Which support build counters aggressive dive comps in ranked team play?

Mastering the Anti-Dive Support Playbook

Aggressive dive compositions are a persistent threat in ranked team play, designed to obliterate high-priority targets, particularly your team’s carries, with overwhelming force. As a support, your role is pivotal in mitigating this pressure, turning their aggressive intentions into disastrous overextensions. Countering dive isn’t just about one champion or item; it’s a holistic approach involving champion selection, strategic itemization, and impeccable positioning.

Understanding the Dive Threat

Dive comps typically feature champions with high mobility, burst damage, and often crowd control (CC) that can bypass your frontline to reach squishier targets. Think assassins like Zed, LeBlanc, or Fizz, combined with engage tanks such as Jarvan IV or Vi, and even bruisers like Irelia or Camille. Their goal is simple: isolate and eliminate a key target before they can react, snowballing their lead through numbers advantage. Recognizing these champions and their typical engage patterns is the first step to building an effective counter.

The Pillars of Anti-Dive Support Play

Peel and Protection: Enchanters at the Helm

Enchanter supports excel at protecting allies through shields, heals, and disruptive crowd control. Champions like Janna, Lulu, Nami, and Yuumi can significantly deter or disengage dives. Janna’s Monsoon (R) and Howling Gale (Q) are perfect for knocking back and interrupting engages, while her Eye of the Storm (E) provides crucial shields. Lulu’s Whimsy (W) can polymorph an incoming diver, and her Wild Growth (R) offers a massive health boost and knock-up. Nami’s Aqua Prison (Q) and Tidal Wave (R) provide invaluable CC, and Yuumi’s Final Chapter (R) can lock down multiple targets.

Key Enchanter Itemization:

• Mikael’s Crucible: Essential for cleansing key CC from your primary carry.
• Locket of the Iron Solari: Provides a critical area-of-effect shield that can absorb significant burst damage from a dive.
• Redemption: Offers a delayed but powerful heal and damage for prolonged teamfights.
• Ardent Censer / Staff of Flowing Water: Boosts your carry’s damage while shielding/healing them, making them harder to kill and more dangerous to dive.

Engage and Disengage: Tanky Guardians

Tank supports like Braum, Alistar, Taric, and Leona bring robust defensive capabilities and potent CC to directly counter dive attempts. Braum’s Unbreakable (E) can block incoming projectiles, while his Winter’s Bite (Q) and Glacial Fissure (R) slow and knock up divers. Alistar’s Headbutt (W) and Pulverize (Q) combo is a classic disengage, throwing divers away from your carries. Taric’s Dazzle (E) stun and Cosmic Radiance (R) invulnerability are game-changing tools. Leona, while often an engage support, can peel effectively with her Zenith Blade (E) root and Solar Flare (R) stun.

Key Tank Support Itemization:

• Knight’s Vow: Links you to your primary carry, redirecting a portion of damage to you and providing movement speed when moving towards them.
• Zeke’s Convergence: Synergizes with your CC, granting your linked ally bonus magic damage and burn, turning defensive plays into offensive pressure.
• Locket of the Iron Solari: Still crucial for its AoE shield, complementing the tank’s inherent durability.
• Thornmail / Randuin’s Omen: Situational defensive items against AD-heavy dive compositions, providing armor and damage reduction/return.

Essential Anti-Dive Itemization Across the Board

Regardless of your support champion type, certain items stand out as universally strong against dive comps due to their defensive utility:

• Locket of the Iron Solari: This item is almost always a core buy against dive. Its active shield can mitigate crucial burst damage from multiple targets.
• Mikael’s Crucible: If the enemy dive comp relies on critical CC (e.g., Warwick ult, Ashe ult, Leona stun) to lock down your carry, Mikael’s is invaluable. Its cleanse can turn a sure kill into a successful escape.
• Redemption: Provides sustained healing and damage in prolonged fights, which can be critical after the initial dive burst has passed.
• Control Wards: Vision denial is key. Placing control wards in likely flank paths or near key objectives can reveal incoming divers, allowing your team to react before the engagement.

Strategic Positioning and Ability Usage

Your positioning is arguably the most critical aspect of countering dive. You must position yourself close enough to your most vulnerable carry to protect them, but not so close that you get caught in the initial dive yourself. Anticipate where the enemy will dive from and stand ready to use your abilities. Save your most impactful CC or shields for the moment the dive initiates. Using a Janna ult too early or a Taric stun on the wrong target can spell disaster. Practice makes perfect when it comes to timing these crucial abilities.

Furthermore, effective communication with your team is paramount. Alerting your carries to potential dive threats, coordinating ability usage, and calling out enemy cooldowns can turn a disadvantageous situation into a winning one. Building an effective anti-dive support requires not just mechanical skill but also strategic foresight and strong teamwork.

Conclusion

Countering aggressive dive compositions as a support is a challenging but highly rewarding aspect of ranked play. By carefully selecting champions with strong peel or disengage, building the right mix of defensive and utility items, and mastering your positioning and ability timing, you can transform your team’s vulnerability into resilience. Adaptability is key; constantly assess the enemy’s dive threats and adjust your build and playstyle to keep your carries safe and secure victory.