jungle. This is because, with the botlane being a longer lane, there will be some moments in the game where your presence in the lane is actually not needed. This means that you can go elsewhere and have a big impact on the game. First, let's look at When can you roam. You can roam when the wave is in either of these states: The wave just crashed into the enemy tower. This usually means that your ADC will call back to buy items and wait for the wave to bounce back. This results in a lot of dead time for your side. The wave is pushing into your tower. This means that your ADC will be able to safely farm under tower, and if you stay there you will usually just leech XP. A play just happened botlane and the wave is balanced; there's an equal number of minions and they meet in the middle. In this case, both ADCs will usually lose only a couple of minions and their wave will push (if their support doesn't also roam) But what should you do when roaming away from botlane? When roaming, you can Put some wards deep into the enemy jungle Setup objectives Help your jungler. This means: covering in case the enemy invades your jungle or helping your jungler invade theirs. Help your midlaner. This means: covering in case the enemy jungler is probably gonna gank, covering in case they are low and want to crash the wave, engaging their opponent and killing them.

Below, a map of all the most optimal ward placements
As a support it's your job to get the most amount of vision of the enemy. Having vision in enemy territory tells you when a play is safe or not. For example, if you ward the enemy jungle and you see their jungler farming there, you know for sure that a play in the opposite side is safe to do: maybe an invade, an objective or a gank. I suggest you follow this ward map because, even though wards are all the same, not all wards give equal vision and utility. Some places are better than other.

If you've played support for a while, you've certainly found yourself in a similar situation: you go in the enemy jungle to put a deep ward, the enemy Amumu stuns you, the midlane collapses on you, you die and it's gg. How should you ward if this always happens? There are a couple of things you can do to make warding safe. The most obvious is going to ward with someone else: if you've just helped someone crash a wave, ping for them to come cover you while you ward.

But this sadly only happens in higher elo. In lower elo, nobody will come with you. So how do you ward safely? Imagine drawing a line from the top left corner of the man to the right bottom one. This line touches every point that gives you vision: wards, towers, minions, ally champions. This will form a polygon that contains all of the area where you have vision. The safest way to ward is to ward close to that line. If you're feeling lucky or you know that no enemy will come, you can try to cheese a deep ward in the enemy jungle.

Now, here's a tip for when you have to setup objectives like baron and dragon: the best way to ward those is warding near that side of the map about 1 minute to 35 seconds before they spawn. Then, you call back and come to the objective. This guarantees that you have vision before and during the eventual fight for the objective, because if the enemy support clear vision you can still ward again because you recalled and have full support item stacks.





This is a long *** guide. As of now, it is 63k letters long. How are you supposed to learn of all this stuff? The most important things are patience and chopping. If you've never played this champion or enchanter support I guarantee that you will not learn of all this stuff in 1 day. What I suggest you do is try to apply some small bit of this guide in each game. Using this in game will make you remember it much more clearly than just reading. Maybe for two or three games you can focus on bush control. Then you can try roaming. Maybe you want to get better at using Inner Flame in particular. If you try to practice everything at once you will learn almost nothing of everything. If you practice one thing at once you will learn that thing very well.

P.S: Unless you absolutely do not want to play ranked I highly suggest you practice in ranked since you will get much better that way than when playing draft.