Want to dominate as a support? Do you relish in striking fear into the hearts of your opponents because of your mere presence? In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem.

Blitzcrank is one of those champions who’ll succeed in the game no matter what the meta is. His kit is just too versatile that he can be put into any kind of lineup or team comp and he’ll still do good. Blitzcrank’s play style is all about setting up kills, peeling, and making picks for your teammates. The best part is that it doesn’t take long before you feel his presence. A few well timed hooks and your opponents will be sure to watch their step whenever you’re near.

Champion Abilities

Like we’ve mentioned before, Blitzcrank excels at setting up kills. He has great crowd control in his abilities, although most of them are single targets. Nevertheless, he is still really good during team fights and he is tanky enough that he can hold his own against the high damage dealers of the enemy team.

Passive – Mana Barrier

When Blitzcrank’s life is brought below 20% health he activates Mana Barrier, creating a damage shield based on his mana that lasts for 10 seconds. 

A great passive for Blitzcrank considering he’ll be trying to take some of the hits meant for his carry. It’s not entirely useful but great in low health situations or moments. 

Q – Rocket Grab

Blitzcrank fires his right hand at a straight line to the target area. If his hand encounters an enemy unit it will pull the target back to his location, dealing magic damage and stunning it for 1 second in the process.

This is Blitzcrank’s signature ability and what he is best known for. A well timed and well executed Rocket Grab is enough to win a game. This is what makes Blitzcrank a great pick across all elos and metas. It can be hard to land, especially if you’re a beginner or against very mobile opponents, but when mastered, it’s one of the most impactful abilities in the game. 

W – Overdrive

Blitzcrank supercharges himself, gaining Movement Speed and Attack Speed for 5 seconds. This Movement Speed bonus decays over the duration. When Overdrive ends, Blitzcrank’s Movement Speed is slowed by 30% for 1.5 seconds.

Overdrive is a very underrated ability. The bonus movement speed you get from this ability when maxed out is 90%. For reference, Ghost only gives you 48% bonus movement speed at best. It’s a great way to initiate a team fight or a good escape tool. Remember to use it wisely though, because at the end of the active, Blitzcrank gets very vulnerable once it ends.

E – Power Fist

Blitzcrank charges up his fist to make his next attack deal 100% of his bonus attack damage and knock his target up in the air.

Power Fist along with Rocket Grab makes one of the best literal 1-2 punch combos in League of Legends. It’s great for singling out targets during team fights and can be used both offensively and defensively. 

R – Static Field

Passive: While this spell is available, lightning charges Blitzcrank’s fists, marking enemies. After 1 second, they are shocked, dealing magic damage. This stacks up to 3 times.

Active: Destroys shields on nearby enemies, deals magic damage, and silences surrounding enemy units for 0.75 seconds.

Static Field is a great ability to use in team fights. It silences all enemy units caught up in it so you and your team will be free to dish out your spells to your opponents. Overall, this ability is perfect for following up all your other abilities.

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to item builds, your focus as Blitzcrank is to make yourself as durable as possible using the available support items that give you tank stats. You shouldn’t be your team’s primary front line but that doesn’t mean you should skip out on the tankiness. 

Starting Items

For starting items, Blitzcrank starts like any tank support in the game. You go with a Relic Shield and some Health Potions. These should give you everything you need in the early game. Make sure to make the most out of Relic Shield’s passive by going after the Siege Minions whenever they come into play. This’ll give you bonus gold, sustain for your carry, and it ramps up to your passive so that Relic Shield will evolve into an item that can carry multiple stealth wards for you.

Mythic Items

For Mythic Items, your best choices are either Locket of the Iron Solari or Shurelya’s Battlesong. Both have their uses but the safer option would be Locket of the Iron Solari. It gives you great tank stats plus an active shield that can protect you and your teammates. However, if you feel that you need more ganking power for when you roam, Shurelya’s is no doubt the better pick. The active move speed buff is awesome when you gank other lanes. Plus the bonus ability power helps your abilities deal a little more damage which is perfect for roaming.

Full Build

After purchasing your desired Mythic Item, your next item should be boots. For boots, you should almost always be going for Boots of Mobility since it increases your roaming power by ten fold and as Blitzcrank, you’ll find yourself roaming a lot. Next, go for Zeke’s Convergence for the tanks stats and bonus mana. It also has a passive called Convergence which makes your Accomplice’s attacks and abilities deal more damage to targets you’ve immobilized. After, you should be building Knight’s Vow next. This item gives you bonus health, bonus health regeneration, and allows you to shoulder some of the damage your carry receives. Cap your build off with Thornmail for the health, armor, and DPS along with Cosmic Drive for the bonus move speed and ability power.

Other Viable Items

There are plenty of other viable items on Blitzcrank. The best ones are supposed to increase Blitzcrank’s survivability since he’ll be in the thick of the fight for most of the game. Redemption is one of the best items you can get on Blitzcrank. This gives you tank stats plus an active AoE heal that heals your allies and damages your opponents. Gargoyle Stoneplate is another good alternative to some of your core items since it gives you bonus resistances and an active shield. Abyssal Mask is great too since it synergizes with your entire kit because of the bonus damage you deal to targets that have been immobilized. Anathema’s Chains is another item you could consider purely because of its tank stats and the 30% damage reduction to an enemy of your choosing. Don’t be afraid to mix and match items on Blitzcrank to see what works best as you adapt to your situation.

Runes

For runes, go with the Resolve tree and take Aftershock as your keystone. This increases your armor and magic resist whenever you immobilize an enemy champion plus it deals a bit of AoE magic damage. Next take Font of Life, to help you heal when your allies damage an enemy target whose movement you impaired, Bone Plating, for additional resistances, and Unflinching, to help you stick to your targets better. For secondaries, go with the Inspiration tree and take Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight. This will help with your sustain and long ability cooldowns in the early game. For rune shards, take Ability Haste and double Armor.

Useful Tips

1. If you’re still learning how to use Rocket Grab, it’s best to open with Power Fist instead when initiating a fight. When they try to escape, only then will you use Rocket Grab to pull them back in. 
2. Rocket Grab will not go through minions and neutral monsters. So use it carefully when the enemy is trying to hide behind their minion wave.
3. Try to pull enemies into your turret’s range to deal some heavy damage.
4. Blitzcrank is strong against immobile champions in the bot lane who have very little means to dodge his Rocket Grab like Sona, Soraka, Ashe, and Jinx. He is weak, however, against support mages like Xerath or Brand since they can poke him down and punish him when he misses his abilities.
5. For summoner spells, always take Flash and Exhaust. These are the safest options. However, if you’d like to play aggressively, you can swap out Exhaust for Ignite. Heal can also be a good alternative if your opponent has a lot of burst that can take out a huge portion of you or your carry’s health.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Blitzcrank in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!