League of Legends: Top 10 Best Poke Supports

In League of Legends, the support role is crucial, especially when playing as a poke support. These champions are typically mages capable of also holding their own in the mid lane, using their abilities to harass and whittle down opponents from a distance. Poke supports excel at keeping engage-heavy opponents at bay by maintaining distance and steadily decreasing their health, making it difficult for them to initiate effectively. However, they often face challenges against enchanters who can mitigate their poking prowess with heals and shields, particularly in the early stages of the game.

This guide dives into the top 10 poke supports in League of Legends, highlighting their strengths and how they can dominate the bot lane by keeping their adversaries under constant pressure. Whether you’re looking to refine your support playstyle or want to expand your champion pool, understanding these top poke supports will give you the edge you need in your League matches.

#10: Fiddlesticks

Fiddlesticks, traditionally a jungle terror, proves surprisingly effective in the support role too. Its passive, A Harmless Scarecrow, sets the stage for fear-inducing ambushes, causing its next attack or ability to terrify its target. This fear effect is compounded by its Terrify ability, which not only slows and damages but instills dread in its foes.

Fiddlesticks drains life from multiple enemies with its Bountiful Harvest, and its Reap ability delivers a chilling slow, silencing those caught directly in the middle. Its ultimate, Crowstorm, is particularly potent for initiating fights, often turning the tide of battle when launched from the shadows.

While Fiddlesticks can deliver consistent poke and control, there are other champions whose primary focus is whittling down opponents more effectively in the poke support role.

#9: Ashe

Ashe, often seen as an ADC, also carves out a niche in the support role, particularly in professional play like the LCS. Known as The Frost Archer, Ashe brings utility with every auto attack and ability, bar her Hawkshot, by applying a frost slow. Her ultimate, the Enchanted Crystal Arrow, is a long-range projectile that stuns its first target hit, with the stun duration increasing with the arrow’s travel distance.

With her Volley, Ashe can unleash a barrage of arrows that slow and chip away at opponents, while her Ranger’s Focus enhances her damage output, making her a formidable poker from a distance. Though an unconventional pick for support, she is recognized by the League of Legends client as viable in this role. However, other supports in the roster can deliver more consistent poke damage.

#8: Heimerdinger

Heimerdinger, commonly known as The Revered Inventor, frequently dominates the top or mid lanes but can also flex into the support role. His poke potential soars when he strategically places his H-28G Evolution Turrets and accurately hits an enemy with his CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade, stunning them while his turrets zero in for added damage. Additionally, his Hextech Micro-Rockets can deliver a barrage of poke damage, either broadly across a swath of enemies or concentrated on a single target.

When Heimerdinger activates his ultimate, UPGRADE!!!, it significantly enhances his basic abilities, increasing their disruption and damage capabilities. While Heimerdinger can consistently apply pressure as a poke support, there are other champions in the League roster that offer more intense and focused poke damage in the support role.

#7: Neeko

Neeko, known affectionately as The Curious Chameleon, also finds her place in the support category according to Riot’s champion classification. Her ability to disrupt enemy lines comes from her Tangle-Barbs, which extends through enemies, rooting everything in its trajectory. This sets the stage perfectly for her to unleash her Blooming Burst, which deals significant damage. Additionally, her Shapesplitter and the camouflage from her Inherent Glamour passive cleverly conceal the build-up to her ultimate, Pop Blossom, making it difficult for foes to anticipate and evade the explosive stun.

While Neeko’s capacity to poke and burst is notable, she is outpaced in sheer damage potential by other more traditional poke mages in the support role.

#6: Orianna

Orianna, dubbed The Lady of Clockwork, occupies an unconventional position as a support. Her toolkit aligns well with support dynamics, especially with Command: Protect which not only shields her or an ally but also hastens movement, creating both defensive and offensive opportunities. Additionally, her Command: Dissonance provides substantial area damage and movement speed alterations, enhancing her utility on the battlefield. Combined with Command: Attack, these abilities facilitate consistent, impactful poke due to their relatively short cooldowns.

While her ultimate, Command: Shockwave, can decisively turn fights by drawing enemies together and stunning them, thereby amplifying her team’s damage output, Orianna still ranks slightly behind the most potent poke supports in terms of raw poking and zoning power.

#5: Brand

Brand, known ominously as The Burning Vengeance, excels in area control with formidable crowd control capabilities and potent damage-over-time effects. His ability, Pillar of Flame, scorches a significant area, punishing those too slow to evade its reach. Coupled with his passive, Blaze, Brand inflicts percentage health damage over time, amplifying his subsequent abilities.

When enemies are marked with Blaze, his Sear spell transforms into a stunning projectile, creating an opening for Brand to follow up with his other explosive spells, Pillar of Flame and Conflagration. In the thick of a team fight or amid clustered minions, Brand’s ultimate, Pyroclasm, becomes a devastating force, cascading fire that leaps between foes, significantly escalating the potential for havoc.

However, despite his impressive ability to deliver sustained and area-targeted damage, Brand’s reliance on positioning and enemy missteps means he doesn’t quite outshine the most adept poke supports, who offer more consistent and less conditional harassment.

#4: Vel’Koz 

Vel’Koz, known ominously as The Eye of the Void, brings a unique brand of analytical destruction to both mid and bot lanes. His passive, Organic Deconstruction, allows him to inflict true damage on enemies fully analyzed by his relentless assaults, rendering their defenses moot. While mastering his Plasma Fission ability might require a crash course in geometry due to its split mechanic, his other abilities, Void Rift and Tectonic Disruption, provide excellent poke potential from a safe distance.

When Vel’Koz unleashes his ultimate, Life Form Disintegration Ray, he becomes a fearsome force on the battlefield. This devastating beam slows enemies in its path, deals massive true damage to those already marked by his passive, and continues to apply his Organic Deconstruction to others caught within its range. Despite his formidable power, there are still a few mages in the league who can surpass his raw damage output, leveraging more consistent or widespread effects.

#3: Zyra

Zyra, also known as The Rise of the Thorns, is a formidable force on the battlefield, intertwining her botanical prowess with devastating area-of-effect capabilities. Her unique passive, Garden of Thorns, alongside her Rampant Growth ability, allows her to strategically place seeds that transform into dangerous plants when triggered by her other spells. Casting Deadly Spines near these seeds causes them to morph into Thorn Spitters, providing long-range assault capabilities.

When Zyra casts Grasping Roots, these seeds evolve into Vine Lashers, ensnaring and striking enemies at close quarters. Her ultimate, Stranglethorns, unleashes a powerful knock-up effect within an area, supercharging her plants to attack with increased ferocity and speed. Coupling this with items like Liandry’s Torment and Demonic Embrace, Zyra can unleash a relentless onslaught that scales dramatically with her ability power.

While Zyra harnesses the unyielding force of nature, there are a few other poke supports in the League that still outmatch her in raw disruption and damage output.

#2: Xerath

Xerath, known as the Magus Ascendant, dominates the battlefield with his superior range and piercing magical assaults. He wields Arcanopulse, a skill that extends in range the longer he charges it, making him a formidable opponent from afar. His Eye of Destruction not only damages but also slows enemies within its impact area, setting them up for further attacks.

Shocking Orb travels across the field, stunning enemies for longer distances it covers, which pairs perfectly with his other abilities to chain devastating combos. Xerath’s ultimate, Rite of the Arcane, allows him to unleash a relentless assault from a great distance, bombarding foes with arcane energy bolts that can decimate teams from afar.

Xerath also manages his resources adeptly with his passive, Mana Surge, which replenishes his mana through basic attacks on enemy champions and minions, ensuring he can sustain his barrage of spells. While his abilities pack a potent punch, their effectiveness depends on his accuracy and your ability to evade his relentless magical onslaught.

#1: Lux

Lux, heralded as The Lady of Luminosity, tops the charts as the ultimate poke support in League of Legends. Known for her long-range capabilities, Lux masterfully controls the battlefield with her Lucent Singularity, a spell that not only damages but also slows any enemies caught within its grasp. Her prowess doesn’t stop there; her Light Binding can root multiple targets, setting them up perfectly for devastating follow-up attacks.

Lux’s passive, Illumination, marks enemies hit by her spells, allowing her to detonate these marks with her basic attacks for additional damage. This synergizes perfectly with her ultimate, Final Spark, which not only deals massive damage across a great distance but also activates and reapplies her Illumination marks for an explosive combo finish.

Despite her potential to fall behind in power, Lux remains a formidable presence in the game. Her ability to deliver high damage from a distance, coupled with the utility of her root and slow, makes her an invaluable asset to any team and a continuous threat that enemies must cautiously navigate. Lux’s blend of utility, burst damage, and consistent poking ability securely places her at the pinnacle of poke supports.

Conclusion

the poke supports in League of Legends offers a dynamic array of champions that excel in keeping enemies at bay while gradually whittling down their health from a safe distance. From the terrifying tendrils of Zyra to the arcane assaults of Xerath and the luminous bursts of Lux, each champion brings a unique set of skills to the fray, making them invaluable in compositions that favor prolonged engagements and strategic positioning. Whether you prefer the direct damage of Xerath or the utility and burst of Lux, mastering these poke supports can significantly enhance your gameplay and impact on the Rift. As the meta evolves, so too do the strategies around poke supports, but their core role remains a pivotal part of any successful team’s strategy.