Vel'Koz

Vel'Koz is an AP mage in the support, and on patch 16.11 they grade out as a strong pick — a 52.3% win rate, 3.5% pick rate, 40,789 ranked games sampled. On the power curve, Vel'Koz is a scaling champion: comparatively weak early, but one of the strongest picks on the map once core items come online — so the plan is to survive the laning phase and take the game over late.

How Vel'Koz wins: sieging objectives and turrets with sustained pressure, and grouped 5-v-5 teamfights, where Vel'Koz tips the fight. The kit grades 9/10 siege, 7/10 teamfighting, 7/10 waveclear. Vel'Koz grades low on engage and roaming (2/10, 2/10), so don't take fights that turn on those dimensions.

The most-played core build is Zaz'Zak's Realmspike, Luden's Echo, Shadowflame, which holds a 50.9% win rate across 3,962 games this patch. Set the enemy team at the top of the page to see how the path shifts against that comp.

The matchup to respect is Naafiri, where Vel'Koz sits at just 43.8%, the lane swings the other way into Mel (59.1%), and on the team side, Vel'Koz gains the most from a Garen (+10.5% pair win rate).