Is Rakan going to become a top-tier support?

Elohaven··2 votes·1,972 views

Note: This is not a formal argument and is simply to spark discussion.

Xayah is a poor champion to me. By poor, I don't mean bad but not up to par to my expectations. I can easily duel or beat her and she seems relatively easy to play. Now I know about the skill-ceiling blah blah — she's as bad as Kalista to me. I don't find her challenging or difficult to play or having a high skill-ceiling other than positioning and calculations. But she'll always be viable so no worries there. What shocks me is that she's the complete opposite of Rakan to me in terms of potential.

What kind of overloaded[opinion of mine] kit is this. I literally played a game in ranked and he gained a shield worth 70% of his HP. Granted he had items, but his ult, his heal, his dashes, his airborne CC. Definitely equally, if not more, tilting than Yasuo. He has so much play potential it's godly.

Note: Airborne CC is probably one of the most broken CCs in the game(IMO). If you QSS, you have to flash out right after in order to get out of your "suspended" state even though you're not airborne. So you're still stuck in place. (Exception of VI's ult). This is what I've found in cases I was stuck in it.

We won the game [I'm referencing a game experience] so this is not a vent post but holy mackrel. Riot really made an overloaded support and I'm not exaggerating. His kit may look plain but think about the teamfighting potential it has. It's disgusting.

You get out of position, even a teeny weeny slip, you can easily die right there due to Rakan. The amount of synergy he has with different teams is crazy too.

What's overloaded to me about his kit aren't the individual abilities, but the combinations of items and combos he can chain with them. It's so dangerously unique, strong, and also a feature I like about this champion. But my god, when someone plays him right will be the day I cry from tilt.

I want to see what happens when he hits pro play. I wouldn't be surprised if he's banned consecutively in high elo due to his pool of abilities. Garen-teed.

9 Comments

LostFr0st3 votes

He's a beauty isn't he :3

Elohaven2 votes

Yeah. Had me dying of laughter when I got chained CC by his ult I believe which charms the whole time.

Seriously. XD

Darius Strada1 votes

{quoted}

Yeah. Had me dying of laughter when I got chained CC by his ult I believe which charms the whole time.

Seriously. XD

it only charms once per person

Elohaven1 votes

Clarification: Charms -> airborne, dash -> ally chain

Myrkrvaldyr1 votes

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92s995yvoc&t=3s . I didn't even know Rakan could use his abilities while ulting. He has some serious outplay potential. But take into account several things, his knockup is rather easy to dodge, unlike Malphite's. He's very very squishy and easy to cc lock, he cannot escape if he has no one to dash to, expect him to feed freaking hard in low elo.

He's clearly designed to be a pro tier support, not a support for noobs. it's cool how Riot designed him because, if you go full AP for some silly reason, you'll die in seconds, he hits hard with his AP ratios but you just can't go ap, you need to go tanky. He's like bard but with far more mobility. We need to wait for pro play to see his full potential. His CDs are honestly, to me, fine, not too long, not too short, even with 40% cdr. On a support income he can't get full build that easily so the Rakan player needs to be very good.

MysterQ1 votes

I don't think his kit is that crazy. I think many players over exaggerate it. Granted I mean a low tier player, he just seems OK. If his team can't follow up he is super squishy and useless forcing you to build tank. I know there is no reason to be in there alone, but just saying. I will watch the video. I am sure there is more to him.

But I think every support should probably learn him. In case your team wants the XR comp, or if you need to deny the enemy an XR comp. I have only played a few games with XR. But X seems to have great early game damage making it a dangerous combo. Granted if the opponent plas safe it is wasted.

Knight Sky1 votes

Im 2 games from mastery 5 on him so i got a decent amount of experience on him. His kit does have a lot to it and ive gotten 3S+'s and great games etc. I think hes definitly a top tier support. But i dont think hes over tuned either. I noticed that yeah its easy to go in and get the knock and etc. but the problem is, cc destroys him. I cant tell you how many times i went in on a few enemys and got blown up in a secound. so yeah his kit is fantastic but hes not unbeatable thats for sure.

PureSilvrr1 votes

Hes good, and has a good teamfight, but his laning is subpar, if you don't knockup both champs in lane, you basically are guaranteed cc from the support or a couple of autos from the adc. While you can remedy this with his passive and even more over COC its still risky, Its completely obvious when hes going for q poke, because its range is so low. And much of his kit is telegraphed.

Out of lane, he will usually go with a normal enchanter build so he isn't as tanky as a Nautilus , so he has to dodge in and out and wait for his cd's, and with 40% cdr I think the cd on his w is about 7 secs so there is a gap in between knockups. And, he has that one sec before he jumps, so targeted cc like leonas will hurt hard.

Another way to counter him is with response mobility, if he cant w you half his engage is gone. Simply Caitlyn E'ing out of the circle would work I think.

If you are getting beat by an ap rakan Get Greivous wounds, and bring an summoner 14

######Nobody has figured out the monstrocity that is tank rakan yet

Tl;dr His kit is telegraphed, Even if he R-> w's his r is telegraphed, and you should know to back off. The least telegraphed thing is his E's because the dash can be almost instant.

Jorencice1 votes

Lol I've only played one game as him. And the very first thing I thought is.

"Pure tank with 45% CD is going to be awsome"

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