Vel'Koz
Hardest matchups for Vel'Koz in Support (Emerald, patch 16.20): 
Leona, 
Braum, 
Amumu. Easiest: 
Mel, 
Ashe, 
Veigar.
Try it in a draftCountersPower curvesIn the tier listWho wins into Vel'KozOn the pro tier list
Vel'Koz on patch 16.22
- Support50.8%#19 of 77A8,639 games
- Mid51.8%#11 of 91A3,544 games
- steady since 16.21
Vel'Koz’s main role on patch 16.22 is Support: a 50.8% win rate across 8,639 Emerald games, #19 of 77 Support champions on the tier list (grade A), picked in 3.5% of games. Vel'Koz is also played Mid: a 51.8% win rate across 3,544 games, #11 of 91. Since patch 16.21, Vel'Koz Support has not moved by more than chance explains: 0.1 points across 59,146 games in 8 ranks.
Emerald games from every region, as of Nov 9, 2026. The tables below load current numbers. Patch 16.22 tier list
Solo queue
Open in the tier listPatch 16.20, the current one
| Lane | Grade | Win rate | Games | Picked | Mains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support65% of its games | B | 50.2%50.2% raw ±0.7 | 21,485 | 3.1%1.8% banned | 51.1%48.2% first time |
| Mid23% of its games | A | 51.2%51.3% raw ±1.1 | 7,495 | 1.1%1.8% banned | 51.8%47.6% first time |
| Bot11% of its games | S | 53.4%54.3% raw ±1.6 | 3,552 | 0.5%1.8% banned | 52.8%47.2% first time |
| Top2% of its games | too few games | 49.4%48.5% raw ±3.8 | 660 | 0.1%1.8% banned | 50.7%47.5% first time |
| Jungle0% of its games | too few games | 50.1%57.1% raw ±21.4 | 21 | 0.0%1.8% banned | 51.6% |
Matchups
Every matchupHow to read this
Vel'Koz’s win rate against each champion picked into it in the lane opposite: its hardest matchups, then its easiest. The small number is the matchup’s own effect on Vel'Koz, the part not explained by either champion’s strength.
Hardest for Vel'Koz
Lane leads and team bans
What Vel'Koz’s team bans
Champions a team bans more often when it has Vel'Koz than the other team does in the same games (169,815 games). The other team banned before Vel'Koz was picked, so the gap is the ban spent because Vel'Koz was coming — a sign players see these as counters. Riot does not say which player cast a ban, so this is the team’s choice.
Builds
Every buildHow to read this
How Vel'Koz is built in this lane, most common first, with the items those builds finish and how they win.
- AP burst
51.9%12,417 games - AP sustained
50.8%3,809 games - Enchanter
53.3%1,566 games - Mana stack
50.2%88 games
Runes and summoner spells
How to read this
How Vel'Koz does with each summoner-spell pair, keystone and minor rune in this lane, at the rank and region above. These are the win rates of the players who made each choice, not the choice’s own effect: a page is recommended only when a real share of players runs it.
23,053 games · patches 16.20, 16.21 · Sep 10 – Oct 21
Flash + Heal50.6% · 17,674 games
Dark HarvestDomination + Sorcery · 50.2%
Cheap Shot · Deep Ward · Relentless Hunter · Manaflow Band · ScorchShards: Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health
Support item: Zaz'Zak's Realmspike · 50.1%
Key items: Luden's Echo → Shadowflame · 51.7%
Boots: Boots of Swiftness · 53.7%Every option, with its numbers
Summoner spells
Flash + Ignite48.1%1,268 games · 5.5% pick rate · same players: +0.7 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended- Flash + Heal50.6%17,674 games · 77% pick rate · the usual choiceRecommended
Exhaust + Flash49.1%3,610 games · 16% pick rate · same players: −1.3 pts vs the usual
Keystones
- Dark Harvest + Sorcery50.2%2,850 games · 12% pick rate · same players: +1.1 pts vs the usualRecommended
Arcane Comet + Inspiration51.0%3,699 games · 16% pick rate · same players: +1.0 pts vs the usual
Arcane Comet + Resolve49.3%950 games · 4.1% pick rate · same players: +0.8 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Arcane Comet + Domination49.8%11,072 games · 48% pick rate · the usual choice
Minor runes with Dark Harvest
- Cheap Shot50.0%96% take it
Taste of Blood44.9%3.6% take it
- Deep Ward49.9%86% take it
Grisly Mementos49.1%8.0% take it
Sixth Sense48.7%6.1% take it
- Relentless Hunter50.2%77% take it
Ultimate Hunter48.6%21% take it
Treasure Hunter47.6%2.4% take it
- Manaflow Band50.7%91% take it
- Scorch50.9%83% take it
Gathering Storm46.6%11% take it
Axiom Arcanist48.9%5.0% take it
Transcendence46.3%3.9% take it
Celerity49.9%3.9% take it
- Adaptive Force50.2%94% take it
- Ability Haste46.8%4.8% take it
- Adaptive Force50.0%91% take it
- Move Speed50.7%8.3% take it
- Health51.5%18% take it
- Health Scaling49.8%80% take it
These numbers describe, they do not prove. Each rate is Vel'Koz’s record when its player chose that option, pulled toward Vel'Koz’s own rate by 100 games of prior so a small sample cannot look like a discovery. An uncommon page often wins more because experts run it, and they would win on any page, so only a choice taken in at least 10% of games can be recommended, and spells and keystones are ranked by how the SAME players do with them against the usual choice, not by the raw rate; rarer ones are listed with their numbers and labeled. The build line (opening buy, the two key items in the order they are finished, boots or the support upgrade) is advice in the same sense: how Vel'Koz does when built that way.
The learning curve
Champion pool
On a first game Vel'Koz wins 48.1%; in the hands of players with the most mastery on it, 52.0%. That gap ranks it 128 of 173 for how much practice pays. It crosses 50% at about 30K mastery points.
Pro play
On the pro tier list
Vel'Koz in the major leagues and international events this season, across 3,434 games: its record, how often it is picked or banned, whether it is taken blind or saved as a counter, its lane at 15 minutes, and the best pro on it.
| Lane | Win rate | Priority | Blind / counter | Lane @15 | Best pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | 50.5%3W 0L | 0%0% in any lane | 100% counter | +168 gold | — |
| Bot | 50.2%2W 1L | 0%0% in any lane | 67% counter | +9 gold | — |
| Mid | 50.0%1W 1L | 0%0% in any lane | 100% counter | −834 gold | — |
How much knowing Vel'Koz pays
Players on their Mastery band win 3.9 points more on Vel'Koz than first-timers do: #128 of 173 champions for how much mastery pays.
At 300k+ mastery points, Vel'Koz players win 52.0%: #109 of 173 champions for where mastery ends up. The fitted curve levels off at about 52.3%, and is half-way up by ~32K points.
Vel'KozDots are the six mastery bands, placed at their mastery points. The line is the best-fitting curve that rises and levels off.
This is not a promise about your next game. Players do not reach a mastery band in a random order, and a champion someone loses on tends to get dropped before it reaches the high bands — so the right-hand side of every curve is partly survivors, not only practice.