Best supports to climb with in patch 12.19. Get up that ladder, and claim your glory in ranked League.

Even though we are nearing the end of season 12, there is still enough time for you to climb to your desired rank, be it gold, plat, or anything higher. Now, if you are a lower-tier player looking for tips about improving yourself and increasing your LP, one of the most common ones online is finding a champion and sticking with it. Or you can choose to play the best performing champions after each patch and “abuse” their strength before they get nerfed in the next patch.

There are many sites you can find champion stats during certain patches, which can be helpful for you when it comes to deciding what to play. Still, if you are looking for some suggestions for strong support picks for the current 12.19 patch, here are some of the best picks you can try to climb.

Renata

Renata Glasc has been a success ever since the champion was released. Ever since she went live, she has been one of the most picked champions in the bot lane without ever feeling like you cannot win against her.

But the thing is if you put the time in and master Renata, she is one of the best supports when it comes to carrying games. Her kit complements late-game carries like Vayne and Jinx, but also early-game bullies like Draven. Her Handshake (Q) is one of the easiest-to-hit disengage abilities in the game and with her spammable shield plus Shurelya’s, your allies will be zooming across the map.

And all this without mentioning her game-changing ultimate. Renata’s Hostile Takeover (R) can be hard to hit sometimes, but if you do there is almost zero chance you will lose a fight. But even if you miss, it is one of the best zoning tools around objectives you can have in the game.

One last tip: If you are duoing with an ADC, I would recommend trying Kalista/Renata lane, which is almost pick/ban in pro play. Renata’s Bailout (W) allows Kalista to stack her spears even after death, which increases her kill potential immensely.

Soraka

As we talk about the enchanter meta, let’s touch on these. With patch 12.18, some of the most dominant enchanters like Lulu and Yuumi have been getting some nerfs, but for some reason, Soraka hasn’t been touched yet. If you’ve seen any team play around a good Soraka, you can check out the last couple of series from LEC’s Rogue for it, then you know how hard this champion can carry games. Even from the support position.

Soraka’s Astral Infusion (W) has one of the biggest heals in League and it almost has no cooldown when the ability is maxed. Combining this heal with Moonstone Renewer’s great synergy with the healer, your one item power spike is nearly unmatched. Despite the fact healing and shielding on support items have been getting nerfed ever since the Durability Patch, so have the Grevious Wounds items, which means the counterplay to Soraka is not as strong as it was in the past.

One big thing about playing Soraka is that she is a little different than most other enchanters. While you are playing things like Lulu or Janna, your job is to buff your carries and keep them alive. But when you pilot Soraka, the main responsibility of yours to stay alive so that you can keep your teammates alive. This means you will need to position like you are the carry, and your teammates may need to get used to peeling for the support.

Amumu

The sad mummy is back in the bot lane after 12.12 changes where his Bandage Toss (Q) mana cost was reduced and his ultimate’s base damage was buffed. Amumu is an exception in a meta where engage supports tend to struggle in the early game against lane-dominant poke champions and enchanters. But two charges in your Q means the enemy has to either burn their flashes or just die if they ever get hit. This lane pressure gives Amumu one of the best level ones in the bot lane, especially paired with strong early-game carries.

Another upside of Amumu support is that you don’t need engage from your jungler or your top lane and they can pick more carry-oriented champions, which is in abundance at the moment.

Amumu’s inherent MR shred also gives him great synergy with AP champions if you’d like to play Swain or Seraphine in the bot lane, or at the very least it benefits other AP champions on your comp.

Pyke

Another great engage support in the meta right now is Pyke as he can look for picks from a distance with his Bone Skewer (Q) and doesn’t need to commit too much. And with champions like Samira, Kai’Sa and Tristana in a good place within the ADC meta, Pyke is looking more and more viable.

Season 12 hasn’t brought many changes for Pyke, but with enchanter domination in the bot lane, he kept a certain amount of priority as he has some good matchups. While you can struggle during early trades against enchanters, Pyke’s execute mechanic in his ultimate, Death from Below, bypasses shields and nullifies some of the effectiveness of said enchanters. And with some bug-fix buffs to his ulti, Pyke is looking much stronger.

One of the best aspects of having a Pyke in your team though is the vision advantage you can get. With how strong Umbral Glaive is and with how mobile Pyke can be around the map, clearing vision for objectives and sidelines is child’s play.

The main problem holding Pyke back from being almost pick/ban in all elos is how bad he scales after a certain point. So, if you are looking to pick him up make sure you get as hard of an early lead as you can get. Either by dominating your lane, or roaming around the map.

Maokai

Maokai is back as one of the top supports of patch 12.19, but thankfully this time around he is being played as a tank. His AP poke phase has been annoying to face for almost everyone, so we can thank Riot for adjusting his kit in the latest patch, giving his tanky builds more power and viability.

Of course, the changes were aimed at bringing Maokai back to the top lane, and it did, but this doesn’t mean support mains still can’t enjoy the tree. With the speed buffs to his ultimate, Nature’s Grasp, Maokai has a lot more play-making potential as a support and with the Max% damage moved to his Bramble Smash (Q) he can offer more consistent damage during 2v2 fights.

The current best build for him is to rush Dead Man’s Plate, as he still appreciates the movement speed on the item. Of course, you can change this first item to a Force of Nature if the enemy team is full AP. Then you will want to buy an Evershroud as the damage amp on this item synergizes great with three crowd control abilities Maokai has.

Honorable mentions for LOL patch 12.19

• Zilean
• Janna
• Taric
• Nautilus
• Zyra

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