The 2022 LEC season is about to begin, but in the support position, the picture has remained very similar to 2021. G2 Esports have a new support in former Karmine Corp talent Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé and Misfits Gaming promoted support Mertai "Mersa" Sari to their starting roster, but every other team has retained the same player in the support position, albeit with one of those eight teams changing ownership in the off-season.

The number of familiar faces dwarfs the number of new faces in the support position in the 2022 LEC, but is competitive experience the difference maker in what makes a player elite? Here are Inven Global's rankings of the best supports competing in the 2022 LEC season.

5: Dino "LIMIT" Tot — Team BDS

Since debuting in the 2020 LEC Spring Split with SK Gaming, LIMIT has quietly established himself as one of the most reliable supports in Europe. LIMIT signed with FC Schalke 04 Esports before the start of 2021 and had a strong individual season, but S04, mere months from impending sale, collapsed in summer and finished last in the Summer Split. 

Alongside mid laner Ilias "NUCLEARINT" Bizriken, LIMIT was one of two S04 players that were signed to new contracts by Team BDS after purchasing the football club's franchise slot. On a roster with four players who have less than a full LEC season under their belts, LIMIT can take the role of a veteran leader, which is the perfect opportunity to prove that previous struggles were entirely team-related. Until then, however, he'll have to settle for the lowest rung on this list's ladder.

4: Erik "Treatz" Wessén — SK Gaming

Treatz proved himself worthy of a starting support position in his LEC debut last spring with SK Gaming after moonlighting as the sixth man for TSM the summer previous. His penchant for playmaking was retained in making the jump to the big leagues and his continued improvement throughout the 2021 LEC Spring Split was an integral part of SK Gaming's unexpected qualification for the Spring Playoffs.

For whatever reason, SK Gaming switched things around after spring — Kristian "TynX" Østergaard was removed as starting jungler and Treatz roleswapped to take his place. Despite Treatz's surprising individual proficiency in the jungle, the experiment failed on a team level and SK missed the Summer Playoffs. Treatz is returning to support in LEC 2022, but his half-season away from his primary role bars him from placing higher on this list.

3: Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus — Rogue

Trymbi put together an impressive rookie season in the 2021 LEC and formed a fearsome bot lane duo with AD carry Steven "Hans sama" Liv. With Trymbi in the starting support position, Rogue finished 1st in back-to-back splits, qualified for the final of the LEC Spring Playoffs, and made an appearance at the 2021 World Championship. 

Trymbi has plenty to build on in 2022, but he'll have to do it with a slightly different setup in his sophomore season. Rogue lost arguably their two best players in Hans sama and jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma, and Trymbi's new bot lane partner — AD carry Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos — hasn't made a start in the LEC since last May.

Trymbi will have to build new synergy with Comp and jungler Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong, who will have to prove they aren't downgrades from their predecessors.

2: Zdravets "Hylissang" Iliev Galabov — Fnatic

Hylissang had one of the worst splits of his career last spring, but when Fnatic made a summer resurgence, Hylissang was at the forefront of their success alongside AD carry Elias "Upset" Lipp. Hylissang is not the most versatile support, but when it comes to aggressive playmaking and attrition-plus sacrifices, there's no better support in the west than Hylissang. 

Fnatic's off-season changes will bring a change in playstyle as a group of five, but the pace and aggressiveness in Fnatic is something that should be retained given the individual members of the team. In addition, with Martin "Rekkles" Larsson out of the LEC, Upset and Hylissang are poised to retain their title of best bot lane in Europe. On an individual level, however, there is one player who inches out Hylissang for the title of best support in the LEC.

1: Norman "Kaiser" Kaiser — MAD Lions

Kaiser is, hands down, the most well-rounded support in the LEC. He's shown a penchant for playmaking, shotcalling, a resiliency to meta changes, and each time he plays on a bigger stage than he has previously in his career, he seems to rise to the new level of competition without nerves hindering his level of play. MAD Lions' roster has a bit less firepower in the carry positions than the 2021 roster, but locking up Kaiser through 2023 was a brilliant move by MAD Lions this off-season.