League of Legends Patch 9.5 tier list: support edition

Patch 9.5 didn’t have a ton of huge changes to the League of Legends supports, other than introducing the reworked Morgana, but there were still a ton of changes to our tier list we can discuss.

League of Legends dropped Patch 9.5 almost a week ago, bringing with it the reworked Morgana into the support role. There were also some buffs to Rakan, along with nerfs to the Relic Shield items. How did these changes affect the support tier list?

Support tier list

S tier: Thresh, Morgana, Soraka

A tier: Nami, Sona, Janna, Blitzcrank, Zyra, Bard, Pyke, Zilean, Fiddlesticks, Vel’Koz, Lux, Leona, Lulu, Brand

B tier: Taric, Nautilus, Braum, Rakan, Karma

C tier: Alistar, Galio, Xerath, Tahm Kench, Veigar

D tier: Gragas, Shen, Ornn, Maokai

Rising champions

Morgana (A tier to S tier)

If you weren’t aware, Morgana’s kit received a light rework in Patch 9.5, with her ultimate getting a quality of life update so she gains movement speed when moving towards enemies while her ultimate is active. Morgana was on the cusp of being an S-tier support last patch, so it’s unsurprising that this improvement to her ultimate would bolster her status.

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Soraka (A tier to S tier)

Soraka hasn’t gotten many buffs in recent patches, yet she’s remained one of the strongest supports in our tier list. In large part, that’s due to the fact that her kit is fairly simple, easy to execute, and provides a benefit (healing) that never really goes wasted. As for why she’s risen to S tier now, I can only guess it’s because of the nerfs to tanks giving the Starcaller more room to operate.

Lulu, Janna (B tier to A tier)

Similar to Soraka, Lulu and Janna are probably improving because as there are less hard-engage champions to punish them, these sustain/shield supports are able to hold their ground much longer. In fact, after Thresh and Morgana (who may just be overtuned at the moment), the next four supports on our tier list – Soraka, Nami, Sona, and Janna – are all enchanters.

Falling champions

Nami (S tier to A tier)

The one exception to the above rule, Nami has fallen despite having little in her kit touched. My guess would be that as Morgana rises, Nami falls since Morgana counters Nami with extra damage and her spell shield to block knock-ups.

Alistar (B tier to C tier)

The tank with the biggest drop after the Relic Shield nerfs in Patch 9.5, Alistar has been dropping for quite a few patches now. At no point was he ever an S-tier support, but he was A-tier as recently as Patch 9.3. Now, with the weak support items, the Cow continues to struggle.

Rakan (B tier to C tier)

Very surprising that Rakan would drop in priority/effectiveness after getting buffed in Patch 9.5. With the rise of enchanter supports, you would have hoped that the increased dash speed on his W would give him more windows to take advantage of squishy, less mobile opponents. It’ll be interesting to see if he remains C tier before Riot throws him more nerfs.

Buffed champions

Rakan

Yeah, as noted above, I have no idea why Rakan would drop off after his buffs. The Charmer will be one to keep an eye on.

Nerfed champions

Tanks

Doing a bit of a deeper dive into the Relic Shield users, it’s not universal that all tanks dropped in priority. Thresh, Taric, Nautilus, Braum, Galio, and Shen all improved their position relative to the last patch. However, champs like Alistar, Tahm Kench, Leona, and Pyke also fell after these nerfs.

The biggest difference? Other than Thresh, all of the champions that improved were B tier or below last patch, but Leona and Pyke were both A tier last time. So the nerfs really hurt the good champions, while maybe some off-meta tanks get to rise up.

Which new supports are you looking forward to playing in Patch 9.5?