Celestial Opposition vs Solstice Sleigh

Patch 26.19

Celestial Opposition is the teamfight item, and it belongs on the tank who takes the engage. For most supports, two champions hitting you at the same time is enough for its damage reduction to save more health than both of Solstice Sleigh's heals put together. Sleigh is the item for picks: the slow or stun that starts a catch turns into move speed and a heal for you and the ally beside you.

What they do on Patch 26.19

Celestial Opposition 400g

• 200 Health
• 75% Base Health Regen
• 75% Base Mana Regen
• 9 Gold Per 10 Seconds
• Blessing of the Mountain: Reduce incoming champion damage by 35% (25% for ranged champions) for 2 seconds after taking damage from a champion. When the effect ends, slow nearby enemies by 50% for 1.5 seconds.
• Active: (4 charges) Places an Invisible Stealth Ward that grants vision.

Solstice Sleigh 400g

• 200 Health
• 75% Base Health Regen
• 75% Base Mana Regen
• 9 Gold Per 10 Seconds
• Going Sledding: Slowing or Immobilizing an enemy champion near allies restores 50 to 230 Health (by level) and grants 20% decaying Move Speed for 2.5 seconds to you and a nearby ally.
• Active: (4 charges) Places an Invisible Stealth Ward that grants vision.

Both are free upgrades of Bounty of Worlds, unlocked by the same support quest, and they carry identical stats. So the choice is only the passive, and neither one shows up any sooner than the other.

Celestial Opposition's cut is 35% for melee supports and 25% for ranged ones. It lasts 2 seconds from the first champion hit and comes back after 18. Solstice Sleigh's heal grows with level, 50 early on and 125 by level 11, and it's on a 30-second cooldown. Both cooldowns outlast a teamfight, so each item fires once per fight (one that drags past 18 seconds hands Celestial a second go, which only helps it).

Teamfights: how many champions are on you?

Each bar counts the enemies of median damage that need to be on you inside those 2 seconds before Celestial Opposition saves more health than Sleigh restores to you and an ally, at level 11 with 2 legendaries.

Pyke1.5

Alistar1.7

Taric1.8

Rell1.8

Senna1.9

Blitzcrank1.9

Seraphine1.9

Nautilus1.9

Vel'Koz1.9

Lulu1.9

Renata1.9

Janna2.0

Lux2.0

Nami2.0

Braum2.0

Thresh2.2

Leona2.2

Bard2.3

Rakan2.4

Melee supports get the bigger reduction, ranged ones the smaller. Dashed lines mark one and two enemies.

A front-line tank in a teamfight rarely has just one champion swinging at them. The engage lands, the enemy carries hit whatever's closest, and all of that damage piles into the same 2 seconds the reduction covers. Two champions on you is enough for most supports, and no support here needs more than 2.8 at any stage. That's the fight Celestial is built for.

Some enemies don't need help. Lucian, Miss Fortune, Rengar and Sett each land enough in two seconds to put Celestial ahead for every support here on their own.

Armor gets in the way

Melee supports get the 35% version and ranged ones get 25%, so I'd assumed the tanks would run away with this. They don't. Leona builds to 165 armor by her second legendary, Lux to 67, and armor that high means there's less damage for the reduction to cut. Leona needs 2.2 enemies on her; Lux needs 2.0. So the per-hit math is close to level between them, and what makes Celestial the tank's item is where the tank stands. Rakan and Bard sit at the far end of the chart (ranged, with Locket in the build, they get the small cut of a small number).

Pyke is the exception, and he's the one support built like a damage dealer. He's melee with lethality items and nothing defensive, and Celestial Opposition saves him 170 health a fight against the median champion (more than any other support here) next to Sleigh's 250.

Support	Level 9	Level 11	Level 13	Fastest slow or immobilize
Pyke melee, 35%	110 / 190	170 / 250	217 / 310	Bone Skewer [Q], 7s
Alistar melee, 35%	92 / 190	144 / 250	186 / 310	Pulverize [Q], 8s
Taric melee, 35%	88 / 190	137 / 250	158 / 310	Dazzle [E], 11s
Rell melee, 35%	102 / 190	137 / 250	164 / 310	Ferromancy: Crash Down [W], 7s
Senna ranged, 25%	84 / 190	132 / 250	169 / 310	Last Embrace [W], 9s
Blitzcrank melee, 35%	92 / 190	131 / 250	154 / 310	Power Fist [E], 5s
Seraphine ranged, 25%	85 / 190	131 / 250	169 / 310	Beat Drop [E], 7s
Nautilus melee, 35%	86 / 190	130 / 250	160 / 310	Riptide [E], 5s
Vel'Koz ranged, 25%	85 / 190	130 / 250	165 / 310	Plasma Fission [Q], 5s
Lulu ranged, 25%	84 / 190	130 / 250	166 / 310	Glitterlance [Q], 5s
Renata ranged, 25%	84 / 190	129 / 250	137 / 310	Loyalty Program [E], 7s
Janna ranged, 25%	84 / 190	128 / 250	166 / 310	Zephyr [W], 5s
Lux ranged, 25%	84 / 190	128 / 250	166 / 310	Lucent Singularity [E], 6s
Nami ranged, 25%	83 / 190	126 / 250	164 / 310	Aqua Prison [Q], 9s
Braum melee, 35%	87 / 190	123 / 250	145 / 310	Winter's Bite [Q], 5s
Thresh ranged, 25%	74 / 190	116 / 250	139 / 310	Death Sentence [Q], 7s
Leona melee, 35%	87 / 190	115 / 250	141 / 310	Shield of Daybreak [Q], 4s
Bard ranged, 25%	69 / 190	108 / 250	124 / 310	Cosmic Binding [Q], 7s
Rakan ranged, 25%	80 / 190	104 / 250	118 / 310	Grand Entrance [W], 7s

Each cell is Celestial Opposition's health saved against the median enemy, then Sleigh's two heals added together. Levels 9, 11 and 13 go with 1 to 3 legendaries.

Picks and skirmishes: Solstice Sleigh

Sleigh runs on your crowd control. Hook or root someone with an ally in range and you both get 20% move speed that decays over 2.5 seconds, which is exactly the window where a catch turns into a kill or an escape. The heal comes with it, 125 health each at level 11.

A pick is also the fight where only one champion is hitting you, and there Sleigh wins on health alone. Unless you're Pyke, one enemy's damage beats Sleigh's two heals against 12% of champions at most. Ranged enchanters and mages who play behind the front line spend most fights like that, and so does a support who roams for catches.

Your kit barely changes this. Every support here has a slow or an immobilize, and the slowest of them (Taric, whose only one is Dazzle [E]) has it back every 11 seconds. Against Sleigh's 30-second cooldown that's always ready, so a support who slows five times a fight gets the same single heal as one who stuns once.

If your ally is out of range or topped up, only your half of the heal counts. Then it's a coin flip. For the typical support, Celestial saves more than Sleigh heals you against 54% of champions, and the spread runs from 34% for Rakan to 75% for Pyke.

Pick your support

How these were worked out

Item and champion numbers come from the Patch 26.19 game files, including each support's slows and immobilizes. Every champion in the game, on its standard build, fights each support a fiftieth of a second at a time from eight starting points, and the damage it lands in the 2 seconds from its first hit (shields included) sets what Celestial saves. Sleigh assumes an ally is in range and missing at least the heal, and its move speed isn't scored in health. The supports are the ones whose own recommended items open with World Atlas; Yuumi is left out, since she can't be hit while she's attached to an ally. Tanks are the supports Riot's champion data tags as Tank.