Kalista Support | Weird Pick #155 | Runes Items Build Guide

Here’s a pick you never thought would appear in pro play but made its debut last month on the LCK circuit in a match between T1 versus Dplus KIA. At first glance, it seems absurd given Kalista’s relatively low strength in the current patch as a marksman. However, diving a bit deeper it does seem at the very least viable and won the game.
So how does support Kalista work anyway?

Guide to Playing Support Kalista

Here’s a pick you never thought would appear in pro play but made its debut last month on the LCK circuit in a match between T1 versus Dplus KIA. At first glance, it seems absurd given Kalista’s relatively low strength in the current patch as a marksman. However, diving a bit deeper it does seem at the very least viable and won the game.

So how does support Kalista work anyway?

How to Play Support Kalista

Abilities: E, Q, W then prioritize R > Q > E > W

Summoner Spells:

Starting Items: Spectral Sickle + Health Potions

Strategy: Early cheese with an all-in champion like Tristana/Draven, use Kalista ult like Malphite ult/Thresh lantern combination bound to your marksman.

Core Items: Harrowing Crescent, Umbral Glaive, Eclipse, Berserker’s Greaves, Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Knight

Support Kalista Runes Setup

Primary: Hail of Blades, Taste of Blood, Ghost Poro, Treasure Hunter

Secondary: Triumph, Legend: Alacrity

How It Works

Sentinel Warding/Umbral Clearing

Kalista’s Sentinel [W] is quite adept at providing intel and allows her to scout out areas without placing herself in danger. When combined with Umbral Glaive, her ability to control the map is quite high as far as any supports go.

Objective Control

Kalista’s Rend [E] acts as secondary smite for your team. Although you may find it difficult to use effectively in solo queue, if you pre-communicate when you plan on rending with your jungler it becomes very difficult for enemy junglers to steal objectives.

Double Poke/All-In Early Game

When it comes to level one to two all-in, Kalista has one of the strongest in the game. By pairing her up with another champion like Draven or Tristana she’s more than capable of winning any early game 2v2 match-up.

Good Initiation/ADC Peel

Although high cooldown, Kalista’s ultimate is extremely versatile and effective. It gives your marksman a Malphite ultimate and also allows you to whip them out of dangerous situations, basically becoming a Thresh lantern that doesn’t need to be pre-placed or clicked.

Potential Pitfalls

High Cooldown Peel

Kalista’s ultimate is a very effective eject button for your marksman. However, it’s extremely high cooldown and genereally better used as an offensive tool. If your lane gets camped by enemy junglers or falls behind in lane, Kalista has very few tools to prevent enemies from farming her and her marksman.

No Sustain

Along the same lines as the high cooldown peel, Kalista does not have any form of sustain. As a result, a Kalista lane is extremely reliant on snowballing to win. If she falls behind or starts getting poked out the lane can quickly become extremely oppressive to play as.

Support Kalista Conclusions

Support Kalista is a very cocky pick that should be reserved for players who are not only confident in their abilities but also confident in their team’s abilities to capitalize on the few tools at her disposal. That being said, she’s certainly more than viable as a support, just don’t expect to win any friends even if you win the game.

Suggested Tier: Tier 4