Tired of feeling like you're at the mercy of your ADC? Ready to take control of the bot lane and climb the League of Legends ladder? Then you've come to the right place. This guide is your comprehensive resource for mastering the support role and dominating your games. We'll dive into the best champions right now, explore essential strategies, and give you the tools to become a game-changing support player. After all, sometimes climbing as 'support players lol' means carrying your team—without dealing the most damage.
At a glance:
- Top Tier Champions: Lulu, Pyke, and Thresh are currently the strongest support picks.
- Enchanters are Meta: Enchanters are dominating the meta, focusing on protecting and empowering carries.
- Adapt Your Bans: Ban strategically based on your bot lane duo and potential counters.
- Vision is Key: Mastering vision control is crucial for securing objectives and protecting your team.
- Roaming Impact: Knowing when and how to roam can drastically impact the game.
- Itemization Matters: Choosing the right support item and utility items is essential for success.
The Current Support Landscape: Patch 14.22
The meta in League of Legends is constantly shifting, especially for support players lol. Patch 14.22 sees a strong emphasis on enchanters. These champions excel at keeping their carries alive and buffing their damage output. However, the prevalence of enchanters does leave them vulnerable to engage supports and hook champions. Learning to adapt and counter-pick is more important than ever. As updated on November 14, 2024, keeping an eye on patch notes is key to staying ahead of the game.
S Tier Support Champions: Climb with Confidence
These champions are consistently strong and reliable choices for climbing the ladder. Mastering even one of these can significantly improve your win rate.
Lulu: The Fairy Sorceress
Lulu is the quintessential enchanter and a top-tier pick in the current meta. Her ability to shield, polymorph, and buff allies makes her the perfect partner for hyper-carry ADCs like Jinx, Zeri, and Twitch. Her ultimate, Wild Growth, can turn the tide of a fight by knocking up enemies and granting a massive health boost to an ally.
- Strengths: Excellent peel, strong buffs, versatile kit.
- Weaknesses: Squishy, vulnerable to engage.
- Ideal Partners: Hyper-carry ADCs (Jinx, Zeri, Twitch).
- Key Items: Ardent Censer, Staff of Flowing Water.
Pyke: The Bloodharbor Ripper
Pyke is a unique, aggressive support assassin. He thrives on roaming, creating picks, and snowballing a lead. While enchanters are strong, Pyke provides a valuable counterpoint with his kill pressure and ability to execute low-health enemies with his ultimate, Death From Below. Learning to manage your gold efficiently with his passive is crucial. If you want to see how you stack up against other players, check out Top Support Players Ranked.
- Strengths: High kill pressure, excellent roaming, gold generation.
- Weaknesses: Can fall behind if unable to snowball, item-dependent.
- Ideal Partners: Aggressive ADCs (Draven, Lucian).
- Key Items: Umbral Glaive, Youmuu's Ghostblade.
Thresh: The Chain Warden
Thresh is a highly versatile and rewarding support champion. His Death Sentence (Q) provides excellent engage potential, while his Dark Passage (W) offers unparalleled utility for saving allies or setting up ganks. Flay (E) is a powerful disengage tool, and his ultimate, The Box, can zone enemies and create opportunities for your team. Thresh requires precise execution and good game sense, but he's incredibly impactful in the right hands.
- Strengths: Versatile kit, strong engage and disengage, excellent utility.
- Weaknesses: High skill ceiling, requires good positioning.
- Ideal Partners: Any ADC that benefits from engage or peel.
- Key Items: Locket of the Iron Solari, Knight's Vow.
A Tier Support Champions: Solid Choices for a Variety of Comps
These champions may not be as consistently dominant as the S-Tier picks, but they are still strong choices that can excel in specific team compositions and matchups.
Nami: The Tidecaller
Nami is a strong enchanter with a mix of sustain, poke, and crowd control. Her Tidal Wave ultimate can be a game-changer in teamfights, and her Ebb and Flow ability provides both healing and damage. Nami excels at empowering her ADC and providing consistent utility throughout the game.
- Strengths: Good sustain, poke, and CC.
- Weaknesses: Vulnerable to all-in compositions, can be mana-hungry.
- Ideal Partners: ADCs that benefit from sustain and poke (Ezreal, Sivir).
Blitzcrank: The Great Steam Golem
Blitzcrank is a high-risk, high-reward engage support. Landing his Rocket Grab (Q) can instantly win a lane or secure a crucial pick. His Electric Field (W) provides mobility and attack speed, while his Power Fist (E) knocks up enemies. Blitzcrank is a fearsome presence in the bot lane, forcing enemies to play cautiously.
- Strengths: High pick potential, strong engage, can punish poor positioning.
- Weaknesses: Reliant on landing Rocket Grab, can be useless if behind.
- Ideal Partners: ADCs with burst damage (Draven, Miss Fortune).
The Art of Support: Beyond Champion Select
Choosing the right champion is only the first step. Mastering the fundamentals of the support role is crucial for climbing the ladder.
Vision Control: Your Most Important Job
As a support, vision control is your primary responsibility. This involves placing wards in strategic locations to provide information about enemy movements and secure objectives.
- Deep Warding: Placing wards in the enemy jungle to track their jungler's movements.
- Objective Warding: Warding around Dragon, Baron, and Rift Herald to secure objectives.
- Defensive Warding: Warding around your own jungle to protect against ganks.
- Control Wards: Using Control Wards to deny enemy vision.
Prioritize upgrading your support item early to gain access to more wards. Coordinate with your team to establish vision control in key areas of the map.
Roaming: Impacting the Map
Roaming involves leaving the bot lane to assist other lanes or secure objectives. A well-timed roam can swing the momentum of the game in your team's favor.
- Mid-Lane Roams: Helping your mid-laner secure kills or push their lane.
- Jungle Invades: Assisting your jungler in invading the enemy jungle.
- Objective Control: Roaming to help secure Dragon, Baron, or Rift Herald.
Before roaming, ensure your ADC is safe and the lane is in a manageable state. Communicate your intentions to your team so they can capitalize on your movements.
Itemization: Building for Utility
Support items are designed to provide utility and support your team. Choosing the right items for the situation is crucial.
- Support Items: Select the support item that best suits your play style and team composition.
- Aura Items: Items like Locket of the Iron Solari and Knight's Vow provide valuable buffs to your team.
- Utility Items: Items like Redemption and Mikael's Blessing offer powerful active effects.
- Situational Items: Adapt your build to counter the enemy team's composition.
Don't be afraid to deviate from standard builds if the situation calls for it. Prioritize items that provide the most value to your team.
Common Support Questions, Answered
Navigating the support role can be tricky. Here are some answers to common questions:
Q: How do I deal with aggressive ADCs who overextend?
A: Communicate with your ADC and try to understand their play style. If they consistently overextend, focus on providing vision and peeling for them. If necessary, let them know that you can't always save them if they're too far out of position.
Q: What do I do if my ADC is significantly behind?
A: Shift your focus to supporting other members of your team. Roam to help other lanes or secure objectives. Try to create opportunities for your team to catch up.
Q: How do I know when to roam?
A: Roam when your ADC is safe, the lane is pushed, and there are opportunities to impact other lanes or secure objectives. Communicate your intentions to your team before roaming.
Q: Which support item should I choose?
A: Choose the support item that best suits your play style and team composition. Spellthief's Edge is ideal for poke-heavy supports, while Relic Shield is better for tanky engage supports.
Staying Ahead of the Curve: Adapt and Conquer
League of Legends is a constantly evolving game. To stay ahead of the curve, it's essential to continuously learn and adapt.
- Watch Pro Players: Observe how professional support players approach the game.
- Analyze Your Replays: Identify your mistakes and learn from them.
- Experiment with New Builds: Don't be afraid to try new item combinations and strategies.
- Stay Updated on Patch Notes: Keep track of balance changes and meta shifts.
By continuously learning and adapting, you can become a more effective support player and climb the ladder with confidence. If you find that one support champion really clicks for you, you might want to specialize. Take a look at how the pros do it with this list of Top Support Players Ranked.
Ultimately, mastering the support role in League of Legends is about more than just picking the right champion. It's about understanding the game, communicating with your team, and making smart decisions. By focusing on vision control, roaming, and itemization, you can become a game-changing support player and climb the ladder to new heights and turn yourself into a top support player lol!