Zilean Build Guide : [12.18] Arcurath's Rank 1 Zilean Support Guide

Introduction
Coaching	Why Zilean	Pros + Cons
Abilities	Skill Sequence	Summoner Spells
Runes	Items	Playstyle
Matchups	Synergies (WIP)	Bonus (WIP)
Conclusion

Hello there gamers! My name is Arcurath, I am a Master Support main on EUW. I’ve been playing League of Legends since Season 5, with my fair share of experience playing all the roles here and there over the years.

I have been playing since Season 8 and have peaked 1st in EUW and 3rd globally on the leaderboard.

I am very passionate to help players improve with high quality educational content, so I am working hard on building a career as both a Coach as well as a Content Creator.

I hope this guide will be useful for you, and that you're able to find success on your journey to become a true enjoyer!

If you have any questions or suggestions about the guide then feel free to leave a comment, I will try to respond to everything! You can also join my Discord and let's have a proper discussion. If you want to support my guide, an upvote or +rep would be very much appreciated.

Before the guide fully begins, I would like to give a shameless promotion of the coaching services I offer!

My key philosophy when coaching is focused on maximising the enjoyment and efficiency in my students.

I coach in a structured format as follows:

Introduction - We discuss what you are looking to achieve from coaching, and if there’s any specific session types I would recommend based on that.

Session - We will have our session as planned from the introduction.

Summary - I will give you a debrief rundown of all the major points we went through during the session, as well as some targets to work on going forward.

If you are interested in coaching but would like to see more information, feel free to check out these links:
Discord - for reviews from my previous students.
YouTube - for examples of previous sessions.
Metafy - for more information about specific sessions.

I will always aim to provide a high-quality service that will genuinely help every player improve at the game, no matter what problems they may be struggling with personally. If you have a specific concern that you think wouldn’t usually fit in a session list, then let me know, I can definitely work something out that suits any player!

After having a session, I will always be available any time in the future to answer any extra questions you may have.

I hope you will consider booking me as your coach!

So why do I play ? Let’s dive into the reasoning!

Firstly I have always loved playing underrated characters in any game I play, especially PVP based ones, as I believe it gives you a mental advantage vs enemies as they will be thinking you are trolling or a noob playing a bad character that no one plays!

Due to being underrated you will rarely see Zilean being banned or picked away, which allows you to play him every game if you wanted to. This is also good for the long term too as it means is basically never directly touched in patch notes with a nerf or buff, so he is a very stable and reliable champion.

Continuing on the underrated point, because is underrated therefore under picked, most of your enemies will have rarely faced Zilean and will struggle to understand what to do vs him, or in some cases how the champion even works.

This point also works the other way around with teammates as well though - How often do you have teammates completely stop walking when you are giving them Experience from ? I still see that here and there haha!

I am far from the greatest mechanical player on the planet with insane reaction times. This is one main reason why I am a huge fan of thanks to the simplicity of his kit in general, all his abilities are straight forward simple with just 1 skill shot being . Due to this simplicity, I feel champions like Zilean are very important to have in the game, especially with all these crazy 200 years of experience champions coming out more and more often!

I hope some of these points resonate with you and give you a better understanding of why may be very worthwhile picking up into your champion pool.

Pros

→ Very low pick/ban rate
→ Never directly nerfed/buffed
→ Underrated champ
→ Best speed/slow buff in game
→ Protect MVP ally very well
→ Useful utility even when behind in gold

Cons

→ Extremely weak early game
→ Have to rely on teammates
→ Can be easily bursted with no ult
→ Takes a long time to master his kit
→ Must have good positioning
→ Long CDs + high mana costs early

Passive: Time in a Bottle

is a very nice and simple passive ability that provides one of the most important resources in the game, Experience. stores up Experience then can gift it to an ally who is close to levelling up. Zilean also receives the same amount of Experience that he gives.

is very powerful for getting you and your allies level power spikes earlier than your enemies, especially at key intervals such as level 3, 6, 11, 16.

The only downside to is that it's very clunky if it's ready during a fight, as it begins to channel when you right click on them which is awkward in the middle of a fight when you are trying to move around and buff allies with and !

Q: Time Bomb

is 's bread and butter ability. A timed bomb that will attach on to any living unit and explode after 3 seconds. This is 's only damaging ability so it has very decent base damage on it. is used for poking, pushing waves and when paired with into another will result in an AOE stun.

Time Bomb provides vision where it lands until it explodes, so I recommend getting used to throwing in bushes instead of face checking!

A downside is that smarter enemies will intentionally pick up your Time Bombs and walk them into their wave and explode them there to force your minion wave to push into them, which can result in you getting punished by a gank in the early game where is weakest.

W: Rewind

is probably the most simple ability in the game. It reduces Time Bomb and Time Warp's cooldowns by 10 seconds, yes that is it!

allows us to do the classic double bomb combo by using into into a second for an AOE stun and damage.

There are no downsides at all, just a great simple ability that enhances 's basic abilities to be used more often. Running around with off cooldown is very fun!

E: Time Warp

is one of the main reasons I love so much. I think that is the best speed buff and slow debuff in the game.

Running around the map together with an ally at super speed having great tempo compared to the enemy team is so valuable both macro and micro wise.

On the other side, you know how nowadays every new champion that comes out with 2 or more dashes? That's not a problem for , as being one of the OG champions he has been gifted one of the strongest and most tilt-worthy point and click slows in the game!

R: Chronoshift

is one of the strongest ultimates in the game. Being able to protect an ally or yourself from dying for 5 seconds and then reviving is extremely powerful in general.

is not just a defensive tool though, you can use it aggressively for very clean and safe tower dives, or forcing fights where you gladly trade kills with enemies as you aren't actually dying!

Would always recommend figuring out who the absolute MVP on your team is before a fight and making sure you are always keeping for them, however, if you see the fight is going great and they are positioned well you can use it on someone else if needed, such as a dying front liner.

The only thing you have to watch out for and get used to is timing well, if you use it too early enemies will just back off until it runs out, and if you use it too late, well your ally or you are dead. This is where game knowledge and experience as a whole come in as you have to understand the limits of damage that enemies deal and that your allies take to be prepared for optimal timing! As well as also considering your own positioning so you aren't at risk of being hard CC'd which would stop you from casting.


1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Tip to note: At level 2, you can wait and not level up an ability until you know which will be needed in that situation, as level 2 bot lane fights can be very different based on whether you level or .


		Flash is a must have on pretty much every single champion in the game. Zilean is no exception to that obviously. Zilean is an immobile champion with no dash or blink spell so Flash is needed to get out of them sticky situations.
		Exhaust is most likely always going to be the second summoner you are taking every game. It is extremely strong being able to reduce an enemy's damage and slowing them down, which just compliments Zilean's kit very well when paired with Chronoshift and Time Warp, as you are making the enemy really struggle to get any kills at all!
		Heal is usually only taken when your bot lane partner wants to take Exhaust instead of you. It doesn't synergise too well with Zilean as you save allies with Chronoshift. However the movespeed and health it provides can be pretty clutch for saving allies before you hit level 6 and unlock Chronoshift.
		Ignite can be taken in favourable matchups where you are looking to dominate lane with extra kill pressure. It is also good for applying grevious wounds vs healing champions such as Soraka, this being due to Oblivion Orb not being very cost effective on Zilean as he only has 1 damaging spell being Time Bomb that would apply it.
		Cleanse may be worth taking in extremely rare situations where the enemy team is completely stacked full of hard CC. Usually you should be fine just with Unflinching, Mercury's Treads, Mikael's Blessing and good positioning. I would only reccomend taking Cleanse if you are seriously worried you wont survive long enough until you can buy Mercury's Treads.

Resolve
		Guardian has been my go-to keystone on Zilean the entire time I have played him. It really helps with covering up Zilean's weak early game by providing some added survivability for you and your lane partner. Synergises well with my build that stacks a lot of HP as Guardian's shield scales with 8% bonus HP and 12.5% AP. Also adds in a shield to play around which Zilean lacks in his kit, that pairs well with Time Warp, but you have to be careful as it also procs with Chronoshift, which can end badly as the Guardian shield will block damage, which could prevent your ally from taking lethal damage to trigger Chronoshift's revive. Sadly Guardian has been nerfed repeatedly over the years. Due to these nerfs I might be looking at swapping to Summon Aery the majority of the time unless I'm facing an extremely hard engage matchup.
		Font of Life is the only real choice out of the top row in the resolve tree. Provides some healing to allies who auto attack any targets you have CC'd with Time Bomb stuns or Time Warp slows. Synergises well with my build that stacks a lot of HP as Font of Life's heal scales with 0.9% of max HP.
		Conditioning can be a solid situational choice if you know you are vs a free scaling matchup that has no real threat of poking or engaging on you. Getting +8 Armour and +8 Magic Resist, as well as increasing Armour and Magic Resist by 3% after 12 minutes for free is nothing to complain about, some great free increased tankiness!
		Second Wind is a great situational choice when facing hard poke lanes or team compositions in general. Provides some nice health regeneration sustain of 3 + 4% missing health over 10 seconds, a good tip to know is that it will keep re-applying the regeneration if you take damage again during it! Also good for sustaining long drawn out messy fights for objectives such as Dragon or Baron.
		Bone Plating is a must have in situations where you are vs hard engage kill lanes. The added tankiness you get from reducing the next 3 attacks or spells from an enemy by 30-60 (based on level) is very valuable, especially in kill lanes as they will have high burst damage that can punish Zilean's very weak early game. A downside to Bone Plating is that the enemy ADC can just attack you from range to proc it and then wait until it's on cooldown to engage on you. Important to note that the damage being reduced only applies to the champion that attacked you first.
		Revitalize is a decent choice for increasing your buffing potential. You get a free 5% Heal and Shield Power, as well as increased healing and shielding by 10% on targets below 40% health (including yourself). This pairs well with all the different healing and shielding we are using such as Guardian or Summon Aery, Font of Life, Second Wind, Chronoshift, Heal, Redemption and Mikael's Blessing. Although I must say that most of the time you will be healing people to full health with Chronoshift in general, so it can be overkill trying to squeeze out extra healing.
		Unflinching is most likely the best all round choice in the bottom row, this being due to how often you will face some form of CC on the enemy team no matter what. I used to run Revitalize for quite a while but realised it's more important to not be CC'd so you can cast your spells, rather than having some extra Heal and Shield Power, especially since you can buy plenty of it easily, but tenacity and slow resist is harder to buy. Unflinching grants base 5% slow resist and tenacity, and then increases based on your missing health, so we can pair this with Chronoshift sticking around at fights to bait in the enemies!
Sorcery
		Summon Aery is becoming a more promising keystone choice due to Guardian nerfs and the meta having less engage supports on average. You are trading the added survivability of taking Guardian and the resolve tree as a whole, but exchanging it for more damage overall. I would only recommend taking Summon Aery when you are in favourable or even matchups, where extra survivability isn't needed. Allows you to build items such as Chemtech Putrifier, Staff of Flowing Water and Ardent Censer due to the consistent shielding possible.
		Manaflow Band is a must-have choice. Getting a bonus 250 mana, but more importantly restoring 1% of missing mana every 5 seconds, some very nice stats for free! Allows you to have better mana sustain, especially in lane before you have recalled and bought a Faerie Charm. Due to this mana sustain, it allows you to be more active in lane with your spells, putting more pressure on the enemies or making plays.
		Transcendence is an absolute must-have. The amount of value this single rune provides alone is bonkers! At level 5 you get +5 Ability Haste, at level 8 you get +5 Ability Haste and most importantly at level 11 you unlock a powerful passive, scoring a takedown vs an enemy champion will reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%. Crazy value getting all of this for free! Now imagine we are pairing Transcendence with Rewind for a ridiculous amount of ability usage during fights, perma slow or speed up with Time Warp, as well as Time Bomb stuns or zoning in choke points, the options are limitless, what can the enemies do vs that amount of abilities?
		Scorch is only really an option when you are in a favourable matchup that you can poke the enemies super hard in lane. Has been both directly and indirectly buffed with the recent nerfs to sustain as a whole for Health Potion, Refillable Potion, Resolve and Inspiration runes.
		Waterwalking is more of a niche situational choice. Can be taken in situations where you are looking to roam for most of the game and have a big impact for your team in the early game. Gives you some great bonus stats while in the river, so if you are roaming from lane through the river the bonus 25 Movement Speed is useful, as well as the bonus 5-30 AP (based on level) for fights contesting Dragon.
		Gathering Storm is the best choice when you are in free scaling matchups. Since in most scaling lanes you won't have to worry much about having bonus damage or bonus sustain, you can go for some free bonus AP every 10 minutes, so by 20 minutes would end up with +24 AP for free. Gathering Storm becomes increasingly more valuable if games extend for a long time, so with Zilean being one of the strongest scaling late game champions, so they synergise well.
Stat Shards
		+8 Ability Haste is the best choice for Zilean as one of the key stats he wants is Ability Haste.
		+6 Armour is a solid choice when you are vs Physical damage based champions in lane, or the enemy team as a whole.
		+8 Magic Resist is a solid choice when you are vs Magic damage based champions in lane, or the enemy team as a whole.
		+15-140 Health (based on level) is a great option for having some extra tankiness that scales with level, as well as providing some instant value synergy with Guardian and Font of Life.
		+9 Adaptive Force is only really an option when you are in a free matchup that you can scale in or even be aggressive, where the bonus AP will be impactful.

Starting
		Spellthief's Edge is stronger than Relic Shield due to a few reasons being: the stats it offers are useful for Zilean such as AP, HP and mana regeneration. As well as providing a higher gold income if you are damaging enemies, this allows you to complete your support item quest much faster than Relic Shield if you are playing well with your Time Bombs and autos in lane.
		Relic Shield is the more defensive choice when you are vs harder matchups where the bonus HP and safer gold income is valued so you don't suffer as much. Relic Shield can be useful for when you want to push out a cannon wave quickly as you execute minions at half health.
Boots

		Ionian Boots of Lucidity is the best choice for Zilean as they provide 20 Ability Haste very early in the game which is very valuable. Also, an underrated part people forget about is the passive that gives summoner spell haste, which gives you an advantage vs enemies. All these great stats while being one of the cheapest boots in the game!
		Mercury's Treads are a solid situational choice when you are facing an enemy team stacked full of hard CC, or even heavy AP burst damage. These allow you to break out of CC chains that would otherwise be stopping you from being able to use Chronoshift on an ally in a fight.
Mythic
		Shurelya's Battlesong is the best and only mythic item choice for Zilean tbh. It synergises extremely well with Zilean's kit and playstyle as a whole: Such as the passive speeding you up when you buff an ally, so you can keep up with allies you use Time Warp on! As well as providing a bonus of 5 Ability Haste per legendary item. Very flexible as you can use it to speed whole team up to engage or disengage a fight.
Legendary
		Anathema's Chains is my favourite legendary item in the entire game! It is so well designed in the way it works and provides everything I could wish for with my personal Zilean playstyle. It provides great stats: 650 HP and 20 Ability Haste, but more importantly reducing damage taken from the target by 30%, as well as reducing their tenacity by 20% when in range of them, which pairs extremely well with Time Bomb stuns and Time Warp slows. Absolutely incredible item for shutting down and making the enemy team's MVP completely suffer!
		Redemption is always a solid stable choice if there's no real need for any of the situational items. With it's nice AOE burst of healing and damaging it can greatly shift the outcome of a teamfight. It provides useful stats such as: 15 Ability Haste, 200 HP, 16% Heal and Shield Power and 100% Base Mana Regeneration. Can be used when dead so you will still have an impact in the outcome of a fight. Semi-global range so very useful for assisting in plays far away.
		Mikael's Blessing is an extremely powerful item in the right situations such as when the enemy team has a hard CC spell they are relying on for picks such as Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Sleepy Trouble Bubble or Lilting Lullaby. You can instantly cleanse hard CC (except Airborne, Blind, Disarm, Ground, Nearsight and Suppression) from an ally, or in some cases if you time it perfectly you can cleanse yourself if casted preemptively! It also has a little bonus heal for the target you cast it on, as well as having 16% Heal and Shield Power increase.
		Chemtech Putrifier is the best anti-heal item in the game in my opinion. Being able to apply amplified grievous wounds for yourself and any ally you buff is extremely cost-effective. However the only problem with Chemtech Putrifier on Zilean is that you need a heal or shield to proc it, which Zilean doesn't have easily built into his kit, so I would only recommend buying if you have Summon Aery as that allows more frequent and reliable shields.
		Vigilant Wardstone is a criminally underrated item. This is an absolute game changer for vision control, allowing you to have 4 basic wards and 2 control wards placed at the same time! Stat wise, Vigilant Wardstone is an absolute monster with what it provides, 15 Ability Haste and 150 HP, but most importantly it increases your bonus AD, AP, HP and Ability Haste by 12%. That means by full build we end up with an absurd amount of AP, HP and Ability Haste which is perfect for Zilean!

My personal Zilean playstyle is heavily focused on the utility side of his kit. I really enjoy buffing up my allies with Time Warp for insane speed and getting some clutch revives with Chronoshift. On the other side I also enjoy tilting enemies by not letting them being able to reach or kill my allies, basically being a big fun ruiner for them denying any plays they would look to make. Remember that mental warfare is a key part of League of Legends, so try to get advantages from it!
Before Lane
For the first minute or so of the game before laning phase has started, there isn't too much you can do as Zilean is very weak in the early game. The most you can do is throw Time Bombs over walls into bushes where you expect enemies to be sitting, this can result in some free Spellthief's Edge gold procs as well as Manaflow Band stack. Always look out for an option to get any level 1 wards down in the enemy jungle to keep track of where the jungler is pathing. Alternatively, you can ward one of the bot lane bushes and recall for a sweeper to contest control of bot bushes during lane.
Laning Phase
Zilean is extremely weak early game, so you are aiming to just sit back and scale up most of the time. However, depending on what matchup you are facing, it can completely change how you will be looking to play laning phase. Please refer to my Matchups list for more in-depth specifics. After level 3, you have a very strong gank setup with Time Warp into Time Bomb stun combo. This is the most simple but effective play that can result in enemies burning summoner spells, which you can then re-gank and punish later on. However, before level 3 Zilean is very underwhelming and weak compared to most other supports. Zilean has a very easy way of getting wave priority in lane by using Time Bombs on the wave due to great base damage. You can then easily move and help your jungler. This simple play can result in some early leads for your team by getting wave priority then moving to help jungler at first scuttle crab or invading enemy jungle. Once you hit level 6 Zilean becomes a powerful champion. You can now look for easy and clean tower dives (as long as your team are on the same page with Chronoshift). While on the other hand, the enemy team will feel dissuaded from wanting to dive you if Chronoshift is up. As well as making any skirmishes or team fights more favoured for your team due to Chronoshift reviving an ally for numbers advantages.
Roaming
Zilean is quite decent at roaming due to his Time Warp speed zooming around the map. The only issue with roaming is you would be missing out on the important experience you would get consistently by staying in lane bot. So you have to make sure you are only roaming at the correct times to maximise how much experience you are getting, otherwise you will fall behind and not be much of an impactful champion in fights without Chronoshift. I would recommend walking together with your jungler, as Zilean is limited in what he can do solo, it's a lot easier to help jungler for a gank instead of going in solo. For example, you could Time Warp your jungler in with a Time Bomb on them, or engage the gank yourself if the jungler has no setup with Time Warp into Time Bomb stun.
Tips + Tricks
If you are looking to get vision control down in fog of war areas, I recommend always throwing a Time Bomb into unwarded bushes to give some temporary vision instead of facechecking. When you are on your way back to lane, make sure to Time Warp speed up yourself and any allies so you get back faster. This is known as tempo, which is where you have a lead on movement to set up objectives. Early game don't spam out double Time Bomb combos in lane unless you will get something valuable from it, such as burning enemy summoners or straight up resulting in some kills. It just costs way too much mana in general. I recommend going for Time Warp into Time Bomb without using Rewind and a second Time Bomb, as the enemy will be either back off or use some key cooldowns, which during that window you can look again. The amount of players I have coached who didn't know about self casting abilities is crazy. Press your ALT button while casting abilities to self cast. Very useful for Time Warp and Chronoshift, is much quicker and smoother. Don't be afraid to Flash Time Warp slow an enemy that is out of position to start a fight. While on the other hand you can Flash Chronoshift an ally if they are out of range. In a messy team fight where everyone is piled up on top of each other it can be very hard to target the right ally with your abilities. This is where you can use your allies champion icons in the HUD, you can click on them with the ability you want to use and it will cast on them. Time Bombs are not just for damage and CC, they can also be used as a zoning tool. You can throw them in choke points to zone enemies off, very nice for controlling objectives. Keep checking the scoreboard and evaluating who is the MVP on your team you want to protect in fights, especially if they have a big shutdown you don't want the enemy to cash in. You don't always have to use Chronoshift on your MVP ally, if they are positioned well in a fight and you know theres no chance of them dying, you can Chronoshift your front liners instead. Sometimes its better to revive a front liner with full HP so they can continue tanking the enemies!

Support Matchups

Alistar

EASY

X

HARD

is one of the easier engage matchups to deal with.

You have a short window to poke him and have control of lane level 1, but at level 2 onwards you have to respect him as the all-in combo can end badly for you. Especially if you have been pushing up during the level 1 poke, as he can and you into their tower range.

Past level 6 may look to dive you, but if you have it is straightforward to counter as long as you are positioned away from your bot lane partner so you aren't both getting CC'd.

Amumu

EASY

X

HARD

is quite a tough matchup.

The amount of pressure has even from level 1 is scary, this being due to having 2 charges, so level 1 engages can straight up kill you.

Past level 6 's engage lockdown is even stronger with into into another . I would recommend positioning further back so you avoid being hit by then you can save allies who get engaged on.

If you rush it will make this matchup 100x easier, as well as considering for allies.

Ashe

EASY

X

HARD

is a weird matchup.

There's no real pressure in lane in my opinion, just some quite long cooldown poke from .

Past level 6 can be a pain if you are caught out in a bad position and get hit by a long-range , as the stun can last up to a maximum of 3.5 seconds, however if you see it beforehand it should be very easy to dodge with .

Don't think are needed here, just get and have an ally tank .

Bard

EASY

X

HARD

is an interestingly unique matchup.

As usual will just go look for roams all the time, which is both good and bad for us, can stay in lane and scale up for free, but he will build leads for his team, so look to punish the solo enemy bot laner or try to match roams with .

It is very hard to generalise and rate this matchup, as is one of strangest and unique skill champions, especially with , so depending on the player piloting him can make him look very op, or on the other hand very useless.

Blitzcrank

EASY

X

HARD

is one of the scariest matchups.

Everyone knows the terror of being hooked by . One of the strongest abilities in the game that can win a game even when behind.

Early game in lane is somewhat fine as long as you position behind minions vs . But past level 6 if you ever get hooked at all you are most likely dead, or at least won't be able to save any allies due to silence and knock up.

Brand

EASY

X

HARD

is relatively easier to deal with than people think.

Key tip to know is to dodge his and with and you are avoiding his main damage and stun that could lead into a full combo for even more damage.

Sure you will get hit by and guaranteed poke but makes that a walk in the park. For you just have to position away from your allies so it has little effect.

Braum

EASY

X

HARD

is one of the easiest matchups in the game for sure.

You only have to watch out if is paired with , as then it can become a lot more of a deadly kill lane if you ever get tagged by .

The interaction between and is very favoured for as even though blocks the stun, it will snap lock on to him and the AOE stun will still go through and hit enemies behind him.

Galio

EASY

X

HARD

isn't seen that often in support.

His cooldowns are pretty long, with his main engage tool being 18 seconds, and a crazy 200 seconds for , this is one reason why he isn't the greatest support pick.

You have to watch out for into combo layered with a surprising amount of damage from , and .

But as I said due to long cooldown of you can punish during the downtime window.

Janna

EASY

X

HARD

has become a lot easier to play vs.

Before her mini rework the spam poke in lane was very annoying, but now that isn't a major issue anymore.

You have to watch out for with as if you get hit that is a big window the enemy bot have to trade you hard.

Very punishable with into stuns when is on cooldown.

Karma

EASY

X

HARD

is an annoying enchanter-poke mage hybrid.

She has very strong pressure throughout the lane due to poke by itself, then adding in becomes very annoying.

One of the few champions that can contest or even win the wave priority vs .

Her roams are very similar to as well due to , however because it provides a shield it is much stronger in early fights compared to .

Leona

EASY

X

HARD

is a scary engager.

If a ever gets on top of you it won't be very fun with her CC chain combo in whichever order she chooses.

I would recommend rushing to make it easier for you if you are the one getting engaged on.

Early on you have to avoid being hit by which goes through minions, or a simple . So I would recommend keeping bot lane bushes warded and position safely back.

Lulu

EASY

X

HARD

is always a very common meta enchanter pick.

It's a good thing she is very easy to deal with and punish as .

She is very immobile and when is on cooldown she can't do much at all if you into stun her, very easy summoner spell force, into repeat and kill.

You have to focus her down first instead of letting her sit behind her ADC while she buffs them.

Lux

EASY

X

HARD

is a somewhat annoying poke/burst mage.

In lane she will spam poke with which can be hard to dodge due to its big AOE.

I believe as long as you dodge her with then you will be fine, especially after 6 as being hit by a full combo usually results in an instant 100-0 until you have bought some HP items.
However even then you can just trade to survive her one shot, but that trade doesn't favour us as has a ridiculously low cooldown.

Maokai

EASY

X

HARD

is quite a forgotten champion you don't see much.

I think he is quite underrated due to the strength of his kit as a whole and the build diversity he has. He can go either full engage tank mode, or damage mode. Both are somewhat annoying to deal with.

You can abuse his by baiting them to walk into the wave and explode, pushing the wave into you for safer farming. Bit ironic as can be used this way too.

At objectives you can use to see if there are any es in there, then use speed to bait them out to clear the area.

Morgana

EASY

X

HARD

hasn't been that great for a while.

She really only has her annoying 3 second and that is it. Dodge it with and you are fine.

Her is really weak due to nerfs over the years, so unless she maxes it first we will be fine as 's base damage from 3 points will break it easily. It will still be able to block the stun though.

You can easily run from her with and later on.

Nami

EASY

X

HARD

is quite an annoying lane bully early on.

Her makes her very strong early in lane, you can't trade vs her that easily, have to stay out of range and hit s but she can sustain it somewhat.

If paired with it instantly becomes a kill lane due to their synergy of insane burst damage.

Dodge and with and you aren't in any threat of dying.

She is one the squishiest enchanters in the game, very easy to run down and kill with slow into stuns.

Nautilus

EASY

X

HARD

is a very common engager you will see.

He is very strong early on with solid base damage in his kit. If you get hit by you will usually die, but you can position safely behind minions.

After 6 if you ever get hit by his full combo you are fine if is up as you can trade ults and usually get out if your team is around.

If he ever tries to engage with first you can speed whoever he targetted and they run far out of his range before finally knocks them up!

Pyke

EASY

X

HARD

is an exciting yin and yang matchup in my opinion.

He is very strong early game and wants to snowball, while is very weak early game and wants to scale.

Very skill dependent matchup, he can destroy you early if you are ever hooked, or get ed on.

His roams are incredibly strong, very difficult to match them. I would suggest focusing on hitting 6 before him to deny his snowballs.

After 6 you hard counter him though, by stopping resetting with denies a huge amount of 's power and he can't do much.

Rakan

EASY

X

HARD

is a cheeky hybrid of engage and enchanter.

I find very easy to deal with, he has some long cooldowns of being 18 seconds and being 20 seconds.

Early on there isn't much pressure of dying unless paired with a .

After 6 his engage becomes a lot stronger with , but if you cast slow on him he will suffer greatly, especially if he has already used his and to engage.

Make sure to position away from allies so you are not caught in AOE CC chain if the enemy team has a good wombo combo follow up.

Rell

EASY

X

HARD

is a relatively easy matchup.

If she is paired with an aggressive ADC such as it becomes a very deadly kill lane.

Usually, you will be fine as is a very awkward champion with the way she engages. As long as you dodge the Crash Down form you aren't in danger at all, then you can slow and run her down for free kills. Just watch out for the Mount Up form of as it is point and click.

In team fights make sure you are positioned well away from your team so you don't get caught in the + combo, allowing you to protect allies.

Renata Glasc

EASY

X

HARD

is quite a simple matchup.

She wants to play vs melee champions who hard engage into her, which isn't.

You can and yourself and allies out of her slow moving . Even if you get hit your attacks do very little damage so it's fine.

Hard counter her as you can just to slow down the "revived" enemy or speed up your allies to get away from them. As well as letting them kill an ally with wont count for 's full revive.

Senna

EASY

X

HARD

is a very annoying poke matchup.

One of the few matchups I would say is better to take. This being due to 's long range one-sided trades with giving her free stacks.

If you just play back and try not to interact with her it will be much better for you scaling wise, otherwise the stacks will become crazy to deal with later on.

Her can be annoying when you want to slow her as you lose vision, as well as she gains movement speed so landing for vision is harder.

Seraphine

EASY

X

HARD

is quite an easy matchup.

You can poke her down with s as her has a long CD so her sustain isn't great.

With her other spells you can dodge with speed, while ensuring you have good positioning so you aren't hit by , so you can protect allies.

is a solid choice vs and .

Sona

EASY

X

HARD

is the squishiest enchanter in the game.

She is extremely squishy and easy to blow up if you ever get into combo off.

However, she packs a surprising amount of damage for an enchanter, which can be some serious poke as well as burst damage with her , especially the version.

Watch out for into burst damage.

If you don't punish her hard early to mid game you will struggle as she is one of the few champions that can outscale .

Soraka

EASY

X

HARD

is the strongest healing enchanter.

However her heals are extremely weaker if she doesn't hit so make sure to dodge it with and she will be extremely weaker, as is both her key poke and sustain ability.

You have to watch out for 's silence which can block you from casting in fights.

Would recommend getting second item here, make sure you have to proc it easier.

Tahm Kench

EASY

X

HARD

is a relatively one-sided matchup.

His rework did improve his threat level but it's still quite low as he is a defensive champion.

The only real threat is watching out for as there is a chance of being hit into getting ed and pulled away from your team.

As long as you have vision in bushes is a lot weaker, and you can bully him hard as that is his only engage and escape tool which can be cancelled by stuns.

Taric

EASY

X

HARD

is an extremely free matchup.

He wants to be a counterpick vs hard engage and preferably melee champions, which isn't.

Very easy to punish him, perma slow with and kite him, can never get in range for unless he does the last second flash combo, but even then you are fine.

In team fights when is used you can either run away or chase them with and until it has ended.

Thresh

EASY

X

HARD

is an extremely skill-dependent champion.

If the player is great then he becomes a lot harder to deal with.

He is very flexible with how he can play, pure peel defensive gameplay, or more aggressive into .

Watch out for the usual level 2 combo. Other than that sit behind minions vs and you are fine.

His roams are pretty strong with a lot of playmaking abilities. You can try to match them or stay in lane for 6 and hard outscale.

Vel'Koz

EASY

X

HARD

is a very annoying poke mage.

A good player who understands his geometry skillshots are extremely painful to play vs. His is a big mind game to dodge due to the awkward angles he can aim it.

As long as you dodge with you will be fine as that is the key ability for him to hit full combo.

Definitely take or you will suffer slowly from the constant poke that will be tough to dodge when all are thrown at once. for sure too as you won't be in range to proc it.

He is immobile so if you can ever reach him it is easy to run down with into stuns, however reaching a long range poke mage is hard...

Xerath

EASY

X

HARD

is a very similar to , but even more annoying!

He has 4 skill shot abilities for you to dodge, so put on your fancy feet moves with if you wish to have fun.

Hard to avoid his as it has a decent AOE and slows which can set up his other abilities.

Definitely take or you will suffer slowly from the constant poke that will be tough to dodge when all are thrown at once. for sure too as you won't be in range to proc it.

He is immobile so if you can ever reach him it is easy to run down with into stuns, however reaching a long range poke mage is hard...

Yuumi

EASY

X

HARD

is one of the freest scaling lanes in the game.

However is also one of the strongest scaling champions in the game, even more so when compared to due to how she works.

So because she outscales us, we have to look for roams as can't match our speed moving around the map, unless they are sitting on their jungler, but even then they will be farming camps.

Zac

EASY

X

HARD

is one of the rarest but also hardest matchups I have ever played.

A very underrated niche Support pick that destroys immobile champions such as , the points made here can apply for Jungle as well.

He has crazy long range engage that is very hard to cancel with stuns due to how fast he travels.

The CC chain of into and is pretty bonkers, makes it very hard to cast if you get caught in this chain, especially due to these abilities counting as knock ups/knock backs so tenacity doesn't help.

Zyra

EASY

X

HARD

is a pretty unique poke mage matchup.

She has standard skill shots being and to dodge with , but they can also spawn plants if cast near seeds from and .

Her plants can be annoying with the automatic poke they provide if you walk in range, as well as providing some solid zoning control at objectives, even more so when you add in AOE knock up and buffing plants.

However, the plants can all be dealt with by sitting out of their range or using s to stun and kill them.

Finally, we have reached the end of this guide. If you have made it all the way here then I thank you for joining me along this journey. I hope you enjoyed the guide and will be joining the club!

I will look to keep this guide updated every patch. However, I doubt much will change as is never directly nerfed or buffed.

If you have any questions or suggestions about the guide then feel free to leave a comment, I will try to respond to everything. If you want to support my guide, an upvote or +rep would be very much appreciated.

I would also like to give a huge shoutout to Katsandra for their incredible guides that have taught me how to use BBCode better, as well as personally helping fix a few code issues I had!

[12.18] Arcurath's Rank 1 Zilean Support Guide

[12.18] Arcurath's Rank 1 Zilean Support Guide

Recommended Items

Runes: Into hard engage

Spells:

Exhaust

Flash

Flash

Heal

Items

Ability Order

Time in a Bottle (PASSIVE)

Time Bomb (Q)

Rewind (W)

Time Warp (E)

Chronoshift (R)

Threats & Synergies

Samira

Zac

Tristana

Blitzcrank

Pyke

Nautilus

Pantheon

Leona

Thresh

Sett

Karma

Alistar

Rell

Yuumi

Janna

Lux

Seraphine

Brand

Taric

Renata Glasc

Braum

Tahm Kench

Kalista

Samira

Tristana

Kai'Sa

Kog'Maw

Jinx

Lucian

Caitlyn

Ezreal

Miss Fortune

Vayne

Xayah

Varus

Aphelios

Senna

Jhin

Draven

Ashe

Kalista

Samira

Tristana

Kai'Sa

Kog'Maw

Jinx

Lucian

Caitlyn

Ezreal

Miss Fortune

Vayne

Xayah

Varus

Aphelios

Senna

Jhin

Draven

Ashe

Champion Build Guide

[12.18] Arcurath's Rank 1 Zilean Support Guide

Pros

Cons

1