Kalista is of the most unique ADCs in League of Legends. Her passive and ultimate require specific synergy from her partners. And her mechanics are pretty challenging for most players.
Roughly speaking, Kalista’s best partners are often tanks that have lots of CC. This is because they can use her ultimate for an engage before they apply their own stuns and knock-ups. But also, tank supports can peel well for Kalista which is a very important thing.
Because of this, you’ll need to think of melee supports that offer a lot of crowd control but can also remain tanky enough so that Kalista is safe around them. Enchanters do work fine in lane, but you want to avoid them in combination with Kalista.
That said, let’s go over the best support partners you should play with Kalista in LoL.
Nautilus
Anyone who’s played against Nautilus and Kalista knows true pain. These two champions can be so difficult to beat, especially when piloted by experienced players.
For starters, Nautilus’ crowd control is a very important reason why this duo is so effective. It helps Nautilus keep enemies away from Kalista and peel. But it also helps Kalista deal more damage while the enemies can’t move.
Next, Nautilus’ aggression in lane is a great strategy for keeping Kalista out of harm’s way. In other words, each time Nautilus hooks an enemy champion, they can’t poke and harass Kalista who is otherwise.
Because of Nautilus’ hook, the duo can and should look for kills before level 6. The spell provides an easy gank setup and if your jungler is willing to cooperate, all 3 of you can get super fed early on.
Nautilus’ key strengths:
- Multiple crowd control effects
- Strong engage from level 1
- Can peel and kite for Kalista really well
With Kalista’s ultimate, Nautilus can quickly gap-close a key target, knock them up, and then line up the rest of his CC effects. He can keep an enemy champion immobilized for over 5 seconds which is plenty of time for Kalista to take them down.
Knight’s Vow should be one of the priority items for Nautilus. It will redirect some of the damage enemies do to Kalista back to Nautilus, so it’s another way of increasing her safety.
Read Also: Top 5 Best ADCs for Nautilus
Taric
Taric is another tanky support I can recommend in combination with Kalista. He’s one of the safest pick you can make, with tons of utility as well as defensive tools.
First of all, Taric offers a reliable healing for Kalista throughout the game. His Q heals based on how much health he has, so it’s stronger later on even though it’s strong enough for the laning phase as well.
Besides this, Taric can also cast his W on Kalista to grant her bonus armor and shield her for the enemy. This is a really important spell for trading because it makes Kalista much tankier than she usually is.
Taric’s key strengths:
- Q and W are effective tools for trading
- Can stun Kalista’s attackers even if not in range
- Invulnerability effect on his R
In 2v2 fights, the key spell to hit is Taric’s E, Dazzle. It’s a stun that can be cast from Kalista’s position as well. And because she can hop forward with each auto-attack, Taric can simply stun enemies through her without even being near them.
On level 6, Dazzle can be easily applied after Taric uses Kalista’s ultimate to knock-up the enemies. And if things don’t work out according to plan, Taric can always activate his ultimate and prevent Kalista from dying.
As far as items are concerned, Mikael’s Blessing should be one of your primary choices. This is because Kalista is prone to CC due to her short range, so you’ll need a way to cleanse those effects from her and allow her to deal damage.
Read Also: Top 5 Best ADCs for Taric
Blitzrank
Blitzcrank and Kalista are a way more popular duo, one that often wins lane and ends up carrying the game. And this is because of their obvious synergy.
First of all, when Blitzcrank pulls an enemy champion with Q and knocks them up with E, Kalista gets a few seconds of free auto-attacks and Qs on that target. And when the spears are stacked, she can simply activate E to finish the enemy off.
Once they get to level 6, Blitzcrank can dash in with Kalista’s ultimate to knock multiple opponents up in the air. When they land, it’s the perfect time for him to activate his ultimate to deal extra magic damage as well as silence your enemy.
This is the basic kill setup you want to rinse and repeat on Kalista and Blitzcrank. The CC allows your entire team to collapse on the affected enemies while they can’t even use Flash to get away from it (enemies can’t Flash while airborne or silenced).
Blitzcrank’s key strengths:
- Easy kill setup thanks to his Q
- Single target and AoE crowd control
- Multiple different build paths (including tank)
When supporting Kalista, AP Blitzcrank shouldn’t even cross your mind. It’s important for you to become very tanky so you can peel and kite for Kalista, especially if the game is likely to drag on.
However, one helpful item that isn’t is Zeke’s Convergence. It’ll basically give Kalista more damage after you CC a target with Blitz, so it’s a win-win.
Read Also: 7 Best Synergy ADCs for Blitzcrank
Alistar
Alistar is another good candidate for a wombo-combo with Kalista. I particularly love playing Alistar because he’s so tanky and what he lacks in damage he makes up for it with peeling and utility.
In lane, Alistar is mostly passive and only looks for kills with his Headbutt + Pulverize. This is the basic kill setup for the duo before level 6 and you should only fight when you have it available.
Besides engage, Alistar can protect Kalista while farming. Periodically, he’ll passively cast a heal on Kalista. And if the enemy team isn’t particularly aggressive, this will be enough protection for the early part of the game.
Later on, you can always pick up Locket of the Iron Solari for the extra shield you can cast on Kalista.
Alistar’s key strengths:
- Can push enemies away from Kalista all game long
- Strong engage and crowd control
- Incredibly tanky after level 6
But the most important synergy between these two champions comes on level 6. When Alistar dashes in between the enemy team and knocks them up with Kalista’s ult, he can knock them up for the second time with this Q.
The double airborne effect is a difficult CC to survive, especially because the enemy can’t even cleanse it. And that’s why even if Alistar and Kalista lose their lane, they can always come back with a good wombo-combo in the late game teamfights.
Read Also: 7 Best Synergy ADCs for Alistar
Morgana
Morgana is one of the few mage supports that work very well with Kalista ADC. But this is largely because her ultimate forces her to be in melee range, something that Kalista can provide with her R, Fate’s Call.
In other words, Kalista can bind with Morgana and cast R to allow her to dash in and knock multiple enemies up in the air. While they’re airborne, Morgana should immediately cast Soul Shackles to have enough time for the spell to stun all affected targets.
If you pull this combo successfully, multiple kills are almost guaranteed. It’s a really powerful synergy that can’t be stopped, especially if Morgana has Zhonya’s Hourglass to protect herself after the enemies land on the ground.
Morgana’s key strengths:
- Long range snare effect
- Black Shield can protect Kalista from nearly everything
- AoE damage and stun thanks to her ultimate
Additionally, Morgana offers one of the best forms of protection in League of Legends. Her E, Black Shield, can block both CC effects and magic damage from Kalista, effectively countering so many champions on Summoner’s Rift.
Morgana’s Q is arguably the best snare effect in the game. It can last for up to 3 seconds which is plenty of time for Kalista to take the target down.
So, give this duo a shot!
Read Also: Top 5 Best ADCs for Morgana
Braum
Braum is one of my personal favorite champions for supporting random Kalista players in solo queue. This is because he’s such a reliable and helpful pick that even if the Kalista player isn’t particularly good, you can make them perform better with this champ.
For starters, Braum’s W+E combo is one of the strongest protections in lane and it’s there from level 3. It grants Kalista bonus armor and magic resist but it also absorbs all incoming projectiles and auto-attacks.
This is the way Braum can protect even bad Kalista players and prevent them from dying and feeding.
On top of this, Braum’s passive and Q allow you to stun your opponents simply by having Kalista auto-attack. This is a reliable form of CC and a way to keep enemies from running away from Kalista.
Braum’s key strengths:
- Incredible level of protection for Kalista
- Remains tanky throughout the game
- Good follow-up for Kalista’s ultimate (another knock-up)
After level 6, Braum can throw himself into the opponents with Kalista’s R and successfully cast his own ultimate, Glacial Fissure. This can be a difficult ability to land on multiple champions otherwise, so it’s a good way to wombo-combo the enemy team.
Read Also: Top 7 Best Synergy ADCs for Braum
Amumu
And finally, we have Amumu. This is the go-to champion for all support players that like to have the driver’s seat in the bot lane and carry fights themselves. And fortunately, the pick works like a charm in partnership with Kalista.
Early on, you may not have so many kill opportunities because Amumu doesn’t have enough damage by himself. And Kalista can’t really poke enough to make his engage especially deadly.
However, level 6 is when the game really begins for this duo. Once Amumu charges in with Kalista’s ultimate, he can cast his own R to stun all nearby enemy champions. He can also follow it up with his Q to deny the enemy the possibility of an escape.
Because of this, it’s important for Amumu to always build Evenshroud. The item will cause all affected opponents to take even more damage from Kalista and the rest of their team, so it’s a winning combination.
Amumu’s key strengths:
- Can build AP or tank, depending on what’s needed
- Has extreme amounts of CC, specifically stuns
- Deadly wombo-combo with Kalista’s ulti
In any case, the synergy between Amumu and Kalista is a big factor why this combo works. It’s even more effective if Amumu decides to include one or more AP items besides Evenshroud.
So, definitely give them a try!
Read Also: Top 5 Best Synergy ADC Picks for Amumu Support
Conclusion
As you can see, the best partners for Kalista are usually the ones that can take an advantage of her ultimate to impact the teamfight in a major way. And any champion that can do that is potentially a good support for Kalista as well.
My recommendations above work well regardless of the matchup or patch, so don’t hesitate to try some out and see how they work for you.
Read Also: The Best Supports for Corki ADC