Vynertje's Support AMA and advice thread

[quote=Vynertje][quote=jhoijhoi]Just played a game where Soraka was a huge problem. Any tips?[/quote] Focus her, not her ADC. Avoid trades, only all-in her. Pick something that can long-range engage either her or her ADC with ignite (going for the ADC is risky: raka heal has roughly 2-3 seconds cooldown so you have to burst him with ignite in that exact time frame). Jungle pressure helps. I personally like Leona into her because she has the option to burst either her or the ADC with ignite in a fraction of a second before raka can get multiple heals off and her ult can often reach raka. Furthermore she provides good gank support. [quote=Out Of Pancakes][quote=MrMad2000]What champions are strong against [[brand]]? Poke supports like [[karma]], utility supports like [[lulu]] or tank supports like [[braum]]?[/quote] I personnally like going with a hard CC tank support like [[nautilus]], [[leona]] or [[blitzcrank]]. Play safe until you get an opening and oneshot the [[brand]]. If you play back, at a certain point, the [[brand]] will have to get out of his minion wave to poke you and this is when you can punish him. In general, I'd say tank supports are better because he can destroy squishies with his damage, unless you outskill him.[/quote] Yeah utility supports in general are rather poor (with perhaps the exception of nami due to her combination of range, sustain and cc) vs him because of his long range and damage output. I'd say reliable engage, tankyness and crowd control is key, but it makes for a very explosive lane that is very difficult to play regardless because he might still outpoke you in the early levels. Thresh imo does somewhat poor unless you get lots of jungle support; his engage is not as reliable, he is not as tanky as i.e. leona/braum/naut and he has a very difficult time avoiding poke (low mobility and defensive skills).[/quote]

[quote=utopus][quote=OTGBionicArm] Lucky grabs/hooks, or ones on a misplaced Soraka are far more effective imo. I'd like Vyns take on it though.[/quote] As a side note, most good [[soraka]]s won't even give [[blitzcrank]] a chance to let them hook her. It is still probably a sound counterpick in soloQ though if you're good with hooks.[/quote]

[quote=OTGBionicArm]Everyone has to ward sometime. She won't always be behind something.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]Yes but you're full retard when you get caught when warding, that's a mistake whatever way you look at it and should never happen. Blitz doesn't counter raka by any means but he has opportunities to win, i.e. hooking the ADC out of raka range and bursting before multiple heals can come down. The problem is that it isn't as reliable and soraka silence can also completely fuck up your timing when you run into them for a hook.[/quote]

[quote=OTGBionicArm]So what actually does beat Soraka then? I'm aware that she gets beaten in competitive environments but she seems like free-win in soloq.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]Leona for sure, Nautilus is also good (post-6 long range lockdown). In general champions that can just support ganks well or roam away from the Soraka lane work well too, just not always in a direct 2v2.[/quote]

[quote=OTGBionicArm]And that's irritating. 2 supports do well against her? The rest have to equalize the lane or roam. Forgive me if this isn't the place for discussion of whether or not Soraka is toxic, but come on. She makes bot lane so anti-fun. It's like reverse (pre-rework) AP Nidalee.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]No, these supports in fact counter her. The others are all skill matchups or worse.[/quote]

[quote=utopus]If anything, [[tahm kench]] is 2 times more anti-fun compared to soraka. [[janna]] lanes tend to do OK against raka.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]Janna does fine but lane becomes a massive stalemate with neither lane having kill potential or gank support[/quote]