Blitzcrank is a beefy champion with ridiculous crowd control and high overall mobility who has recently been seeing a lot more use as a bottom lane Support. His unique Rocket Grab ability, despite costing a lot of mana and being on a long cooldown, can single-handedly turn lanes, team fights, and even games around. In fact, it's such a powerful effect that Blitzcrank has the ability to zone out opponents simply by walking towards them. Knowing this, it's not a surprise to hear that Blitzcrank is a very offensive support, and in my opinion, one of the best offensive supports around.

Pros:

• Lots of crowd control, making him strong at peeling champions off your carries as well as contributing in team fights.
• High overall mobility with
• Natural bulkiness, especially with and other lategame defensive items.
• . Enough said.

Cons:

• Reliant on if he wants to provide his partner with lane sustain.
• Loses a lot of his effectiveness if he can't land , especially considering it has such a high mana cost and cooldown.
• Has high-costing skills; in particular. Spamming these skills can easily leave Blitzcrank out of mana.

On Blitzcrank, I like to run 0/9/21 masteries. Blitzcrank is naturally bulky, and the +30 HP, +6 armor, and +6 HP per level help with that a lot in the early levels. I also put a point into Summoner's Resolve for the improved summoner. With the recent Summoner Skill changes, is now an excellent skill for champions like Blitzcrank who previously didn't have any way to sustain in a support position.

In the utility tree, I take a point into Summoner's Insight for the improved and/or , as well as three points into Expanded Mind. This lets me put three points into Meditation as well to give me a bit more leeway with Blitzcrank's abilities. Next, I put four points into Swiftness for the oh-so-important movement speed. After that is four points into Greed for the 2 extra gold per 10 seconds, which lets me put two points into Wealth. I then put three points into Intelligence instead of Awareness, so that I can max out Blitzcrank's cooldown reduction lategame when I have both and . Finally, I put the last point into Mastermind.

Other options:


8/1/21 is another option for Blitzcrank if you're still planning on using . The notable mastery in the offensive tree here is Sorcery, giving you a total of 10% cooldown reduction from your masteries alone. This lets Blitzcrank max out his cooldown reduction at 40% as soon as he finishes his and , although building the latter into a puts you over the cap and is a slight waste. It's also worth noting that if you aren't running , you're better off putting that point from Summoner's Resolve into Arcane Knowledge in the offensive tree.



If you aren't running , you have the option of running 9/0/21 masteries. You lose some bulk from the defensive tree, but you gain some AD, attack speed, and armor penetration. If you're giving up either or for one of , don't forget to put a point into Summoner's Wrath.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of 9/0/21 masteries on Blitzcrank. I prefer to have the extra early bulk rather than the armor penetration, but the option IS there for those who like it. It's a shame Blitzcrank can't have both Sorcery and Weapon Expertise without heavily investing into the offensive tree :(

It's probably best if I just list Blitzcrank's options for runes from my personal favourites to least favourites. After all, Blitzcrank has a surprising amount of different runes he can use:

• Greater Mark of Resilience (+0.91 Armor)

These are my marks of choice to keep me in the bottom lane as long as possible for zoning purposes. Self-explanatory for the most part.

• Greater Mark of Desolation (+1.66 Armor Penetration)

These are definitely the second best choice, to give Blitzcrank some extra oomph on his damage output. Note that Armor Penetration is more effective than Magic Penetration due to the fact that both have way higher cooldowns than

• Greater Mark of Destruction (+1.0 Armor Penetration/+0.57 Magic Penetration)

As of right now (Ahri patch), these runes are brand new. Since Blitzcrank does do both AD and AP damage, they may be more useful than armour penetration marks. However, I won't know for sure until I'm able to buy them and test them out (which will take awhile considering they're 820 IP each and I have bigger priorities than these at the moment)

• Greater Mark of Insight (+0.95 Magic Penetration)

If you don't own any of the above marks but have these, don't be afraid to use them. Just try to save up for more effective marks whenever possible.

• Greater Seal of Clarity (+0.065 Mana Regen / 5 sec. per level)

I like to run these alongside flat armour marks to give Blitzcrank some much-needed mana regen without completely neglecting the advantage of having extra armour earlygame.

• Greater Seal of Resilience (+1.41 Armor)

These are the runes you should be running if you decide to use armour penetration marks. Extra earlygame armour is huge when you're in the bottom lane. These runes are pretty standard on most supports at the moment as well as most junglers, so they're worth picking up even if you do end up using mana regen yellows.

• Greater Seal of Avarice (+0.25 Gold / 10 sec.)

These runes were also just introduced in the Ahri patch, and to be honest they kind of make your rune selection a really tough choice. If you're a player who is very conservative with mana-usage, these seals could definitely be worth it. Again though, I won't know for sure until I'm able to buy an entire set of them.

• Greater Glyph of Clarity (+0.055 Mana Regen / 5 sec. per level)

I like running these with clarity seals to get a pretty wicked amount of mana regen. Unlike marks and seals, I feel like Blitzcrank doesn't have as many viable options with glyphs, so I really recommend running these.

• Greater Glyph of Focus (-0.65% Cooldowns)

These aren't necessarily bad on Blitzcrank, but I feel like the mana regen is more important. Also, with your item build + masteries, you risk running fairly overboard on cooldown reduction. I just think these runes are neither necessary nor optimal.

• Greater Glyph of Shielding (+0.15 Magic Resist per level)

These are another option if you want to be slightly beefier on the magical side later on in the game. However, I also feel like these just plain aren't as useful as having the extra mana regen early on in lane.

• Greater Quintessence of Swiftness (+1.5% Movement Speed)

Blitzcrank has a need for speed. A ridiculously fast-moving Blitzcrank is something that makes your opponents' lives flash (not ) before their eyes. With all the movement speed increasing items/masteries/runes/abilities Blitzcrank has he will be almost impossible to catch, which is especially important when Blitzcrank has . Also, the movement speed allows Blitzcrank to get into the best position for his team quickly, and with Blitzcrank's amazing crowd control, positioning is EVERYTHING (More on this later).

• Greater Quintessence of Fortitude (+26 Health)

These may not seem like much, but combined with the Veteran's Scars mastery, Blitzcrank gets an extra 108 HP at level 1. That's more than a /. These really give Blitzcrank the breathing room to play more aggressively in lane and set up kills for your carry. However, as a wise man once said, "If you ain't first, you're last!" That's why I personally prefer movement speed quintessences. :p

• Greater Quintessence of Avarice (+1 gold / 10 sec.)

These are another excellent option if you find that you're significantly lagging behind in terms of gold and/or item build compared to the other players. It goes without saying that supports are starved for gold, and these runes directly help Blitzcrank out with that.


Here are some other sample rune pages (screenshots will be added when available):

"Offensively Oriented"

• 9 Greater Marks of Desolation
• 9 Greater Seals of Resilience
• 9 Greater Glyphs of Clarity
• 3 Greater Quintessences of Avarice

"Defensively Oriented"

• 9 Greater Marks of Resilience
• 9 Greater Seals of Resilience
• 9 Greater Glyphs of Shielding
• 3 Greater Quintessences of Fortitude

"Bar Mitz-crank"

• 9 Greater Marks of Resilience
• 9 Greater Seals of Avarice
• 9 Greater Glyphs of Clarity
• 3 Greater Quintessences of Avarice

Any mix of can work on Blitzcrank. I prefer to use Heal/Flash nowadays, but before the Heal buff I used Clairvoyance/Flash and it still worked out fine. Heal/Clairvoyance is also a very good option, but without Flash you will be a sitting duck if you get caught out of position. I recommend trying every combination out and using the one that best suits your playstyle.

I'll do a quick Summoner Spell tier list for Blitzcrank I guess, with no specific order within the tiers:

Top Tier:

• The new and improved Heal is a staple on most supports nowadays, and for good reason. The safety net that Heal gives you and your carry is vital for staying in lane as long as possible.

• It's no surprise that Flash is still one of the best Summoners even after the range nerf. It can be used defensively to escape a gank, but it can also be used offensively by setting Blitzcrank up with surprise s and s.

• The former #1 Summoner Skill for supports is now no longer a necessity due to the nerf in it's duration. However, map vision with global range is still extremely useful to have, whether you need to use it on brushes to give vision for a gank/team fight or whether you just need to make sure that the opponents aren't fighting Dragon/Baron.

Mid Tier:

• If for some reason you're looking for a replacement for //, Exhaust is definitely the next best choice. Landing a -> -> combo is, to put simply, deadly. Consider Exhaust if you're going to be playing against a passive bottom lane where you won't need as much and if your lane partner is running // +

• I see Ghost as a pretty strong option over in a few situations. For example, when threatening a , being able to quickly close the gap while your opponents try to juke is a very effective way of putting your opponents between a rock and a hard place (either they don't juke and get 'd, or they juke and get 'd). However, I feel that the extra defensive merits has give it the edge over Ghost in almost every situation.

• This is a niche option that helps ensure kills in lane and can also help neuter lanes with a lot of healing (like say, Vayne, who almost always builds early lifesteal, and Soraka, who has healing out the wazoo). It sounds pretty logical in theory, but I just personally haven't had any situations come up yet where I say to myself, "Hmm, I should definitely go Ignite this game."

"Please don't use these as a support" Tier:

When Blitzcrank life is brought below 20% health he activates Mana Barrier. Mana Barrier can only occur once per minute. This creates a mana shield with 50% of his mana, lasts 10 seconds and refunds any unspent mana.



A pretty useful passive for tight situations. Note that the shield is made from 50% of his CURRENT mana, not his max mana, so if you get caught after you've been spamming all of your abilities, you're probably out of luck. It's also good to note that this works really well with baits, provided you don't have an empty mana bar.




Blitzcrank fires his right hand, if it encounters an enemy unit it will stun them and deal 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300 (+80% of ability power) magic damage while he pulls them to himself.

Cooldown 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16 seconds
Cost 140mana
Range 1000



This skill is Blitzcrank's bread and butter (or margarine, for those of you currently on a diet). It can initiate team fights, assassinate squishies by pulling them away from their protectors, and indirectly make your opponents play a lot more careful. The difference between a decent Blitzcrank and a good Blitzcrank is how many good Rocket Grabs they can land. On that note, I'd like to specifically emphasize the words 'how many' and 'good' in that last sentence.

The percentage of Rocket Grabs you land doesn't matter. What matters is HOW MANY Rocket Grabs you can land. For example, landing 75% of your Rocket Grabs in a single game could mean that you landed 60 Rocket Grabs out of 80 attempts, or that you only landed 3 Rocket Grabs out of 4 attempts. Obviously the player who lands 60 Rocket Grabs in a game did a better job than the person who only landed 3.

The other key point is landing GOOD Rocket Grabs. It doesn't matter how many Rocket Grabs you can land if you're pulling the fully farmed // into the middle of your team. Always aim for the squishiest target possible when using Rocket Grab so that your teammates can quickly kill the target and then hopefully win the upcoming 5vs4 team fight.

I realize that a lot of people might find this information to be really basic and obvious, but I feel that these points deserved mentioning regardless.




Blitzcrank super charges himself to increase Movement Speed by 16 / 20 / 24 / 28 / 32% and attack speed by 30 / 38 / 46 / 54 / 62% for 8 seconds. However, when this effect ends his movement speed is decreased by 25% for 3 seconds.

Cooldown 15 seconds
Cost 75 mana
Range 1



Overdrive is the unsung hero of Blitzcrank's skillset, mainly because it isn't hard crowd control like his other skills. However, this skill is extremely useful. Mobility is absolutely vital both for Blitzcrank as a character (so he can position himself to land more s) as well as for supports in general (so they become harder to catch with an , can roam the map faster, and get to their allies' aid quicker in team fights).

Using Overdrive is important when threatening a target with . If the target starts juking back and forth in attempt to dodge the predicted , you can just run up to them very quickly and knock them up with .

Also note that the cooldown on Overdrive starts when you activate the move, not when the Overdrive effect wears off. This means that from mid to late game with the cooldown reduction from your and /, you can keep Overdrive active almost all the time (it has an 8 second duration and, with 40% cooldown reduction, a 9 second cooldown)




Blitzcrank charges up his fist to make his next attack deal double his total attack damage and pop his target up in the air.

Cooldown 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
Cost 25 mana
Range 300



This will be your most-used move as Blitzcrank in skirmishes and team fights, both because the knockup is really useful and because it has really low cooldown. Use it after a successful so you can chain your crowd control together and really disable your target.

Something to note is that if you queue this up before a Galio uses his ultimate on you, you can cancel it by knocking him up. This makes Blitzcrank a pretty good counter to him (just mentioning it here because I don't really know where else to put it). Power Fist also resets your autoattack timer and the double damage works on turrets, so don't forget to use it while pushing a tower.




Passive: Lightning arcs off of Blitzcrank to hit a random nearby enemy for 100 / 200 / 300 (+25% of ability power) magic damage every 2.5 seconds.

Active: Deals 250 / 375 / 500 (+100% of ability power) and silences surrounding enemy units for 0.5 seconds. The passive is not in effect during the cooldown.

Cooldown 40seconds
Cost 150mana
Range 600



The passive effect is sometimes the most annoying thing in the world when it messes up your carry's last hits. Just make sure to stay away from minions if possible and if you're camping the bottom brush, hug the wall. If you're ever stuck in a 1v1 situation, the passive effect of Static Field will end up doing more damage than the active effect.

The active portion is how you finish your -> combo, silencing your target so that he can't away instantly. It also does a pretty respectable amount of damage and has a low cooldown for an ultimate. Just make sure that you don't spam it often because, like , Static Field does cost a lot of mana.

> > >

This is the general skill order you'll be using through the game. Just make sure to get a point in at level 1 so that you're an immediate threat both in lane and during jungle invasions, but don't actually max the skill out until last.

Once you get a point in every skill by level 3, start maxing out your so that you can get the cooldown as low as possible on it. Max out your next, so you can move quickly around the map to place and/or clear wards with . Take your whenever possible and you're set!

It's a pretty easy skill order to figure out, isn't it?

UPDATE: Maxing out before is an option Pato is on Fire suggests in the comments, which I agree is worth mentioning as another option. Generally I prefer the lowered cooldown on but if, for example, you're up against a team that can easily punish you for being out of position (like a in mid lane and an enemy jungler with lots of crowd control like ), you may find yourself wanting to max out first so that you can move faster when roaming the map with and make it harder for the other team to catch you.

In scenarios like this, Maxing out first is totally fine. It's always best to level up the skill you feel like you need most in the situation at hand. The main things to take from this section are the facts that you only need a single rank in and that you should take whenever possible.

OR OR

Blitzcrank should always be starting with a as a support because it builds into and costs very little gold. The rest of your starting gold should be spent on a combination of wards and potions. You'll notice there are a few options when it comes to the consumables: is my go-to choice since it gives a good balance of self-sustain and gank/brush vision, is for when I want to counter the enemy support's ward placement and can afford the loss of sustain from the lack of potions, and is when I can afford the lack of potions but still want plenty of wards to keep the lane safe for a prolonged period of time.


Optional: /

Getting two gold/10 sec items helps give Blitzcrank actually get enough gold to buy items, and is standard on almost every support champion in the game. Level 1 boots should be your next priority, while also making sure to buy plenty of wards whenever possible to give your team as much map control as possible. If you've been getting a lot of assists or if you and your team have noticed a lot of ward placement by your opponents, getting an early can really help deny map control from the other team.

If you need some extra damage as well as more mana, getting a or can help you out. However, I am personally not a big fan of this since building one of these just puts you behind on getting items to help the team like /.

/ /

I love on Blitzcrank. Getting the right positioning to land a pull is so important and having the movement speed to be able to do that quickly helps a lot (and I'm pretty sure I've said this a lot in this guide, so sorry if I'm being really redundant). However, if the other team has a lot of crowd control on their team, the extra tenacity from can really go a long way. are also an option if you want to go with a cooldown reduction route because they max out your cooldown reduction when combined with the 10% from a 9/0/21 or 8/1/21 mastery page and the 15% from .



- Core on almost every support, and for good reason. The speed boost to your entire team can give your team a huge advantage during team fights, whether you're initiating or trying to get away. The fact that it only has a 60 second cooldown is just icing on the cake. This is almost always my first item built after boots and gp/10 sec items.

- Another fantastic item for supports due to the strong defensive aura it gives to your team. I almost always build this, but you can skip it if you have a jungler who will build it instead like //.

- The armor, cooldown reduction and mana alone make this a good item for Blitzcrank. The attack speed reduction aura makes this a great item for Blitzcrank. This should be high on your priorities if the enemy team has a lot of autoattackers, but is still a good choice even if your opponents have a couple champions who autoattack a lot.

- Another great defensive item that has a really good active. I generally prefer to build Frozen Heart over this, but if you need the extra HP and the slow from the active, don't be afraid to build this instead. Like Shurelya's Reverie, the 60 second cooldown on the active is just amazing.

- Consider building this if you have a lot of autoattacking champions on your team. As good as the attack speed/lifesteal aura is though, I prefer to build this as a 5th or 6th item rather than earlier in the game due to the fact that it doesn't really synergize with Blitzcrank when he's in a support role.

- Another item that you probably won't be building until you're almost finished your build since things like Shurelya's Reverie/Aegis of the Legion/Frozen Heart will most likely be more of a priority. The problem with Soul Shroud however is the fact that by the time you build it, your teammates will most likely not need the cooldown reduction/mana regeneration aura it provides.

- Like Stark's Fervor, this item really doesn't synergize with what Blitzcrank is trying to do in a support role. However, if you need the magic resist and you have teammates who do a lot of magic damage, definitely consider building this item.

- Again, consider building this if your teammates do a lot of magic damage and they need some more damage/sustain in team fights.

- This is probably your best bet if you need a magic resist item since it also gives Blitzcrank health/mana and the passive.

- This is another solid choice for a magic resist item, especially if you're up against an enemy ///

+
( > > )

This is just an example of a full build against a balanced team. I end up with +975 bonus HP, +129 bonus armor and +89 magic resist to give me a lot of overall bulk. I have lots of auras between the active on and the passives on /. Note that I also keep an item slot open for s since I'll be buying and placing them throughout the entire game. You can also still buy and // if you don't have any item slots available and they'll automatically be used.

In this section I'll try to go over the matchups you'll probably encounter in the bottom lane, including both Ranged ADs and Supports. For each Ranged AD, I'll also include a section detailing how well that champion partners up with Blitzcrank.

(WORK IN PROGRESS)



















In a way she's like the jack-of-all-trades support. She provides lane sustain, she has really good poke with her Power Chords, a good initiation (or anti-initiation) with her ultimate, and all of her skills have auras for her teammates. That being said, she is very squishy. If you land a grab on her and you're laning with someone with high burst like , it should be a guaranteed kill. I find that most Sonas leave themselves open for a grab when they go in for Hymn of Valor + Power Chord harass; after all, it's hard to make her Hymn of Valor hit a champion when there are minions around! Use this to your advantage when looking for grabs by trying to anticipate when the Sona is going to go on the aggressive.

If Sona has Flash, watch out for her Flash Crescendo combo. If she's laning with a high-burst partner or a partner like with Enchanted Crystal Arrow, it can easily give her team a kill.


She is known universally as THE sustain support. She does a very good job of keeping the lane as passive as possible and turning it into a farmfest, both by healing her carry of any harass and by keeping her carry with as much mana as possible.

Another thing that Soraka does to keep lanes passive that a lot of people just don't notice is outrange almost every support's harass/initiation with her Infuse. It has 725 range, which is more than 's Headbutt, 's Hymn of Valor, 's Dazzle, 's Zenith Blade, 's Twisted Advance, 's Parrrley, etc. This lets Soraka deny an initiation from any of these champions if she wants to, and there isn't much they can do unless they catch her out of position from the brush or initiate with a Flash. Blitzcrank is an exception to this, however, since his Rocket Grab has 1000 range. Being able to initiate through Soraka's sustain and denying tools is something the Soraka player will always have to be aware of.

When going for Rocket Grabs, try to wait until after Soraka has used her Astral Blessing first. It has a 20 second cooldown, so once the armor buff from it wears off you have plenty of time to attempt a grab before it comes back up again. Alternatively, you can just ignore the armor buff and attempt to grab whichever champion Soraka didn't heal. If you manage to land a grab on Soraka, it will most likely be a kill, especially since nowadays a lot of Soraka players aren't taking Flash.

Finally finished :)

Hopefully this will get more players using Blitzcrank as a support. I spent a lot of time typing up this guide, but I'm sure people will find mistakes, have suggestions/advice/criticism/questions, etc. If you have anything you want to say about this guide, PLEASE do so! I'll gladly answer any questions, explain any decisions I've made, discuss any criticism, or whatever.

I'm planning on updating this with in-depth stuff about what to do early/mid/late game, what to do during team fights, and anything else that requires in-depth explanations. For now though, I figure this guide is good enough to at least give people a good idea of how support Blitzcrank works.

December 19, 2011:
-Guide finished and released! Hip-hip! (*cricket*)

Januray 15, 2012:
-Updated Skill Order
-Started working on Lane Matchups section. Gonna be a lot of typing so I probably won't be able to do it all at once