The game of League of Legends requires multiple different roles and varied team compositions to achieve success. One of the earliest meta revolutions came in the form of sticking an attack-damage carry with someone who gives up all of their resources to the carry. This has evolved over time into the modern support role. While it was initially a fairly weak role, it has become quite powerful and influential. A good Support can be the difference between winning and losing games.
The support role offers quite a bit of creativity in champion picks and spicy bot lane combos. With multiple styles available, support players are not lacking variety in champion selections. There are staple support picks, including tanks like Alistar and Rell, as well as enchanters like Janna. However, for those looking to surprise their opponents, here are less common options to consider.
Updated December 20, 2021, by Harry Fresle: League of Legends is a constantly updating MOBA that has a variety of lanes and roles that players can choose from. League has had some major updates that have completely changed the way the game has been played, as seen with the introduction of mythic items, new drakes, and new champions. As a result of these great changes, the role of support is more open than ever, meaning more champions can enjoy one of the most fun roles. With so many Supports to choose from now, it was only a matter of time until some flew under the radar, so here are some of the most underrated supports you can use to catch your opponents off-guard.
10 Zilean - Stun Them, Damage Them, Slow Them
Zilean has comfortably been a strong support pick for several seasons, but rarely sees a high level of play. Supports are typically expected to bring a lot of utility to the team, and this is exactly what Zilean does. He has fantastic crowd control, huge damage, and immense DPS output.
Although Zilean has a stun on his kit, that is not why he should be picked. Zilean's in-lane poke is incredibly powerful, as landing two of his Q's result in an AOE stun that deals huge damage. At level six, Zilean's damage output soon takes second priority as his ultimate will protect his ADC from death, reviving them based on his AP. With proper positioning, Zilean can provide huge damage, crowd control and can ensure the safety of the win condition.
9 Taric - He Shines Brighter Than Lux
Taric has always been designed as a support. Since his rework, he became quite challenging to play as he has low damage, low survivability, and absurdly high mana costs. This is the result of years of nerfs as Taric has a lot of tools that make him an incredible support pick.
In the right hands, Taric can be oppressive to battle. His Dazzle gives an AoE stun on himself and an ally, allowing for peel and engage. If things get dicey, Taric can use Cosmic Radiance to give him and multiple allies invulnerability. The timing can be challenging, but a well-timed ultimate can single-handedly win games. It requires a lot of effort, but Taric can still perform with the best supports.
8 Zyra - Flower Power Has Never Been Stronger
As a support, Zyra has become increasingly reliable, yet fell out of the Meta when assassins got more game time. She excels at the start of the game, having one of the strongest early game oppressions, as her passive plants do immense damage. As a support, she can provide huge damage, and her root enables easy rotations for the Jungle.
Zyra's utility in the support role is endless, her plants count as entities which means they can block incoming hooks or pokes, while also acting as a sort of ward. Her poke on her Q is great and her ultimate provides some huge CC potential, which can easily turn the tides of a team fight.
7 Nautilus - The CC Machine From The Sea
The old diving suit has finally made a reappearance in the support role. Nautilus finally has some viability, now that his hook has been fixed. With the rise of squishy ADC's like Senna and Jhin, Nautilus' ability to close the gap has never been more welcome. With the right build, Nautilus can front line and hardly feel the effects.
Nautilus' ability provides huge CC with his ultimate and Q, the combinations that he provides are endless. He can ensure his own safety with the use of his W, while easily getting his ADC a kill by hitting his hook. His E provides slight damage and helps clear out any waves, while his ultimate (if positioned correctly) can knock up every single enemy and give your team an easy fight.
6 Swain - Become The Lane Bully
Although primarily used as a top or mid lane, Swain can easily double up as a support as well. He is completely suited to the job, due to his hard CC, major damage, and incredibly strong sustain. He fits the traditional role of poke mage, yet his pull enables his viability as a Support, as it can easily guarantee a kill.
Swain's utility and passive enable him to run down targets with auto-attacks, as he gains stacks of his passive each time the enemy is CC'd. His Q provides strong poke which helps push the wave, while his W can easily check for control wards, incoming ganks, or just provide annoying damage. His E is fantastic for catching the enemy bot lane off-guard as it can travel through minions, and his ult makes him effectively unkillable as he regenerates so much health.
5 Zac - Provide Tanky Engage
There are certain analysts that are unpopular with Reddit that have been pushing for Zac in the bot lane for some time. Considering he's struggling in the jungle, it might not be a bad time to retire to support. At the very least, he has a kit that makes him quite the incredible roaming support.
Zac's biggest boon as a support comes in the form of his Elastic Slingshot ability. Zac launches himself into enemies, knocking them back. As the ability is leveled, the engage range goes up significantly. While he can't afford to level this in the jungle, in support he can level it freely. Plus, the long-range engages allow him to roam up and ruin the enemy midlaner's day. He's still item-dependent, but that doesn't mean he can't be a hero.
4 Karma - Tons Of Utility
Karma has time and time again proven her strength in the bot lane, however, due to the fact that her kit is pretty boring, she has quickly become one of the most underrated ones to pick. Karma is effective at running down enemies, providing huge damage, giving major shields, and most effective at ruining your opponent's day, but due to her damage, she can also double up as a midlaner.
Despite how strong she is, the fact that she lacks an actual ultimate means that she has trouble scaling. But in terms of the early game, Karma is efficient at providing huge damage with her Q, especially when empowered. Great protection with her W and can easily keep you trapped in a place with her E. Karma is a very well-rounded if slightly tedious support that is always reliable.
3 Poppy - Bop Those Heads
Poppy has been a situational pick in multiple roles for years. She had periods as a meta pick, but for the most part, she comes in as a counter to certain champs. This is also primarily in toplane, although some Korean Junglers like Spirit, have made her work. At the same time, she has the potential to be a decent support.
Poppy has a lot of innate tankiness with her passive and her Steadfast Presence. Her CC is a bit unreliable, but Heroic Charge still has use in the bot lane. Her ultimate provides solid peel or lockdown depending on the scenario. However, her best use is as a situational pick that takes advantage of Steadfast Presense's active. She can stop dashes in their tracks, neutering some of the more slippery ADC's and supports.
2 Gragas - An Unlikely Pick
Gragas has seen competitive play as a support in ways that people likely wouldn't expect. While he's primarily a Jungler, utilizing his Flash-and-Dash combo to gank laners with ease, the same tools can be used in support. Unfortunately, Gragas' support power relies on him being the engage and thus taking most of the damage
Gragas plays the role of a poke support, dropping his Q's on enemies to deny them space. Once he hits level six, his all-in engage deals serious damage and can lock down unsuspecting carries. When he goes in, he's not getting out. This is why pairing him with someone like Kalista is so valuable. The Kalista ultimate allows Gragas to use his E to engage, while making sure he safely gets out.
1 Bard - Lute 'n' Shoot
Despite the unique design, Bard has never truly received the love he deserves as a support. Ironically, he could probably write a ballad on that unrequited love. He deals major poke damage, which can stun on terrain and enemies, provide healing that builds up over time, and opens up magical portals that anyone can enter. And for some reason, he's hardly ever picked.
Bard is arguably the most unique support, who has to travel around the map collecting his passive, which gives him a perfect excuse to help other lanes and invade. His damage is fantastic when taking Electrocute, and his CC is phenomenal. His ultimate can change the course of the game as it can stop objectives, allies, and enemies; but his high skill ceiling can make him very frightening to pick up, especially as he favors roaming so much.