Fixing Support Itemization

The problem

Supports generally want to build 3 stats, CDR AP and tankiness. The problem is that tanks and mages will scale off those stats better than Supports do, so every item that is good for a support will be better for a tank or mage.

Riot tried to get around this with auras and item actives. This pretty much failed though. Auras didn't work because for an aura to be noticable it has to be overpowered. Item actives didn't really work because if you get too many it just becomes impossible to keep track of them all, they can start to overshadow your champ's kit, and mages and tanks can usually use them just as well as supports can.

My Solution

There is one game mechanic that supports have in abundance that mages and tanks generally have very little of. Support kits are generally very heavy on ally targeted abilities while mages and tanks generally have one, if that. How does this help?

Imagine spell effects that only trigger on allies. Since they are tied to abilities they could be stronger than Auras without being OP because they wouldn't be on your whole team all the time. They also aren't adding any new buttons to press to your champion's kit like item actives do, meaning having 5 of them won't overwhelm anyone.

You could do so much with these. Like an item that is a reverse Liandries Torment. An item that gives any ally a small shield whenever you cast a spell on them. An item that can give a decent sized shield to ONE ally every 20 seconds (activated by a single target ability). An item that heals an ally you aid if and only if they are currently CC'd. Or slightly more offensive route, an item that gives allies you aid a sheen proc. The possibilities are huge for items like this.

The items these passives would be attached to would probably have some mix of AP CDR and tankiness and the stats alone would be gold inefficient, making mages and tanks unlikely to purchase them.

Conclusion

Supports need a way to itemize for what their designed to do, which is to give a ton of Utility, that can't be abused by mages or tanks. Allied on spell effects is almost certainly the best way to do this.

Please share any questions or concerns and I will do my best to answer them. Also please upvote if you think this is a good idea.