When I clicked on Support list for champions.

Krykuru·Aug 18, 2016·15 votes·1,721 views

So I can be Ashe, Gangplank, Syndra, Anivia, and Orianna support without worrying about trolling? =o

Sightstone included.

41 Comments

Espy PsycheAug 18, 20165 votes

I've been playing a lot of Orianna support lately and it's actually good. Incredible zoning with the ball (they can't step near it or they eat a W that I max first), a shield on a low cooldown (that heals with AUG too), nice poke in the lane, as well as a big secondary initiation with Shockwave (throw ball on tank, tank goes in, pop the R for a huge AoE CC). Plus there's a slightly lesser version of the Karma Mantra E built into her kit (throw ball on point man and pop W for a speed boost field that the whole team runs through).

Anything Karma does, Ori does better?

AwoofAug 18, 20164 votes

[{quoted}](name=Espy Psyche,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UpE9cpcK,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2016-08-18T11:24:56.668+0000)

Anything Karma does, Ori does better?

Besides the cc ult, it's pretty much the other way around. Especially with support budget, cause it cripples Ori's damage.

ZapMyHeartAug 18, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Besides the cc ult, it's pretty much the other way around. Especially with support budget, cause it cripples Ori's damage.

Actually, taking out mana costs, Orianna's utility is way superior overall.

Poke damage -> Karma's Q is blocked by minions. Orianna's is not. Plus, the ball zones and can scout.
Reliable burst damage -> Orianna, due to wombo combo or even a simple QW.
Shield -> Orianna has higher values than Karma (excluding Mantra). Plus, have resistances attached.
Slow -> Orianna's is higher.

Only thing going for Karma is a higher MS boost (or team-based shield with Mantra) and a close-range root, which could be easily punished.

The only issue with Orianna is that she is way harder to play than Karma.

Crazy ChatterAug 18, 20163 votes

{quoted}

Actually, taking out mana costs, Orianna's utility is way superior overall.

Poke damage -> Karma's Q is blocked by minions. Orianna's is not. Plus, the ball zones and can scout.

Burst damage -> Orianna, due to wombo combo or even a simple QW.

Shield -> Orianna has higher values than Karma (excluding Mantra). Plus, have resistances attached.

Only thing going for Karma is a higher MS boost (or team-based shield with Mantra) and a close-range root, which could be easily punished.

Use Spellthief. She can get the bonus gold easily.

Actually, it's the opposite. Karma is much better as a sup and even a mid laner. Just look at all the pro leagues one or two patches ago, she was the top priority pick. Only reason she was dropped was due to the 6.15 patch and carry top. Karma has much more reliable and constant damage due to low mana costs. She has much more constant cc that punishes the enemy adc beacuse itsa 2 v 2 lane. Her speed up is more important than a shield because a shield won't do crap against a three man dive. Also, Karma does much more dmg without dmg items. And bout zoning, karma can literally burst u down if u get close and her q is dangerous. Ori falls off way too ezily late game and she's ez to burst down. Overall, Karma has better lane pressure especially since she destroys all tank sups in lane. Ori's ball is way too predicable once you get used to it. She's literally a weaker version of azir

ZapMyHeartAug 18, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Crazy Chatter,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UpE9cpcK,comment-id=0005000000000000,timestamp=2016-08-18T16:02:22.886+0000)

Actually, it's the opposite. Karma is much better as a sup and even a mid laner. Just look at all the pro leagues one or two patches ago, she was the top priority pick. Only reason she was dropped was due to the 6.15 patch and carry top. Karma has much more reliable and constant damage due to low mana costs. She has much more constant cc that punishes the enemy adc beacuse itsa 2 v 2 lane. Her speed up is more important than a shield because a shield won't do crap against a three man dive. Also, Karma does much more dmg without dmg items. And bout zoning, karma can literally burst u down if u get close and her q is dangerous. Ori falls off way too ezily late game and she's ez to burst down. Overall, Karma has better lane pressure especially since she destroys all tank sups in lane. Ori's ball is way too predicable once you get used to it. She's literally a weaker version of azir

In pro leagues, Orianna has always been the go to. Everyone there knows just how powerful she is. She just dropped out of favor at the moment because of how the meta is. Karma's damage is not reliable at all. It's blocked by minions. Slap a Chalice on Ori and you are good to wreck havoc. Speed up? Please. Orianna does that with her EW as well. Karma doesn't do jack squat against a 3-man dive. What are you going to do? RE and hope you run away? League of Mobility says otherwise. At least Orianna could use an RW to group them up and punish. Why would you get close to a Karma? Destroy her from far away. Q is not dangerous unless you were braindead or rooted. Orianna has an easier time utilizing her combo than Karma does. You are playing Orianna wrong if you are making yourself too predictable. Fact is, with the low cooldown on her Q for quick repositioning, she is anything, but. If anything, Karma is way more predictable.

OrbvAug 18, 20162 votes

Sorry but I have to disagree if you're saying that Ori is a better support. I do think she is a better Mid strictly because she can initiate. Ori's EW for a speed boost takes the mana for 2 abilities, Karma uses only 1. As well, if her ball is away from her at all, the travel time means that her shield is delayed. So reacting to getting burst down is not guaranteed.

Also yes Ori can give resistances, but at the sacrifice of losing hers. Her base resistances are among the lowest in the game, it's a glaring red flag to just dive Ori.

Karma also has a massive range advantage. You say that Karma is worse off because minions block her Q, but that also prevents pushing. In order for Ori to poke, she most likely WILL push her wave, which is absolutely horrible for a support.

Also your solution for being dived is to use Ori's ult...with it's cooldown being as high as it is...that's not a good solution. Karma has a speed up, root and slow on lower cooldowns combined. If you are being 3 man dived, chances are it's not from the same direction, where an ult would hit all 3, and then Ori has lower base movement speed too.

You honestly need to be braindead to watch as a ball floats to you and takes a second to get hit by W.

It's a different story for carry, but support....it's definitely Karma.

ZapMyHeartAug 18, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Sorry but I have to disagree if you're saying that Ori is a better support. I do think she is a better Mid strictly because she can initiate. Ori's EW for a speed boost takes the mana for 2 abilities, Karma uses only 1. As well, if her ball is away from her at all, the travel time means that her shield is delayed. So reacting to getting burst down is not guaranteed.

Also yes Ori can give resistances, but at the sacrifice of losing hers. Her base resistances are among the lowest in the game, it's a glaring red flag to just dive Ori.

Karma also has a massive range advantage. You say that Karma is worse off because minions block her Q, but that also prevents pushing. In order for Ori to poke, she most likely WILL push her wave, which is absolutely horrible for a support.

Also your solution for being dived is to use Ori's ult...with it's cooldown being as high as it is...that's not a good solution. Karma has a speed up, root and slow on lower cooldowns combined. If you are being 3 man dived, chances are it's not from the same direction, where an ult would hit all 3, and then Ori has lower base movement speed too.

You honestly need to be braindead to watch as a ball floats to you and takes a second to get hit by W.

It's a different story for carry, but support....it's definitely Karma.

If you are arguing strictly on mana, a simple Chalice covers it. Whether it's 1 skill or not, it still does the job the same. If the ball is that far away, simply move to snap it back before casting E. If you mismanage your ball, then that is your fault as an Orianna player.

If Karma uses her E on someone else, she loses out as well.

What is Karma's massive range advantage? The only range she has is her 950 Q. Even then, Orianna's Q has a leash of 175 on top of her 825, making it at a 1000 range for her to influence her ball. Plus, her E with 1100 range makes it perfect for initiators or when her ally is too far away. Why would an Orianna support be pushing the wave in the first place via spamming? Just throw out the Q once every now and again to poke at people to show them who is boss. It's not going to push the wave. Minions don't stop Karma from pushing; it just stops Karma from effectively poking at champions. You're still going to push the wave if you hit minions with Karma's Q.

Karma would be dead in a second, regardless of the speedup, root/slow on low cooldowns with a 3 man dive. It's simple. League of Mobility. Orianna also has a speedup/slow/stun. Karma's root also takes 2 seconds to activate, which is long enough for her to die, making it unreliable. As for the slow. Eh. 25% ain't a lot. There is also Flash for them to escape, so there goes any soft CC Karma has to try and stop them from escaping. At least Orianna's ult can stun them to take more tower shots.

You need to be braindead to get hit by Karma's skinny skillshot. Or stand there when you get hit by her RQ.

OrbvAug 18, 20163 votes

You must not use Karma much at all.

Levels 1 - 6 Orianna is strictly worse.

Her Q range is 825, for ALL intensive purposes. She cannot poke beyond that with a single ability, the leash being 1100 does nothing for her Q damage, only for it's relation to her other abilities. Also the range is from the center of target to center of target, making it effectively less. Karma's range is 950 from the outside of her model radius to the outside of another champions model radius. So Orianna's poke is worse.

Then you also said that Chalice gets rid of the mana issues, which is not an item you can grab coming out of the base. She has no mana regen passive, so she starts at a massive disadvantage. If we want to look at base stats, Orianna has less overall mana and mana regen than Karma. Karma with Chalice gains much more mana quicker.

Then comes Mid-Game

You keep saying league of mobility, yet Orianna has only a slow until lvl 6, and then an immediate 2 minute CD ult. What if she misses her ult, or God forbid, the mobility abilities you're referring to allows them to jump right over shockwave? She has a single slow which she must also use for her speed boost which means that your options for placement of each is Zero. She HAS to cast it on herself and the enemy can dodge that circle. Them running through it is significantly easier than a projectile that is going in their direction. It doesn't matter if the projectile has a small impact radius, it is MORE difficult to avoid than dissonance's AoE.

Karma has a point and click tether. Which, let's not forget, HEALS her for missing health. If both champions are solo, Karma **dominates ** in escapes. Her slow can be avoided, but she tethers and while running away catches them in a root. Her kit is very cohesive for that root to hit. Orianna's kit is not made to focus on escaping. She's an okay Support but a MUCH better carry. If you are with a duo, which you should be as support, unless your ally is on top of Orianna or behind her, they won't get the speed boost. And if they are that tightly grouped, they are much easier targets for a spell. Karma's RE has 600 range, anyone within that gets the boost. Orianna's is 250....

And lastly, in regards to poking. In order to not get hit by Karma's spells, you must be inside your minions. If you are inside your minions, you get unit collision optimizing the chances of a gank being successful. You put them in clear site at all times, you make it convenient for your adc to get an attack off because of the lack of mobility. Her projectile size allows it the ability to go through minions with skill. You gain subtle control. With Ori, you'll always hit minions. If you're leveling W first, then Q does such little damage that natural health regen dissipates its effect. And W will always hit a minion. If she E's an ally who is injured after just poking, you risk hitting minions. It is her nature to hit everything in her way, unless you're a god with Ori, you will push the lane

PoskeAug 18, 20163 votes

As a main of both

Ori botlane is literaly a trash tier

and they are even in mid

Robins TightsAug 19, 20161 votes

Why do people always say Orianna is way harder to play? Because she's not. They both have their difficulties, but it's so different it's not comparable.

Orianna has to track her ball in order to do anything. Like ANYTHING. But she also gets the benefit of putting her ball somewhere, having it just linger and preventing anyone from standing there at all. When using her you also need to be wary of travel time and leash range to make sure split second decisions are able to be made. BUT every single one of her abilities does damage, and even her autos have augmented damage. It's impossible to not get a good amount of damage out, even if you miss a few times. Her greatest ability is being able to send an initiator into the fray.

Karma too is difficult though. Yes she has 2 point and click abilities, however, her skillshot has to be much more precise because the projectile width is very small. It also stops at the first enemy hit. Do you mantra it for the larger blast radius to prevent inaccuracy or hit a whole team? Or are you just using it for the nuke damage? You need to determine which ability is worth using a Mantra on. Her W actually has a lot of damage tied to it, AND as a support it's a DoT so she gets gold for each tick. Do you Mantra because the enemy dove you at turret and you need to clutch heal to bait them? Or do you Mantra it because you want to double the root duration and setup a gank? Then her E is just really easy, it does what Ori has to expend 2 abilities on to do. It was a lot more interesting when it had damage as well. And her passive is basically her ultimate, which you do need to keep track of.

I wouldn't say Orianna's only issue is being harder to play, because they each are harder for different people. Azir loves would find her remarkably easy.

Orianna's REAL drawback is her late game. She doesn't scale particularly well, it's alright. But her goal is strictly to initiate fights. If she can't do that, then she's useless because she cannot be part of a Poke comp and she can't be part of a Push comp, which are generally more applicable (so much mana is needed to push hard, even with Grail). But she can be part of an assassin, protect the adc, or dive comp.

Karma can be part of a Poke Comp in addition to a assassin, pt adc and dive comps.

OurLestradeAug 18, 20162 votes

If it's secondary that just means they bring some team utility usually. Old GP had his buff, Ashe has vision, Syndra/Anivia have peel, and Ori has her shield and speed.

EmbertineAug 18, 20162 votes

Ashe has vision, slow, and stun. She makes a decent support as long as you know what items to build.

Legacy HydralphaAug 18, 20162 votes

As a support main, I can confirm the perfect Ashe support build:

item 3069 item 2049 item 3158

AcidTheWarlockAug 18, 20163 votes

Nope, all wrong there. Get a gud build scrub.

Ashe supp build from a Challenger guide I read

item 2302 item 3006 item 3072 item 3085 item 3031 item 3094

lol

CerealBoxOfDoomAug 18, 20162 votes

situationally yes

you will probably get reported for trolling as these are merely champs that have this in their kit not necessarily being good for the role. But yes all of these have some use as a support.

FaddyCarrotAug 18, 20161 votes

DO NOT REPORT A SUMMONER FOR NOT STICKING TO THE METAGAME

https://support.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/201752884-Reporting-a-Player

CerealBoxOfDoomAug 18, 20161 votes

reality doesn't care, you will get reported lol

sheldonbunnyAug 18, 20162 votes

Any that have their secondary as support do count as supports as well. However they are situationally good and you need to have a solid idea of how to play them. Out of the ones you listed, Ori's likely the best. I've never been yelled at for going support on her.

notice me Sin piAug 18, 20162 votes

Heimerdinger

DeathBurstAug 18, 20162 votes

So, Ashe or Anivia or Orianna would not make me bat an eye, if the Sightstone is included.

That being said, the list of champion tags you're using is severely out-dated. Don't give it too much credit. Blitzcrank is not a support, according to it, and Fiora is an Assassin while Diana isn't.

AviatinqAug 18, 20161 votes

The support section doesn't mean the actual support position. That's why the sections aren't Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, Support.

EmbertineAug 18, 20163 votes

It actually does.

There are six roles to fill the five positions in League. Fighter, Assassin, Mage, ADC, Support, and Tank.

Tanks such as Blitzcrank and Leona are often taken in support, even though they are not straight up supports. Ashe can be used as support because she has vision, a slow, and a stun.

Champions are situational, and can fulfill many different needs based on their kits.

AwesomeChadAug 18, 20161 votes

you would think that labels for champions is a priority at Riot games considering there are over 130 champions but thats clearly not the case.

EmbertineAug 18, 20161 votes

Yes Ashe is officially both an ADC and a Support. You can play Ashe Support if you want to.

Also Aurelion Sol is apparently a Fighter for some reason even though getting up in peoples faces is the last thing he wants.

KaiokoAug 18, 20161 votes

Some of these supports if played properly and with the right combination are absolutely deadly. I occasionally will duo with a friend who plays a fairly good anivia. With both of us on Skype and me on Vayne I can condemn and his reaction time is fast enough to put up the wall right after I condemn for a guaranteed stun. Follow this by Anivia's Q for another easy stun and that ADC is not going to live.

Ashe I've seen work wonders in the proper hands too and it actually used to be pretty popular. That arrow and constant slow should not be underestimated against teams that lack initiation.

Mysticman89Aug 18, 20161 votes

Anivia support was my most recent S rank for the purposes of chest unlocking (and GP support was my S rank for last wekk funnily enough, but that one was borderline troll). I kinda plan on ashe sup for my next, just to see how that feels these days.

The suggested roles haven't been updated in a long time though, so some of those aren't nearly as viable as they may have been at the time they were put in. For example, gangplank used to have raise morale as an ability to give nearby champs attack speed (and possibly move speed too, it's been awhile), so GP sup was a somewhat legit thing, if niche. Nowadays it's more just something people playing well under their elo do to be silly mostly, although one can make almost anything work.

Ashe has the built in slows and poke, with occasional hard cc via her ult, plus extra vision via hawkshot. Syndras got poke, slows, stuns, as well as potential peel with her e. Anivia has a stun and a wall which can be quite powerful, plus her e crits do a huge amount of damage, particularly early game before the lack of money catches up. Someone else in the comments already went over ori sup.

The main thing to keep in mind though is playing a champion in the support role is different from playing in the carry role. So sup item+sightstone for sure, but your build from there is probably going to be different from normal too (e.g. aegis, probably lucidity boots instead of more offensive ones, maybe rylais on mages even if they wouldn't normally build it), and even your skilling order could be different, as your goal is to provide utility, not to be a major damage threat (since unless you hella snowball, you won't be on a supports budget).

ZapMyHeartAug 18, 20161 votes

1-5 is worse. Level 6 and beyond is when Orianna shines.

You were talking about range advantage; not just for poking. Strictly speaking, Orianna's range is way better than Karma overall.

Play safe and build Chalice and you'll be fine. First back, you should have enough gold to get 2 Faerie Charms and some pink wards anyways, which basically solves Orianna's mana issues. Karma with Chalice isn't going to make much of a difference in terms of her abilities anyways. Orianna's abilities are costly, so with Chalice, it makes her able to spam them quite often. Keep in mind, your build path for Orianna isn't going to be like Karma's, as Karma doesn't build Chalice.

League of Mobility that wrecks both Orianna and Karma when it comes to diving. Your Karma's RE isn't going to help your team when enemies are wrecking them left and right with their ults. Her RE isn't going to stop enemies' jump abilities to keep sticking onto your allies. Keep in mind, whiffing an ult is going to cost you, regardless.

Her point and click tether is at 675, which is basically a danger zone. Her healing burns her ultimate and only affects her. It does nothing for her allies.

Karma's kit is made for escaping. Orianna's kit is made for aggressors. Two different playstyles. The fact that you think Orianna's R is only 250 means you know nothing about her kit. Her E on ally automatically adds on 1100 to that 250. Her Q adds 825. Keep in mind, that ult also bunches all enemies towards each other, setting up for more punishment from your allies.

Sidestep that Karma Q. If the enemy is within hitting distance of your ADC, the ADC is also within hitting distance and their enemy support's range as well.

As I mentioned before, Orianna support is not for the light of heart. If you want an easier support, chose Karma who is easy mode, but at the cost of not specializing in anything (e.g. Janna, Sona, Soraka are way better choices). If you want an aggressive support, go Orianna.

OrbvAug 18, 20162 votes

You said that Chalice would only help Orianna for spamming?...it helps all mages with spamming. Karma is a poke support, it is a huge thing for her. Her base damage makes it so she doesn't need to build AP too severely.

Your reasoning that RE would not help your team during an assault makes no sense. If your team is initiated on, a massive AoE shield and speed boost would get your team moving away quickly while reducing overall damage. That's a major help. And it's not situational in that you aren't reliant on doing anything to the enemy. Orianna's only help is her ultimate, and a 250 range W.

Which btw I was referring to "Dissonance" and not Shockwave in that paragraph which is self explanatory as I was comparing movement speed buffs...

I used Orianna since pbe to release day for years. I know her very well, as well as I know original Karma, another story altogether as Orianna was the rein-visioning of her kit, annoying. But I can tell by your comparison that you think you know her better.

Putting E on an Ally, and standing at 1100 range out of choice, removes your ability to use Q. Orianna will need to move within her limits to use it, which makes her lose her Q ability for anything outside of its range. That's not optimal.

Karma's tether is a DoT nuke and a root. Yes, people rarely use her RW, but you neglect to acknowledge that her RW also extends the duration of her root considerably, while also healing her. What also separates her is her ability to fight her own battles while helping others. Karma can fight a champion without disrupting how she is helping another fight going on. If an assassin dives your ADC, meanwhile your Rengar is doing the same, which of the two can assist both in their endeavors? Orianna relies on her ball, she cannot fight 2 battles at once, at all. She either initiates with rengar and lets her ADC die, or she saves the ADC and does not use her ultimate. How many teamfights are you in where your enemy is in the same location? Nobody is ganking?...nobody is diving and nobody stays back to defend the adc? And in bot lane, how do you poke in bush blind while also preventing on oncoming gank? Again that is something Ori cannot do.

I have to say again that you don't understand Karma enough to be saying those things. She isn't focused on Escaping. She's focused on poke - engage - nuke, same as Ori, but her kit cohesively works to defend. The slow, allows you to tether, while her shield allows her to stick and get the root, which allows your to RQ.

I was around during the time Orianna support was common, and then insulted up to wazoo. And now people are considering using it again, and it makes even less sense in that there have been supports introduced who do what she does better. Ori is an okay support...her competitive support record shows how much people prefer Karma to her. It's not even a matter of opinion, it's proven that Ori will usually lose if she's a support in competitive play. and a head to head adc karma and adc ori bot lane, Ori loses.

Sire HippingtonAug 18, 20161 votes

There is a huge number of champs that can be used as support without trolling, IF they get played properly for the position.

SwiftKitten88Aug 18, 20161 votes

{quoted}

So I can be Ashe, Gangplank, Syndra, Anivia, and Orianna support without worrying about trolling? =o

Sightstone included.

Orianna i can potentially see becuase of her shield and the pretty significant 10 mr and armor bonus at lvl 1 and use can use the ball to scout i guess its possible like Nidalee support or Fiddlesticks support is possible.. but idk if my adc would be very happy with me Anivia might be pushing it a bit... she has a wall.. but.. idk my adc would proably dodge if i tried that in ranked Syndra again.. is pretty sketchy, she DOEs have a stun.. but i wouldnt really call her a support, again adc would dodge Gangplank and Ashe ??? um no..

Insanity SongAug 18, 20161 votes

Ashe But but but perma slow JK yeah i remember the old GP when he had raise moral he was eh then

BisaknospAug 19, 20161 votes

i remember the times when people would go Lux or Nidalee 'support' rushing item 3089

Insanity SongAug 19, 20161 votes

Annie support god damn

Praetor NotoriasAug 18, 20161 votes

I could write a book on Anivia support... in fact it won't let me post it here because it's too long. But it's very viable. It also counters Soraka and some other annoying bot compositions.

BisaknospAug 19, 20161 votes

are you maxing w first?

Praetor NotoriasAug 24, 20161 votes

Oh wow. I didn't see this. Umm most of the time. I go QEWWWR or QEEQWR depending on things. Like if my adc is an idiot and can't capitalize on walls then I don't bother doing anything. If my adc is doing PvE and going for farm and never trading then I don't bother to build walls and I focus on harassing and being ready for the gank. I try not to use my q unless I have enough vision of the river to see if a gank is coming. 10 seconds is a LONG time when one little q can peel the ganking jungler off the adc.

One of my more effective rune set ups is spellvamp, AD reds, 4 flat armor 5 scaling armor, and scaling cdr. I find Supportnivia lacks CDR a lot. Most games are decided before full build so I find the extra cdr helps and I use scaling because the first 6 levels you don't need to be spamming spells. You shouldn't use your q until they are approaching you or running in an easy to see pattern. Your wall is to make that pattern less random.

Praetor NotoriasAug 24, 20161 votes

I'll also add my start is either a pot and a pink ward or the green potion depending. You can put the pink ward in the river or in the back end of the first bush so they can't ward that bush and that will generally stop them from being bullies as long as you can keep them off the pink. Anivia's pretty good at keeping them zoned away from things so with a competent adc that will help defend the pink it's not a bad set up for pre-6.

I go back pretty much as soon as I hit 750 gold unless I can stick around for 825 for another pink.

oSEXYPLATYPUSoAug 24, 20161 votes

riot does not state any form of what champs have to be played in what role. they themselves do not want to influence the meta in that way. as long as you are legit trying to play and winning and not being a troll you are fine. people may hate you and flame you and report you but in the end you are in your right as a player.

fyi i support i wanna work on support and if the new will allow it i will alot.

REMEMBER ITS A GAME , ENJOY IT HAVE FUN. OTHER WISE WHY PLAY?

TheLittlestLuluAug 24, 20161 votes

Well back in the day Gangplank was literally the only champion who could deny minions.

Friendly RamAug 24, 20161 votes

wait gp has support secondary?

DemainaNyxSep 2, 20161 votes

You can pretty much take anyone support if you are good with the champ.

I played a game of Ahri support and would land charm into her combo and leave the kill to the ADC. I played a game where my support picked Nasus thinking he was top and then traded with our mid Jhin 5 minute into the game, so I made the decision to be support Jinx (more like underfed Jinx with item 2301 ) so our team wasn't gimped.

Generally you want someone who either provides utility, or can do damage while being behind. Vel'Koz, for example, deals true damage once his passive is proc'd, so he'll always be useful if he can hit a combo. Brand has insane teamfighting ult and his new passive almost adds another AOE spell to his kit. I even had an ARAM game as Ashe where I went item 3031 item 3085 item 3065 item 3071 item 3091 item 3072 (originally had item 3111 ) because my team was Jinx, Varus, Azir, and Jayce vs Morgana, Maokai, Braum, Soraka, and Anivia. Yeah, I didn't do as much damage as I could with those items, but I sure shredded the enemy resistances so my team did more and did my best to be the tank we didn't have.

Yeah, some supports are going to be better than others, like most people know how to play with Soraka while they may not know was support Anivia will do, but that doesn't mean it can't be a support. It's sorta like playing off meta junglers. Yeah, you can play Soraka jungle, it may not have the CC or damage to help with ganks, but it can sure turn a losing fight.

Now, that doesn't mean your teammates will see it that way, but that's a different story.