54 options to support from a fill main

Options for supporting from a fill main:

There's so many complaints against autofill lately, I wonder how helpful these words might be to players that are having trouble with being autofilled.

From Alistar to Zilean

Alistar: Okay, this guy got recently reworked and I'm not sure it's for the better. Until I play him some more, I'm skipping him.

Anivia: Definitely one of the more difficult to use champions...the key thing to keep in mind is that even though it is a suitable lane partner, Anivia is not a true support anymore than Zyra or Brand are. Get good with your Q is most important and work on conserving your mana. Get the Eternity passive(it's on like 3 different items) and you should be fine.

Annie: Definite not a support, but again can make a suitable lane partner. Her E no longer does damage, but does allow Annie to play as a Mage/Tank hybrid instead of a Mage/Assassin hybrid. Which, if you are experienced enough with Annie, will hopefully know is very attractive for the bottom lane. Most people never got the memo that her E got reworked or never learned what that meant. Poor fools.

Bard: One of the newest true support champions, but has a bad reputation due to him not necessarily being a full-time lane partner.

Blitzcrank: Not a true support. He's a tank. He's actually having a hard time being the lane partner in the current meta. I wouldn't recommend him as such and instead give him a solo lane or put him in the jungle and see how that works out. He's a good champ but at least a few other tanks do his job of substitute support better.

Brand: Skipping this guy since I don't own him. Suffice to claim that ignorance from his enemies makes him stronger.

Braum: A Support/Tank hybrid, and IMO one of the best champs for a lane partner at the moment. Can jump after his lane partner to help them out, which is huge. He scales with all the defensive stats in one way or another, so if you're not picking or banning him often and still failing a lot as a support, reconsider this guy for your game plan.

Cho'Gath: Actually is a tank, his performance is questionable in the bottom lane much like Blitzcrank's. Would suggest you play him elsewhere.

Darius: He's actually a Juggernaut, which is to say he's a Tank/Assassin hybrid. I don't own him but he is nasty, that's for sure. Can perform similarly to Blitzcrank or Cho'Gath, but honestly is probably far more consistent at it.

Dr. Mundo: Another Juggernaut. I own him and can attest to this guy's viability as a substitute support.

Fiddlesticks: Not a true support, is actually a Mage. I wouldn't recommend unless your lane opponents both are heavily reliant on casting their spells. Ezreal is a noteworthy example of a champ that he may fair well against. Lucian may be another. I don't own him so can't comment further.

Galio: He's getting reworked. At the moment, his W is great, but is scales with the defenses of whichever champion you cast it on. Once the Vanguard update goes live, I'd imagine his W sees a lot more value, until then, you won't get much value from casting it on your ever-squishy teammates. That includes your cocky carries. When they make his ultimate a good ability, then I'd say start picking him and practicing him.

Gangplank: Let's not kid ourselves, just because he's in the top lane all by himself doesn't mean he's not a second lane partner. Get him an early level 6 and he'll be doing really good stuff for his team. You gotta get CDR. Triforce is a popular option and I'm sure it's a fabulous item but keep your mind open. If you ever did play him as support substitute, you might have to sub it out for like a Frozen Heart or at the least an IBG or something like that.

Gragas: He seems OP. I don't own him nor have I tried him as a substitute support, but this tank is boss and would probably do just fine. He's like a more safe version of Lee Sin IMHO.

Heimerdinger: I don't know what he was like in the old days, but he's a mage like Fiddlesticks so he's not a real support either. The main thing to comment on for him is that he may be more annoying for melee opponents to deal with than for ranged ones.

Ivern: I don't think he was designed to be a 'lane partner' so I would steer clear of this guy in general unless you are part of an organized team.

Janna: An easy champion with a surprisingly high skill ceiling. I don't know why people don't play her more often. She's amazing, and I would recommend her to literally anyone. Nothing else needs to be added.

Jayce: Okay, I know he's basically a Marksman/Assassin hybrid, but the fact that he can speed up his allies alone is enough to let him make this list. I doubt he'd be particularly contested as a substitute support, but if you can make it work, you can do some good mind games with your opponents. I don't own him, but assume he'd function just fine as a lane partner.

Jhin: I do own this guy, and he actually works really good as a support if you're careful and have a nice tanky setup. The key is to focus on being an annoyance to your lane opponents early with Grasp of the Undying, and capitalizing on the power of your ultimate for teamfights.

Jinx: I don't own her, but I assume that like with other marksman champions with disables, she'd fit right in.

Kalista: This is more of one of those picks that aims to punish the enemy for overextending than it is to be proactive about keeping the enemies out of the lane. You have to max W first so you can get more magic damage off, in fact I would consider precision. I wouldn't expect this pick to be great at the moment, but it would be solid if your lane partner was a mage and buying Abyssal Scepter at some point while you can grab a Wit's End. When the Vanguard update goes live, you might be surprised at just how much damage her W can do when leveled up all the way.

Karma: If you're dubious about how a marksman substitute support would work, why not try a tanky Karma build first? Get Grasp of the Undying and max your Q dead last. If you R your W, then it can be used to heal you. In team fights, you can copy Sivir's ultimate by using R on your E. It even gives everyone a shield, so it's better than Sivir's ultimate.

Kayle: One of the most flexible champs in the game, I find it hard to believe she's not played as a support more often, especially with all this hate for the support role going around. If your lane partner sucks, just E away the minions for yourself. Easy, no risk. Get W and R on self-cast so when people jump your squishy self, you can keep on fighting, or flee if needed.

Lee Sin: I don't think you can tell me with a straight face that you don't think he'd do a fine job in the support slot.

Leona: She's okay, but I feel like lacking as a lane support ever since her ultimate's rework and the nerf to her W. I think her best spot is in the jungle, but her performance there relies heavily on the performance of her allies, unfortunately. Too much power is tied into her passive, which she cannot apply by herself.

Lulu: She's pretty good if you build her AP, but even better if you build her full tank. Sure, your allies may neglect to use your ultimate to its fullest, but that may change with the Vanguard update, and if not, we'll remember her as the tanky sweetheart that made a difference as a lane partner in the past.

Lux: She seems more flexible than Lulu you can actually get away with a lot of damage on her, but you can tank the scene up as well. Underrated due to how toxic most Lux players are. Think of it this way, do you want to play Lux as a support? Or as a substitute support? Both are viable options, but don't get the 2 options confused, and you'll be fine. Substitute support Lux means you do a lot of damage, by the way, in case you didn't figure that out yet.

Malphite: Pretty dangerous pick right now with the popularity of mages as lane partners, but his ability to shut down the enemy's attack speed is pretty valuable.

Maokai: I don't own him but he seems like he's at least as good as Blitzcrank and some other tanks if not better. He's seen a lot by the pros and I don't think they're total idiots.

Miss Fortune: Like the above-listed Marksmen, can punish enemies for being squishy nuisances with her superior poking powers.

Morgana: IMHO a very risky pick unless the enemy went APC. If they're ADC as usual, your Black Shield won't do very much to keep you alive. It's probably best to go full offense on her when uip against an ADC and that's just being really cocky when teamfights start happening...your ability to help your team will be sorely limited.

Nami: I don't own her and I forgot what her E does exactly, but she's definitely another one of those underrated supports like Kayle and Bard. Can't understand why people don't play her more other than that her IP cost unlike Kayle's is very high.

Nasus: Not a real support but his tankiness lends him to being useful.

Nautilus: Once again not a support but as a full tank champion he seems pretty darn solid at maintaining order for your lane partner.

Nidalee: A real support that actually is one of the most flexible champions in the game right now. Like Kayle, you could play her in any slot...even as the carry. Unfortunately, after Riot fixed all her Q(human form) bugs that players were abusing, the majority of the playerbase considers her to be unplayable trash. I can assure you that she is anything but that. Most marksman players seem to be oblivious to how good the heals/shields of some champions are, and Nidalee is no exception.

Nunu: He's a jungle champ, maybe a mid laner...but not a lane partner. Moving on...

Orianna: A really solid lane partner and I find it funny how often people seem to think she can't do work in the support slot. Max her E first, get Q by level 4/5...leave it at level one for most of the game...get a Liandry's Torment for damage, don't forget your Grasp of the Undying...not much else to say. If mid game you find her lane partner isn't an effective ball playmate, then go find an assassin to play with your ball. The last update was the assassin update, should be plenty of them around, still. And I think she'll still be viable as a support when Vanguard update hits, their ability to get her good ultimates may even surpass what an assassin can do for her ball.

Rammus: A tank. Not recommended for substitute support unless your lane partner actually knows how to attack taunted enemies. In my experience, they flash after the mostly dead enemies after Rammus has done most of the work and get themselves killed. Don't pick him with APC unless they are supposed to do basic attacks like with Lux or Sona, etcetera.

Sejuani: A tank. Not noteworthy. Can't be easy to make work and so far I haven't been able to. Might be worth trying some more but I doubt it.

Shaco: It can be okay but you're probably better off just playing Shaco in the bottom slot instead of the support slot...

Shen: Unless like 3 allies of yours definitely own and are pretty good at Shen, don't even bother picking him, let alone consider him for a lane partner...IMO.

Singed: Same as for Shaco.

Sona: She's pretty good, but it's not too hard for someone to build a decent amount of MR and nullify a lot of her damage. Now, if you can make her tankier and play for the late game and keeping your teammate fine...maxing W/E and leaving Q at level 1...I think you'll have a lot more success. It might be more boring not spanking the enemy with your Blue Power Chord, but your Green/Purple Power Chords are pretty satisfying to spank enemies with as well. Get used to it, and you may learn to appreciate Sona more instead of just rolling your face on the keyboard and wondering why you haven't won yet.

Soraka: She's definitely a solid choice, but almost everyone I see play her is absolute garbage at her. Pick someone else for once. Kayle is 450 IP too, you know...and Janna is only 1350 IP...she's not going to break your bank to buy her...in all fairness she does have a high skill ceiling and isn't easy to learn even. I think a lot of people still play her despite the reworks because they can't say goodbye to the skins they got for her.

Tahm Kench: Ehh...not really a fan. He seems to be better at jungle/top anyway.

Taric: Now this is power creep! It's funny how many carries you delete just by buying stuff like Frozen Heart on him. Don't forget to build MR(or be considered squishy by mage opponents)...

Teemo: Is an Assassin/Marksman hybrid, not a real support. If the enemy doesn't at least have an ADC, don't even think about picking this guy for substitute support. And please, get some mana regen and CDR and max your Q first so you can keep them blinded for as long as possible. And whatever you do, don't feed them.

Thresh: Pretty hard to understand the basics of, but if you ever do, he's definitely a force to be reckoned with in your hands. He's actually a Support/Tank hybrid, but he does a lot of farming much like Bard to reach his full potential. Unlike Bard, he doesn't have to leave lane to get farmed up. So if you like the concept of farming as a support, definitely considering picking this guy up. He's very complicated though compared to Bard...you have been warned...

Trundle: Doesn't seem that great anymore with the current meta, but not bad either. Will have to practice him some more to be able to comment on him some more.

Udyr: Nah, I've tried it, and it's pretty awful. Just stay in the jungle or maybe go mid.

Varus: Is surprisingly fun and haven't had any real problem with it yet. It helps that I've been playing him a long time and originally played him as APC back when I was a lot worse at the game, and also that I tried to make support substitute work with Jhin first. His R is amazing in teamfights...give him an IBG and it's harder for enemies to walk out of your Grievous Wounds. He's all kinds of awesome IMO.

Veigar: Is a Mage. Just learn stun at level 1-3 and max it first, taking all skills by level 3-6 and you are fine. Practice, practice, practice. One of the most dangerous substitute supports you can possibly imagine. Thankfully for you, most people playing him are greedy and build AP on him as a support. On new Veigar, even if I'm a solo lane, I don't even start building AP right away. If you really need to buy AP, get a Void Staff. If you still need AP, you're probably doing something wrong, or Galio just got reworked. Use your passive to get AP, don't buy items or use runes to get them. Save that stuff for survival so you can continue building AP with your passive. Oh and, don't you ever forget Stormraider's Surge!

Vel'Koz: It's fine I guess. He is a mage. I don't own him.

Warwick: Well he can tank the scene up, and he can help his jungle secure otherwise difficult kills. Can't be all bad. Haven't tried it yet though.

Wukong: Haven't had any problems with in the current meta or in the past ever since I've picked him up. I have a much harder time winning games with him if I try to play him top or jungle. Same goes for Mundo, except I've since learned how to jungle Mundo effectively. Like with Kalista, it's more about punishing the enemies for overextending than it is about being actively annoying for them.

Ziggs: I don't own him but since he can APC, it stands to reason that he could probably work as a substitute support just like Heimerdinger or whatever. You might need to be careful about what sort of lane partner you have though.

Zilean: So far, unlike most other supports, I find it hard to perform well on this guy unless I go full AP on him. And people love going full AP. So if they're going to do that, why not pick up Zilean?

There's probably more stuff out there you could try, some of it may be bad, some of it may be good. Theorycraft your way into something...you can make it happen. Don't just troll your games and leave people frustrated just because you got autofilled.