From being one of the least played champions in League of Legends, Galio turned a new page after its recent rework. Since then, Galio has seen a lot of game time in professional games, both as a mid laner and as a support.
Unlike its full AP predecessor, Galio support relies on his natural tankiness and a lot of crowd control (CC). Here are some tips on how to play Galio support better and get a higher MMR.
Table of Contents
What Makes Galio a Good Support?
When we look at the support role and champions that are mostly played in it, we can divide them into three groups. Based on what they’re going to be doing in the game, supports can be poking, peeling (shields and heals), or engaging. Rarely a support will have a combination of those traits.
Galio fits in the engage group, although we can make a strong case for him rather being a disengage champion.
He offers a beefy front line and reliable crowd control for his team. Galio’s W Shield of Durand allows him to stay in lane longer, and take some trades champion like Leona couldn’t. Furthermore, he has a gap closer to stick with short-ranged enemies.
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When Should I Pick Galio Support?
At the moment, Galio is not the best support and few other champions could replace him. Champions such as Leona, Rell, or Nautilus provide almost everything that Galio does. But what sets him apart is his disengage power. Regardless if your ally is next to you, or on the other half of the map, you can always use your Ultimate on them to help them out.
Also, Galio is extremely good versus weak early game champions such as Twitch or Xayah.
Who Are The Best ADC’s With Galio Support?
When talking about ad carries that Galio best works with we need to take into account his strengths. One of the biggest ones is that Galio can keep an enemy in one place for a long time. Your partner should be able to deal a lot of damage in that period of time. Ad carries that benefit the most from playing with him are Miss Fortune, Kalista, Xayah, and Tristana.
Who Are Galio Support Counters?
Just like most of the champions close to him, Galio is going to struggle against long-ranged, disengage-type champions. Supports such as Karma, Bard, and Janna all pose a threat to him. They won’t be able to kill him, but they will make him relatively useless. On the other hand, engagers like Leona or Nautilus could win versus him too. The question of who wins is usually determined by the one who engages first.
Early Game
If you manage to get a good match up, Galio lane is usually a kill lane. With a lot of CC, also come many kill opportunities. Try to assert your lane dominance level 1 by pushing the lane. Start E in case enemies come close to you and use your passive to hit multiple minions at once. Your power comes in at level 2 when you can combine your E and W. If enemies are playing close to you it’s most likely going to lead to first blood. Another good way to make enemies come close to you is by freezing a wave.
After your first recall, try to grab boots and roam mid lane. Even if you don’t manage to get a successful roam, put a ward in the river so you can see enemy junglers’ location. After level 6 you’ll have an opportunity to help out your mid laner or jungler using your ultimate Hero’s Entrance so pay attention to what’s happening on the map.
Here’s how pro player Ignar played it:
Mid Game
At this point towers in bot lane and top lane have most likely fallen and you found yourself in mid lane with your ad carry. Solo laners will be looking to split push, or catch crashing side waves. Being in the middle of the map gives you a chance to jump to both bot, and top lane at moments notice. It’s crucial for you to keep track on what’s happening there.
When it comes to teamfights, try to zone enemies using your W, or quickly use Hero’s Entrance (R) to get in the middle of the fight.
Galio’s support build does not offer a lot of damage, so don’t necessarily try to kill enemy carries, but rather try to keep them occupied. Most of the time you’ll be much tankier than the opposition which is going to buy your team a lot of time to deal with enemies’ frontline. Furthermore, Galio is good for picking off enemies by abusing vision, or making traps.
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Late Game
As the game goes on, Galio’s power slowly fades away. While he’ll still be, frankly, a CC bot, he’ll be much easier to kill. What you should be doing is trying to keep your split pushers protected, or enter directly to the fight using one of your allies. Once in a fight, use your W to hit as many enemies as possible. At this stage, trying to start a fight with your E is often a bad idea.
Galio Support Tips
You can use your E backward to lower the reaction time enemy has to it. If the enemy bot lane doesn’t have a lot of damage you can go predator Rune. Activate it, then use your W and you won’t see any decrease in your movement speed.
You can’t flash during your W, so instead flash first, then use W. Justice Punch (E) can be canceled by knock-ups, so look after those.
Conclusion
Galio is not the best support in the game. Rather, he’s a cheese pick that can see success if he’s put in the right situation. Try to take advantage of his good early game, and snowball your lead before late game arrives and he falls off.