Expert Tips For Playing Support in League of Legends

Oftentimes during Ranked Play when playing solo queue, the last pick of each team will be assigned support whether they like it or not. The thing is, playing Support in league of legends is one of the most taken-for-granted roles on the team. People like to assume it’s easy and then go ahead to ruin everything for literally everyone, straight from the bot lane to the entire team.

If you’re thinking of starting out a new career in support or just want to do a half decent job if you’re ever stuck with a support role, this is meant to be a somewhat detailed guide on how you can make the most of the opportunity.

Frustrate your opponent

The easiest way to get to your enemy’s head is to do some little things that are bound to get to their heads. For instance, when playing blue, roam around through the tribush on your side and place a ward on their Gromp and Blue sentinel area. This is significant to two degrees: junglers aren’t big fans of sitting on wards. For this reason, they may decide on a whim to run the whole way across the map just to start on the opposite side from you.

Secondly, if they do decide to get a leash and start a gromp, then you’re in luck. In this case, hang around there and toss a skill shot at them, just at last moment, then swoop in for the steal. The way the new jungle is, though, most players just smite at the start of the spawn. This means that their level 2 isn’t even guaranteed to begin with. This is especially the case for champions such as Thresh who have a very strong ‘Q’ ability and can take a last hit easily enough. Steal the level 2 from the enemy jungler, sow the seeds of discord and enjoy the rest of the show.

Don’t let the Enemy ADC get the Cannon Minion

This tip goes right in there with the first tip mentioned here. It may seem a bit unconventional but it can lead to some very great fights and trades in the bot lane. Everyone knows that ADCs love getting gold from the cannon and it’s the Support’s job to make him think twice before jumping in blindly for the kill. Perhaps the easiest way to pull it off is with Braum – right before the last hit leap or walk starts, throw up the shield. It might seem inconvenient at first but it can be quite effective, especially if your ADC CS’s well.

If you carry on properly enough, you get to a point where your opponent gives up. Nobody likes to do more than they have to. Once they start to doubt whether or not they are going to get that cannon is the point at which their positioning is off by the greatest margin. This makes them prime targets to gank or engage. Even without a shield like Braum’s, there are plenty of other supports that are perfect for contesting CS. All you have to do is to make sure you get that all-important last hit,

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Some Kills Under Your Belt

One of the most common tropes that floats around the League franchise is that the ADC is the one that should always get the kill. This is followed by your teammates getting chased just out of the auto-attack range and the enemy plods away to safety. The moral of the story is that you should always try your hardest to secure kills. Don’t sit back and watch your enemy get away when you could have potentially turned the tables just because. It’s all up to you to judge the situation as you see fit and decide when it’s time to throw an auto, pop your ultimate or set off the ignite.

You may not be able to get away from a few harsh criticisms from your mates, but at the end of the day, it’s better to have done something to give your team the largest advantage possible. Apologising for taking a kill or two is a better alternative to letting the enemy get away and say you were trying to give the kill.

Avoid dying too many times

One of the most common  rookie mistakes made by upcoming supports is that when it comes to team fighting, they just fly in without any real plan and waste all their abilities and CC. They then just wait for the inevitable sweet release of death. From there it’s rinse and repeat.

Put simply, there’s no code in the game that decides players with a certain role get more experience while others are punished. In fact, there’s no mechanism built into the game that really knows your user-assigned role. Every one of your deaths is just more experience and gold to the opposing team, nothing more, nothing less. This remain true for virtually every aspect of the game. Granting the other teams easy kills and first blood for a kill on their ADC isn’t much of a trade. Regardless of the role you have, the number of kills your opponents are able to milk off of you is going to be the same. Just because you’re Support doesn’t mean you can die all you want without consequence.

Exploiting a small lead is the best opportunity your team will ever have at turning a game around. This is because small leads will often grow and multiply into even larger leads. Once the second half of the game is upon you, you should be trying your hardest to stay alive in fights. It’s not just about using your abilities to stave off the enemy, but being able to bait gullible champions after the easy support kill.

Then again, following these tips won’t turn you into a KonKwon-esque league player. It’s only meant as a foundation for the greater future that’s ahead of you. If you’re able to pull it off, you should be able to have a great advantage over the guy not giving his team any real opportunities for the win because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.