play support some time

cupcaker·Jul 5, 2016·35 votes·1,739 views

you learn a LOT from supporting.

you learn what ward placements are best(you can do this in other roles too, but it's especially important for a support to understand when and where to ward.)

most supports are high utility, which requires good decision making, tight execution, and patience.

since supports are always behind, it teaches you to play safe and not overstep your bounds too.

support teaches you three major aspects of the game

timing, precision, and patience.

go ahead, give it a shot! nothing feels better than CC locking the enemy team as or

58 Comments

Athenes LuluJul 6, 20167 votes

I'll add some more.

Since you're not gonna focus on farming all the time, this allows you more room and time to learn almost anything else. Dodging skillshots? You still have to. Map awareness? That one's huge. If you suck at wave management, you can look at how your ADCs do it and take some notes, even if it can be a "what not to do" guide.
You'll realize that League is a team game, whether you like it or not.
You'll also realize why some supports bitch and whine over a lot of seemingly pointless things. Sometimes.

xWatersJul 5, 20166 votes

I like support but then I hate it. Really don't know how to explain it.. Anyways when I play hard I feel so useless. The W later on does nothing, never really liked Braum, never tried Leona or Nami. But I do like Thresh and Lulu.

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20164 votes

Support is definitely a role that is only as good as the team. Most of the time this isn't too bad, but when it's bad it's baaaaaaad.

Poppy and RyeJul 5, 20165 votes

nothing feels better than poppy support :^) Poppy

cupcakerJul 5, 20163 votes

[{quoted}](name=Pool Party Arlo,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UGOveQs6,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-07-05T16:25:26.005+0000)

nothing feels better than poppy support :^)

i tried poppy a few times at top, was horrible with her. i can't imagine trying to support as her. i have had her wreck my shit a few times though in botlane.

i miss my Gragas support from end of s3-mid s4. he made me LOVE supporting in general.

after that nami, velkoz, bard, and braum kept me as a support main

Amasa DelanoJul 5, 20163 votes

I like Poppy support to counter Alistar support's headbutt/pulverize combo. Hitting W as he's about to hit my ADC is fun!

flibitydooJul 6, 20162 votes

I find it even more hilariously easy and fun to stop thresh from dashing in with his death leap with steadfast presence

AMYS GRAVEJul 6, 20162 votes

I played poppy support in one game where they picked a lee sin. Turns out that was lee sin support and we just sht on him.

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20161 votes

You can still Gragas Supp.

Poppy and RyeJul 14, 20161 votes

OOPS FORGOT TO REPLY

poppy support is a lot different than poppy top, since your stun scales the more you build it. and your w is pretty defensive for your ADC. Stops Thresh shield from being able to pull, bard from being able to go through his tunnel, midlaners/junglers from dashing on your ADC, and has strong engage now that they've buffed her this patch. Plus she meshes well with any build.

DarkRitualJul 5, 20165 votes

Noooooo, leave my 99.9999999% primary role selection alone! But if you really hate 10 min queues, being support is a surefire cure for it.

balbraakselJul 5, 20165 votes

I often play unusual champions as support in normals, it's fun to have so much freedom to pick whatever you want as long as you have a decent idea what you're doing.

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20162 votes

You can do it in ranked too depending on the champ. I get a lot of mileage from Sion Illaoi Gragas Kayle

MrryZJul 6, 20161 votes

I thought I was the only one who played kayle support lol. She has so much early game damage.

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

Right? I do the stacking AD for early dmg and I like her as a counter for tank teams since she can shred their armor and mr.

BigBellBruteJul 6, 20163 votes

What I have learned as a support.

If someone decides to face check a bush that isn't warded and SURPRISE!!! the whole other team is there, it's the support's fault for not warding it. Even if it's the top lane bush, it's the support's fault. This is because as you know, one trinket should be sufficient for the entire map and the sightstone should be sufficient to ward it twice.
Nobody else need buy a ward or even use their trinket. It's the support's job to ward the entire map.
If the ADC gets pulled, it's your fault. In fact, when he dove the tower and the tower destroyed him, it's your fault too.
If you carry, you're a terrible support who should have lost the game rather than commit such an ethical breach. Shame on you.
Whatever it is, it's your fault. That is unless it's the jungler's fault. But he's really just another type of support anyway. So it's really a supporter's fault.
If the team wins, it wasn't your doing. Forget that Soraka ult that saved the entire team. Forget those 50 assists and 100% kill participation. They don't count.
If the team loses, it's all your fault. You should have knocked up all 5 ali instead of just 4 Alistar. And don't try to blame the ADC that thought he was a tank.

x R U K A xJul 5, 20162 votes

I agree with everything said hear except calling Annie a support champion, she isn't support she's just played as one because she can stun anybody once every 4 moves. The reason support is the least played role is because all anybody wants (the majority anyways) is kills so there k/d/a looks good. Not to mention as a support you are constantly harassed for doing even one thing wrong and when you do something right all the credit goes to your adc. Also in teamfights if you get just 1 kill, 1 KILL, and you didn't even mean to your whole team will yell at you for kill stealing.

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20165 votes

Annie is a perfectly fine support. She has strong CC and supports the team by neutralizing enemy dmg sources.

Through dmg.

THe assumption that Supports shouldn't do dmg or get kills is an extremely silly and pointless one.

x R U K A xJul 6, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tobias Brackner,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UGOveQs6,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2016-07-06T00:37:19.816+0000)

Annie is a perfectly fine support. She has strong CC and supports the team by neutralizing enemy dmg sources.

Through dmg.

THe assumption that Supports shouldn't do dmg or get kills is an extremely silly and pointless one.

I'm not saying that because she does damage she isn't support, what I'm saying is that she just isn't a true support. Also what's this strong CC you speak of, the only CC she has is that one stun she can use very 4 moves.

AwoofJul 6, 20161 votes

Honestly it's just the lack of either another role or class term. If you go the non-farming bot lane role, you are supposedly the support, whether you are a tank, mage or true support or whatever.

Calling her an enchanter, as riot dubbed that class, would be a mistake.

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

Yeah, it's a non-skillshot/ez-skillshot stun w/ AoE. Not a lot of people have those.

Real talk, I think she has the most reliable stun of a supp (not including range and AoE potential) since Taric got his rework.

Mistress MadokaJul 6, 20164 votes

DEATH IS THE BEST CC

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

This this this this.

DMG support is some legit shit, look at Vel'Koz supp.

Weasel KenseiJul 6, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tobias Brackner,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UGOveQs6,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2016-07-06T00:37:19.816+0000)

Annie is a perfectly fine support. She has strong CC and supports the team by neutralizing enemy dmg sources.

Through dmg.

THe assumption that Supports shouldn't do dmg or get kills is an extremely silly and pointless one.

Annie isnt a very good support really, if she was, she would be edging out supports for win rate when shes being played as a support. Annie really only offers some zoning for fear of her ONE CC ability (that isnt reliable because it isnt always up) and that zoning for fear of her combo makes her "Like Blitzcrank" only she cant do her wombo without a flash most of the time, for the trade off that she may get more than one person.

If shit goes wrong, she cant peel for you, if the enemy team is playing smart she wont get assist/kills so she will just be a gold starved mage doing very little damage.

So no she isnt a "Perfectly fine support." Shes an OK support and is honestly outclassed by real supports.

Also about that damage comment, or kills, thats all an Annie support can really offer, if she gets behind then her only option is a very short range stun for utility, an offering other supports have and can play from behind better than her.

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

Annie isnt a very good support really, if she was, she would be edging out supports for win rate when shes being played as a support.

You are gonna need to explain this one.

Also about that damage comment, or kills, thats all an Annie support can really offer, if she gets behind then her only option is a very short range stun for utility, an offering other supports have and can play from behind better than her.

Not or kills. You don't need kills. You just need damage (ex: Marksmen who are in everyfight but get no kills cuz someone else finishes off the people the Marksman chunks).

That stun is enough (see Sona) and tbh saying that she isn't as strong when your team is losing doesn't feel like a good argument. I don't see much sense planning for the worst case scenario since that pretty much means that your team is getting clean outplayed (that line of thinking I feel would also lead to everyone just playing late-game hard scaling champs).

FrappéJul 6, 20162 votes

{quoted}

*Also in teamfights if you get just 1 kill, 1 KILL, and you didn't even mean to your whole team will yell at you for kill stealing.

I've never experienced this. Assuming you win I dont think anyone cares who or what got the kill. I think teammates are more salty when the suport takes the kill in laning phase.

Fox ByteJul 6, 20161 votes

That isn't true, not the Annie bit (though I do think she is a fine supp.) but the team yelling at you for KSing. Some teams do but others? Others don't. I was playing Janna earlier supporting my Yasuo adc and we were roaming, he tower dove on around half health and I freaked out and popped everything I had to save his life. Managed it but in doing so I stole the kill. With an auto attack none the less because I was busy spam clicking all over the fighting pair. Did he rage at me? No he laughed it off, as did our mid Azir. I've had multiple team fights where I as Nami have 'stolen' a kill because I'm spamming my W and usually my team is just happy to be alive. I mean yes, sometimes, you get that awful set of people that are up in arms any time a supp gets a kill but not always. On the flip side though I have had a Singed cuss me for stealing his triple when I was trying to save his life. So I do see where you are coming from but know that not EVERYONE is like that! There are some really awesome people out there too!

Tentacle AdvisorJul 5, 20162 votes

My love for the support role was heavily influenced by Fire Emblem. When I first got into League of Legends, I tried every role in the game, because I had no idea what my playstyle was and I wanted to figure it out as quickly as possible. Jungle was too difficult for me to comprehend because of all the madness that is tied to the role (i.e jungle buffs/timers, baron/dragon objectives, lane pressure, ganking/counter-ganking, warding/de-warding, etc), it was just too much for me to handle. Top Lane was rather fun, and Cho'Gath has always been my favorite top laner, however Cho'Gath started to fall off, due to other picks outshining and just simply out-sustaining his damage. Mid Lane was meh and I was complete garbage as ADC. (I'm better now, but I wouldn't say I'm godly at it.)

Support, though, it clicked real well. I enjoy playing safely and carefully. And I also enjoy being the sort of "scapegoat" for my team as well as their "saving grace" when things go astray. Soraka is almost literally the perfect example for the Fire Emblem case. In Fire Emblem, the medic is ALWAYS focused. Same goes for Soraka. Everyone focuses her first and with good reason. This forced me to learn how to, not only figure out how to consistently keep my laner(s) alive, but myself too. If I was dead, it generally meant my team was dead also. If I survived, my team was almost borderline immortal.

The support role is honestly better for players who enjoy playing as a medic. Medic, however, not just referring to healing but also referring to "patching up" and providing cover-fire as their teammates retreat or re-position.

Also, Annie is not a support. She's just used as such to be an annoyance and a "stun bot".

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20165 votes

Annie is a fine support.

Ariel the CruelJul 6, 20162 votes

Nasus "support". Graves Got it. Zed

Sir FuzziJul 6, 20162 votes

I had a Pantheon support once as Lucian, and it was a pretty alright gig. That being said, Annie just had everything he had but in spades. It hurt by mid-game and by the late game, I just had to pray to god he and I caught one of them without the ally nearby. We didn't really end up losing terribly hard or anything, but by the endgame we had put up little enough of a fight and we were so poorly poised to fight them that we ended up pushed. Then their jungle got involved, and... yuck.

I dunno, just wanted to talk about the Pantheon support I had. I remember when people were abuzz about support Annie...

What constitutes a support to you? Just the label, or do you find others to have support capabilities without the label?

seraph1mJul 5, 20161 votes

dont tell me how to play the game

cupcakerJul 5, 201613 votes

{quoted}

dont tell me how to play the game

don't grow as a player, and maybe learn a bit of empathy for those poor supports that get abused every losing game

1000angrybeesJul 5, 20161 votes

i really won't acknowledge 'supports' no matter how well they do. sorry Annie players

Tobias BracknerJul 6, 20163 votes

That is a nonsensical position to take.

1000angrybeesJul 6, 20161 votes

'supports' like Annie are pretty high in frustration factor, and feel cheap or cheesy. It's really not that incomprehensible.

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

It is incredibly incomprehensible.

You are talking like someone who had one bad annie supp and are generalizing for no reason at all aside from "that one annie was a douche"

1000angrybeesJul 8, 20161 votes

She's probably less frustrating now thanks to the update, but before she was absolutely not fun to play against, especially in bot lane. However, I'm not going to try to stop anyone from playing champs like annie in the support role. I like when people go outside of the meta, it keeps the game from being stale.

Like i said, I'm more okay with her now than before, but she definitely left a negative impact on bot lane.

Tobias BracknerJul 8, 20161 votes

Not fun to play against? What does that even mean? So you hate annie support cuz she kicks your ass or something?

And hell no she did not leave a negative impact, she left one postive as fuck. People are starting to be like "why don't we play non-supps in bot to make things exciting?" And that is awesome

Cookimonster316Jul 6, 20161 votes

Only way I can relate is when Sona 'support' builds item 3100 and item 3089 because it just annoys me how they play for themselves

1000angrybeesJul 6, 20162 votes

Lich is actually a very good item. Poke, CDR, mana, and movement speed are all very relevant. Also, more AP equals more poke/heals and shields/speed, so it's not that bad to take an AP build.

But I still understand the point you're making.

PartholonianJul 7, 20161 votes

By the time you can build an item as expensive as Lichbane, Sona's poke is too dangerous to use anymore (especially since you also haven't bought a defensive item, or even a semi-defensive one like banner or zeke's), and the effectiveness of Q powerchord is falling off hard. You can only Q for counter-engages at that point. Even Zyra, with much more range (and similar squishiness), often finds it too risky to poke in a siege or a dragon/baron pit standoff. There's no way Sona is going to get in and out of cast range alive.

AP is a useful stat, but lichbane isn't the greatest way to get it as Sona. Grail, censer, and banner are all more useful (although if you build all 3 with a support item you're over CDR cap -- speaking of which, CDR is a good stat, but as a caster support EVERYTHING has it, even your vision/gold item, so it isn't a reason to buy any item in particular). Zeke's too if your ADC is good enough to use it effectively.

1000angrybeesJul 7, 20161 votes

My favorite build is actually something like

item 3092 / item 2049 / item 3174 / item 3504 / item 3100 / and another item of your choosing. It provides a lot of coverage in multiple areas. AP, Healing/Shielding, regen, movement speed and CDR (although thats a given). Works really well for me.

Jo0oJul 6, 20162 votes

As a former Sona main, it's extremely demoralizing when I build the typical tank support items and can still be 2-shot by a sneeze+cough combo. I'd kinda rather just embrace the glass cannon role and drop huge poke and burst.

Of course, I still don't intentionally steal kills. Some do.

Cookimonster316Jul 6, 20161 votes

I got the Sona build from somebody who is the #235 Sona in the world. He doesn't take the glass cannon role instead he focuses on healing and shielding with items such as item 3174 item 3114 item 3504 .

PartholonianJul 7, 20161 votes

I love grail censer build on Sona, it's horrendously risky but feels so rewarding to superpower your allies. And the new chalice is amazing in lane (it's even better on Soraka, who also loves the same build but with a coin instead of the spellthief's).

You're almost always going to wind up wasting at least 10 CDR if the game goes past 30 minutes, though. Possibly more.

Cookimonster316Jul 7, 20161 votes

I don't see how the build is less risky than a glass cannon build though