efore we discuss our best support picks in 2023, we will shed some light on the support role. If you are a support player, you know the importance of keeping your lane and your ADC safe. But, the role of a support player is not just making sure that you and your ADC will not die. Low MMR players tend to stick to this role only and not focus on the other aspects of the game, such as roaming.
Roaming is a process which is mostly done by the support player, where the support leaves the bot lane to help the mid/top lane to gain advantage. During this process, the ADC needs to stay safe and focus only on farming and not engage in 1v2 fights. The only exception is if the jungler ganks and you will have advantage over the enemy. Roams tend to help the ADC too because it helps him gain more experience now that he is not sharing it with the support.
So, if you want to progress in the support role and you want to make the game easy winnable, you know that there is a high dependence on your plays. Always pick support champions that can easily roam and can easily grant their allies much needed help. Here are our top support picks for 2023, according to U GG
Nami
On the other side, Nami is a support that will likely require a voice communication with her ADC. This is needed because the ADC needs to know the exact moment Nami plans to engage with her abilities and disable the enemies. Because her abilities are executed in a short-animation process, it will be more than useful if the player could vocally express his will to engage. Pings help too, but nothing beats the direct vocal communication.
Nami is a support player that has been played regularly during the LCS. From her healing abilities to her Airborne Bubbles all the way to the Tidal Wave (her ultimate), Nami provides extremely efficient support and defense to her allies. However, Nami does require some high-skills knowledge and precise aiming to hit her abilities on an enemy champion.
There are several counters to Nami that could make her gameplay hard or even her game non-playable. The strongest counters are: Blitzcrank, Sona and Zyra. Nami is strong against other supports, such as Rakan, Thresh or even Swain.
Soraka
Probably the most often used support in low MMR games or when a player gets the support role by autofill. Requiring almost zero skills to play, Soraka has been abused mostly in Solo Queue, with her rarely being picked at the LCS stage. However, Soraka is a support that provides excellent qualities to her team, most of them are focused on her healing abilities.
Soraka is mostly known by her ultimate. It provides all of her allies an HP boost which in team fights is a much-needed ability. Apart from her Ultimate, Soraka has another ability that allows her to heal a specific ally, based on her AP. This one, however, takes a toll on her HP so if you heal your ally you have to be careful with your own HP. And, if you move towards an ally that has low HP bar, your movement speed increases rapidly.
Soraka also has a silence ability, which is very helpful in 2v2’s or in team fights because it could silence the assassin or the enemy champion that will jump on her ADC instantly. If the enemy stays longer in the circle she places on the ground (the silence ability), the enemy will get rooted for a couple of seconds, allowing her allies either to escape safely or kill the enemy.
Soraka is being countered by Blitzcrank, Sona and Senna, while she is the stronger support pick if she faces Leona, Rell or Swain.
Blitzcrank
You have already noticed that we mentioned Blitzcrank in the supports we explained above as their counter. Blitzcrank is a truly versatile support that offers a “locking” choice of abilities with high focus on the disabling of the enemy. He does not offer healing (not by his abilities, per se) but his hooks and his knock ups, as well as his silence-providing ability make him the best support for 2023 by far.
Blitzcrank is most famous by his hook. Early games are really tough against him, especially if you have him at the enemy team and the team tries to invade your jungle. If you get hooked at lv1, chances of your survival are close to zero. The early game is his biggest strength, and this strength does not diminish in mid-game or in late game. If you get hooked at early levels, there are small chances you could escape because the knock up is also present as his ability, meaning you will spend most of the fight disabled.
He also possesses an ability that grants him movement speed, which is highly needed when he chases a champion for the hook, or he wants to come back to lane faster. The knock up, as we mentioned above, disables you for a short time, which could seem like an eternity to you. Add the silence from his Ultimate, and you will spend the team fight pretty much disabled.
However, Blitzcrank is not unbeatable. He is strong against most of the support champions, such as Karma, Lux and Yuumi, but if you pick Taric, Alistar or Rell the chances of you beating Blitzcrank are high. But, these supports do not provide the other qualities as Blitzcrank and they are not as mobile and agile as him, which is why their picks in 2023 have been low to moderate.
