[LoL] Show the Support Some Love!

I’m going to start a new blog series about LoL. I want to be active.

Hey guys, today I realized in public normals, the support is underutilized and is monumentally helpful. People rarely use supports because they’re not used to y’know, not getting kills. This selfish attitude tends to carry into ranked as well. no one wants to play the tank or the support.

‘Duh” says the skeptical on-looker.

But today, I’m here to show you how exactly how important a support can be! Take for instance Sorakop- Oh wait, Soraka. She has great early game harrass (though her role gradually shifts to a heal-tank) as well as crazy in-lane sustainability (after the first recall when you receive your philosopher’s stone)

Yes, this blog will probably be Soraka-centric seeing as I main her as my support of choice. Fuck Sona.

Now, you say “Well Soraka is squishy so she has to hold back on the harrass early game, right?”

Not with a competent lane partner. A good lane partner will take the brunt of the damage knowing full-well you have a heal or two up your sleeve. I don’t care what position you play, you do not allow your support to take the brunt of the damage.

Also, tangentially, a point about supports. No one knows to focus them anymore. In pub games, it’s become the norm to focus the AD range or AP range carry (or in some cases, entirely ignore them because they’re an unfed nuke and can’t do shit to anyone…or Veigar…always.) This allows for some pretty intense pub-stomping (when in blind pick) They’re underestimated. (Also this works well in low ELOs)

Supports ARE game-changing. Just as it is with tanks. Without a tank you are more likely to fail. Period. No one wants to initiate. There’s a lot of infighting about kills, simply because everyone wants to chill in the background and rake them up.

Soraka should be run with 3 heals. The summoner spell, her w and her r. Assuming by late-game they heal around 500-600 a piece that’s around 1.5-1.8k healed simply in a single rotation. (With your w probably being around a 9 second cooldown) Also, a SR, AoL, Randuin’s, WotA, etc HEAVILY changes the outcome of the team fights. A 30% attack and movement speed reduction? That’s removing income from the opposing team. They have to build further to counteract your SINGLE item. The value of the SR goes without saying. AoL and WotA are purely situational, though intensely useful.

Don’t forget your activation items. I hate it when I see a AP carry build a DFG and forget they even have it. You’d be hard-pressed to find a lane of dual-carries compete with Soraka-AD carry in pubs. It just doesn’t happen. Better yet, play Alistar and fill two roles as well as an almost guaranteed first blood. (Flash -> Pulveriuze -> Headbutt)