At the current state of the game, it does not matter what support you play, you'll always have a massive impact on the game. You can increase your chances to win the game by picking the right champion to enable your team to win the game. A game can be decided in champion select by picking the proper champion in each situation. In the following article, I'll explain to you when to pick which support.

First of all, we have to assume that you are equally skilled on each support since you should never pick a champion which you are not comfortable playing. Before looking at certain champions we have to determine categories in which we classify every support champion because it helps us to list the pros and cons of each champion.

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In this article we will be differentiating between 7 categories:

- Ranged: Ranged champions can harass the enemy with ease in a lane by using their auto attacks. It is also easier to stay safe while being ranged because you do not have to walk up to melee range to harass the enemy, take towers or wards.

- Pick potential: Dynamic queue is often decided in the midgame by creating picks around the map. Support champions with long range hard CC or zoning abilities (like Trundle's Pillar of Ice) provide said picks and often decide whether you win or lose the game by creating picks after the early stages of the game.

- Built-in vision control: Vision control is always mentioned when talking about the role of a support and some champions make controlling vision easier with their respective kits. Such a kit reduces the chance of getting caught out of position while warding because you simply use your ability in an unwarded area of the map to grant vision.

- Disengage: Knowing when to disengage is one of the core elements of the game in almost every patch. Disengaging helps you to get out of bad situations or prevent the enemy from getting a kill on a teammate who is out of position.

- Engage: Engaging is pretty much the opposite of disengaging. This time, you can engage on the enemy team when they are out of position. It also helps to start team fights which is an important element while playing league of legends.

- High damage: High damage supports are mostly known for their incredible laning phase. Most of the time they have high base damages while also having relatively short cooldowns to bully the opponents.

- Sustain: Sustain has gotten more and more important in recent seasons. Sustain allows you to take bad trades more frequently than your opponent because you can simply regain missing hit points by using your sustain abilities. Sustain also scales really well into the mid- and lategame where sieges become more common.

With those categories, we are set to categorize most supports. Now we can finally take a look at the subject this article deals with - When to pick which support? Obviously, I can't cover every single situation in champion select so we are looking at each support champion by stating their pros and cons so you can decide if the champion you wanted to pick is the most advantageous champion to pick in your case. I recommend only reading the parts of the champions you play since there is a huge wall of text incoming for each champion.

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Alistar: Alistar is most likely the tankiest out of all supports due to "Unbreakable Will (R)". But he is not a one-dimensional champion at all since he also offers a lot of sustain due to his "Triumphant Roar (E)", especially because Triumphant Roar's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds whenever an enemy dies near Alistar (minions and champions). Alistar also provides a great engaging tool by using flash "Headbutt (W)"Pulverize (Q)". You can also use said combo to pick off an enemy who is out of position even though I'd not recommend using your flash except if it is a major target (e.g the enemy jungler when Baron Nashor is up and you are able to take it).

Bard: Bard is my most played champion this season and I would recommend him to anyone who likes to play a high impact style of support. Why? Because he is a jack of all trades. First of all, he is a ranged champion who can harass enemy champions easily by not only using his ranged auto attacks but also Traveler's Call's Meeps which empower his next auto attack (more information on the empowered auto attacks here). Bard also provides a decent amount of sustain by using "Caretaker's Shrine (W)". It might not be the best healing with a base amount of 70 at rank 1 but as already mentioned he is a jack of all trades and the master of none. His "Tempered Fate (R)" can be used as an engage or disengage tool while having a massive range of 3400. You can also use his "Magical Journey (E)" to rotate which makes up for him not having a speed boost. The only downside of the champion is that his pick potential is mediocre at best because his "Cosmic Binding (Q)" is a really short ranged skill which only stuns for one second at rank 1. But the fact that you can stun two major targets with it makes up for the short stun. Overall I would recommend putting time into learning Bard because he can be picked in almost every situation even though it might be frustrating to play him in the beginning.

Blitzcrank: Blitzcrank is most likely the definition of one dimensional. He is a solo queue superstar because he is the master of creating picks fast and easily all around the map during the entirety of the game. I would not recommend picking him if you are not 100% confident in your ability to land his "Rocket Grab (Q)" because that is the essential part while playing Blitzcrank. As soon as your hook is on cooldown your ADC will most likely miss some CS (Creep Score) because it is really easy to zone him away from the wave since you don't offer anything else during laning phase. That is being made up by the fact of your own zoning potential by simply standing in the closest bush and pretending to hook someone as soon as you step out of it.

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Braum: Braum's trademark is probably his "Unbreakable (E)" in combination with his incredible amounts of CC that he provides. But his ability to block all incoming skill shots is not the only thing Braum can offer. He has a really high pick potential because of his long range "Glacial Fissure (R)" (1250 Range) and his "Winter's Bite (Q)" which sits at a decent range of 1000. Even though both of those skills can be used to create picks and engage fights, only his ultimate can be used as disengage because of its massive area of effect slow of 60% at rank 3. You can also use his Q to check unwarded terrain because it is on a rather short cooldown of 6 seconds at rank 5 (0% CDR). Braum is in a special spot because he does not offer any sort of sustain or damage but he makes up for that by having his Unbreakable which is able to completely nullify poke compositions. It is also worth mentioning that his "Stand Behind Me (W)" offers an insane amount of resistances (16% of Braum's armor/magic resist) to an allied target as long as Braum has a decent amount of defense stats which makes his scaling incredibly good.

Janna: Janna can be referred as queen of utility. Her trademark is her ability to disengage by using her "Howling Gale (Q)" and "Monsoon (R)". Janna also allows her ADC to win nearly every trade in the laning phase due to her "Eye of the Storm (E)" which provides a shield of 160(+70% AP) and 25(+10% AP) bonus AD at rank 3. As a trade-off, she does not offer any kind of engage , damage or sustain. Even though she is super one-dimensional, she is one of the safest supports because she does well in every lane matchup and scales decently good as long as she positions properly.

Karma: Karma has seen a lot of professional play in every major region recently. She owes that to her "Defiance (Mantra E)" which enables her team to rotate quickly and disengage whenever they want. Her disengage provided by her E is not the only thing Karma offers. As many players know , Karma is one of the most obnoxious champions to lane against due to her constant harass of her "Inner Flame (Q)" / "Soulflare (Mantra Q)". Additionally, she is a ranged champion with a mediocre range sitting at 525. Her Q being on a 5-second cooldown at rank 5 allows her to check unwarded areas without any problem. In my opinion, she is the best lane bully champion because her Mantra E scales really well into the midgame while Zyra or Sona do not offer that scaling without pulling out an impressive play. When talking about pick priority she is similar to Janna, you can always pick her and do well in nearly every matchup while scaling into the midgame decently.

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Leona: Leona is another one-dimensional champion. She mainly excels at engaging and her insane kill potential in lane tears up lower Elo since 2011. Leona may not provide sustain, direct damage or built-in vision control but she is still a high impact support because of her massive pick potential by her "Solar Flare (R)", "Zenith Blade (E)" and "Shield of Daybreak (Q)". Also, worth mentioning is her "Eclipse (W)" which works similar to Braum's "Stand Behind Me (W)" but it only works on herself which makes her one-dimensional playstyle a bit less risky.(+20% of her bonus armor/magic resists as armor/magic resist) If you do like roaming a lot and having high impact throughout the early stages of the game you should definitely consider picking her up.

Morgana: Morgana is another jack of all trades but master of none. She provides range harass in lane, hard CC and engage. Her early game is really good because of her "Dark Binding (Q)" which snares an enemy target for
2 seconds at rank 1. She is also pretty good in the midgame because you can create really long CC chains of-of her Dark Binding and "Soul Shackles (R)" which can create a guaranteed snare/stun chain of 4.5 seconds. I think it is also worth mentioning that her "Black Shield (E)" can provide immunity to CC to an allied target up to 5 seconds. I think you can pick Morgana in nearly every situation because of her width of tools but be careful if you pick her into a heavy magic damage bot lane because it is really easy to break her Black Shield early on which makes you invulnerable to any kind of CC.

Nami: Not only Karma has seen a lot of professional play recently, Nami also has. Nami offers a massive amount of sustain and CC. Her "Aqua Prison (Q)" does not only provide a stun (it is not a knock-up) but can also be used as a tool to check unwarded areas even though I do not recommend doing it frequently because its cooldown is really high in the early stages of the game at 14/13/12 at rank 1-3. Nami's "Tidal Wave (R)" provides insane disengage because it does not only knock up all units it hits but also slows them for up to 4 seconds for 70% at rank 3. Nami's laning phase is also pretty oppressive because of her "Ebb and Flow (W)" healing and her "Tidecaller's Blessing (E)" which makes trading look easy if used properly. I think Nami needs some practice at first but after you got some experience playing her you are able to pick her into almost every matchup and do fine.

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Sona: Everyone who has played back in Season 3 knows how obnoxious Sona used to be. Nowadays it looks a bit different. She still is the oppressive lane bully that nobody wants to face because of her "Power Chord (Passive)" which empowers Sona's next basic attack after she casts 3 basic abilities. But that's not all the damage she provides during the laning phase. Her "Hymn of Valor (Q)" does not only do a lot of damage itself at 120(+50% AP) at rank 3 but also strengthens her Power Chord by 40% bonus damage. Damage is not the only thing she provides while being in a lane. She also provides healing for the most wounded nearby allied champion by 0,5% for every 1% of target's missing health. When she uses Power Chord after "Aria of Perseverance (W)" she reduces the target's damage output by 20%(+2% per 100AP) for 3 seconds. All that may sound really good but there obviously is a huge trade-off. Sona is probably the worst scaling support because you cannot afford to get a lot of AP in runes or items in the current meta and her base stats are not enough to keep her relevant in the later stages of the game. The only positive aspect of Sona after her laning phase is her "Song of Celerity (E)" which enables her team and Sona to rotate rather quick even though it is not comparable with Karma's Inspire/Defiance.

Soraka: Soraka is the best sustain champion in the game and probably the most annoying champion to lane against since her healing nullifies all successful trades. As just mentioned, her trademark is her insane healing that she provides due to her "Astral Infusion (W)" and "Wish (R)". You are also able to check unwarded bushes by using your "Starcall (Q)" because it is on a rather short cooldown of 5 seconds. In fact, that is basically all she provides. She does not have any form of engage, disengage, damage or pick potential. If you want to have a chill game, you can pick Soraka and do fine in every lane as long as you don't get dove or punished for not having an escape. Otherwise, I would not recommend picking Soraka if you are not playing as a group of 5 because she usually does not have any impact on the game till you reach the stage of team fighting.

Taric: Taric is not the stun bot we used to love and admire for his handsome look. He is a pretty unique support since his rework took place. He provides a variety of safety tools during laning phase and later stages of the game. During laning phase his "Bastion (W)" provides a shield and bonus armor for Taric and his laning partner. (20% of Taric's armor) His "Starlight's Touch (Q)" also provides healing for his laning partner as long as "Bastion (W)" is activated on your ally. His "Dazzle (E)" provides a short stun which can be used to create picks. You can also pull off awesome combos by using Dazzle in combination with Bastion on Twitch while stealth to pull off a stun out of nowhere. But Taric would not have an ability called Bastion if he would not have the ability to pull off the play of the game with ease. His "Cosmic Radiance (R)" can be used to make Taric and nearby allies (also imitated by his Bastion target) invulnerable for 2.5 seconds which is really good against assassins like Rengar or Zed. In my opinion, Taric is one of the most underrated supports at the moment because you can always pick him to at least mediocre success during laning phase and as soon as you reach midgame you will become the gem-god.

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Thresh: We finally reached the most famous support, Thresh. Thresh is probably the most loved support among the support players because he offers a wide variety of tools that master all sorts of situations. Thresh is another jack of all trades because his "Death Sentence (Q)" offers engage, "Dark Passage (W)" and "The Box (R)" disengage and his "Death Leap (Q Activate)" and "Flay (E)" playmaking ability. His short range of 450 allows him to bully melee enemy champions like Alistar but cause him problems when facing a higher range AD-Carry like Caitlyn. There is not much to say about Thresh except that he fits into every composition and that you can pick him
whenever you feel like collecting souls.

Trundle: Trundle seems like a one-dimensional champion whose only task is to nullify the enemy's tank. But that is not the case whatsoever. The real power of support Trundle comes from his "Pillar of Ice (E)" because of its diverse use. It can be used as disengage, engage, to create picks, to check unwarded areas and to zone of enemy champions. Nonetheless, is his "Subjugate (R)" an essential part of his kit because it allows him to nullify one of the enemy's tanks. All that sounds awesome but there has to be a trade-off, of course. His laning phase is really weak even with his "Chomp (Q)" reducing the enemy's attack damage because he does not offer any sort of sustain for his laning partner. I don't want to make a conclusion at that point because I'm still trying him out in the current meta.

Zilean: Zilean is somewhat similar to Taric because he works best against an assassin heavy team. But that is not his only strength. Zilean's laning phase is decent because you reach crucial levels before your opponent due to "Time in a Bottle (Passive)". You also have an area of effect stun which needs some practice to land frequently but it is worth investing that time if you want to pick up Zilean. Zilean spikes in the midgame because of his "Time Warp (E)" and his "Chronoshift (R)" which provide a massive amount of utility. Overall, you should pick Zilean if you are looking to close out the game during the midgame or if the enemy team relies on its assassins to win the game but don't forget to invest some time into practicing to hit those double "Time Bombs (Q)".

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Zyra: Zyra is the last support we want to talk about in this article. Zyra has seen a lot of professional play after her rework because her base damages got buffed while her rations have been adjusted because of her new plants. Zyra has always been a laning support because of her base damage while not offering anything else in the lategame except her ult to zone. I still don't think that Zyra is top tier because she does not provide any sustain or meaningful CC. Her "Grasping Roots (E)" only last for 0.75 seconds at rank 1 while only dealing 60 base damage. Her ult has a rather long cooldown for its effect since it is mostly a zoning tool. But there are also good aspects of Zyra. One is that you can use her "Rampant Growth (W)" to put down seeds similar to wards which last 60 seconds. Another one would be the long range on all of her abilities. In my opinion, Zyra is fine to pick if you are looking for a Nami faux with a little bit more damage but no sustain. You can always pick her to win lane but don't expect to have a big impact lategame besides zoning the enemies and slowing them with Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

We have just looked at the most famous supports played at the moment but you are not on a lane on your own while playing support. Since I don't play AD-Carry, I've always followed a pretty simple principle which has worked out for me and you should use as well if you have no clue about AD-Carry. It all comes down to something similar to scissors paper rock which most likely everybody knows. As in scissors paper rock, there are three types of lanes. There is the kill lane (e.g Lucian, Braum), the sustain lane (e.g. Kog'Maw, Soraka) and the poke lane (e.g. Caitlyn, Janna). According to the principle sustain lanes beat poke lanes, kill lanes beat sustain lanes and poke lanes beat kill lanes. During laning phase, AD-Carries play a rather small role because supports decide what type of lane you are most of the time.

If you put all of that into consideration, you should be good to go to gain some Elo on the rift.

Concluding I want to thank you for reading. If you have any questions about the support role, you can send me a tweet @AcresLoL. Also if you do not want to miss out on any upcoming video content (support guides) or more written content do not forget to follow me on Twitter as well. Let me know if you want another part of this article about off-meta supports like Taliyah or Annie.

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