05/16/2012 - Updated item and commentary sections

01/06/12 - Updated Rune, Masteries, Ward spots and playstyle sections

10/29/11 - Added Runes + Masteries
09/23/11 - Fixed typos + increased Taric's viability
09/13/11 - Released Guide

In League of Legends, supports are a subtle, but important role. It is simple to play support, but one's goal should be to maximize the effectiveness of a support and not settle for the minimum. It is very easy to play a sustaining and simply sustain a lane, but there is much more than that if your goal is to be as efficient as possible.

AP and AD carries have an easy time being efficient by farming the lane, but supports have much more freedom. At any given moment, there are multiple questions that I would ask myself, each differing depending on the champion I am playing and the current situation.

Last Updated: 05/16/12



The once quintessential summoner spell for supports is still strong, despite the harsh nerfs. Taking Clairvoyance weakens your lane in a direct lane fight, but is important for figuring out enemy movements throughout the game.



The improvements on Heal has caused this summoner spell to be an amazing spell. In a direct fight, Heal will often push one side far ahead of the other as the amount healed is superb. However, one can only have two summoner's, causing either or to be forsaken.



Exhaust is also a strong alternative for supports. This will be best for melee supports, such as Taric or Nunu, but can be used on ranged if your lane partner is taking Heal already.



Flash is a fairly defensive summoner and means that you simply do not wish to die in the game. Taking Flash is almost mandatory against aggressive junglers like and .

is currently the most common summoner spell choice for supports due to its inherent safeness in lane and the advantage in both fights in lane and later in the game. However, has situational usages as it is the only summoner spell that really benefits the other lane and especially the jungle.

I will go more in-depth on runes and masteries per champion guide, but I'll have general rune pages and mastery pages here.

Last Updated: 01/06/12


Marks - Flat Magic Resistance
Seals - Flat Armor
Glyphs - Scaling Magic Resistance or scaling Ability Power
Quints - Gold per 10

This set of runes give higher magic resistance or the option to be more useful due to extra ability power.
I would use this set against champions with long range AoE spells like Gangplank, Rumble, Karthus, etc.





Marks - Flat Armor
Seals - Flat Armor
Glyphs - Flat/Scaling Magic Resistance
Quints - Gold per 10

This set of runes gives more effective HP against AD champions.
I would use this set against multiple AD champions/bruisers.





Marks - Flat Armor
Seals - Gold per 10
Glyphs - Flat/Scaling Magic Resistance or flat CDR
Quints - Gold per 10

This page is mainly for a defensive Soraka lane, but it also works for a defensive Janna.





Marks - Flat Armor
Seals - Flat MP Regen
Glyphs - Flat/Scaling Magic Resistance
Quints - Gold per 10

This page is for aggressive ranged harassing, but will end up trading hits, mainly Taric and Sona.





Marks - Armor Penetration
Seals - Flat MP Regen
Glyphs - Flat/Scaling Magic Resistance
Quints - Flat HP Regen




This page is for aggressive ranged harassing, but requires a lot of autoattacking, so mainly Janna and Soraka.

Last Updated: 01/06/12

[Taken from my blog post]

Clairvoyance – 1800 Range, 70 seconds cooldown (60 seconds with masteries), 6 seconds duration (8 with masteries).

Clairvoyance is no longer mandatory on a support champion, but is a very strong alternative.

The goal of Clairvoyance is to instantly provide information from any location on the map. As such, it is important to use Clairvoyance frequently, but still at critical areas. Spamming Clairvoyance at every cooldown can be as useless as never using it and depending on the stage of the game, one would focus Clairvoyances at different areas of the map.

Pre-minions: The very first Clairvoyance should be aimed on the opposing fountain (you want to use this immediately upon connecting), this allows for any obscure items to be visible and shows how fast the enemy team is mobilizing. The second Clairvoyance should be aimed to scout out where the enemy is going.


Pre-15 minutes: The third CV is always aimed at jungling routes, but in order to do this, one must understand jungling routes, speed and pattern. This is something that only playing a few games with competent jungling players or playing a few jungle games of your own will teach. Constant CV on the opposing jungler means it is impossible for him/her to gank without some warning and with good ward placement, it can be nearly impossible to gank. At this stage, knowledge is key and that knowledge starts with where the enemy jungler is. Junglers practically control the inertia of the game as they are the ones that make ganks happen, steal buffs and secure global objectives.

15 minutes and beyond: After countless CVs and many deaths/kills, both teams will likely start to work towards upcoming Dragons/Blue buff/Red buff/Baron. Simply having a CV is not enough and it is important to supplement it with numerous wards on key points.



Note: Even with the new changes, this picture is still an accurate depiction of how the early stages of Clarivoyance should be done.

Supports are most often seen with one or two gold per 10 items due to their very low creep score. By shifting all the farm towards the support's lane partner, the other champion becomes much more farmed.

After building gold per 10 items, cheap resistance items are the best way to boost up your tanky stats. A support wouldn't aim to complete a Banshee's Veil or Randuin's Omen, but would rather settle for a Chain Vest and Negatron Cloak. Also, Shurelya's Reverie is another very popular choice for supports due to the quick movement speed boost for engaging teamfights. It is rather ideal to save your gold per 10 items as long as possible as it is a large percentage of your gold income.

However, it is important to not become too far behind in gold as dying over and over in teamfights due to the lack of items can also be extremely detrimental to the team.

I will go more into detail in each support's respective guides.

Sight Ward – 75 gold; lasts 180 seconds. Places an invisible green ward that gives sight in 1100 range.

Vision Ward – 125 gold; lasts 180 seconds. Places an invisible pink ward that gives true sight (sees invisible units) in 1000 range.

Oracle's Elixir – 400 gold; lasts until death. Places a true sight buff on the consumer that gives true sight in 750 range.

All three of these are consumables and each take up a slot in one's inventory until the consumption.

Vision Ward vs Sight Wards: Sight Wards start off as being worth 100 gold (75 cost + 25 gain) and around every two seconds, the ward's value goes down by one gold to a minimum of 25 gold. In short, any time you know the enemy has a ward in a spot, it is advantageous to destroy it with a Vision Ward provided it gives vision in that spot.

Oracle's Elixir vs Vision Wards: It only takes a few wards to completely recuperate the costs of an Oracle's, making it an excellent investment, provided the carrier is not killed with it. Vision Wards, on the other hand, are safer but don't give any sort of long lasting benefit and don't completely recuperate costs.

“When is a good time to get Oracles?”
Generally, it is advantageous to pick up an Oracles as early as possible so wards can be cleared. But wards aren't as common early on and it is much more dangerous for the carrier due to the lack of vision and the lack of tank items. In short, it is ideal to pick up an Oracle's if your team wishes to dominate map control in order to set up for important objectives.

Whether it be warning a teammate of a gank or noting enemy positions, communicating with your team is key to playing a good support. Anyone farming a lane tends to be extremely concentrated on their lane and often times, they will not notice obvious movement on the mini-map. Giving someone an extra few seconds to avoid a gank can mean the difference between a failed gank and first blood.

If a lane is being pushed up and is vulnerable to a gank, communicating with your team for a timely gank can help turn the tides on that lane. Each movement should have a purpose and that purpose should be communicated to your team.

In solo queue, this can be very difficult as typing takes far too long, but if a third party voice application is ever used, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

Between ward vision and clairvoyance, early deaths are highly frowned upon as a support. Very, very rarely are deaths excusable outside of teamfights, especially on a champion with an instant sight giving summoner spell.

In most cases, it is worth waiting the 20 seconds to be 100% sure that entering the brush to plant a ward is safe.

Most junglers start at their Blue Buff or mini golems. CVing at one area allows you to deduce where the opposing jungler will be. If the opposing jungler starts in their top half of the jungle, the chances of the jungler ganking bot lane is very slim. If the opposing jungler starts in their bottom of the jungler, there is a chance that they may gank bottom at level two while your lane is still level one. Most junglers gank at level two, after red buff, after level six or never.

Last Updated: 01/06/12

Playing aggressive in a lane is determined by whether or not your lane is stronger. For example, Ashe Soraka is a very weak lane, but if the opponent is an out-of-mana Blitzcrank and say, Vayne, Ashe Soraka can easily poke and kite. But on the other hand, if they were against an Alistar Tristana lane, then they will likely have to play very passive. Even then, if said Alistar Tristana ran Heal Flash and Ignite Flash respectively, and the Ashe Soraka ran Exhaust Flash and Heal Exhaust respectively, the latter can fight toe-to-toe and come out ahead. Even after ALL this, a jungler or any third champion comes to gank, then the balance will be shifted.

The balance between the champion in the bottom lane is very fragile, it is very easy to disrupt either side with outside factors, but there are definitely innately stronger and weaker lanes.

The goal of a support early game is to provide vision in key areas and allow your team, especially your lane partner, to free farm. Proper visions allow opportunities for your team to gank and blocks the opposing side from ganking. Apply pressure to opposing champions as deemed appropriate.

Always be careful for enemy sneak Dragons!

Vision focus shift from the bottom half of the map (Dragon) to the top part (Baron), as Baron will likely be coming into play very soon. At this time, there will be slightly less focus on farming and given the circumstances, the support may leave the lane to help out the team.

Baron is a real threat at this point and there should be constant vision on and around that area. Knowing where the enemy team is crucial during this time and both teams will likely be grouping up or are already grouped.

In a teamfight, priority number one is to provide maximum utility through your spells and items, whether it be healing or CC. Unbeknownst to many, it is actually impossible to provide utility while dead, so in order to provide more utility, your goal is to survive as long as possible.

Ranged supports like Janna and Soraka typically should be the last champion to fall in a teamfight, but melee tanking supports like Alistar or Blitzcrank may be the first to fall. However, as long as you have provided sufficient utility to your team, it is considered as a success.

Raising Elo with a support is very difficult as it is hard to bring a huge amount of influence to the game. In solo queue, a support player can not simply sit in the lane and provide sustain, but has to actively ward the map and make kills happen. This is the ONLY way for a support to provide enough utility to "carry" a team. Being a "good" support is not enough the win a solo queue game, but rather you must go above and beyond and flesh out the capabilities of the champion.

When people complain that they are unable to win solo queue games as a support, it is an indication that they are simply babysitting the carry and helping him farm. There is much, much more than that, which a support player can take advantage of.

Anyone can play a good support, not everyone can play the better support.

Playing support is not bound by the champion, but rather the choices made in-game through giving away farm and providing utility to the team. There are certainly champion tiers for support, but there are many grey areas that are filled in by how well the champion is played. Just because a champion is not commonly used, it does not mean that it can not be a viable support champion.

Self-imposed limits are unnecessary and serve no purpose. Ask yourself not if a champion is viable, but rather why he or she isn't; and ask yourself not whether you are a good support, but rather how much better you can be.

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