Not Enough Support Champs

Meeks011·Nov 26, 2014·4 votes·1,020 views

Number of Support Champions in Game: 10 Number of Assassin Champions in Game: 14 Number of Fighter Champions in Game: 36 Number on Mage Champions in Game: 28 Number of Marksmen Champions in Game: 19 Number of Tank Champions in Game: 15

As you can see, the support role is severely lacking in variety. We had 5 supports in 2009 and one or two a year since then. All the new champions are really great and taking League in new directions. It would be nice to see this applied to supports as well.

12 Comments

MungoGeriNov 26, 20142 votes

Since they made the changes to warding, support items, and support gold generation (extra gold for excess assists) in season 4, the support role has been opened to a lot of different mage characters. You can definitely see more diversity in the role now.

AMYS GRAVENov 26, 20142 votes

i count 27 viable supports, but in general i agree that most of them are niche or not played frequently for various reasons.

traditional ones that i see ~commonly: Zyra Zilean Thresh Taric Soraka Sona Nunu Nami Morgana Lulu Alistar Annie Braum Blitzcrank Leona Kayle Karma Fiddlesticks Janna

unconventional ones i have seen and/or tried and work reasonably well... (may take good coordination...) Sejuani Maokai Anivia Veigar Malphite Lissandra Chogath Ashe

ParinoidPandaNov 26, 20141 votes

Velkoz Shen not us?

That's 29. But as for dedicated supports who actually support, their pool is kinda small.

AMYS GRAVENov 27, 20141 votes

i forgot about Velkoz

i've never seen Shen support how does he work?

but yeah there aren't many dedicated supports, maybe 5-10? overall i think that's a good thing, champions should be able to fill more than one role.

ParinoidPandaNov 28, 20141 votes

Oh yeah, Volibear too. That's 30 potential supports.

So Shen. Take targon, taunt the adc in engages, throw your Q on him, shield up. The Q heals your adc, the taunt is great, and the shield is too.

AMYS GRAVENov 28, 20141 votes

i didn't realize shens q heals allies(just read his abilitiy descriptions) looks like it requires some coordination between adc and support. in any case shen sounds great! i'll have to try him :)

ChessburgerNov 26, 20142 votes

I'd be more alarmed at the trend of immobile mages only semi working as a support because of the mid lane assassin shenanigans. Just from the list Sixdogman posted there's Zyra, Morgana, Annie, Kayle who were traditionally played as a mid lane carry mage with some utility mostly in the form of CC. They can't compete with what mobile champions either AD or AP bring to the table in today's meta. They're going further down the ditch each champion release and I'm saddened by this because match-ups in s2 were extremely fun due to mobility being a commodity rather than necessity.

Pika310Nov 26, 20142 votes

It's because Riot blatantly hates support and wants the number of viable ones brought down to just:

Thresh

They blatantly nerfed Sona and Soraka and are intentionally ignoring Taric. It's a slow process, but don't worry. The next "reworks" will be to Braum, Morgana, Janna and Nami since they're currently the most "toxic" champions to the game.

RookPusherNov 26, 20141 votes

I've been playing mages as support. Had a lot of fun with Anivia and Swain . Really great results. You have to play the hand you're dealt.

Sailor MintNov 26, 20141 votes

Let's see: Alistar, Annie, Blitzcrank, Braum, Janna, Leona, Lulu, Morgana, Nami, Sona, Soraka, Taric, Thresh, Zilean, Zyra.

That's 15 supports, not even including Fiddlesticks, Nunu and Vel'koz.

SmokingPuffinNov 26, 20141 votes

More supports is a good idea. If you look at the most played champions list, it's always dominated by supports and marksmen. Right now we're looking at: Vayne Thresh Leona Caitlyn Lee Sin Morgana Lucian Blitzcrank Jinx Ezreal

That's the top 10. Seriously. It's LeeSin and 9 bot laners.