Today I'll be covering the first 13 out of 39 notable sustain champions. There's more to say about some than others, so don't be surprised when one champion gets multiple paragraphs while another only gets a few lines.
Ahri's passive is a complicated place to start, but is fairly simple in practice. Every ability she uses generates up to 3 charges based on the number of targets she hits, and at 9 charges her next ability gains 35% Spell Vamp. Practically speaking this means Ahri has bonus Spell Vamp on every fourth ability cast.
At first this might seem weak, but the condition is there to make up for the passive's high value and usability.
It's quick and easy for Ahri to hit an entire creep wave with her Q,
and her W is considered a single-target ability for the purposes of
Spell Vamp. 35% is also a very large amount of Spell Vamp, especially during the crucial early game. Ahri's passive, when used properly, is a large part of what
makes her strong in lane and in team fights.
Akali's passive grants her 8% Spell Vamp upon reaching 9.5 bonus AD, and an additional 1% for every 6 AD thereafter. Typically Akali players use Flat AD Marks to activate this part of her passive, as buying AD items on an AP assassin is extremely inefficient.
While 8% Spell Vamp isn't a lot, Akali's infinite energy allows her to spam her abilities and reap the healing rewards. Her damage is also primarily single-target, meaning she doesn't suffer the AoE Spell Vamp penalty. Because her sustain and resources are both free she can trade unfavorably with opponents and still end up ahead in the long run.
Alistar is better known for his crowd control, but his healing spell is a very important part of his kit. It's an incredibly efficient self-heal and critical to mitigating the damage that Alistar inevitably takes as a jungler or frontline support. That his heal also heals allies and doubles as a pushing tool is icing on the cake.
Cho'gath is the first champion whose passive sustain is predicated upon last-hitting. With perfect last-hitting he can heal for as much as 200 health per creep wave even at level 1. The scaling of this passive is weak, but that high base value makes Cho'gath practically immovable during the laning phase.
However, Cho'gath's early-game offensive potential is fairly limited in many matchups, and his late-game is primarily about disruption. Despite being a defensive fortress he's a rare pick because he can't suppress or outscale most opponents.
Dr. Mundo is one of the few champions who can be said to have two forms of sustain. His passive provides him with significant Hp5, and his ultimate is on a surprisingly low cooldown. The longer the game goes on the better Mundo's sustain gets, up to a fairly ridiculous point if you ever complete his trifecta of Warmog's Armor, Force of Nature, and Spirit Visage.
Fiddlesticks' Drain is so potent he can sustain himself with only one or two ranks in the ability. It is also one of the few sustain abilities which can be interrupted by CC or movement. This makes Drain a very binary ability; if uninterrupted Fiddlesticks can be extremely hard to kill, but if there's CC on the field he can easily die while waiting on his cooldown to return.
Fiora's passive is clearly designed for lane trading and sustain, but it's very weak. At 7+Level healing over 6 seconds the edge granted by this ability is very small. Even four stacks, obtained by attacking a champion, will only grant 100 total healing at level 18. In the end it's nothing to write home about.
Galio is well known for being a counter to AP champions, and a large part of that is his Bulwark. Bulwark turns the incidental damage from minions into significant healing, up to five times the tooltip value depending on how many hits he takes. With just a single rank and a little MR/AP Galio can heal for hundreds of health. This makes him a monster of attrition, and his high base mana regen allows him to perpetually farm with or without blue buff.
Gangplank has the infamous CC breaking oranges for his sustain. The dual-purpose of this ability makes it a double-edged sword; spamming it for sustain leaves Gangplank vulnerable to CC. However, leveling this first is a well known stopgap tactic when facing an unfavorable lane. With 360 healing at rank 5, Gangplank can survive almost any lane.
Garen's passive is a significant contributor to his love of bushes. Because he must avoid taking damage in order to prevent his Hp5 passive from dropping, bushes are an extremely safe place for him to hide. So long as it's active Garen's passive is far stronger than Mundo's, but in practice even bushes can't keep Garen's passive up consistently. In the end Garen isn't known for his sustain, but for his signature battlecry.
Gragas is often forgotten amongst the sustain champions; few people even realize that's what his passive does. While 2% of his maximum health in healing when he uses abilities seems weak, it adds up quickly when he has blue buff. Combined with the innate damage reduction from his W, Gragas can be difficult to push out of lane.
Hecarim's Spirit of Dread is perhaps the most interesting sustain ability in the game. All damage done to champions within the area of affect heals Hecarim for a %. The cap on healing from minions and monsters is there to prevent abuse, as otherwise the ability would effectively be 30% free Life Steal and Spell Vamp. Still, it functions that way when fighting champions, making Hecarim incredibly hard to kill in duels or teamfights. While it shouldn't be leveled first when jungling, laning Hecarims often grab it first to play aggressively and crush their opponents.
Heimerdinger is perhaps the most dubious mention on the entire list. While the 10-25 Hp5 his passive grants to him and any nearby allies does count as sustain, he has no way to capitalize on it. Like Fiora, it's a slight advantage and better than nothing, but does little to amplify Heimerdinger's strengths or compensate for his weaknesses.
Tomorrow the analysis will continue with letters I through R. This is going to take some time, so bear with me.
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