Supports and not so Supports...

I have played years of support, and now I am playing adc, some top and mid. The one thing I notice recently from those who are supporting is the poor decision making by the supports that I have had. So, this is really about poorly supporting and bad decision making and what I view as a better approach to supporting. I have more than 1200 hours as a support main, playing casual and now playing some ranked as well so I think I have earned some input on the supporting topic.

Ward, its important. It is not just your job, adc should help but they only have a trinket. You should have sightstone, and when it is not full and no wards are left. Communicate with the adc, recall, get more wards, and ward some more. When I see game end results and the warding score for a support are less than other players it makes me sad.

Supports who only ward bot, there is mid dependent on having river warded from bot side to prevent ganks, it shows both bot and mid that either it is clear or someone coming to add pressure to the lane or get a gank. You can maximize this by warding the edge of dragon between the little bush and the dragons lair. Don’t waste a ward directly in the little bush. This is normally where people will sweep anyhow.

Second, if a support does not have a relic shield they should not be hitting the cs with basic attacks when the adc is trying to lane unless the enemy is pushed in and trying to force their wave into the turret. This is when a support who does not have relic should help bring the minions down in health enough so that the adc can clear them quickly.

Third, support takes relic shield and does not use it. Always has it available proc’s and neglects to take advantage of it. Or they use it incorrectly and push the wave to far by beating the shit out of the minion until the relic procs. Your putting the wave closer to a gankable area and limiting the escape for you and your adc. If the ADC wants to push the wave they will tell you, or they will start rapidly killing them instead of last hitting.

If the ADC has backed taking minions that will either be lost to turret or an enemy minion is not a horrible thing if they are going to die anyway, you do not have to let the gold go to waste, it is better for an adc to have a support with more sustain than a support who stands on the turret watching minions die. However, if the wave is center just fighting each other, than beating the hell out of the wave to get the gold is only pushing the wave again into a gank position and just being greedy. The ADC will get there in time to get the gold that they need unless you push the wave and take it for yourself putting them behind.

Supports who either build maximum damage because they really felt like playing a mid and got stuck support, or supports who build no useful utility for their teams. Buy items that buff your teammates, buy items that zone the enemy for your teammates, and have something to provide dmg.

Support who is afraid of “Taking a kill”. In a team fight, a support should not be afraid of securing a kill and withholding damage to the enemy players. The game is about objectives, not kills. Those supports who sit back and don’t add damage to fights are costing the team by putting them in a disadvantage. If the ADC is going to die and you stand still because you’re not sure what to do and afraid to put your damage into the fight your letting your team down. The priority is always to keep the ADC and other team mates alive even if it means you get the kill and he gets a bit salty. Most players calm down and realize they are ahead anyhow and drop it and then force an objective. If not, just mute if it is too much.

Supports who constantly “martyr”. You should not be constantly diving in front of damage and thinking that your saving your team mates if your not a tank with armor and HP and are a front line champ, if your a support that is viewed as squishie like Morg, Lux, Zyra etc, stop being a martyr. First, you look like a feeder. Second, to learn is to err. Your team mates need to die, to learn respect for the enemy damage and until you allow them to die for their own mistakes the game will suffer and they will continue to make bad plays. Instead of dying 8 times in a game for bad plays made by the team, let them die once and they will be less likely to continue making shit plays and your team will have a chance to turn the game around.

I am by no means an expert in this game but I think the above is pretty good logic. I have played with plenty of high ranking friends and had been taught this back since early S3 when I started. I would like some ideas from the rest of the players out there since my opinions are by no means original, nor expert. I see it as common sense stuff.