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Supports Don't Ward

nDoro··40 votes·7,893 views

I'm a support main and I always have been since day one. I love nothing more than protecting and I realized quickly that warding the map is one way to do so. I call support when I join normal games, but alas someone else calls first, so I take Shaco jungle. We enter the game and after a while, I realize that our Braum decided to go full tank with no vision whatsoever. I'm ganking here and there and we're winning early game, we get the first dragon, but the roaming phase starts and we're all screwed. The entire enemy team decides to go bot lane while I'm top, snatches two kills. and takes the turret in the snap of a finger. To those who call support so passionately, yet refuse to ward the map, I just want to ask you why you do that (no, lack of gold is not a valid excuse). These days, I can't trust anyone with support but myself. An explanation would be great so that maybe I could be more understanding when I have to buy shit tons of vision wards and a Sightstone on Shaco.

Edit: I am aware that all must contribute to warding, but the fact that the support should be the one who is doing so heavily to make sure at least 3 or 4 of his wards are up is what bugs me. One stealth ward is 75 gold and a vision ward is 100. As a jungler, gold is kind of scarce for me because I try to feed my lanes, not myself. By the time late game is around the corner, I'm a dinky little Shaco with only two items and a Sightstone. And come on guys, I've never seen a pro neglect a Sightstone in place of buying stealth wards throughout the entire game and upgrading the trinket later. Once someone sweeps your ward, "goodbye, 75 gold."

109 Comments

Azukus25 votes

It is everyone's job to ward.

nDoro11 votes

As I mentioned in another reply, I buy wards with money I have leftover. The sad thing is that while the carry and others have to also focus on buying items, the support is simply not putting in any effort to ward.

TheRainInSpain6 votes

Or when the damned Support constantly have three wards out and a Pink, the rest of the team continues to harp on you for not warding at all. With the changes to the Trinket upgrades, I see a lot less complaining, but there always seems to be at least one guy who gets on your case for not warding enough, without attempting to ward himself.

IGotScuttleCrabs19 votes

Gotta love dropping 3 wards then when they all die... Ahri omg this support has no wards out Gg Leona they all just died and I'm omw to ward baron Ahri w.e kid your bad Leona you can help ward. You're lv 18 with a full build but never upgraded your trinket.

Khazix has slain Ahri

Ahri /all omg report this Leona. Has no wards in their jungle. Leona I have 1 at baron, dragon, and tribush since the adc and I are over here. Get out their jungle while alone. Ahri stay bronze kid your bad. Reported.

Pika31016 votes

Just the other day, a support kept repeatedly telling our team they needed to ward and to upgrade their trinkets. It was to the point where he was spamming the chat every minute. Meanwhile, he didn't have a Sightsone. I pointed this out, also noting that I have nothing to Teleport onto, he never responded and never got a Sightstone. Then afterwards hypocritically blames me for his own actions of verbally harassing our team and spamming the chat.

Meanwhile, he only warded a pathetically low 1/3 as much as the enemy support and didn't even have the most on our team.

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1746602124/205261518?tab=overview

Arcane Azmadi15 votes

One game I pointed called out my support for the fact that, even though he had a Sightstone and I didn't (I was jungling) I'd placed more wards than he had (by the end of the game, he'd placed only 11 wards the entire time, I'd placed 13).

You know what happened? My team flamed me for "wasting money". For real.

And people say Elo hell doesn't exist...

Simplicate2 votes

"wasting money" I laughed SO hard at that xD. That warding game be weak for low elo scrubs but I don't blame them. Sometimes people need an immediate result for their actions in order for them to actually keep doing it I like to think. So when a lower elo summoner places a ward and it doesn't immediately become effective for them they just stop doing it or never do it at all. I didn't start buying singular wards until yesterday because I never really checked the price and thought they were costly. But it is worth it to spend remaining gold on when you have it.

2 much sauuuce14 votes

If you call support, and don't ward, just uninstall. Or go play bots.

Warding is the NUMERO UNO job of support. Everyone should ward, yes, but the support MUST ward.

Even if you don't buy sightstone, upgrade your trinket at lvl 9 for 250 gold and be ALMOST as awesome as a sightstone but much cheaper. PLEASE WARD!!!

TheRainInSpain6 votes

If you play support, and don't ward enough, you better be setting up kills and either getting fed yourself, or getting your partner fed and constant attention to him so your team can snag objectives.

I believe it's fine for a support that has a killing kit (Fiddle, Annie, Lux) to be outpacing your midlaner in kills and assists, though everyone needs to ward. Including that Support. But it doesn't give people an excuse to not ward period.

Leti the Yeti13 votes

be like me and never stop bitching at your team to upgrade trinket start doing it at lvl9, its the best 200g you will ever invest in and Idont wanna hear any excuses as to why u cant afford it

Jefftiffy5 votes

{quoted}

be like me and never stop bitching at your team to upgrade trinket start doing it at lvl9, its the best 200g you will ever invest in and Idont wanna hear any excuses as to why u cant afford it

Except no one listens. I say at the beginning: get your trinks at 9 free wards.

lvl 10 comes around: Guys buy your ward trinks so we can see.

lvl 18 full build when everyone has elixirs. WTF STILL NO WARD TRINKETS

Every game. People if you want to climb fucking buy wards the trinket is 250g for infinite 3 wards down.

ActuallyArrow9 votes

Everyone should ward, not just supports.

nDoro3 votes

Yes, I do normally ward, but I am busy trying to finish my items as well. I buy stealth wards with whatever money I have left over, but our support has our bottom jungle pitch black.

Raja Chachki11 votes

yes, BUT if the support isn't warding then they're not doing their job. Other roles should buy a ward here and there, maybe buy the upgrade to their trinket, but the support NEEDS a sightstone to be considered a support to the game.

Jefftiffy3 votes

[{quoted}](name=Hudson Gaga,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=KaMFhlri,comment-id=00010001,timestamp=2015-03-03T05:00:06.036+0000)

yes, BUT if the support isn't warding then they're not doing their job. Other roles should buy a ward here and there, maybe buy the upgrade to their trinket, but the support NEEDS a sightstone to be considered a support to the game.

The trinket is no longer a maybe. YOU MUST BUY TRINK UPGRADES. Vision can cost you games if every person spends a whole 250g on infinite wards for sight you make more gold than you lose and you save money. You don't die as much, you aren't getting caught. You see the enemy team moving and can even make picks. But everybody is in the stupid notion that "I need that 250g for _". Unless that is a core item that you need to hit your power spike, you can delay it for 250g.

I would argue that trinks>sightstone. It doesn't clog up your inventory and you can ward just as much and not have to back ever. On top of that you aren't pigeonholed into buying hp on a champ that scales terribly with hp. The wards are the same strength, but you just can't spam them and can have 3 down and still have one in reserve.

I see the people pissed that their lead is fading yet, there are a grand total of 7 wards down on the map 3 of them are trinkets 3 are mine (from the new trinkets) and 1 is a random ward that the support decided was helpful by putting it in some obscure part of the jungle that gives vision over the equivalent of a hallway.

IcyPepper6 votes

No, it's not their job. A ward costs the equivalent of, what, three minions?

Seriously, I really wish people would stop saying this. Sightstone is a wonderful item, but it still has a three ward on the map limit. That's not enough coverage for an entire team. If nobody on your team upgrades their trinket, the support has every right to sell their sightstone by that logic.

the support NEEDS a sightstone to be considered a support to the game.

No, there is nothing in the rules of League of Legends that says this. Is it a good item? Yes. Is it god-tier? Yes. But you know what else is? *The people who farm all game spending the equivalent of three minions to buy a ward instead of forcing the player with the lowest gold income in the entire game to spend 800 gold because everybody doesn't want to buy wards. *

That's right, I'm calling people out. I've seen enough people not ward, then bitch to their support to say this. You should be buying one or two wards (and maybe a pink) every recall ESPECIALLY if you're top or mid lane. Even the adc should buy a pink or green once in a blue moon. ANd don't tell me the adc should never buy wards, I've played adc and it has never stopped my build if I bought a ward or two to help ward key points the support can't cover with a three ward limit. If I get a babysitter for ten-fifteen minutes, then I'm going to pay them back proper.

Raja Chachki3 votes

"ANd don't tell me the adc should never buy wards" lol I didn't

And ok, it's not their job. But did I say I'm one of those ADCs who doesn't even place their trinket? No, I said that other roles SHOULD buy wards(yes as ADC I do buy wards all the time because where my elo is at, supports don't even buy support items...). It is everyone's job to ward, but if the support isn't warding then the game is most likely lost.

TheRainInSpain5 votes

No. All the Support needs to do is set up kills for his team and help protect them from counterattacks. Everyone needs to ward. If you're not warding, be it you're jungle, top, mid, or bot carry. Just uninstall.

Raja Chachki3 votes

"Everyone needs to ward" "Other roles should buy a ward here and there, maybe buy the upgrade to their trinket" ......did I say other roles shouldn't buy them? And yeah, if the support's not warding it's almost a lost game. EVEN if everyone else has 3 wards placed, it's not good enough, because the support will never make use of the wonderful Sightstone.

TheRainInSpain1 votes

I'm going to leave it at this: An upgraded yellow trinket and the gold efficiency of your remaining gold factored into raw HP is actually more efficient than getting the damned Sightstone.

The gold efficiency for health of the remaining gold is 205. Sightstone gives you 150 health.

I will concede that the Sightstone does have a marginal benefit prior to level 9, when you can upgrade your trinket, and when forced to defend your turf (aka losing), because you're forced to reposition wards as you constantly recall to your Fountain. But insisting your support (and or jungler because I know it's a good item for supportive tank junglers) to grab a Sightstone every game, regardless of winning or losing, is forcing gold inefficiency on the lowest income member of your team.

In other words, it can be proven you're an asshole if you demand the Sightstone every time.

Seviang2 votes

{quoted}

I'm going to leave it at this: An upgraded yellow trinket and the gold efficiency of your remaining gold factored into raw HP is actually more efficient than getting the damned Sightstone.

The gold efficiency for health of the remaining gold is 205. Sightstone gives you 150 health.

I will concede that the Sightstone does have a marginal benefit prior to level 9, when you can upgrade your trinket, and when forced to defend your turf (aka losing), because you're forced to reposition wards as you constantly recall to your Fountain. But insisting your support (and or jungler because I know it's a good item for supportive tank junglers) to grab a Sightstone every game, regardless of winning or losing, is forcing gold inefficiency on the lowest income member of your team.

In other words, it can be proven you're an asshole if you demand the Sightstone every time.

If this were actually true, why do professional support players all build sightstone every single game?

DJ Di08 votes

I honestly amazes me that people STILL don't upgrade their trinkets. Like, dude, it's literally a cheaper sightstone. It helps me a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPxZG03Pt9Q

Unedible6 votes

I despise the adc whenever they refuse to use their warding trinket in lane

Spacesuit Spiff5 votes

If you ever want groan aloud, click on your support and mouse over their sightstone. 0/3 wards placed is amazingly common.

Pawuichi4 votes

That's where you're wrong.

Every ward MUST support, not only trinkets.

|

Maratsune3 votes

I know these feels. I nearly always play support, but I've been expanding my roles a bit more recently and even when we CAN find a willing support, it doesn't seem they ward at all. I'll urge them along a bit, but by the end of the game I'm the only one with an upgraded trinket and I've warded more than three times as much as anybody else on my team. When I first started playing that seemed like the main thing to play support- "as long as you buy a sightstone, you're fine"

t0ad53 votes

I got report last night by a group for complaining about an "ap" soraka with no sightstone.

I was insistent, without being harsh, only redundant. As jungle I gave up and bought it myself. But, since my wards were the only ones on the map, we lost. Did the best I could and I get a warning for encouraging the team to ward. And I wasn't even mean about it, just redundant. Oh well. Must remember to not help people learn to play.

"I wonder where they are this time? I don't see them in my 4 wards. Maybe if we all used them. They are located under consumables. Sometime supports by wards to help there team locate the enemy. Oh, there they are, killing us again; weird. "

Tactrix3 votes

Wards are a key component to this game, anyone who believes otherwise will never get past silver, the whole point is to know what the enemy team is doing at all times so you can counter and react appropriately if you don't ward you are literally handing the advantage to the other team.

Eedat3 votes

Invest the 250g and upgrade your trinket. Its not hard folks

Civil Dawn2 votes

These days, I can't trust anyone with support but myself.

SO Much this. I literally don't want to do anything but Support these days because everytime I don't, the person who does it is terrible. And they actually called support. Like dude, don't call support if you purchase a sightward at minute 25:28. Unacceptable. I don't care if you think you have to use all your gold on ap. Get. A. Sightward. and USE IT.

You should have at least 2/4 wards down on the map at ALL times after laning phase. No acceptions I usually have** all 4 **on the map. And it doesn't matter if you don't know where to put it. Just put it somewhere, it does NO good if it's in your inventory.

item 2045 item 3361 are the best items in the entire game. Use them.

Kynami1 votes

item 2049 yes, item 2045 no.

Only extra one ward per back and a touch of extra HP for an extra 800 gold that could very well go into almost half the cost of an Aegis or something similar... Ruby upgrade pretty much is for when the elixirs start looking like a good use of gold.

Civil Dawn2 votes

{quoted}

item 2049 yes, item 2045 no.

Only extra one ward per back and a touch of extra HP for an extra 800 gold that could very well go into almost half the cost of an Aegis or something similar... Ruby upgrade pretty much is for when the elixirs start looking like a good use of gold.

It's needed to be buffed for a while now, but Riot hates Supports, so they won't

Windfallen2 votes

If I'm playing a utility/tank jungle... I have no problem buying an early sightstone after completing at least one item and boots. Indeed, it's hard on shaco. Just buy a couple wards and wait till level 9 to upgrade your trinket. Remind everyone to do so as well.

The reasoning behind a sighstone at this point is so that the support can switch to sweep or upgrade into a free pink totem every once in awhile. Also, because vision will be vital before level 9 to contest dragon and ward bot lane. It's important for bot lane to have padded walls because if not, that's an easy 2 targets for a gank. The enemy support, if they are good, will be paying attention if you are warding frequently or not. It's all too easy to take advantage with a pink and a sweeper if you don't have the sightstone charges. Unless you brought 4 individual wards to the lane. Which insanely inefficient.

TBH with item 3361 purchasable at level 9 I can see supports getting away with no sightstone... as long as they spend the gold for a few well placed wards before then. Remind your team how insanely cost effective this item is at level 9 and how it's probably a better buy than an amplifying tome or a longsword at that stage of the game.

Bam. A maximum of 15 wards on the map. All for a small amount of gold in the mid game.

Trumpet2 votes

but having sightstone and upgraded sweeper is so much better for the team in most cases as you not only can place, but can also destroy wards.

Windfallen2 votes

Yea, totally.

I'm just saying, with the trinket... it's much easier to get away without a sightstone now with the upgraded trink. Especially if it's just a normal Soloq match.

using 800 gold for combat stats is just silly. Even in a really tight match up (Leona/braum or Lulu/karma) I think the support warding off ganks and taking out enemy wards is the one creating the best advantage.

iLuma2 votes

I main support as well, but when you're stuck in ELO hell (which I wholeheartedly believe exists), sometimes you have to jump to a carry lane. So when I'm fortunate enough, I'll get mid lane and go Malzahar . As a support main, I know how crucial it is to ward. I also know what it's like as a support who places all their Sightstone wards and then after a big team fight, the wards just coincidentally happen to expire and everybody bashes you for there being no wards in the jungle. It's annoying, truly. But back to my main reason, as a support main, I know how crucial wards are. So in mid lane, I will ALWAYS have a pink ward. Some people say it slows my progression into end game, but 100g is worth to prevent ganks. When I go to roam and help gank other lanes, I always leave a trinket in tri-bush or river.

As many people here have already said, it's NOT just the support who needs to ward. Every body needs to be warding and everybody needs to be clearing. I don't mean to jump to LCS for examples, but if you watch some of the games, by about 10-15 minutes in, both teams have upgraded trinkets (red & yellow) and everybody is placing pinks across the map. Map awareness is key. You want to win, make sure you're not blind . . . unless you're LeeSin

Solidair32 votes

I get what you mean. It really bothers me when a support just picks up offensive items but won't get a sight stone.

A sight stone should always be one of the primary buys

Silents4292 votes

Actually I find in about all my games supports never actually ward outside of the trinket, I know everyone is suppose to ward, and we do, but you have a damn support item to give wards, now get us some needed vision for christs sake.

When I support I have the tri bush, river bush and enemy blue/dragon warded constantly. And a vision ward in more hidden places in the top lane river, it isn't hard to do, and I don't once think my laners are entitled to do equal amount of warding.

ChiTenshi2 votes

Top 5 Low Ranked Reasons for not warding as the Support:

  1. Warding is a team effort.

  2. I can only place 3 wards (Whilst the map has 0 / 1 ward on it).

  3. If I enter the 'fog of war', I might die.

  4. After I finished this item.

  5. I'm not the Support, I'm the second APC.

mvargus2 votes

{quoted}

Top 5 Low Ranked Reasons for not warding as the Support:

  1. Warding is a team effort.

  2. I can only place 3 wards (Whilst the map has 0 / 1 ward on it).

  3. If I enter the 'fog of war', I might die.

  4. After I finished this item.

  5. I'm not the Support, I'm the second APC.

So true. I'm not like this, but I see it quite often.

For me when I play support, first I play a support. (Janna, Sona, Zyra) so I am not tempted to go for another item first. Then I consider the "job" of support is to make it possible for the ADC to avoid any foreseeable deaths. A coming gank is definitely foreseeable with a well placed ward, so wards must be placed early, often and replaced when they run out of time or are destroyed by the other team.

in Fact last night I ended up paired with a very good Kalista player while playing Sona. I was disappointed when Kalista finally died to a 4v2 gank. The sad thing was that we both knew it was possible, but Kalista didn't want to leave lane when the other team had someone in the lane and I refused to leave her to fight solo. We were on teamspeak and I was saying we needed to find a way to go back so I could get a sightstone, but that did not happen until after Kalista was finally taken down. After that I did back, get a sightstone and started my usual practice of warding wherever I could. I finished that match having placed 14 wards despite it ending at 24 minutes and me not having a sightstone until 9 minutes into the match.

But I've noticed I'm not a "normal" support. I actually don't mind going 0/0/14. (sadly the last teamfight I killed an enemy and ended up 1/0/13 in the game I'm referring too. :P )

Edit: and I have to thank my Kalista in that game. Twice I went out to ward and got jumped once I entered the fog of war, both times my ADC saved my life with a well timed ult. Which was nice because normally Kalista's ult just confuses me to no end.

Rhyto2 votes

We all must remember that valueable 250g upgraded Warding Trinket which carries 2 stacks with 60sec cooldown for everyone to utilize without the need of a sightstone, just use it :D

Cynicatt2 votes

I love when someone calls support and then you have no vision of anything ever. You've got 2 wards on the map and 1 is your own pink and the other is your trinket ward, even though the support has a sightstone in their inventory.

Then when you try to gently remind them to ward ("Sona, can you ward please?") they start bitching about something they think you're doing wrong, or how "it's everyone's job to ward, why don't you pull your weight?" or something.

Why call support if you're going to neglect a critical part of playing that role?

EnvyDragon2 votes

God, this so much. I'm a support/jungle main who ends up playing ADC a lot so I have experience on both sides of the counter. When I'm in lane and my support comes back after recalling, then I ask them to ward river? "I can't, I don't have any wards" is not an acceptable answer.

If you're new to the role and never remember to buy wards, then make an item set. Put whatever items you want in it as long as you have both kinds of wards in your Core Items. Congratulations - now you will never have an excuse to forget wards again.

SyrupNWaffles2 votes

As a player who mains support, I can assure you watching ally supports not ward is a big pain. I know that feel when you see maybe one vision ward on the whole map and you lose a dragon or baron or risk a death because the support isn't warding when you aren't support.

Whenever I back to base after some time, first thing I get is the sightstone and then sweeping lens. If I can't afford this, I purchase two green wards and keep the trinket ward just in case. And then the vision ward just to prevent dives :P

As a jungler and even every other lane, I get green wards pre 6 and make sure that my lane is always safe and to prevent counter ganks.

Karfuss1 votes

People are rather ignorant to the fact that supports only get 4 wards at any moment, it's all the same: 'I need gold. U can ward. Ur job. Do it.' 'Ermagerd newbie support no wards.'

The reality is, at best, your support can only really cover one quadrant of the jungle completely. Less if they're warding Baron or Dragon (which is a must). They cannot cover every single bush or even the entirety of the river. That's where you chip in and put aside 75 gold (4-5 minions) every time you recall for those map hacks we call wards. Buying Sightstone was a little excessive, though that's how you should be, contributing to the team effort of warding. Two wards and your upgraded trinket every time you recall should suffice until late game, where you're all grouped up and where your support can continuously create a vision bubble on their own while you build your GA or whatnot.

nDoro7 votes

By my post, I meant that this particular Braum (and many many many other supports) don't even cover 1/16 of a quadrant of the map. No wards except for his trinket.

Daedalus8711 votes

You know what's weird, when I ward (like get item 3361 and place a comparable number to the support), my team tends to do worse than when I don't do anything extra.

DMouseslayer3 votes

Best 250g you can spend as a top laner who can split push. Those two wards can usually cover enough of the nearby jungle along with a pink to keep you safe while you take towers.

Aids cuz League1 votes

I ward consistently as a support, without sightstone, I don't buy sightstone unless im a tank support like Braum or Leona because Sightstone only brings free wards to the table and extra health but there is no resistance effects, like mr or armor. After every back to the base, if im a tank/melee support im usually going in first before the adc, so therefore I get damaged more if they focus me instead of the adc, which means I have to go back multiple times, more times than a support like Sona/Soraka/Nami etc,. And being able to afford wards is fine with me to spend my gold on because it lets me build my support items faster and still get some survivability while still being able to ward, everytime I buy a sightstone on a non tanky support, I end up dying because people just go through me like tissue paper, even with the extra 180 health(?) then 400 health if I upgrade it to ruby, still not bringing any survivability to the table. All im saying is, I think Sightstone is a good overall item, but to make real good use of it, you have to be a tanky support because you have built in survivability already with your passive/abilities that Sightstone doesn't need anything else other than health. I rather buy the wards the whole game to be honest.

mvargus2 votes

{quoted}

I ward consistently as a support, without sightstone, I don't buy sightstone unless im a tank support like Braum or Leona because Sightstone only brings free wards to the table and extra health but there is no resistance effects, like mr or armor. After every back to the base, if im a tank/melee support im usually going in first before the adc, so therefore I get damaged more if they focus me instead of the adc, which means I have to go back multiple times, more times than a support like Sona/Soraka/Nami etc,. And being able to afford wards is fine with me to spend my gold on because it lets me build my support items faster and still get some survivability while still being able to ward, everytime I buy a sightstone on a non tanky support, I end up dying because people just go through me like tissue paper, even with the extra 180 health(?) then 400 health if I upgrade it to ruby, still not bringing any survivability to the table. All im saying is, I think Sightstone is a good overall item, but to make real good use of it, you have to be a tanky support because you have built in survivability already with your passive/abilities that Sightstone doesn't need anything else other than health. I rather buy the wards the whole game to be honest.

A sightstone will save you so much gold over the course of a 40+ minute game that it should just be an automatic purchase for any support. Sure its 800 gold, or about the same as 10 stealth wards, but I get one and often drop 20 or more wards over the course of a game. So I save myself 700 gold or more. I don't care about the health benefit. I want the wards as a ward that spots the gank coming is worth far more than 150 health.

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