Good support?
I have 5000 IP and I am looking for a support to buy. I never play support because I am not very good at it. But I need a champion for support. Who should I buy?
9 Comments
Like with everything all the good champions cost the most IP.
Thresh is the best support all around but if you're not fond of the role don't buy him. He's the most complicated one to be just because you need to work in tandem with teammates to get the full bang for your buck. You can be a great Thresh but if your teammates are unaware of how to grab lanterns your utility goes to waste. He's also out of your current price range.
Champions I recommend you try out/buy:
Blitzcrank is the go to support for when someone gets made into the support for that game and they hate supporting. He's kind of a one trick pony though. If you can land skill shots he's a good pick up, but once his grab is on CD he is pretty weak. You can get by with playing as him but he really doesn't teach you much about how to play the support role properly. Pick him if you don't plan on ever playing the role and just want a "meta pick" for the rare times you do play the role.
Morgana is also very straight forward. Fish for binding something, shield your ally from enemy CC, use ultimate in team fights and pool to zone away enemies/proc your spell thief. She is a pain to deal with for a bunch of enemy supports such as Blitz, Thresh, Lulu and Taric to name a few. And for when your ADC sucks just swap into AP and carry/afk farm with your pool.
But if you want to take the role a bit more seriously...
Nami is a great support and the epitome of what balanced is. Nami is a great poke/sustain support who helps out trade the enemy laners. Her bubble can really turn the tides of a fight as its a small AOE ability that can both peel and harass the enemy. There's also some flexibility in her kit in that depending on who the initial target is Namis heal can either heal 2 allies and damage 1 enemy or damage 2 enemies and heal 1 ally. Typically you want the former choice but you can decide what is more appropriate and when. And Nami can also give 3 empowered auto attacks to herself or an ally. Great ability for peeling a single target as well as making a chase attempt more likely to succeed. And Nami's ultimate is a great AOE engage/disengage ability. Much greater than Sona's ultimate in how wide the area of affect is, it just deals less damage, which as a support is ok. You don't want kills as a support, you want assists. What makes Nami complex is actually landing her bubbles (slow projectile speed) and prioritizing healing or damage through the use of ebb and flow and what people to give your slow shots too. The tsunami is near impossible to waste and is great for baiting out enemy flashes.
Lulu is another flexible choice for supporting, although she is not in a great place right now in terms of strength in the current meta. But don't let that dissuade you as buying them now will make you experienced enough with them to take advantage of their strength when the meta does work in their favor. But anyway, Lulu is like Nami in that 2 of her abilities have differing effects if used on allies or enemies. Typically speaking you want to cast them on allies more often than enemies though. The shield from Help! Pix! along with empowered auto attacks is more viable than a small AP burst and vision of an enemy. There are times when you do want the vision (like when facing Twitch) but most often its better used on an ally. Polymorph is the other ability that has dual uses. Used on an ally its a nice speed boost. Help them escape, chase or simply get to lane faster. When used on an enemy it changes them into a purple squirrel for a moment. Typically you only want to polymorph an enemy when they are using a channeled ability. Katarina is the best example of this but you could also use it on Galio, Fiddledix's drain, Janna, Malzahar, Warwick and other obvious choices. Lulu's other two abiltiies are straight forward. Glitterlance shoots from you and pix. Only 1 lance needs to hit. If both hit no extra damage is dealt, I think you just get a mildly stronger slow, but its hardly noticeable. Casting Help! Pix! onto a target and then casting glitterlance can give you some interesting angles to harass from, probably the only complicated aspect of her kit. And her ultimate gives heatlh, size and an AOE knockup of nearby enemies to an ally or herself.
Who I don't recommend you play:
Leona is good but for someone starting out or inexperienced in the supporting role I wouldn't recommend her. She is very easy to set behind if you know enough to harass her as much as possible before level 2 cheese. Most nooby players try to face roll with her and when it doesn't work they are clueless as to what to do. Leona can work as a peeler/disruption style support but most people would rather dive the enemy back line ASAP instead of peeling for their own back line and picking and choosing when to engage the enemy back line. She is a great champion but I've seen so many bad Leonas that I don't want you to become associated with them. I don't recommend Sona. You lose brain cells from playing as her. Shes just raw damage and a strong laning phase. I just hate how mana hungry she is and how she has these periods after her burst is done with where she has to wait on cooldowns. Soraka is also a brain dead champion but just swap her strong damage with having a completely non-interactive laning phase and that's what she does. I am unsure of how good you are but more knowledgeable players know enough to focus Soraka first so I am unsure of how you would feel having a bullseye on your back at all times. Taric is due for a rework "soon." It probably won't hit here until March and that's being optimistic. He's pretty weak now and is a somewhat boring choice for supporting. He has his moments but his lack of mobility can be real annoying at times. Alistar is difficult to pull off properly. He is the king of peels, he can tower dive very well and is very disruptive in team fights. But again, he takes some skill and effort to get good with. Janna is a good support and the Queen of peels. She is great at ensuring that the laning phase in bottom lane is very non-interactive. You know you're doing your job as Janna when nobody on either side gets any kills and it's one big farm fest. I almost listed her here but most people who play her say she is boring so for your sake buy someone more interesting to play as than her. Annie is played as a support as times. Cheap buy but she falls off late game. She either snowballs or she becomes useless. She also requires a different "mentality" than when played mid lane. Using tibbers to block key skill shots is not something a typical Annie player thinks about. Zilean is just plain weird. I need to play him after his rework to get a better feel on him, but he still functions very weird for a support. He has that delayed "poke burst" damage that can also be used to zone but also pushes the waves. I played Karma recently. The item changes did her no favors, she is very weak right now. She is a bully early on but if the enemy simply hides behind minion waves her power is nullified almost completely. But she is easy to pick up. Don't play Nunu as a support even if Riot lists him as being one. Anivia is a niche support. Works with Vayne for obvious reasons, not so great with anyone else. Mana hungry and falls off late game without items. Orianna is difficult to pull off mid lane and even harder to pull off as a support. Learn other people before attempting her.
Supports I would have mentioned had you had more IP: Braum Tahm Kench Zyra Bard Volibear
Blitzcrank is really good for solo Q and is pretty simple - Aim the Q require practice but that's all- also you can check http://www.nerfplz.com/2015/11/2015-champion-tier-list-solo-queue_28.html for a list of "god supports" or "tier 1 supports"..it will take a few days but is actualizing with every patch. @My2Cents
Thresh
I suggest a sustain support. Nami, Sona and Taric are not only meta but relatively simple to learn. Especially Taric with his point and click stun =p
leona! she was my first support and she's really easy to use. been maining her for an entire season :^)
she's super tanky, has a lot of engage & CC, and shuts down squishy supports really fast. you can use your relic shield to heal you and your adc so you have some sustain too. if your adc isn't total garbage it's really easy to win lane & she doesn't fall off late game at all.
Blitzcrank or Thresh
Jarvan IV, Leona, Braum (6300 tho) Brand, Blitzcrank, Syndra, Nami, Sona.
We've all been to the point where were forced to play support instead of the role we want, so if you need any tips ask me.
