Who am I?
I am InsaneWind a currently Gold rank Support main who mains tanks specifically.

Why should you listen to me and read this guide?
I have well over 100 games on Rell with over a 55% win rate currently I feel that I have enough experience with the champion to at least inform people on how she works, and how to play with her on their team. This guide is not just some click bait guide to get me views on youtube and all my games on Rell are in ranked in NA not on PBE only. I do not claim to be the best player in the world and I will NOT mislead you with a title like "master Rell player" or "Rank 1 Rell player".

If you would like to ask questions that you may still have about Rell after reading this guide I do stream on twitch here twitch.tv/TheProphetWind where you can see sweet plays LIKE THIS

This section is all about how to lane WITH someone who is playing Rell. If you wish to learn how to play Rell this information may also be very helpful but is mostly for people who do not know how Rell works and would like to know in the event that they have a Rell on their team. (a lot of the information here will likely be repeated in other sections as well)

Rell is not as straight forward as she seems but the most important thing to know about playing a lane with Rell in it is that Rell requires patience to be played correctly, it is very easy for a Rell player to do something that can cause a death if they feel overly pressured so be patient and look for either a level 2 or 3 fight and try not to force anything at level one.

Engaging - Rell does have strong engage however it is very weak at level 1 with nothing to follow it up, even thou her W gives her a shield and can knock the enemy up the shield is only 40+ 13% of her hp which is not a lot at level 1 which is why I recommend starting with your E, that way you are less likely to make the mistake of jumping in without anyting to follow up with. Waiting till level two to fight allows Rell to follow up her W with her E which allows her to stun enemies within her "safe zone" (circle around her) and the line between her and your champion. Another strong engage tool for Rell is the second part of her W to get back on her mount and charge at the enemy to put them behind her so she can stun them with her E .

Level 6 - Fighting at level 6 is where Rell can begin to flex what makes her great but again be patient if the person playing Rell messes up even being off by a tiny amount her ult can be useless. The most important thing to know about Rells ult is that it WILL NOT prevent people from dashing or flashing out of it. It works basically like a gravity well at first knocking people up and pulling them into her then slowing them for 2 seconds as they try to walk away, this can be used to interrupt dashes if timed well enough but will not prevent anyone from Dashing/jumping/Flashing out of it.

The Good - Rell has a lot of CC and if played right a lane with a Rell in it can carry most team fights.

The Bad - Rells E can give people away who are in a bush, it not only points to where the ally she is tethered to is but the tether can be seen at all times if one of you is visible which is very unfortunate because it takes a lot of warding requirements away from the enemy bot lane and gives away any attempted sneak attacks. Some people do over look this but not everyone is blind to it.


TL;DR -
Be patient with a Rell player there is a lot of pressure on engage supports not to screw up as it is and Rell is one of the easiest to screw the pooch with.

Rells tether (Her E) takes 3 seconds to arm when placed on someone, it cannot be used right away to stun someone when she changes her tether. The circle around you is also in the stun area even if the target is not between you and Rell.

Rells tether can be seen if ONE of you are in the bush and the other is not. So no sneaky "bait them I can stun with my E" tricks sadly.

Rells ult isnt the best deals nearly no damage and does not ground people (does not keep them from dashing or flashing)

Rell is not as straight forward as one might think. Yes Rell is a tank support with strong engage capabilities and hard CC, some have called her "Leona 2.0" but aside from being a tank support with a stun the two champions are VERY different.

Rells abilities

Passive
Rells passive is Break the mold which allows her to steal 10% of her targets Armor and Magic Resistance for 4 seconds while dealing bonus damage equal to 8-16 based on level + armor and MR stolen. Rells passive can take armor and MR from multiple enemies and reapplies to all targets when applying it to one.

Q
Rells Q is Shattering Strike which when used on a shielded target will break the shields (works on all shields and multiple targets) while also applying her passive to the first target hit. It also has a very weak heal for each enemy hit with it that only works if you have a tethered ally near by.

W
Rells W is Ferromancy Crash down/Mount up which is used to initiate most fights, or to peel for your carry.

Crash down gives you a shield of 40(+13% max hp) shield (shield increases by 30 per skill level) and increases armor and MR by 10% while making your base move speed 250.

Mount up is the second part of Rells W which increased your movement speed by 15% for 3.5 seconds and then adds 25/30/35/40/45% when approaching an enemy. Your next attack within 3.5 seconds will become unstoppable and fling your target behind you while also stunning them for 1 second (from the moment your auto hits them) this can also be used to reset your auto attack.

E
Rells E is Attract and Repel which is used to stun any enemies on top of you/your tether and anyone in-between you two. Rells E also grants your tethered ally 10% of your armor and MR and costs no mana to tether to a new ally.

Attract and Repel is VERY easy to accidentally remove from your ally or change who it is on be very ware of your cursor placement when trying to stun someone or you may find yourself waiting between 3-6 seconds just to use the ability to stun an enemy. as it takes 3 seconds to "arm" itself and allow you to use the stun when putting it on someone new.

The tether between Rell and her ally can be seen by the enemy even if one or the other person is hiding in a bush. Some people are blind to this but not everyone is. Please keep this is mind you must both be in a bush (does not need to be the same bush) for the tether to be invisible to the enemy team.

R
Rells Ultimate is Magnet storm which creates a gravity well effect pulling enemies towards her for 2 seconds with an initial hard pull ontop of her allowing her to use her E to also stun everyone she pulls. This ability does NOT ground the people who are inside it just slows and pulls them for 2 seconds as they try to walk away, your enemies can flash/jump/dash out of it.

Rells lane phase can be strong or weak depending on the match up but this is true with all champions.

Rell is strong against champs that can shield or are aggressive such as Nautilus, Thresh and Leona I know some disagree with the last two but this is where patience comes in let them make a mistake first.

Rell is weak against casters in the bot lane basically anything that can poke her out like Brand, Swain, Janna, Lulu, ect...

At level one I know it is very temping to take your W but trust me take your E
first, it will keep you from making an avoidable level 1 mistake since at level 1 not matter how well your jump into the enemy bot lane is you are now at a huge mobility disadvantage and if they flash/dash/tumble out of the way you will likely die even if you flash away.

Level 2 fight time against most lanes. At level two is when you should take your W for the simple fact you will now have the follow up with your E allowing you to jump into the enemy bot lane and stun them making your immobility less of a liability. However if you are against a match up that has shields in the bot lane consider waiting till level 3 to fight in order to have your Q which will allow you to break their shields right away.

Sometimes you have to wait till level 6 to fight, that is alright, be patient and don't make any mistakes, don't feel pressured to make a play and you will do fine. once you are level 6 you should have leveled your skills in this order E>W>Q>W>E>R this gives you the best options to fight between levels 4 to 6 depending on the enemy bot lane of course.

When in lane you may want to trade to give your lane the advantage for a fight in a few seconds. Remember trades are not just about costing the enemy their hp, it can be summoner spells, potions, or mana. Rell isn't great for trades but she is great for punishing a bad trade. As stated before be patient everyone makes mistakes and I do mean everyone. A lot of people make bad trades because they lose patience and try to force something, it is that moment you should capitalize on an Alistar doing his combo can lead into you jumping on the enemy adc to stop their damage a stun, into igniting the Alistar into getting your adc or you a kill.

Some lanes are really good for Rell to trade, champions like Nautilus will shield themselves to proc their support item simply Q them at level 3 and you will pop their shield and create the illusion of dealing a ton of damage, some people refuse to learn how a new champion works use that to your advantage. You may only do 30 to 70 damage to them but it looks like 250-300 to them.

In most cases your ADC will attempt to trade let them know your experience on Rell and tell them you are unsure if you can trade well or not. Just because someone else may be able to make something work does not mean everyone else can.

Rell excels at setting up a great team fight or countering an enemy engagement.

The ideal places to team fight with Rell is obviously enclosed areas like baron pit, Dragon, the river, or the jungle any place where Rell can have the enemy grouped up in order to Crash down into the enemy team knocking them up into ulting them into using her E to stun them.

Once the initial start of the fight is over Rells job is to now look for anyone trying to get to the carries and peel for them as much as she can, if you maxed your E you can stun far more often than if you maxed your W first since maxing your W only gives you more shield strength while keeping the same CD time.

Save using Locket till after your CC has worn off which will be about 2 seconds into the fight, use it after getting your carries in range which you should be doing immediately after blowing your load. You should then mount up and CC anyone trying to run away from the fight OR more importantly to your carry.

After mounting back up E again for another stun before crashing back down into any stragglers or to save any of your low hp team members.


When trying to counter engage you want to look to CC the enemy carries your tether has a long enough range to keep a carry tethered but if you feel it will break tether to one of you other melee members and just CC the hell out of the enemy team, Remember to use locket to keep anyone alive who needs it while using Gargoyle Stoneplate to afford yourself extra time in the fight.

The same CC chain can and should be used when countering an engage or starting one, some times it is better to hold off on a skill such as your Q to burst any desperate shields or to make a Sett cry.

Obviously playing from ahead or being even is MUCH easier than having to play from behind on any Champ, however Rell does not have all the same issues that most other tanks do. Rell has enough hard CC that she can save her team or turn around a losing team fight even if behind this however DOES NOT mean go die for no reason.

Do not worry about being behind on Rell, simply look to help your team as much as you can. Remember Rell is a powerhouse of CC, find the most fed person on your team and keep them alive you can get back into the game with even just one person on your team who can kill 1-2 people on their own, with you helping them that could be boosted to 3-4 people if you play it right.

Remember games can be won or lost on a single bad team fight so all you need is one good team fight.

I know that there is a lot to read here and I hope it was helpful to those who read absolutely everything. I know some people just want a quick TL;DR about guides. the short and quick of it is PATIENCE.

On Rell just be patient don't rush anything and you can play well, you will learn the champion naturally and gain confidence over time.

Rell is bad against casters

Rell is good in team fights even when behind.

Tether can be seen by everyone and I mean EVERYONE. Also 3 sec CD before you can stun with it after putting it on someone.

Don't start W if you do you will probably die because of it Start E.

Let the enemy come to you, let them make mistakes and then you go in.