Support life

Chardor42·Jan 27, 2015·1 votes·2,144 views

Was wondering if people had any solid advice on how to carry yourself through ranked as a support. I play fairly well, mechanics need work, warding is on point and have a great champ pool, but for some reason i can never string wins together, i only care to play support but damn it can be so rough, the last game of my provisional i went mao supp, Adc was afk and i won lane 1v2 and finished an even 5-5 going against sivir and braum. The first 3 games in my provisional had an afk in each as well... Im just beginning to think that i can not carry myself out of bronze as a support and a true support at that. Just looking for some advice from support mains who typically only play support on how to carry myself through bronze

30 Comments

TurtleHumperJan 27, 20152 votes

Last season I used Taric and Janna to go from b2 to s2. What I found helped was that in lower elos people don't know how or when to use their items (like randuins, mikaels, locket etc). By learning to use them correctly and also when figuring out when to use them I found I had an edge over the other low elo supports.

That being said, it's a lot easier to learn AP supports in low elo that can poke down the enemy and essentially become a carry late game (morg, zil, lulu, lux etc) , but I think it's important to get to grips with more 'traditional' supports for when you get to higher elos because champs like example janna have an amazing kit, however Janna can't really do much if the ADC constantly walks into hooks, gets caught etc so lower elo she's more risky as other people's mechanics will be worse.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Last season I used Taric and Janna to go from b2 to s2. What I found helped was that in lower elos people don't know how or when to use their items (like randuins, mikaels, locket etc). By learning to use them correctly and also when figuring out when to use them I found I had an edge over the other low elo supports.

That being said, it's a lot easier to learn AP supports in low elo that can poke down the enemy and essentially become a carry late game (morg, zil, lulu, lux etc) , but I think it's important to get to grips with more 'traditional' supports for when you get to higher elos because champs like example janna have an amazing kit, however Janna can't really do much if the ADC constantly walks into hooks, gets caught etc so lower elo she's more risky as other people's mechanics will be worse.

yeah im big on using my kits, got a nice mouse to make that easier cause usually i can end up with about 4 or 5 items that have actives. Did you only play support in your time from bronze to silver? Is it just luck when it comes to getting consistent wins? I mean i couldnt express more how it is clockwork with either afk adc, or an adc who goes back and gets boots first buy......bronze life though

TurtleHumperJan 27, 20152 votes

I do almost always play support. My wins are quite consistent, I had 55% win rate with Taric last season.

If your ADC leaves then it depends who you are...plenty of times if I'm Taric I just get a tonne of armour and I can pull through the 1v2 bot. If you're sona, soraka, janna, nami it's a lot harder and you're better off discussing with your teammates, if your jungle can come bot or you can join top or mid. That's happened a few times, if it does you can join mid and rush the tower, rush drags etc.

Some supports I would recommend if you are worried about an afk/feeder are

Morgana - really strong late game and essentially becomes a carry. Taric - Super tanky, nice stun and gives an armour aura for your team, best vs heavy AD teams. Annie - Stuns and same as morgana. Janna - more difficult, but has great escapes and really good shield to get even the heaviest of ADC's out of tricky situations.

Some people are playing Sion support but I haven't tried it yet. I wouldn't recommend playing Sona/Soraka in lower elos as they are squishy and if you end up with 1v2 bot lane you won't win.

Another tip is to make sure to do is learn all the main jungler and adc abilities. This will help you a lot to gauge whether or not to go in, how far and where to ward (example J4 has gap closers and he's pretty popular recently) , do you need pinks early etc.

I hope this helps!

Chardor42Jan 27, 20152 votes

{quoted}

I do almost always play support. My wins are quite consistent, I had 55% win rate with Taric last season.

If your ADC leaves then it depends who you are...plenty of times if I'm Taric I just get a tonne of armour and I can pull through the 1v2 bot. If you're sona, soraka, janna, nami it's a lot harder and you're better off discussing with your teammates, if your jungle can come bot or you can join top or mid. That's happened a few times, if it does you can join mid and rush the tower, rush drags etc.

Some supports I would recommend if you are worried about an afk/feeder are

Morgana - really strong late game and essentially becomes a carry. Taric - Super tanky, nice stun and gives an armour aura for your team, best vs heavy AD teams. Annie - Stuns and same as morgana. Janna - more difficult, but has great escapes and really good shield to get even the heaviest of ADC's out of tricky situations.

Some people are playing Sion support but I haven't tried it yet. I wouldn't recommend playing Sona/Soraka in lower elos as they are squishy and if you end up with 1v2 bot lane you won't win.

Another tip is to make sure to do is learn all the main jungler and adc abilities. This will help you a lot to gauge whether or not to go in, how far and where to ward (example J4 has gap closers and he's pretty popular recently) , do you need pinks early etc.

I hope this helps!

it all helps a lot thank you. And champ knowledge is what i lack the absolute most, but its soo much to learn, but im trying

ButterwoodJan 27, 20151 votes

This season I have about a 75% win rate as jungle and 70% win rate as support, then 50% or below as everyone else. In sub-gold ELOs there are a decent amount of games where nobody wants to support, so having a supp on your team that actually knows what they're doing can be a HUGE advantage. If I'm worried about "carrying" (like in solo-queue, where I have no guarantee of who I'm getting on my team), then I just make sure I stay glued to my adc / lategame carry and take heavy support items (FACE...of the Mountain!). It's probably the simplest role you can draw in Summoners Rift, but don't underestimate the difference you can make supping.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20152 votes

{quoted}

This season I have about a 75% win rate as jungle and 70% win rate as support, then 50% or below as everyone else. In sub-gold ELOs there are a decent amount of games where nobody wants to support, so having a supp on your team that actually knows what they're doing can be a HUGE advantage. If I'm worried about "carrying" (like in solo-queue, where I have no guarantee of who I'm getting on my team), then I just make sure I stay glued to my adc / lategame carry and take heavy support items (FACE...of the Mountain!). It's probably the simplest role you can draw in Summoners Rift, but don't underestimate the difference you can make supping.

what exactly makes it the simplest role? being support you have to be aware of both your adc mid and jg, keep the river warded, knowing when to buy what with your limited gold intake, the right time to initiate, you get full blame most games, YOur success directly reflects your ADC skill set....Knowing what items to buy to fit the team comp. knowing when to bail out your adc or when to bail out your mid support. I always look at it like this a good adc can carry a support but a good support can only carry or help the best player on team,

ButterwoodJan 27, 20151 votes

All I do as support is ward and make sure my adc / any teammates around me don't die and are able to get more kills. I only think it's the simplest role because it's the only role that you can all-but ignore getting kills and farm.

fdisshtJan 27, 20151 votes

Honestly, I'd say (in my opinion) support is either the easiest or 2nd easiest role, a throwdown between jungle and support.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Honestly, I'd say (in my opinion) support is either the easiest or 2nd easiest role, a throwdown between jungle and support.

is it the easier role to carry youself through ranked in?

fdisshtJan 27, 20151 votes

Depends, in terms of roles it may be the easiest In terms of carrying yourself out of low elo? That's arguable, for instance if you go kill lane support (annie/karma/vel/etc) you can get fed off of kills, deny enemy adc, and simultaneously allow adc to farm better. So you deny two enemy members while strengthening yourself and adc. I like to play ham supports like leona and thresh, i basically feed my adc kills on a platter, that way i deny the enemy adc and strengthen my own. As soon as I get a kill botlane I look to mid to see if I can help another teammate get a kill, thus crippling enemy mid and, once again, strengthening my own.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Depends, in terms of roles it may be the easiest In terms of carrying yourself out of low elo? That's arguable, for instance if you go kill lane support (annie/karma/vel/etc) you can get fed off of kills, deny enemy adc, and simultaneously allow adc to farm better. So you deny two enemy members while strengthening yourself and adc. I like to play ham supports like leona and thresh, i basically feed my adc kills on a platter, that way i deny the enemy adc and strengthen my own. As soon as I get a kill botlane I look to mid to see if I can help another teammate get a kill, thus crippling enemy mid and, once again, strengthening my own.

very good points, and btw if you look further in my history my warding is much much better than that, just did my last 20 ranked games and i average 15-20 without afks, sitll not as much as id like, but i always die at least once off a ward placement, as sad as that sounds, and usually im trying my hardest to give kills not take them.....should i move up to help mid in laning phase more, usually i try to stick with my adc in laning phase and only go to mid when the really needed or lane is won?......thank you for replying good sir!!

fdisshtJan 27, 20151 votes

Only help mid if you got the leeway to do so, for instance you manage to get 1 or 2 kills bot and both you and your adc are healthy. If you manage to kill the adc/support and you feel confident in leaving your adc by him/herself, go up to ward river (both your end and mid lane) and while you're warding, see if you can make a play. If not, whatever, you helped mid by placing a ward and if it saves their life then that's mission accomplished.

Also I checked your match history on ward placement and it can be improved, ward after winning teamfights or when you see where the enemy is. Remember to save your trinket ward if you see jungler top lane, trinket wards at low level only lasts 1 min and you don't need to waste it when you know they're top. Also warding as a group is advised.

Remember wards are MORE important if you're LOSING the game, you need vision to make accurate picks, see which objectives they go for, and to make sure your teammates don't get ambushed

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Only help mid if you got the leeway to do so, for instance you manage to get 1 or 2 kills bot and both you and your adc are healthy. If you manage to kill the adc/support and you feel confident in leaving your adc by him/herself, go up to ward river (both your end and mid lane) and while you're warding, see if you can make a play. If not, whatever, you helped mid by placing a ward and if it saves their life then that's mission accomplished.

Also I checked your match history on ward placement and it can be improved, ward after winning teamfights or when you see where the enemy is. Remember to save your trinket ward if you see jungler top lane, trinket wards at low level only lasts 1 min and you don't need to waste it when you know they're top. Also warding as a group is advised.

Remember wards are MORE important if you're LOSING the game, you need vision to make accurate picks, see which objectives they go for, and to make sure your teammates don't get ambushed

i agree completely, but its so hard to convince your team to back in you in warding, which is why i find myself out of place a lot, its something i have to figure out in lower elo. Plus you also have to take in mind where its so important in higher elo if your team doesnt watch the map the wards are pointless. My early game warding is much better than my late game, in late game i find myself trying to get to the team fights and end up not getting wards placed, just by rushng to the fights. Im my expierence in my level people only fight in mid and bot lane, no drag fights, no baron or jg fights, so its either run to the team and help or run to ward, usually when i try to do both i will get yelled at for abandoning the team, or when i go to help the team ill get bitched at for leaving the adc or not warding, its a tricky juggle i have to learn to balance more efficiently. i dont have any friends in this game so i appreciate you taking the time to discuss some things with me. it helps a lot

fdisshtJan 27, 20151 votes

Then take it upon yourself to be the teams detector, ward and ping where enemies are. Even people with poor map awareness will hear the "ping" noise and look at the map. The only time they don't is when they are heavily tunnel visioned because they are thirsty for a kill.

If you ward enemy jungle you'll be able to pick off the greedy adc that farms jungle, if there are no jungle fights start one! Also warding properly can start drag/baron fights, there is no way drag/baron is left untouched, even in low elo. Remember if you ward dragon and the enemy takes it, you still get the dragon timer when you press tab. So you can say hey team, dragon will be up in 1min-30sec, etc. That way you can either gib a quick dragon or atleast catch the enemy doing it.

TsundayJan 27, 20151 votes

lol a support is actually supposed to leash the ADC their farm especially when the ADC gets shoved under turret, it's just that nobody does that in lower elo. You might not be the one last hitting it but you should be helping assure that your ADC can get every CS in a wave.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20153 votes

{quoted}

lol a support is actually supposed to leash the ADC their farm especially when the ADC gets shoved under turret, it's just that nobody does that in lower elo. You might not be the one last hitting it but you should be helping assure that your ADC can get every CS in a wave.

i agree with that to a point, but some adc prefer you to leave the minions alone (unless you have relic) because it will mess up their rhythm causing them to lose cs

TsundayJan 27, 20151 votes

That's because low elo. Also notice that in Bronze 4 nobody can farm worth shit. Especially not under towers.

Rock RockburghJan 27, 20151 votes

Whether they like it or not, when the enemy wave is under tower and you haven't got minions of your own, the support HAS to hit them-- at least the casters. If you don't, then a pre-BF (possibly even slightly after) ADC will have to hit them twice, which you don't really have time for.

KDA MichaelJan 27, 20151 votes

Play carry style supports like Lulu or Annie, or Morgana and try to be as aggresive as you can. If you can keep the enemy adc from farming as much as possible you make it so your adc, even when he is not very mechanically talented, will be strong enough to fight, but the enemy adc will be gold starved and not very impactful. This can make a very big difference in closing out games, or turning a losing game into a winning one.

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Play carry style supports like Lulu or Annie, or Morgana and try to be as aggresive as you can. If you can keep the enemy adc from farming as much as possible you make it so your adc, even when he is not very mechanically talented, will be strong enough to fight, but the enemy adc will be gold starved and not very impactful. This can make a very big difference in closing out games, or turning a losing game into a winning one.

My problem with those type champs is they are too squishy if your adc doesnt realize when you can grab a kill you can get bursted down so easy so i prefer more tanky champs for sustain, i main a braum, thresh, mao, leona, then play nami,janna,soraka,

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

I do extremely well in laning phase, its just i cant string together consistent wins, i never ever play any role so carrying myself out of bronze in any other lan or position wont happen with me, i only have fun helping my team and warding. But its like clockwork every 3rd or 4th game afk, or terrible team comp, Obviously i have made mistakes that are costly and im very aware of my problems, i watch ever game i play to see where i messed up....but i just cant seem to get anwyhere

ButterwoodJan 27, 20151 votes

Do you ever play Janna? She's decent in laning phase, but excels lategame with teamfights, chases and escapes. If I can afford to (with top/jung tanks) then she's by far my favorite support to have after the laning phase.

fdisshtJan 27, 20151 votes

Or play champs like leona/thresh/blitz, feed your adc kills and roam to mid to get them fed Karma/annie/vel koz supports are good for getting kills Try not to play passive supports like taric/soraka (unless you trust your adc)

fdisshtJan 27, 20152 votes

Oh just realized, you said your warding is on point....but 'd like to disagree. On your second defeat (not including the first one because you had a d/c) the enemy morg placed 32 wards, in retrospect your whole team put together placed 26 (the enemy had a total of 64 wards). On your third defeat you placed 6 compared to the enemy braum who placed 11....and the enemy braum went pure AD (wtf). On your last victory you placed 9 wards...while owning a sightstone, the enemy jinx placed more than you... etc etc

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Oh just realized, you said your warding is on point....but 'd like to disagree. On your second defeat (not including the first one because you had a d/c) the enemy morg placed 32 wards, in retrospect your whole team put together placed 26 (the enemy had a total of 64 wards). On your third defeat you placed 6 compared to the enemy braum who placed 11....and the enemy braum went pure AD (wtf). On your last victory you placed 9 wards...while owning a sightstone, the enemy jinx placed more than you... etc etc

i was more refering to ward placements and etc, in bad game times i do tend to lack warding, espcially defensive wards

fdisshtJan 27, 20152 votes

Vision is a very important part of winning the game, you should definitely work on your warding more

Chardor42Jan 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Vision is a very important part of winning the game, you should definitely work on your warding more

will do

TsundayJan 27, 20151 votes

warding is on point

Let's talk about on point really quick. The second you take an outer turret you should be warding their jungle on the side with no turret. On blue side you should also be putting a pink in your tri but it should be on the very bottom left corner where the enemy botlane puts themself in a choke point to try and take it down, if you're warding dragon you want to try to never ward inside from the back of the pit and always ward in the middle of river where you can spot ganks and see drag if possible. You should pretty much be begging everyone to dragon and spamming drag pings whenever you believe it's a good call, you'll know best because you're the one placing vision by dragon and you're the one in botlane who knows how healthy the enemy laners are.

mechanics need work

Support is 100% about juggling and positioning. If your mechanics need work then you're not going to get out of Bronze as support. You need to play at a Silver level mechanically to get out of Bronze as a support. The problem with supporting at a low elo is that you have a low elo ADC to follow up on your plays. If you set up a good play you still have to have an ADC who will follow up on that play correctly. Since decision making and mechanics are really lacking in low elo follow up isn't always done properly. When you put 2 bronze level botlaners together it kind of makes your lane luck of the draw.

support mains who typically only play support

I was asking my friend for support advice the other day. He made it to D5 by the end of preseason only playing support. He said the key is to duo queue. Support and ADC need a certain synergy, every one of them has a different playstyle. For example my D5 supp friend sometimes plays normals with me (he goes ADC and I go support). He always plays really aggressive and keeps them pushed up to tower. He never dives but they are always under tower. My best friend plays a lot of Quinn and he doesn't push until level 6 when he will dive if he has to for a kill. I play very aggressive supports like Leona with my D5 friends and heal oriented supports like Soraka or Sona with my Quinn friend who wants the heals for his dives. Not only that but I would play Leona or Thresh or Sona differently with my D5 friend than I would with my Quinn main friend because they will follow up differently and they want different things from their lanes. If you find an ADC you can synergize with and you duo with them it will give you more chances of winning your lane.

The first 3 games in my provisional had an afk in each

You are playing the Queens and Kings of 4 v 5s. Essentially the support role is about making your allies go god mode. In a 4v5 (or any game you're behind in) peel the shit out of whoever on your team is capable of doing damage. if your Jax is 2/0 then buff him up, CC people who jump on him, and focus your attention on him instead of you're 0/5 ADC/APC. I know you might believe your job is to protect your carry but at the end of the day what matters most is that you're keeping the right people on your team safe and if the right person on your team happens to be the toplaner or the jungler, don't be afraid to give them a little extra love. It's possible to win a 4v5 when nobody can kill your main source of damage.

Chardor42Feb 11, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Let's talk about on point really quick. The second you take an outer turret you should be warding their jungle on the side with no turret. On blue side you should also be putting a pink in your tri but it should be on the very bottom left corner where the enemy botlane puts themself in a choke point to try and take it down, if you're warding dragon you want to try to never ward inside from the back of the pit and always ward in the middle of river where you can spot ganks and see drag if possible. You should pretty much be begging everyone to dragon and spamming drag pings whenever you believe it's a good call, you'll know best because you're the one placing vision by dragon and you're the one in botlane who knows how healthy the enemy laners are.

Support is 100% about juggling and positioning. If your mechanics need work then you're not going to get out of Bronze as support. You need to play at a Silver level mechanically to get out of Bronze as a support. The problem with supporting at a low elo is that you have a low elo ADC to follow up on your plays. If you set up a good play you still have to have an ADC who will follow up on that play correctly. Since decision making and mechanics are really lacking in low elo follow up isn't always done properly. When you put 2 bronze level botlaners together it kind of makes your lane luck of the draw.

I was asking my friend for support advice the other day. He made it to D5 by the end of preseason only playing support. He said the key is to duo queue. Support and ADC need a certain synergy, every one of them has a different playstyle. For example my D5 supp friend sometimes plays normals with me (he goes ADC and I go support). He always plays really aggressive and keeps them pushed up to tower. He never dives but they are always under tower. My best friend plays a lot of Quinn and he doesn't push until level 6 when he will dive if he has to for a kill. I play very aggressive supports like Leona with my D5 friends and heal oriented supports like Soraka or Sona with my Quinn friend who wants the heals for his dives. Not only that but I would play Leona or Thresh or Sona differently with my D5 friend than I would with my Quinn main friend because they will follow up differently and they want different things from their lanes. If you find an ADC you can synergize with and you duo with them it will give you more chances of winning your lane.

You are playing the Queens and Kings of 4 v 5s. Essentially the support role is about making your allies go god mode. In a 4v5 (or any game you're behind in) peel the shit out of whoever on your team is capable of doing damage. if your Jax is 2/0 then buff him up, CC people who jump on him, and focus your attention on him instead of you're 0/5 ADC/APC. I know you might believe your job is to protect your carry but at the end of the day what matters most is that you're keeping the right people on your team safe and if the right person on your team happens to be the toplaner or the jungler, don't be afraid to give them a little extra love. It's possible to win a 4v5 when nobody can kill your main source of damage.

Thank you for the in depth reply it has really helped a lot....all this advice has already began to show in my recent gameplay!! Once again thank you for giving a full reply, this is exactly what i was looking for

TsundayFeb 12, 20151 votes

I'm glad I was able to help :)