Who to play with Smolder — best team synergies

Every ability that lands on a champion is a Dragon Practice (P) stack: with Unstoppable Force (R) freezing three or four of them in the air, one rotation of Super Scorcher Breath (Q) and Achooo! (W) hands you the stacks of ten minutes of poking.

Your card says the problem is the first minutes: Stand United (R) shields you from anywhere on the map and drops Shen into bot as early as level 5, and Shadow Dash (E) taunts the diver who would otherwise shut your lane down before 25 stacks.

Your stacks arrive before your items do: from level 7 Living Forge (P) lets you buy without walking home, so you never trade a wave for a shopping trip. And Brittle from Bellows Breath (W) adds 30% to any crowd control - more time where your Q cannot miss.

GNAR! (R) slams the group into a wall and the slow becomes a full stun: stuck and clumped is the state where MMOOOMMMM! (R) executes instead of merely scaring them. Before that Gnar holds his lane on his own, and time is all you are asking for.

Worth it against teams with one real diver: All Out (R) grabs him and hurls him away from the spot you are shooting from, and Footwork (E) hands you a shield when he reaches you. Against a comp that collapses on you three at a time, he removes one.

One second of Infinite Duress (R) is a target that cannot move and cannot answer: you fit Achooo! (W) and Super Scorcher Breath (Q) into it and walk away with two stacks plus the kill. And Blood Hunt (W) calls him to bot the moment someone drops below half.

Curse of the Sad Mummy (R) is a wide 1.5-second AoE stun: with two or three enemies frozen every cast of yours connects, and every connected cast is a permanent stack. Bandage Toss (Q) opens that same fight without you having to step up.

For the first ten minutes you are the weakest champion in the game, and Powerball (Q) reaches bot faster than anyone else. When they do jump you, Frenzying Taunt (E) forces them to hit Rammus instead, and the lane picks up where you left it.

Crescent Guard (R) knocks back everyone except his marked target and blocks ranged damage: it clears the ground you are standing on instead of engaging. That is the second you need to peel off with Flap, Flap, Flap (E) and go back to casting.

Take him when you draw an aggressive bot lane: Shield Vault (W) stuns and Comet Spear (Q) closes, so at level 3 you win a 2v2 you lose on your own. But he is an early-game jungler: if he does not convert, later he adds nothing your stacks are not already doing.

Hero's Entrance (R) does the two things you lack at the same time: it shields you from across the map in the minutes when everything kills you, and it lands a knock-up on whoever is on top of you. That grounded group is also the clean window for MMOOOMMMM! (R).

Command: Protect (E) gives you a shield and bonus resistances and moves the ball to where you stand, so Orianna's damage zone defends your position instead of hers. Command: Shockwave (R) pulls them into one spot - that is where Super Scorcher Breath (Q) hits more than one.

With Pyromania (P) charged, Annie's next spell is a guaranteed stun rather than a dodgeable skillshot: the target stands still and you bank two landed abilities instead of risking a trade. Summon: Tibbers (R) keeps swinging even after she goes down.

Your card says ganks and dives are what delay the stacks: Destiny (R) reveals the entire enemy team, so you see the jungler before he arrives and stay on the wave instead of playing back. The second cast teleports him into bot to defend you.

In China Nasus is a mid laner, and only one of his buttons matters to you: Wither (W) strips the movement and attack speed of whoever reached you, which is the only way you die. In lane he gives you nothing, though - he is busy stacking his Q.

Long-range poke lanes tax every stacking attempt you make: Inner Flame (Q) answers from outside their range and empowered Inspire (E) gives you shield and speed to step back in instead of healing behind tower. Focused Resolve (W) roots anyone who walks up.

You do not have to win lane, you have to stay in it: Aria of Perseverance (W) patches you up every wave and Song of Celerity (E) keeps you out of skillshots while you keep chipping with Super Scorcher Breath (Q). Then Crescendo (R) freezes a whole group and opens your window.

Death Sentence (Q) hands you a target dragged in and stunned for a second and a half: that is two landed abilities and two stacks every time the hook connects. And the Dark Passage (W) lantern shields you and pulls you out of the dive that sends you home.

Your stated weakness is lanes that hit you from outside your range: Unbreakable (E) intercepts those projectiles and cuts 35% off whatever gets through, so you step up to collect stacks instead of healing back. Winter's Bite (Q) slows whoever walks off.

Ebb and Flow (W) keeps you on the wave through the minutes when you cannot trade, and Aqua Prison (Q) into Tidal Wave (R) is a chain nobody walks out of: two knock-ups back to back is every ability you can cast, and all of them land.

She covers your hole late, not early: Whimsy (W) polymorphs the diver and Rampant Growth (R) knocks him off while adding health. But she brings no poke and no hook, so your lane is silent in the exact minutes that decide your stacks: pick her against assassins.