1. Understand Your Role and Responsibilities
- Playmaker: Your primary role is to create opportunities for your team, especially for your ADC (Attack Damage Carry) in the bot lane. You should be looking for ways to set up kills, control the lane, and provide utility in fights.
- Vision Control: As a support, you're the primary controller of vision in the game. Placing wards, clearing enemy vision, and setting up vision around objectives (like Dragon or Baron) is key to controlling the map and preventing ganks or surprise engagements.
- Peel and Protect: Depending on your support champion, you'll often need to protect your ADC or other carries from incoming threats. Whether it's shielding, healing, or crowd control, your job is to keep your carries alive in team fights.
2. Master the Basics of Positioning
Positioning is critical for supports. You need to strike a balance between being in the right place to make plays and staying safe:- In the Early Game: In the laning phase, position yourself near your ADC so you can protect them from potential threats, but avoid being too far forward unless you’re setting up an engage. If you’re too far up, you risk getting caught by enemy engages.
- In Fights: During team fights, positioning yourself properly is crucial. Many supports have crowd control or utility that can turn the tide of a fight, so position yourself where you can reach your teammates with heals, shields, or CC, but stay far enough away to avoid getting picked off.
- Not Too Far Forward: Always remember that supports are typically squishy, and overextending can result in your death. Play defensively, especially if the enemy jungler is nearby or if the opposing support has engage tools.
3. Warding and Vision Control
- Place Wards in Key Locations: As a support, you should always prioritize vision. Use wards to prevent enemy junglers from ganking your lane and to track enemy movements. Important warding spots include the river, jungle entrances, and around key objectives.
- Use Control Wards Efficiently: Control wards are crucial for denying enemy vision and keeping objectives like Dragon or Baron safe. Place control wards in bushes where the enemy might try to place wards, or around objectives when setting up a play.
- Sweeping and Clearing Enemy Vision: Use your Oracle Lens (or Sweeper) to clear enemy wards in key locations. This is especially important when trying to set up for objectives or avoiding enemy vision while roaming.
4. Know Your Champion’s Abilities and Power Spikes
- Timing and Ability Usage: Support champions often have abilities that can drastically change the course of a fight, from healing or shielding abilities to hard crowd control (CC) like stuns, snares, or silences. Knowing when to use these abilities effectively can be the difference between winning or losing a team fight.
- Power Spikes: Learn when your support champion hits their power spikes (level 6 for ultimates, item completions, etc.). Many supports have game-changing ultimates that can turn the tide of a fight. Be aware of when your champion is at their strongest and look to make plays around those times.
- Roaming: Some support champions are great roamers (e.g., Leona, Alistar, Blitzcrank, or Nautilus). After pushing the lane or when your ADC is safe, consider roaming to other lanes to help your team set up plays, secure kills, or establish vision control. Communicate with your team before roaming to ensure they know you're moving.
5. Communicate with Your Team
Communication is key when playing a support role:- Ping for Vision: Use pings to let your team know where enemy wards are, where you’ve placed your wards, or where the enemy jungler might be. Effective warding and vision can prevent enemy plays and set up your team for success.
- Ping for Roams or Plays: If you’re planning to roam or look for a play in another lane, ping your intentions so your teammates know. Your roam could be the setup for a successful gank or objective contest.
- Ping for Help or Retreat: If you’re under threat or need assistance, ping for help or disengage. Similarly, if the enemy is about to engage on your team, ping for retreat. Good communication ensures that your team can work together effectively.
6. Itemization Tips for Supports
Item choices are essential for supports, as they should complement your team’s needs:- Starter Items: Start with items that provide sustain and utility, such as Relic Shield, Spellthief's Edge, or Doran's Shield, depending on the champion and matchup.
- Key Items: Consider items that enhance your utility, healing, or crowd control, such as Redemption, Locket of the Iron Solari, Zhonya’s Hourglass, or Mikael’s Crucible. These items can keep your team alive and turn the tide of fights.
- Situational Items: Depending on the game, you may need to build items that counter specific threats, like Thornmail to stop healing or Locket of the Iron Solari to protect against heavy magic damage. Adapt your build to what your team and the enemy team need.
7. Understanding Different Support Playstyles
Supports come in different types, each requiring a unique approach:- Engage Supports (e.g., Leona, Nautilus): These champions are designed to start fights by using their crowd control abilities. When playing an engage support, look for opportunities to engage with your ADC, either in the laning phase or in the mid-to-late game. Make sure to communicate with your team to coordinate your engages.
- Peel Supports (e.g., Janna, Lulu): These supports focus on protecting and peeling for their carries, keeping them safe in fights. Position yourself to shield, heal, or use crowd control to disrupt enemy threats targeting your carries. Always be aware of when to use your defensive abilities to mitigate burst damage.
- Healer/Enchanter Supports (e.g., Soraka, Nami): Healers focus on keeping your ADC and team alive. Make sure to position yourself in a safe spot where you can heal or shield your team without being in danger. Keep an eye on your teammates’ health bars and be ready to react quickly in dangerous situations.
- Mage Supports (e.g., Zyra, Brand): These supports focus on poke, damage, and zone control. Use your abilities to harass the enemy in lane and look for opportunities to deal damage in team fights. Timing your crowd control with your damage is key to maximizing your impact.
8. Timing and Map Awareness
- Know When to Engage or Disengage: Supports often have the power to decide whether fights happen or not. Understand when your team is strong enough to engage or when it’s best to disengage. Don’t waste your engage or CC on poor fights.
- Track the Enemy Jungler: Keep an eye on the enemy jungler's position, especially in the early game. If the enemy jungler is missing or preparing for a gank, you can use wards and communication to prevent your ADC from getting caught out.
- Track Objectives: Supports should help secure objectives like Dragon, Rift Herald, and Baron. Always be aware of when the objective is spawning and prepare to contest or secure it with your team.
9. Adapt to the Situation
Every game is different, and being able to adapt is critical to being a good support:- Counter the Enemy Support: If you’re against a champion that thrives on engaging (like Leona or Nautilus), play cautiously and look to disengage when they initiate. If you’re against poke supports (like Lux or Brand), focus on sustain and positioning to survive in lane.
- Adjust Your Playstyle: If your ADC is playing passively, focus more on vision control and peeling. If they’re aggressive, look for opportunities to engage or make plays together. Be flexible and adapt to the needs of your team.
10. Practice, Patience, and Positive Mindset
Support is often an underappreciated role, but it’s incredibly impactful. Patience and practice are key to improving. Here are some final pieces of advice:- Don’t Get Discouraged: You won’t always get the recognition you deserve, but your impact will be felt. Keep practicing and refining your skills.
- Play to Your Strengths: If you’re better with engaging supports, focus on those champions. If you prefer healing and peeling, choose champions with more utility.
- Stay Positive and Encourage Your Team: As a support, you’ll often be the backbone of your team. Keep the morale up and focus on your impact, even if it’s not always obvious to others.
By following these tips, you'll have a better understanding of how to succeed as a support in League of Legends. Whether you're playing aggressive, peeling for your carries, or providing utility, you’ll find that the support role is both challenging and rewarding. Stay proactive, communicate well, and learn to adapt to your team’s needs, and you’ll make a significant impact in every match.
