League of Legends: Why You Should Be Playing Alistar on Patch 10.14

Alistar has made a triumphant return to the support meta on Patch 10.14

When Leona and Nautilus were constantly forcing aggressive plays earlier in Season 10, Alistar was forced to watch from the sidelines. When Bard and Senna offered an alternative to full tank supports, Alistar remained untouched. Now, on Patch 10.14, the Minotaur has finally been enabled and has made his mark on the support meta for the first time in 2020.

This sudden ascent up the League of Legends support tier list was partly due to a Pulverize cooldown buff on the most recent patch.

Alistar’s Q ability – the most important aspect of his kit – saw its cooldown reduced from 17/16/15/14/13 seconds to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds, a huge decrease. This allows the support to knock up his opponents more frequently during a skirmish or team fight, potentially picking up kills or protecting his carry from incoming assassins.

This buff also acted as a reminder of how strong the support can be in the right hands. Alistar’s kit has all the right tools to carry a team fight or set up a gank in the bottom lane in order to propel his team into the lead and secure a victory.

It could be argued that this buff was unnecessary as Alistar already had a comfortable 50.34% win rate in solo queue prior to Patch 10.14 (which has since shot up to 51.69%). However, the Minotaur’s complete absence in pro play has prompted action from the balance team and is set to reintroduce one of League of Legends’ most popular supports to the Summer Split meta.

Here are three reasons why you should be playing Alistar on Patch 10.14:

Alistar controls the laning phase

The bot lane is all about level 2 power spikes and Alistar’s is one of the strongest in the game. Upon gaining access to Headbutt and Pulverize, Alistar dictates the bot lane in 90% of match-ups.

If you’re new to the champion and are unsure how to gain lane presence, simply walk into bushes and threaten to combo your lane opponents. While this may not always net you a kill, it gives your ADC the time and space to farm safely and build a gold lead.

He synergizes well with the current meta bot laners

Alistar’s tier list climb just happens to coincide with the return of aggressive, early game marksmen to the solo queue meta. Caitlyn, Draven, and Jhin have all staged a comeback on Patch 10.14 and match up perfectly with Alistar’s all-in early play style.

To make the most of this synergy, only engage when your lane partner is in range to follow up with damage or crowd control. For example, wait until Caitlyn is close enough to place a Yordle Snap Trap on an enemy champion before knocking them up for chain CC.

He is a huge factor in team fights

While many support champions have very little impact on team fights aside from their ultimate ability, Alistar is the opposite. There’s no doubt that Unbreakable Will is a big contributor to the support’s success, but his ability to cast multiple Pulverizes and Headbutts during a team fight is also huge.

This is particularly noticeable in situations where a fed ally marksman is under threat of being blown up by rushing assassins and bruisers as Alistar can deter them all with the three crowd control abilities in his kit.

If Alistar’s incredible 51.69% solo queue win rate on Patch 10.14 wasn’t enough to convince you to add the Minotaur to your support champion pool then perhaps these three factors will do the job!