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Do you dislike/avoid playing support?

Drunk Rummate·6/19/2015, 7:16:44 PM·1 votes·1,280 views

Me too. A lot of people feel the same way. You are not alone

Unfortunately this is a bad thing, because it means that sometimes you have to play support even though you don't want to, and you're probably pretty bad at it. (I know I am). However, for those times that you do play support, please understand that picking a high skillcap or hard engage support is probably a terrible idea.

I like to ADC a lot. Mid is still my favorite role, but ADC is a close second. Unfortunately, I often get plagued by bad supports due to people who are very much like myself, and simply got unlucky in champion select and forced into the role. However I'm here to tell you that it's okay if you are bad at support, on the major condition that you pick champions that you are comfortable with. The following is a list of champions that you should not play.

Thresh Leona Alistar Blitzcrank Bard

So why not these champions? Well, the answer is pretty complex and varies based on the champion, but the main idea is that all of the above champions have very specific interactions in the lane phase, midgame, and lategame that make them very difficult to play. You have to know exactly how and where to position at all times or you will simply ruin the game for your team. The leona/alistar that engages every time someone is in range, the blitz that hooks the tank or assassin into his carries, the bard that ults his own team, the thresh that provides no lane pressure and never uses his flay autos. These things ruin games.

Instead of playing one of the above champions and likely having a very volatile game, you should try the following champions which are safe, strong, and easy picks!

Janna Nami Braum Lulu Morgana

So what makes the above champions so good? Glad you asked! They all support a passive/peeling playstyle which allows your ADC to be aggressive and carry the lane for you. Remember, you're the novice in your lane. Let your ADC take the wheel and show you what to do. Stand by their side at all times and keep them safe and you're sure to have an improved experience as support.

So TL;DR -

If you aren't good at supporting, or if you don't like supporting and therefore lack experience - try to pick protection supports rather than playmaking supports. Playmaking supports are forced to be aggressive in lane - it's how their lane phase works. In the hands of an inexperienced player this generally turns sour very quickly.

PS: I intentionally left out a few supports like Annie, Karma, and Zyra. Annie is a strong aggressive support but I don't think she's necessarily a bad choice for an inexperienced support player, as long as you understand how to play Annie. Karma and Zyra are both poke mages that do really well in lane if you have specific knowledge on those champions, but they're less popular so people generally don't play them unless they know the champion anyways =P

9 Comments

Frank3276/19/2015, 7:57:55 PM1 votes

I actually think alistar is a good support to learn if you're new to support. Sure, he has a crappy laning phase and the w-q combo can be tricky to pull off. But he's the tankiest of tanky supports out there and can be amazing in teamfights. Also because you're mostly gonna be last pick as a support player a lot of times your team will suddenly realise they haven't picked a tank and ask you to play one.

And while leona is mostly an engage champ and braum is more of a protection champ alistar has the advantage of being able to do both. I even think alistar is better as a defensive tank than an offensive tank because while engaging he uses his headbutt just to land his pulverize while in defense he can hit pulverise without headbutt and still have that left to peel away a melee carry.

Krukbrosky6/20/2015, 3:11:26 PM1 votes

I used to main support and before the rework I would say that Taric was probably the safest support to play. Strong tank with a heal and a stun and that powerful group ult for teamfights. Now, he just isn't the same champ and it makes me sad. Slow clap for all of you haters that didnt like to use his melee passive that helped you stay in lane and got it changed into a melee passive that does almost nothing for extra damage, GG.

Anyway, A good all around support IMO that is incredibly cheap, unlike all of the champs you listed to play, is Kayle. She has the poke with a slow in Q, a heal with speed buff in W. Those two together are tailor made for chasing down fleeing enemies. Righteous Fury allows Kayle to easily harass without over extending and do I need to go into her ult? Who doesn't like immunity from damage for a few seconds.

While I agree with your stance to a point, there is a lot to be said for going aggressive. Depending on the adc pick, talking with them and deciding to pick one of the more aggressive champs and going to a kill lane early can be much more effective and rewarding than playing one of the more "supportier" supports. It's also a split in playstyle. A kill lane will have less responsibility outside the lane early and put more work on the jungler's shoulders on the map control side. While a true support will have to be engaged in active warding and counter-warding which is something that most people either don't grasp or can't handle.

Ethri6/20/2015, 11:58:13 PM1 votes

As a support main I have to disagree on some choices.

Leona and Blitz are fairly easy to play assuming you have map awareness, knowledge of minion advantages, and know to stand near your ADC. (edit: I haven't played Leona/ Blitz since before the Zenith/ Overdrive nerfs)

As for the easy picks... I have to disagree with Nami, Braum, and Lulu. Unless your ADC is far superior to the enemy bottom lane, there is so much that can go wrong if you mess up your key spells. Though I agree Janna and Morgana are ridiculously rewarding for very little skill.

Xonra6/21/2015, 8:49:31 AM1 votes

Nope, I prefer support.

No long winded post, I just prefer support.

If you let me have my pick of 5 roles, I will pick support first and be happy.

I enjoy the responsibility, and would cover the entire map with wards if I still could with a smile on my face.

Yay support!

Xonra6/21/2015, 8:57:48 AM1 votes

I should probably be more helpful for those who don't support often. Some tips.

Champion wise, as someone who prefers support, I would suggest learning the following:

Nautilus - He can do a lot for a team, and is pretty beefy and can cause 2v2 fights to be won with his kit pretty easily compared to some tanks that take a biiit more skill to pull off.

Nami I would suggest Namie simply because she can provide poke, her ult is so easy to land and so helpful, she has a heal, and she can buff damage and speed. Her bubble is great and a little funky to get used to, but great even if you hit 1 out of 10 of them.

Sona She is easy. That's about all there is to it. She is squishy, but just poke and heal and use your ult when fights start. If you aren't comfortable, let someone else engage, and your ult will just stop an enemy from fighting instantly, and make it much easier to hit in the fight instead of trying to start the fight (unless you have no good engage, then maybe should have picked Naut).

I would actually not suggest Soraka Janna or Braum

Janna has to be the rock of her team mid to late, peeling and healing at the right times. If you ult wrong, it effs you over and wastes a great heal. If you don't shield right or waste it, you are wasting mana and a good cooldown. Easy to mess up if you aren't comfortable with it, and ridiculously squishy.

Soraka isn't "noob support" friendly since her rework. Sure she heals like crazy, but if you aren't comfortable at support, you aren't committing suicide as you hurt yourself and she is squishy enough for that to be easily taken advantage of in lane. Her heals ARE great, but just stick with Sona for heals until you are more comfortable supporting.

Braum is a good tank and all, but if you miss his skill shots then he becomes a sack of hit points that can quickly be killed. If you miss his ult in a team fight, then you just lost that fight and wasted a support pick realistically. his passive is good, but keep in mind, most adcs might not recognize they should proc it, and you want to avoid having to rely on your support for your abilities to work.

Xonra6/21/2015, 9:08:14 AM1 votes

For those not used to supporting, Items are actually a lot more important than in other roles, because you have much less gold to work with.

Start your gold item, yellow trinket, and I wouldn't bother starting a ward unless you aren't comfortable asking your adc to help ward bushes.

On your first purchase, get sight stone, no questions, don't get your gold item upgraded. If you can't afford sigh stone, then get ruby crystal and some wards, and sightstone on your next back.

Once you purchase sight stone, swap your yellow trinket for a sweeping lense on that same back.

Get mobi boots and upgrade to homeguards as soon as you can afford it (doesn't have to be both at once). Mobility will be important when trying to run to help, or running to ward, and running from base, etc.

Do not try to selfishly build just because. First, look to see if the enemy team has lots of CC, and if they do, get a item 3222. It heals, it breaks CC like a targeted QSS, and while it has no offensive stats, all the ones it has are super helpful for you as a support.

If you are a tank...build tanky, and if they have lots of ap, let your other tanks (if you have them) know you are trying to get the item 3105 , unless they insist on getting it.

Buy pink wards. In every other role, upgrading that trinket is super important, but seriously, if you have a choice, get pinks. It stays there giving vision till killed, and can help you and your team a lot.

Don't be afraid to ward the enemy side a bit during laning phase, but don't get crazy.

If you have your lane opponents pushed up and you are on blue side, don't be afraid to check (if you have vision of everyone for the most part) the enemy blue and drop a ward in that bush.

If on Red, you probably don't want to tread much further than a ward in the tri-bush - just don't use your pink there unless you know you can defend it.

If you absolutely need to get ap (on a mage support) get stuff like item 3504 item 3060 item 3023 . these are legit good items, and they seem odd to a non-support, but trust me, when your job is support the team, and not only kill the enemy, you will start looking at these items in a whole other light. If you have to build selfish, I would almost always suggest item 3157. Getting a deathcap on a support is borderline silly, and expensive to boot.