Looking to become a support main

EkkoFroffles·Jul 28, 2015·4 votes·4,716 views

I main top, but my supporting was the main factor holding me back in ranked. So I've spent the majority of my time, as of late, practicing supports one by one. In the process, I've actually started to enjoy the role and think I might main it next season simply because it's the easiest role to spam, seeing as nobody ever wants to support.

Thus far, I've reached Level 5 with the following: . At the moment, I'm working on to branch out from tank supports and work further on my skill shots. Up next after her is .

Not sure who'll be next after that, but I have plenty of supports to choose from. Others that I'm particularly interested in are: .

Any general tips or guidance? I'd greatly appreciate any you have to give.

P.S. To give you an idea of where I'm at, I've compiled my stats for the last 3 supports I've spent time working on, and here they are.

16-15 (51.61%) Total: 101/134/408 (3.80 KDA). Average: 3.3/4.3/13.2. Kill Participation: 50%.

14-17 (45.16%) Total: 100/167/432 (3.19 KDA) Average: 3.2/5.4/13.9. Kill Participation: 48%.

7-7 (50.00%) Total: 30/56/218 (4.43 KDA). Average: 2.1/4.0/15.6. Kill Participation: 57%.

30 Comments

John JJ SchmidtJul 28, 20152 votes

I find your lack of Janna.... disturbing ;)

EkkoFrofflesJul 28, 20151 votes

Janna was the first support I ever owned and played. Chose her simply because people kept talking her up as one of the best and easiest supports to play. Went 0-5 with her in ranked, then switched to Sona and finally started to at least win the occasional match (7-16). Plus, my KDA was much improved as well (3.12 compared to 1.69 with Janna).

In short, Janna would be a definite project for me. And, as far as projects are concerned, I have my sights set on Annie, Bard, and Thresh. I know learning and getting good with those 3 will be a long process for me, but I feel like it'll be more rewarding for me than it would be to do the same with Janna. That and Janna is only below Lulu when it comes to the supports I feel it would take me the longest to not suck with.

John JJ SchmidtJul 28, 20151 votes

You were still learning how to support back then. I bet you'd love her now! Throw a game her way now and then.

Thresh is definitely a project. He was my first, and I got him to almost 100k before I even touched another champ. And I still completely whiff a Flay now and then, lol.

SiytherJul 28, 20151 votes

Janna is a great support but ppl dont know or understand how to work well with her. they dont get that she is a disengage support not a playmaking support so i dont play her unless my adc has a really strong laner

LintheJul 28, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=John JJ Schmidt,realm=NA,application-id=WEuoGbmp,discussion-id=ZPWnAqaP,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-07-28T14:28:41.746+0000)

I find your lack of Janna.... disturbing ;)

IKR!!??

I love Janna. Great mobility- for her AND team. Knock up. Her shield is op.

Back to OP... You have Nautilus in your pool. I think of Nautilus as in between Leona and Thresh. When Naut hooks, he meets the enemy half-way. With Leona, it's ALL in. You go right to the target, so if you ADC/team is not on the same page then it's probably at least a lost a flash for you. Thresh can always NOT repeat the Q if he doesn't want to jump to the enemy.

Alistair will be fine for you if you like Braum and Naut. VERY tanky. Great damage reduction. Does take some "synergy" with your team if you hit your heatbutt/pulverize combo. But well worth learning.

EkkoFrofflesJul 28, 20151 votes

That's actually exactly how I describe Nautilus to people. Like if Leona and Thresh had a child (who's even better than both of them), I say. I also know all too well the pitfalls of Leona. I've played some co-ops with her, and half the time I go in I end up watching as my teammates do nothing.

Alistar won me over once I figured out his combo (yet I still can't execute the Shurima Shuffle). Turret diving with his ult up is just unfair. There's also little I love more than multi-opponent CC, like Amumu's ult, so the prospect of landing 3-5 man combos has me a little wet.

I think part of my dislike for Janna is tied to her being centered around disengage. As a support, I want to be there making plays. Even the sustain supports I've played (Nami, Sona) have a solid amount of poke and pick potential. Janna, on the other hand, leaves me feeling way too passive for my liking, since I'm really just there to keep enemies off my team and little else. I have the same problem with Soraka, although she has more poke and is the queen of sustain.

I think it's why I tended towards tanky supports at first (Braum, Naut, Blitz, Tahm). I like knowing I'm not just a helpless little lamb with enemies closing in, that I can make plays of my own. Janna has heaps of disengage, and movement speed, but I feel safer with Nami or Sona. With them, I have low CD movement speed buffs, disengage tools, and surprising damage if it comes to me having to try to fight.

Maybe I just need to get used to it, since I was really tentative with Nami at first, seeing as she was my first squishy support. Now I'll dive right into the thick of things if there's a teamfight that some heals, CC, and damage buffs could turn in our favor, even if it means me dying for the sake of multiple assists. Just... the only thing that would really get me wanting to play Janna is if someone gifted me Forecast Janna. Heh.

TouchpadExpertJul 28, 20152 votes

I'm a support main and I generally pick my supports more based on synergy and match ups than anything else. There are 3 styles of fighting and they are Kill, Poke & Sustain. Everyone has a main style and a secondary style. The third style is usually omitted or has something limiting their ability to be played this way.

The champs you listed work out as follows: Kill/sustain, Nami Poke/sustain, TahmKench Sustain/kill At least in champion select you want to pick your support based on who your ADC is. So if your ADC picks Kog'maw the worst possible support you want to be is Blitzcrank, because that doesn't work to Kog'maw's range advantage nor his Poke/kill style. Tahm Kench would be a wiser choice as he can protect Kog'maw the best. But if your ADC picks Draven, who is a Kill/poke ADC, then by all means pick Blitzcrank. Tahm Kench eating him would prevent him from catching axes, thus limiting his damage output. Nami would be the middle ground in both of these situations as both ADCs mesh with a poke support pretty well.

I did notice that you didn't include Janna in your list. There's a lot of talk about Janna lately. She won't get you many kills but she will keep your carries alive and is great as a counter to most assassins and helps out siege comps/split pushers immensely. I would really look into getting her.

Some more general advice: Usual starting items are one of these: item 3301 item 3302 item 3303 , this item 3340 , obviously this item 2044 and either 2/1 of these item 2003 and 1/0 of these item 2004

Upon buying sight stone immediately swap out warding totem for Sweeper lens item 3341

Buy this first back if you do not have enough for sight stone item 2043 . Place it in either your tribush, the river bush if against a Shaco or Evelynn, or if your ADC doesn't mind you roaming for an extra 20 seconds behind the red buff bush (if starting blue side) or in the Dot brush in the center of the river. Can also be placed in the bush behind the blue buff. Not sure what to call it exactly.

If your team invades and kills the enemy jungler take the time to place a ward by their red or blue buff if it wasn't recently taken or is still up. Chances are they or someone will be coming for that buff in the next 3 minutes. Your jungler can make another invade and secure what should be an easy kill.

Aggressive pink warding the enemy jungle is also useful. The least checked bush for some reason is behind red buff. You can also pink ward one of the bending bushes between red buff and the enemy base wall if you're brazen enough. Just note that if done super early this area will not be frequently traveled. And pink warding the dragon pit itself while doing or preparing to take dragon is a smart decision too. If someone plops a ward over the wall and you aren't super quick to taking it down this will make sure it doesn't "vanish" on you. You can deny vision much easier this way.

Sometimes its a better idea to focus the enemy support than the enemy ADC. Especially if that support is Soraka.

In a team fight you shouldn't blow all of your CC on an engage. Leave something up in case a peel is needed. Generally speaking if a team fight breaks out your team should be arranged accordingly:

Enemy team| <- Tanks/Bruisers/Fighters <- Supports/Assassins <- Marksmen/Mages

If you do buy Leona don't rush to use your E and start tearing shit up. Rookie mistake. Initiate via your ultimate (it has a short cooldown), let your tanks/bruisers disrupt them further and you stand by your carries ready to peel anything that gets too close. Do not chase for a kill unless one of the enemy carries is dead, and even then you should never chase their bruisers/tanks. If the enemy team has an assassin you should never chase unless they are dead. Zone them away and take a tower or another objective.

Don't be afraid to die for the betterment of the team. If anyone has to die you should willingly volunteer if there is a chance that the other guy can live if you step in. Especially true if said teammate is a carry. If they will surely die regardless of what you choose then back off and plan your next mode of attack on the enemy team.

There's other stuff I can add but this post is long enough already so I will end it here.

EkkoFrofflesJul 28, 20151 votes

Wasn't expecting anything quite this detailed. Thanks!

My friend mentioned the different types of supports, which is why I picked Nami for my next support. I have some experience with Sona, but Nami feels in some ways like a better Sona to me, and gives me more skill shot practice, so I chose her for my first healer. Similarly, Lux, Annie, and Vel'Koz make my list so I have kill lane options.

I've also given some thought to synergy. Mainly in the form of learning some of the best combos, like Braum/Ashe, Kalista/Tahm. This'll become a bigger focus once I learn more supports, but you gave me a good bit to think about.

As far as the items and warding is concerned, I've been doing that consistently in all of my support matches. Been focusing heavily upon vision. It's just depressing how few wards I find to destroy because people just don't ward at my level. Heh.

Knowing how to pick my engages/disengages is something I admittedly need to work at, and you gave me a good bit to think about there too. I definitely have no issue dying to save someone, though. My KDA with Nautilus is the lowest of the 3 I kept stats for largely because I try to tank/CC opponents to secure escapes the most with him. Likewise, with Tahm, I play him mostly as my team's babysitter, meaning I put myself in harm's way a lot to try and snag a teammate and carry him to safety.

Oh, and I already own Leona. It's just her and Sona are supports simple and face-roll enough that there's a much smaller gap between the level I can already play them at and the level I'd play them at with practice than with others like Nami.

Thanks again!

TouchpadExpertJul 28, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Wasn't expecting anything quite this detailed. Thanks!

My friend mentioned the different types of supports, which is why I picked Nami for my next support. I have some experience with Sona, but Nami feels in some ways like a better Sona to me, and gives me more skill shot practice, so I chose her for my first healer. Similarly, Lux, Annie, and Vel'Koz make my list so I have kill lane options.

I've also given some thought to synergy. Mainly in the form of learning some of the best combos, like Braum/Ashe, Kalista/Tahm. This'll become a bigger focus once I learn more supports, but you gave me a good bit to think about.

As far as the items and warding is concerned, I've been doing that consistently in all of my support matches. Been focusing heavily upon vision. It's just depressing how few wards I find to destroy because people just don't ward at my level. Heh.

Knowing how to pick my engages/disengages is something I admittedly need to work at, and you gave me a good bit to think about there too. I definitely have no issue dying to save someone, though. My KDA with Nautilus is the lowest of the 3 I kept stats for largely because I try to tank/CC opponents to secure escapes the most with him. Likewise, with Tahm, I play him mostly as my team's babysitter, meaning I put myself in harm's way a lot to try and snag a teammate and carry him to safety.

Oh, and I already own Leona. It's just her and Sona are supports simple and face-roll enough that there's a much smaller gap between the level I can already play them at and the level I'd play them at with practice than with others like Nami.

Thanks again!

My top 6 supports in order are as follows: Thresh Leona Nami Janna Morgana Lulu I can give in depth info on any of them if you want me to talk about a specific one.

There's quite a few synergistic picks out there as well. I'll add to the list: Alistar + Tristana , Draven + Thresh , Braum + Ezreal , Annie + Lucian , Nami + Varus , Nami + Vayne , Morgana + Sivir , Blitzcrank + Caitlyn , KogMaw + Janna , Janna + Ashe , Leona + Quinn , Braum + Ezreal , Lulu + Ashe , Karma + Ezreal , Twitch + Taric , Jinx + Thresh , Zyra + Varus , Caitlyn + Zyra , Kalista + Leona , Morgana + Kalista , Caitlyn + Soraka & MissFortune + Sona

There's quite a few more too if you want to add in off-meta support picks. One of my favorite of meta support picks is this Anivia + Vayne . Bonus points if you have this guy on the team too: Azir And if any of the synergies don't make sense I can elaborate on them.

There is a neat trick to extending your warding range. You probably know it by now but placing a ward in a wall will have the ward get "pushed" to the nearest open spot. This is a safe way of warding the river bush from your tri-bush when you start on the red side or warding the blue side's tri-bush from inside outer edge of the dragon pit.

The engages and disengages takes some practice. It's hard to know who will back you up on an engage or if that precious disengage you used will get wasted when said teammate jumps right back into the fray. Or if you disengage the enemy tank off your out of position APC only to have the enemy assassin loop around and assassinate your ADC. All takes practice, good predictions of your ally's preferences and timing. One tip that does help in predicting what someone will want to do is to look at their health bar and their mana bar. Lux without much mana will most likely use her abilities in a disengage and run style as opposed to when its closer to full in which case she will try to snare a squishy and laser them to death. But some champions can be tricky. Like a low mana Karthus will actually prefer to run into the enemy team and die which actually buys his team a great time to engage. Lets just hope that any Karthus players you get looks at their ally's health and mana bars before he does this. I get a lot of arguments in my games that start out like "wtf teammate, back me up!" and they respond "I was oom and only had 20% hp."

Leona has some neat tricks to her. One of her hidden strengths is how she can clear out an enemy ward without a sweeper if she has some quick reactions. If the ward gets placed right in her face she can auto Q auto it and take it out within one second. She can also zenith blade minion waves to clear them out faster, helping out if you want to force a siege. She can also fake an engage by running into the enemy team to bait out the enemy tank to charge in and grab a carry only to have Leona zenith blade backwards onto the tank and peel him off lickety split. I don't play Sona much. I find her to be a very one trick pony. She moves up, mashes Q and immediately backs off. Sometimes she will Q and land in one auto attack. Every other time she just heals and occasionally uses the speed boost/auto attack slow on a target. Her hard CC doesn't come until level 6 and without proper positioning is an easy kill for anything with a hook.

As someone else mentioned earlier Thresh and Alistar are definitely supports to learn as they are play maker supports. Thresh might be easier to pick up because you already know Blitzcrank. Thresh's lantern is a unique skill, and his flay takes some getting used to. His R is pretty straight forward though. Thresh gets countered by poke and disengagement champions as well as highly mobile champions who can simply juke out his hooks. Alistar is pretty unique. I guess he's a mix of Maokai (Q), Poppy (W), Sona (E) and Taric (R) all in one. So if you play any of those champs you might have an easier time picking up on his abilities. Alistar gets countered by hard hitting long range poke.

EkkoFrofflesJul 28, 20151 votes

Is that how you do it? Because I swear I'm the only one who can't seem to, say, ward dragon pit from the bush.

Checking my enemy's mana is something I really need to make more of a habit. I honestly keep forgetting that's a thing I can do, and should be doing.

The wind-up on Thresh's hook throws me off, his flay is gonna be a pain for me to learn, and I'm gonna need to work on when and where to drop my lantern. His ult is the only ability I won't need to practice. Alistar seems more up my alley because he's kinda like a cross between Blitz and Leona, in that his combo works kinda like Blitz's Q+E combo, only it's more instantaneous and he has to commit and put himself at risk to land it, like Leona with her combo. That and he's a tank, which I'm best with.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind some Lulu and Janna pointers, since I'm a walking dumpster fire with both. Heh.

TouchpadExpertJul 28, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Is that how you do it? Because I swear I'm the only one who can't seem to, say, ward dragon pit from the bush.

Checking my enemy's mana is something I really need to make more of a habit. I honestly keep forgetting that's a thing I can do, and should be doing.

The wind-up on Thresh's hook throws me off, his flay is gonna be a pain for me to learn, and I'm gonna need to work on when and where to drop my lantern. His ult is the only ability I won't need to practice. Alistar seems more up my alley because he's kinda like a cross between Blitz and Leona, in that his combo works kinda like Blitz's Q+E combo, only it's more instantaneous and he has to commit and put himself at risk to land it, like Leona with her combo. That and he's a tank, which I'm best with.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind some Lulu and Janna pointers, since I'm a walking dumpster fire with both. Heh.

In order to ward tri bush from dragon pit you need to have the utility master that extends your warding range.

Thresh's flay isn't too difficult. I'll draw a diagram to help:

If cursor is in front of you this is bow it looks: Enemy<<Thresh<<Ally

If cursor is behind you: Enemy>>Thresh>>Ally

The cursor dictates what direction the wind up ends in. Most of the time I flay enemies towards me. I can usually get a kill and can afford to be aggressive as Thresh. It should also be noted that it is a fraction quicker if aimed behind you. Flay can interrupt mobility abilities so don't burn it instantly after dashing onto a target. Thresh's hook is cool. After hooking someone he makes 2 quick "tugs" on the hooked target. Most people will gap close after the 2 tugs. It can be activated before the tugs. Usually she used this way it is because you missed a hook on a target and got a minion instead so you want to get there ASAP in order to flay the escaping target and maybe put a box around them. Or if you want to make a quick escape onto a hooked jungle camp you want to dash right away. The animation on the hook can be misleading at times. This is more of a strength than a weakness. You can actually change directions mid wind up if you have quick enough reactions. The lantern you just have to throw it where your ally is heading not where they are.

TouchpadExpertJul 28, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Is that how you do it? Because I swear I'm the only one who can't seem to, say, ward dragon pit from the bush.

Checking my enemy's mana is something I really need to make more of a habit. I honestly keep forgetting that's a thing I can do, and should be doing.

The wind-up on Thresh's hook throws me off, his flay is gonna be a pain for me to learn, and I'm gonna need to work on when and where to drop my lantern. His ult is the only ability I won't need to practice. Alistar seems more up my alley because he's kinda like a cross between Blitz and Leona, in that his combo works kinda like Blitz's Q+E combo, only it's more instantaneous and he has to commit and put himself at risk to land it, like Leona with her combo. That and he's a tank, which I'm best with.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind some Lulu and Janna pointers, since I'm a walking dumpster fire with both. Heh.

Janna tips: Janna is a very non-interactive support. Basically she makes sure nothing happens. Janna thrives in situations where short and quick trades are made. She shield can usually tank 2-3 auto attacks. And while it's up bonus AD. Basically she is telling her ADC when to make trades and when not to. If an enemy engages on her ADC the typical Janna response is to shield the carry, tornado the engager and then zephyr the ADC so they can't capitalize on the situation. Then run away and wait for cooldowns. Tornado can also be used to interrupt an engage if timed properly and can also be aimed at ADC. Likewise Zephyr can be used to peel off engager.

Janna could poke via tornado or zephyr but these abilities are not mana efficient. The tornado has a long cool down and zephyr actually lower's Janna's movement speed making her a vulnerable target. They should be used sparingly.

Janna won't get you kills. What she does best is make engagement a serious chore for the enemy team. Your allies whittle the enemy down and you keep them from getting close. Janna could flash monsoon the enemy team apart but most times she does this she dies. She is a very defensive champion.

She can use shield on towers but not minions. If you like shielding/healing minions look into Karma or Soraka.

TouchpadExpertJul 29, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Is that how you do it? Because I swear I'm the only one who can't seem to, say, ward dragon pit from the bush.

Checking my enemy's mana is something I really need to make more of a habit. I honestly keep forgetting that's a thing I can do, and should be doing.

The wind-up on Thresh's hook throws me off, his flay is gonna be a pain for me to learn, and I'm gonna need to work on when and where to drop my lantern. His ult is the only ability I won't need to practice. Alistar seems more up my alley because he's kinda like a cross between Blitz and Leona, in that his combo works kinda like Blitz's Q+E combo, only it's more instantaneous and he has to commit and put himself at risk to land it, like Leona with her combo. That and he's a tank, which I'm best with.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind some Lulu and Janna pointers, since I'm a walking dumpster fire with both. Heh.

And Lulu tips:

Lulu is a constant nuisance through her auto attacks. For a support she hits HARD and can actually stand her own early on against ADCs in terms of just auto attacks. Her glitter lance has a nice kick to it too and the slow helps your ADC get in a few extra hits for good measure too. That ability is pretty straight forward and with a fast missle speed is hard to dodge. The mana cost isn't too heavy so it can be used fairly frequently.

Lulu's whimsy spell has 2 different effects based on whether its used on an ally or an enemy. If used on an ally its a speed boost. Use this to chase a kill, escape a gank before it happens and to get to lane faster. I want to say 4/5 times you want to use it this way. The other way turns your enemy into a tiny pink gerbil. Your number one target for this spell should always be the enemy assassin namely the enemy Katarina. It interrupts channeled abilities and if used on someone like Zed who needs precious time to pull off his combo and make a quick escape that loss of 1 second forces him to make a decision: finish the combo and lose the escape or escape and only perform half the combo. Next best option is the enemy ADC. Say your ADC got caught in a Jinx chompers trap. Whimsy Jinx. By the time Whimsy runs up your ADC is free from the snare and can run away or trade with Jinx on even ground.

Lulu's Help! Pix! also has 2 uses. When used on an ally it gives them a minor shield but also gives your advanced auto attacks onto your ally of choice. If they have more attack speed than you (as most ADCs do build attack speed) they will make more use of this AA steroid than Lulu herself would. It can also be placed on an enemy which damages them slightly and gives you vision of them. This is neat and useful for when you're up against a stealth champion. Since Twitch isn't anywhere remotely close to a competitive standing in the current meta you usually won't use this ability this way. Unless your glitterlance is on CD and you are trying to secure a kill try not to use this ability this way. It is better to shield the ADC or an ally who is taking damage.

Help! Pix! and Glitterlance can also be used together. Place Pix on an ally minion, enemy minion, ally champion or enemy champion and then this will give glitterlance two starting points. They will intersect (or attempt to intersect) wherever the cursor is. This is a sneaky way of always maintaining a presence in lane but in conjunction together this combo is mana intensive and shouldn't be spammed. Should only be used when a kill is guaranteed or you want to make a nice peel but with style points.

Lastly is Lulu's ult. Lulu's ult is an assassin's worst nightmare, especially for this guy: Rengar Anything that tries to gap close onto your ally you pop this on them. This gives an immediate health bonus to them and knocks up all nearby enemies. Ignite does not reduce the health gained from this ability. Can also piss off Karthus when he ults too for added laughs. You COULD use this as added crowd control and a health boost to a tank who just engaged the enemy team too but thats one less tool you have to save your ADC at your disposal. Not a bad choice just keep your eyes open as to where the enemy assassins are at all times. Lulu is the #1 support for making assassins cry.

EkkoFrofflesJul 29, 20151 votes

Thanks! You've gone above and beyond. You're the best. :D

TouchpadExpertJul 29, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Thanks! You've gone above and beyond. You're the best. :D

Glad to be of service.

Jesus Canaj 420Jul 28, 20151 votes

From personal experience for solo queue, don't bother too hard with "perfect" matchups with your adc. Not saying to do something like play sona or nami with kalista, but it's not the most valuable concept in solo q.

Reason: Your synergy with your adc will almost always be low-ish. One of you will have to react to what the other is doing, with little warning in advance.

Instead, focus on picking a support that can help win your lane and ideally if possible be ideal against the whole enemy team. For example, see a lot of ranged champions? Pick Braum. See a lot of damage/diving champions? Janna. Etc. Maybe they wont be the best matchup with your adc, but as long as they're good enough to at least hold even in lane, then you're good to go imo.

Jesus Canaj 420Jul 28, 20151 votes

Only comment I have is buying a ward to start is a bit of an outdated strategy. Most if not all supports (I also supp main) do not go this route anymore. Instead, you'll invest the gold in an extra 2 pots and play lane more agressively.

Nothing wrong with getting the ward really because it protects you way better from ganks, but only works if you know you're going to be going agressive or pushing in lane. Otherwise more pots will be better because you can stay in lane longer and use trinket wards to keep up brief periods of vision when you feel at risk.

tl;dr: pots give more lane presence but ward gives safety from ganks if pushing agressively.

MrBuffingtonJul 29, 20152 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6bWcmK-w_M

This video taught me how to play support (at least/especially during lane phase). Pay more attention to the mindset/general principles; the specifics aren't as important especially since this was a few years ago and the specifics of the game, ie items and stuff, are very different now. Providing strong lane presence is so powerful; you probably don't want to be going as ham as Aphromoo in that video unless you are way better than your opponents/really know the limits of your champion & their champions/trust your ADC to back you up sometimes, but the principle of zoning and providing presence still applies.

I'm sure you know what it feels like to have an enemy blitz in bottom brush just waiting to grab you; you're basically zoned way back or have to sit behind your minions if you want to farm. The same principles apply to basically all supports.

Speaking of, regarding champions, play whoever you like and whoever you're willing to practice on, champions you have success with, etc. I would try every support champion at least once or twice, but when it comes down to what you actually play, pick like, 2-3 champions that you like and do well with and just play those. Spreading yourself too thin as far as champion pool basically makes it so you're mediocre at all champions, master of none. Yes, champions have various strengths and weaknesses, but being able to play a champion well will mask those weaknesses. For example, Soraka's main strength is her ability to sustain in lane, but she can dish out some really mean harass with her spells and auto attacks (she's got pretty high base damages and her AA range is the same as most ADCs), especially if you're just relentlessly hammering away on your opponent (moreso because harassing with your Q heals you, enabling you to sustain even better), and her silence can destroy people in fights. Moreover, and this is true with every role, focus on the fundamentals of the game/role. This is easier if you have a champion you really know well, because instead of wrestling with the champion's mechanics, you can control them instinctively and focus more on the game. Finally, some champions you just don't play well, or your playstyle doesn't match their strengths, but that's not an issue, just find what works for you. I think Nami is an amazing champion, if you like playing her, keep at it, but I don't play her because I'm not happy with my bubble accuracy (or lack of) and the cast time on her ult bothers me; on the other hand Janna's one of my favorite/best champions, but if she's not working for you, don't force it; everyone plays the game a little differently.

Speaking of Janna, I always see people touting her as this disengage heavy support with a passive playstyle, etc. etc. which is true to an extent, but I want to stress that none of this is dogma. Most players I see playing Janna play pretty passively, just disengaging with her Q and shielding you from poke every once in a while. I play Janna pretty aggressively; vs opponents who aren't providing much presence in lane I can often single-handedly force both of them to back with just my shield and auto attack harass (vs. more evenly skilled opponents I'm still constantly looking for opportunities to harass and poke and zone). In fact it's probably because Janna is so good at disengaging that I can afford to play as aggressively as I do, because if I overstep my bounds I can easily disengage and reset. (This isn't me telling you to play Janna; again if she's not working for you, she's not working for you. This is just me illustrating Aphromoo's point about providing lane presence; you can easily do the same thing with Nami since she also has an AA buff and sustain, as well as strong CC).

Some more general advice; your goal as a Support is the same as everyone else: you're trying to win the game. Most people think the support is at the mercy of the ADC; it's actually reversed, the ADC is your damage tool to win the game. The reason you're in lane to begin with is just to get some experience/a bit of gold, and basically while you're there, you might as well try and get your team's 'weapon/sustained damage tool' aka the ADC ahead of theirs. As a support you're an enabler, meaning you're the person that opens the door (through your base utility/utility from your items) for your team, they just have to walk through (aka deal the damage, right click on turrets and enemies, etc). It's not that you have no farm and therefore you're weak; it's because you don't have to sit around in a lane/jungle and farm creeps all game that you're useful, you're free to control the map. If your ADC literally cannot last hit to save their life, go gank another lane, get someone else ahead. Your teammates are tools for you to win the game; if one isn't working properly, go help a better one (conversely, if one is doing well, help them do better; peel for your carries, etc). Look for opportunities to ward; enemy jungler just showed top? Go light up their bottom side jungle; it's your jungle now (careful of enemy laners collapsing on you).

Some even more general advice; work on your gameplay fundamentals, which means your mechanics, game knowledge, etc. I learned to play ADC after being frustrated supporting ADCs who couldn't last hit or kite (basically, as support I was giving them a free lane by forcing the enemy back, but the ADC didn't capitalize on it ie. 'didn't walk through the door'), and learning to do both of those helped immensely with me learning to play support more aggressively and really abusing my opponents with auto attacks, as well as just learning general lane dynamics and how an ADC thinks and how to work with that. Also, don't underestimate your own auto attacks; sure one Soraka banana isn't going to hurt too bad, but you chain a bunch of them together, especially if you can kite and stutter step as well as an ADC main, and that damage really sticks (FYI, Soraka and Sona have the same base attack damage as Caitlyn; they're also higher than a number of ADCs like Varus, Twitch, MF, etc. You add an AA steroid like Janna or Nami, who have even higher base AD, have and their autos seriously start to hurt; yes I know the ADC's runes/masteries/doran blade creates a larger gap etc. but I'm just pointing out that you can deal a ton of damage with autos, especially since you're not busy wasting them on last hitting minions). Plus if you're taking the utility mastery, poking the enemy just means more gold for you.

Hope that helps

EkkoFrofflesJul 30, 20151 votes

That Aphromoo video helps highlight one of my weaknesses as a support. I can sometimes __play too passively in lane, and even my friend (who I often support) thinks so. Part of it is the fact that I'm still learning these supports, thus I'm still learning their limits. That and I need to dial in my skillshots with some of them, such as Nami or Blitzcrank. But it's also just a confidence thing. With someone like Nami, it's taking me some time to get to the point where I'm not leery of sticking her squishy self in harm's way.

Yet other times I'll get too aggressive. Last night, their 1/5/2 Draven got under turret with his HP so low that I knew I could probably just finish the job with an AA if I got in range. So once our minions reached the turret, I flashed, found Draven still hanging around, and took him out solo. Unfortunately, Fizz happened to show up and killed me to go from 4/3/1 to 5/3/1. I would've survived otherwise. On one hand, you might be able to call that "worth" because the enemy I fed wasn't much of a factor, and because I dropped Draven to 1/6/2, denying him even more CS and XP, rendering him virtually useless at that point. On the other hand, I know I shouldn't be making a habit of that. And I've taken even more questionable risks in the past.

You don't have to worry about me underestimating the power of my auto-attacks, however. I know all too well from playing Sona and Nami (and now Bard) how you can catch your enemies (and yourself) by surprise with your damage. Like last night I went to AA their ADC, hoping to get him so low that there was no way my ADC didn't finish the job, and I ended up last hitting him for the kill instead. I've kill-stolen so many times with Nami just by trying to help with an AA and ending up getting the kill. But, hey, as long as they're dead, that's all I care about.

Thanks for the thoughts!

l Main RenektonJul 30, 20151 votes

Take into account that he is playing one of the only supports in the game that has her entire kit centered around going in constantly and playing aggressive.

EkkoFrofflesJul 30, 20151 votes

I'm aware. But, like Mr. Buffington said, the same basic principles can be used effectively with any support.

LuggJul 28, 20151 votes

If you want to do well in the higher ELOs, you need to know Alistar and Thresh

IcyPepperJul 28, 20151 votes

Are you sure?

You're going to get a lot of shit from everyone. If you're a caring person who's able to turn the other cheek, then go for it. Otherwise, I would be careful.

Fortunately though, you do have another role for backup, so it's not like you're solely a support main. So good luck mate.

Also, I highly suggest having some sustain supports and some poke supports. Tanks are great, but sometimes mages are good too. Consider Zyra, Soraka, and Lulu for your supporting needs.

EkkoFrofflesJul 28, 20151 votes

It's often a thankless role, but I'm starting to adjust to it. I can peacefully coexist with my ADCs and teams more often than not. It seems to help that I'm good at keeping from raging at my ADC and/or team, even when my ADC can't CS and doesn't even bother trying to dodge their skill shots, and apologize immediately anytime I, for example, accidentally KS. I can also generally keep quiet when people freak out, like our jungler yelling at me in all caps because I left her behind to make sure the Riven who was one hit away from dying didn't escape. Maybe not my best decision, but I just ignored it and got a "well deserved" remark from her post-match when I mentioned I got my second S+ with Nami that match. And, if things get especially bad, I just mute them. I tend not to waste time arguing back in chat. I used to do it more, but am dialing that back.

As far as poke/sustain supports are concerned, I'm working on Nami and will learn Soraka at some point because I know I need more variety. Lulu and Zyra are last on my list, though, because I am just god awful with them.

BemaponJul 29, 20151 votes

Bard master race. Join us.

EkkoFrofflesJul 29, 20151 votes

I'm actually thinking of using his free week as an opportunity to put some actual game time in with him. It's how things started with Braum . Got him to something like Level 3 just during his free week. Didn't buy him until after.

I mean, after tomorrow, I'm off the next 4 days. So that gives me plenty of time to test him out.

EkkoFrofflesJul 30, 20151 votes

Played 3 matches with Bard thus far. He's not as difficult to get the hang of as I thought he was, but fine tuning things is gonna take a while. I wouldn't say I've been a detriment to my teams, going 2-1 with a 5.80 KDA (6/5/23) and 43% kill participation on a champion I barely know, but that's still not nearly good enough for me. More than anything, I need to practice with his ult and magical journey. His Q and meeps are pretty straightforward, as is knowing when to roam for chimes and when and where to place shrines, so that's all I feel I really need to work on.

BemaponJul 30, 20151 votes

I dont normally start roaming until 10/15 mins/when I feel my adc can handle themselves. I do some times roam before that if my adc goes back and I have a decent amount of health/mana

EkkoFrofflesJul 30, 20151 votes

Yeah, I've mainly been sticking to the chimes that are right nearby in the early game. I save the more risky and/or extensive chime hunting for when I'm coming back to lane, or I have vision of the entire area and my ADC's backed, or if there's just nothing else pressing to do at that moment. It worked quite well for me my fourth match. 6/8/25, 63% kill participation, S-.

What I'm really noticing is he deals way more damage than I expected. He's almost like Sona in the sense that he has the damage, CC, and mobility to finish someone off by himself if it comes down to that. I think I might try a full AP build one of these matches to see just how much damage he can dish out.