[3.5b] Morgana Guide - Enchantress Morgana Support

I'm not just a random Morgana player. In fact, I've been playing League of Legends. I started to play the game (the PC version obivously) back in 2011. I've been interested to play support since majority of its champion pools is females (oops). I dedicated myself into playing the game in 2017, where I learned a lot of things, especially in the support role. Back in 2017, Athene's Unholy Grail was still there, and I used it with Morgana . I also still used it with Morgana until it got removed in Wild Rift.

My highest rank at that time was Platinum IV with 49 wins and 9 losses. I didn't play much ranked games back then because I had "ranked anxiety," where I was legitimately scared of playing ranked because I was scared of losing what I worked hard for. Now, I still have it, but I just play ranked games without questions.

For Season 7, I reached Grandmaster in SEA region with 66% win rate on Morgana while a total of 64% in all of my games.

Maxing Dark Binding or Black Shield really DEPENDS on your GOAL.

MAX Dark Binding

If you want to play aggressively against easy or skill match-ups, then maxing Dark Binding is the way to go.

• Maxing Dark Binding will REQUIRE you to BURST DOWN squishy enemies with your Imperial Mandate as your 1st core item.
• If you want to play with max Dark Binding , you need to aim it at squishy enemies, such as the enemy ADC, rather than the engage supports.
  • However, if you think that it is CRUCIAL for you to bind the enemy front lines or divers, then you can bind them.

MAX Black Shield

Max Black Shield is the STANDARD skill distribution against engage supports (easy match-ups) because Black Shield SCALES with level. This means that if you max Black Shield , its cooldown reduction reduces, and it even reduces further with your ability haste items!

• Since engage supports would often use their abilities to secure kills, max Black Shield can cope up with their kill threats during laning phase and teamfights.

After deciding which abilities to max first, your choice of 1ST CORE ITEM will also be affected.

MAX Dark Binding + Imperial Mandate

As we all know, Dark Binding has a BIG BASE DAMAGE and AP RATIO, which are enough to deal tons of damage to squishy enemies. 

• With that, Imperial Mandate as your 1st core item will add enough damage to BURST DOWN squishy enemies! 
• If you even pair it with Weakness , then you and your allies will do even more tons of damage to your preys!
• Going for Protector's Vow while maxing Dark Binding is also okay, but you would really want to play around your BURST DAMAGE potential if you're maxing Dark Binding .

MAX Black Shield + Protector's Vow

Maxing Black Shield is done because we want to play defensively and have a safer laning phase. It would make much more sense if you buy Protector's Vow as your 1st core item for survivability for both you and your allies.

Instead of me putting individual notes on each skill match-up champions, I will be providing a general section.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Skill match-up games will really depend on your ability to catch these champions with your Dark Binding . Usually, in this match-ups your Black Shield is not big of a help and your role in the game is a "catcher" support. If Black Shield is a big of a help, skill match-up champions, such as Lux and Brand , can easily remove Black Shield , so you really have to use it WISELY and at the right moment!

LANING PHASE

• Skill match-up champions USUALLY OUTSHINES Morgana when it comes to poking. For example, Janna can easily aim her Zephyr at you without having to exert much effort.
• Morgana , on the other hand, has to accurately aim Dark Binding at them.
• You can POKE these enemies with Scorch + Spectral Sickle + Manaflow Band if you want to be as aggressive as the enemy supports, BUT it is not a necesary thing to do.
• Overall, you just need to survive laning phase without dying a lot or missing tons of gold and experience.
• If you want to play for the late game, then you need to use Weakness instead of Scorch .
  • It's because it will SYNERGIZE well with your MAX [MORGANA:1] + Imperial Mandate to burst down your squishy preys!
• In these match-ups, intstead of Morgana nullifying the engage capabilities of her enemy supports, Morgana becomes a catcher of squishy enemies so that your carries can easily secure the kills!

Instead of me putting individual notes on each easy match-up champions, I will be providing a general section.

INTRODUCTION

Morgana is the BEST enchantress to VS against engage supports because of her Black Shield .

• The playstyle of engage supports is to dominate early game. This is why you would see that 95% of the engage support players choose [ignite] so that they could secure early kills and present stronger kill threats during the laning phase.
• Majority of the enchanters have a difficult time coping with a very good engage supports, but with Morgana and her Black Shield , the early aggression from the engage supports can be easily denied.
• For example, Thresh with his Flay + Death Sentence combo can easily burst down your ADC, but with Black Shield , your ADC can safely take last-hit without the threat of being killed.
• SUMMARY: Engage supports win the games by having an early lead by being aggressive in lane. To counter their general strategy, Morgana can be used as a counter-pick and provide you and your ADC a safer laning phase.
  • The reason why engage supports are an easy match-up for Morgana because she can easily nullify the engage capabilities of these champions.

LANING PHASE

Although Morgana can easily nullify the relevance of engage supports, she can only use Black Shield on one person for every 6-7 seconds (at max level with full items). Hence, you need to use her Black Shield WISELY!

• Your positioning during the laning phase SHOULD ALWAYS be away from the enemy engage supports and you should be beside or behind your ADC.
• Make sure to not be too far from the minion wave so that you will not be losing experience and gold.
• The reason why you want to be away from the enemy engage support and be beside or behind your ADC is because you want to hover your Black Shield easily on your target AT THE RIGHT MOMENT. By doing so, you can EASILY react to the situation.
  • The reason why you want to shield AT THE RIGHT MOMENT is because Black Shield has a VERY LONG COOLDOWN especially during the early game. At point-1 Black Shield , its cooldown is roughly 10 seconds.
• HOWEVER! If you are confident, you can stand in front of the engage support from a distance to bait them into using their crowd controls, such as Dredge Line , to you and easily hit them with Dark Binding and punish them!

Enchantress Utility Morgana is played just like with any other enchantreses.

• You need to stay on the backline while shielding and spamming your bindings.
• If you want to pick off kills as Morgana , use Dark Binding from the "shadows."
  • That is: use it while you're in a bush, behind a wall, or anywhere where the enemy champions cannot see you.
  • Dark Binding is one of the hardest skillshots to land because of its slow animation.

The 1ST peak of Morgana 's powerspike is when she reaches level 5.

• Soul Shackles can easily target enemies as long as they are in range.
• If the enemies don't respect Morgana if she's charging at them, then you can easily use Soul Shackles to them.
  • Before landing Dark Binding , you need to wait for the stun to happen.
  • If the stun is almost finished, it is the right time to land Dark Binding for an effective crowd control chain!
  • The reason why you want to ult first so that you could easily land Dark Binding .
• If they flashed before you could stun them with your ult, then it is already a good trade off.
  • The CD of [flash] is longer than that of Soul Shackles .
  • With this, you can easily use Soul Shackles again or scare them off.

The 2ND peak of her powerspike is when she has Imperial Mandate and maxed Dark Binding for the burst damage on squishy enemies.

• The 3-second bind duration from Dark Binding + Weakness + Imperial Mandate combo are enough to kill squishy preys!

The FINAL peak of her powerspike is when she is in full build, in which she has roughly 60 to 75 ability haste.

• At her final form, Morgana can spam Dark Binding every 4 to 5 seconds.
• Black Shield has 5 to 6 seconds.
• Generally, enchantresses THRIVE in long teamfights by providing utilities; that is: spamming bindings and shieldings.

I know we all love to see a 5-man Soul Shackles , but, in most actual scenarios, it only becomes successful for 10% of the game. Why?

1.  Enemies can easily [flash] away or dash away from you once you did a [flash] + Soul Shackles combo.
2. If you do a 5-man ult, these 5 people will run away from you to different directions, which makes it VERY DIFFICULT for you.
   • Not only they're running from you, but they are also damaging you while they're running from you.
   • [stasis enchant] might help you survive a bit longer while being kited to death. However, while in stasis mode, the enemies can just run away from you.
     • This is why sometimes I go for Gargoyle Enchant *FOR FUN* so that I could chase the running enemies down.

Personally, I use Soul Shackles to PUNISH enemy divers.

• For example, when Master Yi , [aatrox], and any all-in champions decided to dive into our backline, I would use Soul Shackles to punish them!
  • If they're being chained, they have two choices: 1) Run away from you; or 2) Commit into diving.
  • If they committed into diving, you can punish them with a CC chain; that is: after stunning them, you hit them with a bind, so that they're CC-ed to death.

As we already know, the AP ratio of Dark Binding is 90%! That is a huge and deadly skill that can easily delete squishy enemies. Her Black Shield also has decent AP ratio with 70% that helps you give big shields. Generally, Morgana can definitely be used as a damage dealer in the game. However, there are some cons to it:

• AP items, such as Luden's Echo , Liandry's Torment , Void Staff , and others, are TOO EXPENSIVE for your support role.
  • Have you noticed a particular statement during your match loadout about the support role? Look at the image below!
  • It says: Supports OFTEN play in the dragon lane because they're not as DEPENDENT on defeating enemy minions and can protect their partner.
• In other words, the relevance of support role is ALREADY in their abilities, in the case of Morgana , her Dark Binding and Black Shield . 
  • It means that the binding duration of her Dark Binding will always be the same without the help of any items.
  • It also means that Black Shield will ALWAYS and ALWAYS block crowd controls with or without items.
• Another implication of that statement is: SUPPORTS DO NOT HAVE THE SAME GOLD INCOME AS THEIR ADC, MID LANER, BARON LANER, AND JUNGLER!
  • Hence, you would notice that ACTUAL SUPPORT ITEMS, such as Imperial Mandate , are MUCH CHEAPER than your AP items, such as Luden's Echo .
  • Yes, you can still buy Luden's Echo in the game, but you will be able to buy it later than sooner.
• The last disadvantage is: you are much more pressured to hit accurate Dark Binding since you're playing to be the damage dealer.
  • As a Morgana main, I know how difficult it is to land Dark Binding , and if you missed it as a FULL AP Morgana , then your relevance in the game is not thoroughly consistent!
  • Another is: Morgana 's crowd control kit is EASILY COUNTERED by Magic Resistance Items, such as Mercury's Treads , which reduces the stun and binding durations of your kit.
  • Imagine spending A LOT OF MONEY just to be irrelevant in the game. Therefore, it's SAFER and BETTER to go for Enchantress Utility Morgana build if you really want to win.
  • Yes, Imperial Mandate would pretty much require you to also land accurate Dark Binding , but you don't have to spend tons of money for it. It only costs 2.5k, which you could already buy in the first 5-6 minutes of the game!
  • What if your enemies DON'T KNOW HOW TO ITEMIZE AGAINST Morgana ? Then you can free to build FULL AP Morgana because Morgana PUNISHES bad players, but EASILY GETS PUNISHED by good players.

BOTTOM LINE: You can still play FULL AP Morgana , but your relevance in the game is in risk of easily falling off. Why? Because you won't have much contributions in the game if you're missing your Dark Binding and if the enemies have already bought Mercury's Treads .