Support really isn't as bad as people make it out to be

Rock MD·Jan 26, 2017·136 votes·5,286 views

I have never really supported before season 7 so this season I tried learning the role. Not the greatest, so when I got autofilled I was kinda worried that I was gonna go full feedlord.

Then I realized all you really have to do is harass when their support/adc tries to fuck with your adc, avoid dying, buy a Sightstone -> Redemption, light up the map, and then shield and heal people whenever they're in trouble.

It's really rather relaxing and not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. You "if I support I int/dodge" players need to take a chill pill.

129 Comments

k wìxJan 26, 201735 votes

Support is really, really fun and has its own dynamics to enjoy. I do think it can be improved though! My wishlist:

The vision game needs some more tools - It feels too static, and maybe too rewarding to the winning team. I'd love more vision tools designed to give the losing team better chances @ vision.
I'd like to see more supports that disable someone in a way that isn't a hard cc (Like, lowering damage dealt, or making them more vulnerable to damage, ect ect.) The effects are so simple.

AquafugeJan 26, 20177 votes

I have used support Urgot for that reason, it has worked well and then throw in his ult and you have a descent support.

TerchioJan 27, 20173 votes

So you're the other guy...

Urgot item 3085 item 3071 item 3401 item 3165 item 3091 item 3009

item 3085 spreads that damage reduction and shield slow. item 3071 for obvious armor shred/cdr reasons. item 3401 for money and shielding your somewhat vulnerable ally early. item 3165 for HUGE AP/Mana/CDR, which makes your shield/slow basically never die. Unless you're targeted, which means tank Urgot support bonus. item 3091 for MR shred on top, and why not, perma-grievous-wounds (at low HP) with .

Too bad people are certain this is troll before it can even get going. Not all that easy for them to work with me, either, not knowing just what I'm going to contribute beforehand.

Duke AnaxJan 27, 20173 votes

I like to go item 2301 because Support without Sightstone is a no go for me. I have a hard enough time not buying Sightstone on other positions. Also, he is good at poking.

Tarbal81Jan 26, 20174 votes

Sona can powerchord to slow an enemy (powerchord E) or lower their damage dealt (powerchord W). late game you can spam an er satz exhaust on the main dps.

Janna mìdJan 26, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=k wìx,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GIbcPVw9,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2017-01-26T17:39:20.625+0000)

I'd like to see more supports that disable someone in a way that isn't a hard cc (Like, lowering damage dealt, or making them more vulnerable to damage, ect ect.) The effects are so simple.

Urgot summoner 3 ?

skyskee008Jan 26, 201728 votes

Supports are satisfying to play if your team is winning and they play with half a brain, but when your team is getting stomped it feels TERRIBLE. Especially since often times (unless you're alistar), the team has no incentive of not just focusing you. So you can save your AD or mid, for the cost of your life, only for them to go in and die 1.5 seconds later.

I've mained support for a while, and honestly its one of the most tilting roles to play as you really don't have the ability to do anything if your team doesn't follow you (can't make picks solo or split solo or kill the enemy carries etc).

On the other hand, if you have a god ADC, the game will be so fun as you shit stomp throughout the whole game keeping your AD allive - who is also apt at keeping himself alive/knowing limits.

Honestly support is super tilting in lower elos (, I reccomend climbing to at least low plat before you play actual supports (instead of brand/zyra/malz) - from there ya you can use janna for freelo till diamond sure.

Soraka RulesJan 27, 20174 votes

Odd, I have had that feeling in every role. I've easily had games where I carried as Soraka lol.. Its just harder to notice utility/peel in this meta VS 0-100DMG, CRIT.

EndlessSorcererJan 26, 20178 votes

I've changed from Jungle/Top to Jungle/Support and I'm enjoying it.

My experience jungling has proven rather useful in regards to:

contesting/controlling vision
controlling objectives
roaming to gank/hold lanes
knowledge of lane dynamics
predicting ganks

Also, I'm already accustomed to being blamed whenever people screw up.

Cute PoroJan 26, 20178 votes

I love support! It's always my favorite role in games and I enjoy the heck out of it!

Some people prefer just being in the action or causing it, I'd rather they have fun with their play styles c:

SweedishGunnerJan 27, 20178 votes

Support is fun if your ADC is good.

However if they aren't good, if they can't cs, don't know how or where to position and they start dying and flaming you? Then support sucks.

Phyuq YiuJan 27, 20173 votes

THIS man. And if I duo with one of the good ones they have to show off the flashy plays, I like to farm us and stay healthy/not die. But a real good try hard duo is lovely.

Slich BissiJan 26, 20177 votes

Pre-rework of Soraka, back when healers actually healed for a lot and actually made a difference, I used to exclusively play Soraka and Sona. It was soothing and relaxing to just destress and make some plays by saving your carry and helping them get fed. I really enjoyed healing/support back then.

Ever since they decided healing was "anti-fun" and started revamping and making sweeping changes to supports...it's just not as fun or relaxing or "passive" and backseat-gameplay wise as it was.

I just don't like it anymore. I swapped to Heroes of the Storm where healers actually heal and Malfurian plays like pre-rework Soraka and so on. I'm having a better time.

If they ever brought back that type of champion I would play support again, though.

Weasel KenseiJan 26, 20177 votes

Even though I still consider myself a support main at heart, Iv taken to mid lane because pretty much every time I get an autofilled ADC, its an autolose.

Theyre worse than those super toxic ADCs supports normally hate. They expect to get all the farm, cant secure kills, dont know how a 2v2 lane works, feed, wont help alternate wards in the early game in river bush. Will ward the same bush youre going to ward, and when all their fail culminates into a losing lane and they go 0/3/1 they blame you.

Sorry, Iv moved over to mid lane to leave bronze, which I have, and once Im in the higher part of S5, or over to silver 4, I may go back to support where I can make a difference there. Still, the autofilled ADC is a boatload of bullshit for a support to have to deal with. How do you help someone with what theyre doing when the main thing theyre doing is failing?

I like supporting in MOBAs. Iv written guides for characters, made videos on supporting-centric concepts, and played many supports. Having to support autofilled ADCs drove me out of that role... Autofill, because there arent enough supports, drives a support main out of supporting... Good job Rito!

notice me Sin piJan 26, 20175 votes

[{quoted}](name=Weasel Kensei,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GIbcPVw9,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2017-01-26T19:33:32.195+0000)

Sorry, Iv moved over to mid lane to leave bronze, which I have, and once Im in the higher part of S5, or over to silver 4, I may go back to support where I can make a difference there. Still, the autofilled ADC is a boatload of bullshit for a support to have to deal with. How do you help someone with what theyre doing when the main thing theyre doing is failing?

supp main here, currently silver 4 this season. I was actually struggling to escape bronze 3 only few weeks ago as support. I picked up "support" instead of support to get out of bronze hell. And then i picked up top primary, "support" secondary to get out of silver5 hell.

Having climbed up to silver 2 100 LP ~~failed promos to silver1 4 times in a row, completely gave up trying to get gold, and got demoted~~ last season by only playing support from bronze hell, I actually think supports dont have much impact in silver either, tho noticeably higher than in bronze.

Weasel KenseiJan 27, 20175 votes

Yeah, the problem is people are 1 of 3 things in bronze, and to some extent silver.

Theyre just playing in ranked cause "why not," arnt very good, and arnt trying to win. Not playing in normals for some reason, just taking up space in ranked. Just a hurdle to get past.
Theyre bad and belong there, either because they cant learn from their mistakes, or they think they can play/do anything because its bronze and meta choices dont matter. Little game knowledge and believes in false concepts often. Basically baddies be bronze.
Theyre in bronze from placements but dont belong there, and will climb out, know how to climb and are in the process of doing so. They may also be ranking up their smurf, or boosting, or dragged down by an extremely unlucky losing streak.

Now all 3 of these types of players can make it to silver, and some do for periods of time. They still behave in the same manner they did in bronze usually. The climber is still trying to climb, the person dicking around playing ranked cause why not is still dicking around, the baddie got carried there based on luck and will probably fall back down. When you get these people in silver, theyre the best of their types, and are somewhat more reliable than their bronze versions.

Generally only the climber makes it to gold, though some are boosted there, and sometimes the "playing ranked cause why not" guy gets there because theyve been doing it a long time and have developed more skill than the baddies and other "why not" detritus that could just as easily be playing in normals with their blase` attitude.

I find it possible to support in silver because the concentration of #3 types is a bit higher, or at the very least they have enough skill/knowledge to be supported. Its not 100%, but its not like when I tried to leave bronze this season on support and had one after another ADC telling me how trash I am cause I didnt baby sit them in the exact manner they were thinking so everything is my fault cause Im a moron trash bronze 5 baddie idiot on and on and on. So yeah, Im not in bronze anymore, and support is now possible.

Tyrone LannisterJan 26, 20175 votes

For me, i just find support really boring. The only one i enjoy is blitz becsuse i just turn my brain of and chimp out. I do respect good supports however

Rock MDJan 26, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tyrone Lannister,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GIbcPVw9,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2017-01-26T17:42:14.320+0000)

For me, i just find support really boring. The only one i enjoy is blitz becsuse i just turn my brain of and chimp out. I do respect good supports however

Yeah you don't have to main it as long as you're not throwing a bitchfit in champ select.

3TWarriorJan 26, 20172 votes

wrong. You don't have to main it so long as you play supporting roles as support(whether it's kill lane, damage, crowd control or healing) and not going ham and wondering why you die then tilting yourself and your team into oblivion ^^

SlythionJan 26, 20175 votes

Supports are relaxing, it's the role that I go when I don't really care whether I win/lose and just want to relax.

. . . . .

Or I go the classic Meme Machine ( Blitzcrank ) and troll the enemy team with cheesy jokes and cringey pick-up lines

sobi999Jan 26, 20175 votes

You obviously said that you play supp when autofilled so you don't see the constant ARAM that occurs bot lane. You probably not seen the worst of adc's that act like tanks and then die and blame you. You obviously didn't get bursted under your turret by an assassin in milisecond. You obviously didn't constaly get ganked by jung and mid without any ss. Or faced blitz and thresh and your adc doesn't know what dodge is, or faced a burst mage supp that kills ur adc faster than the enemy adc. It's a frustrating role if not hard and warding should be the teams job not just the supports. Top lane is like chilling all the time.

Rock MDJan 26, 20173 votes

{quoted}

You obviously said that you play supp when autofilled so you don't see the constant ARAM that occurs bot lane. You probably not seen the worst of adc's that act like tanks and then die and blame you. You obviously didn't get bursted under your turret by an assassin in milisecond. You obviously didn't constaly get ganked by jung and mid without any ss. Or faced blitz and thresh and your adc doesn't know what dodge is, or faced a burst mage supp that kills ur adc faster than the enemy adc. It's a frustrating role if not hard and warding should be the teams job not just the supports. Top lane is like chilling all the time.

I mean I adc secondary so I kinda hope I know what's going on bot.

It Hertz When IPJan 26, 20174 votes

To be honest I don't think anyone really knows what's going on bot, even the bot laners. Shit just happens.

NippaleJan 27, 20175 votes

A lot of people rather think of support as "The Frantic Mother Trying to Care For Her 4 Children"

I mean, who wants to do that (Me unfortunately)

Phyuq YiuJan 27, 20176 votes

Thats me right there, plz kids, don't go into their jg when everybody is mia. Sure, that 1 ward showed you where 1 guy is but you still shouldn't go suprise him with your newfound knowledge.

SpongebobIsLifeJan 26, 20174 votes

it's just, in ranked, I don't like leaving the fate of the game up to the other players as well as the fact that I almost insta-tilt if i get a bad adc, just because I know I could do better and they wouldnt give me the role even though I stated I was a good ad (assuming i was autofilled to support). I just avoid it because its almost a guaranteed loss or unfun experience for me (in ranked).

3TWarriorJan 26, 20171 votes

play twisted fate support XD just build him as a tanky mage instead of normal and bring along heal and exhaust and he offers crowd control, vision, damage and most of the shebang along with getting a small amount of bonus gold for each minion he takes with

item 3302

this is a joke btw as even though it can be done, i'd recommend maokai or heimerdiner over twisted fate just by their better nature of defense and vision

notice me Sin piJan 26, 20171 votes

TwistedFate item 2301 item 3742 item 3100 item 3285 item 3117 targeted stun bot?

3TWarriorJan 26, 20171 votes

maybe a combination of things

or maybe even full tank twisted? XD

he'd probably cause some devastation with anything adding AOE damage to his kit

lol, it'd be stupid but what if he went like full ham with item 3085 item 3087 item 3078 item 3742 item 3401 (wasn't there a ward version of face somewhere?) boots and a filler either ludens or another tank item

It Hertz When IPJan 26, 20172 votes

item 2303

xelakerJan 27, 20174 votes

support is fun until you get 15 of "those" teams in the span of a few days, or you end up on the side that's loosing badly and realize you are beyond useless as soraka (just an example) against that 15/3/2 syndra...

PunnedItJan 27, 20174 votes

There are 5 reasons people don't like to play support.

They're Prima Donas who can't take getting an assist. These people normally main Yasuo mid and take Zed as their alt.
They used to be support mains who became bitter and jaded at all the salty ADCs and now believe that all ADCs are evil.
They play with strangers and never know if their ADC is going to mesh with their playstyle well. They play aggressively, setup a kill, only to find their ADC yawn and kill a minion. Then they die. Or vice versa, they stay in the back and heal, avoiding feeding, only to find their ADC run into the fray screaming like a lunatic. Then they die.
This one is temporary, but currently the meta rewards first tower, and bot tower is weakest to falling for some reason.
They find the more passive playstyle unenjoyable, just as some people don't want to be a healbot in RPGs.

LeDjentJan 26, 20173 votes

Yeah support gets a lot of flack, but its pretty fun to play (tho I prefer to play with an adc off my friends list, you never know what the rando crackheads will get you into!).

Support is awesome, lets make it great again...

TacoTheKittenJan 26, 20173 votes

[deleted]

badoogaJan 26, 20173 votes

Best part is, TahmKench counters about half of the top lane roster; a few of them are Poppy Renekton Nasus . He can build full tank yet outduel his lane opponent, as he can do a surprisingly high amount of magic damage given the chance.

ItsbeghdevJan 27, 20172 votes

Absolute first blood machine against melees. Even beats Darius level 1.

KnoyleJan 27, 20173 votes

Support is fun when you have synergy with your ADC. It's a fucking tilt-a-whirl if you don't.

EpikFeederJan 27, 20173 votes

Support is just seen as the "healer" of LoL. Everyone wants to do the damages though. So people say " I cant support", which really means "My ego needs to have me on a carry champion please"

Over InnsmouthJan 27, 20173 votes

My only problem with support is mage supports. Bot lane becomes a lot less enjoyable when your job also includes not dying to the enemy ADC and their Brand.

Wh1teWu1fJan 27, 20173 votes

I enjoyed supporting, the only part I didn't like was falling behind if my ADC was bad or we weren't on the same page (well that and always being left to defend a turret alone 1v2) >.> Literally the reason I picked up Karma support, so I could wave clear shit and not need to give up a tower early on because my ADC didn't want to shove wave before backing -.-

Anyways, I can kind of understand people being upset when they get autofilled, but yeah anyone who is willing to lose a game because they were autofilled into support is pretty sad imo. I use it as an opportunity to practice tracking the enemy jungler by approximating where they are based on my jungler's clear speed (cause I don't know clear speeds), so happy when I manage to ping top/bot enemy jungle and the jungler shows up for a gank shortly after from the area I pinged.

DryditchJan 27, 20173 votes

One of the best parts about autofilled supports is that when a real support main gets into the fray, ADCs notice.

Support isn't thankless anymore when you can actually play the champion you've picked.

Oakleaf RangerJan 27, 20172 votes

I feel powerless/useless to play when losing but pretty boring/resident sleeper when winning. At least for me.

indomitable1Jan 27, 20172 votes

The main annoyance with playing support is that sometimes you can do all the right things but still might not win if your team doesn't use the vision control you create and show up to team objectives on time. Or when you build support items but still out damage carries who are farming.

junglerboy16Jan 27, 20172 votes

It's only bad because for the most part it's a thankless role and you are usually the prime target for flame if anyone does badly, i.e. support didn't protect me or support isn't warding enough, etc.

Playing support with a team of people you know is my absolute favorite role, but support with strangers is too much of a gamble for quality of experience for my liking.

MorgManBasherJan 27, 20172 votes

Or you can just go an AP support and carry.

Walmart PornJan 27, 20172 votes

Yeah support isnt to bad but it gets boring to do alot. And if you just do fill like i do then 95% of the time theres a special place on bot lane for you.

Snowman ArcJan 27, 20172 votes

I think what is wrong is players' perception of the Support role, and I will give you an example.

I bought Malzahar recently to try him as support, seeing as he is a very popular pick right now. My Twitch ADC was, let's say, useless. I was harassing the enemies, we had minions to our advantage, yet Twitch didn't bother coming in and get free kills with me. Therefore, once I saw opportunites for kills, I went in, got the kill, free gold. My Twitch has low health, he didn't bother pushing the wave in before backing, so I picked up like 10 minions and push the wave into their tower. As soon as I started hitting the minions, which where close to reaching out tower, he started spam pinging me to back and not take his farm, even though the wave would crash into tower and he was at base. Anyway, I ended up doing 3x Twitch's damage, while offering utility through my kit and Rylais, and Sightstone.

See, the thing with the support role right now is that you don't always play a supportive champion, for good or bad. You only tend to play champions that work well with less amount of gold. Therefore, if you don't want to play Braum and Soraka when you get autofilled, you can play a mage support like Malzahar, Brand etc and be exactly as you would be mid lane, apart from farming.

As a sidenote, supportive champions are really fun. Sit back, heal everyone, shield everyone, save them with CC and in laning phase you can be AFK all you want at lower elo. It's really relaxing. I recently played Morgana. If I hit Q, awesome, free damage. If I don't, I'll just try to proc TLDs with W and then wait till my cooldowns come back up. No worries about farming or serious trading.

duckarpJan 27, 20172 votes

It's not that supports are too weak or something. The main problem is that the role isn't interesting for the majority of the players and often it can be a really frustrating experience, especially when your team is losing, you get blamed for literally everything that went wrong and you just look how they throw the game even though it's still possible to win.

TotalJerkJan 27, 20172 votes

Supports have never been stronger in the entire history of League than they are now.

Ambient gold is up, especially for the lowest income player on the team
Sightstones are a thing so they don't have to blow money on wards
The responsibility of warding has been distributed throughout the team via trinkets, lessening the burden on supports even further
There is a large amount of itemization especially catering towards supports
Almost every class of champion except assassins has a viable option for supports