Awesome guide, but outdated, since the last patch.

awesome guide, i'd like u to do some more guides

the guide is pretty on target, used it the other night I played Janna who baby sat Caitlyn on bottom, while Rammus took teemo top and Brand for mid. Babysitting Cait wasn't hard we took out Olaf 5 times and Sion 3 times within the first 10 min, between shields, traps and winds topped off with clairvoyance Noc couldn't get in, we was impossible to Gank. The game only took 26min before they surrender... I'm going to miss clairvoyance when they nerf it :(

Nice guide. Needs a couple of fixes (ghost mastery on Ali)? Besides that I'd quite like to see a section on what support goes best with what carry and why (i.e. Ali good with Cait cos knock up then Cait place trap on landing, or Janna/Ashe for strong kiting/snaring combo etc.) +1 vote

Great guide, gave me a few more tips to improve my support capabilities.

Thanks for the Guide! This has convinced me to play better, and not by trying harder. By being smarter. Ill see about trying to put this onto my fellow teammates but i doubt it will happen. Now I can call them n00b! hah

With Sona I run low on mana but rarely run completely oom (with no tear) by the time I get Shurelya's, so I do kind of rush it so that I won't ever need to wait to recharge mana. (this is based off having the complete mana setup you suggest. Running it for about 10 games or so on Sona, same build everytime.) I am also learning to not spam needlessly and hold stances longer for the passive bonuses, and when the best times to give them are. You might could put a section on that? Idk, not hard to play her by any means and I do well, but it still feels like I have yet to master her and all of her passives (including Power Chord effects) correctly. I've experimented a game or two with with both Philo upgrades to make up for the nerf but I would need to get back to you on how well that works, It didn't feel like it synergized very well.

Early game! Especially if their is harass. I am running mp5/lvl Seals though.. I feel less oom mid to late game with them though on Jana. Are flat needed for early game, and enough to sustain till late when she's played correctly?

I have started getting a point in Soraka's Q at lvl 4 I agree on that decision.

I'll try the switch on the masteries. I saw an in-depth look at the math on the forums not too long ago, very interesting.

I never got the chance to try gold quints, so I can't say for sure that fortitude is better.
Regarding sona's mp5, I think I'll change the flat glyphs to per lvl glyphs. I haven't played Sona since the philostone nerf, so it's likely that her mp5 is low.

With Janna I don't get oom often though, maybe you're spamming your abilities needlessly? At what point in the game do you lack mp5?

I think starcall is useful at rank 1 due MR reduction, after that it just increases the damage so there's no need to waste points in it.
Usually I didn't have mana problems with the current skill sequence, but if you find yourself lacking mana then you should get more points in E.

Regarding the masteries, I think that 2% of total Mp5 and Hp5 aren't worth 2 points. The first point gives 2%, which is awesome, but the 2nd and 3rd point only give 1% each. I'd rather get less 6.66% off my resurrection timer in case I die.

I have reviewed and reread this guide many times as this is honestly what I have come to agree is the necessary way to build most every support. I have also implemented your runes suggestions and love the results.
(One minor variation being I am testing Gold quints since I have yet to purchase flat hp.)

Your guide has helped me to place wards effectively, and I usually give some extra exp to my carry and make sure they are the first in my lane to reach lvl 6 if possible. That single act in-practice has also helped me to know positioning during teams fights and the correct distance to stand so as to be most effective. After trying your starting items once, I now always start those items. I've always found myself starting something else and wishing I had wards before I had a chance to ever recall for them.

Feed back section from games I ran your items and setups (Minus the quints >.<)

Even though I start Philo on Sona (In ranked), I always end up purchasing Tear of the Goddess eventually due to mana spam during team fights. I've been to where I've had to rely on regen and using my abilities as soon as I receive the mana to do so too often without a Tear, and I do not like that. Granted I do only own 5/9 flat mana regen blues (I own the rest of the mana regen setup), I cannot fully say with the complete setup I will not feel like I still need Tear. Does this happen to you?

After a recent game on Jana with the setup you suggest for Jana (Minus the Quints) I ran just oom too often to continue using flat regen Seals, I must stick with regen/lvl.

In my elo at least, as Soraka I am relied on for mana also and usually alternate leveling W and E without a point in Q till late game. I shall try a point in Q early and begin to try an use it during a team fight for its de-buff. I rarely ever purchase Aegis of the Legion on Soraka in favor of an earlier Deathcap, and then I keep stacking stacking AP.
I once reached heals every 6(.8) seconds of 800+, and was one of our teams 3 carries at 4/7/32 with almost 3 Deathcap's. Our initiators would soak all their damage and still hardly die even if it meant two team fights in a row without a port.

With the masteries; on support I opt for 4% mana/hp regen due to the fact most of my games are 0 Kills, 1-3 deaths, and 10+ assists with about 15 cs all game and it seems to make a difference even ever so slightly.

Veeery nice. Some of my friends have to see this! :D
+1

Best guide for playing supports on mobafire^^.

@Byu
Thanks!

@frightfuljester
I used to have a section on giving xp to the carry so he can get to lvl 6 faster and get a kill more easily, but I removed it because it wasn't optimal.

@Epin
I only played soraka twice and it was months ago so I just made a somewhat viable build in order to fill the spot.
Later this week I'll update the builds and include sona instead of soraka.