The new preseason patch has brought some new toys to play with, in the resolve tree. This is primarily great for tank players as they almost always want to take a resolve keystone but some supports will also benefit from this new rune as well as a few other champions. Here are the champions that will synergize the best with this rune. Ironically, none of these 7 champions actually carry a shield around to bash with.
Sion
This is a no-brainer, this new rune was practically made for Sion. He has one of the best self-shielding abilities in the game which is also on a relatively short cooldown. Furthermore, Shield Bash’s damage is calculated based on the strength of the shield and the champion’s bonus health. In Sion’s case, both these stats are enormous meaning that his empowered Shield Bash auto-attack will likely do an absurd amount damage.
Nautilus
Just like Sion, Nautilus has a huge self-shielding ability on a relatively short cooldown. Also just like Sion, Nautilus builds a lot of health. This means that Nautilus will also gain an immense boost from Shield Bash and his next auto-attack will likely do a whole lot of damage. This is definitely going to increase the win-rate of Nautilus support as he will now have a bit of burst in his kit. Maybe this rune will even bring back top lane and/or jungle Nautilus although that’s hard to say at this point.
Poppy
Poppy is one of the few champions with a shield available on level 1 as her shield comes from her passive. Although at this point she will most likely not have built a lot of bonus health yet, the extra bit of damage and durability that Shield Bash provides will probably make Poppy very oppressive in early game trades. This is definitely going to be a must-have rune for her. Maybe it even gives her enough of an early game boost that she’ll be viable in the support role again.
Viktor
Viktor’s Q is already extremely strong in melee matchups and this rune is only going to empower his oppressive top lane playstyle even further. After casting his Q he gains a shield and an empowered auto-attack which will now also be empowered by Shield Bash. It basically means extra damage on the part of his kit that was already giving melee top laners a lot of trouble in the first place. Basically, no reason not to take it.
Jarvan IV
Jarven is another champion that will profit greatly from the addition of this new rune. He has a self-shielding ability that, albeit not being the best in the game, can be used for proccing this rune. He also relies a lot on his burst damage to start fights or finish targets off, and this burst damage will be higher with the empowered auto-attack that Shield Bash gives him. Although the bonuses that he receives won’t be as high as those that Sion or Nautilus will receive, it synergizes very well with his kit.
Tahm Kench
This is a bit of an iffy pick as you don’t really want to pop TK’s shield at random moments since it’s one of your most important defensive cooldowns. However, Shield Bash can give Tahm Kench some extra oppressive early-game power to surprise your opponents with. He is already a support that can do a ton of damage if given the opportunity to hit his opponents, so if you can surprise them with a cheeky Shield Bash you might be able to win a few fights even easier.
Mordekaiser
Shield Bash synergizes extremely well with Morde as he has a shield, a lot of health, and is auto-attack/burst reliant. However, his self-shielding ability can be a bit hard to get off sometimes, especially versus players who know what they are doing. This means that this rune probably won’t be as reliable on Morde as it is on other champions, but if you know what you’re doing then you should definitely take it.
