14

Since I have babbled a wall of text I will start with my question, Should a support champ be picked to cover an ADCs weaknesses or strengths? Some examples would do just nicely, I have seen a chart that gives the best combos for support/ADC, couldn't find it myself.

What I'm trying to do with this question is provide a sort of foundation for picking my support champion for an ADC champion or even vice versa what ADC should I go with certain support champions. I ask this because of the key role support plays, as games are won and lost in the hands of a support just as easily as they are with any role in LoL.

Support plays such a big role early game for Bot Lane that overlooking the importance will cause you too fail repeatedly. I do my best to pick support champions (I prefer meta support champions) that I have done well with in a certain ADC/Support combo. I will mention one of my favorite combinations being Leona and Twitch. Twitch usually being a weaker ADC (atleast in my eyes) combined with the awsome power that is Leona allows me to feed him repeatedly, and not until yesterday did I find myself doubting my knowledge of the support roll. Lets just say I did awful, one of my worst games with Leona, the weird part being the mistakes I made weren't all that severe, mistakes like harassing to hard, causing us to lose the trade and be forced to tower hug till a jungler saves us. We basically just got outplayed and for some reason those are the hardest loses to swallow.

Anyways, I started to think "why am I playing this support champion just because I have done well with this support/adc combo in the past". I started to do this a lot when playing League of Legends as I had recently watched a video about elo hell where the guy talked about the only thing that holds players back is their refusal to take blame for their own mistakes in a game and blame everything else. Having been consistanly stuck around 1000 elo last season with over 100 games played in ranked, I had lost all hope of ever getting anywhere close to 1250 or 1500 for that matter.

Getting back on track now, I go back to my thought about support/ADC combos. I realized that I need to start picking support champions to play to an ADCs weakness and/or strength. An example I will mention is the Vayne/Nunu, which to me is probably the deadliest bot lane combination. Nunu having huge sustain and harass abilities allows vayne to lay back and CS all day and if engaged in a 2v2, Nunu gives an attack speed boost that makes Vayne tear through even the tankiest of supports. Not to mention Vayne being the strongest late game ADC in LoL, some people would debate Corki being the best late game (semantics really).

Now to get to my question, I would like to start picking support champions that mesh well with an ADC. Support Champs that cover an ADCs weakness or plays to their strengths, or both. I think counterpicks bot lane to be a mere myth and really never decides the outcome of the game. I'm convinced ADC/Support combinations to be the real path to winning.

Improve this question
11
  • More important than the actual champion pair, if you're going to be solo queue, is how well you master your own champion, and how you communicate with your carry to make sure you don't play aggressive when he wants to camp under the tower. I'm spending most of my time as a support, and I really observe that. It's almost always a matter of positioning and timing, more than the actual combination. That said, of course there are champions which are synergizing better than others.
    – Gnoupi
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:52
  • @Gnoupi recently I have taken to watching Aphromoo (A LoL Pro, known for playing support) he basically says an aggresive support is the best way to win the lane. By interupting the enemy ADC CS by harassing and allowing your ADC to CS unopposed. Obviously that requires a certain amount of skill so as not to get poked.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:57
  • not saying the opposite. Riot are even hinting in this direction in the Season 3, with the pickpocket trait in utility. They actively reward you for poking and playing aggressive. But again it's more about how you play, more than the actual combination.
    – Gnoupi
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 16:00
  • 1
    I agree with @Gnoupi it really depends on your adc in solo queue. You should play to how they play if they're less aggressive, you can't be aggressive or you'll just get caught out and die. In solo queue first goal of support is to mesh with your adc's playstyle :)
    – Brian
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 16:52
  • 1
    @Paralytic see the 2nd question(what questions should I not ask here) of FAQ gaming.stackexchange.com/faq . It is debatable as to whether this question has answer, and it is definitely producing a ton of opinions and discussion.
    – Brian
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 21:59

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
14

It depends, I like to choose a support based on the ADC early game play, if the ADC is squishy, let's say for example Ezreal, I'm more likely to pick Soraka or Sona to sustain him on lane. But, if you have a more sustainable ADC, you can pick a more aggressive support like Leona, Nunu or Zyra.

Another thing to observe is the synergy of Support/ADC level, Leona has her Q,W and E ready by level 3, which can combo really good with Graves, where in this level he's really great. We could also mention some good combos like Ashe and Janna, due to the synergy of Janna's Shield and Ashe's crit, and Ashe's slow with Janna's slow.

Besides, picking a champion that you enjoy playing, which will also help in your performance, you could ask the ADC which support he enjoys to play with, if he has any preference and you feel his preference is useful, you could pick it too.

I found the League Support Suggester, a recommendation software to provide the best support for your current needs.

I've also found the following chart which really helps me when to choose a good support for my ADC, I usually pick one of the three recommended:

enter image description here

Improve this answer
10
  • 1
    the exact chart i saw so glad you found it!
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:40
  • to mention your examples, maybe thats part of my problem when picking support. I usually go tanky supports with squishy ADC.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:48
  • 2
    In the originating reddit thread, spellsy also links to a spreadsheet containing more details on his reasonings for each of the matchups.
    – Schism
    Commented Dec 21, 2012 at 6:29
  • 1
    @Yves - thanks for the full link. It does feel a bit subjective, when reading the excel file behind the infographic. There are some good points, but in my opinion it's too reductive to organize it like this, with only 3 choices.
    – Gnoupi
    Commented Dec 21, 2012 at 9:04
  • 1
    @Gnoupi I agree completely; it's still important to note that this is just one person's opinion -- even if they do play professionally. It's still a good starting point though.
    – Schism
    Commented Dec 21, 2012 at 13:50
8

First of all (before my opinion) I have a chart that might be what u were looking for:

http://www.lolking.net/charts?region=all&league=ranked&type=bottom-lane-synergy&range=monthly

You can see there (stats talking) which combos are most successful in bot lane.

Other than that my opinion is that a good support will be able to FACILITATE the adc carry the best possible way.

That being said you have to get to know your carry first. What is his/her most comfortable playstyle while laning?

Is he aggressive or defensive? Does he focus on farming or poking? If you're solo queue and you don't know the other guy just ask him that exact thing before the game starts.

It makes sense that if you play with an aggressive (high risk-high reward) carry you want to get a support that boosts his strengths (i.e. His offensive stats). If you play with a carry that prefers to farm a lot and be defensive you have to help him out with a support that boosts his defensive or utility stats and can heal him.

Another aspect is WHO your carry picks. You have to have good synergy. I'm not going into specific details as you already have the chart. Just giving you food for thought.

It's important to think it out on your own. Because there are no rules set in stone. Trial and Error with a specific teammate will make you a better support and a better champion picker.

EDIT: Decided to give a couple of my favorite support champs when I play adc (usually my pref. roles are ADC>Solo Top>Support>Mid>Jungle (ewww - lol) so you get to hear the carry's side of the story)

Being Ezreal very often I find that a very fun combo is Lux + Ez. Having similar ults that can kill any squishy instantly if synced well plus really good poking ability. That all changes though if u have a strong healer on the other side.

One of my favorites is Alistar with Ez. Alistar is a true bodyguard which is just what ez needs actually. He can heal you and can be a pain in the ass for anyone trying to get close to you. Plus his stun is very helpful if you decide to attack because it keeps them still for long enough for you to hit them with a full round of your spells.

Other fun combos are Nunu + Miss Fortune, Nunu + Ashe (although ashe is really weak these days I don't pick her anymore).

Improve this answer
8
  • I usually Solo qeue ranked, being that none of my friends can't ever be serious they just like to troll. Still fun but ranked is when I get serious. So getting to know an ADC doesn't usually happen.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:45
  • @Paralytic In solo/duo queue, it's best to duo if you're planning on going bot and leave the other 3 spots for the soloers. But i know the feeling you describe :) And I realize you can't always NOT play the best lane in the game just because you 're solo hehe I will update my answer with my personal favorites! :)
    – xray1986
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:51
  • Actually, the link shows mostly the most popular picks, rather than the most successful. At least it's presented in such way. But the results are obviously biased for less popular/more difficult support champions.
    – Gnoupi
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 16:07
  • @Gnoupi if you hover over each dot you will see that it has a percentage of Wins. The Size of the dots shows the number of games played. So it actually shows BOTH popularity and Success. Plus this chart is NOT subjective. It comes from LoLking which accesses the stats of LoL Database. So it's real Stats talking. I can't say the same for the chart given by Eduardo (which I think is pretty nice - don't get me wrong)
    – xray1986
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 16:09
  • really nunu is the best support champ in my opinion haha. And Ez is such a beast, I stopped playing him as games were just to easy.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 16:19
2

I think that it is more important to cover the weaknesses of your team-mate rather than the weaknesses of his champion. Why so? There are mistakes he will always do, whichever carry he picks.

This obviously means you have to know who you are laning with and the reason why people often playing together will won the lane over two "match-made" enemies.

Of course, there is always many ways to cover for one player weaknesses. But you need to know ALL the supports you can play. If you can pick champion which have a synergy and allow you to correctly support your team-mate, good for you. But you should always give the preference to a champion that helps your player rather than one which helps his carry.

However, what to do with someone you don't know. Well, learn fast. Pick a champion you truly master and do your best. Does he follow when you go forward? Does he reacts when you put a stun? Does he do well when you get caught? All these situation will help you see how he his playing. Then adapt your behaviour to this.

Improve this answer
1
  • I think also part of the problem is that a lot of ADCs have little to no experience with support champs, and vice versa. For me if Im paired with a champ with high cc ill make sure im not far from him. If its a sustain champ i just let them do their thing and worry about my cs. For example, when i see a taric start making a move to stun i'll be quick to follow.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 17:36
-1

Well here is a simple answer don't hate if its already said I don't say it like this to offend but to just get to the point if your having trouble picking a support just as the AFDC what support they would like

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    That is one way to go about it, but just because they like a certain support doesn't mean it's the best choice.
    – Paralytic
    Commented Feb 24, 2014 at 18:05
  • 1
    This answer doesn't provide anything over the already accepted one.
    – Bartek Banachewicz
    Commented Sep 22, 2014 at 12:36

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .