League of Legends Rell guide: best build, runes, tips and tricks

Support mains are getting an early Christmas present in League of Legends: new champion Rell. If you want to master the Iron Maiden, we’ve got all the best builds, runes, tips and tricks you need to know so you can win your games right as Season 11 kicks off.

Rell’s release is a bookend to 2020, as well as Season 10 of League of Legends. The Noxian support is one tough cookie ⁠— an Iron Maiden who shred her foes, and only becomes stronger in the process.

Rell is all about buffing her allies, while also being a front-line menace that makes killing squishy targets nigh impossible if executed right. However, if you’re a bit lost playing her, we’ve got everything you need to know right here ⁠— from the best builds, to what runes you need, so you can master her instantly.

What are Rell’s abilities?

Rell’s abilities ⁠— and general kit design ⁠— makes her pretty strictly a support pick. However, with a bit of theorycrafting, you can flex her into the top lane and even the jungle. You do have to be mindful of some things though, most notably her slow attack speed.

Passive: Break the Mold

Rell’s passive is what makes her so tanky ⁠— and such a good tank buster. It steals a portion of her target’s resistances, and deals bonus damage based on the amount stolen.

This stacks across enemies as well. If you attack five enemies in a fight, you become the ultimate tank. You can also shred the enemy frontline to let your carries do the work.

Q: Shattering Strike

Rell’s Q is her main poke and wave clear ability. She stabs forward with her lance, breaking shields and damaging enemies in a line. If she is bound to an ally with her E as well, the Q will heal based on the number of champions hit.

W: Ferromancy

Rell’s W has two parts to it. It’s similar to Rek’Sai’s burrowing, with Rell changing between her mounted and armored form. While mounted, she can cast W to leap into the sky, becoming an ultra-tank and knocking enemies up around her, at the cost of her movement speed.

• Read more: Everything we know about Rell, League’s 153rd champion

If you want to swap back out of her armored form, all you have to do is cast her W again. She will rush forward, get her mount back, and even enhance her next auto-attack to flip the target.

E: Attract and Repel

Rell’s E is very similar to Taric’s W. She can bind with an ally, giving them extra armor and magic resist while the tether is active. She can then choose to recast the spell to stun enemies in a line between her ally and herself.

This is great two-fold. You can link up with your squishy, giving them crucial stats while charging in and stunning enemies who dive the back line. You can also link up with your fellow frontliners to make an impenetrable defense. How you use it is up to you and the situation you’re in.

R: Magnet Storm

Look, if you thought Skarner’s ultimate was scary, Rell’s is even more frightening. Instead of just one player getting dragged away from the team, you can take all five with you to set up a huge wombo combo with Magnet Storm.

While enemies can still fire back, when you consider you can drag enemies in for huge amounts of burst, it’s very powerful. Plus, Magnet Storm can be used to peel for your allies if they get dove on, so it’s flexible as well.

Best build for Rell

If you’re taking Rell as a support, there’s only one Mythic that should be on your mind, and that’s Locket of the Iron Solari. The reworked Locket is amazing on Rell, as it allows you to buff up your allies’ armor and magic resist even more with the aura.

You can continue these stacking and tethered buffs with Knight’s Vow and Zeke’s Convergence. Both options are great for tankiness, while Knight’s Vow will give your carries extra sustainability, while Zeke’s really ramps up the damage.

Once you consider boots (Mercury Treads or Plated Steelcaps), your support item (Steel Shoulderguards), and Vigilant Wardstone in the late game, you don’t really have any slots left. However, you can choose to ditch Knight’s Vow for one of Gargoyle’s Stoneplate, Dead Man’s Plate, or Force of Nature, depending on your circumstances.

• Read more: Every new Mythic and Legendary item in League of Legends Season 11

If you decide to take Rell out of support, grabbing Sunfire Aegis or Turbo Chemtank are your best bets. Both give her Immolate, which is incredibly handy for wave clear with her low attack speed, and they also synergize with the chase and lockdown available in her kit.

Best runes for Rell

There’s really only one keystone for Rell, and that’s Aftershock. Rell loves resistances, and Aftershock gives those in spades. It’s easy to proc it ⁠— between her E and her ultimate, that’s enough hard CC.

The rest of the Resolve tree is great for Rell too. Almost every option is viable, but picks like Shield Bash, Conditioning, and Revitalize are made for Rell. You can flex between Demolish, Second Wind, and Bone Plating if necessary, but those first three are good in almost any matchup.

For your secondary runes, they are pretty flexible. Nimbus Cloak and Celerity is always a strong combination, while a more supportive kit of Minion Dematerializer and Cosmic Insight can help her against ranged matchups.

If you want to take Legend: Tenacity against high CC teams and partner that with Presence of Mind, you can do that too. As long as you take Resolve primary, you’ll be fine.

How to play Rell

Rell loves trading from early on. She pretty much loves trading at any time possible in lane. If you pick Rell with a strong early-game AD carry, you will be able to push the advantage from very early on.

Leading in with her W, before binding your ally with E and stunning through an enemy is a surefire way to almost one-shot them with your ally’s assistance. You do have to be careful while unmounting though, as your chase down potential is non-existent without being mounted, and the cooldown is notable.

• Read more: What Mythic items should supports buy in League Season 11?

Her Q is also incredible against enchanter supports. You can use it to break shields during trades, giving you the instant upper hand. It also makes her a nightmare to face if you’re Tahm Kench or Sett. Be sure to save it to break a champion’s shield if you know they’ve got one.

Rell’s ultimate goal in teamfights is to attack as many foes as possible so she can keep her passive stacks up. It’s a similar way to playing Braum ⁠— hit each enemy once, and let your allies do the work. As long as you can keep your passive charged throughout fights, Rell becomes nearly invincible.

Using Rell’s ultimate correctly is probably the hardest learning curve of the champion. You have to remember that enemies can still cast non-movement abilities while trapped in your ultimate, so don’t bring them too close to your allies if they’re low.

If you’ve got a team that can wombo-combo ⁠— think Orianna or Amumu, running around the enemy team to group them up is the way to play. Else, you’ll probably find yourself using Rell’s ultimate to peel for your squishies, keeping assassins in place and free for your allies to burst down.

Rell will be released in League patch 10.25, which drops on December 9.