Perhaps the greatest misconception I’ve heard about popular MOBA League of Legends is that the role of Support doesn’t have a significant impact on the game.
Home for the holidays, I sat down to dinner only to witness my little brother come huffing and puffing to the table ranting that “getting stuck playing Support,” was the reason he was fastened ever so firmly in Silver IV.
Having mained support from Silver II to Platinum V, I attempted to clarify that playing support could have an immense effect on your game if done correctly. After a heated exchange, he decided that if he followed my advice and climbed, he would believe me. He’s now Gold V.
Lane Presence
A common delusion of “Supporting,” is to sit in the lane bushes and soak up experience. This is absolutely incorrect.
The more mobile your champion is the harder he/she will be to land a skill shot on, not to mention many more opportunities to catch an enemy out of position.
If your character has a substantial amount of health, a good rule to remember is to always be in between your carry and your enemy. This way you can react at the drop of a hat to disengage your carry’s fatal mistake or stun the enemy when he/she walks up to CS.
Harassing
This is when supporting becomes fun. If you’re an aggressive type (like me), you’ll be using every opportunity to auto attack the opposite team’s Support or ADC. Although the ADC is preferably the target, catching a support can sometimes mean an easy first blood.
Keep in mind that using too many spells, and wasting all of your mana, to harass is not beneficial.
If you’re more on the passive side, your harassing should be more defensive than offensive. When you see an enemy, rather than making the first move, simply sidestep the skill shot and win the trade with your own set of attacks.
The trick for this method is to stay as calm as possible to prevent panic plays.
Zoning
Zoning is another incredibly vital aspect of turning, and keeping, the tides of bot lane in your favor. I would define this as instilling so much fear into the heart of the enemy players, they won’t even think about coming near a minion wave.
For example, when the opposite team’s support goes to ward, your lane becomes a 2v1 and you should become the gatekeeper to the minion wave. Do not let them near it. Denying their ADC farm will continue to improve your carry’s CS lead and further your chances of winning the lane.
This same rule applies when one of your enemies recalls and leaves the other by him/herself, or to steamroll a small lead into an unstoppable force.
Map Presence
Another significant aspect of supporting is how you control the map compared to the other Support player. This is the difference between giving your jungle an early or mid game advantage rather than relying solely on their abilities alone.
Vision Control
I’d like for you to close your eyes. Picture a game where you’re on the blue team and you snuck in an early blue buff ward on the purple team when their bottom lane recalled. You see their Jungler with 200 health about to clear blue, you ping your Jungler/Mid and pick up an easy first blood.
The impact early wards, and wards in general, can make on a game are invaluable. Catching an enemy warding, a lone ADC, or a sneaky Jungler can win a game at 40 minutes, even if your team is down. Never forget your wards.
Roaming
In case you weren’t aware, supports can roam too. A random Leona ult to an unsuspecting Mid lane could get your AP Carry a lead that will increase your chances of an inevitable victory.
Helping your teammates can also increase team moral which is a much more powerful tool than you might think. People will surprise themselves with game changing plays when they are in a good mood, and as we all know League of Legends doesn’t have the greatest reputation for a positive community.
Itemization
After putting such a heavy weight on lane harass and zoning, it’s important to note that these elements are negated without prioritizing the proper items.
Your starting item has now changed to 1 of 3 things:
Ancient Coin for sustain 
Spellthief’s Edge for damage 
Relic Shield for tankiness
Depending on your champion pick, and the role your team needs you to play, select one of these items carefully.
Your next item, before anything else, should be a sightstone. 
The additional health allows you to trade without taking too much damage and eventually winning engages.
After finishing your starter item, and acquiring Boots, your items will then depend on your ability to read into the current game.
Is the enemy team’s Riven fed? You should build a Randiun’s Omen to slow down her attack speed. Is the AP Carry wiping the floor with your Mid? Rush a Locket of the Iron Solari for the magic resistance aura.
It’s important to understand that no two games are the same, which means your build order is subject to change as well. Build smart and it could mean the tiniest difference that saves a teammate’s life.
Champions
While many players are against succumbing to the current meta, playing the champions that are the most overpowered at the time will give you an automatic advantage against the enemy team.
For example, right now Morgana is dominating the ranked ladder because of her spell shield and long range stun. Shutting down support giants like Thresh, Annie, Leona, and more is a vital part of laning phase, and a well placed spell shield will save your ADC from being hooked to his/her doom.
Playmaking and Hesitation
Sometimes playing passive has the most advantages, such as poke composition teams that rely on damaging enemies from afar rather than engaging directly.
However, most of the time, a Support’s engages can win a game. A flash into Annie’s Tibbers stun can lock down an unsuspecting team, allowing your carries to clean up and push towers, baron, or even the game.
Hesitating can have the opposite effect, with a missed opportunity flip flopping into the enemy team’s perfect engage onto you. My advice is to never hesitate. Big plays will never happen if you don’t make them happen, and if you aim to make a difference as a Support, this is the best way to do so.
All in all…
Playing Support is not nearly as boring as you might have originally thought. While it’s nice to be the big, bad carry with all the kills, it’s also nice to know that without you, those kills would have never happened.
Versatility is also essential for playing ranked, since you’ll probably end up playing Support sooner or later.
Being able to leave a lasting footprint in a game will be far more beneficial than simply waiting in the bushes while your carry last hits minions, and securing a lead will most likely secure the game.
