'Tanky' non-conventional supports

Passionlip·9/5/2015, 12:43:10 PM·1 votes·1,014 views

Hi o/ I'm non exactly a support main, but i play in that role a lot - last game i was , and while i've done not bad at all, my teammates told me i sould have picke something more tanky. Now, i'm a guy in these cases, but against poke comps (with magic damage on top maybe) he isn't as strong as usual, i can't play right for save my life (don't get engages timing) and while i love i don't feel all that tanky when playing him.

While i could try i think i would still suffer against poke comps, so - can you suggest me some 'Off-tank' non conventional support to play? I've done some with mixed success before, other suggestions? P.S. I refuse to play for principle.

21 Comments

disregardable9/5/2015, 12:50:30 PM4 votes

Play Thresh. He's not broken, anyone that's played 10 games as him can tell you that.

EvilMerodach9/5/2015, 1:46:36 PM3 votes

Pantheon I mean maybe not do it in your ranked promos..but, it's not bad. Level Q for poke, try to trade AA's when your passive is up. Good vs AA heavy pokes/anyone squishy you can W and instagib. Doesn't work too far different than Taric, except you're not locked into armor heavy build...but you lack any "real" support skills. (no heal/shield/aura) but you got poke, tankyness, and a stun, and ulti's great for roaming/saving a tower.

Galio if they have like...3 AP's..not a great support..cause mana costs, but if you can just build straight MR into their team comp, you'll nuke the everloving shit out of them and never take damage.

Darius ...old Darius, no clue how new one would work, but Q's for poke and smaller range AoE blitz grab was fun.

Nunu just don't steal too much CS with consume. But great sustain. Only works with ADC's that really fed off blood boil. ( Twitch Vayne Ashe ..prolly a few others, heavy attack speed builders.)

Rengar pretty troll..but slow/snare, but if you can gain control of brush and just hop on them any time they try to do anything, you'll outlevel the hell out of them by way of heavy zoning. Or just kill them. Need a strong early game ADC though to abuse it. ( Corki is probably best, more brush control+lot of early poke damage+good level 3 all ins)

Reaper Soraka9/5/2015, 12:56:57 PM3 votes

You could try: Blitzcrank Nautilus Shen (Very rare) Trundle (he was seen in lcs or something, but I've only seen him in regular games once.)

In the end, if tank supports aren't your thing, play what is.

StoryDuck9/5/2015, 12:53:57 PM2 votes

Don't listen to them. Tanky supports are not the end all be all as some people seem to think. AP supports are just as good (if not better). If you absolutely want to go the tanky support route though I would recommend Leona, its just a matter of practice to get your timing down. Now, I noticed you mentioned poke comps specifically and tank supports in general do poorly against them unless you can get that engage onto them. Tank supports you didn't mention that you might like to try would be Shen, Nautilus or Tahm Kench. Nautilus in particular can do well against Poke comps as his Ult can be an amazing tool to engage on the enemy with.

50000000000000009/5/2015, 4:43:44 PM1 votes

Try Maokai. Has good self sustain and all in. Usual skirmish combo is W in, Q, then E to block their escape/to make room for your escape. His ult cooldown was nerfed, but it's still pretty low. Your E is also a pseudo-ward that slows enemy.

TouchpadExpert9/5/2015, 8:04:27 PM1 votes

Alistar Blitzcrank Braum Chogath DrMundo Galio JarvanIV LeeSin Leona Malphite Maokai Nautilus Nunu Pantheon Renekton Riven Shen Singed Sion Swain Thresh Trundle Udyr Volibear XinZhao

That's all of the ones I have seen played in the support role. Support Riven is one I remember as working surprisingly well.

V Khat9/5/2015, 11:21:01 PM1 votes

One hell of a tank support is Bard. 0/21/9 or 0/27/3 for masteries. Movespeed, armor, MR and health per level. He is hard to master (Bard main here).

The best thing about Bard is that he is like Nasus, and in a 1v1 between Nasus and Bard, Bard is most likely to win (Toplane Bard against Nasus in 30 minutes, Nasus had barely over 100 stacks).

Here is an example of Bard's damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isgp3_uA-8s You can get 150 chimes in around 50 minutes.

All you need to do is build him tanky, don't farm your chimes unless your ADC has recalled and the lane is pushed.

iluvalar9/6/2015, 4:12:15 AM1 votes

2x item 2053 Heimerdinger Extreme safe lane, good vision of the bushes, Great pressure, a item 3303 that proc itself and a crazy good scaling late game even on support budget.

Full build : item 3512 item 3083 item 3065 item 3056

Kouga9/6/2015, 4:26:45 AM1 votes

i can't play right for save my life (don't get engages timing)

Practice engages. Leona is a great tanky Champion with great team support. A reliable stun & AoE stun makes her a beast. It helps if you're playing with someone you know, but try communicating with your ADC. "Hey, if you ping, I'll stun them." and let your ADC call the shots. If they ping the enemy, then engage with an E/Q stun. Hopefully they will follow up. Don't get mad if they don't, just try again.

If you are the one engaging, then you want to look for openings - wait for them to get out of position. Somewhere where your carry can get to them easily, but their support can't. If you are supporting for an Ezreal, for example, don't necessarily go all in on someone if they're behind a ton of minions - he won't be able to Q past them and he'll waste time getting into position. However if they move up to last hit and end up between waves and far from their support, ping them and try to engage. Practice and see if you can get a feel for it. After a while you'll be able to even predict when the enemy will engage if your support gets out of position.

and while i love i don't feel all that tanky when playing him.

How do you build him? Braum is pretty darn tanky. Going with a Runic Shield-> Targons into a Sightstone gives you lots of early health, and there are lots of good tank item options. He is one of my favorite tank supports.

You don't have to play any of these, but just wanted to make suggestions for more typical tank supports.

kerfew9/6/2015, 4:48:56 AM1 votes

I've been playing Trundle for a while now. I'm not a great player but I've had more wins since moving to Trundle. So I would assume a player with better skills could really change a game. He's an odd one but his w (increased attack speed) is great for turret wrecking and his e (ice pillar) is brilliant for not only saving yourself and a fellow player but awesome for blocking the opposition from escaping. He's a lot of fun, as either support, top or even jungle. I mainly play him as support though.

BeatinWarDrumz9/6/2015, 3:49:44 PM1 votes

sion, nunu, volibear... but these are all subpar honestly

Thudloderp9/7/2015, 1:50:51 AM1 votes

Volibear bot is -obscene- for an aggro botlane. Between his large model, his Q flip, and his E, he can force a flash -easy-, and if they DON'T have a flash, his W's passive and active will give his botlane what can best be described as a 'metric buttload' of kill potential. Plus, Voli's a good toplaner and a good jungler, so he's a solid flexpick.

Speaking of flexpicks, Nautilus and TahmKench both range for 'amazing' to 'servicable' in top lane or jungle, and generally are very valuable to have outside of the lane phase.

I'd advocate Malphite because his E ruins an autoattacker's day, and mid to late game he's The Initiator, but I have a really hard time using him anywhere but the jungle because his early game mana is best described as an affront unto the lords of fun. Still, if you can make it work, the Rock's not a bad support. His whole kit projects some serious threat and enables favorable trades and all-ins in the traditional 'auto attacker + support' world of botlane.

RogueWill9/5/2015, 1:08:03 PM1 votes

Allistar don't suffer from poke with a 0/21/9 masteries focusing on mana regen and custom runes. They poke you, you heal your adc back to heal. Alistar suffer against utility supports sinc ethey out scale him and suffers when paired with early game adc since he won't be able to provide much for them.

joebobby14129/5/2015, 1:43:56 PM1 votes

How do you feel not very tanky as Braum? What are you doing? He is like one of the tankiest supports, short of probably only Leona and Alistar.

I'm not saying you have to play him, do whatever you want. Just, he is very tanky.

Support Wood 59/5/2015, 4:37:07 PM1 votes

Whats more important is your runes and masteries - make sure you have some mr, armour, health etc.

Against poke comps Braum is awesome (his e blocks poke)

The Frog is good too TahmKench

And other than what was already said, you could also do Amumu Bard Malphite Volibear Warwick