5 Easy Tips to Rank Up as a Support

Good day to ya! This is Siege, Master rank player and Editor-In-Chief of LoL Wild Rift Build!

As promised, we are going to do 5 tips for each role and we are going to start with the Support role!

The Support role might be the hardest role to rank up with in solo queue especially in the low elo because most people think that they have the least agency in the game. But oh how wrong are those people.

Supports are so underrated but they can impact the game as much, if not more than, other roles. Here are our 5 easy tips to help you carry and rank up as a support!

1. Size Up Your ADC.

Give yourself a break from all the possible mental breakdowns from that clueless ADC with this little trick!

During the first minute, observe what your ADC is doing and how are they reacting to your positioning and pings.

For example, if you are an engage support like Blitzcrank, Leona, Alistar, or Braum, you would want to cheese a first blood or at least burn summoner spells before the first wave meets. You do this by hiding in the lane bush, right? If your ADC immediately goes to where you are, then you should have at least some confidence in your ADC. If the ADC goes AFK behind tower or shows themselves pacing back and forth near it, you might have a troublesome early game.

Keep observing your ADC during the first minute and avoid engaging before you reach level 2 if you are unsure of how your ADC will react. By doing this, you avoid losing the lane in the first minute or two. I know, a clean hook is tempting but save it for when you are absolutely sure you can do damage.

If you are an enchanter support like Nami, Lulu, Sona, Seraphine, or Janna, look at how your ADC is positioning themselves while you go to harass your enemy laners. A bad ADC will not react to your harass or worse, overextend themselves. A good ADC will form a triangle with you they can also harass the enemy or last hit while splitting the enemy duo.

If the ADC is good, you can be confident in engaging or harassing and of course, focus your mid and late game peeling (the act of protecting your teammate) for your ADC. If the ADC is bad, leave them during the mid game so they can farm alone and focus on supporting your other teammates instead.

2. You are your Team’s Support, Not Just The ADC’s.

As the game starts, you don’t always have to start in the lane, except if you want to cheese a first blood.

Rather than sitting idly while waiting for the 1^st wave to crash, a better way to spend your first 20 seconds is to leash the jungler. After the buff spawns, help reduce the buff monster’s HP by attacking it and using your ability on it. After 5 seconds, walk towards the Scryer’s Bloom, the plant that explodes and gives vision. This way, you can remove wards on one side of the map to give space for your jungler to gank the mid lane in the early game.

If possible, for example, if you are using Janna, Blitzcrank, or Rakan, you can also surprise the enemy mid laner, possibly bagging an early first blood or burning their summoner spells. But do not waste more than 5 seconds in the middle lane. Go back to the Dragon lane, ASAP.

At the 1:25 timestamp, If you have lane priority (can clear waves faster than the enemy team) help your jungler secure the scuttle crab near your lane. 

In the mid game, feel free to leave the ADC (especially if they are terrible) to help support either the mid laner or the jungler as they roam and siege turrets. This way, you will have more map impact instead of watching the ADC farm all game.

3. Know When To Go Aggressive & Know When To Peel.

Sometimes, us support mains get caught up in battle and forget about our squishy carries. This is especially true with engage supports. It is important to learn how to initiate fights, control opponents, and at the same time, keep an eye on your teammates who needs protecting, especially if the enemy has an assassin who can burst down your carries.

If you are using a champion with strong initiation capabilities like Rakan, Alistar, or Malphite (terrible choice as a support, IMO), make sure that your teammates are near enough for follow-up first. It doesn’t matter if you can control 5 enemies if your teammates are not there to finish the job.

Do not waste your crowd controls in one-go if it’s not going to finish the job. Sometimes, you have to reserve your crowd control ability to stun that Katarina to avoid her from getting multiple kills and resets.

Finally, never forget about your ADC and even your other teammates. Yes, brawling it out is fun, especially if you are using a tank support. But if you are the only one left alive, it will be impossible to win the game. Sometimes, it is better to save your Alistar’s Headbutt to push away the enemy from your ADC.

4. Build Boots First and Rush Enchantment Upgrade ASAP.

Supports are gold starved. You don’t want to steal gold from your ADC either because that will delay their power spike and tilt them. Because of this, you’d want to buy gold-efficient items that can have a positive impact immediately on your team.

There is no support item more gold efficient more than a fully upgraded boots. For enchanter supports, you have three main options:

• Redeeming Enchant – Reveals an area then heals allies and damages enemies after a short delay. This enchantment works amazingly for scouting, controlling space on dragon fights, and it can still be used even if you are dead!
• Locket Enchant – Grants an instant shield to all champions around you. This works well against high AoE damage teams and wombo-combo team comps.
• Shadows Enchant – This enchantment upgrade is another form of scouting enchantment. This works well against prolific gankers. And this enchant can also be used offensively because it slows enemies that it affects.

For engage and tank supports, you can also buy these options:

• Gargoyle Enchant – The sudden burst of bonus HP will allow you to soak so much damage. The damage reduction does not hurt tank supports because you are not supposed to deal damage anyway.
• Protobelt or Glorious Enchant – Some engage supports love these mobility enchantments because it aids in initiation.

5. Yes, You Are Your Team’s Vision Specialist Even If They All Have Wards.

It can be a frustrating experience when you look at the map and see a dark map then you look at the scoreboard and see that your teammates all have wards available. But what can we do, but chat and hope that they use their wards.

But if they don’t, vision is all up to you. Make sure to ward in advance, especially before an objective (drakes, Rift Herald, Baron) spawns.

If your team got to invade the enemy jungle, make sure to place a ward. The deeper the wards, the better for your team.

After placing wards in advance, always switch to the sweeper so you can disable and remove enemy wards.

I actually start with the sweeper because dewarding is valuable in the early game. It enables your jungler to gank early and the bonus gold and experience is a lot for supports.

If you used sweepers and an enemy ward pops near your teammate, let them have the last hit because you will share on the bounty gold for the ward.

Always contest the Scryer’s Bloom, especially when taking objectives. If you can safely do so, pop the enemy’s Scryer’s Bloom so your team and your wards will be safe from detection.

If you are going to roam away from your ADC, place a ward in the enemy’s jungle near your ADC’s lane.

This is where you and your team should ward: (Made by Mystral)

• Yellow: Vital to protect the jungler on your team
• Blue: For protection depending on which lane you’re on
• Red: To guard Dragon and Baron

Summary

Being a support main does not mean that our fate lies entirely in the hands of our teammates. We can impact the game as much as other roles can and we can carry our team to victory using our wits and strategies. Remember, do not be a backseat support and take the initiative for your continuous victory!