As the meta is ever changing in League of Legends, the champions who are deemed "the best" also change. This is also true for the support role in the bot lane. In the LCS Spring Split of 2016, we saw a lot of support champions such as Alistar and Braum. These champions, at the time, were considered the best supports for their role, each of them accomplishing something else for their team. Now, nearing the middle of Season six in League of Legends, there were many changes that has swapped around the meta. This has also been true for supports. Here are the top five support champions as of right now and why I believe this to be true (in no particular order).
1. Nami, the Tidecaller -
Nami has been one of my favorite supports since Season three. Not only does she have hard CC with her Q-Aqua Prison and R-Tidal Wave, she has speed boosts, auto attack modifiers, healing and slows. While she is squishy, like most AP supports, she makes up for it with all of the laning and team fight presence that Nami brings to the table. Nami has a kit that perfectly fits in the support role and it's no wonder why she makes her presence known on this list.
2. Janna, the Storm's Fury
Janna has been in the game since 2009 and has shown why she is considered the premier support for as long as I can remember. Janna is the go-to champion if your ADC needs heavy peel, such as Kog'Maw or Jinx. Like Nami, Janna has large disruption in her kit due to her Q- Howling Gale and R- Monsoon. Monsoon also heals every one of your allies in an area around her, making this ability a game changer in itself. Janna also has a slow and a shield, which also can be applied to allied turrets. Janna does a very god job with keeping your squishy teammates alive and making sure enemy champions cannot jump in and delete your carries.
3. Bard, the Wandering Caretaker
Bard was released last year and was extremely underwhelming on release.Not only that, but Bard has a kit that is very different compared to any other champion. However, Riot has given Bard meaningful buffs and now he is a very solid support to take in the bot lane. Bard brings healing into the laning phase with his W-Caretaker's Shrine. He also has hard CC on his Q-Cosmic Binding and has an escape tool that anyone can utilize, being his E-Magical Journey. Bard's ultimate is very difficult to utilize correctly, but if done so, can change a team fight heavily into your team's favor by allowing them to re-position in the team fight while the enemy is in stasis.
4. Thresh, the Chain Warden
Thresh is another support that has been fantastic since his release in 2013. Thresh does everything a support should do. His Q-Death Sentence can easily catch someone out and your team can kill that character, turning a team fight into a four versus five. His E-Flay is a great poke tool and a good counter initiation tool. Thresh's R-The Box, is also a very good counter initiation and initiation tool, slowing every enemy that The Box touches. Finally, Thresh's W-Dark Passage, can save any of your allies from a bad situation, usually from getting caught out. He also scales very well with his passive-Damnation, giving him Ability Power and armor for every soul that he collects. Overall, Thresh gives your team everything they are looking for and Thresh can be picked with any ADC in the game.
5. Leona - the Radiant Dawn
Leona has been one of the best initiation tools out of the bot lane since she entered the Summoner's Rift in 2011. Her E-Zenith Blade allows her to get in the middle of a team fight so she can use her ultimate (Solar Flare) to stun everyone around her. Even once that stun duration is over, she can use her Q-Shield of Daybreak to stun someone again. Unlike supports like Nami and Janna, this champion is rather tanky, especially considering her W-Eclipse gives her bonus armor and magic resistance for a period of time, helping her stay alive in the middle of that team fight.
In conclusion, I believe that the five best support champions right now are, in no order, Nami, Janna, Bard, Thresh and Leona. They all bring a ton of utility and CC to the table to help their team in every way they can. All five of these supports are a cut above the rest due to their outstanding kits and overall fits very well into the support role. So next time you are wondering what support champion you should play, consider these five supports as your choice.
