Support may seem to be the simplest role in League of Legends, but there are plenty of small ways to elevate your gameplay to the next level. These are some quick and easy strategies to improve, with examples taken from MSI 2024
Out of all the roles in League of Legends, the Support role is the one that involves a completely unique and varied skillset compared to the rest. While Support has a low floor that makes it great for newer players, there are plenty of aspects that can be easily optimized. This short article will break down the Support role and give advice for all parts of the game, including the lane phase, roaming and warding. The examples used for all parts of the game will also highlight key points from MSI games, allowing you to truly learn from the best.
When it comes to the lane phase, Supports have the luxury of not needing to actively CS. The advantage of that is you now have the ability to focus on trading and controlling the 2v2 of the lane. Often, the type of Support you’re playing can drastically swing the matchup. Ranged Supports typically have more harass in their kits and can trade autos or spells from afar more effectively than engage Supports. This can force the enemy bot lane off of the waves and make it difficult to farm. However, melee Supports are often more favored in the all-ins, as they’re equipped with better engage tools.
When posturing in the lane, attempt to stay parallel with your AD Carry, or ADC. This is true for melee or ranged, as it prevents you or your ADC from getting engaged without being able to hit effectively hit back at the other ADC. If you’re standing too far back, the enemy ADC will be able to strike from a safe distance. If you’re trying to engage too far ahead, you’ll die before they can begin dishing out damage!
An example of a 2v2 trade from G2 vs. T1 in the Lower Bracket at MSI. Courtesy of Riot Games.
In this instance, G2’s bot lane begins with the engage on Keria. As the trade goes on, you can see Gumayusi uses Ghost then moves to the side to be able to hit Hans Sama instead of Mikyx’s Nautilus, standing parallel to Keria in the trade sequence. Damaging Hans Sama and threatening the Draven is simply more effective damage than a Nautilus, who has both Aftershock and his W Shielding available to him.
An example of a 2v2 trade from G2 vs. T1 in the Lower Bracket at MSI. Courtesy of Riot Games.
In case a fight breaks out, always try to take note of combat summoners, such as Cleanse, Ignite, Exhaust, or Heal. Some of these have different cooldowns, and being able to keep track of who has what may be critical information in the 2v2. If you want to disrupt these timings, anything with Summoner Spell haste can give you a huge advantage! Cosmic Insight or Ionian Boots of Lucidity both provide insane reductions to these valuable cooldowns. (For example: Flash with Cosmic Insight goes from 300s to 254s.)
Of course, as a Support, you may find yourself with extra time on your hands while your ADC is preoccupied with farming, or on a reset. This allows you to open up the map and begin to roam!
Roaming is an excellent way of impacting the map when you aren’t needed bot lane. In essence, roaming is simply the act of moving out of your lane to take action elsewhere. This could be contesting an objective, ganking another lane, or helping establish deep wards. A large part of roaming is understanding the game and always being in the right place at the right time.
Be careful though! Leaving for too long can negatively impact your ADC. Consider the game state and your teammates' needs before leaving the lane. For example, if you have a lane-dominant ADC who wants to push their advantage in the early game, you might have forced the enemy bot laner to reset early on. You’ll be afforded some time to move thanks to your strong laning, allowing you to shift up the river. But lingering too long might leave your ADC high and dry, and they’ll need you back to continue to pressure once the bot lane returns.
However, let’s say your ADC is planning on farming waves and scaling, but your jungler is hoping to contest grubs. It’s a lot more valuable for your presence to be topside, as the extra numbers or vision control could be instrumental to securing that objective. It might be worth it for you to stay longer out on the map, since your presence just isn’t required bottom.
If you’re confused or struggling with roaming, make a mental checklist of some of the variables in the game, and ask yourself questions. First, consider the conditions for your ADC: Do they have good wards to spot out ganks? Do you know where the enemy jungle may be pathing? Do they have summoner spells available in case they get attacked? If the answer to questions like these is no, then there’s a good chance you might just leave your ADC out to dry. However, if your ADC has conditions where they can play the game without you needing to be at their side, then you can take that opportunity to roam!
An example of Support roaming from BLG vs GEN in the MSI Finals. Courtesy of Riot Games.
This is a good example of an effective roam from BLG ON in the MSI finals. Elk and ON have a strong 2v2 in Varus and Ashe. The enemy bot lane was pushed back fairly heavily, so ON now has the timing to move up and dive Chovy with the rest of his teammates.
If you’re on a reset, you can run through the mid-lane before cutting back to bot lane, as if any action appears on the map, it allows you to opt in and take a more advantageous fight significantly quicker. Some Supports have kits that naturally allow them to roam more, such as Pyke or Bard, who can easily move around the map and have crowd control to set up their team for success. However, even if you’re on ranged Support, you can generate a lot more lane pressure and create a more favorable lane state for roaming. Roaming is simply a good way to maximize your time on the map and give your team more advantages.
Vision control is one of the essential fundamentals for any good Support. While it may seem simple at first, there are a lot of small tricks to optimizing your team’s vision around the map. Good wards will often be placed in spots that will catch enemies moving from various points. Pathways with multiple entrances in the jungle are great examples.
Whenever possible, it’s good to establish strong vision control deep in the enemy jungle, even during the lane phase. Figuring out where the jungler is pathing can help protect not just your lane from ganks, but the others as well.
Example is taken from GEN vs BLG in the upper bracket. Courtesy of Riot Games.
Above is an example of both teams with effective warding at different points. ON is placing vision around the enemy raptor camp as it is respawning, which can provide good information if it spots Canyon taking it. However, the GEN ward that was placed far up in the lane not only confirms that Xun isn’t waiting in a bush behind Elk but allows Chovy to teleport to it and punish Elk for his extension so far up in lane. In this instance, BLG has good vision for the next stage of the game, anticipating the movements of the jungler. But GEN has vision which helps them confirm the play they’re making right now, allowing them to act quicker.
Establishing good vision also means denying the enemy to do the same. Control wards are a unique type of ward as they are detectable to the naked eye but will disable any enemy vision within their radius. Their primary purpose is self-explanatory, to establish and take control of a designated area. In regard to placing control wards, consider how easy it is to defend. Given that control wards require an investment of 75 gold, it’s ill-advised to treat them like your average ward. If you can keep it in a relevant position where you can defend it if it’s contested, it’s substantially more worthwhile in contrast to losing the control ward instantly. Oracle Lens is the best alternative, as you can sweep out vision in a small radius around you when it’s active. It’s best advised to take this over your traditional ward once your Support item has wards available.
When setting up an objective, use a combination of these warding tips to establish effective vision for your team. Always try to begin your vision control around a minute before the objective spawns. If you’re too early, your wards will expire, but too late, you’ll likely be walking blindly into the enemy. To avoid face-checking, walk with a teammate who can back you up as you forage into the darkness. Place wards in common paths while sweeping out bushes with your Oracle Lens. Once you’ve established a zone of control, you can defend that point with a Control Ward to make the enemy entry difficult.
Overall, it’s fair to say that Support has a lower entry floor compared to other positions. However, that doesn’t mean you’re useless! There are numerous ways to elevate your skill level and reach a high skill ceiling. Support is all about setting up your teammates for success, and the small tips and tricks in this article will hopefully help elevate your gameplay.
