The Champions

Playing in the bot lane requires a lot of adjustment from game to game. Your champion choice will greatly affect your play style, such as if you are playing a melee, engage Support (such as Leona) you will want to play aggressively and engage as much as possible, whereas if you are playing a ranged, poke Support (such as Nami) you will want to play defensively, poking as much as possible and avoiding all-ins. Similarly, the enemy bot lane will affect your play style depending on their champion choices, and you need to prepare for countering their abilities. For example, if you are playing Morgana against a Thresh, you know the Black Shield should be saved for the Death Sentence to prevent an engage.

Your ADC should also affect how you play the lane, not only on an individual player basis (such as if your ADC is playing particularly aggressively, perhaps you should match that aggression to push for a kill), but also on a Champion basis; enhancing their advantages and covering for their disadvantages. For example, if you are playing Nami with a Caitlyn, due to Caitlyn’s auto-attack range, Tidecaller’s Blessing should be used on Caitlyn rather than yourself, as she is more likely to land auto-attacks.

Identifying Aggression

Reading and understanding your enemy’s aggression is paramount to success in the laning phase, as if you are able to know when your opponent is planning to poke on engage on to you, you will know to play defensively and retreat to a safe distance. Moreover, aggression from the enemy can give away the most dangerous part of a laning phase: a jungler gank. If you are lacking vision, an enemy’s aggression will typically signal the enemy jungler is close and about to gank you, particularly if the enemy was plying passively; if the enemy bot lane were playing behind their minion lane, and suddenly move forward past it, suspect the enemy jungler is near, back off and play defensively. Moving forward is the most common and obvious tell to aggression or an enemy jungler gank, but there are sometimes more subtle tells and signals you should look out for, such as Bard placing a Caretaker’s Shrine in the river bush, or Soraka placing an Equinox behind you.

Level 2 Power Spike

Reaching Level 2 before your opponent can outright win you the lane, if you abuse and exploit your incredible advantage. The option of using double your opponent’s abilities offers you a lot of potential for damage, forcing a Summoner Spell, or even a kill. Typically, Support’s best combo’s will require 2 abilities (such as Thresh’s Death Sentence into Flay, Leona’s Zenith Blade into Shield of the Daybreak, or Nami’s Tidecaller’s Blessing into Aqua Prison), and this combo can lead to significant damage or even a kill, especially if your opponents are still stuck on Level 1, lacking any form of escape or protection. The way to reach Level 2 before your opponent is to auto attack the first minion wave and half of the second minion wave (3 Melee and 3 Ranged minions from the first wave, and 3 Melee minions from the second).

Obviously, a Support’s job is not to last hit minions over the ADC, and you shouldn’t auto attack the minions after you have reached Level 2 (unless you are pushing the wave out or your ADC is absent), but it is much more important to reach and abuse the Level 2 power spike. Some ADCs may complain and question why you are “disrupting their last-hitting” but you should either ignore them or explain the importance of reaching Level 2 before your opponent. Try to avoid last hitting the minions, as they should be left for your ADC, but if you accidentally last hit a minion or two, it isn’t a major loss to your ADC. If you manage to reach Level 2 before your opponent, go all in with your abilities and hopefully secure a kill. If you lose the race to Level 2, back off behind your minion wave or to your tower and wait for the minions to push to you: it isn’t worth the risking death, a lot of damage or a summoner spell to stay around the minions and face the enemy’s Level 2 power spike.

Abusing Power Spikes

Finally, other than the Level 2 power spike, there are others to be aware of and play around. Level 6 is the most prominent power spike, as unlocking your ultimate ability can change the laning phase dramatically. Some Supports have stronger ultimates in the laning phase to force a very strong engage, such as Annie’s Tibbers and Leona’s Solar Flare, and you should look to engage with these abilities whenever you can. Similarly, if you are playing against Supports with a very strong Level 6 engage, play defensively when the enemy reach Level 6. However, some Supports have weak engaging ultimates to use and abuse in the laning phase, such as Soraka’s Wish and Lulu’s Wild Growth, so it isn’t necessary to force and engage with these Supports when you reach level 6; rather look to use them defensively against your enemy’s ultimates. There are also item power spikes the play around, particularly with ADCs.

If your ADC has bought a BF Sword while the enemy ADC only has a Pickaxe, you should be looking to poke and engage as much as possible, as your ADC has a prominent damage advantage over your opponent. Conversely, if the roles are reversed and your ADC only has a Pickaxe against a BF Sword, you should be avoiding trades with the enemy as much as possible, as you will consistently lose trades. Trinity Force is another important power spike to play around, forcing engages and trades as much as possible when your ADC has it, and playing defensively and avoiding trades when your opponent has it.