In lower elo, how much is a support's ability to carry games based on the competency of the adc?

tonnijames·11/21/2017, 8:09:10 AM·2 votes·1,068 views

I genuinely want to be a better support main. However, sometimes the adc just isn't competent enough, or opponent played really well, or it might just be my own mistake. I wonder if support can carry games at all if such situation is to happen?

Also, many times when I set up for my adc to get him/her fed, adc always get all the credits... When someone dies, support is always the one to blame. I feel somewhat discouraged from time to time.

20 Comments

DaenerysTargaren11/21/2017, 8:12:48 AM2 votes

Even if your ad is bad you can still carry as support if you play a play making support like thresh/leona/blitz and set up picks or engage good team fights. Low elo doesnt understand support and you wont be recognized until you climb higher but that shouldnt be a main priority. Your glory comes from that rank not some random you wont play with again saying "nice hook"

MadMad Sickness11/21/2017, 8:19:16 AM2 votes

ya, props on being a sup main. However, I repeat that setiment when I get supports who just don't care about the position. Right now is kinda a great time to be a support, (because I'm not seeing very many people playing it). most of the time your going to be paired against a support who doesn't know what their doing so it's a 2v1 lane (however to offset the elo, the adc mmr will probably be higher so care when it comes that.)

Boxleitner11/21/2017, 8:50:37 AM2 votes

Honestly, I believe the entire ranked system isn't an accurate way to judge people's abilities or prowess.

Just think about it: anyone can WIN a match by getting carried by someone else. Especially if they get a friend to smurf.

Until Riot starts using metrics like warding, assists, actions per minute, tower kill assists and damage done to rate players, no one can tell you how really valuable you are in the current system.

Baron Barian11/21/2017, 10:12:41 AM2 votes

I want to say 50/50, because I've seen different games where it can be one or the other that's responsible for the complete destruction of their own bottom lane. Supports offer too little help, ADC's play too aggressively, or they can just both be terrible.

Supporting can and will be a thankless job. But when you create that monstrosity of a carry, who grows up to be a complete killing machine, that satisfaction can be worth it.

As a support main, I have two ideas for how you can improve your game:

I've noticed that you really love Leona, a noticeably aggressive support. Can be good with aggressive ADC's like Draven and Miss Fortune, but that might not always be what they need in a support. Perhaps you can try some more defensive or heal oriented supports sometime. ADC's scale into late-game, so they may be willing to wait.
And this I really encourage support players to try. Try more games as an ADC, and when you next play as ADC, really pay attention to your current needs and what your support is providing. The insight from seeing first hand what you need as the ADC can really help you figure out what they need from the support.

Enjutsu11/21/2017, 9:23:44 AM1 votes

You look too much at your adc, your primary focus should be on enemy adc.

JackMcSnipeyz11/21/2017, 9:33:19 AM1 votes

Play "carry supports" like brand, zyra etc. Supports that can solo the adc, in low elo most adc wont expect the enemy support to burst them, play offensivly build damage.

Mig8911/21/2017, 2:23:33 PM1 votes

In low elo the supports controls lane a lot more than the adc

Weedbro11/21/2017, 10:25:14 AM1 votes

To be honest, the attack damage carry is called that for a reason. There's a reason its not Support Carry. See, even if you do well and manage to feed a dumpster fire ADC without taking the kills, he's still a dumpster fire and will lose the game later on by making it a 4v5 with stupid plays, stupid calls, or stupid chasing.

Also, KDA doesn't have meaning. Objectives have meaning. The enemy team is just in the way of those objectives. That's why you can get your ADC to 8 kills no deaths and then he goes on to chase another 3 kills through the jungle while the rest of the enemy team destroys all of his turrets and actually wins the game. This is the main reason why support can't carry, you can lead an idiot to victory, but you can't make him actually win.

Prime example, I'm lulu and I clearly managed to secure 3 kills, accidentally stole one or two, but it leads to an ace, and instead of going after even ONE tower, my team goes 'LETS GO GET THE OCEAN DRAKE." we're down about 4 towers at that point, there's a minion wave not too far from mid turret, but instead my team decides to get the Ocean Drake. No matter how well you do, when your team decides to avoid the real objectives in the game it's impossible for you to carry.

Kimuto11/21/2017, 10:35:59 AM1 votes

Low elo view supports as side kicks... that's how I see it. Many people dislike supports because they want to be the hero of the game. They all believe that they can carry the team and usually think support is the worst role. I would avoid bot lane in low elo because it just hard to get on the same page... For example, the bot lane is going all in fight with everyone being in 20 percent HP. You are doing as much damage as possible by autoing but the adc on your side just flash away while their adc did not back down and you died cause of it while their adc is one auto hp left... its the worst feeling ever like you guys could of had the chance to win that fight but he choose to retreat on a very even death match... Too much hesitation. What's more stressful is while you're fighting, your adc just goes back and forth hesitating thinking if he should go in or not... than when you're finally dead he decide to go all in right after... you see that alot in low elo. People hesitating and when allies died, they decide to go in...

Nymzo11/21/2017, 12:07:13 PM1 votes

Play Brand or Velkoz, this is the best option for lower elo.

Or Thresh or Blitz if you are feeling confident but the two champions above can carry by themselves.

NekoniClaws11/21/2017, 1:13:12 PM1 votes

AP sup or hard engage. Both these types offer more to their team than buffing / protecting their ADC. You can gank mid and countergank with your jungler (easily effect everywhere directly save for toplane)

Supports carry secretly, through strategic play and well timed disruption. Only on rare occassions will the enemy team turn and run at the sight of you.

iSpencer11/21/2017, 8:25:20 AM1 votes

My advice to low elo support mains who are annoyed with bad adcs is to play idiot proof engage supports like blitzcrank or ap damage supports like zyra/brand/velkoz.

With Blitz you hook someone on and even the worst adc knows to auto attack and cast their spells at that time. Plus mid laners are really easy to roam on at low elo. If your adc is lagging and can't even auto properly you can just go roam.

If you play an AP mage and you get good enough you can poke out low elo players practically 1v2 and then go around 1 shotting people from bushes and doing massive poke/cc to help your team.

It's only with enchanter supports like janna/nami (and to some extent warden supports like braum/kench) that you can end up sitting in lane with a terrible player who's getting crapped and there's nothing you can do about it.

Khristophoros11/21/2017, 1:54:54 PM1 votes

It's not about your ADC. Your whole team is going to have bad players. The benefits you would expect to get from support items like Redemption are tuned around teams playing more optimally and organized. Pick either a mage support or an enchanter, get the AP/ward item and stack more AP.