Why I Support with Smite

I've been playing League for a couple of years. I've had my account since S3, and I've seen some changes on the Rift. Let me start off with a short story. World's smallest violin playing in the background. My first champion was Alistar. I started playing him support, but I got comfortable enough with him to play him Top. Back then- Alistar could Top- but woe is the nerfs.

So I've been playing a lot more Ali lately. I've found myself grabbing Smite over Exhaust. Usually to the dismay of my fellow team mates. Bronze for life. But let me explain myself.

Much has changed regarding Meta. And we have seen a lot of priority queues for the role of support as a result. I grab smite to compensate for this shift.

A- Support is support. There are 5 Roles. Top, Mid, Bot, Jungle and Support. There are only 3 roles designated to a lane: Top, Mid, and Bot. Recent Meta shifts encourage early roaming for a support. Look at recent 'support' champs as an example:

• Tahm Kench deals extra damage to Rift Scuttler- encouraging him to get that vision whenever possible.
• Bard collects chimes scattered across the map- serious encouragement to roam.

B- As a tank support champ, I build Relic Shield. Having Smite makes easy use of "Tribute", allowing me to smite the siege minions to secure the best gold income possible.

C- Faster leash, quicker ganks: If I leash my jungle Red side, I can leash Krugs, then wander to start the Red buff. Once my jungle gets there- I smite the Red to restore the Health lost- and go to lane. If I'm leashing Gromp- I tell them to initiate smite so I can follow with a smite and leave to lane.

D- Better counter-jungling: If we have taken a turret, I don't want to stick around. I usually make a habit of warding the jungle to keep an eye out for ganks. Grabbing smite allows me to steal vital jungle buffs from my enemies while I ward their jungle.

E- New Smite: Chilling Smite and Challenging Smite are basically the two halves of Exhaust. One slows movement speed, the other reduces damage dealt. However, Smite also deals damage- which means more aggressive pokes- and more frequent considering Smite's low CD. Chilling Smite doesn't have the same CC, but it's definitely a game changer.

F- Duo-smite: As Alistar- I have stolen a dragon every other game with a Headbutt over the wall-Smite. (My favorite dragon steal ever was with Taric- Flash Ult+W...outrageous). Dragon and Baron contests are easier. And securing the kill is more probable.

G- Exhaust doesn't really stop AD heavy champs from murdering you. Master Yi can't be slowed..Olaf can't be disabled.. and there's really no stopping some of these ADC chase Queens like Kog and Jinx. Exhaust also has a high CD compared to Smite, and the low CD of smite has its advantage.