Which support should I pick up next?

Blood0fRoSes·Jul 15, 2015·1 votes·1,269 views

Hi, as a Gold 4 player that is looking to climb ranked while supporting, I would like to know which supports are the most entertaining to play while being strong. I already own and play Taric and Leona and I really enjoy them. So if anyone has any suggestions, I would be very thankful!

Ps. I also own nautilus, annie, and velkoz.

11 Comments

Deep Terror NamiJul 15, 20151 votes

My favorite is Nami. You might consider Thesh too.

http://i.gyazo.com/eaf95faa0254e55561f617d5ad1d2e9f.gif

DrkK1ngJul 15, 20151 votes

As a support main myself I'd highly suggest Alistar. I haven't found another support that is as gratifying as Alistar is when you land an excellent w q combo.

SchenixJul 15, 20151 votes

Top supports like Thresh and Janna are always strong.

Blitz is of course, that annoying little champion. Brand is a neat support pick, albeit odd. Then you have your Zyra, Lulu, Morgana and Braum support.

Nicorus Jul 15, 20151 votes

I'd recommend 3 support champs. Veigar is an off meta support, but his event horizon if you are a good aim has major lane control. Maokai is a little bit more typical, he has great utility and vision ability with his saplings. he has 2 slows, 1 root, and an aoe damage reduction ult as well as good synergy with face of the mountain from his passive. Thresh is a top tier support, although the trouble with thresh is that the items that work really well on him have active abilities so you better learn your numbers.

TouchpadExpertJul 15, 20151 votes

I'm gonna follow suit with everyone else and name Thresh. You said you primarily use Taric and Leona as your main supports. Both of them are tanky style supports and Thresh is tanky himself so he may suit your play style. He primarily works as a kill/poke style support (Just like Leona). He does take some getting used to though and he requires your teammates to know what the lantern actually does.

Janna is another great choice and cheap too. She is the Queen of peeling and can cover up an ally's poor positioning granted they don't frequently misposition themselves before all of your stuff comes off cooldown. Janna is a poke/sustain champion.

Tahm Kench is the last one I'll state. Tahm Kench thwarts assassins quite well by swallowing up whoever they are beating up on and getting them to safety quickly. He is great at preventing idiot teammates from dying atleast 2 times per game. His playstyle is sustain/kill (just like Taric).

4nth0l0gyJul 15, 20151 votes

You might be okay on tanks with those two. If you want a little more specificity for tanks, Braum is the best at keeping a team safe from heavy skillshots, if your reactions are good.

You'll definitely want to pick up some poke/shield champs. Janna Morgana Lulu are all good choices, though I would rank their viability in that order from best to worst.

Annie is a great one to have already; I don't think anyone does all-in better than her as a support.

If you want to try some very specific champions, Soraka is the only healer of her caliber. Bard is just the strangest, but if you can eke him out, then he can be amazing.

TheGrumpy1Jul 15, 20151 votes

Lulu has such a good kit, and is a safe pick if it looks like you'll be going against a kill-lane. Poke, Shield, soft CC, hard CC, pseudo-heal, reveal, speed-boost, and an 80% slow?

Yes plz.

Sona is a solid pick too, but she's easily countered with a kill lane (her sustain is mana-hungry and she's squishy with no real mobility). Though if you can get into her, managing auras w/ Power-Chord shenanigans can keep you quite engaged.

Blood0fRoSesJul 15, 20151 votes

Wow thanks for all the suggestions (just got off a flight and was greeted with many ideas, was refreshing). Looks like I have to look into thresh janna and nami which seems to be the consensus. Last time I tried thresh he felt wonky with his flay being so hard to use tho...

TouchpadExpertJul 15, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Wow thanks for all the suggestions (just got off a flight and was greeted with many ideas, was refreshing). Looks like I have to look into thresh janna and nami which seems to be the consensus. Last time I tried thresh he felt wonky with his flay being so hard to use tho...

Here's some tricks and tips for Thresh then:

Flay always goes in the direction of where the cursor is. If you want something in front of you to come closer to you, aim behind you. If you want something in front of you to back off you, have your cursor facing towards it. I'll try to draw a diagram to represent this: Enemy<--Thresh<-- When cursor is aimed at enemy Enemy-->Thresh--> When cursor is aimed behind Thresh

Now for some other useful tips:

Max E first. It makes your auto attack pokes hit harder. Max W second. The strength of your lantern's shield comes in handy. Max Q last. You don't want this doing too much damage to a target. Woe to the person who maxes this first and tried to hook a jungle camp monster only to be stranded by killing it and thus dying because of it. The hook is a utility tool, not a damage tool.
The hook can be used to escape. Hooking onto Gromp is a great example of getting around walls with ease.
The hook upon catching on something moves it closer to where Thresh is. Thresh then makes 2 quick "tugs" moving the target even closer. Press Q after the 2nd tug to maximize the length of time the target is immobilized. If you "miss" a hook by hooking a minion you can immediately press Q again and with quick enough reactions flay and/or box the opponent who hid behind the minion. Can also be used to zone out targets or bait out a flash.
Your lantern is the best thing about Thresh. No other champion has an ability like it (except maybe Tahm Kench now). It serves many purposes. It can be used to collect souls from relative safety. It can give vision on a bush. It can move an ally towards you for either engaging or for an escape. It can be used to "fake" your jungler ganking. It can be used to bring your jungler into lane immediately. And lastly it can be teleported onto.
Flay can interrupt leaps, dashes and gap closers. Examples include Jarvan, Amumu, Leona, Jax, Tristana, Kha'zix and more. Does not interrupt Vi ult, Malphite ult and Sion ults.
Flay empowers your auto attacks, but only if you auto sparingly. If you attack constantly you will not gain the benefits of flay's passive.
You can combo your lantern and your hook together. This is a very hard concept to pull off in solo queue as many people mistime or completely disregard the lantern entirely.
Because he is ranged the "execute" on relic shield and its enhancements do not apply to Thresh.
Thresh gains armor and ability power from collecting souls. This means that early on Thresh is not very tanky but late game he is one of the "infinitely scaling" champions in the game.
Every cannon minion and every large monster produces a soul.
If an enemy is standing on the lantern none of your allies can use it while that enemy is standing on the lantern. Try aiming the lanern where your ally is going, not where they are.
Just because your hook is up doesn't mean you need to use it all the time. Because of his hook Thresh instills a lot of fear into enemies. Sometimes just zoning the enemy ADC from every single cannon minion is a bigger victory than MAYBE landing a hook that they eventually get away from anyway.
Probably the best time to land a hook is as soon as you hit level 2 while the enemy is still level 1. This "level 2 cheese" can set the tone for the rest of the laning phase.
Thresh is a Kill/poke style support. The ADCs who he has the best synergy with are Draven, Jinx and Lucian.
Because he lacks true sustain Thresh is weak against poke/sustain laners. Namely Caitlyn, Sivir, Sona, Janna and Karma.

ReveringJul 16, 20151 votes

I like playing Nami, due to her Crowd Control and W. W is good for ANY situation. Your ADC low on Health and the Enemy is chasing them? W on the Ally to heal them, and well as get some free damage on the Enemy. In an all-in Team Fight? Throw a W on the Ally closest to the Enemies, and watch that puppy go. You can use your E to empower either your ADC or APC in a Team Fight, dealing so much more Damage. If your Ally is chasing a low-healthed Enemy, throw an E on them and, upon hit, the Enemy is slowed. Follow a Q up with an ULT on the ADC of the Team Fight, and there's practically a guaranteed kill if your team focuses on them. Q can be a bit hard to hit, but it can be such a game-changer in a Team Fight if used correctly.

BigKahumaJul 17, 20151 votes

I think personally Sona is an AMAZING support. Her Q is a great poke because it homes in on champs and does a substantial amount of damage when full upgrade. Her W is great for keeping your ADC alive especially when they are under attack or when going after more than one enemy at the same time. Her E can turn a chase into a kill very quickly for any of your ally champs. And her power chords also make a huge difference. Her Ult also does great damage and has a amusing stun with a fairly short cool down. Shes really fun to play i suggest her and build her full AP so her W and Q do great healing and Damage