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May 13, 2015

Weird Picks #12: Support Kalista

11 comments
Well, it looks like Riot decided to nerf Annie's range right after the last Weird Pick Wednesday, so that bubble's been popped. However, since today's Patch Day hopefully you'll get a little more mileage out of this one. Today's WPW features Kalista in her standard bottom lane role, but this time under the role of a support!

Introduction

Well, it looks like Riot decided to nerf Annie's range right after the last Weird Pick Wednesday, so that bubble's been popped. However, since today's Patch Day hopefully you'll get a little more mileage out of this one. Today's WPW features Kalista in her standard bottom lane role, but this time under the role of a support!

With her strong utility, free wards, and partner saving abilities, it seems like she makes a good candidate!

How to Play

Kalista's set up can change around depending on whether you decide to go more of an offensive or a pure supportive role. As such, support Kalista can be played as a standard ADC build/rune/mastery set-up with a sightstone, or you can elect to go for a more cooldown based Kalista with 21 in utility.

Either way, I'd recommend maxing out your E (Rend) first followed up by your Sentinel (W). Get one point in your Q at level 3 though.

The main reason I'd recommend building this way is that as a support, the rate that your damage comes through is much slower compared to a regular ADC. Without AD scaling, Sentinel is a much better choice than Pierce, and also provides increased map control.

Benefits of Support Kalista

  • Extremely strong early game ranged and sustained damage;
  • Free moving wards;
  • Instantaneous carry saving ability;
  • Percentage based damage good for taking down tanks targeting the ADC; 
  • Strong objective control with Rend; and
  • Personal survivability very high, especially vs melee champions.

Disadvantages of Support Kalista

  • No initiation skill (that you'd want to be using);
  • Difficult to appropriately time when to pull an ADC out of a fight (especially in solo queue);
  • Squishy once enemies close the gap;
  • No AP scaling makes blue gold item less efficient; 
  • No supportive sustain; and
  • Easy to take kills with Rend.

Conclusions

Kalista's definitely got a very interesting kit full of plenty of little nuances that make it seem like it may work well as a cheese support early. However, because she does lack burst damage, she has difficulty trading against most traditional burst mage supports like Sona early on.

That being said, I could see her being extremely fun against someone like a Thresh or a Braum.

Probable Placement: Low Tier 3

What do you think about support Kalista? Comment below!





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11 comments:

  1. But as You said she is fun

    More damage with her adc thanks to her W

    Her E could secure a kill incase

    Free amazing wards

    And adc is safe with the ulti

    Super duper fun

    ReplyDelete
  2. BobfranklyMay 13, 2015

    I've done this a few times. Most successful was with a Vayne who understood the W passive (hit the marked guy). The few times we did get 4 guys at bot during laning, the enemy team blew everything on Vayne while I ditched her, and then I pressed R and chuckled. A Bronze Vayne with no deaths at the 20 minute mark just boggles the mind.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gilson RíspoliMay 13, 2015

    :) i was thinking and posted the 'idea' fill weird picks back. Will try soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alex RaduMay 13, 2015

    I tried this and everyone raged. My ADC clicked the enemy turret whenever I ulted him just to prove a point.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BobfranklyMay 13, 2015

    Some people get so locked into the meta that they're blinded by anything new. If you have an adc in your friend's list you feel good with, try it with them and explain how op the poke can be. Be warned though, the new patch is removing the buffed backwards jumps :/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Steven NadlerMay 14, 2015

    Kalista top with an ultied jungler (Vi i think works best) and it's gg lvl 6 ganks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GigionrayMay 14, 2015

    Does Frozen Mallet and Black Cleaver procs in every champion hit by Hurricane? Because you can use it for Peeling and shredding people's armor, plus you get a nice CDR and Health from it. I've also been thinking that this can work pretty well with Quinn as ADC, if you ult her in valor form she can instant blind the enemy ADC and do some damage as well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yukari YakumoMay 14, 2015

    Hurricane applies every on-hit effect except Vayne's W

    ReplyDelete
  9. GigionrayMay 15, 2015

    So it might be a good idea of a build

    ReplyDelete
  10. MarbleWolf GamingMay 17, 2015

    I would NOT try this is solo q... Like Bobfrankly said, do if with some friends and say you are trying something new.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I literally did this the first day Kalista was released.

    I was essentially called a heretic by every team and even had one ADC leave on the loading screen.

    ReplyDelete

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