Next Support Champion...?

Taliyahc·Feb 14, 2017·41 votes·3,921 views

To start off let me clarify. When I say support I mean the main role of a champion is to go bot and assist the adc, not just the general class.

Tahm Kench was the last champion designed for supporting bot lane, he was released on July 9th 2015.

Since that date we have had 2 new junglers, 3 new top laners, 2 new mid laners, and an ADC. 586 days at the time of writing with no new supports...

I understand Riot wants to delay the next champion until after the galio rework, which is fine.

But for the LOVE OF GOD, make the next champion a support for the bot lane, not really fair to make support players wait another 3 months just to get another shot at getting a new champ. Would mean a lot thanks...

85 Comments

FaustavianFeb 14, 201710 votes

Hoping for a void based support champion, fingers crossed.

fk malz support

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20172 votes

Sounds like a cool idea, I personally thought a noxus support champion would be pretty cool, don't believe there are any unless I am mistaken

5000000000000000Feb 14, 20179 votes

The Noxian Drill Sergeant?

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20179 votes

YOU GET THAT KILL YOU WORTHLESS ADC

DIED IN FOG? DROP AND GIVE ME 20

THAT CS BETTER BE UP BY AT LEAST 10 IN THE NEXT 2 MINUTES OR YOURE IN FOR A WORLD OF TROUBLE

Legacy HydralphaFeb 14, 20173 votes

YOU CAN'T RUN IT DOWN MID IF YOU DON'T GET THOSE BOOTS. FARM UP ALREADY WHILE I CARRY.

It Hertz When IPFeb 14, 20172 votes

At this point I doubt Riot could make a Noxian Drill Sergeant support that would be half as awesome as the community expects. Kinda like Half Life 3.

5000000000000000Feb 14, 20171 votes

I mean, Ao Shin hype lasted forever and we got Aurelion Sol. And he's an awesome character both in VO and gameplay.

SwarovskoFeb 14, 20171 votes

Morgana is from Noxus.

Fondling GemsFeb 14, 20171 votes

She resides there, but I don't believe she is actually a Noxus citizen and she definitely isn't from there or Noxus themed. It is just a case of she has to live somewhere and Noxus fits her needs.

It Hertz When IPFeb 14, 20172 votes

She's about to get a VGU that'll likely change her backstory. Given that they already changed Warwick's origin from "man cursed by an extraterrestrial being" to "generic Zaun experiment", Morgana could easily end up just being some denizen of Noxus.

Fondling GemsFeb 14, 20171 votes

But she hasn't had that change and that is just theorizing so it has no impact on this.

It Hertz When IPFeb 14, 20171 votes

I mean, this whole thread is about the theoretical next support and how there should be someone from Noxus. I'm thinking that Riot might notice that need for a Noxian support and decided to fill that need with the Morgana rework.

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20171 votes

You completely missed the point of this thread, its literally the next champion needs to be a support, not we need a noxus support champion.

ShirvallahFeb 14, 20178 votes

Fun fact: Tahm Kench was actually designed for the top lane. He wasn't designed for the support role initially.

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20174 votes

My mistake you are correct

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/media/video/tahm-kench-champion-spotlight

Rewatched the spotlight and he was intended for solo lane and support role.

Still I view him as the most recent support that can be included into the roster, my argument remains the same but you are correct in him also being able to solo lane.

ShirvallahFeb 14, 20172 votes

{quoted}

My mistake you are correct

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/media/video/tahm-kench-champion-spotlight

Rewatched the spotlight and he was intended for solo lane and support role.

Still I view him as the most recent support that can be included into the roster, my argument remains the same but you are correct in him also being able to solo lane.

I think my point supports yours even more, lol. It's high time we get a new support, man. The past 4-5 champions we've gotten, I've looked for support qualities in each of them, but none are reliable. :(

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20173 votes

Oh wow lol sorry completely missed it but thinking on your point. Last "pure" support we got was bard 2 years and a month ago... Feelsbadman

Ariel the CruelFeb 14, 20171 votes

Back when they released about 1 champion per month, the promise was 1 per year. So that would mean 1 support every 12 champs.

So with 7 champions out, we're still relatively on track. But the technical promise was a support "champion" not a champion for support "role" (same thing back then). So while I wouldn't count Tahm, Ivern definitely qualifies.

So assuming the old standards apply (lol), we're looking at approximately another 12 releases until we get another support.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

Guess we got Ivern for that support then in that case.He couldn't be much more support (and I am totally not complaining).

XonraFeb 14, 20174 votes

"Next Support Champ?"

At this point, Riot will just make it Syndra or something and call it a day, then make another jungler.

TricolorStarFeb 14, 20173 votes

I'm pretty sure people just consider Ivern Ivern a second support.

SeaGodUrronuosFeb 14, 20172 votes

No, he has a shield and his passive is useless until level nine where he literally has to leave lane to farm which a support isnt supposed to do its annoying like bard

TricolorStarFeb 14, 20172 votes

{quoted}

No, he has a shield and his passive is useless until level nine where he literally has to leave lane to farm which a support isnt supposed to do its annoying like bard

Passive activates at lvl 5, not lvl 9.
I meant people play him in the jungle but he's not a tank, bruiser, mage, or fighter. He's a support that works in the jungle.
I'm a lvl 7 Bard, lvl 5 Ivern.

SeaGodUrronuosFeb 14, 20171 votes

Hes utility, but he has.... a shield and a stun, he doesnt have anything to compliment the lane that someone else coukd do better. Shield healing, janna, raka. Stun, you got taric and sion with a huge knock up, and his root is so slow and easy to dodge also, morgana and lux. Lux also has both a shield and stun and slow

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

You people are seriously dumb lol

He supports from the jungle, and he IS a support jungler. That doesn't mean he plays exactly like a support in the bot lane plays.

SeaGodUrronuosFeb 15, 20171 votes

I swear you peoplegive me headaches

XonraFeb 16, 20171 votes

Says the guy arguing about his abilities and how they don't work to compliment someone in lane, when that had nothing to do with the comment you are responding to.

cuddlykitten4Feb 14, 20171 votes

A good ADC would encourage their support to roam. It provides easier kills for other lanes, more map pressure, that feeling of "where the hell'd that guy go?" every time you leave lane for any reason, and it gives your ADC solo xp for that time which if your ADC is even half competent would give him the edge in bot ultimately. A good support is constantly looking for roam potential.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

"a second support" Learn to read. He is a support jungler, and the guy said second support, not "put him as a support". He supports from the jungle by shielding, the way he hands off buffs...his entire kit. He isn't a tank, he does no damage. He is a support jungler.

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20175 votes

He has an 80 percent play rate in the jungle, he's almost non existant in the bot lane. Get a little annoyed when people count him as a bot lane support because nothing in his kit is designed to be used there.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

He said second support, as in you have a support, and Ivern. He didn't say anything about him being in bot lane. Ivern is a support jungler. Not sure what is worse, you guys downvoting for misunderstanding, or this getting upvoted for misunderstanding.

TaliyahcFeb 15, 20171 votes

No I understood what he meant. But basically it's like saying taliyah is a viable support, she may be listed as secondary support but it doesn't make up for the lack of new support champs.

XxDottisJayzunxXFeb 14, 20173 votes

Sorry to harp on the Lucian/ Senna lore, but I think she'd make an interesting support. Hopefully with deep mechanics like Thresh/ Bard that were mentioned before.

Mysticman89Feb 14, 20172 votes

How would we feel if reworked galio was a viable support?

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20175 votes

I think support mains and galio mains would both feel cheated lol

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

This

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

Annoyed personally.

He should be an anti-mage 100%, in a solo lane. That is his current identity, and should stay that really. If he becomes a support, I'm gonna be pretty gravely disappointed.

CudyDarkyzFeb 14, 20171 votes

I mean you can kind of count Taric. He is almost a new champ really.

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20172 votes

if you want to count champion updates 6 top laners have reworks (not counting mords awful excuse for a rework), 2 jungler reworks, 2 mid laner reworks, and 1 adc Rework, and only support rework is taric.

Hopefully adc will get a new champ soon too, but support has been ignored in almost every category, its about time Riot gives the bot lane a new support.

BastionKrossFeb 14, 20171 votes

Look at this from Riot's perspective: Why are you making a new champion? So players will spend RP and/or they add something new to the game. Although we know which one of those is the main motivation, since Riot is a company after all.

Keeping that in mind - When you look at the five roles, which ones make you money?

Jungle? Sure.
Top? Yeah.
Mid? Oh hell yes.
ADC? It's okay.
Support? Not even close.

As autofill has so succinctly demonstrated, there just aren't enough support mains in League for a multitude of reasons. If you want a new champ to have a chance at making bank, you don't make it a support. Or if you do make it a support, you make it a support that can also solo lane TahmKench or is meant to played exclusively somewhere other than bot lane Ivern .

Bot lane support champs just don't sell. It's like putting in eight months of work designing a champion that can only be played on Twisted Treeline, it's not going to make back enough income to justify the time and effort spent creating it.

Until the support role becomes more popular, we wouldn't expect too many new champions to be released exclusively for the role that is so unpopular it creates unhealthy queue times. The best we can hope for is a support than can also top, mid, or jungle at the same time. At least until the balance team figues out you can't have a champion with a support's kit and power curve going healthily to solo lanes so they end up getting nerfed in every role except support.

Sound familiar, Mr. Kench? How's the tadpoles? You should bring them by top lane one of these days, we haven't seen you around those parts for a year or more.

TaliyahcFeb 14, 20173 votes

I personally think you're wrong. For example look at bard, sure he was weak at release but when he got some buffs and people started getting used to his really cool utility kit he sold like crazy. He now has a large fan base and a lot of players have his skins too. Thresh sold well, Braum sold well. As long as the kit is new in thematics players are bound to pick up the champion and try them out.

The reason bot lane is the least exciting is because IT IS SO BORING... same matchups over and over. Only new supports we've gotten are the bs damage mage supports, maybe if Riot would just throw in a new support down in the bot lane it would spice things up and add some much needed variety that isn't cancerous and unwanted.

It Hertz When IPFeb 14, 20176 votes

Thresh sold well because he made being a support about as idiotproof as you can possibly get without playing Sona or Blitzcrank and he was more appealing thematically ("I'm going to RIP OUT YOUR SOUL AND EAT IT" vs "look I have a string piano lol"). Braum was another support with an awesome identity (League's manly man of manliness!).

Meanwhile, let's look at the other supports. We got a mermaid that throws water, a goat with no clear theme other than stars (which heal? what?), a girl from band camp, an old guy with a clock, and Tornado Girl. Morgana has an edgy, aggressive theme but as an old champ her VO is REALLY limited. Taric was funny, but pre-update he had a pretty boring story. Supports, I feel as a whole, don't get very exciting themes.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

There have been far more idiot proof supports than Thresh. Like Taric before his rework or Soraka.

YOU may not like the champs, but they are super popular (also Morg isn't a support, she was just played support for a while, much like Malz is now, and Brand was for a while).

Braum was super popular, Leona was super popular, Bard was super popular.

BastionKrossFeb 14, 20173 votes

Bard is today what Thresh was back in seasons 3, 4, and part of 5. He's the posterchild, the chosen one, the "Hey look, support can be fun" guy. He's very popular... among support mains. Which League has a significant lack of. And just like Thresh, he's not enough to carry the role on his own shoulders. People haven't started playing support just to play Bard; at least not in numbers large enough to save queue times.

Speaking of Thresh, he was on his way out before Bard came and took his spot. He was really something back in season 3 when he debuted with that overloaded kit and his jack of all trades playstyle. But as other champs debuted or got reworked to have more and more tools in their kits as well, he began to be less and less special. He's not really that big of a deal anymore.

Braum seems like he's popular, but players like the idea of Braum rather than actually playing as him. People love Braum... but when's the last time you saw someone actually play him? I saw one (attempt to) go top lane a few months ago; before that... I honestly can't remember. Players want his upbeat attitude, his manly punching, his love of poros, and his godly facial hair. They also want him not to be a support so they can play him in roles they enjoy. That's why when he first debuted he was like Kench; played top, mid, and jungle in addition to support. After he was nerfed to keep him in bot lane, his playrate fell off dramatically.

Same with Taric, his rework made him popular for a month or so, then people realized that "Oh crap, if I want to play this guy I have to support" and then he settled at the bottom of the popularity list. (That's not completely true as I do enjoy taking Taric top lane, but I would never claim it's standard play)

It's a pretty clear message: It doesn't matter how cool a support we construct, the hype will die down quickly as long as the support role is in the shape it's in. We can extend this hype and artificially increase sales by releasing the champion overtuned enough that they can go to more popular roles; but once those sales start to slip those champs receive a beating from the nerf bat. That's not a great way to do things.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

Sadly I would say that has become Zyra. Bard is not known widely as the "supports can be fun". He was the "please don't play Bard" champion, and the poster child for people hating support when he came out. Even after that stopped he was never the "fun" support, at least not to us supports. He was amusing thematically, but he was no poster child like Thresh was.

cuddlykitten4Feb 14, 20172 votes

The role of support does not create unhealthy que times. People refusing to play support because they have to be "MR MEESEEKS, TEH GLORIOUS MASTER OF KILLS! LOOK AT ME!" that make que times unhealthy.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

Exactly this.

Support isn't the issue, selfish players who can't stand not being the center of attention in a 5 man team game are the problem. More often than not, despite flaming and throwing a hissy fit, people seem to want to have 30 kills (despite also having 29 deaths), to brag, than trying to win the game.

BastionKrossFeb 15, 20171 votes

Unhealthy queue times are a symptom of players refusing to play support. Players refusing to play support is a symptom of the support role being the way it is. Those things are inherently connected because they cause each other. The vast majority of players just do not enjoy the playstyle of being a support; and that's their right if they refuse. If you boot up a video game primarily for enjoyment purposes, it's not asking too much to be placed in a situation you find enjoyable much of the time.

Riot knows that most of their playerbase are kill hungry bastards. As long as they continue to mold the game to be conducive to that they can expect a high turnover rate from month to month. This is why "support" champs like Zyra and Brand continue to be allowed to go bot; because those are the champs you take bot lane if you're a kill hungry bastard.

However, that is not a long term solution. Riot can either make the support role more popular with game mechanics and updates, or they can force their players into it with autofill. One of those is a much better solution than the other, but takes much more effort in return. We can only hope one day that the support role is updated so that kill hungry bastards won't mind going there, thus removing the bottleneck the lack of support mains have on ranked, and allowing Riot to disable autofill.

XonraFeb 15, 20171 votes

Pretty much wrong on this one.