Champion Guide

Poppy Guide

By LoLSuggest

Support

Poppy is a disruptive tank: land Heroic Charge into walls, deny enemy dashes with Steadfast Presence, and peak in the mid game. As support, she snowballs her ADC; in top lane, she pokes, farms and peels.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Poppy build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The support page is Aftershock with Font of Life, Conditioning and Revitalize, plus Triumph and Last Stand; an Unsealed Spellbook utility page and a Hail of Blades assassin page are alternatives. Flash with Ignite is the default, though nearly every second spell is viable. Start World Atlas with potions and buy boots plus a Ruby Crystal or Winged Moonplate first. Our favourite build is Bloodsong, Protoplasm Harness, Boots of Swiftness and Dead Man's Plate, then Knight's Vow and Force of Nature, plus Control Wards and Oracle Lens. Against AD add Thornmail, Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen; against AP, Kaenic Rookern or Spirit Visage. In top lane, an alternative setup runs Grasp of the Undying with Shield Bash, Second Wind, Overgrowth, Manaflow Band and Transcendence, takes Flash and Teleport, and builds Plated Steelcaps, Sunfire Aegis, Jak'Sho and Protoplasm Harness. Max Q, then E, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Explosive early and mid game with a wall-stun combo that kills squishy targets.
Steadfast Presence stops dashes and blinks around her.
Flexible tank, utility or assassin builds.

Weaknesses

Falls behind late-game enchanters if she doesn't snowball.
Heroic Charge needs a wall and can be cancelled by many abilities.
Sustain enchanters and peelers like Milio, Karma, Janna or Soraka, and trap-laying Shaco, are tough lanes.

Laning Phase

As support, laning is about snowballing. Engage supports are your easiest lanes; grabbers, poke champions and enchanters get progressively harder. Your main combo is Heroic Charge into a wall, wait for the auto, then Hammer Shock, another auto and Steadfast Presence at the last moment so the target can't dash away while Q explodes again. Ignite early in the burst. In top lane, poke at max Hammer Shock range to keep Grasp of the Undying up, throw your passive buckler, and only all-in with Heroic Charge when the enemy is low or near a wall, since it costs a lot of mana. Darius, Vladimir and Cassiopeia are the hardest top lanes.

Mid & Late Game

Poppy's power spikes peak in the mid game, once Hammer Shock is maxed around level 9, so press your advantage before enemy carries scale. As support, roam, set up vision and look for picks with Heroic Charge. As top laner, stay in the side lane until your role quest is complete, then Teleport into fights. Late game, play front-to-back and peel: stand next to your carry until the enemy uses its engage, then use Keeper's Verdict and Steadfast Presence to stop dives.

Key Tips

Don't press Q too soon after E, or you'll cancel the empowered passive auto.
Steadfast Presence stops dashes but not blinks like Ezreal's or Lissandra's.
Cast Steadfast Presence right before a short Keeper's Verdict to hide the charge-up animation.
Recalling cancels Keeper's Verdict's charge-up and resets its cooldown.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.