How to Play Caitlyn Support
Caitlyn has been one of the most dominant ADC’s around for a very long time. With long-range and devastating poke and wave clear, she has been a frequent pick in Solo Queue, especially when she is paired with an aggressive Support.
However, while she is a very strong ADC, we’ve started to see her being played in alternative roles such as the Support role. In Patch 13.1b, ADC’s including Caitlyn were buffed, which made her slightly stronger overall. This, paired with the ADC item buffs has made Caitlyn a stronger pick.
Caitlyn has started seeing competitive play in the Support role as a pick into the likes of Heimerdinger ADC and Support. She has long-range to take down his turrets and to reduce his pushing power.
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Why is Caitlyn Support a Thing Now?
Caitlyn doesn’t really have much to offer as a Support. She lacks hard CC, cannot really empower her team and doesn’t have any of the main characteristics you look for in a Support. However what she does have is range.
Caitlyn has a lot of range with her basic attacks and Q which allows her to bully the enemy ADC and Support whenever they walk up to last hit minions. Similarly, she can be paired with another pushing ADC or Mage ADC to keep the enemy pushed in to get early tower plates.
However, Caitlyn is picked in pro play due to her long range to quickly destroy Heimerdinger turrets. Heimerdinger loves to push, and Caitlyn has the range to destroy these turrets quickly so he cannot push as quickly.
What is Caitlyn Support Good At?
There are a few things that make Caitlyn Support good, but realistically she isn’t that good of a Support. She is much better when she is played in the ADC role. I would suggest only picking her into certain matchups, which we will discuss later.
She has long-range abilities and poke. This allows her to poke the enemy down from afar.
Her Q is an AOE ability which will help her ADC push the wave into the enemy’s tower so they can get tower plates.
She is an AD champion, so he wins auto-attack battles with enemy Supports.
Caitlyn Support Runes and Build
Here’s the recommended build for Caitlyn in the Support role. You can import this build into your client directly with the Mobalytics App.
How to Play Caitlyn Support
Caitlyn Support abuses her range to bully and harass the enemy. Your goal throughout the game is to bully and get the enemy low: using your superior pushing power and long range to apply constant pressure.
Her gameplay is quite similar to ADC Caitlyn, to be honest, apart from the fact that you’re not auto-attacking minions. Aim your Q throughout the game so it hits both the enemy ADC or Support and the minion wave simultaneously so it pushes and pokes the enemy down.
With superior pushing power and kill pressure, you can get early tower plates and gain a significant gold lead.
Throughout the mid and late game, stick with your team and place vision around the map. Your gameplay in the late game is the exact same as when playing as an ADC. Watch your positioning and avoid getting caught out by mispositioning.
When to Pick Caitlyn Support
You can pick Caitlyn into a lot of different matchups, but most notably, she is great into low-ranged ADCs. The same matchups that she is good into as an ADC are the same when she is played in the Support role.
She is good into the likes of Heimerdinger because she can use her superior range to take down his turrets quickly so he cannot push as much. She is also good versus utility Supports as she is an AD champion who can outtrade them with her auto-attacks.
Caitlyn Support Synergies
She is best picked with champions who are similar to her: who have long-ranged abilities and lots of poke as well. This means she can be picked with many different ADC and APC’s in the bottom lane.
She synergises pretty well with Vel’Koz, Varus and Ziggs.
Caitlyn is also pretty good in team comps with champions such as Anivia, Udyr and Malphite.
Conclusion
How long with Caitlyn Support be good? Well, only time will tell, but with her recent buffs in patch 13.1b, she might be around for longer than expected. Do we think that she’s going to be an S tier Support? Probably not, but we hope that this article will help you understand why pros are picking her, and why she is gaining traction in pro and solo queue.
If you want to learn more about Caitlyn in the ADC or Support roles, check out Caitlyn’s champion page and sign up for a free Mobalytics account to help improve your climb in Season 13.
