Skip to content 
Champion synergies in League of Legends can turn an ordinary matchup into something unexpectedly powerful. Beyond mechanics and wave control, certain champion interactions create combos most players rarely notice. Let’s explore some of those combos and see if one of them surprises you.
The last one is my favourite so stick around 🙂
Kayn + Xerath – Autolock Ultimate
This combo isn’t commonly used, and many players aren’t even aware it exists and yet it’s surprisingly effective.
Landing Xerath’s ultimate consistently can be difficult, especially against mobile targets. That’s where Kayn comes in. When Kayn casts his ultimate (regardless of form), he becomes fully embedded inside the enemy champion, effectively locking their position for a brief moment.
If the allied Xerath player locks the camera onto Kayn using the appropriate F-key (depending on Kayn’s team position) and keeps the cursor centered on the screen, Xerath’s ultimate shots become almost impossible to miss. Since Kayn is literally inside the target, every cast lands with near-perfect accuracy.
This interaction turns what is normally a high-skill, high-miss-rate ultimate into a near-guaranteed burst sequence, often leading to unexpected and lethal picks.
The synergy fits naturally into most team compositions and doesn’t create any awkward role overlap. In some cases, it can be pushed even further for example, pairing it with a Nami support allows additional crowd control and damage amplification, making Xerath’s damage output even more oppressive.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj0DMkK5vIQ
Taric + Kindred – Ultimate Undying
This combo has been seen countless times, but it’s still worth revisiting especially to understand why it remains so effective.
Taric provides delayed invulnerability to nearby allies, which can be unreliable in fast fights where teammates may die before the effect fully activates. Kindred, on the other hand, offers instant death denial, preventing burst damage but also protecting enemies and often forcing awkward fight resets.
When combined, their weaknesses disappear.
Kindred can cast her ultimate first to immediately stabilize the fight and deny enemy burst. During that window, Taric has enough time to channel his ultimate safely. As Kindred’s zone expires, Taric’s invulnerability takes over, giving his team a second survival window while enemies are suddenly left exposed.
With the enemy team out of cooldowns and fairly exposed I think Taric and Kindred’s team have enough time to re-engage and secure that victory.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbTtji7X0yg
Ornn + Sion – Intense Brittle Proc
I’m usually a bit fan of having 2 tanks on the team, and if you ever consider a composition like that, pairing Ornn and Sion is surprisingly effective.
Both champions are notoriously tanky, but what truly makes this duo stand out is the amount of crowd control layered with unexpected damage. Ornn’s kit revolves around Brittle, a status effect applied through his W and ultimate. Brittle reduces the target’s tenacity and causes the next crowd control effect to consume the mark, dealing damage based on the target’s maximum health.
This is where Sion comes in.
With a kit full of knock-ups, stuns, and slows, Sion consistently procs Brittle in the most brutal way possible. Each interaction extends crowd control, amplifies damage, and turns what should be a frontline standoff into a slow, unavoidable collapse.
The constant chain of slows, knock-ups, stuns and the damage tied to them makes escaping these two nearly impossible. Against Ornn and Sion, fights don’t explode instantly; they grind you down, one crowd control effect at a time.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSnEsFb_URA
PS: This example shows both champions being used on bot lane but it is not a requirement at all!
Jhin + Xerath – The No-Go Zone
It’s well known that Jhin pairs exceptionally well with long-range champions, as they make setting up his W significantly easier. While this synergy might not be completely unknown, I still had to include it. It’s one of the combos I personally have the most fun playing with friends, and it remains incredibly effective.
Neither Jhin nor Xerath has much mobility, but that weakness is more than compensated by the amount of zoning and pressure they provide. Jhin’s traps combined with Xerath’s stun make approaching them extremely dangerous without a proper flank. On top of that, Xerath’s W slow makes landing Jhin’s W feel almost guaranteed.
The constant poke from Xerath is exactly what Jhin thrives on. Jhin excels at finishing targets whether with his fourth shot or his ultimate and sustained long-range damage puts enemies permanently within execution range.
Dodging either Jhin’s or Xerath’s ultimate alone is already challenging. When both are used together, the sheer number of skill shots the enemy must avoid becomes overwhelming. This makes the duo exceptionally strong when sieging towers, pushing with Baron, or capitalizing after a won fight, effectively turning entire areas of the map into no-go zones.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sej31RiUWo0
Jarvan IV + Qiyana – Elemental Arena
This combo is what we call a classic explosive wombo combo, simple and brutally effective.
The idea is straightforward: Jarvan IV engages first, trapping enemies inside Cataclysm. Qiyana follows up immediately, using the terrain created by the arena to fully proc her ultimate’s stun and bonus damage.
What makes this interaction especially strong is how reliable it is. Fights around objectives or team skirmishes naturally group multiple enemies inside Jarvan’s ultimate, and Qiyana’s Supreme Display of Talent (R) punishes that positioning perfectly.
Once Qiyana has a few core items, the damage becomes overwhelming. What starts as crowd control quickly turns into a fight-ending burst, leaving enemies with little room to react or escape.
The example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlB-ubRbaDk
Poppy/Alistar + Veigar – Forced Geometry
Veigar is widely known as one of the strongest scaling champions in the game. Between his high damage output, long-range poke, burst ultimate, and exceptional zoning tools, his kit already demands respect. At the center of it all is Event Horizon (E), one of the most oppressive zoning abilities in League of Legends.
With a kit like that, Veigar thrives when paired with a support that can force enemy movement. That’s where Poppy or Alistar come into play.
Once Veigar places his cage, enemies instinctively try to avoid touching its edges, often the only way to survive. Poppy and Alistar exploit that panic perfectly by knocking enemies directly into the stun, turning positioning mistakes into guaranteed crowd control.
Alistar is my personal favorite in this setup. His knockback into cage stun can be followed by a knock-up, extending the crowd control chain even further and creating devastating setup windows for Veigar’s burst.
Poppy, however, shouldn’t be overlooked. She shines against dash-heavy champions and engage supports, making her especially effective into matchups like Lucian or champions such as Pyke, where denying mobility is just as important as landing the stun itself.
In both cases, the goal is the same: enemies aren’t choosing where they move, you are 😀
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYFr9vsV_Bs
Neeko + Small Pack champs – Desguise Party
Playing Neeko effectively already requires creativity, and this interaction rewards exactly that. This is a clever interaction that some Neeko players have been using for a while, and I thought it was worth highlighting here.
The concept is simple but clever: pair Neeko with champions that naturally spawn units often perceived as “minions”. Champions like Naafiri, Elise, Malzahar, or Yorick constantly summon creatures that players instinctively ignore.
By disguising herself as one of these summoned units and positioning next to the ally who supposedly “created” them, Neeko blends in almost perfectly. This creates powerful surprise opportunities in areas where real minions don’t exist such as rivers, jungle entrances, or even inside bases.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ONzEuDxCndc
Lissandra + Viego – Frozen Souls
Lissandra and Viego form a uniquely effective duo built around one simple condition: securing the first kill.
Viego’s biggest strength and biggest weakness revolves around resets. Once he takes down an enemy champion, he gains access to their body and abilities, turning fights into a chain reaction of burst damage and momentum. The challenge is always the same: getting that first takedown.
This is where Lissandra excels.
With some of the strongest single-target lockdown in the game, Lissandra can reliably isolate and burst priority targets. Her ultimate freezes enemies in place, removing counterplay and creating the perfect window for Viego to secure the kill and begin his reset cycle.
Beyond setup, Lissandra also solves another of Viego’s problems: sticking to targets. While Viego lacks reliable crowd control outside his W, Lissandra brings slows, roots, stuns and the Frozen Thralls passive that keep enemies locked down long enough for Viego to fully commit.
Once the first enemy falls, the fight often spirals out of control. What starts as controlled lockdown quickly turns into overwhelming damage, allowing the duo to flip fights entirely on their own.
Karthus + Akshan – Death Without Consequences
Karthus is a champion built around inevitability. He farms patiently, scales relentlessly, and eventually becomes a walking death sentence in the late game. His passive encourages an almost suicidal playstyle which often means dying in the middle of the enemy team to deal as much damage as possible before finishing everyone off with his ultimate.
Of course, as with most things in League of Legends, not everything goes according to plan.
That’s exactly why I love playing Akshan alongside a Karthus. If Karthus dies too early, before fully executing his damage cycle, Akshan can revive him, allowing Karthus to repeat the process almost immediately.
What makes this interaction especially consistent is that Karthus almost always leaves enemies on the brink of death. That creates the perfect conditions for Akshan to hunt down the scoundrel who took Karthus down, trigger his W, and bring him back into the fight.
The result is a terrifying loop: Karthus dies, deals massive damage, gets revived, and threatens to do it all over again. What should be a successful pick suddenly turns into a fight the enemy never truly won.
Example can be seen here at 2:06:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpfpbh9A8h8
Katarina + Braum – Marked for Reset
This is easily my favorite champion combination.
Katarina and Braum is not a duo most players expect, or even recognize as a synergy. Braum’s passive is usually associated with basic attacks from allies but when Katarina enters the picture, that rule changes entirely.
Katarina can proc Braum’s passive through Shunpo, her daggers, and even through the ticks of her ultimate. What normally requires coordinated auto attacks suddenly becomes instant, reliable crowd control.
Katarina thrives alongside champions that can engage and create openings, but in real games, coordination isn’t always perfect. That’s where Braum shines. All he needs to do is mark the assassination target, effectively handing the decision-making over to Katarina.
From that point on, the flow becomes incredibly intuitive. Braum enables the stun, Katarina executes the reset, and the fight quickly spirals out of control. The pressure of perfect timing is reduced, while the payoff remains devastating.
The synergy between these two feels natural, fluid, and far stronger than it appears on paper. I genuinely recommend trying it and once you do, it’s hard to unsee how well it works.
Example can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ6IoRkN66E
Final Thoughts
League of Legends is still afteral a strategie game. Some synergies don’t look strong on paper, but become surprisingly effective once you understand how they interact.
This list isn’t about meta picks or optimal play it’s just clever interactions that reward creativity and awareness. If even one of these combinations made you think “wait… that actually makes sense”, then the goal of this post was met. 😀
More League of Legends experiments, curiosities, and data-driven content are coming soon... In the mean time, check out this article about Magic Penetration 😀
