The Bot Lane Ecosystem Part 2

8/6/2024 by Joseph Zinski
Edited on 8/6/2024 for red/green colorblind friendly colors

In Part 1 we looked at Support/ADC match-ups and derived classes from those values. This week we will look at Support+ADC synergies, aka the win rate above expected when an ADC and Support play together.

We will again start with an unorganized grid of bot lane synergies. It’s rather messy, so let’s group these Supports and ADCs based on their synergy interactions.

Support Classes by Bot Synergy

This time, we can see 4 classes forming. I have named them arbitrarily Engager, Poke, On-Hit Steroid, and Utility. Utility is the most diverse, but we will see in a second why. Many of the classes we saw when grouping by match-ups return. Let’s color the classes by the classes we derived from match-ups to see what has changed:

What changed and why? Because there are 4 clear synergy-derived clusters where there were 6 clear match-up-derived clusters, some of the old classes are now mixed together.

1. The match-up-derived Wardens and Engagers have subdivided based on whether they pair better with LR DPS (Utility) ADCs or SR Burst/Trade (Engager) ADCs. The new Engager class is comprised of champions that can reliably initiate hard trades from a distance.
2. The match-up-derived Poke and Utility-Poke classes have mostly settled into the Poke Synergy Class. Poke ADCs like Poke supports, seems obvious.
3. Match-up-derived Enchanter and Utility classes are divided by whether they play nice with On-Hit ADCs. The On-Hit ADC class has a big impact on synergies.
4. Taric. Taric is the only Warden to be anywhere near the synergy-derived Poke/On-Hit Steroid classes. Taric is truly a unique champ, the only tank to offer consistent healing with a flexible build that could include ardent censor in a pinch. However, mostly he just allows on-hit champions to stand in one place and free-fire at max attack speed via his ult and peel.

All in all many there are definitely some changes in groupings here, but remember this clustering is ONLY using the Support interactions with 25 ADCs. When we add in Jungle, Mid, and Top interactions, the classes will become more familiar.

ADC Classes by Bot Synergy

The ADC classes have also been warped by the On-Hit class of ADCs. Here is the new clustering and classes for ADC based on Support synergy:

And here we have the same UMAP with our match-up derived classes as a refresher:

So what changes do we see?

1. LR vs SR is roughly unchanged. LR/Kiting/Poke champions all shuffle a bit, but they mostly all cluster together again. Basically the question is, does a LR ADC want to survive by poking, or survive by utility and peel. Hence, 2 LR classes.
2. The On-Hit class. Their pull on the Support synergy classes is very strong. Basically, can a Support run ardent, does the Support have a built in on-hit steroid, can the Support let them free fire? Conversely, the On-Hit ADC class is defined by a low-range in-your-face style with on-hit items and rapid AAs.
3. The non-On-Hit SR ADCs either lump into SR Burst or Trade. The SR Burst champions want to go in and body rock their opponents in 1 big blaze of glory and of course they want engage supports. The SR Trade champions are interesting. They are defined by a limited window of up-time for their high-damage abilities. They pair with supports that can engage or supports that can provide the utility needed to dictate disengage.

Bot Synergy Matrix

Now, the graphs we’ve been waiting for.

We can see some expected class interactions taking shape.

1. On-Hit ADCs love their On-Hit Steroid Enchanters. Yep.
2. Poke requires more Poke. If your ADC or Support selects poke, double down. You only have so many resources to poke people out of lane, and generally you need 2 champions working together to do it.
3. LR DPS generally wants Utility or Engage. They want tanks who deter engages or utility supports who can dictate disengage. However, this class is the most self-sufficient due to their range. They don’t want poke, they don’t poke well. They also don’t want On-Hit enchanters because they don’t need as much help staying alive as they deliver their damage.
4. SR Burst prefers Engage. They gotta stand still while you murder them.
5. Synergy Classes have lots of outliers and are generally heterogeneous. You really should consult the table on a case-by-case basis. Many of synergies come down to specific champion-champion interactions, like Yuumi double-hitting all her on-hit stuff on Lucian or Taric having his stun get delivered by Lucian and his heals refreshing Lucian’s lightbringer passive every second. There are general principals here for sure, but many many exceptions to keep in mind.

Team-Wide Synergies

While our classes were a bit messy when only considering Support-ADC synergies, they really crystalize when Top, Mid, and Jungle synergies are also considered. Remember, these classes are more representative of what roles these champions will play in the mid to late game.

Now we see very recognizable classes. Here are the big changes:

1. Taric. His affinity for champs who want a hybrid enchanter-tank really starts to show.
2. Ashe/Karma become Playmakers. Ashe and Karma find themselves in the Playmaker class. They both have that ability, so good to see it reflected in the data.
3. Pyke returns to the engagers. Pyke flips between the Engager and Playmaker class.

Now let’s see how the ADC classes change when Top, Jungle, Mid interactions are added:

Similarly, the ADC classes are very similar to what they were with support synergies alone. Zeri shifts a bit toward the SR Trade class, Smolder becomes more of a LR DPS champion, both understandable shifts in the mid to late game.

What have we learned?

1. Similar but not identical classes emerge when bot-lane synergies alone are considered as compare to match-ups alone. It’s remarkable how stable our classes are when going by synergies as well as match-ups. These champions have very clear identities, and the edge cases are very apparent.
2. Bot lane synergies are very case-by-case. While some general trends do emerge, the synergies are very champion specific. You need that deep champion knowledge to know who you champion is good with even more than with match-ups… but if you need help consult the table in this article.
3. The On-Hit ADC class re-shapes the Bot Lane classes. The pull is strong. The Vayne wants what the Vayne wants, and here supports damn well better give it. On-Hit ADCs need expanded health bars, peel, and ardent censor.
4. Poke needs more poke. If the Support is poke the ADC should be poke. Poke is one of those things that needs commitment. They’re either poked out or they’re not and the poke was ineffective. Double down.

Alright article finished! Next week we will look at the combined match-up and synergy classes and get a holistic view of the Bot ecosystem using all our data. After that we will move on, potentially to Mid!