Rell Is THE Pick In LCS/LEC - But Why?

In the League of Legends professional esports scene, it is usually the AD carry with the high eliminations getting the fame and praise for his performance. However, one equally important role is the support that provides shields and initiates skirmishes for the team to get good team fight setups. Supports have a very complicated role, and there hasn't been a go-to support champion in the meta for quite some time now.

In recent times, Rell, the Iron Maiden, has definitely assumed the role of being the best support picks, with teams either prioritising her early in the drafting phase or merely getting rid of her. With support champions like Thresh, Alistar, and Tahm Kench on the rise, Rell has sneaked into the meta, and has been dominating the bottom lane with her AD carries. At the first look, Rell seemed an okay-ish champion to many analysts, until she showcased her true potential in the LCS/LEC matches, where support players used her so well that her pick and win rate went sky-high.

• Related: G2 Rekkles And Mikyx Are A Match Made In Heaven

RELL'S SUCCESS IN THE LCS/LEC

Without blabbering much about her greatness in the pro leagues around, let us back up our statements with proper stats, shall we? Rell has been rising in popularity, and the first LCS team to pick her was FlyQuest. Support players like Team Liquid's Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in have utilised the Rell pick during his match against teams like Evil Geniuses and Cloud9, despite getting his comfort pick as Thresh Blitzcrank removed from the table.

While his team couldn't win the matches, he did use his role to get good team fights, and brought a lot of utility to the side. CLG Andy "Smoothie" Ta recently picked Rell, and despite having a massive deficit against Dignitas, the team was able to pick up small fights, and Rell was used as a tank to separate the team and prevent them from grouping, ending up winning the match. Moreover, with that win, LCS Week 4 Day 3 had a 100% win-rate of Rell, as teams picking her up played brilliantly around her abilities.

In the LEC, the scenes weren't much different, as G2 Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle dominated Fnatic with his stunning Flash+R combo to provide a winning team-fight for the ally team. Moreover, the LEC supports are creating their legacy with Rell as players like SK Erik "Treatz" Wessén are maintaining a high win-rate and dominating matches with stunning engages and beautiful game sense. 

WHY IS RELL'S KIT SO EFFECTIVE IN PRO PLAY?

Now that we've showcased Rell's good stats, let us move onto her abilities and deciphering how she is such a potent threat to any team's composition. Starting with her passive, Break the Mold, which reduces the enemies' armour and magic resistance by 10% for 4 seconds, refreshing with each auto-attack.

While it might not seem like much, it plays a massive role in bot lane skirmishes and makes trading in lane easier for the champion. Moreover, she takes away stats from the enemy champions that she auto attacks making her a tank to be reckoned with in the team fights. Her Q directly breaks any shields; therefore, it is a solid counter to enchanters in the current meta. Her Ferromancy abilities are extraordinary, gaining quick shields and running from lousy team fights. 

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Her E is a line stun that the enemies can see as well, and it can be tough to land in bot lane trades as teams typically play around them. Instead, using it to buff the AD carry while trading could be a great way to use the ability, and if the AD carry has high mobility like Tristana, then it could be easier to land the stun and obliterate with your combo. The last and the most potent engagement tool for this champion is her ultimate ability - Magnet Storm. Rell forms a huge magnetic circle around her, and when the team is grouped up around a wall, players can pounce in with this ability and auto-attack everyone to become very tanky.

Rell might die after this engage and soaking in damage from the enemies, but she can forge the way for AOE abilities from the ally team and make them easier to land on the opponents and easily secure team fights and win matches.

SHOULD YOU PICK RELL WHILE PLAYING RANKED MATCHES?

Absolutely! If you are a support main, or just someone who got auto-filled into the support role during a ranked match, do not dodge the queue and pick Rell with the AD carry, and grab some free wins. Her kit is elementary and straightforward; therefore, every elo player could use the champion if they know how to place combos and set up team fights.

Images via Riot Games