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An Open query to Non-Supports

TheSnacken·3/8/2017, 9:01:42 PM·12 votes·1,326 views

Now I've been playing League for a while now, and that's been as an off-and-on Support main. I've played a LOT of champs in the support role, some good and some bad. However, after over two years of playing second banana in bot lane, I keep finding myself with a big question: What exactly is it you all think we're supposed to do?

I mean, seriously! I have been flamed for everything you can think of. Having a good score, having a bad score, not warding, wardng too much, taking unusual picks, building unusual items, even building standard items. I just don't understand! In my frustration I'm turning to the boards, because after watching myself and hundreds of poor supports just trying their best suffer, I've got to know: What are we doing wrong, when we're doing everything right? [zombie-brand-mindblown]

21 Comments

MonkeyMadness3/8/2017, 10:41:33 PM6 votes

As a jungle main that used to play a lot of support back before queueing for roles was a thing (picking secondary support = guaranteed I'm playing support so I don't even bother picking it anymore), here's what I expect of you:

  1. Ward. A lot. If you don't have at least 2 wards down, it better be because they either JUST timed out or the enemy team JUST killed them.

  2. Don't die. Actually this goes for everyone, but for some reason some entitled support players think that the fact that they are supporting makes it ok that they are 0/7 at 10 mins

  3. Help your adc farm, but don't fuck up his timing. If the lane is neutral, do nothing. If the lane is pushing out, maybe help push to reset it. If the lane is pushing in (ie minions are aggroing the tower) weaken the minions so your adc can kill them after the tower shoots them. And whatever you do: DO NOT STEAL MINIONS. EVEN BY ACCIDENT. The ADC psyche is very unstable, and this tends to make them lose their shit.

  4. Actually coordinate with your jungler. As a jungle main, it pisses me off to no end when people expect me understand that they need help. Usually, I'm aware of what's going on, but sometimes I'm really focusing on a certain lane. If you feel your jungler is not coming bot enough, request a gank. In chat. Don't spam ping. Don't accuse the jungler of not ganking. Just ask for a gank. If I am your jungler, chances are unless I'm busy getting someone else fed/stopping someone else from feeding, I'll be there soon.

  5. Avoid unconventional picks. ADCs do NOT know how to respond to your "OPAF I've been doing this for ages and I win almost every time" rengar support. If you pick an unconventional champ, sorry but you are trolling. You are engaging in an action that directly puts your team at a disadvantage. Pick champs intended for the support role, or at least in the current support meta (ie support annie back when that was a thing, even though she wasn't technically a support). They tend to have much better gold efficiency, and more importantly, your adc will know how to follow up on your plays.

  6. Buy items for the team. If you are playing one of those weird support picks (like annie or vel or some other not-necessarily-intended-for-support champs) and you start building fkin deathcap as your second item, you are fucking your team over. Hard. Get a sightstone. Get your support item. Pick up items that give your team defensive bonuses and/or other auras. You are not meant to be a carry. You are meant to either protect your teammates or set up plays with your utility. Maximize this utility by tailoring your build to include as many useful auras and active effects as possible, even if it means skimping on the damage. Obviously there are exceptions, but they are usually champion specific (ie support morgana building zhonyas in order to guarantee that she doesn't die while ulting).

  7. Communicate. Excessively. You are the shot caller for the majority of the game (except during the early game when the jungler should be making the calls). If you notice your adc getting gibbed in teamfights, let your tanks know that they need to stop charging headlong into fights and actually pay attention to their backline. If you notice that the enemy team is clearing your wards around an objective (ie baron/dragon) express concern that you don't have vision and that the enemy might be doing baron. Because your role is primarily focused on utility and not actually fighting/last hitting, you have the most "downtime" to check the map and make calls. Take advantage of this. Even while I'm trying to take charge as a jungler, I tend to tunnel a bit when I go in for a gank. As a support, you should always have an eye on the minimap. If you see mias, ping them. If you spot an enemy with a ward, let your team know. Your job is to be the tactician for the team, and this goes hand-in-hand with the role of the team ward bot.

Might seem like a massive undertaking, but the majority of this shit is pretty much common sense stuff or things you're probably already doing. If you can do all of these with reasonable success and people still rage at you, they are just assholes and should be ignored.

Edit: disregard any and all complaints about "kill stealing". This is soloQ (presumably, or else people wouldn't be raging at you). Do not trust your teammates to secure kills. Assume they are idiots until they prove you wrong, and secure those kills. Better that your adc gets assist gold than no gold at all. That being said, do not actively try to steal kills. Don't intentionally save your damaging abilities to last hit enemy champs, but also don't stop putting down dps so that your adc can get the kill. That just results in fuck ups.

RookPusher3/9/2017, 9:49:55 PM2 votes

It sounds like the main problem you have is that you're listening to your team. If they knew what they were doing, they'd support. But they aren't, so they don't. Mute hard and carry on.

Toastersaot3/8/2017, 10:15:51 PM2 votes

Try building item 2049 every game and tell people "I'm warding." and they'll usually leave you alone. Also, if you are saying that one player asked you to do all these things, that would be impossible. But if over this was over the course of a few years from hundreds of different players with different play styles and expectations, there is no reason to be surprised. Just try your best and /mute all if you need a break. The best thing to do is to play your own way (especially in normals) and to have fun.

Calintz65653/8/2017, 10:09:22 PM2 votes

Because when people get titled they say and do stupid things. Sometimes people are idiots and attack you because some youtuber told them this item, or way of playing was/is bad.

AdeBug3/8/2017, 10:40:53 PM1 votes

sometimes they really wanna lash out at someone, anyone, for simply breathing, and the first people to attack are the support (specially from the adc) and the jg. I got S'es after being flamed as support and not only. Sometimes I say nothing, sometimes I write back, but I really shouldn't, it's just a waste of everyone's time. specially if they're talking nonsense, because anything with sense will be ignored by em. If they're legit giving tips, that is not to be ignored, but you're only talking about **flaming **so... mute

for ur question of what to do as a support in general, im sure there are guides out there ^^

Handy Sandy 3/8/2017, 9:05:15 PM1 votes

Because you're not completely solocarrying the entire team every single game on a low income.

Well, that's the only reason I could think of? XD

terribleplAyr3/9/2017, 11:11:02 PM1 votes

I used to main support for about 2.5 seasons on my main account. From what I have seen - depending on the elo - adc's are the dumbest people at their rank. If they are being a donkey, just ignore and mute them. This holds true whether you are winning or losing. People ignore supports even though many times the support is the smartest person in the game because they have more time to focus (not always - but often) on the bigger picture - rotations, shotcalls, danger pings, tracking enemy jungler, etc. If my adc ignores me - especially after they throw away a 2/0/1 lead I basically spoon fed them by outplaying an enemy jungle gank, I start roaming. When adc's are forced to 1v1 or 1v2 while I make plays to put other laners and/or the jungler ahead, they can no longer take all the credit for the lead I had given them or put all the blame on me for me and them being behind. Other laners can see I actually have a clue while it is the adc who is being stupid. This can somewhat work with other laners too, but mostly with adc and somewhat jungler. Make them realize what they are missing and how much you were really doing for them while they just sat there and cs, auto-pushing the wave like the bad adc they are. Sometimes it fails, sometimes you snowball other lanes and your adc grows 2 brain cells to rub together. Regardless, at least you will be making proactive plays instead of staying bot to feed because your adc is screwing you over.