Welcome to Season 11. We're experiencing one of the biggest gameplay transformations to date. It can be quite difficult to navigate through all the changes and determine the best ways to play. In this blog post, I will make things simple: I will identify emerging superpowers in the support role and their new build paths/playstyle adjustments.

Notable Items: Locket of the Iron Solari or Turbo Chemtank & Zeke's Convergence Braum has been a victim of consecutive nerfs due to his success in competitive play. Now he is seeing that success in solo queue during the preseason. Locket of the Iron Solari had its resistance aura returned to scale with legendary items. This has pushed many warden supports back into the meta. This includes the likes of niche supports like Galio and Shen but Braum takes the highlight because of his ally-targeted dash also granting a resistances buff. He is quite a proficient peeler and has many offensive item options as well (see: Leona).

Notable Items: Zeke's Convergence Leona has been a frequent face in the meta and in this patch she is leading the charge in popularity. She has a variety of mythic items she can build such as Locket of the Iron Solari for a defensive option, Sunfire Aegis to complement her burst when she engages, and even Shurelya's Battlesong. However, what makes her particularly powerful is Zeke's Convergence. Instead of giving an ally damage buff upon casting ultimate, it will activate upon immobilizing an enemy. I'm sure you can see how that makes Leona a little too strong.

Notable Items: Imperial Mandate & Demonic Embrace Maokai may be a surprise to see although he has been creeping up as a sleeper overpowered support pick. What may be even more shocking is his full transition to an ability power mage support. We can thank Demonic Embrace for his power creep since it gives him many defensive properties and more max health damage in his kit. You may be tempted to purchase a Liandry's Torment, but I would advise Imperial Mandate instead. The item overperforms across the board. It is cheap and an ally can give you movement speed to engage with your root.

Notable Items: Imperial Mandate & Staff of Flowing Water Nami should be no surprise to see an appearance in this list since there is literally an item designed for her: Staff of Flowing Water. It is literally your built-in passive and the stacking movement speed makes your kite and peel phenomenal. You become what Karma wants to be. Imperial Mandate has great synergy with your build path as well. Your ability to play aggressively is unparalleled with the amount of movement speed and playmaking potential you have. Just watch out for any Zeke's Convergence abusers since you are quite vulnerable.

Notable Items: Locket of the Iron Solari, Staff of Flowing Water, & Ardent Censer Soraka might not appear to build Locket of the Iron Solari at first glance, but after an evaluation it makes sense. Every point of health becomes more effective with resistance. Therefore, when you provide allies resistances buffs your healing is more valuable. You can think of it as an indirect healing power buff to allies that are within your range. It's an added plus that you become less susceptible to burst since you are often a prioritized target. Item finishers include any items that provide buffs upon ally targeting.