LoL Bot Lane Synergy - Win The Lane in Champion Select

Welcome to our guide, Summoner! In this article, you will gain the most sacred, protected knowledge about picking champions for Bot Lane, so your duo can decimate every enemy on the Summoner's Rift. We guarantee that you will know everything about Bot Lane champion synergy, so you can climb with your duo partner, and get those silly matching wristbands that say "ADC" and "Support." The road is long, but with this guide - you will get there.

The thing about Season 9...

is that Bottom Lane has the most potential when it comes to dominating the game. Of course - both Mid and Jungle can impact the map Early Game with ganks and roams. However, when it comes to Mid Game, if your Bot Lane is winning, it will lead to easy dragons, more downed turrets, and skirmishes in which your ADC deals the most damage. Having a really bad ADC is a complete disaster, when you get to the Late Game, as someone who should have the most impact, will do absolutely nothing.

It is one of the reasons why your Marksman and Support must be both comfortable with their pick, even if they are not skilled at them. Being comfortable with their champion of choosing will cause less stress, fewer rages, close to no rage-quits, and it can lead to great plays. And if those two guys are on the same page, meaning that they both commit to their lane in one single playstyle - you have an easy ticket to a victory.

What is Bot Lane Synergy?

It's somewhat of compatibility between two different champions. Multiple champions will excel at certain things. One will have powerful harass, but they are not good when it comes to longer trades. Someone will provide heals, and shields, but will create zero pressure on the lane. And some champions go all-in, knowing their damage and crowd control while being utterly useless when played passively.

Most of the time, you will want to pick champions that are both good at the same thing or champions that can help the other go for better plays. And that's what can win your lane. Lucian will need someone who can easily engage and set up kills. Ashe and Jinx want to survive until the mid-late game, so someone with a decent disengage, shields, or heals, basically any means of preservation.

Bot Lane Synergy Examples

We will look at a few champions, and we will specify what picks will complement then best on the lane. Of course, we won't mention every possible combination or every single champion that is strong. But we can guarantee that you will know what kind of ADCs support should attract. In the beginning, you will get some longer descriptions, but as the guide comes to an end, the descriptions will be scarce, but you will know what we are talking about. That's how you can learn it without having to look for this guide during every champion selection.

Alistar - Trade/Scaling/Kill Pressure ADCs

This bull of a man - even though he is technically just a big ass bull - possesses a very dangerous engaging and disengaging capabilities, heals, and natural tankiness. He might suffer against poke-heavy matchups. It is why he will need someone who can use his kit to get some kills in the lane:

Jinx - While she can't create plays by herself, she can follow up on some favorable trades. Since she is a pure Late-Game Marksman, Alistar's engages can grant her some kills, and his disengages allow her to stay alive so that she can farm and transition into her four items build.

Miss Fortune - Forgotten ADC in Season 9, but she can do some amazing things. Alistar's engage can set up her ultimate at almost full power.

Draven - Holy grail for any engage-heavy Support. Disrupt, an insane amount of damage, the best snowball potential from Early to Mid game, if he gets ahead - the game is won unless he throws, which he wouldn't do if he read our LoL Macro Guide.

Vayne - Alistar's engage significantly improves her laning. 2-second stun for the enemy can easily allow Vayne to turn on her ultimate, dish out an auto or two, following up with a Condemn into a wall. And even if something goes wrong, and Vayne is forced to play passively - Alistar can serve as a Disengage/Healing support.

Janna - Poke/Scaling/Quick Trades

Janna is an expert when it comes to denying enemies, boosting battle prowess of her carries, protecting and saving them, and setting them up for some solo plays. She plays the long game perfectly, disengaging, and keeping her carry alive.

Jinx - Scaling ADC needs some excellent protection, shields, and disengages. Janna's AD buff on her shield is just a cherry on top of her immense utility.

Varus - Varus has poke. Janna has an AD boost. It speaks for itself.

Miss Fortune - with Dark Harvest and Lethality build her Qs can deal 1/2 HP with one good Q at level 7. Janna gives her more AD. And since MF has no escapes, Janna's disengage can be invaluable.

Tristana - High kill potential, huge burst with Press the Attack + her E. Tristana puts the bomb on the carry, Janna activates the shield, and you have extra strength in the form of temporary B.F Sword. Simply amazing.

Blitzcrank - All-in Heavy/Lockdown ADCs

A goofy robot that everyone hates, unless he is in their team. He creates so much pressure, not only on the lane but in every stage of the game. In early game - he sets up kills, basically forcing enemies to stand behind their minions at all times. And even when he loses the lane, if the game gets to mid-late game, one good hook can turn over the game. As for synergy:

Miss Fortune - Arguably the best ADC for Blitzcrank. For a simple interaction. Blitzcrank usually forces enemies to hide behind their minions if they don't want to get hooked. But Miss Fortune forces enemies to stand either far from their minions, or outside their minion wave, so they can avoid getting hit for 1/2 HP with her Qs. These two create very confusing scenarios. Enemies rarely know what to do against this bot lane.

Kalista - High damage output if someone gives her opportunity and time to dish it out. And what would be better than a hook into lockdown by Blitzcrank alone? Alistar, but this section belongs to Blitz. Her ultimate is a perfect pressure tool, as well.

Varus - Easy lockdown follow up with his ultimate, high long-range nukes, and some great burst due to his stacks.

Ashe - Volley and her auto slows make it easier for Blitzcrank to hit his grab. Her enchanted arrow on her ultimate makes for an easy lockdown after the target is pulled.

Lucian - No other ADC bursts as fast as Lucian with his double taps and Q. Perfect ADC for Blitz

Jhin - Great lockdown and execution damage. Nothing more to say.

Karma - Poke/Chase down

Karma is a champion that can spam shields, boost movement speed, or lock targets down. But her biggest strength is no doubt her poking capabilities. Her Q has a decent range, a little bit of AoE, and its base damage is amazing, especially when mixed with her Ultimate Ability - Mantra. She will find her place as one of the two threads of a poking bottom lane, so ADC choice is quite simple

Ezreal - lots of pokes, high damage output in single Q or WQ shots, worse for longer trades, a perfect champion for slowly wearing off enemies.

Caitlyn - she can poke, she can commit into the longer fights providing she can set up traps and nets properly. Her long auto range, passive harass, and pushing power can be invaluable to a poking Support.

Varus - Poke all day. Very dominant lane.

As you can see, you can pair up almost every Support with any ADC, and you will get something different each time. There are hundreds of combinations that can be used at Bot Lane. Some duos will even ditch the Support + ADC Meta and go for double Bruiser with strong engage and CC, like a combination of Darius and Camille, or Mordekaiser and Ornn.

Three Main Bottom Playstyles

The most important thing, especially on a higher level of play, is to recognize your win condition. Depending on your champion choice for Bottom Lane, you will have different win conditions, that will depend not only on the playstyle but on the champions themselves. We can differentiate three main brackets, that will dictate your lane and your win conditions.

Engage Support + Early Game ADC

Early game is everything for this couple. Level 1 pushing, Level 2 rush into instant engage, forcing enemies with presence alone to back off. This lane can be stressful for the enemy bot, as every misstep can end in getting caught, zoned, killed, or worse - expelled. There's a constant threat looming around the entire lane, and if you don't get any jungle help, these guys will do what they want. However, lane bullies and early game ADCs can fall off during the mid-late game (unless it's Tristana, Press the Attack makes her overpowered currently), so they have to get some early advantage to complete their win conditions. This Bot will do everything to kill enemies, take plates, avoiding the ganks with smart vision placement. This lane often has priority, unless countered in a heavy poke matchup.

Most notable champions that fit well into this category are: Alistar, Rakan, Braum, Blitzcrank, Thresh, Morgana, Pyke, Nautilus, Leona, Caitlyn, Lucian, Draven, Jhin, Xayah, Kalista, Tristana

Caretaker Support + Hypercarry/Scaling ADC

It's a choice common for those who can play safe, opting to play the long game, and scale into the mid-late game. Their job is to outlast the enemies, surviving the early game, keeping up with farming, avoiding dives, and ganks when the lane bounces. This duo will be lacking early. They have to watch out for their enemies, depending on the enemy bot composition. It will be simple against ranged poking comp, avoid damage, and if you take it, make sure it's either shielded or that you have healed to patch yourself up after the enemy skills hit you. It will be much more complicated against engage-heavy comps. Having someone like Janna can be invaluable, as sending out a good Q, and using her ultimate can save you multiple times. But when it comes to playing someone like Soraka, you will have to watch your step, as your silence is your only tool of shutting down enemies. Everything will pay off if this lane manages to survive early struggles with a decent farm. Jinx becomes an AoE Crits Machine, Vayne - literally every champion shredder, Ashe - movement speed impairing monster with a perfect ultimate for solo queue engages.

It is by far the most team-reliant, high risk - high reward bot lane combo. Go for it only when you have a reliable ADC/support by your side. As a hyper carry, you will not be allowed to dish out DPS without sufficient protection from your support. As caretaker support, you will not do much without a reliable carry. Meanwhile, engaging support will always have a chance to find the initiation, and mage poking support has the same quest throughout the whole game.

If you want to go for scaling and taking care of your people, you should mix: Janna, Soraka, Lulu, Nami, Taric, Jinx, Vayne, Ashe, Kai' sa, Caitlyn, Twitch, Sivir, Xayah, Kog'Maw

Poke/Mage Support + Poke ADC

Arguably the easiest way of playing your bot lane. This duo will bully their opponents with constant harass, long-range pokes, basically being annoying throughout the entire course of the lane. Good and mindful poking can make your enemies utterly helpless with no possibility of retaliation whatsoever. Some champions will be able to do that safely from a distance. Some will have to risk a bit, especially when you are up against someone like Blizcrank, Pyke, Thresh, or Leona. These poking champions can have a hard time, as most of the time - poking champions have only that, simple poking as their core value during the laning phase. Take that away, either by missing the poke or by engaging on poking champions, and they won't do a lot, against let's say an Engage bot lane. This synergy depends entirely on poking, setting enemies behind, gaining HP, Level, and Gold advantage, and maybe getting some kills. Of course, all of that while avoiding things that can allow your enemies to retaliate. It can be condensed into a single goal - don't do too many missteps, so enemies don't get a jump on you.

The list is simple: Any mage like Annie, Zyra, Xerath, Vel'Koz, Lux, but also Karma, Sona, Caitlyn, Ashe, Ezreal, Varus, Miss Fortune.

Not Rock Paper Scissors

Even though these three main champion brackets could be quite similar to Rock, Paper, and Scissors, it doesn't work like that.

Healing support and smart movements can easily neutralize poke. Engage setups will suffer against poke unless poking champions make a mistake of playing their lane too greedy. But this statement is not valid. They won't suffer under a few circumstances. It is because...

Engage duos are a mixed bag. They can suffer greatly due to starvation caused by huge pokes, or they can fail miserably against enemies that can negate the damage and disengage fights quickly. Like every other duo comp, they can still do good against all types of enemies, and they can do wrong, especially when there are some major macro and micro differences.

Scaling duo compositions will play passively. The gameplay advances the strategy of lasting until 22-25 minutes when the carry gets core items. This strategy is delayed, especially during the laning phase, as this duo is forced to react to the strategy of the enemy laners. Everything you will do, if you want to scale, is to stay back, take any farm you can get, use your major power spikes to retaliate from time to time, shield incoming damage, and heal after fights. You might be called a KDA player throughout the game, but this term shouldn't exist, as your win condition is clear.

Picking a certain duo against your opponent won't mean you will have a clear advantage. Every type of bot synergy will have different win conditions. Getting kills and zoning, while being unable to pose a threat to enemies when they are under turret unless you can dive. Starving enemies, denying them kills, outlasting them, and using your mid-game power spikes and hype carrying capabilities to overpower them. And finally - poking enemies from any place on the lane, whether they are pushing in, or are pushed out. Enemies can heal this damage, or they can use pokeless windows to engage on you and ruin your poking day.

Unique Off-Meta Playstyles

After standard laning meta establishment somewhere near the end of Season One, things rarely changed. Tank, or bruiser Top Lane, Jungler that fits the team, Mage at Mid, with Support and Marksman at the bottom. The bottom lane, however, started changing after some time. Somewhere during the Season Eight, mages suddenly moved there to take over the roles of AD Marksmen. It was not uncommon to see Ziggs with support, even two mages, and for a good reason. AP Mages had immense synergy with Supports or other Mages.

Ziggs can be a true monster if paired up with a decent poke or engage support. Not only that, he scales into a complete monster that will easily take the farm, poke even more, and take your tower in a matter of seconds with his Satchel Charge and Passive.

Veigar fulfills all three roles at the same time. He scales like a madman into the mid-late game. He can reliably poke enemies through a minion. And he sets up ganks with his E that will either burn enemy flashes or serve as an engaging tool that will keep enemies in a particular spot. Good Veigar is the Jungler's best friend. It means that Veigar can pair up with any support, and he will be able to do his job in the game in every scenario. Especially Alistar or Thresh that can bump the enemy into his baby cage.

Yasuo shows up at the bottom lane, as well. He scales hard into the mid-late game, he can engage with his support, and he can somewhat poke by going in, dealing damage, and dashing away with Wind Wall blocking ranged attacks. He can work with any support, but he synergizes best with engaging supports, that have some knock up in their kit, like Rakan, Blitzcrank, Lulu, and obviously Alistar.

Darius + Camille can be spotted on the bottom lane, as well. They will go for Relic shields, farm up, and engage as soon as Level 2 hits. Camille has a long-range gap-closer that stuns enemies and buffs her Attack Speed. Darius has a lot of damage, built-in ignite, a pull, and a slow. They can get smacked by a poke opponent, but their engagement will most of the time dominate the lane anyway. They also scale hard.

Best Specific Botlane Synergies

Xayah + Rakan - this duo should not surprise anyone. These two champions were made for each other. Rakan can work as a caretaker, engage support, or poke. He does best in engaging, as he can lock down opponents for a considerable amount of time. It gives Xayah a huge window to set up her feathers, not only locking down enemies for an even longer time but dealing enormous amounts of damage with her E ability. The additional range on Rakan's shield will significantly increase survivability, and enhanced recall is always helpful.

Caitlyn + Morgana - Poke from ADC and surprise Engage from Morgana if she's lucky enough. This duo creates a perfect kill pressure lane for Caitlyn. As long as Morgana hits her Q, Caitlyn has a guaranteed trap, which will enable her to launch a devastating Headshot Machine Gun Caitlyn Combo. Morgana will be able to protect Caitlyn from CC thanks to the Blackshield easily, additional slows from ultimate will enable a good Caitlyn to set up nearly unavoidable traps.

Thresh + Kalista - by far, one of the safest and the hardest duo lanes for ganking. When Kalista gets into trouble, she'll get a lantern. When Thresh gets into trouble, Kalista will pull him out. 

Miss Fortune + Zyra - one of the pokiest lanes in the game. Miss Fortune needs a hard CC to hold enemies in place for her full-cast ultimate. Zyra has E and knock-up ultimate, which serves the purpose much. With MF slow from E, it is easier for Zyra to land her root. Once she roots enemies in place, they are pretty much donezo. Also, by pairing them up, you deny the enemy the Zyra counter pick. 

Sivir + Morgana - unCCable lane. If you are tired of getting grabbed by Blitzcrank randomly, go for double spell shield duo Bot Lane. What's more, Sivir is a late-game powerhouse. When she has 3+ items with a Black Shield on herself, she can be pretty unstoppable. And it's hard to bully her out of the lane when you can't actually catch her.

Tristana + Leona - In the current patch, Tristana is entirely busted. Press The Attack makes her a true monster that can reliably engage in people in the lane. It's not rare to see a mid-game Tristana, jump on a 1,5k HP support, to kill them with a Simple E + 4 Auto Attacks. It is why Leona will be a perfect support for a good Trist. She can easily lock down an opponent for a long time, enabling Tristana to dish out her full combo.

Jhin + Nami - Nami is one of the best supports for a Jhin, as she can engage, buff Jhin with various abilities, and heal him if something goes wrong. Nami's Tidecaller's Blessing + Passive ability can be a real gamechanger, especially when Jhin is already ahead. Additional damage slows, and movement speed on Jhin can be truly invaluable, enabling him to get kills even before he manages to shout "FOUR!" Every time Nami casts an ability on Jhin, he will gain some movement speed, that can be used to outplay opponents, especially when he gets a critical hit that further increases his outplay potential.

Lucian + Braum - The reason why these two guys synergize so greatly is because of Lucian's Double Taps. Thanks to their natural combo, they can assert their dominance on the lane very early. It's common for them to rush level 2 and immediately engage on their opponents. Braum has a huge slow that can build up into a stun + bonus damage. Lucian has a powerful kit that allows him to dish out 1 movement ability, 2 offensive abilities, and 6-7 auto attacks in under 1 second with the right build. At level 2, it's a quick 4-5 shot combo with E-Dash and Q on top. Additionally, Braum can protect Lucian reliably, which synergizes well with Lucian's very aggressive and risky playstyle.

Yasuo + Malphite - When your team has a Malphite top and Yasuo mid - it can be a devastating combo. Now imagine this composition at Bot Lane alone. Survive the laning phase through harass, farming, and some quick trades, and obliterate enemy Bot Lane as soon as you reach level 6. It's a fun gameplay, but it can be frustrating in the beginning, when you can't unleash your combo just yet. Sometimes the support will go for Nautilus or Gragas instead of Malphite to ensure a more stable laning based around early engages. It's a good trade-off if you are not sure if you can scale hard, and want to dominate as soon as level 1-2.

Vayne + Lulu - It's tough to specify what makes this duo so good, but Lulu is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, support for a hyper-carry. She can keep the opposing Bot Lane at bay with their harass. She has powerful shields, HP increase with a Knockup is an excellent tool of disabling opponents and keeping the ADC alive. Vayne is a perfect carry for Lulu, as she already is hard to catch, even if enemies collapse on her due to her smart repositions and invisibility.

Ezreal + Taric - Made for each other even more than Xayah and Rakan. They are just fabulous, and it's something that every man should see at least once in his life.

Draven + Nami - Quite silly at first glance. Who not Draven + Alistar, or Thresh, or some hard engage support? Draven already has completely busted damage during the laning phase. Now combine that with additional damage and slows to the face of your opponent, extra mobility, and Nami's catching potential. This lane can be completely busted. Enemies that want to farm or poke basically won't be able to if your Nami controls the space properly. This duo is something that you should and will fear unless you can match their damage in fights. But you rarely will be able to, unless you are far ahead of them in level and gold.

Jinx + Janna - Jinx can be a late-game hyper carry. Her Area of Effect critical hits can be devastating if she has time to dish out her damage. However, her early game and entire laning phase are very limited. She relies mostly on auto attacks, and she can only follow good engages, but not every engage. She is not Lucian or Vayne. She won't be able to deal some quick damage. It is why she will do best with a support that can protect by shields, heals, buffs, or disengages. And who can disengage better than Janna? She has a huge shield that grants additional AD for even more powerful AoE crits, pretty long and far-reaching knock-up, a strong slow, and a push-away with a massive heal. Every part of Janna's kit will somehow help Jinx with her immobility, and weak early nature. Lulu or Nami will also do good with Jinx, but Janna makes the biggest difference.

Lol bot lane synergy Summary

With hundreds of possible combinations when it comes to duo bot, it's pointless to try and explain every possible combo. Not only that, one duo doesn't guarantee that their preferred playstyle will be possible against the other team. There are differences like macro and micro, various strategies, and even more personalities that play this game on a daily basis. Your mindless poking can be easily countered by smart movement, sometimes ending up in getting caught. And if you can't engage properly, your enemies might out sustain you, or outscale you. The same goes for scaling champions. If you play them recklessly, you will not be able to scale into the mid game.

Thank you for reading our guide. To complete your learning session, you should take a look at our giant LoL Macro Guide. You will find details about decision making and reaching your win conditions for every role in the game. It is a perfect learning milestone for each player that wants to improve beyond champion mechanics, builds, and runes. See you on Summoner's Rift!