League of Legends. Support Guide "Best Champion in Solo Que". Sandarks

Following what I said in “Part 1 –What does a support do?” the best support right now (regardless the constant changes to the support items and the champions) is Thresh. Thresh is the all-in-one Support. He gives you CC with 3 of his 4 spells, he does considerable damage with his Death Sentence + “E” + basic attack combo even without getting too close to the opponent in some occasions, he gives you one of the greatest escapes of the game and finally he can return damage in early game with his own auto-attacks.

No doubt then why he is the most played champ in the LCS scene, being the most played in EU and the 2^nd in NA only after Elise in the LCS 2014 Spring League, which makes him a champion that every support must dominate in order to compete.

In addition to that statistic, when it comes to solo que, Thresh becomes a secure pick in terms of having the chance of making a considerable impact in the game from the role of Support, that usually is considered (without being true) the one that has the less impact of the 5 roles. Behind him, the other champions that work also great in solo que are Morgana, Leona, Lulu, Annie and Braum(will be nerfed for sure) with a special mention to Morgana as she is my 2^nd main champion when playing as a Support.

THRESH 

Thresh is a synonym of utility and “tankyness”.

Starting with runes, follow the typical Armor and MR with AD Marks and Life Quints. If you don’t feel comfortable with the range of the basic attacks, you can replace the AD marks with Hybrid Penetration.

When it comes to the masteries, as with every support right now you should put 14 points at least in utility, allowing you to get the constant extra gold per minion killed near you.  After that, the following 16 points will go to defense, putting the first 13 in the common tanky spots, and the last 3 in life regeneration (which is nerfed) or in MR against area spells (I prefer that one).

At the beginning of the game, always get the yellow trinket. After that, there are many options of items (exposed from more to less risked combos)

1. Ancient Coin + 4 potions/ 2 potions + Ward
2. Relic Shield + 4 potions/ 2 potions + Ward
3. Ruby Crystal + 3 potions/ 1 potions + Ward 

The Coin combination gives you sustain and mana regen, and more gold than the other combos. The Relic combination gives you the best sustain, and the gold that you lose compared to the Coin combo is given to your ADC while using its stacks. And finally the Ruby’s combo gives you the best building start, because in the first comeback to base you will be able to buy the Ancient Coin or the Relic Shield (better combine this combo with the Coin item), buy the Sight Stone (which will allow you to reduce the green ward’s costs for almost the rest of the game) and you will can sell the yellow trinket to buy the red one.

I do not consider viable right now buying doran’s shield, because after the nerf that it got, it is no longer worth to prolong the early items phase due to the fact that now it gives considerably less life and less life regeneration.

In the final build combine: Solaris, Mikael’s, Randuin’s and if the game lasts more than usual consider buying Solar Cape.

When it comes to boots, the ones allowing you to make the most impact in the game are the mobility boots. They allow you to roam around the map, ganking mid, putting wards and cleaning the rival ones, moving through jungle to make plays and in last instance it saves you time when coming back to lane after recalls. But if you don’t feel comfortable with your ability of recognizing potential moves through the map and/or you prefer tankyness and tenacity, then buy the MR ones.

In relation to your spells, start with Death Sentence if you are feeling like invading. If not, take “E” for poking the enemy ADC when makes the last hits and defending your Carry when he does the same. Then take Death Sentence or “E” in level 2, and after this, maximize the Lantern. The next spell to maximize depends in your play style: if you prefer making risked plays, maximize the “Q” to reduce its cooldown, and if you prefer being more passive and returning great basic attacks maximize the “E”.

As the summoner spell take or exhaust or ignite, because heal got nerfed creating for it a cooldown that does not allow your ally to receive the effect if his heal has been used in the last 25 seconds. If you pick it, make sure that your ADC is picking something like barrier for him.

That’s more or less what I know about this champion after being my second main overall in ranked games, and my main when playing as Support. In a few words, if you want to play Thresh properly, focus on building utility and tankyness, use your champ superiority as an advantage in lane, buy mobility boots and travel around the map, and in teamfights be creative with your Death Sentences and all the CC than you have but without putting your ADC too much exposed.