The Vital Role of Support in League of Legends
4 min read
4/14/2023
support
league of legends
guide

The Vital Role of Support in League of Legends

Unravel the strategic importance of support champions in League of Legends, Learn key tips and strategies for mastering the support role.


Understanding the Role of Support

The support role in League of Legends is indispensable, with responsibilities including providing crowd control, healing, vision, and other utility abilities to assist teammates, protect them, and enable effective role execution for gaining an advantage over opponents.

Starting from Scratch: Basics of Playing Support

Picking the Right Champion

The significance of champion selection cannot be overstated for support players. Meticulously evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various champions, such as healing, crowd control, or utility, to determine the optimal fit for your team's composition and strategy.

Understanding Itemization

Strategic itemization is a fundamental aspect of playing support in League of Legends. The right choice of items, such as Sightstone, Redemption, and Locket of the Iron Solari, can greatly enhance your champion's abilities and provide essential utility to your team. Understanding the optimal timing and usage of these items is key to influencing the game's outcome and securing victory for your team.

Warding and Vision Control

Warding and vision control are essential aspects of playing support in League of Legends. Placing wards in strategic locations on the map can provide crucial vision of enemy movements, objectives, and potential ganks.

Vision control is a critical responsibility for support players in League of Legends. Continuously placing and clearing wards, denying enemy vision, and establishing vision in strategic areas of the map is crucial. This allows your team to have better awareness of enemy movements, make informed decisions, and avoid unnecessary deaths, ultimately leading to a higher chance of success.

Advanced Techniques for Support Players

Roaming and Map Awareness

As a support player, your ability to engage or initiate team fights, timing your crowd control abilities, coordinating effectively with your team, and positioning yourself optimally can be the game-changer in turning the tides of team fights in your favor.

Engaging and Disengaging in Team Fights

Proficiency in engagement, disengagement, crowd control, coordination, and positioning is vital for support players to excel in team fights and sway the outcome in their favor.

Peel and Protection for Your Teammates

Support players also play a key role in protecting their teammates, especially the carries. Peel refers to using your abilities to prevent enemy champions from reaching your teammates, keeping them safe and enabling them to deal damage. Knowing when and how to peel for your carries can make a huge difference in team fights and overall team success.

Communication and Coordination with the Team

Effective communication and coordination with your team are pivotal for a support player. Stay constantly aware of team positioning, cooldowns, and intentions, and proactively communicate plans for engages, disengages, rotations, and objective control to strategically outplay opponents.

Strategies for climbing the ranks as a support player

Understanding Matchups and Countering Opponents

Gaining a competitive advantage in League of Legends requires a deep understanding of matchups and countering opponents. This entails comprehensive knowledge of champions, their abilities, playstyles, and itemization. By leveraging this understanding, you can adapt your playstyle, itemization, and decision-making to gain the upper hand against your opponents.

Utilizing Runes and Summoner Spells

Runes and Summoner Spells are customizable options that can greatly impact your gameplay as a support player. Experimenting with different rune setups and summoner spells can give you an edge in specific situations or against certain opponents. Understanding the synergy between your champion, runes, and summoner spells can help you optimize your gameplay and gain an advantage.

Adapting to Different Playstyles and Metas

As a support player in League of Legends, it is imperative to adapt to the ever-evolving game, which includes different playstyles and metas. Experimenting with rune setups and summoner spells in specific situations or against certain opponents cannot be underestimated. Understanding the synergy between your champion's abilities, playstyle, and the appropriate runes and summoner spells will greatly optimize your gameplay and provide you with a competitive edge.

Learning from Mistakes and Analyzing Gameplay

Embrace mistakes in League of Legends for learning and improvement. Analyze gameplay, review replays, and turn mistakes into valuable lessons for elevated gameplay.

Duo Queue and Communication with ADC

If possible, duo queuing with an ADC (Attack Damage Carry) can greatly enhance your gameplay as a support player. Duo queuing allows for better communication and coordination with your lane partner, which can lead to better synergy in lane, increased map pressure, and overall better results. Communicating effectively with your ADC is crucial for successful laning, roaming, and team fights.

Mental Attitude and Positivity

Embrace mistakes in League of Legends for learning and improvement. Analyze gameplay, review replays, and turn mistakes into valuable lessons for elevated gameplay. Avoiding tilt, toxic behavior, and negative mindset can greatly impact your gameplay and overall performance.

FAQs

Q: What are some good support champions for beginners in League of Legends?

A: Some good support champions for beginners include Sona, Janna, and Soraka.

Q: How important is vision control for support players?

A: Vision control is crucial for support players as it enables them to keep track of enemy movements, establish vision in key areas, and make informed decisions.

Q: Can support players carry games in League of Legends?

A: Yes, support players can carry games by providing crucial utility, engaging or disengaging in team fights, and setting up plays for their team.