Why Do People Hate Playing Support?

First of all, let me start by saying I LOVE playing support. It is my main role, and I enjoy it very much... most of the time. I enjoy helping people reach their goals, helping others succeed, and helping the overall success of the team, and therefore the game. But there are some things that really make me upset when I play this role. So much so that I hardly wanted to play support as my league career went on. And this is what I think happens to most people.

People that main support probably start out having chosen a character that looked interesting to them that happened to be a support character. In my case, this was Soraka. And when I first started playing, I didn't play ANYONE but Soraka. I learned later on that she was a support, and that the supports job is to help the ADC (attack damage carry, for those that don't know.)

A quick summary of what a support does, in case you are new: A support is a character usually with built in heal, crowd control, slows, ect. that help to manage bot lane. Supports work with the adc to help them farm efficiently, and hopefully get kills and snowball the lane. Supports are NOT supposed to take kills unless absolutely necessary. Their job is to protect and help feed the adc. Supports are also not supposed to farm, or interfere with the adc's farming at all. Unless you have been playing for a while and know how to help them clear waves quickly, its best not to touch the minions.

Now, why do so many people hate playing support? There are several reasons that I have come up with, and feel free to add on below!

1. Supports get no glory. League is a game where you get to burst people down, make amazing plays, and ultimately, get kills, get fed, and win. And who usually gets the credit for games that are won? Whoever has the most kills. Almost always. And I know that some of you credit the whole team, and acknowledge contributions from everyone, but the majority of games, ESPECIALLY in low elo's, credit the carry and only the carry.

2. Supports get blamed. I can't count the number of times that I have been the one who has been blamed for poor map vision. It's like teams don't understand how a sighstone works. (Sightstone is an item that gives you 5 wards in your inventory to place around the map.) And while you may have 5 wards, only three of them may be on the map at one time. That means that, with a pink ward and a trinket, only 5 wards can be on the map at once thanks to the support. And usually, most of those will be bot lane, preventing ganks. Personally, I like to place my pink at dragon early on, and use the rest for the river, the enemy jungle, and the side bushes on bot lane. But this isn't the only time supports get blamed. If you don't know, it is a much better trade for a support to die instead of the adc. In fact, sacrificing yourself to save the adc from getting killed is a good thing, and you should do this whenever necessary. But, I don't know how many times I have been blamed for feeding when I have 7 or so deaths, when in reality I've been engaging with the enemy team to help my teammates get away. Supports often get blamed for losses, but get no credit at all for wins. And once again I know this isn't a blanket statement, because some people do acknowledge our contributions. But they are few and far between.

3. Bad ADC's This one is less prominent, but still frustrating. As a support, your job is to help win your lane by defending and keeping your adc alive at all costs. But... what if they're just bad? Your entire success is dependent on that person, and if they do badly, so do you. This is one reason people enjoy top, mid, or jungling, because they only have themselves to rely on, at least for the first part of the game, which is often the most important part. This could apply to ADC's on the flip side. If your support is terrible, and you get shut down over and over again, its nearly impossible to do anything late game. And you had to rely on someone else for your success. Some people just don't like that aspect at all.

4. Supports can't carry themselves out of bronze. * Now, this one is up for debate. I've heard many stories, but the most consistent story is "I was a support main and got stuck in bronze. Only when I switched to (mid, top, jg, adc) could I get myself out of it. And this makes sense. Why? Because a support is carried. And if the people carrying you are in your elo, you're likely to stay there. Even if your skill level is above your elo, you can't carry the game! The only way you can carry the game if you should be playing in gold/plat but are stuck in bronze, is if you play a role that is able to. Basically, any role but support. That is why it is so hard to get out of bronze if you are soloqueing as support. Because no matter what you do, it's ultimately up to your team to carry the game and get kills.

*Note: I have heard a few stories about people who were just SOOO good they could carry games as support and make diamond plays that won them the game. But honestly people, how often does this happen?

So what do you think guys? Any other reasons people dislike playing support? Do you disagree? Feel free to comment below!

And, all you ADC's out there, feel free to type a "gj" or "wp" in the chat when you get that kill that you couldn't have gotten alone. It means quite a bit to be appreciated!