Well, last week we took a look into what’s happening with the Marksmen role, and how it’s being slowly being taken over by Mages, so to speak. Today I thought it would be interesting to tackle the other side of the coin; mages taking over the support role.
Mages.
Assassins.
Marksmen.
Tanks.
Supports.
Fighters.
These 6 classes house within them all 100+ champions in League of Legends. Over the years, the League community has created a social rule to the game, a META; the top lane is for Tanks/Fighters, the jungle is for Fighters/Assassins (with the occasional tanky character), the middle lane is for Mages/Assassins (with the occasional fighter), and the bottom lane is for marksmen and support characters.
Now don’t get me wrong, marksmen and supports are almost exclusively designed specifically for their roles and they have good synergy together. But in the meta-breaking spirit, I’ll be taking a look at mages that could perform just as well (or better) as support characters.
N.B. Zyra will not be considered as she has now basically transitioned into Support territory.
Brand
Brand support hadn’t really come into fruition until season 6, but when he finally entered the bottom lane, he did so with a bang. He might not be able to shield the marksman or provide any meaningful sort of utility. However his lane presence is strong enough to bully the opposing team away, possessing a devastating array of abilities that will definitely punish any who dare take even the slightest miss-step. Having an ultimate that basically turns his opponent’s team mates into each other’s worst enemy for a few seconds always helps.
Lux
Area of Effect Slow. Snare. Shield.
At first glance it might be puzzling as to why this character wasn’t a support character to begin with, given her kit. That is, until you see her playing as a fully fledged mage and devastating the opposing team with flashes of light and ear-piercing screeches of laughter. But I digress.
As a support character, Lux brings quite a lot to the table and any marksman is sure to feel safe with a skilled Lux by his side. Even with a support build, she still deals enough damage to make her a nuisance whilst still providing good utility and crowd-control. You’re alright girl. You’re alright.
Annie
Annie has been a powerhouse since the very beginning; an easy-to-use mage, she boasts one of the strongest bursts within the game, and her passive allows her the capability of unleashing a huge Area of Effect stun with devastating results.
These two reasons are the main points as to why Annie is actually quite viable for the support role. True, she may not offer much in supporting the marksman other than her stun, but her lane presence and bullying potential is far from laughable. A good Annie support will line up kills for her marksman like pins in a bowling alley.
Vel’Koz
Yet another mage that had a smooth transition into the support role, Vel’Koz is an extremely fun champion to play as. His projectile ability is unlike any other in the game, sending out an orb that splits into two at 90o angles allowing for some very interesting plays. With an added slow applied to any opponent hit by the orb, this ability can prove to be quite useful especially in reaching the backline. Add to that a knockback ability and an ultimate that is able to deal devastating damage over time while slowing enemies, and it’s no wonder why Vel’Koz is played as a support champion.
Lissandra
The final pick of the list is also the tankiest. Lissandra is a mage but with a twist, she is extremely useful at close range, and her kit is built with that in mind. With a semi-teleport ability coupled with an area of effect snare, a slowing projectile, and an ultimate that literally freezes an opponent in place whilst damaging all those around it, it’s curious to see why Lissandra isn’t as much of a popular pick as the rest of the mages in this list.
There are definitely other mages that could have made this list, but I didn’t want to drag out this subject on for too long. And hey, I am in no way trying to convince people to ignore support characters and marksmen altogether, but it’s definitely fun to see new and interesting ways to play certain characters. Mages might be the most versatile class in League, or i could be dead wrong about everything I’ve said. Sound off in the comments and let me know your thoughts (try to be nice please mmkay?). I’ll be back next week!
Until then, cya!
