The Evolution of Supports

Hello ladies and gentlemen, it’s Fox here with another article. Today I’m going to be talking about an interest I’ve had with the transitions of supports. Riot has always seemed to have trouble balancing supports, and through a roller coaster of buffs, nerfs, and changes (much to the dismay of support players), supports have been one of the most changed roles in the League.

The other day I was remembering a time when I would love to play Taric, and people would call me a troll when I picked him, saying “No please play Soraka!”. It's funny how things have changed.

The Classic Healer Supports

 

 The first time I remember really fearing and respecting the support role (every new player goes through this at some point) was when I realized how freaking powerful Soraka heals were. During this time Soraka and Sona were extremely popular. What better way to keep your carry alive than to heal all the damage they take? Well this didn’t last.

When the Talon patch hit, major nerfs went out to the heals of Soraka, Sona, and Nidalee. Soraka’s cooldown on her Astral Blessing was doubled, Sona had her numbers and ratios lowered on her heal, and Nidalee had her ability power ratio reduced by a huge .55 healing per AP.

What were the effects of this?
Honestly? I think in hindsight, healers were way too strong. Soraka had ridiculous amounts of healing (and this was back when her E could restore her own mana!), and this got widespread people to realize these champions could be more than just heal machines, which was overall healthier and more engaging(not to mention fun) for the game.

 

Supports Leaving the bottom lane

 

So over time people started trying supports out in different lanes. It was done from time to time for a few specific team compositions. Hey, if support Janna’s shield is really good, imagine what it can do when that Janna has a bunch of AP? When Lulu came out people initially didn’t realize exactly how strong she could be as an AP utility champion until Dignitas surprised everyone by running with a Lulu top lane and a Soraka mid lane.

With all the utility this team had, any character you tried to focus got healed twice by Soraka, shielded and ulted by Lulu, and it made engaging on this team a nightmare. Shortly after this tournament, Lulu received nerfs in two consecutive patches, nerfing her mana costs, ability power ratios, and her damage, taking her out of the AP utility mage role, and Soraka’s main damage ability Starcall also received a few nerfs to take her down a notch, making these much riskier picks and sent these champions back to the bottom lane.

AP Janna, Lulu, Soraka, and I’ve even seen AP Taric do well. They are all still decent picks, they have their niche moments to be picked, but that is all they are now, just niche.

What were the effects of this?
I really liked that this happened, kind of as a wakeup call. It was at least for me. I mean, I’ve never seen someone build a champ like that so it must not be good right? Wrong. People saw a support champion and nothing more, they didn’t look at everything that champion could do. And then suddenly no one is playing Lulu in the support lane, she was almost exclusively played in solo lanes once people figured it out. Lulu may have been too strong, but it was good for all of us to be surpised, and to not just brush something aside.

Aggressive CC Supports

And this brings us up to more current times. The bottom lane has transitioned away from safely farming up in order to get fed for mid/late game, into a lane where you are trying to shut your opponents down. Blitzcrank has finally been accepted for the amazing champion he always was. Alistar is spending more time in the jungle than lane, but is still feared in both. Taric’s mix of defense, cc, and burst damage, are all finally being recognized and he is very popular.

Sona is back again, and this time she’s maxing her damage. Some of these champions have been hit hard with recent nerfs, but I’d say they’re all in really good places. Blitzcrank and Sona got their health reduced for example. This makes them weaker, but the reasons why these champions were so popular (Blitzcrank’s cc, and Sona’s poke and utility) remain untouched, keeping these champions fun and strong, if slightly less safe. But I’ve been talking about the nerfs to supports all game, now I’d like to mention Taric.

Taric has gotten nothing but (small) buffs for months, maybe a year now. Did it take a buff to put him back into popularity? I don’t think so. He got a small magic resistance buff (little effect on bot lane) and that’s the only thing he’s gotten for a while. Was he weak before this? No. But the style of the game changed, partly through evolution and discovering Taric’s strengths over time and partly due to the nerfs to other more popular champions, but I find it interesting that Taric was good this whole time but he went very underappreciated for so long, and for a long time he was the support with the highest win rate in ranked games.

What are the effects of this?
So this being the most popular way to play bottom lane right now, with Blitzcrank and Alistar so popular they are banned almost every single game, and Sona and Taric very common picks for their high damage potential and killing power, I think it brings some fun high risk/high reward gameplay to the lane, making it more fun and exciting, and making skillful play much more rewarding.

 

The Future of Support?

Riot has promised to bring more options to support come Season 3. More potential for gold income, new items catered specifically for supports, and more diversity in their item builds. I believe this is going to make supporting more fun and engaging, allow supports to have a stronger impact on the game. I’m hoping it will also help out some supports who have fallen out of favor (Karma rework, it’s about time!).

So wrapping up, I just find it interesting how the way we play has changed. How buffs, nerfs, and playstyles evolve and shift things over time. I am hopeful that Riot is starting to iron out exactly what a support is and should be, and with an item overhaul, Season 3 can make supports a strong and fun role in League of Legends.