Is Bard actually a viable support?

He is better if people just CALM DOWN as him. Bard isn't some super aggressive Support. He isn't a ranged Leona. In-lane, Bard heals his ADC constantly in large amounts through shrines and protects them with his ultimate and Q. Bard supports the Hard Engage, but he can't hard engage himself.

Past his learning curve, another main reason why Bard isn't doing as well as say Leona or Thresh is because the ADCs he is good with (ADCs that have heavy hitting poke) are for the most part seen as unviable right now. Bard has some good play style synergy with , , , , , and . Unfortunately, most of these picks aren't seen as often these days compared to the other current ADCs that are more "I deal a lot of burst, but need an engage" rather than "I deal heavy sustained poke and need no man."

Yes. Just really hard to play and master.

But after you do, he's a beast and probably one of the best supports in the game, either alongside or in front of Thresh.

If youre good with him: aka know when/where to place the health pots, cast great Q that stun/slow perfectly. Use the E to help get to or escape and not to lead into traps, and knowing how to use the R.

Alot of people just dont get/know his mechanics and just suck with him. He is hard and takes skill but can be viable with practice, yet I would rather have a thresh or sona before a bard.

Yes. Almost never should you ult your own team - the delay is too much to reliably use to avoid abilities (besides Karthus ult).

It is best used to initiate onto the enemy team. Try using it to set up a free Orianna ult or to let your tanks get in their face.

Nope, Fiddlesticks is way more viable than Bard ever will be.

I know this 'cause I just played as FIddlesup against Bard in my last game just now.