Need a recommendation to replace Brand for support

Noobtactical·May 27, 2016·3 votes·1,833 views

I've been playing Brand a lot as support. Since 6.9 I feel he's lost a good chunk of his lane presence as support and overall I'm ready to play somebody new to me. I've played a lot of the "traditional" supports in past (nami, sona, soraka, etc.) and what I liked about Brand as support is that he was much more aggressive and actively involved in helping bully the lane.

So I'd like to find another ranged bully type support to play as support, any recommendations?

Thanks much in advance.

18 Comments

FusarixMay 27, 20162 votes

You should try karma, shes a good mix between offense and defense. She has lots of early game damage and pressure like brand, but she can also provide a shield, a little bit of cc and zone control, as well as a movespeed buff for your adc.

LuxannaVeritasMay 27, 20162 votes

Annie

I love the same supports that you do, so I think you'll like Annie. Just like Brand, she's a real bully in lane, and can still burst people down even as support.

I've also seen Veigar but I haven't played him as support, so I can't give you much pointers on him.

Hope this helps! [slayer-jinx-wink]

NoobtacticalMay 27, 20162 votes

thanks for the quick replies! I was just looking at xerath and veigar...

AmelieMay 28, 20162 votes

Xerath is honestly not a great idea, Veigar is "ok". Lux, Zyra or Annie play much more similarly to Brand.

TeemodanegroMay 28, 20162 votes

please for the sake of your team and everyone in ur elo. dont play xerath, like dont play him ANYWHERE.

Colgate GatorMay 27, 20162 votes

Hrm...Annie, Velkoz, Zyra and Veigar come to mind.

RabblerouserMay 27, 20162 votes

Why was this downvoted to zero?! Upvoting back.

Zyra Specifically Wildfire Zyra skin. You'll have your fire back! Annie While we're on the fire motif...

"Traditional" supports can still bully if played right, though. But I guess you're talking strictly non-traditional.

Zyra is still kinda traditional, but she's an aggressive traditional. :P What makes her supporty is her E, CC that can go through minions, too! And maybe the R which can knock up.

Annie is... well.. the only thing supporty about her is her stun.

There's more, but I haven't really toyed with them. It sounds to me like you love HELLA HIGH DAMAGE supports and I've only really went the usual route for supports, being CC/shields/heals/buffs/etc.

I know some good damage supports but they tend to be melee. :(

EMetaMay 27, 20162 votes

Zyra's the new mage support hotness. I feel like Brand and Veigar are about on the same level now for supporting-strength, but depending on your playstyle you might work better with one than the other.

Zyra just has all the tools, and her mana costs are now light enough she can go spellthief upgrade straight into Rylai's. For Veigar to work you need extra mana first to keep stacking his passive. I haven't seen or played Xerath bot for a few seasons, but I suspect his CC is too sparse and prone-to-miss to do much to help your adc.

Fondling GemsMay 27, 20161 votes

Xerath is fun. He also gets a lot of chances to use his passive.

FusarixMay 27, 20161 votes

Veigar is a pretty cool support right now. hes basically a second mid laner since hitting enemy champions with your abilities give you an extra ap. So you dont have to take cs to gain ap anymore

SmitemuffinMay 27, 20161 votes

Play Ziggs. He can poke like a beast, zone off almost the entire river entrance AND he can execute turrets regardless of AP

DemonBoneJanglesMay 27, 20161 votes

Malzahar he makes a good support and like brand can bring some damage over time to help bully the lane along with his ult which if timed right can give the adc a hefty kill

EcchiOtakuTMMay 27, 20161 votes

Zyra and veigar are best damage supports.

Reaper SorakaMay 28, 20161 votes

Zyra is good but you need to know what you're doing or you'll just feed a lot. :P

TeemodanegroMay 28, 20161 votes

To start off, brand is nothing but godly right now...

And secondly If you do plan to play Zyra max her E > Q, her Q is garbage atm and E has higher base damage / scaling and root duration.

k wìxMay 28, 20161 votes

You need to be really good with poke and positioning, but Xerath is pretty sleeper OP in the support role if they lack strong healing and sustain. He does NOT go oom. His scaling is a bit weak, but if he gets fed, it can lead to an early win. He hard-counters Braum/Annie/Zyra because he can simply outpoke them.

Zilean Is also pretty rockin' right now. Very fragile early game, but his stun is amazing once you can use it well - his scaling is also much stronger, get CDR and enjoy one of the strongest late-game supports in the game.

FiddlesOnTheRoofMay 28, 20161 votes

Vel'Koz and Zyra fill the role well. I think Syndra will soon emerge as a dominant ap support, but currently, you'll be viewed as a troll if you play her.

NoobtacticalMay 28, 20161 votes

thanks all for the suggestions, any more?