@SpellsyLoL

Table of Contents:

IntroductionPg. 3

Building a supportPg. 4

Click on any button to jump to that section. Or just scroll through normally.

Runes

Pg. 5

Masteries

Pg. 12

Summoners

Pg. 18

Opening Item Builds

Pg. 21

Complete Item Builds

Pg. 22

WardingPg. 30

LaningPg. 35

TeamfightingPg. 37

Introduction

● The first thing we are going to go into is how to build (runes, masteries, items, etc) a support, and why. I mentioned before that supports have to make the most out of few resources so this is very important to success as a support.

● This presentation will discussing the changes in Season 3, fleshing out supporting in lane/in team fights, picking your support, building properly, and choosing your runes/masteries.

● The goal of this guide isn’t to teach everyone amazing new tricks, but rather to highlight important aspects of the role. This also aims to be a good way for players to reflect on and improve their own gameplay, not a golden guide for everyone to follow to a tee.

● Now, there’s a lot of information, so let’s get on with it!

Building a Support

● The first thing we are going to go into is how to build a support (runes, masteries, items, etc), and why. I mentioned before that supports have to make the most out of the least so being intelligent and purposeful with your build is very important to success as a support.

● What stats does a support need to be successful?:

Gold Generation:

Since your teammates are greedy smut and take EVERYTHING from you, supports need an alternative way to get gold in order to not fall supremely behind.

Survivability:Supports get less XP, which leaves them relatively squishy. So, itemizing for survivability is a very important thing for supports so they do not become a gold-feed machine for the enemies. It also can be an important tool to be more impactful as a tanky support.

Cooldown Reduction:

Most of a supports usefulness comes from the utility of their abilities; however, but AP or AD rarely increases this utility. Instead, cooldown reduction allows you to cast more spells = more utility!

Utility Items:Since your goal is to support/elevate your team, utility items are great ways to influence your team outside of your core champion kit, and even can synergize with your kit to create an even more powerful support!

Runes

● The first thing to tackle is runes. While many of the runes thare are going to be mentioned are very specific; so, not everyone may have them yet, but the important part is the concept and the flexibility!

● When building rune pages, avoid just looking at each type of rune individually, we have to look at the page as a set! For example, I strongly discourage playing bot lane—in either role—without armor somewhere in your page. So, while armor is best on seals we might want gold seals to play a particularly passive lane, and we switch our armor runes from seals to marks or glyphs.

● My rune pages are here, and details about them and when I use them. These are not the only viable rune pages. You may find success with something else, like using AD quints to harass hard in lane, so by all means feel free to experiment!

All-Around (Standard) Page

● Why? This page covers all of the bases and is a starting point for all pages to build from. It gives survivability (armor + mr), more utility in lane (mana regen = more spells), and gold generation.

● When? I use this page when there is nothing special in the lane. Ex: if I’m playing Lulu vs a weak lane, I’ll use magic pen page, if not I’ll use this one.

● Who? This can fit almost all supports. However, this is least fitting on supports who rarely run into mana problems. (Fiddle, Zyra, Leona, Soraka, etc.)

Note: This rune page’s assembly is a bit awkward because it gives slightly more stats than the previous iteration, which was MR marks / armor seals / mana regen glyphs. That simpler page can work too. The concept is that it’s a mix of MR + (13) Armor + Mana regen per level + gold.

9x Flat Armor Marks

4x Flat Armor Seals

5x Mana Regen Per Level Seals

6x Flat Magic Resist (MR) Glyphs

3x Mana Regen Per Level Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

Magic Penetration Page

● Why? This page is designed for an offensive magic dmg support in lane, so we put MP on marks, keeping armor as always on seals, and choosing Mana Regen per level over MR on glyphs because if we are harassing with our spells we will need mana regen!

● When? I use this page on offensive supports, especially when I’m against a weak lane, like Vayne. It is also used for an extra pokey lane, like Lulu + Cait.

● Who? This is more suited for offensive ranged supports; Sona, Lulu, Nami, and maybe Zyra (without the mana regen). This also can work on a bursty Taric!

9x Flat Magic Penetration Marks

9x Flat Armor Seals

9x Mana Regen Per Level Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

Mana Regen - Flat vs. Per Level: I choose Mana Regen per level runes over flat because their equalizing level is pretty low (6) and Mana remains a problem on these champions throughout the game.

AA Harass Page

● Why? This page is designed for an aggressive lane with a support who abuses auto-attacks to trade or harass opponent. To compliment this we use flat AD marks, and choose MR glyphs because your harass is AA oriented not spamming spells, and you are going to be more vulnerable to counter-harass.

● When? I use this page when going offensive on a support who has high amounts of CC and/or Sustain, so that I can land lots of AA while they are CC’d or trade AA and out-sustain.

● Who? I use this sometimes on Soraka, Janna, Zyra, and rarely even on Blitz, Nami, or Nunu.

9x Flat AD Marks

9x Flat Armor Seals

9x Flat MR Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

AD vs. Armor Penn: Flat AD works better for supports because they have generally low base AD, you aren’t going deep into offensive masteries, and no spells to benefit from the Armor Penn.Math: Assuming 50 base AD and 30 armor:Attack with AD Marks (+8.5 AD): 45 dmgAttack with ArP Marks (+12 ArP): 42.37 dmg

Super Gold Page● Why? This page is a really heavy gold per

10 page, going both seals and quints as gold/10. This trades off a lot of survivability as your armor usually comes from your seals, so you put armor on marks instead. For blue this is a choice depending on who you are – I have 3 pages which use CDR, ManaReg, and MR

● When? I use this page when I’m going to play a more passive lane, this is usually when both lanes are not very strong (ex: Kog Janna vs Nunu Vayne), or looking to play very back in lane.

● Who? I think this suits people who can stay out of range and still be useful, Janna, Soraka, Nunu, and Zyra. I also sometimes use it on Alistar.

9x Flat Armor Marks

9x Gold per 10 Seals

9x Mana Regen Per Level Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

Glyph options: Mana Regen vs MR vs CDRI have 3 “gold” pages for myself which have only different glyphs, which I use for different champions.CDR: I use this on passive-Soraka, she doesn’t need the mana, just cdr for more healsMR: I use this on Zyra/Alistar. They don’t need the mana and the MR is good vs. harass. Mana Reg: Janna/Taric/Nunu – need the mana regen to spam shield/heal/bloodboil.

‘Supertank’ Page

● Why? This page is designed to optimize survivability, putting armor in both marks and seals for +21 armor, and topping that with MR on glyphs. This is the most survivability for bot lane, as armor is more important than MR.

● When? This page I use for if the lane is going to be “all-in.” This page is great against someone like Blitz. Also, I use this page if I’m going against a really low dmg lane (Ashe + Soraka?), this heavy defense (+1 doran shield) = invincible!

● Who? I think this page can be used on any ranged support vs Blitz/Leona or a kill lane. I also regularly use this page on Leona, offensive Nunu, offensive Soraka, offensive (extinct) Alistar, and even Zyra.

9x Flat Armor Marks

9x Flat Armor Seals

9x Flat MR Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

MR – Flat vs. Scaling: Using flat or per level MR is a toss up, and even sometimes we see a split. The equalizing level is moderate (9). Also, most of the dmg in bot lane is AD, so this would lead people to scaling. However, supports also gain levels slower and less, making it a toss up – or based on lane. I would say go with whatever you have bought.

Balanced CDR Page

● Why? This page is just a balanced CDR page. Since the focus for this page is CDR, it is best on glyphs. Armor seals since we are going for standard-style, and MR marks to round it out. You can get mana regen or armor marks but I just have 1 solid cdr page, and the champs I use this page for don’t use much mana.

● When? I use this page not particularly based on opposing lane or your teammate, but rather the selected champ.

● Who? I use this page on BLITZ and Fiddlesticks. The cdr is very vital to Fid’s fears, and blitz with cdr lets him level-up hook later and max W for speeeed.

9x Flat MR Marks

9x Flat Armor Seals

9x Flat CDR Glyphs

3x Gold/10 Quints

Flat CDR vs Per level CDR: This page is designed around the lane phase for Fid and Blitz, with the right masteries + this rune page they start with ~16% cdr, that’s -3.2 sec off Blitz rank 1 hook (aka it’s like starting with the cd of the rank 4 ability). Scaling cdr also has a high equalizing level (lvl 13).

Masteries

● Okay, the next thing to look at is Masteries. While the runes section took up a lot of time and space, remember that we are still looking along the same build principles (Gold generation, Survivability, CDR, Utility).

I have found two core mastery pages, a heavy utility page and a 13 def mix

● Heavy Utility Page: This mastery page goes deep into utility—4/1/25. This focuses on CDR and utility. This gives you +10 % cdr at level 1, move speed, summoner/item cdr, and pickpocket. I use this more on ranged supports where I avoid being harassed by positioning. This allows me to skimp on the defensive masteries.

● Defensive / Utility Mix Page: This mastery page goes more into the defensive tree. You still have gold, explorer ward, and biscuit in utility—1/13/16. I use this mostly on melee supports or on tough matchups with ranged supports. This allows for some really ballsy plays because you get so beefy!

Heavy Utility Page

This point is because primarily with this mastery page I run heal. You can move it to offensive summoners if you are running exhaust.

This is the core of this page, it gives +10% cdr at level 1, the utility mastery gives +6% and the offense mastery gives +4%. This is GREAT for most ranged supports who rely on snappy timing for their spells and constant casts. Also, because of going 4 into offense and at least 19 into utility means we can’t dive past the 1st tier of defense, making any points in there wasted.

This is one of my favorite new masteries in s3, the cooldown reduction on items. This is GREAT with all the new items that were introduced. You will often end the game with 2-5 activatable items, this mastery is well worth it.

Defense/Utility hybrid Page

I change this point to pickpocket if I’m aggressive ranged support. The extra defense lets you pickpocket easy!

These masteries are the core of this page. It gives you -2 damage from all champions,

and a total of -5 damage from

champion AA. This combined with the armor and health make any support tanky. I love this + doran shield – it

makes you almost invincible cause you take so little damage

from attacks.

Because we are only putting 16 points in utility we have to cut some things we had previously. First we cut scout because

its only a luxury, the item cd is a must and the cdr on summoners helps our offensive playstyle with exhaust. I also prefer improved TP over the 1 point in mana regen because the tp can save your life! You can get the move speed if you

are playing a less mana-intensive support.

Using New Masteries (Biscuiteer, Pickpocket, and Explorer)

● The three masteries (Biscuiteer, Pickpocket, and Explorer) are some of my favorite masteries from s3, and I’ve found a few ways which optimize their usefulness.

● Using the biscuit: ● This stacks with health pots/bottle, so using it in combination with health pot/bottle in a

low level fight (1-3) makes you gain SO much health (18 health per sec). ALWAYS do this when in an all-in situation early!!!

● Also, if you are expecting a very aggressive early level phase you can go for a more aggressive item opening and use this as your only regen – this is dangerous though!

● Pickpocket: ● Pickpocket is a new mastery which rewards auto-attacking with gold. This has a 5

second cooldown so attacking twice in a row won’t get you the double gold. You can exploit this a bit by making sure to follow up with an auto attack or two with your CC (like on Zyra), or by shielding yourself and auto attacking on someone like Janna if the lane is tame.

● The best time to go in for a pickpocket is when they are busy last hitting or too far for repercussions. Be careful though because if you overextend on a squishy support you can get burst very fast, don’t get too greedy.

● Using explorer ward: Since this ward only lasts 60 seconds you shouldn’t just use it as any other ward, I’ve found some specific uses that I think are great.

1. The first and most common use is warding the far lane brush at the start of the match, you don’t want to waste a full ward cause the lane might push towards you and your deep-ward will be wasted. This 60 sec of vision is perfect.

2. You can also use this ward to protect against invades. Wait till about ~1 min if you think they are late invading or at about 30 sec if you think they are invading, and this will give you safety without wasting a full ward.

3. Lastly, and my favorite use, if you are blue side and have a ranged support you can go to their blue and ward it at 1:40 while they are doing wolves, then harass them when they go for their blue. This will disrupt most people and cause lots of havoc. You have to be very careful that you don’t go too crazy though because you can easily get caught out and die. I have a gif on the next slide showing an example of this use.

Using Explorer ward

Harassing with Explorer Ward

Here in this clip is an example of

using the explorer ward to

invade/harass their blue while on blue

side.

We start the invade at about 1:35 and drop the ward at about 1:40 while they are doing

wolves. Then we invade shortly after the blue spawns at

1:55.

This forces Udyr to use flash and smite

and get severely low hp! A success!

Be sure to watch when they use their spells, and go in after that. This assures it is safer. Also, be careful doing this strategy against someone like Blitz or if you have a

weak lane yourselves.

Summoner Spells Vs Vs

Heal: Why get this? It gives great saving power, does not need to be close to the opponent to be used, and now is great on supports opposed to carries cause it heals for 100% on all targets. When do I get this? I typically get this summoner on ranged supports. It is more utility/defensive and can pull off some sick saves late game with your CC. I also really like getting this when I know the other champion isn’t going to have ignite (vs. Cait, Vayne, Kog, etc.).

Exhaust: Why get this? This got nerfed a bit in s3 but still gives good slow, gives decent damage reduction and can just add a nice finishing CC on an aggressive lane. When do I get this? I like going this with most melee supports, aggressive lanes, or against certain AD carries who get up in your face like Ezreal, Draven, Trist and MF. Also if I’m playing a character with only 1 CC (Fid, Sona) I like to get exhaust against the all-in cleansers (Vayne, Ez) so if they cleanse my fear they can’t turn around and own me hard, there’s that backup disable.

Clairvoyance: This got a buff in s3 and now can kinda work, I personally don’t use it much but I see some viability there. I would use it if I’m in a particularly passive lane and combo it with Elisea’s Miracle and the masteries to be a CV-bot.

● Flash got a decent nerf in s3 patch but still is worth it on support because it helps you get your fragile ass out of bad situations quickly, and make life-saving maneuvers!

Flash vs. Using Heal+Exh.

There are some situations where I’ve seen supports (ex-orbit

support LemonNation used this a lot) skip flash and get a combo

like heal + exhaust or cv + heal or something. I think that in the right situation and playstyle it can work,

in s3 changes this heal+exh playstyle was actually nerfed a bit

because heal is now more AoE rather than single target.

However, since flash was nerfed too it somewhat balances out.

Overall I think it can be decent, if you aren’t against some heavy assassin or bursty comp it can work in your favor, especially if

you can snowball early.

Summoner Spells – Continued

Using Flash Effectively:

● When possible, always try to flash over a wall rather than just backwards, this creates much more room and possibility for escape.

● If slowed, try to wait for it to be off before flashing, especially when being chased by someone like Nunu or Skarner.

● When being ganked it is better to flash earlier rather than later, this way you can avoid CC and damage that comes if they catch you.

● When flashing to initiate, be wary of where your team is, if you flash + max range Leona ult the team may be too far away to follow-up.

● On beefy/tanky supports often times you can run in a teamfight and be obnoxious then simply flash out if you save it for the right time!

ITEMS

● The addition of several new items and removal of HoG really shook up the itemization routes for supports in s3. With sightstone and oracles nerf we see a new importance on pink wards, but also more freedom for extensive build routes as supports get more gold! Also, the addition of crystalline flask and changing of costs for things such as rejuvenation bead have made support opening builds go crazy.

● I am first gonna go over some of the opening builds, situations I go them, and then more into the heart of builds.

● As always, remember that the point of this part isn’t to make some god-build that you should follow every game, but give my perspective and let you create the right build for the right time.

Opening Items

Option 1: Standard Purpose:This gives all around great bang for buck, good hp + mana regen, decent ward coverage, and counter-ward potential. If I don’t know what to do – I get this.

Leads into:This is great for leading into a sightstone first build (compared to faerie→philo). Sightstone first is good against tough, bursty dual lanes (like Leona). It is also flexible though.

Option 2: Heavy Ward Purpose:This is a heavy ward opening that is great at giving early coverage and against tough junglers or laners. This has fallen a bit out of popularity but is still good in right situation

Leads into:This leads to a philo build start. You can still get sightstone if necessary, of course, but the extra wards at the start can usually give you enough wards to hold you over while you get philo first. Can also mix it up w/ pink.

Option 3: Easy Lane Purpose:This is a greedy opening which puts you almost at philo. This is for if their lane + jungler are both weak, or if you are planning to play really passive in lane. You use biscuit as your only regen!

Leads into:This obviously leads into a philo rush, it only costs 340g so you should get it on your first back. You just have to make sure to play passive enough to get that first back without losing lane advantage or something.

Item Build 1: Ranged Support

● Okay, so when it comes to building for early-mid game I’ve found that I typically go two styles of builds, separated by if I’m playing for tanky-ness or playing for more utility. This is the utility focused, ranged, support.

Early Game Build:

Justification: This is your core first item set by the end of early game. We get double gp10 because we can afford to be greedy (since we are in back of fights) and we are looking to build more utility which the kage upgraded items bring. We also get philo because not only is the regen GREAT on ranged supports in lane (as most of them burn through tons of mana, which philo is heavy on mana regen), but also we are looking to build probably a shurelia’s later as well.

Order of progression: Most people know to get these items, but mistake which to get first – etc. It does matter somewhat on your initial opening items, as we said in last slide, but in general we want to get sightstone before or right after your first gp10. This depends on how many wards you have left over from your initial buy, and how threatening the jungler/lane is. Next I typically get the philo stone – this gives you good regen which is great for extended combat such as lane phase. Lastly we pick up the kage pick and the boots.

Alternatives: You can skip philo and go an early chalice if you know you are going to be building a crucible. Also I’ve had some positive experimentation with a tear instead of philo, it is same gold but tear can give you +1000 mana!! (I just leave it at tear). But only really like this on really heavy mana users like Sona, Lulu, and Nami.

Items: Mid-Game Ranged Support

Core Mid Game Build

or

Okay, so for the mid game build on the ranged supports we are prioritizing Utility while using our ranged positioning to avoid damage and thus somewhat skimping on survivability. This means we look for CDR and good active abilities!

● Because of this, we first rush the Kage Pick upgrade. Both of these give lots of CC, which usually ties in greatly for the common ranged support. It’s so great to play a Janna and combo your tornado, zephyr and ult with this shard of true ice – it makes you a cc monster.

● Then we get CDR boots, these are best and typically great early on spell-focused supports. Also, since the change to cdr on most support items + addition of new non-cdr support items, the cdr boots have been thrust into a good place as no longer will you auto-hit the cdr cap just by building standard support items.

● Next, there is the Ruby Sightstone, this is a must for mid game / teamfighting phase. Basically, once I leave bot lane I grab this. This not only gives you hp, but also gives you more wards to put down. This is essential for blanketing the map and dropping wards in fights

● Lastly, there is the Kindlegem, this adds some hp but also CDR and by near the end of mid game you should be about to finish your 2nd big item, whether it be shurelias, locket, or zekes – kindlegem is good start point. With this + cdr boots + masterys/runes, you should be about capped on cdr.

Ice shard vs Twin Shadows: I typically like to get ice shard when I’m on an AoE support, Janna/Zyra/Sona. When I have catch potential I like twin shadows, for example on Nami, Blitz even. I also primarily like to go Ice shard if I know I’m going to go Shurelia’s 2nd, this means I will always have 1 gp10 ticking. But if I’m getting locket or something else 2nd, I can get twin shadows and keep Philo.

Items: Late-Game choices for Ranged Support

Shurelia’s reverie: As lame as it is, seeing as everyone

wants to make crazy new builds with the new items, I think on ranged supports this

is one of the most solid item choices simply because it can help your team follow up after your CC, or disengage.

Locket of the Iron Solari:This is the next big item that got changed / buffed. This provides a ton of survivability,

but also is great anti-AoE. I get this if I need some more tank or if I’m against a heavy AoE

or Assassin-y team.

Mikael’s Crucible: I like this item a lot in s3, even though it is

pretty tough to use it is very rewarding when used right. I get this often as a later 4th or 5th

item, as later the game goes the more important CC/your carry becomes. It is also great mana choice on someone like Sona.

Zeke’s Herald: This is a situational buy for the ranged support. It got a considerable nerf/change in s3 so now it is basically an aura vamp scepter. It is still a decent

pick up with an AD heavy team, and works better with AD assassins than it would last

season.

Runic Bulwark:This is a decent support item late game – it is very expensive, but on ranged supports I would not go

aegis early. I have sometimes got this as a 5th or 6th item against a heavy AoE team, to complement

locket of iron solari. But, in general, save this item for junglers or melee support.

Ice Shard / Twin Shadows (the one you didn’t buy):This is a bit of a toss up/weird choice, cause it feels

really awkward to have 2 kage picks at one point, but it can be a decent pick up if you need the utility of the

actives, and are already CDR capped.

Generally good buys:

Situational/Later Item Choices:

Item Build 1: Melee/Beefy Support

● The second build is a more melee focused build. This is what I do on someone like taric, leona, etc., and even sometimes on soraka. This focuses more on beefing your tanky stats so you can go into fights and soak dmg.

Early Game Build:

Justification: This is your core first item set by the end of early game. This is optimized for a tanky build with the 1/13/16 mastery build, so the doran shield + defensive tree makes you tank SO HARD. We pick up the philo stone because it gives great regen for our aggressive playstyle and also we keep it as gp10 for most of the game to get us our next items. Lastly, we get emblem of valor for the armor + more hp regen for more trading and we start our build into Aegis of the Legion. There is a total of 19 hp regen per 5 in this set of items! (that’s like half a health pot) Order of progression: The progression of these items are a bit up in the air. It depends a lot on what you start and how much gold you have when you back. However, in general I go sightstone > philo > doran shield > boots > emblem of valor. I go sightstone first so I can ward aggressively, cause one of the most important items when playing aggressively is wards – it allows you the safe coverage so you wont get ganked. Also it gives you the bush vision to keep bush pressure. If you are feelin doran or philo first back it can work fine, depends on gold.Alternatives: Some alternatives for this build is you can skip the doran, I really like it when playing aggressive, I definitely recommend experimenting with it, but if you aren’t playing aggressive or against an aggressive lane it can be wasted. Also, you can go kage pick instead of philo in certain situations, twin shadows is really good on melee supports mostly, but in general philo is safer and gives you more relevant stats

Items: Mid-Game Tank Support

Core Mid Game Build

For the mid game build on these melee/ tank supports we are prioritizing Survivability. We make the most out of our abilities and utility by gaining survivability to make our move set more effective, also adding a sense of utility by becoming a damage soak/distraction.

● So, the first thing we finish is the Aegis of the Legion. This is a pretty expensive item in s3, and is often good on junglers, but I’ve found it gives a ton of tankyness to your melee supports, and in pubs if you don’t see your jungler getting it, it should be a good pickup. It gives you great survivability and just adds to your presence by just being there.

● The next thing we pick up is the Ruby Sightstone. This is the same as the ranged support, pick this up when you start leaving bot lane. Also gives great hp for our build!

● Now is the time for upgrading boots (after first big item usually), for these supports who’s goal is to get into the fray and the action, Mercury’s Treads are the great choice, even if you aren’t always going to be the target of every spell, you will get cc’d and it’s a great MR choice.

● One downside of this build so far though is that you have no CDR, so I recommend for the next big item you build something with CDR. So, I typically pick up a Kindlegem, to put in to either a Locket or Shurelia’s or something. This adds more to your survivability and gives you some CDR which you most likely are aching for.

Why not immediately rush Runic Bulwark?: This is something I see some random supports do, rush Runic Bulwark first item, I disagree with it most of the time. Runic bulwark is very expensive and the upgrade from Aegis gives you exclusively MR, which is great, but not usually that early in the game. Most of the time the extra MR aura is better later game when the big AoE mosters are hitting their strides. In small fights leaving it at an Aegis is often fine. However, once the big teamfights start kicking, Bulwark!

Items: Late-Game choices for Tank Support

Locket of the Iron Solari:I put this as top choice because I think it fits really well with this build. It gives you

the cdr you lack, and huge tankyness, and an active which is great for your in-the-

fight playstyle.

Upgrading to Runic Bulwark:We talked about this a bit on the last slide,

but I like upgrading sometime at least. Usually I grab it when we start to do big 5 man teamfights. It is very good anti-AoE

strat, so can rush earlier if needed.

Shurelia’s ReverieShurelia’s is really good on the tanky types

because they are most often the kind of support who will try to initiate. This helps a lot with being able to catch people and just adds

to your tanky/slipperiness.

Twin Shadows: This is a great choice for tank-supports if you find yourself in the role of an initiator (or your

team lacks initiation). The move speed + active are great at catching people. However, most tank-supports don’t really need the AP that

comes with this item, making it not a must-buy.

Randuin’s Omen:This can be a great purchase for a tanky support as a 5th or 6th item. It is very expensive but if you can use the active it can be great because the stats it

gives you are also very useful. I rarely get this because I rarely get to this stage, but since the

change it can be good on a Taric late game.

Mikael’s Crucible or Zeke’s Herald: These two items are a good choice again for late late game. You are less protecting the carry than normal so its not always the first

go-to items but if it reaches the point where you see a use for these items they can be worth the purchase

Generally good buys:

Situational/Later Item Choices:

orNote: With this build you get on average less items than the other build. This is

because these items are more expensive as well as you typically get less assists /

less gp10 / more deaths.

Items: Very situational choices/bad choices

Along with the typical builds, there are some very specialized choices that I think are worth mentioning, as well as some choices I see some supports go which I think are a trap / bad. As always its worth some experimentation/ reflection on some of these.

Banner of Command

This is the item that replaced promote in pre-S3. I think if its worth it on anyone, it would be support. It gives decent, albeit awkward, stats for a ranged support, AP and armor. Can be worth it if you need some extra oomph in your pushes.

Situational Items

Ohmwrecker

This item is almost never bought, and while it is mostly good for brusiers I think it has an OK place on tanky support as a 5th or 6th item. It is decent after you max cdr. Basically, if you are m5 vs Clg.eu and they have Anivia, buy 5 of this item!

Building Supp as AP

We see this build "support as ap" more often with some of the unorthodox supports. I think it’s ok, it can work sometimes. However, I prefer a more utility-build or if I am going AP a utility-AP hybrid with things like twin shadows and Sorc shoes, THEN deathcap as like 3rd item. Don’t skip sightstone with this build though!!!

Eleisa’s Miracle

I feel like this item was designed for support, due to the heal/clairvoyance cdr, but this item is not worth it at all on supports. The hp/mana reg becomes not significant so you are paying 1100g for just cdr on heal/cv. Much better to put this towards a utility item or keep it as philo. It might be ok if you became cv-bot but that’s not meta.

Bad (not worth it) Items

Avarice Blade

I don’t see people get this very often, but it’s still worth mentioning as some may lump it into “gp10 item”. This is not worth it because the stat it gives is bad (10% crit) and the gold has now been changed to go off minion kill (which you don’t get).

Raw tank items:

It is not worth it to get these raw tank items because you don’t have enough “threat” to justify them. It is better to get tank/utility hybrid items like Bulwark, Frozen heart, Randiuns, Locket, Ohmwrecker, or Spirit Visage. These items have some synergy or team presence which makes you more of a “threat”.

Items: Boot choices & T3 boots

● We talked about boots a bit in the two different item builds, but there is still more to it and there are also other boot options (Tabi and Mobility) to discuss, as well as t3 boots.

● Disclaimer: I also think the t2 boots decision rides a lot on your “teamfighting role”, so if you may want to look over the teamfight section <click here> or just keep it in mind.

Boots of Lucidity:

I think this boot works with the “caster-support” Teamfight role. Basically, if you are focusing on CC and need that CDR ASAP – this is the best boot. I also like to get it early on people like Fiddle, Soraka.

Boots of Mobility (aka Banana Shoes):

This boot works for the “Protect-the-Carry” style. This is when you stand far back in the teamfight and focus more on ward control in the game. This allows you to position better and stay safe.

Mercury Treads and Ninja Tabi:

These boots work for the “Dive-Support” style, where you get into the center of the fight and tank. These simply add to your survivability with their raw stats and even amplify your other survivability with their unique passives. Which? If its early or they are really heavy AD you can get Ninja Tabi, but I most often get Merc Treads cause I often need MR more than armor and the passive fits well.

When to buy T2 Boots? I often see people get t2 boots (like Merc Treads) while they are still in lane and I’m like “WhyyY?” I mostly get them after your first or second item. Only when I start to roam and engage in fights are they worth it.

Tier 3 Boots:

These upgrades are something I get in about 35% of my games. Out of the most I’ve liked Homeguard. These let me run back to fights and refresh Sightstone etc. all faster. However, it wasn’t anything special.

Other options I’ve seen is Alacrity. This is ~okay~, it is expensive and doesn’t do much for supports. It can be decent with MS runes on Taric or something.

Lastly, there is Captain. This is expensive too, but can be worth it on an initiator / tank support. Not bad. Something I would get if we are teamfighting a lot and I'm like Leona.

Warding!

● Warding is one of the main responsibilities of a support, and is a very important skill and determines a lot of your success as a support.

● One of the main factors which makes a good warder is keeping tabs on their jungle early. If you see their jungler is top then you can wait to place your ward for about 30 seconds.

● Also, it is important to think about how your lane is going to flow, if you are blue side and about to be trapped on tower you don’t need to ward deep in the river, similarly if you are on purple and pushing you shouldn’t ward the small river brush.

● The last important thing to note about warding is knowing how much you need. This isn’t as big of an issue with Sightstone, but you should make sure to take into consideration your situation when determining how many wards you need. If you are playing aggressive you should buy MORE wards as aggression leaves you vulnerable to ganks, while if you are more farm-lane and they have weak jungler you can skimp on some wards. This idea can also play into how much priority you put on sightstone/upgrading.

Warding Tips & Pinks

Tips

● Checking if a brush is warded: when as a ranged support you right click into a brush that is in range of creeps, if you automatically attack those creeps once reaching your destination - that means that they have the brush warded.

● Reading opponent’s behavior: while there may be slip ups in ward coverage, you can often read if a gank is coming by watching the opponents. If they are typically passive and all the sudden go aggressive – be careful and try to ward without facecheck-dying.

Pink wards

● With the addition of Sightstone and the nerf to Oracle's, pink ward demand has risen significantly.

● I like to use pink wards in a few ways:1. In lane when you have a high pressure

support, using pink wards to gain brush control can help zone an AD carry!

2. In lane when you have a gank heavy jungler, you can use pink wards on their river wards allowing for easy ganks.

3. Pink wards battles (dropping a pink where they have a pink) can be used very well for baiting people into ganks as well! They will always fight for it!

4. Pink wards are great for baron control later in the game, I often carry one or two to put on and around baron if we have strong map control

Using Sightstone● Sightstone has changed up warding significantly from season 2. This generally

leads to more of an abundance of wards early-mid game. ● Replacing your wards: One thing that is important when using Sightstone is

bouncing your ward spots. Sightstone gives you 4 wards to place but only 2 can stay down at one time. While when first looked at you think “ok 2 sets of 2 for 3 min each!” what we have learned is that it is often best to use 3 or even 4 at a time in those 3 minutes, replacing vision as your needs change. So, this means you can be less timid about your ward placement. If you reach lane with creeps at your tower then you can drop a ward in the side bush immediately, even if the lane pushes out later you can replace that ward with another in the further bush.

● Also, this means there is more importance on in-battle wards. In a teamfight in the jungle you should drop wards like mad, someone escaping into a bush can be a nightmare. This is a very important skill and can be very helpful!

● Lastly, this allows you to change your ward coverage more in mid-late game. So, while you originally spread your ward coverage in bot forest, once pushing into their t1 mid you can drop wards in the side lane brushes so you don’t get flanked from the missing top laner.

Bot Lane Warding

If pushing: I use ward #1 for certain, and #4 if mid is not warded on the right side and they have ganky/mobile jungler. If lane is even: I ward #1 if I can get out there cause it gives drag vision too, if not then I just use #3, and #5If pinned at tower: I ward at spot #3 if they are just barely pushed in or #4 if we have been pinned at tower for ages, and #6 to watch for lane ganks + bush control.

If pushing & Aggressive: I like to ward both #4 and #1 because when you are playing forward it leaves you very vulnerable.If pushing but not aggressive: Ward #3 will give you enough vision. If lane is even: I use ward #3 and ward #6. This is very safe but no drag vision. If pinned at tower: I ward #2 over the wall and use ward #5 to watch for lane ganks.

Warding Blue Side

Warding Purple Side 2

1

34

6

5

Ward spots labeled by #

Awkward Ward Spots

Click the root of the 3rd tree

Click the wing/tip of the arrow

Lastly for wards, I should point out some of the hard to click ward over wall parts that we have all missed before :P. The one on the right is esp. good when pinned under tower and want to safe ward !

Laning Phase● The laning phase for support stands out the most from any other role,

your focus isn’t on last hitting but on harassing/trading/protecting. ● The lane phase is something that is very versatile, I can’t really list when to

be aggressive or what playstyle to have cause it changes from support to support and matchup to matchup. So, I’m just going to give some general tips an important things to think about laning phase:

● Since you are not farming you should be paying more attention to your positioning, try to go for some harass when their AD’s come up to last hit or show presence and protect your AD when he goes up to last hit. Don’t just stand mindlessly in a bush!

● Keep your eye on cooldowns and exploit them when they are not up. If their Leona just missed an E on you, that means its time to go up and harass them. If the graves just Q’d a wave, that can be a good time to try to trade. If your exhaust/heal is up and theirs isn’t, that can be a good time to engage.

● Exploit advantages! Know when you have a better level 1, for example, if you are Sona and their support is leona make sure to ward the brush early (mostly with explorer ward) and abuse your Q – powerchord, there is not much a Leona can do! Also, keep an eye on your XP so if you are 2 when they are 1 or 6 when they are 5 you can fight them and often win with the big advantage. Lastly, look at items, if your ADC has back’d and bought while theirs hasn’t that can be a good time to engage!

Doing GolemsHere is a clip of us doing golems. It is not very precise,

you don’t HAVE to start on small

HAVE to go left et cetera. However,

we did find it better when we both stayed on the

same side.

We finished this well before the

creeps came, and didn’t have to

waste a health pot or flask charge or

even biscuit.

The biggest impact the s3 had on the golems is that now you cant do it with

everyone and usually supports don’t get the XP.

You can’t do golems with every dual lane. While I showed an example of us doing it this is

a strong duo for golems as both are great at level 1, it is tougher if you have a worse ranged and if you are melee you will probably have to

either use a health pot or flask charge.

Using the Golem Advantage:When you get double golems you

should try to exploit it by pushing the lane slightly so you hit 2 before them,

and then being aggressive! This is best on someone like Blitz, but also

can work with people like Lulu.

Teamfighting

● Teamfighting as a support falls into 3 types of teamfight styles (TFS).● Protect-The-Carry Support ● Caster Support (AoE CC)● Dive Support (Tanking/Soaking up dmg)

● While obviously these aren’t extremely polarized classifications, in most cases in any pro game you’ll see good supports do all 3 of these things based on the situation, but it’s important to look at these styles because often times I see new supports doing the wrong thing for a certain situation or being very unfocused. Articulating your goals may clarify your objective in the chaotic fights and allow you to see more clearly what you should be doing/what went wrong. Also some of these styles suit different supports better than others.

● I will go over an overview of the style, how this style positions and uses skills, which character and items suit the style, and when to use it.

Protect the Carry Teamfight-Style

● This is probably the classic style and what is most important in pro level games because of their positioning (esp. S2 when ADC were OP).

● What is this: Protect-the-Carry style is when you don’t go into the teamfight with the rest of your team, when you don’t use your Sona ult to initiate the fight, and instead stay in the back of the teamfight where your carry is and save your ult to stop the Kennen/Irelia/Jax/etc. when they eventually attempt to attack your carry.

● Positioning: With this style you want to always be near your carry, but more than that, you usually should be positioning yourself BEHIND him. This allows you to more easily hit your Sona ults, Janna ults, and stay away from damage yourself.

● Skill usage: You should be very patient and conservative with your skill usage, you don’t want to blow your Taric stun too early because then when they actually reach your carry it may be on CD. You play the wait game and wait for them to hit on the ADC so you can lock them down to be attacked.

Protect-the-Carry TFS – Cont.

● Who uses this style best: Like I said before, you can use any of these styles on any character, but some are better suited to certain champions. I think Janna is the epitome of Protect-the-Carry because you can ult people away, CC them, or just shield the carry. Some other good ones are Lulu, with her ult + W cc + Q cc, Soraka with her healz, and Nunu is also great at this by BB’ing carry and ulting next to them (or snowballing people who get close).

● What items suit this playstyle: I think each of these styles kinda have some . items that synergize with it, and for PtC I think Zeke’s Herald and ............ Mikael’s Crucible both suit this style very well. It’s just a carry-centric build, you give them lifesteal and cleanse them!

● When to use this style: There are quite a few things that would prompt this style for me, such as if you have a strong carry (fed in lane or Vayne/Kog/hypercarry), if you have weak protection besides the support, or if they have heavy dive (vs riven, irelia, kennen). Lastly, if your team has weaker initiation than their team, then this style is helps with kite-style fighting, where you protect carry and run back.

Caster-Support Teamfight Style

● What is this: Caster-Support style is basically focused on trying to kill people the most. This means your goals are to hit CC on as many people as possible, CC the high value targets, or CC/snipe people that are low/running. Generally, try to create as much havoc as possible in the fight with your spells.

● Positioning: As opposed to Protect-the-Carry, Caster supports want to be around the mid-line (in front of carries, behind tanks) of the fight because you want to be able to hit as many spells as possible. This keeps you far enough away to be able to flash out of danger or something because you are a squishy support after all, but lets you stay close enough to hit your spells effectively and support the team with your CC as best as possible.

● Skill usage: With Caster-Supports you want to be patient with your skills, because often times after the first few seconds of a fight (unless you have a malphite or something) people usually group up and then you can go in and lay down the CC. However, you can also go in to initiate or pick off people as well. Your goal is to create havoc, so you should use your lower CD spells as much as you can.

Caster-Support TFS Cont.

● Who uses this style best: The character I think fits this best is Sona, as she’s best in the fight getting kinda close so she can hit big ults, provide auras, and get clutch power chords. Other good ones include Zyra, Nami, and even Fiddlesticks.

● Items that suit this style best: Your goal is for CC and disruption, so great items include Shard of True Ice (my favorite), Twin Shadows,

. and Shurelia’s Reverie. Remember to value CDR highly too,

... being spammy is another goal for this! ● When to do this: This teamfight style goes really well with heavy teamfight

oriented champions to follow up on, such as Malphite, Kennen, Galio, etc. In general though, if I’m playing a solo Q game with someone like Sona, I’ll typically aim for this style cause it’s a bit more straightforward for the team. Something like PtC is better suited when everyone on the same page, while this is a way to spoon-feed your team kills. (Hey, their ADC is dancing in middle of fight! Kill him!)

Dive Support TeamFight Style

● What is this: This teamfight strategy is seemingly brutish, but is actually particularly subtle. Your goal with a dive support is to get into a teamfight and be as much of a nuisance as possible, forcing people to attack and waste stuff on you so that your high value carries get free dmg while you abuse your very high tankyness.

● Positioning: This is pretty self explanatory, yet still often misplayed. Your positioning is going to be in the center of the fight, aka the “frontline”. However, make sure you aren’t so far ahead of your team that you are taking dmg without them being able to follow up. Don’t just dive mindlessly – be conscious of your own team!

● Spell Usage: Here is probably where spell usage is the least… disciplined? Unlike with the other support roles, where your usefulness is based almost solely on spells, here a significant amount of your usefulness is based on your raw tanky stats, so as long as you can take dmg your skill usage doesn’t really matter as much. That being said, try to use your cc/abilities on high value targets rather than willy-nilly. (Taric stun on AP, not Irelia).

Dive Support TFS – Cont.

● Who uses this style: This is obviously built for innately tanky supports. I think Taric epitomizes this strat by just rushing in, popping your auras and trying to distract their carries or stun people who are escaping. This also fitting for Alistar, Leona, and you can even pull it off on Soraka!

● Item Synergizes: For this playstyle, items and base stats are the core of your strengths, so you NEED a high tankyness setup.

.......... Aegis into Bulwark later is obviously core, as well as Locket and even Shurelias to get in there.

● When to do this: This style works best if your team is low on tankyness from top/jungle, however it can also work if your carry is well protected (freeing you from needing to protect him), or if they have vulnerable carries (if they have a Vayne, it is easier to get up to her and disrupt/distract her from higher value targets than protect your carry).

The end !

● Thank you to everyone who read it and made it this far! Please leave me feedback, one of the points of this “guide” was to create relevant and interesting support discussion!

Credits:

● Designed, written, and MADE by Spellsy (@SpellsyLoL)

● Also thanks go to @allthekleos (1st pic and editing), Alaric (feedback/editing), @Kane_xD (feedback), sylverfyre (editing), JALbert (editing), and all the employees at

Spellsy Corp™ (Motivation/Swag development)