a question for support mains in higher elo

rubberduckie666·4/22/2015, 8:22:43 PM·2 votes·640 views

as a support main in higher bronze in climbing out at a fairly constent fast rate but i want to know what i should be doing when the adc im supporting is just stupidly agressive for example i was supporting a graves as braum we got ganked after over extending even after i pinged for him to back off we got safe under turret the ahri that came to gank was a bit over half health and the graves was at less than 1/4 he tried to go in i blocked the charm and her q and pinged him at least 3 times to stop trying to go in and he did it anyways of course he died.

anys ways im sure this isnt common in higher elo but what am i suposed to do? i was laying down vision all game my shields we're on spot all game i hit nearly all my q's i even told him i cant keep him alive if he dives in to they're carrys when he's low like that then after losring the game he bames me for the loss -_-

11 Comments

Sir ArmaMalum4/22/2015, 8:37:24 PM2 votes

I don't main support in ranked, but I've played it often enough to feel for you.

The siren song of supports is when the adc doesn't play well and then promptly blames everyone except themselves. It takes awhile and a lot of game before someone finally makes the realization that a good support only increases and adc's capacity to do well, and if they aren't playing well there's not much the support can do. I'm sure a lot of people here have thought "If I could farm, position AND kite for you I would, but I can't. That's your job" somewhere along the way, myself included.

I have a few tips to avoid this:

Talk to your adc about what they like doing. Ask in the first minute whether they want to be aggressive or defensive. Ask when they'd like to jump in (level 2, 4, 6? etc etc). Talk about what you're doing to help them out and if they're receptive what they can do to help you out. Most of all just talk, establish communication so they have less of a chance of being defensive right at the start.
Don't ping more than twice for the same thing. It gets annoying for anyone on your team and if they don't react to the first two they won't react to the next ten. Not to mention it can push the "I'm too stubborn for common sense" button a lot of carries seem to have sometimes.
Work with your jungle and mid as well. Do NOT beg for a gank or complain, but keep them informed with things like "we're going to be pushed into our turret soon" and whether or not you're warded. Leave the decision up to them but make sure they know when good times to gank are available. The reason this helps you with your adc is a successful gank means advantage, and that means even the most rage-a-riffic carry can't be mad if he's part of a triple kill.
If you're getting screwed in lane and your outer is gone, leave your adc to solo farma nd ry to help another lane. BUT keep bot lane warded well so your adc won't get ganked from nowhere. (and if he dies anyway, it's not your fault in any form). Also make sure you tel him of your plan so he knows not to push too far and that you may not be back for a little while. At your level you can even explain to him to "only last hit so the wave stay on our side", or in other words 'freezing' the lane. (Freezing is a bit more complicated than that but it's the general gist of it)

disregardable4/22/2015, 8:25:08 PM1 votes

He WAS Graves. If you want to be successful as a support, you're going to need to be more aggressive/passive than you're comfortable with sometimes. That's the challenge of bot lane. If your partner sucks, you just need to do what's necessary to prevent him from fucking up too badly.

Linthe4/22/2015, 8:34:59 PM1 votes

Just accept that that as a support there will be times, you CANNOT save a teammate.

For me, this was one of the harder lessons to learn as I always feel I should be "falling on the grenade"... But sometimes doing that, just means a double kill for the other team.

Save the ones you can. Accept the deaths of the ones you cant.

GundayMonday4/22/2015, 8:54:00 PM1 votes

Solo Queue? You have to play the game differently down in bronze than you would up in challenjour.

For example, you mention playing Braum. He is an excellent support, capable of shielding your carries from harmful cc, giving extra resistances to teammates, and setting up kills with his Q + Ultimate. He is most effective when your teammates know what they're doing. Don't play Braum down in Bronze.

Play a champ like Lux support instead. She can do similar things like shield aggressive carries, peel with slows and binds, BUT SHE ALSO HAS DAMAGE!!!! Can make the same argument for playing Velkoz Annie Fiddlesticks Karma Zyra . Trust me, there's a reason people are in bronze. It's because they're not good enough at the game to be at least silver players yet. Would you rather support a bad player or carry yourself out to a higher tier where you can support good players? That's the real question.

And yeah, every once in a while you'll get someone that knows how to play adc. HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT BEFORE THE GAME STARTS???? Just assume everyone isn't the best, and play a support with damage. You'll win more games than you'll lose if your own skill is at a high enough level.

My $0.02!