I'm a support main and I on average buy around 9 pink wards a game. On some days I buy as many as 15. I was wondering if this is too much, since it does give the enemy team gold and exp as well as eating up a lot of my own. Is the vision and vision denial worth it?
Also, should I keep a slot open for Pinks after full build?
L8t3 votesYou shouldn't be worrying about you buying pink wards get your team to do it.
Rabblerouser2 votesBut that's taking gold away from a role who actually needs that gold to progress. The support can still do their job at a gold deficit since gold deficit won't affect the length of Taric's stun, Morg's stun, Zyra's stun.
Half of the definition of the support role is that they can still do their job despite gold deficits.
I mean, don't get me wrong. Other lanes should still buy pinks, especially with stealth champs like Twitch, Eve, Teemo, etc. on the map. But supports are the role that should buy them like CRAZY.
Immortal spax2 votesIn Bjergsen's stream he buys like 4 pinks for game, usually 2 before the 20 minutes(he wards the river bush) and 2 after
If he can spend 300 golds to help his team, why you cant do it?
Rabblerouser1 votesBjergsen is also an LCS-level professional player that has the mechanical skill that most of the League community does not have.
Immortal spax2 votesIm talking about his stream, which is in soloQ.
Also requires no skill to buy, i dont say 4 pinks, but even 1 is good, and place somewhere.
Rabblerouser1 votesThat changes nothing. He doesn't leave his skill in the stadiums he plays his pro games in. The point is us mortals can use that 300 gold and apply it to personal power in the way of items.
Again, don't get me wrong, buy pinks no matter what role. It's a good habit. But you shouldn't need to go crazy with them like that.
Marshbouy1 votesIt is worth it if you can clear other wards. 30G is not much. It's just 1 CS, the vision and vision denial is far, far more valuable.
ZephyrDrake1 voteswell if you have the gold to spare then buy one even if you already have one somewhere already. It never hurts to have more in your inventory and if you are clearing another ward then it doesn't matter if it gets cleared. Vision and Vision denial is worth a lot more than anything in the game. It allows you to set up ambushes, let you know when it's safe to take dragon/baron, how far you can overextend, when it's good to take a fight and when it's not... all of that and more!
Rabblerouser1 votesAs soon as the previous one is destroyed. -
Me and this damn Taric are gonna have a fight over river bush, I swear.
Athenes Lulu1 votesWhenever you have pocket space and 75 gold. Also makes a rather good habit.
If you're getting full build, it depends on the matchup. Normally if there's no threats that rely on stealth, no need. Otherwise, it's a pretty good investment.
Gusicles1 votesIn laning phase, having 1 in tribush/gromp bush (depends what side of the map you are) is fine.
But once you're in midgame you generally want to be having one in your inventory at all times to replace the lane pink and put it in a better location/replace ones that get destroyed.
Rabblerouser1 votesIf you're full build, you've built a 
Sightstone or 
one of the "Eye of" variants that Sightstone builds into. All of these have a Warding active.
If you have an item with a Warding active (which every support should have early on for reliable vision), you should switch your Trinket up as soon as you buy it. The reason being... what's the use of TWO channels of warding? The yellow trinket's been made redundant.
Sweeping Lens and 
Oracle's Alteration are going to be your new friends in vision denial now and replace the yellow trinket's slot now that it's made redundant.
You get Sweeping Lens when you get your warding item. And then Oracle's alteration once you reach level 9. Oracle's is essentially Sweeping Lens that follows you so you can sweep a whole area rather than just one spot.
That said, just because you have a sweeping trinket before full build doesn't mean you should slack off on buying pinks. Those trinkets get put on cooldown after use whereas pinks are available quickly. But if you're divided between full build and pinks for your sixth slot? Go full build. You're more useful that way. Just use your sweeping trinket wisely.
Vision control is its own little skill in the game and IS worth it once you learn it.
nDoro1 votesMost of this literally had nothing to do with my question, but what if the enemy team has a jungler with stealth? Do I hold onto my oracles and never deny vision?
Kei1431 votesyou can deep ward their camps to see them clearing, that way you know where that Eve is.
If they have a stealth champ, it depends on how many skill shots My team has, as skill shots can hit the "red hidden" enemies revealed by oracles. If I / mmy team has a lot of skill shots, I might hold the pink and just use oracles. Of course, it depends on how good my team is executing their skillshots.
nDoro1 votesThat again was not my question. Mid-late game you have a game of seesaw. A "Deep ward" is relative to which part of the act you're in: defending, at a stalemate, or on the offensive. By the time I get my full build and have to start worrying about keeping a slot open for Pinks, "deep wards" will not matter. They are simply "wards" then.
USG Failsawce1 voteswoah that's waaaay too many lol.
i preach buying pink wards like crazy, not as just a support... but as every role... but upwards of 9-15??? lol
unfortunately, silver 5 is an elo where your teammates generally don't even basic ward, let alone pink ward, so a lot of the lack of pinks/vision isn't really on you... however I'd also venture to say that if your wards are getting destroyed that often, you're not using them quite correctly either.
placing them as a defensive ward in your lane bush at the beginning is a good thing, if it keeps getting repeatedly destroyed... yes, you are simply wasting money. because the enemy team knows it's going to be there, and more importantly, apparently CAN destroy it, without consequence.
if you can't defend it, AND lose it constantly... use normal wards, and place your pink elsewhere.
likewise with placing offensive pinks, which you place in the enemy jungle for instance. you should only be doing this if the game is flowing in a way where it's going to help you with more than just spotting the enemy jungler, or as a simple warning. for example... if you have 2nd tier turret bot lane, 1st or 2nd mid, and you guys are relatively ahead... a pink in that side of enemy jungle (near bot) can help get you some picks to close out the game (or knowing when to get objectives elsewhere). whereas normally it might just end up getting destroyed... repeatedly...
nothing wrong with using pinks as bait either though, and well worth the cost if it happens even once. just don't fall for it if it's actually a bait on you... more wards elsewhere help this not to happen, ironically ;P but if you're up that far already, you should have more around anyway.
otherwise, defensive pinks are better... mostly in your own jungle, or the river (a good spot to spot not only the jungle, but potential drake takes, and mid roams). and using yellows to ward anywhere further up than that.
and above all, like i said... ward based on how the flow of the game is going. and ward where your enemies are most likely to show up/be seen. doing this requires a bit more judgement than simple map awareness, but figuring it out can be essential to being a good support.
nDoro1 votesI generally buy 15 only when there are junglers such as Shaco, Eve, Kha Zix, or Rengar during teamfights. If I don't have my sweeper available, I put down a pink ward in the middle of the teamfight to ensure my ADC doesn't get 100--0ed, which consequently costs me a pink. I will see if I can put my pink in a better position so as to not get destroyed so often, but I found that 3 wards is simply not enough in the key locations where I need them (since I don't rely on mid lane to ping MIA). I also need brush control if there is an enemy Blitzcrank/Thresh so I have to save my wards, which is why I place and lose many pinks in Tribush or river brush during the ward wars. This is largely because, as you've said, my teammates hardly ever place any wards or pinks. As League is a game of seesaw in which pushing and defending go back and forth, my pinks are often easily found. Since the enemy team knows that I ward a lot and always have 4 well spread out on the area we're playing, they go and seek out any wards or pinks which is relatively easy. My habit is to place my wards in forks or paths that give the most vision. Should I alternate where I place them, even if the vision we get from them is utter crap? I feel like post level 9 will reap the same results regardless of position when they get the Oracle Alteration. What do I do then? There are many times when my wards are the only wards on the map. Should I place pinks where nobody goes through? I don't do this because I thought wards were meant to ward off incoming danger? When my wards are swept but it's too early to back since we literally just got to lane, then what do I do? Do I still place my pink in a less favorable area?
The Last Ballad1 votesBuy enough to have one one you at all times and one on the field. Enemy destroys one, buy another. Early game you want to buy one if you go back and do not have enough gold to get an item, or buy a pink and an item, but item comes first.
nDoro1 votesI do that and that's why I buy so many pinks during a game. But everyone's accusing me of wasting my money on pinks.
Baby Ghoul1 votesIdeally everyone should buy one when they can.
Realistically only you and the jungler will be buying them. Try to buy one on your first back, and try to keep it from an obvious spot. If you're getting camped in bot lane on the blue side, feel free to put it in that 3 way bush near you. It's saved my life on more than one occasion. Otherwise keep it out of the river bush if you're on red side because the enemy support is just going to get free 30 gold in a second after you place it down.
If you're under pressure while taking an objective, try to lay a pink down to deny the enemy vision of the objective.
I personally always like to lay pink wards down near blue and red buffs when I can. In the average game usually no one clears them for a while.
nDoro1 votesEvery game that I place pinks in Tri or river brush, I lose around 3 pinks during laning phase, which adds to my list of Pinks Bought during the games. The jungler or a laner can just come down, get the pink, pretend to leave, and come back 10 seconds later since it's unwarded. It's super easy for the enemy to take your pink especially in bottom lane. Which is why my question was when and how many wards should I buy? Most people I ask tell me I'm buying way too many. But all of you guys are telling me to buy one every time it's swept. I seriously don't understand the contradictions I'm receiving.
Baby Ghoul1 votesEvery game that I place pinks in Tri or river brush, I lose around 3 pinks during laning phase, which adds to my list of Pinks Bought during the games. The jungler or a laner can just come down, get the pink, pretend to leave, and come back 10 seconds later since it's unwarded. It's super easy for the enemy to take your pink especially in bottom lane. Which is why my question was when and how many wards should I buy? Most people I ask tell me I'm buying way too many. But all of you guys are telling me to buy one every time it's swept. I seriously don't understand the contradictions I'm receiving.
Every time a jungler comes and clears a pink, that's a gank that was stopped due to your pink being there. After he clears it I usually ward the bush immediately after and I'm aware he has his sights set on our lane. Trinket ward charges early game aren't always easy to come by.
You should always try to have a pink ward on the map. I don't know why anyone would complain that there's more vision on the map.
nDoro1 votesSo then my ultimate question is: Is an average of 9 pink wards then REALLY too much? Almost everyone I ask agrees that 9 is too much, yet they tell me to buy one every time it's swept. I personally think it makes sense for a support to buy that many, but I'm just so fed up with the amount of people bashing me for the amount I buy. They say I'm not "placing them correctly" and I'm "wasting money."
Dunkrius2g1 votesBuy it whenever you can, and remember, support's isnt the only one that should be buying pinks cuz you can keep one on the rift. The day where all lanes buy wards use their wards / upgrade to blue trink and pinks will be the day they truly climb.