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Support in other lanes? - bot lane meta

TŒŒMØ·11/3/2016, 8:15:31 PM·1 votes·1,513 views

Since I started playing this game, I have always wondered why 1 ranged ADC and 1 support always play bot lane while every other position has some degree of flexibility. I'm going to put a few points below about arguments I have heard in the past and their counterpoints.

★ADCs are vulnerable and need a support to protect them while they farm ☆Vayne, Varus, Corki, Graves, Ezreal and occasionally Twitch, Tristana and Jhin are all known to solo lane. Sometimes we even see jungle ADCs. In team comps that only call for 1 ADC, that leaves a chance for support to lane with another champion type.

★Supports synergize best with ADC type champions ☆Perhaps late game, but ADCs have some of the lowest kill pressure in the game. Putting a support in lane with a CC heavy mage or assassin could potentially zone an enemy lane off of CS completely (especially true with champions like Viktor and Ekko who have powerful CC that's hard to land in a 1v1.) Mid to late game, the support can start following your ADC as normal.

★the 2 man lane must be bot because top lane is too far from dragon, and mid lane is too vulnerable to ganks. ☆Top lane) In the current game state, tower first blood is more important than dragon, and having a duo top lane practically guarantees tower first blood unless the enemy rotates or the enemy jg camps top. In either case, they won't have dragon pressure unless they give up tower first blood. ☆Mid lane) ADCs are vulnerable to ganks early, but as long as the mid laner and mid support are both decent early game champions, the worst case scenario is a 2v2 when the jungler ganks. On top of that, having 2 mid laners opens up crazy roam potential. Thresh + Ekko comes to mind.

★2 manning a lane other than bot leaves your own bot lane vulnerable ☆Play around it. There are plenty of champions that can hold their own against the classic ADC + Support lane. Example: Morgana pool can wave clear fast enough to prevent any serious early damage to the tower, while her black shield prevents her from getting CC chained to death under tower. While the 2v1 will eventually tip in the enemy's favor, the ADC + support combo is weak early compared to some other possible combinations. Your own 2 man lane should gain an even bigger advantage.

Thoughts? Is there any other reason why ADC + support bot lane is an absolute requirement?

3 Comments

Sariat111/3/2016, 8:24:21 PM2 votes

One of the reasons that Mages aren't played with supports is because mages get more damage from levels, whereas most ADCs get damage from items and need to be protected more. Also the reason you stated that some ADCs have really low kill pressure early is the exact reason why they need to be protected early game.

Mimy11/3/2016, 8:23:38 PM1 votes

I've seen an engage support duo jungle and it worked out pretty well..

Like.. Thresh urgot jungle. Idk they got it to work somehow.

It was crazy good tho...

Other supports like Soraka can be a roaming aid support.

I'm a support main I won't complain about how things are now but if I was able to roam all game.. That'd be cool..

I have gp10 quits and if I buy spellthiefs I probably could pull odd a roaming Soraka. If someone could hold their own botlane

Like a heimer

Live2LetDie11/3/2016, 8:31:03 PM1 votes

  1. ADCs are Extremely vulnerable to most top lane and mid lane champs early. Most mages can instantly blow up/ poke out an adc before they can even do anything. Some can jungle but not most and if the other team picks a fighter they usually can invade and win the trades.

  2. Lowest kill pressure means they are an easy target to gank since most do not have amazing escapes and they are in a large lane. This requires the support to be in the long lane to help the champ that cant escape easily. Way back when the meta was mages and supports bot and adcs mid. But because of such reasons it switched.

  3. The statement is false. Mountain, Ocean, and esp Infernal are great dragons that offer alot of pressure especially early game. Having a solo bot almost always guarantees a loss of drag, as seen in the LCS, and is a gamble.

  4. Mind set is wrong here. Sure morgana could "wave clear" but how much of that cs is being last hit? Theres no pressure on their adc to not get perfect CS and your morg just to fall behind. Your two man could be going against a victor or xerath who could wave clear, poke, etc.. and still stay relevant mid lane since that lane gets the most XP.