Hooks, healing, and cats: League’s best support players at Worlds 2022

While there hasn’t been any professional League of Legends play since Patch 12.15, recent buffs to enchanters and certain support items have led to diversification in the support role among players internationally. Whereas picks like Nautilus and Leona have dominated the pro play meta for years, champions like Lulu and Soraka quickly rose in popularity, making for more intricate team compositions.

This year’s World Championship is set to be one of the most exciting for support players—a long way from the days of the Ardent Censer meta of 2017. These players have used their mastery of the support role to adapt to the changes this year brought, cementing themselves as some of the best support players in the world and ones fans should look forward to seeing perform at Worlds.

While some of these players will be starting their Worlds journey with the play-ins stage in Mexico City, Mexico on Sept. 29, others have qualified directly to the group stage where they’ll be one step closer to the Summoner’s Cup. Regardless, these players have shown throughout the year they’re willing to do anything it takes to support their team, making each of them notable in their own right.

Gen.G Lehends

Support Singed is real, and it certainly can hurt you.

Lehends is known for more obscure picks, ones players would normally expect to see in solo queue, not on a professional stage. Between Singed, Brand, and pre-mini-rework Maokai, and nearly 20 others, Lehends kept fans coming back to each of Gen.G’s matches, wondering what the next off-meta pick would be.

Though unable to take a single game off of T1 in the Spring Split, Gen.G successfully ended the historic run of their rivals to win the Summer Split and become the LCK’s first seed at Worlds. The bot lane of Ruler and Lehends has constantly come out on top in a meta where bot lane success is so vital to outcomes of games, giving Gen.G a large amount of momentum heading into their group stage run.

T1 Keria

All of the names on T1 alone are enough to strike fear into the hearts of any player, but together they create a dominant force that thrives on the pressure international tournaments bring. Among these players is Keria, the menace in the support role that holds the team together.

Keria has always been quick to get a handle on shifting metas, something that often requires players a few weeks to adjust to. When enchanters stepped to the top of the meta earlier this year, Keria had no problem switching to Yuumi and Lulu to bring out the potential of his lane partner Gumayusi, even being one of the first to successfully use League’s newest support champion, Renata Glasc.

Yet even with the fluctuating meta, Keria always had a staple he could rely on, regardless of if it was a meta pick. Combined with the aggression of Gumayusi, Keria spent most of the year throwing successful Nautilus hooks as early as he could and amassing near-uncontestable leads for the T1 bot lane.

With the year T1 have already had, Worlds is just another place for the team to prove they are among the best League players in history—and Keria is ready to reign as the support king once more.

Top Esports Mark

Ending a split of the LPL with the highest KDA of all support players isn’t an easy feat, but it was one Top Esports’ support Mark pulled off handily. Mark was more than happy to diversify his support champion pool throughout the year when others were more hesitant, allowing him to take a team that wasn’t in the championship conversation in the spring to win it all in the summer—ending with a 6.1 KDA in the regular summer season.

This achievement has been a long time coming for the support player; for most of his career he has been confined to the lower end of the LPL standings. Now, with TES, Mark is heading back to Worlds for the second time as part of the LPL’s second seed.

With some of the most talented players the region has to offer at his side, Mark has the potential to make this year’s Worlds one where he finally becomes a household name that can no longer be overlooked.

EDward Gaming Meiko

Meiko, part of the reigning world champions EDward Gaming, is returning to the international stage for the sixth time in his career, and he’s only 24 years old. 

If this support player can get his hands on Leona, Nautilus, or Braum, it can quickly spell trouble for the opposing bot lane. While not overly aggressive in the laning phase, Meiko shines in his map awareness and willingness to roam across the map early on, which has allowed his team to snowball leads on multiple occasions.

Though Meiko is capable of swapping to a pick like Renata Glasc or Lulu, he performs more consistently with access to frontline initiation. Yet other teams are fully aware of Meiko’s comfort picks, making him a prime target in draft phases but one that always has a trick up his sleeve.

Evil Geniuses Vulcan

When it comes to North American support players, Vulcan has stood out at the top for a number of years due to consistency and flexibility. Alongside ADC Danny, Vulcan seamlessly transferred his talents to the Evil Geniuses roster, acting as a pivotal part in the organization’s first championship win in the spring, as well as another strong run in the summer.

Though he favors engage champions like Nautilus and Rakan that allow the rest of his team to capitalize, Vulcan has shifted his playstyle recently to adjust to the evolving meta, prioritizing picks like Nami, Yuumi, and even Sona that place more priority on what his team can do. Vulcan’s shotcalling and trust in his team paid dividends with the surprise substitution of Kaori into the main EG roster, ultimately making the debuting ADC a force at the LCS Championship.

Vulcan’s ability to adapt to nearly any situation, regardless of whether the odds are in his favor, has enabled him to stand out among nearly all the NA supports since his LCS debut in 2018. While EG may have a long road ahead of them at this year’s Worlds, having Vulcan at the helm is a strong way to make an early impression on the competition.

Chiefs Esports Club Aladoric

If you’re overlooking the minor regions, start paying attention to this year’s LCO representatives, Chiefs Esports Club. This team completely dominated Oceania throughout the past year, ending their split two run undefeated after almost doing the same in split one.

A large part of this success can be attributed to the team’s star support player, Aladoric. Though he only played for the team during split two, the long-standing Australian support player was a crucial factor in what would be an undefeated streak for the team, winning a second consecutive split two championship—though this time for a different team.

Unlike most support players, Aladoric has remained steadfast on sticking to engage champions, even when enchanters have become more favorable. Rakan and Nautilus remain Aladoric’s most-played champions, possessing above-90-percent win rates on both across 17 games and defining himself as the initiation the Chiefs needed to claim the victory in an unforgettable split.

While Aladoric didn’t have much time to show his talents at Worlds last year alongside PEACE, he appears to have found the momentum that may allow the LCO to finally progress past the play-ins stage and make their mark internationally.

Fnatic Hylissang

Inting is just all part of the plan for Fnatic’s support, Hylissang. This support player is known for being one of the most aggressive support players the region has seen in years. With his patented Pyke pick, Hylissang has no problems diving right into his opposing bot lane as soon as the laning phase begins, oftentimes requiring his ADC, Upset, to be more aggressive in lane. 

Despite some overzealous plays, Hylissang has cemented himself as half of one of the best current Western bot lanes. While he certainly favors engage play-making supports, he isn’t afraid to take a step back into the role of an enchanter to ensure Upset can perform to his fullest potential.

But fans may have to wait a bit before they can see Hylissang and Upset perform together on the Worlds stage. Due to contracting COVID, both players are being substituted out until further notice. When Hylissang returns, however, players should be wary of a surprise Pyke lock-in that has the potential to complete snowball any bot lane.