Hooking up the team: Supporting 101

Learning Support

In this guide we will be taking a look at the support role in League of Legends. We will be covering things such as laning phase, roaming, and teamfights. I will also give some recommendations for which champions to play, whether you are a beginner, or an experienced player.

Disclaimer: I could probably write multiple pages on each little section in this guide, but no one is going to want to read that much. If you want more information than this guide, I suggest watching some videos, as it can be easier to get loads of information that way.

Laning Phase

Laning phase can and will be different in every match, mainly because you probably won't be playing with the same Marksman every game. Sometimes it can be a good idea to communicate with the Marksman before laning begins. Ask them if they are more comftorable playing aggresively or defensively. Being on the same page can really help prevent needless mistakes or deaths. As a support the single most important word for laning phase is: Pressure. You have to pressure the lane a lot. Some supports like Blitzcrank, Thresh, or Annie have abilities that puts so much pressure on the lane that the enemy marksman is almost always gonna back off. A lot of the time you won´t even have to cast said ability. The fear of it will be enough for the enemy to back off. This is great because it may cause them to lose CS and generally put them behind. Of course you cant just walk into the enemy and get killed or get abused too much, but on the other hand, better that you take damage, than your marksman. In the end all you have to remember is that bot lane, and League of Legends in general, is not about kills. It's about gold and objectives. Other than that, here are my best advice for laning as a support.

1. Get a feel for the lane:
Are you playing aggresively or defensively? if you do not directly ask your marksman, there is a good chance that you will find out anyway by the way they react to things. Some combinations of champions should play the lane different ways, and I will get more into that when I talk about champion picks.

Defensive:
If your marksman seem focused on getting farm to the point where they will not attack the enemy, eventhough you have them locked down, they are probably looking to be defensive. Ín this case what you want to do is have focus on your marksman. Your main focus in this lane is to defend the marksman and make sure they don´t die. If possible, you should still try to pressure a little if you can. If you can cause the enemy to lose CS, that will increase your marksman's lead late-game. Choose champions who have shields or disengage. This playstyle, if played right, becomes an early-game with almost no risk. This will make the laning phase slightly boring, but it might have a huge payoff in the late-game!

Aggresive:
If your marksman is constantly hitting the enemy, and proceeds to a point where you are standing behind them, they are looking to be aggresive, and in that case you need to be up there with them, or they will easily die. Pressure is again the most important thing here. Make as much pressure as you can, and other than that try to make plays. You are still going to want to make sure your marksman doesn't die, you are the support after all, but with an aggresive playstyle you should be almost as focused on throwing CC at the enemy and make sure that your marksman can kill them. This playstyle can give you a massive lead early, which can easily lead into the late-game. It can however also be extremely risky, because if the enemy lane plays a situation better than you, they will be the ones getting out on top, causing them to get the lead.

2. Warding:

Keep in mind that warding is not only important in the laning phase, and you should not be the only one doing it. I have simply decided to put it here because warding in the laning phase can save a lot of lives.
Simply put. If you have enough money for a ward, buy it. Both green and pink wards will be extremely useful throughout the entire game. As a support you should always get a sightstone, as this is a great investement, and you won´t have to buy green wards anymore.I will not be going in to detail about warding spots, as that can fill a whole guide on its own, and you can find a lot of guides and videos on the internet about it.If you are interested we have a warding guide right here on this website. Simply go here.

Roaming

Roaming can be one of the best things to learn, not only in the support role, but in League of Legends in general. This can transfer any power you have gained in your lane (yes, even as a support) to other lanes, to help you win the game. Roaming can be hard to figure out though. I am not going to explain exactly what to do when roaming, as that would be much better explained in a video. But what i can write about is timing. Timing is something you got to think about when roaming. For example there is no reason to go mid if your midlaner is in base. It would be a good idea though, if the enemy midlaner has pushed up to your tower. But Don't just blindly walk up to mid. You are still meant to be in botlane, so if your Marksman cannot handle himself, you should not leave him. Roaming is always best to do if you get an early advantage. And if your midlaner is already 15/0, there is no reason for you to help him.

 

Teamfights

Teamfighting is mainly what you will do late game with most comps. As a support, teamfighting can actually be tricky as different things can be needed from you at different times. For example. Sometimes people are going to want you to engage. Mostly however, you are probably wanted to peel for your carries. Not only the marksman, but the midlaner too, depending on who is getting focused. Most supports have a good way of peeling, but some can almost only be used to engage, and i will have an example of both when we get to champion picks. You have to look at your team in teamfights. Do you have a hecarim on your team? There's your engage. No need for you to do it. Teamfights in League of Legends can be almost stressful for every role, as you have to be focused on everthing that's going on at all times. As a support for example, you cant just peel for your Marksman, and let your midlaner die. Perhaps the midlaner is much more valuable to a teamfight.

 

Champion picks
Alright. So let's talk about some of my favorite support champions. Keep in mind that everyone has their own style and just because I like these champions, doesn't mean that you should or will. Let's get right to it.

1. Thresh:

Thresh is without a doubt my favorite champion in this game. He is incredibly fun to play, and stays relevant throughout the entire match. There are multiple ways of playing this guy. He is good for both being aggresive and defensive. Personally i play very aggresively on Thresh just because of how much pressure he can but on a lane. He is very good at keeping champions CC'ed and will never be out of meta just because of how perfect his kit is build. Good job Riot.

2. Janna:

Janna is another very good support. She is the Queen of peel and disengage. Want to play defensively? Do you have a marksman that has to stay safe and scale into the late-game? Play Janna. She can take a little practice just like any champion, but once you've got her under control, no one is ever going to be able to touch your marksman. Janna might be the only champion who is able to peel for multiple people (maybe even the entire team) at once very well. She is simply the best defensive support. The end.

3. Alistar:

Alistar can be both a little tricky and sometimes even a little mindless at the same time. Let me explain. Alistar is incredibly good at both peeling and engaging, like Thresh. But what i personally feel like makes Alistar incredibly good at times, is his ultimate. Here you have an ultimate that almost makes you immortal for a decent amount of time. This puts him in a good position to tower-dive, and even do reckless things, in order to save your team. The part that can be tricky is his classic combo. This is mostly tricky for new players, as it's all timing. When you get used to it, it gets much easier. If you don't know, his classic combo is his W ability directly into his Q ability, which will cause him to engage onto one or more enemies and know them up, causing them to remain vulnerable for a good amount of time.

4. Bard:

I love Bard. He is so much fun to play. But at times he can still have a bad reputation. When he was released many people made fun of him, saying he was bad. Well, he recieved a few buffs and people figured out how to play him, and now i love him. He is my go-to support if Thresh is banned. He is different than others in a few ways. He relies on roaming the map to collect chimes to increase his power. You also can't just spam all of his abilities in a teamfight, because not all of them are for fighting. Honestly, if you haven't tried out Bard, you should. He takes a little getting used to, but is so much fun. The only thing to think about is his ultimate. You have to be careful with it. It can turn a teamfight in your favor, or it can doom your team if cast incorrectly.

5. Annie:

Annie is a "support". She is basically a mage in disguise. She has an incredible amount of engage and burst potential.  Just flash right into the enemy team and see how many you can catch with your ult stun, and you will basically have set up a win right there. She is however somewhat squishy compared to a lot of other supports, so you have to be careful not to just die instantly. Late-game you have the potential to be almost as powerful as your mid-lane mage, and you can probably 1v1 every single person on the enemy team, which makes you deadly. If you like damage but is forced to play support, Annie is the pick for you. And that will be the end of my guide. I hope you liked it and learned a bit about supporting. I will hopefully be writing guides about the other roles soon, so look out for that.

-Krisis

Are you into fantasy leagues? Then check out AlphaDraft and put together your allstar lineup!