Everyone should play support a few games it will help you improve a lot more than you think.

RainbowIcee··52 votes·3,127 views

Real support not the champ but the mentality to support your team. One of the more fundamental things about playing support is analyzing both teams and see what your team is missing and what their team is bringing and how can you both reduce their treat and increase your teams treat. While some may think "oh but you should be doing that regardless of your role" there's a specific thing that the support role has that other roles don't. The capability to do everything. They can tank, damage, CC, peel, gank, cover, bait, give vision, ultimately carry and you carry on that advantage when you pick support, all you have to do is analyze the situation and see how you can take advantage of it. I mostly play support, it's my go to role when wanting to win but when i do play other roles i find myself concentrating on warding, vision and taking care of any iffy thing the team is missing out. Now i think if everyone would get used to helping out in every game would go a lot smoother and eventually more good games would happen. Not just steam rolls from either side which makes the game boring.

48 Comments

Zero Skill Tank8 votes

And you will learn much about vision, more than only to drop ward in river brush.

RainbowIcee11 votes

or just get used to using them, i'm still having too many matches were my team mates forget to use the trinket. I myself can't have enough wards.

Jefftiffy2 votes

{quoted}

or just get used to using them, i'm still having too many matches were my team mates forget to use the trinket. I myself can't have enough wards.

Except I have had this problem as every other lane. I can't get enough vision out. The problem right now is that you try and put supports as this learning experience. But new or bad players more than likely aren't going to get anything from support than "this sucks". And support is actually teaching the same mechanics you should be learning normally as pretty much any other role. You don't pick Veigar if the entire enemy team is AD. You don't pick Janna with people like Illaoi.

To me the support role is so stale that I like playing the older poke supports like Nidalee with just pure damage over playing actual supports. I mean you are stuck trying to force a potentially bronze 5 ADC to carry when the meta is carry or get carried.

Serika Zero1 votes

Janna works with EVERYTHING since every team has AN ADC. And every ADC player likes EXTRA AD and the goddess of peal on their side.

nfzeta1 votes

Its actually so much easier to carry as a support right now. Play Bard ,Nami ,Morgana and you'll do so much dmg while bringing a lot of utility. Add that to learning proper warding and gauging threats from multiple opponents and the reward in the long run is always better.

Surge061 votes

Why is the item 2049 upgradable to 4 wards when there's a three ward limit?

The Rewritten5 votes

For when you place down 3 wards and a situation arises where you REALLY need to ward a different spot (e.g. enemy team is doing ninja Baron!)

Or when you don't recall for 3 minutes and need another ward.

MohawkBird2 votes

[deleted]

nfzeta1 votes

Also helps with map awareness, its between supp and jungle which give the highest learning curve and learning possibilities in terms of game sense.

Athenes Lulu8 votes

When you play support, you will realize that you can't be a complete idiot.

Not having to last hit and/or take kills lets you see things on a bigger picture level.

Voidwheel1 votes

Most people don't get this,they see a role in which you have to follow the adc and make sure they don't die.

Athenes Lulu1 votes

That alone already requires you to not be an complete idiot, though.

Celestial Lion125 votes

And try playing true support champions not Brand Volibear

TaoistMaster2 votes

Trouble against brand?

Try Nami Soraka Taric (max his heal, with windspeakers, and brands poke is useless)

Against bear?

try anyone with CC

Left Hook Larry3 votes

If you're against Voli support pick Janna and enjoy your freelo

manbearswine3 votes

[{quoted}](name=Savage Bear,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Hy98ZysV,comment-id=000100000000,timestamp=2016-03-13T01:09:42.571+0000)

~~If you're against Voli support ~~pick Janna and enjoy your freelo

ftfy

her counters are kinda all shit now,so yeah.

Left Hook Larry3 votes

true, but against a champ like voli who gets kited hard she legit makes him useless

EcchiOtakuTM6 votes

Brand is a damage support like vel,annie and zyra.....

Voli is an off-meta tank support.

Just cause you don't like damage/tank supports doesn't mean that everyone else won't.

WadeWilson13372 votes

Brand only has one form of cc and its a single target stun thats a skillshot. Not exactly the highest peel in the world. Brand only worked because he was op with DFT and abused Frost queens all while having % health damage. Brand "Support" didnt even build sightstone in the highest win %s, because hes not actually supporting, hes just playing Brand bot lane and not csing.

Voli is a bit more reasonable as a support, though he lacks real peel compared to others. I suppose you could call him an "offmeta support", but its quite a stretch of the phrase.

EcchiOtakuTM1 votes

Well volibear-wise he does have great bodyguard power which is why he's tried as a support.

While brand if practiced can CC pretty well with that 2 second stun, and heavy utility with rylia, not to mention he has a large amount of innate damage due to his passive. Also support brand was better off with thunderlord for lower CD on stun which immensely helps support brand. As you said though I wish more of them would take a sightstone....why can't riot make non equinox eye items good, hell if they raised eye's ward amount by 1 (since it's an eye ffs) and added 10% cdr to all of them alot more people would use them....

WadeWilson13371 votes

The eye item already has one more ward charge than sightstone...if it had another they may as well just remove sightstone from the game at that point due to how hilariously obsolete it would be. the only one who doesn't have cdr is the tank one, and its quite frankly the only one worth taking considering item 3092 outclasses item 2301 by lengths and miles.

EcchiOtakuTM1 votes

Ruby also has an extra ward over sightstone, I wanted eye items to have 1 more ward extra though so the eye items at least have that going for them over normal support item+sightstone.

And I didn't know that non-equinox eye items had CDR(Shows how much they're used xD)

Spoofghoul2 votes

brand with rylais is really bad at peeling i agree he severely lacks the ability to slow and hes totally trollpick when your team has 4 adc's

manbearswine1 votes

{quoted}

brand with rylais is really bad at peeling i agree he severely lacks the ability to slow and hes totally trollpick when your team has 4 adc's

If you have 4 adcs I'm guessing a tank is more important than an apc.

manbearswine1 votes

{quoted}

Brand only has one form of cc and its a single target stun thats a skillshot. Not exactly the highest peel in the world. Brand only worked because he was op with DFT and abused Frost queens all while having % health damage. Brand "Support" didnt even build sightstone in the highest win %s, because hes not actually supporting, hes just playing Brand bot lane and not csing.

Voli is a bit more reasonable as a support, though he lacks real peel compared to others. I suppose you could call him an "offmeta support", but its quite a stretch of the phrase.

Voli is an off-meta support,but so is brand.

They are both subpar,but still useful to their team,just not as much as other supports(janna/morg/alistar/thresh/poppy/trundle come to mind).

iamthegoatofwar1 votes

the brand support brings Magic damage should a team find itself lacking in it vastly.

Voli brings Tankness and peel.

PBnJelly2 votes

I'm pretty sure the whole point of the OP was to learn about the game through the support role. Not support champions. Like it won't make a difference if you're Brand or Braum as long as you're paying attention to the role itself.

Slamurai Jack4 votes

At the very least, some support games will teach you how to contribute without having tons of gold to play with.

High54 votes

Everyone should try every role. Specializing in any one role is selfish and hurts the game as a whole.

Worst Kench NA3 votes

And for those like me who get support pretty much every time in ranked, please play normals once in a while as something else. Don't get complacent in just one role because you get it 90% of the time, because the 10% of the time you don't get support will probably be a loss.

WadeWilson13373 votes

Thats riot's fault, not the supports.

Lovely Pants1 votes

10%? Since I started queuing as Support/Bot I've not had a single game in the bot role. I'm terrified of learning what's happened to my last hit skills, but that doesn't seem likely to be an issue for a while.

Alternatively, go support/jungle and the strategic knowledge carries over well enough on the rare chance you get that.

Wheatloaf3 votes

I think it's a good idea to play every position enough to get an appreciation for it.

nfzeta1 votes

That's the dream but if you have to pick one pick supp, jungle also works but that's only if your eyes are already open to the 'truth' as some junglers just sit back and farm and ignore the map. In support the whole lane situation keeps you from zoning out and punishes you directly if you do.

Khoul3 votes

Support is a bad role and you should feel bad

Jet Sett2 votes

I've been playing in the support role recently and it's actually really nice! Helping your team with CC lockdowns, and peeling for them to save them from a situation they would have likely died in is great! I suppose I understand people not liking the fact that they aren't in the spotlight, but that's why, unless you really want to and enjoy it/feel the need to practice it, shouldn't only be playing one role ALL the time, mixing it up can be really helpful, especially when you get into a rut in what is usually your favorite lane.

I, for example, didn't play mid for weeks when I kept getting horrible matchups for my main TwistedFate because I wasn't learning from the experience, I was getting frustrated and not thinking straight. I took a break and found other roles to play, then I come back with a new mindset for the lane that really helped me understand the lane, rather than getting upset that I don't insta-win my main role all the time.

Mama Soraka2 votes

{quoted}

...and how can you both reduce their treat and increase your teams treat...

item 2009 I always increase my team's treat but I'm not sure how to reduce the enemy treat. Any tips?

LSmaster162 votes

Hurt them so they have to use them. And zone them off of creeps so they can't buy as many.

Mama Soraka2 votes

Thank you for your excellent treat tips. I am now challenjour

Serika Zero2 votes

meh, no thx had a 80% win ratio in 20 ranked games last season as Janna

I have to hold back otherwise I would be challenger in a month

KetiaX2 votes

I played support once.

Top lane died twice solo. So I went top and help him get a kill. As I did that, my ADC died. He blamed me for not supporting him. Then I came back to bot lane. Then Top lane raged because I didn't help him again. Then Mid lane raged because I didn't ward for him. Then I get blamed for losing the game.

Never Again.

50000000000000001 votes

wtf what kind of top laner asks for support's help

Athenes Lulu1 votes

Sounds like just a bad day.

Why were you top?

KetiaX1 votes

Generally if I think my ADC is smart enough to stay further back when I'm not around, I would roam to assist other lanes. Since mid was doing fine, I backed and went top.

Athenes Lulu1 votes

Well, what would you do if you were against a Draaaven/Leona as an ADC, and your support just ditches you for no reason because "he is bored"? I'd be hella angry.

(Also, can't hide under the tower, they can tower dive you easy. Ahead in gold? They'll still murder you.)

I know, roaming is fun, but you have to consider that sometimes... it's just not the best idea. It's like you're playing jungle and just have to realize that some lanes shouldn't be directly ganked simply because of matchup (cough Heimer).

KetiaX1 votes

I'd agree that against Draven/Leona the support should stay in lane, but I did tell my ADC that I'm roaming top for a bit, so you either should agree and stay even further back than the turret, or you know, just tell me not to. He didn't tell me not to roam, so why get angry when I did roam? Plus it wasn't Draven/Leona lane, wasn't sure what it was since it was a long time ago, but definitely not those cause I haven't seen Draven for a long time.

Actually, in my opinion a jungler should gank Heimer early on before level 5, because if your laner is ahead against Heimer, it's really easy to take down his turrets and thus reducing Heimer's power by A LOT. Might want to get Smite to kill at least 1 turret as well.

Athenes Lulu1 votes

My point, though, is against some matchups, you can't just roam even if you told them you are roaming. People knowing that you are gone and is now dealing with a 1v2 for a short while is one thing, but the ability to execute 1v2s from the 2 man perspective is another. Some matchups will murder your singled out laner, some matchups will blow up your tower, some matchups just won't do much.

In fact against any Draaaaven lane, it is a bad idea to roam because of his potential to singlehandedly murder your ADC due to his dueling capabilities. Some supports can also turn roaming into punishments, such as Leona and Lulu, because without the presence of enemy supports, they have nothing holding them back. Things like that to consider.

Since Lulu is one of the only things I really play, each time the enemy support left to roam meant a free kill and/or half a tower simply because the enemy support "is bored". Doesn't matter if that lone ADC is fed, I can make him useless in a single snap as long as my lane partner can kill something.

Not saying it is bad to roam especially to toplane, but just remember there is a lot to think about when it comes to ditching your ADC for a short while just to help another teammate. It is a little bit unnecessary to go all the way over there because of how slowly supports move early game and their need for keeping up levels, so usually at most they just take a trip mid, do something, and quickly return to lane due to "time constraints".

Just things to know next time anyone is forced to support, whether they like it or not.

Lazypeon1001 votes

I've been playing maining Zilean support this season. I think a lot of people would be surprised by how well you one can carry a game as him from support.

Decent damage, stuns, speed boosts and slows, and a rez which makes champions like Zed able to engage for you if you don't have a real tank. Just bomb, speed boost him, he ults in, bomb again and ult him. They are all stunned, his target will die, and your team can swoop in to finish the fight out.

More from Gameplay

More by RainbowIcee