Tell me why I suck at ranked support.

Bushido·2/13/2018, 2:27:29 AM·2 votes·343 views

To prefase: I've been playing since season 1 or 2, so I understand the generic struggles of solo ranking as a support.

I have really been enjoying support recently, so I decided to try it out as a main role in ranked. I feel as though my support game is some of my best game play I have. I understand that support is a fairly low impact role so I won't be tearing through the ranks with it, but I play ranked in LoL for semi-hardcore fun, not to be the best there ever was.

I've included a link to my match history. I FEEL like I was playing pretty well today, however I lost nearly all my ranked games. I was hoping support mains would be able to dissect the information to tell me what I could do better, and any generic tips / advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S., I know I REALLY need to get in the habit of upgrading my trinkets.

17 Comments

Baron Barian2/13/2018, 2:54:11 AM2 votes

You don't put down nearly enough wards, also don't by any control wards, and it really is a bad habit not to swap out to item 3341 and item 3364 . Vision is so important, and when your ADC is still easy to kill, all the other team needs is one good gank to screw him. If you don't have a yellow ward ready, that's even more of a reason to get a control ward, preferably when you first recall to base.

Ignite isn't always the better spell to use, yet you use it almost exclusively. It can stop healing but exhaust can help your ADC so much more when things go south. And you shouldn't pick heal unless your ADC decides not to for some reason.

You do seem fine with the champ selects, but you really should brush up on the basic fundamentals. Practice more games out of ranked, maybe even watch videos. Right now, you kind of have the habits of an auto-filled support.

Escheton2/13/2018, 3:13:38 AM2 votes

Cheeky control wards placements: In dark corner of Drakepit towards botlane. Casually walking by you can't spot it, as your vision doesn't illuminate that bit. Allowing you to get some primo longlasting drake vision. Works especially well if your mid and jungler haven't given up total control of the area.

You seem to face Tristana a lot. On champions that can't really defend against her. Tahm can safe 1 partymember, but it removes both you and them from doing anything useful. The cow can flash cc her a moment, before she rockets out. And Soraka...

Have you considered picking up Lulu?

Azadethe2/13/2018, 3:15:27 AM2 votes

You're in a low elo where having a support that falls off mid game - late game don't carry (Tahm can carry, but it usually requires top lane gold, not support gold)
is not an every game item and in fact usually is a bad first tier pick for enchanters. It's okay on tanks, but I see you second iteming it on Soraka.
Your secondary runes are generally iffy after lane phase.
I can't really tell what your in game decisions are.

You seem semi solid on the champs you play other than Soraka. My only thoughts are that you maybe get too aggressive too early, and end up dying before you get tanky. If that happens, the other adc, if smart, will start building armor pen/lethality to destroy you using the gold they got. You need to delay that and only get into a real fight when you know 100% you will win..... when their summoners are dead, and the jungler is on the other side of the map. That's the challenge with tank supports: Only going in when it's 100%.

Enchanters are more forgiving. They can generally all in IF they have an out, and ranged harass.

Personally, I've never tried to main Soraka, although I've played her. Nami and Sona are just easier to carry with, and they do so more often. Heals/move speed/cc are just so much better. If a team gets Grievous wounds, Soraka is crippled, because she just doesn't have much to her kit beyond the heals. And, unless you get VERY good at hitting Soraka's Q, you're going to drop your own HP too much and become an easy target.

You also got Heal and not Exhaust on Soraka. You also got item 3092 instead of item 3096 on Soraka (Soraka and enchanters almost always do better with Nomad's because they can't poke enough to out gold with , and fall way behind on gold. Nomad's allows you to safely lane and almost 100% capture your gold. You can also leave it at Tier 2, where needs to be Tier 3, if you ever want to kill minions. This allows you to build pertinent items more readily.