League of Legends: Soraka is an S tier support after Patch 10.10 buffs

Soraka received buffs to two of her key abilities on Patch 10.10 and her win rate has risen to 51.67%, placing the support firmly in S tier.

Prior to Patch 10.10, Soraka was a middling support champion outshined by more popular enchanters and outplayed by the tank supports that dominate the current solo queue meta. Now, the Starchild has skyrocketed up the tier list with an incredible 51.67% win rate on the current patch that has support mains scrambling to add her to their champion pool.

Following her brief spell as a top laner in pro play and solo queue earlier in the year, Soraka received heavy nerfs that spelled the end of her time as a viable champion both in the top lane and support role. However, the balance team have made amends on Patch 10.10 with substantial buffs for Starcall and Astral Infusion.

The former, Starcall, has seen its base damage increased by 10 at all ranks, going from 75/110/145/180/215 to 85/120/155/190/225, which isn’t huge but does improve Soraka’s poke in lane.

The latter, Astral Infusion, now costs less health to cast when Soraka is rejuvenated, the status effect she receives if she has hit an enemy with Starcall in the last 2.5 seconds. The health cost reduction for Astral Infusion when rejuvenated has increased from 60/70/80/90/100% to 80/85/90/95/100%.

Soraka has climbed into the support S tier as a result of her two key early game abilities being significantly buffed.

Over the last few months, the support meta has been dominated by tank champions with heavy crowd control in solo queue and pro play as they offer excellent utility throughout all stages of the game to set up fights and snowball leads. Recently, enchanters have made a resurgence as players have begun to utilize ranged supports as strong counters to tanks by forcing them out of lane early.

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Soraka wasn’t involved in this resurgence due to the fact that she remained weak after her trip to the top lane, until now. Patch 10.10 has breathed new life into the Celestial healer as she can now force plays and poke out opponents in lane, as well as offering massive heals during late game team fights.

Champions like Blitzcrank, Leona, and even Maokai still pose a threat to Soraka if they’re allowed to get in range to land key crowd control abilities, but an accomplished support player should know how to position themselves in the early game to avoid this. As for alternative enchanters, like Janna and Lulu, Soraka simply has to offer more utility than them, outweighing their shields with her heals in small trades and skirmishes.

It is vital that support mains learn where and when to lock in Soraka in order to utilize her best. In the laning phase, she prefers to face off against melee supports with as little crowd control as possible to poke them out of lane and gain and advantage for her carry.

As for the late game, Soraka’s immense healing makes her a primary target for the enemy team, so if they’ve got plenty of assassins or burst mages, you must be confident in your movement or confident in another option in the support role.

Patch 10.10 could mark the start of a Soraka era in the bot lane as she’s an interactive champion with clear strengths, weaknesses, and counterplay, which should keep the player base happy.

The Starchild’s rise to the S tier has been sharp, but with a high skill ceiling and plenty of skill expression, particularly in the laning phase, she’s a support champion that League of Legends players should be glad to see becoming popular.

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