Support?
I've been thinking about trying out the support role, however I've never done this and don't know what champion I would pick. Any suggestions for low cost champions and tips?
4 Comments
Soraka is always a good choice for starters. It's not really the champion of a support role as much as it is practicing warding.
You can have the highest skill champ support but if you never ward then you're not doing a good job at being a support.
Puh lease. Sona is great. Thresh is something you should save up for because he is so strong right now.
Alistar is one of my favorite supports to play because he's just so fun. If you suscribe to League of Legends on Youtube, Riot will give you Alistar and a free skin with him. It's currently kind of buggy, but you can just send in a support ticket and Riot will send you Alistar in a day or so. Alistar is an AP melee champ, and should be built as a tank, especially when you're playing support. He takes a while to get used to-- like trying not to W the enemy away from your ADC. He's very mana intensive, espeically early game. He only costs 1350 ip.
Blitzcrank is an AP melee champ, and costs 3150 ip, which is a decent price. Blitz is mainly about his hooks, and if you can't hit those, he might not be the right pick. He is played as an aggressive support, and playing as him especially, you should have a really high lane presence. Even moving towards the enemy will zone them very well. The only downfall is if you lose lane, you're pretty useless later in the game. Most people build Blitz as a utility/tank support, but building AP on him makes him super OP as well.
Janna is my favorite and most played support (have like 40k points on her hehe) because she's so fun and easy to play. She only costs 1350. Janna is an AP ranged support champion. She's extremely squishy, and doesn't offer much damage unless you build a buttload of AP on her. She's great with ADC's that have few escape options, like JInx, because of her high mobility. Her shield should be maxed first, because it gives extra attack damage to the shielded ally, and helps win many 2v2's in lane. Her Q is great for disengage as well as cutting off opponents when they try to run and her W, at it's max level has a great slow and does decent damage. And because of her movement speed, she can do so many outplays, and her ult can save her almost all the time if she ever gets tower dived. In lane, you want to try to auto the enemy as many times as possible without getting harassed a billion times so look for openings.
Karma is an AP mage, with many bits of support qualities and costs 3150 ip. She is geared towards those who like supports that have fairly high damage. Playing as Karma, you need to be aggressive in lane and harass with your Q, but not to excessive levels since her mana runs out quickly. Her shield gives a speed boost, but you need to be wary of when you use it, as its cooldown is pretty high at early levels. Usually, when I play Karma, I like to start a Spellthief's Edge 
and build into a Frost Queen's Claim 
, after I get a Sightstone 
. Afterwards, you can usually start building AP for more damage and to shield for more health. If your game isn't going to well, you can build defensive items depending on the other team's main damage outputs. If your ward spots out the jungler ganking you and you're kinda far from tower, run back to tower and keep distance from the jungler. Activate your ult and use your shield to give both you and your ADC the speed boost and try to hit the jungler with your Q, as it slows their movement speed.
Morgana is a really easy champion for starters, for only 1350 ip. Much like Blitzcrank, much of her dominance in lane is her Q snare. Practice landing those with minions around. Timing your shield is important so your ADC or you won't get hit by any kind of CC. Make sure after your Sightstone and Frost Queen, you get a Zhonya's Hourglass. Harassing the enemy with auto attacks is extremely important. In teamfights, try to activate your ult with as many enemies inside it as possible and keep as many inside it as possible. Try to shield your main carries (midlaner or ADC, usually).
Thresh is a little pricey, at 6300, but is one of the best ADC's out there. He's a little difficult, as his hook is slightly delayed, and his flay does take a while for some to get used to, but he's a great support that offers a lot in lane. His passive makes him naturally tankier than most, and the passive on his E is great for harassing with auto-attacks in lane. His W lantern makes for great potential plays and offers a decent shield.
As for support gameplay, your laning phase will change based on which support you're using. When you're playing a melee champion, it's usually difficult to harass the enemy but you should be managing your stacks from Relic Shield 
and if your ADC gets some harass or may miss a creep, just walk up and auto the minion. You should almost never be extremely passive. Don't let the enemy control the lane, just don't overextend without wards and have a strong lane presence. Harassing with auto attacks is much easier when you are playing a ranged support, but be wary and don't take too much damage. Usually, if your lane is pushed up to the enemy's tower, you can go and ward in the river bush. If your ADC recalls while the enemy is still in lane, and the minion wave is moving close to your tower, you should stay and try to defend or push up the wave before recalling, unless you're really REALLY low. When you and your ADC take the bot tower, you should back off and either move out to ward, pressure other lanes, or recall. Warding is important, but don't get so caught up in it that you miss out in teamfights. Stay close enough to your teammate(s) so if you ever get caught out in the jungle, you can run towards your teammate and ping for them to help you out. Support is kind of a major role that has so much to do. There's a lot that you can't really explain but as you keep playing, you figure a lot more tricks on your own. Many ADC's have specific playstyles too that you just have to play around.
There's a lot of viable supports out there nowadays and the pool is still increasing. Janna is so strong in solo queue and she's an inexpensive champion. However, playing her correctly will just take practice.
Your attitude needs to change from carry to support; you will be levels behind and it's likely you'll be sad because your item progression is very slow.
Always have a slot open for pink wards. Don't forget to get the Sweeper trinket after purchasing Sightstone. Be mindful of your positioning because it is your job every game to protect your team (mainly your carries) and you can't do that while dead.
As for tips for playing support champs and what to build/buy, you can safely refer to lolclass.com. They have great videos and advice from professional LoL players. Here's the link to the support videos: http://www.lolclass.com/videos?position%5B%5D=3
I wish you luck on the rift! Cheers~