Looking for the best supports for Varus in 2026? After grinding over 40 ranked games this patch, here are the five pairings that actually carry games.
Last updated: April 14, 2026 , patch 26.7
Who is the best support for Varus right now?
Lulu is the strongest pair for Varus on patch 26.7, full stop. Her Whimsy attack-speed buff turns on-hit Varus into a turret shredder, and the polymorph peels divers off your back. Thresh, Braum, Karma, and Senna round out the top five depending on whether you’re running lethality or on-hit.
The split matters more than people admit. On-hit Varus wants enchanters who pump his auto attacks. Lethality Varus wants hooks that land his empowered Q. Pick the wrong support for your build and you’ll throw lanes you should win.
I climbed from Plat 4 to Diamond 4 last split mostly two-tricking Varus. The pattern was obvious by game 20: Lulu games felt free, Thresh games felt explosive, and Soraka games felt like I was trying to win 1v2.
Lulu , best all-around pick for on-hit Varus
Lulu is the evergreen Varus support, and according to Esports.net’s pairing breakdown, her passive “works really well with Varus’s auto attacks.” That’s the one-line pitch. Her E shield keeps you alive in trades, her W either buffs your attack speed or polymorphs the enemy support, and her ult saves your life when Zed jumps you at 2 items.
The on-hit build (Kraken Slayer into Wit’s End into Blade of the Ruined King) wants every drop of attack speed it can find. Lulu doubles your DPS in fights for 6 seconds. That’s not a small number. Pair this with the standard Varus rune page (Lethal Tempo or Press the Attack depending on lane) and you’ll outscale almost every bot lane in the game by 20 minutes.
Honest opinion: I think Riot will nerf Lulu’s W cooldown by patch 26.9 because the duo win rate is creeping up. Enjoy it now.
Thresh , for lethality burst combos
Thresh is the pick when you’re playing lethality Varus and want to one-shot squishies at 14 minutes. Dot Esports notes that Thresh “allows for aggressive trades and all-ins” through hook setup. The combo is brain-dead simple. Hook lands, you charge Q, target dies. GG.
The lantern is what separates good Thresh duos from boosted ones. If your support drops the lantern under your tower while you’re getting dove, you live. If they don’t, you die and the enemy gets two plates. Pre-game your support and check their op.gg before locking in. Seriously.
I went 8-2 last week with a Thresh duo who first-timed nothing. Solo queue Thresh players are the coin flip. Premade Thresh is gold-plated.
Braum , the proc-stack peel monster
Braum is a situational counter pick, not a blind first pick. Pull him out when the enemy team has 3+ AD threats or when you’re running pure on-hit Varus. His Concussive Blows passive stacks every auto, and Varus’s attack speed lets you proc the stun in roughly 2 seconds flat.
The shield blocks projectiles too. Caitlyn ult? Blocked. Jhin ult? Blocked. Ashe ult flying across the map? Blocked. There’s a reason Braum win rates spike whenever a marksman meta hits live servers.
Quick caveat. Braum has zero kill pressure pre-6, so you’ll farm under tower against poke lanes. If the enemy bot is Lux-Caitlyn, ban Braum from your brain.
Karma — laning-phase bully
Karma is the most oppressive lane bully on this list. Empowered Q into Varus auto-Q chunks 60% of any squishy support’s HP at level 2. The downside is she falls off a cliff after 20 minutes, so you need to convert leads into towers fast.
This one’s a personal favorite. I tested Karma into a Senna-Tahm matchup three games in a row last week and won lane every time, even when my mid was inting. The poke is just unfair. (I’d rather face a Pyke than a Karma below Diamond, full stop.)
If you don’t snowball with Karma by 14 minutes, you’ve already lost the bot lane. Plan accordingly.
Senna — the scaling poke duo
Senna-Varus is the slow-burn pick. You won’t kill anything in lane, but you’ll farm Senna’s mist stacks and out-poke every duo by minute 25. The 1v9 guide on this pairing notes Senna’s “persistent poke that complements Varus’s own harassing capabilities.”
The catch is your jungler has to babysit you. Senna gives up trades for souls, which means you’re a free gank target from minute 4 onwards. Ward the river bush, ward the tribush, and ping for help if their jungler shows top side.
Late game, this lane is unbeatable. Two long-range carries who can poke from a screen away will win every dragon fight. Just survive to get there.
Which support fits which Varus build?
Here’s the cheat sheet I wish someone had given me when I started one-tricking the champ:
| Varus build | Best supports | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| On-hit (Kraken/Wit’s End/BotRK) | Lulu, Milio, Braum | Attack speed buffs scale your DPS; passives proc faster |
| Lethality (Eclipse/Serylda’s) | Thresh, Karma, Nautilus | Setup CC lets you land empowered Q for burst |
| AP poke (Liandry’s/Rylai’s) | Karma, Senna, Lux | Sustained poke wins the long lane phase |
If you’re mixing builds across games (which you should), have at least 3 of these supports on your duo’s champ pool. Forcing Lulu into a Caitlyn lane is how you get hardstuck. Knowing how ranked works in LoL helps you understand which lanes you can throw and still climb.
For solo queue grinders running long sessions, a fresh LoL smurf account is the cleanest way to test these duos against lower-pressure lanes before you take them into your main’s ranked queue. Or skip the practice grind entirely with LoL rank boosting and let a Challenger duo carry your Varus games.
FAQ
Is Varus better with an enchanter or engage support?
Depends on your build. On-hit Varus loves enchanters like Lulu and Milio because the attack speed buffs scale his DPS hard. Lethality Varus prefers engage like Thresh or Nautilus to land setup CC for the empowered Q.
Is Lulu still good with Varus on patch 26.7?
Yes, Lulu is still the safest first-pick option. Her Whimsy attack speed buff plus polymorph turns 2v2 trades into kills, and she peels every assassin who dives bot lane. Pick her into anything.
Does Varus work with Senna bot lane?
Senna-Varus is a poke lane that scales into late game. You won’t all-in early, but you’ll chunk the enemy to half HP every wave. It’s a slow-burn pick, not a snowball duo.
What is the best support for lethality Varus?
Thresh is the gold standard. His hook lets you land Q without flash, and the lantern saves you when you over-extend for poke. Karma works too if you want non-stop early pressure.
Should I avoid playing Varus into Caitlyn-Lulu?
Yes, that matchup is rough. Caitlyn out-ranges Varus’s auto attacks and Lulu peels every all-in attempt. Pick lethality Varus and ward deep, or just dodge if it’s high elo.
Lulu remains the safest answer to “best supports for Varus” on patch 26.7, with Thresh a close second for lethality builds. My take? If your duo only owns one of these five champs, you’re going to plateau at your current rank by July. Fix the champ pool before you blame the meta.