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There are two rune pages for Rakan. The first page which I've called "Bad Matchup" is a defensive rune page that you would want to take on Rakan when you're in a "Bad Matchup." This rune page gives you defensive stats that can protect you whenever you go in.  If you're in a "Good Matchup", you should take "Good Matchup" rune page instead. Without further ado, lets get into the rundown of each rune page and talk about when and where you would want to use them.

"Bad Matchup" Rune Page

While this is not necessarily just for when you're in a bad matchup, but it's also recommended that you take this rune page when you're in a lane that you cannot abuse or do much in.  This rune page takes Resolve as the main tree as it provides you with protection. As you're unable to abuse the enemy in lane, there is no point taking Sorcery when you're unable to get the most out of it. As Resolve provides you with tanky and defensive stats, this page works great when you're unable to do anything in lane.  I recommend that you take  Guardian as the main keystone in this first rune page as it will provide you with a little shielding whenever you are close to an ally champion.  Guardian works great with  Rakans kit because it can easily be proc'd to save an allies life. It is also very useful when you're playing against a lane that heavily out damages you or pokes you down and it will give you some survivability against them. For example,  Guardian is great against a  Caitlyn and  Brand lane because of the shield it can give you and your ally which can prevent you from being poked down. The next rune you want to take on this tree is  Bone Plating. This is another fantastic defensive rune as it debuffs the enemies damage when they consistently are attacking you. After a few seconds of being dealt damage by an enemy, you will take less damage for the next 3 spells. This can come in handy if the enemy has a lot of damage in the early game.  The next rune I recommend that you take is  Chrysalis. Basically, this rune gives you some extra health at level 1 which can protect you against the enemies in the early game.  Rakan can be quite squishy which makes any bonuses to his health and defences highly valuable. Taking  Chrysalis will give him 60 bonus health at level 1 and bonus damage when he gets 4 assists. This rune as a whole is highly underrated and it works wonder in the early laning phase when you take it. The final rune on your main tree for the first rune page is Revitalize. This rune will allow you to do increased healing and shielding which benefits Rakan's kit as well as the items you are buying completely. This rune benefits his E, Redemption, his Q and of course his Passive. It makes this rune a must have when you're taking Resolve as your main rune tree.

For the secondary rune tree, you should take Inspiration. This rune tree will give you some utility that can help you out in the game. I feel that Perfect Timing and Biscuit Delivery are the best runes to take in the second tree as they give Rakan some items that make him money and provide him with the ability to stay alive for longer. Perfect Timing can come in clutch when it comes to team fighting and Biscuit Delivery comes in handy when it comes to laning against a poke matchup as it provides you will some sustain. Alternatively, you can take Cosmic Insight if you wish which works just as good as Perfect Timing- so it's up to you.  Cosmic Insight gives you early CDR on your abilities and your summoner spells. I feel that Perfect Timing is more useful at keeping you alive.

When you take this rune page, I recommend that you accompany it with Ancient Coin as your starting item. This is because you will not be looking to go for trades often nor will you be able to stack your other starting item quick enough. So I recommend you take  Ancient Coin when you take Guardian.

"Good Matchup" Rune Page

When you're in a good matchup and you're able to do stuff in the lane. I recommend that you take this rune page instead of the first one. This rune page utilizes all the benefits of Rakan and enhances and empowers them. For this rune page, I recommend that you take Sorcery as the main tree with Summon Aery as the main keystone. This keystone allows you to deal more damage in lane and increase your healing and shielding that you will do throughout the game.  Summon Aery gives you extra damage in lane  and allows you to poke the enemies even harder. The next rune I recommend you take is Nimbus Cloak. It should be pretty obvious to why you would want to take this rune, and it's because it gives you extra movement speed when you cast your Ultimate. This will allow you to engage and escape quicker when you've cast your Ultimate. As Rakan relies heavily on engagement, having an extra speed boost from Nimbus Cloak is highly beneficual and very helpful when it comes to team fighting and insuring all the enemies are charmed by your Ultimate. For the next choice of rune, you actually have some choice. You can either go Celerity like suggested or Transcendence. Both are good but I feel that Celerity is better as it gives you bonus damage and more movementspeed. This can make casting your Ultimate more forfilling and also allow you to flank the enemies with ease. However, the bonus cooldown reduction granted by Transcendence can come in handy if you're not going to max out on cooldown reduction. The final rune in this rune tree is going to be  Scorch which will just allow you to deal extra damage whenever you hit an ability on an enemy champion.

For your secondary rune tree, you should take Resolve. This will provide you with some tanky stats to protect yourself throughout the lane and whenever you decide to engage onto the enemy. Like before, you want to take Revitalize to buff your healing and shielding and Bone Plating to protect you from the enemies damage.

When you take this secondary rune page, you should utilize your damage and play more aggressivly in the lane. With that said, you should also take Spellthief's Edge as you can easily stack it when you're playing aggressive in lane.

Like all champions in League of Legends, Rakan has some pros and some cons. In this section, I'll discuss what makes him a good champion but what are also some of his limiting factors that can make playing him quite difficult.

Is extremely fun. Not every champion in League of Legends is fun to play, but Rakan is definitely a fun one. You can use this to advantage by actually having fun whilst playing him!

Is a great front line champion. If your team is lacking any form of engage, play Rakan and he will be able to pick up the slack and be the engage for your team.

Rakan is very mobile. Thanks to his wide array of abilities and outplay potential, you can often dodge a lot of abilities that the enemy may throw at you. Use this to your advantage by being able to stay healthy and dodge the enemies skill shots.

Is great against immobile champions. As Rakan has abilities that are skill shots, having a slow enemy makes it easier for you to hit your abilities.

Has great outplay potential. As Rakan has his Ultimate and his W he is able to outplay the enemy with them. He can also use his  E if there are allies nearby.

Works amazing with a lot of ADC's. Rakan has great synergy with the majority of ADC's that are on the rift. He works even better with Xayah!

He can heal his allies thanks to his Q. This will give him some more protection and sustain in lane.

He periodically gets a shield thanks to his Passive. This can come in handy when you're in the lane as it will give you some more survivability.

Your Passive and E is buffed when you're playing with Xayah. This is one of the direct buffs to a champions kit when playing with a certain champion.

His  E has a really long range.

His E can be used twice on two separate champions. This can come in handy if you need to escape or need to shield somebody specific

Rakan can engage in team fights and also get out after the initial engagement. Not many champions are able to get in and get out but Rakan is one of them. You can abuse this in the game by going in and then peeling back for your team.

Rakan is technically a ranged champion. This allows you to poke a lot in lane and abuse melee champions.

Rakan has a few different items and rune choices. This allows you to take the best set up in each game you play!  Furthermore, you can adjust your starting items and build path as well to fully customize your set up!

Has a lot of different combos to master and perfect. As Rakan has a lot of different combos, you'll never get tired of learning different combos.

Always good when behind. Whilst he may die in every team fight, if he can get his combo of- it's fine for him and hes done his job.

Cons

Is really squishy when behind. This can make it hard for you to do your job in team fights.

Hard to hit your abilities especially your Q and your W.

Is prone to be hit with enemy CC or skill shots. As Rakan has a rather scripted gameplay, it can make him an easy kill in team fights.

Can be difficult to survive team fights. As you're rather squishy, it can make it difficult for you to survive team fights even if you're ahead or behind.

Your rune choice plays such as high part to your game. If you take the wrong option, you will find it difficult to stay relevant and be able to win the lane.

Your Grand Entrance cannot be cancelled after initial use. This may leave you in deep water and you may get killed if you use it at the wrong time.

You have to be rather close to the enemies to maximise the charm on your Ultimate.

Relies heavily on your team to follow up and be in a position to assist you. As  Rakan is the engager, he will need his team to follow up and deal damage while he locks the enemy in place.

You have to rely on allies for you to be able to escape or get to them with your  E.

If you're unable to straight fight the enemy 5v5 and you are unable to run directly in to the enemy, you should look to flank the enemy instead. As  Rakan can flank and get in as well as out of team fights, you should look to engage from the side and surprise the enemy.

If you're unsure if you're in a good matchup and you don't know if you can get your warding quest completed quickly, make sure that you take  Guardian and  Ancient Coin.

Utilise your  Passive by going for trades or engages when you have your shield up. This will give you some added sustain and survivabilty in the exchange.

Always try to pick  Rakan with his lover  Xayah to directly buff his abilities.

Always ban  Morgana. She is one of the biggest counters to our boy  Rakan. She counters everything that makes  Rakan a good champion.

If you're getting low on health, use your  Q on the enemy to gain a heal. Remember to go to an ally so you can both get the heal from it.

A sneaky way to get an assist is by using your  E on an allied champion. This gives you more gold and can help you get your items faster.

If you're caught out of position you can use your  W or  Ultimate to get away from the enemy.

Now let's discuss Rakans abilities show we? Rakan has some pretty unique abilities that are unique to his champion. We also see Rakan have some abilities that are directly buffed when he is interacting with an allied Xayah. This is one of the first champion whos kit is directly benefited by picking another ADC.

Rakan’s Passive is Fey Feathers

His Passive is a fantastic ability that grants him a shield periodically throughout the game. This shield will allow you to retain some health whenever you go for a trade. This shield’s cooldown can be reduced if Rakan by hitting an enemy with an ability or an auto attack. This Passive can be abused to some extent when you’re playing against a low ranged or melee enemy champion.

Rakan also has a separate Passive called ‘Lover’s Leap.’ Whenever he is laning with Xayah, they can recall together if they stand next to each other and both recall. This will allow them to reach the base at the exact same time.

Rakan throws out an empowered feather that deals damage to the first enemy it hits. If the feather hits an enemy champion or a neutral monster, an area is marked around Rakan. After a brief period or when Rakan comes into contact with an ally, it will heal Rakan and an ally. If he doesn’t come in to contact, Rakan will gain a small heal for himself.

Tips and Tricks

Your Q is going to be your main source of poke during the laning phase and you should try to hit the enemy with it whenever you can. Beware however that this ability has a rather short range which means you need to be quite close to the enemy to hit it.

If your ADC is low on health, remember to use your Q on the enemy and then run towards your ADC so you can both get some very reliable healing. If you have taken Sorcery as your Rune page, you will start dealing a lot of damage on to the enemy as this ability, once you have some AP behind you and some levels will start to hurt.

In team fights, you will want to use your heal on anybody who is low. You should try to prioritize low health allies over healthier ones, but when it comes to team fights you should try to heal anybody who needs it.

This ability is Rakans bread and butter and it’s one of the core abilities that makes Rakan a good champion. It is extremely temperamental and relies heavily on your patience as well as skill to hit. So don’t be discouraged if you are not quite on point with your W’s at the beginning. Your W is basically a dash that knocks up any enemies that are hit by the circle at the end.

Tips and Tricks

Like stated, your W is a dash and a knock up which makes it one of the best abilities for Rakan. As it is a dash, it makes it quite versatile in some retrospects as it can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to escape a gank from the enemy, an engage for you or your team and also it can be used to move around the map quicker.

Your W will be one of the main abilities you will use to engage on to the enemy when it comes to starting team fights. Once a team fight has erupted, you will want to use your Ultimate in conjunction with your W to stun and charm all the enemies and then fall back to help your team. You would then want to use your next circle and your next W on protecting your allies and keeping them safe.

Your W is pretty difficult to hit as we suggested above, but there are some little lane manipulation tips you can use to your advantage in order to have a higher success rate when hitting it. First of all, you can obviously use your W with your Ultimate to make it easier to hit. This is only possible after 6 but you will also need to know how to hit it before that time! You can wait for the enemy to be in auto attack animation lock and then use your W. Using it slightly before they are in position will allow you to almost guarantee a hit on it. Another way of improving your success rate is in very specific situations when an enemy has an ability that locks them in place or slows them down. For example, against a Blitzcrank- you can use your  W once he has used his Q. Against a Thresh you can use your W when he misses his Hook, and finally when a Tristana has used her jump. That reminds me… If an enemy has an escape ability such as  Tristana W,  Ezreal  E, Lucian E, you should wait until it’s on cooldown before using it as they will easily be able to dodge it by just using their dash. So basically, use your knock up when the enemy cannot dodge it. Simple right!

Rakan’s E is Battle Dance

This ability allows Rakan to jump around the lane and leap to allies providing them with a shield. The shield that he provides is not much, but at the end of the day- a shield is a shield. The shield lasts for up to 3 seconds and can be recast back on that champion for 5 seconds after. The recast can be the same champion or another champion if need be.

This ability also is buffed when he is playing with his lover  Xayah. If  Xayah is the target of  Battle Dance, he will be able to cast this ability from an increased range which can come in handy if you’re not super close to your waifu.

Tips and Tricks

Your E ability is a very stylish ability. It can be another way of getting in and out of team fights as it makes you very mobile. You can use your E on any allies up to a maximum of 2. Your shielding does not stack on the same allies. This means once an ally is shielded, another stack will not be amplified it will only be refreshed.

Whilst  Rakan is quite mobile and rather flashy, if he gets hit mid-air with a crowd control ability from the enemy, he will be immobilized and stopped in his track. This means that for you to get the most out of it, you should try to dodge the enemies CC and do not use your E if the enemy is going to hit you with crowd control.

In team fights, you’re able to flank the enemies and start the team fight from using just utilizing your E. For example, you can use your Battle Dance on an allied frontline, and then use your Ultimate followed by your W. After your initial engagement, you can back off with the second cast of your E.

Rakan starts running for 4 seconds and gains bonus movement speed for 4 seconds. During this time his attack range is heavily reduced but he gains the benefits of being able to charm any champion he comes into contact with. Any charmed enemies are also slowed and after he collides with his first enemy, he will gain an additional bonus amount of movement speed.

Your Ultimate is a very good ability but it can leave you vulnerable. As you will be squishy no matter what, you’re easy to kill when you dive in with your Ultimate and your W. This means that you need to try your hardest to dodge the enemies hard CC and abilities when you go deep.

Tips and Tricks

Your  Ultimate is very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. For example, it can be used to engage and disengage and it can also allow you to escape and retreat if you’re caught out of position.

Your Ultimate is generally used as a team fighting tool to get the enemies stuck in a certain place of the map so your team can engage and follow up on you. This means that your team also needs to be in a position where they can follow up and help you after you engage. You should avoid going in onto the enemy if your team is not there to follow up after your initial engagement.

The best way of using your Ultimate is in conjunction with your W. You can use your R, then W onto the enemy almost immediately to double CC chain them. This is a great move to perform but takes a lot of patience and experience to perfect. To master this, just play more. If you feel you’re never able to do this as the enemy backs off, try to incorporate your Flash into it or try to flank the enemy.

Now it's time to come to one of the more complicated sections of the guide and gameplay for Rakan. This combos section will include some different combos that you can practise on Rakan. We will probably not include every combo for him, but we will talk about a lot of different combos.

R + W 

This is a standard Rakan combo and is one of the basics everybody knows about. Using your Ultimate before casting your W will give you a higher chance of hitting the knock up.  It will also make it rather difficult to dodge so it's easy to see why this is a favourite combo among the Rakan mains.

E + W

This is another basic combo. You would use this combo on Rakan when you would like to go for a short trade.  Another variation of this combo is E + W + E. This combo revolves around you basically shielding an ally and then going in for a knock up and then shielding your ally again.

E + R + W

This combo is rather similar to the one above. You would use your shield on your allied champion and then follow up with your Ultimate and then  W to knock up and charm the enemies. This is again a simple combo to perfect and another one you will use often.

E + E + R + W

This is basically the same combo as above but you would use your E twice before engaging. This can be considered a good combo as you can fool the enemy into thinking that you're not going to engage but you are.

F + R + W

This is more of a surprising combo which can be used to surprise the enemy. You can use this whenever you are unsure if you can get onto the enemy or if you're out of range. This is also a great way of engaging if your Jungler is approaching.

E + R +  F + W

This is a more extreme combo which isn't regularly used. I'd like to say that this combo is "oh no I missed everything" combo. You will E in on an ally and then cast your Ultimate to get a speed up. After that, you will use your Flash to get in position and then try to hit them with your W. So yeah, good combo actually...

Q + W

This is a combo you can use during the laning phase to poke the enemy. This will probably be one of your main combos outside of general poke with your Q.

R + W + Q

This combo is pretty self-explanatory. You charge into the enemy with your Ultimate and then use your W straight away. This will allow you to double CC knock up and charm the enemy. Once they're knocked up and charmed, you can use your Q to poke.

F + W + Q + E

To start with, you want to Flash on to the enemy and then use your W to knock up the enemies. Then you can use your  Q to poke them and try to finish them off. After you've successfully killed an enemy, you want to use your  E to get back to your allies.

F + W + Q + E +  R

This is kinda an iffy combo and you probably will not see this used often but I thought it was worth mentioning. Disclaimer: It's a rare one. First, you wanna Flash into the enemy like before, use your W and knock an enemy up and then hit them with your Q. After that, you want to jump to your ally and heal them. Follow that up with an Ultimate charge to keep your ADC alive. This is a great combo that you can use in team fights- of course, you don't always have to Flash.

Before you buy your first core item, you will need to upgrade your starting item to tier 2 in order to start earning more gold as well as unlock the free wards that it provides. If you do not upgrade this item first, you will miss out on a lot of gold as well as the ability to ward the map. So after you upgrade your starting item, you want to pick up some Boots in order to roam around the map quicker. We will discuss later what upgrade you should take but you don't want to upgrade them until you completed your next item. You're next and technically the first item is going to be Zeke's Convergence. As Rakan relies heavily on his Ultimate, it is important that you can't do as much damage as you can and be as useful as possible before you have to get out. This item directly buffs your damage as well as your ADC's damage by igniting their auto attacks. In the meta right now, this item is incredibly powerful and I recommend that you rush it every single game you play. Now it's time to fully upgrade your Boots. You do have the option of Mercury's Treads, Ninja Tabi or Mobi Boots. You would want to get the first option when you are against a heavy AP or CC team, Ninja Tabi against a heavy AD team and Mobility Boots if you're against a mix of both. In most situations, you will get Mobi Boots as it allows you to run around the map quickly. After you've picked up this item, you will need to buy Redemption. Redemption is a fantastic item as it provides an AOE heal for your team which is really good at keeping them alive in team fights. A clutch Redemption can keep your whole team alive if used correctly. It also deals damage to enemies that are hit with it which means that it can occasionally pick up a kill or two.

The next item is Locket of the Iron Solari. This is a really good item that is slightly fallen out of favour with many players. This is because of the rise in priority of Zeke's Convergence, however, this item is still very valuable on a champion such as Rakan. I would recommend getting this item as it can give your allies another shield that can keep them alive in team fights. As Rakan is an enabler as well as front-line champion, is important that you keep yourself as well as your team alive by purchasing items that can heal and shield them. This is why this build has been predominantly shielding and healing which makes this item fit right in! The final item is going to be Knight's Vow. This item will allow your chosen ally to stay alive for longer by redirecting some of the damage that they take to you. This item will allow them to stay alive longer which means that they can dish out more damage and have a higher chance of surviving the team fight in order to capture more objectives. At the end of the day, Rakan is a support and he will not be able to destroy towers. This means it is important that you can keep your carries alive by shielding and healing them so they can deal the damage and win the fight. Your final item will be your starting item upgraded to its final form. I would not recommend upgrading it any time before this because it is not worth the gold.

The early game is by far the weakest part of the game for Rakan. This is because he cannot use his Ultimate or utilise his kit in a way that he can later on in the game. The early game, however,  can be the most impactful part of the game for him. This is because if he is able to get a slight advantage in lane,  he can setup ganks for his Jungler, get kills for his team as well as being able to snowball their lane advantage.

For the first level, you cannot really do too much except poke the enemy. You can, however, go in for a level 2 engagement as long as you get the level up before the enemy. In at the bottom lane, hitting level 2 requires the first 9 minions of the game. This is the first wave followed by three minions on the second wave - specifically the melee minions. You could try to blow the enemies Summoner Spells or try to go for a kill. Taking Ignite is extremely valuable in this situation as you may be able to pick up an early kill. You could then snowball your lane and continue to try and kill the enemy and get more kills

Up until level 6, you want to continue trying to apply pressure by to engage on the enemy when they miss-position too far up in the lane. When you are level 6 and have your Ultimate, you can play slightly more aggressive. Before using your Ultimate and before engaging on the enemy, take a peek at the map and have a look where everybody is. If your Jungler is nearby, wait for them to be closer and then engage on the enemy. This will give you a higher chance of securing a kill. Furthermore, look at where your ADC is positioned in the lane. If they are too far back, you may waste your Ultimate as they may not be able to follow you up- which can cost you your life. Also, you should look where the enemy Jungler is. If you expect the enemy Jungler to be around the bottom lane, you should probably not go in as you will be left with the fishes and maybe unable to escape your initial engagement.

During the mid game, your job is to team fight with the enemy, roam around the map and protect your team. Rakan excels at roaming thanks to his Ultimate and his W, you are can look to roam whenever you see an opportunity to gank a lane as this will apply pressure around the map.

Whether you are winning your lane or losing it, during the mid game you have to match the enemies roams and try to gain an advantage whenever and wherever you can. Rakan is very mobile so he can roam and match the enemy with ease. Before roaming, make sure you ward and keep your ADC protected while you're gone. However, when you come into the mid game, the ADC may also have to follow you around and move around the map with you.

The mid game is where Rakan really shines. By this time of the game, the teams are grouping together in order to siege objectives. As  Rakan is amazing at fighting and protecting his team, he wants to be looking for an opportunity to engage on the enemy whenever they miss position. I've already wrote what you should look for under the"team fighting" section- but always make sure that your team is there to follow up whenever you engage.

When the game is coming to an end and it is hitting the late game, it is incredibly important that you do not overextend or get caught out of position when you are going to ward or if you're going to engage. This is because if  Rakan was to get killed and die, the enemy may be able to take the Baron or the Dragon or they may be able to close out the game. This means that if you're going to ward around the map, you need to make sure that your team is nearby so you can escape if there any tried to collapse on you. You should also not face check any of bushes as the enemy may try to ambush and kill you.

Team fighting in this part of the game is crucial as you should try to be as efficient as possible. If you perform poorly in a team fight, such as being burst down instantly or missing your combo- it may cost you the game. Remember that in the late game, being killed can cost a lot, so it's important that you do not die. If you are unable to engage properly, you should try to flank the enemy as well as peel for your team.

If you are sieging an objective, try to ward around the area to prevent any potential flanks from the enemy as well as protect your team from being engaged upon. Knowing what to do in the late game is all about team synergy as well as experience. It is very difficult to tell you what to do in the late game because every game is different. Try to do the best for your team and always keep an eye on where they are at any given time before engaging.

Team fighting for Rakan is pretty straightforward. However, you need to utilise your champion correctly in order for you to do your job to perfection.

Rakan excels at being able to engage on the enemy through either flanks or hard engagement. Thanks to his unique kit and play style, he is able to get in and out again once he engages. This means that he can often start the team fight and then peel back for his AD Carry with his E. However, engaging on Rakan can be very difficult if you have no other frontline champions on your team. Rakan is rather squishy even with a more defensive rune page and he is prone to being best down when he engages. So it is important that you only engage on the enemy if you are able to get the help from your team as well as the follow-up from them. For example, the team fight may go badly for you if you get burst down as soon as you go in or if your team is not in a position to help you. Furthermore, he is prone to be hit by crowd control with a very scripted playstyle. This means that you should try to dodge and not make it as obvious when you are trying to engage.

If you are able to engage on the enemy, you should look for opportunities when they are all clumped together in a group. This will give you the maximum amount of crowd control lock as possible, as well as allow your team to do as much damage as they can the longest period of time. Your aim is to cast your Ultimate on as many enemy champions as you can and once they are stunned and charmed by you. You should then retreat and get back to your ADC after your initial engagement. As you are a Support, it is important that after your initial engagement, you always fall back and help your ADC. Many carries cannot protect themselves alone and they need you to fall back and help them. While you are protecting them, you want to use the rest of your abilities to keep them alive for as long as possible. This also includes active items like Redemption.

How to engage in team fights
Engaging is best done from a flanking position. This will give you a surprise element which can help you survive the initial engagement as well as give your team maximum time to react and deal damage. You can flank by hiding in bushes nearby, as well as coming from a different angle. It can be a lot harder to face dive the enemy as they will be able to stun you and lock you in place and kill you. Honestly, a lot of experience will help you improve at Rakan and help you engage better.