It's time to rename the role of "Support"

CurS1VE··3 votes·679 views

I was a Top lane main for most of Season 6 and 7, I really lost interest with the lane mid way through Season 7; I thought it was a lane with a dramatic impact but i came to the conclusion that it's just not the lane for me because it's basically like mid lane but with more melee bruisers or tanks and not really the playmaking potential that I was looking for..

(heard stories that JG was more playmaking potential than top, meh still not for me, tried a few games and it was like Top lane but without a person to 1v1)

Enter Support, at first I thought this role was kinda lame, there is a stigma around Support that people have; generally that it doesn't matter or they are just the adc's handcuff yadda yadda yada. However, over the past few months (namely the ardent censor meta up until now) Support has grown into something much much more than that and it absolutely matters, even some Challenger players / Pro's currently believe that Support is one of the most impactful / meaningful roles in the game along with JG and I agree after playing it and talking to a few other Support mains who have expressed similar thoughts as myself.

The idea of "Support" in theory before the ardent meta (and some of the newer support items) is basically some lame person who is the adc's bitch, flat out there are still ppl who think that even though there are players like Olleh who show in the LCS the value of Roaming and basically being like a Jungle 2.0, someone who puts out pressure throughout the Map.

Lane phase lets just assume you never roamed at all, which you can do but i wouldn't say it's the best strategy but it all depends on your champ, like soraka isn't really the best roaming support BUT after lane phase, how many team fights are won or lost directly because of OUR (Support) actions? I mean literally every fight we win as a team, I feel like I was the one who tipped the fight into our favor, even if we were behind (or WAY behind but within reason).

I play champs that have massive utility and CC built into their kits, now not all ppl may enjoy the champs that I do but that's also the great part of playing this role, we have a wide variable (not as much as top lane or even jg) of what is playable, not to be confused for being "optimal" or "meta" but even things off-meta can potentially be game changers (Look at Rox v SKT where Support MF made it's big debut).

SO, if you read all that thanks, what I'm getting at is this idea of "Support" is just out dated, the stigma is all wrong and ppl (not all but many) still have this idea that Support is either Low-Impact , Brain dead or played by ppl who aren't good when in reality Support is the polar opposite of that.

I would like Riot to change the name of "Support" to something more fitting to the role, personally I feel like I am the X-Factor in the game, I feel like THE Playmaker, I setup all meaningful plays and work 5 steps ahead of everyone else to set them up. So a more fitting name / role title would be more appealing to newer players who are just picking up the role, as well as shutting down this horrible outdated stigma that has changed pretty dramatically over the past year or so.

Thanks and have a good day

18 Comments

MagicFlyingLlama2 votes

I have known this for a while, although it is more true in lower and very high ELO.

Goal one: get the ADC fed.

Goal two: if the ADC cant be saved or is so far ahead they dont need you, show up somewhere unexpectedly and ruin someone's day.

Especially supports like Bard or Janna, they can do a lot to assist other lanes.

And nobody expects Leona to gank mid at 12.

TheUrbanKitsune2 votes

Support is pretty fitting though? Your job is to support the team.

Doesn't mean you aren't the playmaker. The very definition of the word agrees with this;

sup·port səˈpôrt/ verb 1. ** bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.**

noun 1. ** a thing that bears the weight of something or keeps it upright.**

CurS1VE1 votes

The idea of Support is that you don't support the Team but only the ADC hence why you are in the lane with the ADC. So this is what I'm talking about with the old ideas behind support; ppl see it as "Support the ADC"

TheUrbanKitsune1 votes

I don't think a lot of people see it like that at all?

And even then there are some supports that yes, are supposed to put the ADC in priority. Some enchanter type supports like Nami, Janna, Lulu have kits specifically designed for saving and peeling. Champs like that are better off in the back a lot of the time next to the ADC in a fight to be sure they're safe, not to mention they're usually pretty squishy themselves.

They can still make big team plays for sure, hell, I'm a Nami main and I've won my teams many fights with well-placed ults/stuns/redemptions and well-timed locket shields. But I still recognize I need to sit by the ADC and be sure they are buffed and that nobody tries to assassinate them.
//unless the ADC is useless, then just prioritize whoever is actually fed and carrying// But the idea of mainly supporting a single target isn't necessarily completely wrong.

You support the whole team, yes, but some champions do need more help than others. Would't be worrying about that super stacked cho'gath getting popped by a Rengar.

CurS1VE1 votes

the premise isn't about if you agree with supporting 1 person or the team, the premise is about the name of the role and it needing to be changed.

many ppl are not wanting to play support because of the stigma / name of "Support" the title of support is what I am talking about. I don't really care if you agree or disagree on the points of impact, i use those as statements to back up the original premise / idea of support needing a different name instead of support.

I feel like you guys don't read very well, considering the title of the thread is the premise, there are a couple here already that confuse what this thread is about, it's not generally about the impact OF support directly, it's about the name "Support" and the perception of how ppl view it..

So far the poll is proof that many actually understand that Support is REALLY important, so this idea that it's a secondary role, and yes Support IS a name that means you aren't "THE GUY" but like the guy behind the guy.

I'm saying that the playmaking potential of support is higher than most other roles, especially with the items and abilities we have generally speaking, so the idea that we are somehow less than other roles when really we are probably one of the most important roles is why I am making this thread.

It's not about who you support, it's about the name.

I'll put it to you like this, If I ask 5 children who would they rather be, Batman OR Robin..How many do you think will say they want to be Robin? Get it now?

TheUrbanKitsune1 votes

{quoted}

I feel like you guys don't read very well

I feel like you don't read very well. Take a look back at my first comment on this thread.

Support is pretty fitting though? Your job is to support the team.

Doesn't mean you aren't the playmaker. The very definition of the word agrees with this;

sup·port səˈpôrt/ verb 1. bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.

noun 1. a thing that bears the weight of something or keeps it upright.

The name of the role fits what it is intended for, it has nothing to do with the stigma behind it. That's like wanting to rename garbage trucks to something 'cooler' because they hold the stigma of containing waste and trash, even though they play an important role in keeping cities clean. Garbage truck is simply the most accurate way to describe what it is and does. As a support player myself I see no issue with the name of that role whatsoever.

CurS1VE1 votes

Wow

Here bud, lemme open my thesaurus and list names that sound more appealing but still mean the same thing.

  1. Cornerstone (Already love that, makes the role sound insane important)
  2. Foundation (another builder term, still sounds better than Support just because it's a term that makes it sound important)
  3. Fundament
  4. Basis

These are all Synonyms of "Support" all sound better and more appealing.

So it's still the same role, still does the same name but if i say to a newer player "Hey will you support me"? does that sound really that appealing?

BUT

If i say "Will you be my Foundation? Will you be more Cornerstone?" Shit man, that's like a term of term of endearment and makes you feel a lil special..

TheUrbanKitsune1 votes

Honestly those just sound really silly, lol.

I kinda get where you're coming from. You want an amazing title to fit the monumental role that supports take on in the game, right? Look at it like this.

Literally every other role that isn't ADC or support is just named after where that role goes.|

And even ADC is referred to as just 'bot' a lot of the time.

Thinking about it like that, it's a bit underwhelming, right? Why can't jungle be called gank master? or mid be AP carry?

But wait. Not all junglers gank a whole ton, some are better at objective control or power farming to carry the late game. And oh no, Not all mid laners are AP, there are plenty of mid champions that are AD as well.

So why do we call it jungle and mid? Because those names are the most accurate and efficient way to describe the role in question. A jungler is a champion that plays mostly in the jungle. A mid laner is a champion that plays in the mid lane. A support, is a champion that supports the team. No extra silly or flashy title needed. The name is accurate and it works. It's a class spanning across many many many games and genres and is widely recognized as a thing outside of League of Legends.

CurS1VE1 votes

what's it like in your grey box?

saying something is "support" doesn't actually tell you it's role, and you saying "Oh it supports the team" that is sooooooo vague omg, I could say top "Supports the team cause they play tanks" I could say "JG is support cause it supports the team with ganks / vision or because they play tanks", I could say Mid / ADC support the team because it does it via DMG or cc or pick potential.

The fact is the name "Support" doesn't actually fit what the role does and it's misleading. IDK how else to put it to you.

Let's play a game of association, When I say mid lane what do you think of? Probably a mage or sin, if i say top you probably think of a tank or a bruiser, I say ADC (Which means AD CARRY, that's a pretty big deal, it's literally the only title in the game with Carry in it meaning it's super important even though that role isn't nearly what it use to be) you associate a marksman..

Now i say Support and what goes through your mind? Well it really depends on the person, and although in YOUR mind you think of support one way, I have talked to many other ppl and have seen that ppl think of support much differently than you hence why I have made this topic and i have expressed that it's not just my opinion but also others who i've talked to or i mean honestly you can go through games and see ppl say pretty narrowminded things to support, you can go to youtube vids and see that same stigma which i am expressing without filter.

League didn't get to be this popular by doing everything that every other game did so you can get out of here with that "It works in other game" bs.

Being innovative isn't about being the last person to the party (which is what you are talking about).

TheUrbanKitsune1 votes

Lmao. OK, stopped reading about halfway through that last post. I am done with this thread. You've pretty much regurgitated the same things to me over and over and it's getting you nowhere.

Chipndip1 put it pretty well, also;

No amount of changing the name changes the perception of the role.

Peace.

[slayer-jinx-wink]

CurS1VE1 votes

ok like I said to the other guy and the original premise.

the title "support" is flat out not appealing to ppl, if I say you could be Batman or Robin what would you pick? That's the stigma behind Support and ADC to be honest, Support is Robin and ADC is batman EXCEPT, We as support dictate the lane, We dictate if that ADC gets fed or not (jg too), and even after the lane phase we as Support dictate how the fights can turn, the Variable / X-Factor in all fights isn't the ADC, it's the Support.

We all know that Kog'maw can do a crap ton of dmg if he gets his 3 core items and W is up, the Support is the one who either Accelerates that Dmg (if the Kog is on the his / her team) OR the Support is the one who turns the fight against that Threat (if that Kog is on enemy Team).

So I'd ask who is really Batman?

I use that example to break this down in simple simple psychological thinking. People look at Support like Robin when Really it isn't, we are more Batman than any ADC for about 80% of the game, so why would I have a title that makes me less than when really I am so much more important to our team?

Support is a term that makes it sound Secondary, when someone is just picking up this game, explain all the roles let them know the premise of each and then ask them what role they want. It's extremely rare ppl are like "SUPPORT! YEA" not impossible at all, but rare, most want Mid tbh, Mid is the lane that ppl love to want to play, support is generally speaking one of the least just look at the overall numbers, Support is the least played role.

I'm saying that the title of "SUpport" is a big part in why People DON'T want to play support. You sound less important just by name.

If I called this role "X-Factor" or something else that sounds a little more inviting I guarantee more ppl would want to play it and learn it especially when we start doing team fights and you REALLY see how crazy this role can be.

The Name change is my premise, not the role itself and it's importance

Dangerous Man1 votes

I think support is a good name. What I think of a support as is a person who will set up events whose life is worth losing for. The Bard ult+Q, first to engage otherwise he ruins the fight if everybody ults and he comes last. The Morgana ult+Zhonyas, risky but more than likely destroys the enemy team. The Braum W+Flash+Ult, you get in the thick of it purely for the sake of your team. The Janna ult, you heal everybody, push enemies away but chances are they will just one-shot you after LuL.

In these scenarios, you become the easiest target, but you're also the worst target. You make sure you're worth no gold so you can really jump in and be risky. You support your team. You don't carry, you are the sacrificial lamb to the ADC on your team. Chances are you aren't the damage dealer so you really just let the team do everything else.

The playmaker is kind of a niche term. Only applies to maybe 75% of the supports. I mentioned 4 above. Supports like Lulu, Soraka and basic generic supports get left out because their role is just to hold a teammate high above them and let them do most of the work. Support is a term that can be generalized over every single support champion and it's easy for new players to understand. The Playmaker would be confusing and/or misleading making new players believe they just bought Soraka to flash QE and almost do something!

Lleajy1 votes

There's not enough variation in the choices, there's no "super important" role. Support is just not the bullshit role some bronze think it is.

SangreDeNoche1 votes

They were considering "catalyst" or something a while back.

CurS1VE1 votes

idk if that's serious or not but i dig it.

FatedSaviour1 votes

you didnt put underappreciated in

chipndip11 votes

No amount of changing the name changes the perception of the role.

CurS1VE1 votes

but you don't know that because it hasn't ever been done. So basically what you said is hyperbole

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