Riot buffed Smolder's crit scaling and raised the heal on his ultimate by almost half at rank three. He went from Tier 3 to Tier 1 in bot lane inside a week.
He's winning 51.2% of his bot lane games on 26.20, up from 50.1% over more than 90,000 games last patch, and our solo queue tier list has him in Tier 1.
Here's what changed, and how to play him.
FOTM Report
Smolder Bot
Riot buffed Smolder's crit scaling and raised the heal on his ultimate by almost half at rank three. He went from Tier 3 to Tier 1 in bot lane inside a week.
The 26.20 patch notes gave him three things. The bonus damage Super Scorcher Breath [Q] gets from his stacks now scales a little higher with crit chance, and so does Flap, Flap, Flap [E]. The bigger one is the self heal on MMOOOMMMM! [R], which goes from 100 / 135 / 170 to 100 / 175 / 250 and takes 75% of his bonus attack damage instead of 50%.
Riot's own note said he'd had a rough run, between the ranged Black Cleaver nerf and a bot lane that drifted toward other marksmen. Our day one forecast moved him up inside Tier 3. The games took him two tiers higher, and nobody's banning him yet (2.1%).
Nothing on the 26.21 PBE touches him.
How to Play Smolder Bot
- Abilities
- Q, W, E then prioritize R > Q > W > E
- Summoner Spells
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- Starting Items
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- Strategy
- Last hit with Super Scorcher Breath [Q] whenever it's up, because every kill with it is a stack and the stacks are the champion. Poke with Achooo! [W] and Super Scorcher Breath [Q] in lane rather than trading auto attacks. Keep Flap, Flap, Flap [E] to get out until a fight's already won, and drop MMOOOMMMM! [R] on yourself when you need the heal
- Core Items
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Smolder Rune Setup
Sorcery
Inspiration
Support Synergies
Smolder is weak for the first fifteen minutes and has to farm through it, so the supports that work best with him either hold the lane down for him or put a target in front of him once he's online. In our 26.19 and 26.20 games the best records belong to engage supports.
Engage: Start the Fight for Him
Thresh
53.2% over 4,853 games, the biggest sample of any support here. A lantern also gets him out of a dive, which matters more on Smolder than on most marksmen.
Blitzcrank
53.0% across 2,698 games. One hook is a free cast of every basic ability onto a champion, and every one of those hits is a stack.
Rakan
53.2% over 964 games. Rakan can start a fight and get back out, so Smolder can stay behind him and throw spells.
Protect: Keep Him Farming
Zilean
The best win rate of the lot at 53.4% over 1,174 games. Speed for Flap, Flap, Flap [E] chases and a revive for the fight he walks into a step too far.
Alistar
53.0% across 1,722 games. Alistar heals the lane, picks fights on his own timer and then stands between Smolder and anyone who reaches him.
Enchanters that leave him on his own do badly. Yuumi (46.7% over 1,906 games), Bard (46.9%) and Karma (47.2%) all post losing records with him, and so does Mel at 46.8%.
When to Pick Smolder
Take him into marksmen who need lane to go their way and can't kill him through a Barrier. Varus (he wins 55.0%), Ezreal (53.7% over 5,612 games), Lucian (53.1%), Corki and Caitlyn all lose to him. Ezreal and Lucian are common enough that this comes up a lot.
He wants a long game. Smolder wins 47.3% of games that end under 22 minutes and 54.1% of the ones that go past 32, so pick him behind a top laner and a jungler who can hold the map without him. If your team has two early skirmishers who need bot lane to show up at minute six, pick someone else.
How It Works
The Crit Patch
His stack damage was already tied to crit chance, with a bonus once he owns an Infinity Edge. 26.20 raises both. Essence Reaver, Rapid Firecannon and Infinity Edge all carry crit, and they post the best win rates of any third or fourth item he buys.
A Heal Worth Aiming
At rank three MMOOOMMMM! [R] now heals him for 250 plus three quarters of his bonus attack damage. That's enough to win a two versus two he'd have lost last patch.
Every Cast Counts
Dragon Practice [Passive] stacks come from hitting champions with abilities and from killing anything with Super Scorcher Breath [Q]. A lane you can poke freely and a wave you can last hit with it are both damage you're banking for later.
Potential Pitfalls
Short-Range Pressure
Twitch (46.9% over 2,749 games) and Kog'Maw (44.8%) both beat him, along with Jinx, Zeri and Yunara. They out-damage him before his stacks are worth anything. Give up the trade and keep farming.
Ziggs and Veigar
Ziggs is his worst matchup on the board at 44.5% over 935 games. He clears the wave from a long way back and takes the last hits Smolder needs for stacks. Veigar is close behind at 48.6%.
Flying In
Flap, Flap, Flap [E] flies over walls toward the lowest health enemy, and at 24 seconds on rank one it's gone for the rest of the fight. If it's your only way out, don't use it to start one.
Conclusions
Smolder's buffs are small on paper and big in the games. Crit pays his stacks better, his ultimate keeps him alive in fights he used to lose, and he's two tiers higher than he started the week. Take him into Ezreal and Lucian, give him a support who'll start fights, and play for the game after minute 30.
Suggested Tier: Tier 1
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