10. Varus and Karma
An underrated duo in bot, Varus and Karma easily speak “painful pokes” in their lane.
Karma is one of the strongest champions early game due to her ultimate being readily available before Level-6. This allows her to empower her Inner Flame (Q) and deal painful pokes on the enemy at an early level. The fact that it’s also spammable doesn’t make it any easier for the enemies. She can also trade effectively as she can just poke and then run off with her Inspire (E) which is a shield that can absorb damage and grant a burst of movement speed. Varus also has his own fair share of pokes from his kit with his Piercing Arrow (Q) capable of dealing lots of damage from afar, and supplementing Karma’s pokes.
When Varus reaches Level-6, he can engage with his Chain of Corruption (R), snaring the first enemy hit. Karma can then chain cc with her snaring Focused Resolve (W), giving both the opportunity to land their pokes. All the while, Varus can deal auto attacks, overall doing tons of damage, and most of the time, landing kills.
This combo in bot lane is difficult to play against due to the champions turning the lane into a mini-dodging game.
What makes this combo great:
- Painful pokes
- Effective trades (due to Karma’s shield)
- Dynamic lane as it can be both a farm lane or a kill lane, depending on the match up.
9. Caitlyn and Morgana
Caitlyn is the ultimate lane bully of bot lane due to having the longest range in the early game. She can freely trade against her enemies without receiving any damages back. Morgana’s skills are also efficient for poking due to its range.
Morgana is known for her Dark Binding (Q), and this skill is a nightmare for the enemies when hit since its long duration makes it feel like they’ve been snared for decades. Caitlyn can easily follow up with her Yordle Snap Trap (W), adding to the long duration of the enemy being cc’ed. During that time, they can land both of their skillshots and auto attacks
Caitlyn’s Piltover Peacemaker (Q) is capable of poking from a far range. Additionally, it is also used for wave clear waveclear, which means she can push the enemies to hug their turrets. If this is the situation for the enemy, the lane is going to be difficult for them as they’re going to have to endlessly dodge lethal skillshots.
Upon reaching Level-6, Morgana can supplement her Dark Binding with her Soul Shackles (R), stunning the enemy giving more chances for Caitlyn to land more attacks. Finally, Caitlyn can finish the job with her ultimate, Ace in the Hole, which is a point-and-click and long-ranged homing attack.
This combo in bot lane is definitely one of the most annoying and difficult to fight against in bot.
What makes this combo great:
- Mega-strong laning phase
- Almost no counterplay in bot lane (The usual counter to Caitlyn are hook champions like Blitz and Nautilus but both are easily repelled with Morgana’s E- Black Shield)
8. Ashe and Zyra
The classic utility combo, Ashe and Zyra have been wrecking bot lane with their combined crowd control, leaving the enemy zoned out with their massive pokes and kill threats.
Once Ashe hits the enemy with her long-ranged cone-shaped Volley (W) which almost can’t be missed, the enemy gets slowed, and Zyra can easily follow up with her Grasping Roots (E), immobilizing the enemy for an extended period of time. This allows her to land her other skill shots, and for Ashe to hit more of her autos to the impaired enemy.
Additionally, once they hit Level-6, Ashe’s global ultimate, Enchanted Crystal Arrow (R), can be used to stun the enemies from afar. Once hit, Zyra can follow up with her high-based damage ultimate, Stranglethorns (R), chain cc'd with its knock-up and deal tons of damage with her plants.
This duo is a nightmare to face in bot lane due to its endless pokes and crowd controls.
What makes this combo great:
- Strong laning due to pokes, crowd controls, and zoning
- Crowd control for the entire team that’s helpful in clash
7. Miss Fortune and Sona
A highly straightforward bot lane combo, this bot lane duo screams ‘explosive damage’ in teamfights.
Although there are many other supports who can facilitate Miss Fortune’s nuke of an ultimate- Bullet Time (R), one of the best contenders is Sona and her easy-to-hit Crescendo (R).
This results in tons of damage being dealt to multiple enemies since the AOE is massive. This combo is heavily teamfight oriented, capable of dictating results of teamfights when pulled off correctly.
What makes this combo great:
- Game changing ultimates
- Easy to pull off
- Great objective control due to large AOE zone control
6. Jinx and Leona
Jinx is an ADC with a fair laning phase. She may not be a lane bully like Caitlyn, but she is someone who scales well and is a capable hyper-carry when itemized.
People may think that her laning phase is her weak point since she’s easy to engage, but when paired with a support with heavy crowd control, she can actually wreck! And when it comes to crowd control, the first Champion that comes up in people’s minds is Leona.
Leona is one of the strongest champions pre-level 6. She usually engages to the squishier target with her Zenith Blade (E) snaring the enemy, which she then tops up with her stun, Shield of Daybreak (Q). Jinx can follow up with more cc’s by landing her Flame Chompers (E) on the impaired enemy, followed by her high-damaging and slowing Zap (W). She can also maximize her auto attacks by switching to her rockets (Q) , maximizing her range. This results in a good trade and even kills in the lane.
Upon reaching Level-6, Leona can stun an enemy from afar with her Solar Flare (R), and follow up with the aforementioned combo. Jinx can then follow up with her cc and attacks, then execute the enemy with her Super Mega Death Rocket (R) with ease. She then gets her reset and movement boost from her passive, Get Excited, and get multikills.
This duo is an absolute killer, and very fun to play. It’s exceptionally fun if Jinx snowballs.
What makes this combo great:
- Strong laning phase on specific matchups
- Dynamic playstyle that can be both aggressive or defensive
- High damage output
- Resets!
5. Kog’maw and Lulu
Lulu is arguably one of the most protective support since her kit is full of utilities from shields, heals, crowd-controls, and speed boosts, everything an adc needs to survive, The Fae Sorceress can deliver. And who better to support than the hyper-carry, Kog’maw who’s a machine gun of pain, but has a huge downside of immobility?
Kog’maw and Lulu is another classic timeless duo in bot that may not be strong in the laning phase but delivers once the ADC has itemized. Kog is a hyper-carry capable of 1v9 due to his HP shredding capabilities that can destroy an entire team including tanks.
He literally just needs to stand like a turrent and do fast autos with his Bio-arcane Barrage (W), and delete the enemy line. This leaves him vulnerable, and that’s where Lulu comes in, filling in what he lacks and giving him the survivability that he needs with the thick shield from Help, Pix (E), and Wild Growth (R). Anyone who tries to engage onto him will just be Polymorphed (W), and unable to do anything while Kog depletes his HP bar.
This is a classic duo in bot lane that’s sure to carry.
What makes this combo great:
- Tons of damage per second in clash
- Anti-tanks
- Late game insurance
4. Jhin and Lux
The most obvious strength of this pairing is the range of their abilities. This is one of the best poke duos in bot lane.
Upon landing Lux’s Light Binding (Q), Jhin can follow up with his Deadly Flourish (W) , resulting in a chained crowd control combo. This can be followed by both their ultimates, Curtain call (Jhin’s R) and Final Spark (Lux’s R), which can both serve as executions to whomever is caught. This can serve as a utility from which their teammates can benefit from.
The special thing about this is that both skills come with a great range which means this duo can reach their enemies from afar, but not the other way around.
What makes this combo great:
- Long-ranged abilities
- Crowd control for the entire team
- Pokes with no consequences due to range
- High damage output
3. Tristana and Thresh
Tristana is a hyper-aggressive adc in the early game, which means she synergizes well with engage supports, but arguably one of the best fits for the Yordle Gunner is none other than The Warden himself. Thresh is capable of keeping the enemy engaged for a long period of time.
Upon landing his Death Sentence (Q), followed by his Flay (E). These consecutive crowd controls give Tristana the opportunity to land multiple shots from the attack speed boost from her Rapid Fire (Q) and additional AOE and magic damage from her Explosive Charge (E), dealing tons of damage to the unlucky victim. Tristana also gets a reset on her Rocket Jump (W) which can be used to disengage or further pursue more enemies to get multikills.
Tristana can also go ham by jumping on the enemies’ face with her Rocket Jump (W), and be bailed out by Thresh’s Dark Passage (W) with ease.
What makes this combo great:
- Strong laning phase in bot lane since both of them are strong in the early game
- Thresh’s Dark Passage (W) can facilitate Tristana’s disengage allowing her to survive through danger.
- Thresh’s crowd controls can also serve to protect Tristana, allowing her to live long in teamfights.
- Resets!
2. Lucian and Braum
This duo is something we often see in bot lane, and are monsters at it. This is due to their passives being a match made in heaven.
Lucian’s passive (Lightslinger) which gives him a double-shot after using an ability, allows for a faster proc of Braum’s passive (Concussive Blows), which requires four auto attacks or Braum’s offensive abilities.
Lucian is usually played aggressively, dashing towards the enemies to land a poke with his Piercing Light (Q), and Braum can easily follow with his point-to-an ally leap, Stand Behind Me (W), and absorb damage with his Unbreakable (E) shield, resulting in a very effective trade in lane.
Lucian’s E (Relentless Pursuit) can be used to both engage or disengage from his enemies and an enemy who gets a stack from Braum’s passive can easily be proc’d by Lucian’s double shot, get stunned, and receive bonus magic damage. These result in a perfectly setup combo in bot lane, allowing the duo to land pokes and even kills.
Apart from that, their ultimates are both long-ranged which means if Braum successfully lands his R (Glacial Fissure), Lucian can easily hit all his shots from his high-burst ultimate, The Culling.
What makes this combo great:
- Easy to pull off since it can be done through point and click autos, and thick easy to land skillshots
- Proper disengage when ganked and even outplay potential
- Easy landing of crowd control which gives a lot of opportunity to damage
1. Xayah and Rakan
Topping off this list are none other than the love birds in bot lane who were specifically designed to synergize well with each other. Being paired up in together gives the following bonuses: additional range of Rakan’s Battle Dance (E), extra feathers for Xayah’s Deadly Plumage (W), and their special passive, “Love’s Leap” which allows them to recall together with only one of them required to channel their recall.
There are many great combos that these two can pull off. Rakan’s multiple engage skills, specifically his Grant Entrance (W) + The Quickness (R) combo can serve as a great setup for Xayah’s burst damage from when she recalls her stacked feathers with her Bladecaller (E), whether it’s from auto attacking or her ultimate Featherstorm (R).
Rakan can also provide great protection for Xayah with his kit, allowing her to survive in teamfights and deal tons of dps from the backline, and making it difficult for her to be slain, given that she also has her trump, her ultimate Featherstorm (R).
What makes this combo great:
- Synergizing kit from game design
- More efficient recall timing through Love’s Leap
- Strong laning with Rakan’s hit and run engagements, supplemented with the bonus range on his E
- Dynamic playstyle ranging from defensive, hit and run, and aggressive
