What Goes Around Comes Around – Why Karma Support is on the Fringe of Being Meta

 

Karma has not seen any major play in Season 8. However, the shield mistress may be a hidden OP as of Patch 8.18 and therefore is being completely overlooked by the majority of the player base. So why is this the case? In the following piece, I hope to provide you with a plethora of reasons as to why Karma may be hidden OP and may be worth picking up in the quest for LP in our ranked games.

Ardent Censer’s Return

With late-game critical hit ADCs such as Jinx and Varus (not forgetting the potential of Kai’sa on either her AD or AP builds) on the rise once again, the power of Ardent Censer is likely to rise in conjunction with this meta shift. Therefore, supports that are users of the Ardent Censer and that can proc it easily may be on the verge of being power picks. Karma is one of the best users of Ardent Censer in terms ADC enhancing because of the fact that her shielding ability, Inspire (E), is a point and click ability, meaning as long as your ADC is in range, it's an easy method of using Censer. This easy to execute but yet effective combo may make Karma worth picking up.

Ardent Censer returning to the meta could bring Karma back with it. 

The Power of a Roaming Support

One of the big things we have seen over Seasons 7 and 8 is the power of a roaming support, especially when they gank the mid lane unexpectantly or link up with their jungler for an invade (whether it be to look for a kill or to just get deep vision). Therefore, the ability to roam faster than an opponent can be invaluable in today’s metagame. This is one of many reasons Rakan [for his ability to jump walls to get to a point faster] and Tahm Kench [for his ability to blink from a lane to a lane with his ultimate] are so prominent on the current pro patch. Karma also has great roaming potential, albeit its speed increase comes from the movement speed steroid from her E, Inspire. This leg up may be the difference that may make Karma worth adding to your champion pool.

Roaming supports such as Rakan and TK have been prominent for some time now.

Triple Win Condition

When it comes to solo queue games, having multiple win conditions is something you most definitely want as the regular player is nowhere near as reliable as a pro player that we see on stream, so having more than one win condition is a great thing. Now how does this apply to Karma? Well, Karma has two normal build win conditions and a third unconventional win condition. The first is the one I hinted at earlier - amping the crit-based late-game marksman. It's a very simple win condition; play passively in lane till late-game, build an Ardent Censer in a standard support build, shield the ADC, and then sit back and watch health bars drop.

The second is the most aggressive of the three conditions - the classic win lane, win game. Karma does have great base damage and it is this that makes this win condition possible. It's simple, you play very aggro and look to kill the opposing 2v2 (or at least force a situation where your carry partner gets a CS lead), you then snowball this lead with more stats and utility (with the usual support items) till your team is stronger than the opponents.

The third and final win condition is the most unorthodox of the three but I’m sure some of you have guessed what it is already - Full. AP. Support. We’ve all heard of it, we’ve all judged it, but it does exist (remember the last time Karma was meta, she did spend some time in mid with a full AP build). Now we already know the build and the win condition is simple. Execute using your AoE in teamfights, whether it be AoE shielding with Mantra (R) empowered Inspires or AoE damage with Mantra empowered Inner Flames (Q).

This versatility is absolutely huge for any pick, but even more so on a support, given the variety of champion types we see in the support role, so having multiple win conditions from this role means a good support can do anything with enough flexibility. This effect may be enough for Karma to make her way from the outer fringes of the meta to being a meta staple in the right hands.

Karma has the benefit of being able to utilize multiple builds and playstyles.

Conclusion

To conclude Karma has all the traits, abilities, and builds needed to make her way through to the forefront of the meta or at least become a fringe meta, hidden OP pick. Whether it be due to her being able to rise with other meta ‘up and comers' or match the other playstyles of the current meta through the use of her utility heavy kit. This, all combined with Karma support being one of the most flexible picks in bot lane, could move Karma to the forefront of the meta. And with that, I once again leave you with the thought of GL, HF, and GG.

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