A Change of Perspective
I want to share a story from my last game. The game ended up being pretty one-sided, but if you notice, up until around the 12-13 minute mark, it was dead even. At that point, you'll also notice, among other things, Bard picking up a kill on Vayne. This is the moment I want to highlight.
At this point, our bot lane was down 0/2. Bard was away, can't recall specifically if he was roaming for chimes, ganking other lanes, or coming back from base, but in any case, the wave was pushing against me and so I backed up under turret to farm. That's when I made a misstep, Braum hits me with his Q, Vayne follows up with the stun and then Condemns me to my own turret. I had about 150 HP left and Vayne was at full; I thought I was done. Suddenly, Bard ult out of nowhere, freezes me and the turret, baiting Vayne to take a step closer. As soon as the stasis ends, Bard Flash-W's me for the heal and speed buff, and I unload a Culling into Vayne's face as I kite back behind my turret. Vayne hits me with another auto and takes turret aggro, but at this point her health bar is blinking red, and before my last Culling shot hits and she Tumbles away. In comes the Bard auto onto a minion, where the Meep AoE clips Vayne for the kill. Bard rushes in and chases Braum away, who's also low, and I have space to shove the wave to their turret.
Can you guess what Bard says next?
"Sry"
A little background about myself; I was a support "main" for about as long as I've been playing (a couple years now), and by that I mean I play "fill", and we all know how that goes. I don't know that I'd say I'm an especially good support, I mostly played Janna aggressively vs. non support mains ("presence", as Aphromoo calls it), and would snowball from there, but I did get pretty comfortable with the role. Since Dynamic Queue was introduced, I've been trying to find an actual "main" role. I've settled on ADC, for a number of reasons, but among those was my experience playing Support with really, really bad ADCs. Players who have self-destructively low EQ, are incredibly arrogant and toxic, and simply don't have a grasp of the most basic aspects of the game, like being able to CS even remotely (and thus, as Support, any advantage I could gain in lane would not translate to an actual lead). At the very least, I am competent at ADC, and could save a fellow Support from the grief I dealt with, if only for a game. (Not trying to put myself up as some sort of martyr; I actually do really like the ADC role itself, and grew dissatisfied with Support for other reasons as well)
Basically, I see bot lane from both sides, though I have a more Support-centric view of the lane dynamic. If a Support takes a kill either because I, as the ADC, would otherwise die or could not follow up on the kill myself, that's the correct thing to do. If the Support goes full on Brand and double-kills the enemy lane over and over again, that's a free lane for me (and maybe some assist gold if I can sneak in an auto or two). If the Support accidentally takes a few CS while harassing the enemy, that just means I need to CS better (and I could have missed those CS anyways).
I'm not advocating Supports go Ignite+Exhaust Lux, but it does pain me to see a Support apologize after something like this, mostly because I get where they're coming from. I've been in the same place, walking on glass wondering if the ADC you got matched with is Teemo-incarnate. It's part of the reason I decided to pick up ADC, but it still frustrates me to see stuff like this. The same is true for Junglers, yet another thing I've learned from playing "fill". (Yes, I understand sometimes people just say "sry" to be polite, which I appreciate, but it doesn't change the fact that Supports and Junglers get a lot of undeserved flak)
Here's my bottom line: Your Support (and Jungler) are trying to win the game (unless they're blatantly trolling). Why else would they be in the game? (Again, assuming they're not blatantly trolling). Support roaming? Oh sorry, they're busy trying to win the game. Jungler not ganking your lane? Sorry, trying to win the game. Focus on your own play and what you need to do to contribute to that common goal. I encourage people to take a walk in another role's shoes; it honestly makes you a better player, and a better teammate.
Returning to my game, if you're wondering what happened after, I responded, "nj", then realizing how that might come across, followed with, "no sarcasm, that was clutch". We honored each other after the game.
#teamworkmakesthedreamwork