Hey guys, i'm GG alert, player on EUW. In this and my other guides I'm gonna be focussing on playing support and carrying in low elo. Even in mid elo you still can learn a lot from this, so stay focussed.
Maybe you like playing support, maybe your duoQ partner is a godly adc, and maybe you just have bad luck in matchmaking and are forced to play support.
I'm gonna be focussing on the meta supports (at least for now), because they are meta for a reason: they are good in playing in the support roll. I therefore won't be talking about '' LeBlanc support'' or '' Zed support''. It can definitly work, don't get me wrong, but there might just be better supports in the situation given.

In this and my other guides I'm gonna teach you guys how to support yourself out of low elo and making playing support more fun.

Note: When I'm talking about low elo, I never mean ''scrub elo'' or ''those ****tards''. If you are in ''low elo'', you aren't bad: you are most likely just inexperienced. Experience comes with time, and reading guides like this one will help you a lot for sure.

Another note: I'm not a native english speaker, so please forgive any spelling mistake I might make.

Feel free to check out my stream, where I'll be playing support most of the time: http://www.twitch.tv/gg_alert

Most importantly: Enjoy yourself and have lots of fun!

As support, you have one goal: win the game. In the past, most supports relied on helping the adc in a direct way: healing or granting other buffs, or peeling for them (e.g. Alistar's Headbutt). In the current meta, a lot of supports are more focussed towards an agressive playstyle, and getting the adc fed ( Blitzcrank, Thresh etc.).

So in order to be a support, you need:
-The mindset of a support
-The champion that can be played as support

Your mindset is to help your adc: you give him an easy time farming and maybe some kills as well. You should always be helping SOMEONE, a support on his own can't do much.

Now the champion. You can either get a defensive champion that focusses on buffing and peeling ( Janna, Soraka) or an offensive one. In order to win the game, you actually need a bit of both: a fed adc who is getting peeled for. Offensive supports can do both, because they can use their CC to get the carry fed and later peel for them in teamfights.

Examples of champions that aren't support: Evelynn, Zed, Ashe.
Examples of offensive supports: Blitzcrank, Thresh, Braum, Leona, Annie.
Examples of defensive supports: Janna, Soraka, Sona, Karma.
Examples of supports that can do both: Lulu, Nami, Taric, Morgana, Alistar.

Note: Most supports can do both, but are just better in either playing agressive or defensive. What you really ARE depends on your playstyle. However, if you like playing passive, Leona isn't for you, etc.

Annie: She's more of a midlaner imo. She was very populair not to long ago though. She has to stack up her Pyromania before she has CC and she is rather short ranged. On the other hand, Molten Shield helps her with surviving and her Summon: Tibbers gives you an extra ally.

Lux: Lux, if played, is a poke/kite orientated support. She has decent poke and a shield to protect the adc. Not the worst, certainly not the best.

Nidalee: Javelin Toss. Javelin Toss. Javelin Toss. If you actually hit one of those, it isn't so bad. Most enemies however will camp behind the minions, and then the only thing you can do is Primal Surge, which drains your mana really hard. Lategame with some items she is a second APC, but in the laning phase she just can't really help the adc. Which you should do.

Shen: Shen has a unreliable heal, a short taunt Shadow Dash and an interruptable ult Stand United. He was made to be a supportive toplaner, not a toplaner as support.

Teemo: ''You can't hate on Teemo, he has CC and free wards!'' Hell yeah I can hate on Teemo. He is squishy and short ranged, and I guess he is a poke ''support''. The blind duration of his Blinding Dart however is short, and most adc's will just use their skillshot for the duration of the blind, making his ''CC'' pretty useless.

Zilean: Another poke support, this time with poke for 2 enemies to mess up their positioning. Won't work against shield or spellshields ( Sivir, Janna etc.). His ult gives the adc a second life, which actually makes him pretty viable. I just never liked him much.

Note: All these champions CAN of course work (for you), but as said, there are better ones.

For summoner spells, you'll always want to bring Flash. It's just to strong. Use it to escape, engage by suprise, block Ace in the Hole, etc.

Your other options:
- Exhaust or Ignite: Both pretty strong. If you lack real CC you might want to bring exhaust, certainly if the enemy team has strong assassins ( Zed). However, to secure kills and counter Heal, you'll need Ignite. It's up to you what feels right and what you like more.

- Heal: if your adc for some reason doesn't take heal, you should. It works on both of you anyways.

Don't take:
- Clairvoyance (talk about season 2)
- Clarity (most support items grant mana regen anyways)
- Barrier ( Heal is stronger, except for the cooldown)
- Smite (unless you are a 5 man premade trollteam)
- Ghost, Revive, Teleport

-Marks: If I play a tanky support I take Greater Mark of Armor, however, on a poke support I take Greater Mark of Magic Penetration. However, if you auto attack a lot (e.g. Lulu), you can also take greater mark of hybrid penetration to increase the damage of your abilities AND autoattacks.

-Seals: I always get Greater Seal of Armor, but Greater Seal of Health or Greater Seal of Scaling Health will work fine as well.

-Glyphs: I get Greater Glyph of Magic Resist, since most supports will be dealing magic damage to you.

-Quints: I always get Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed. It's just to good, and it allows you to only buy boots of speed for a long time without upgrading them. Greater Quintessence of Health or Greater Quintessence of Armor will do fine on tanky supports.

-What about Greater Quintessence of Gold?
Just calculate how much money they would make in a game. 3 gold/10 seconds. 18 gold/minute. In a 30 minute game that's 540 gold. If you get 2 kills because you took Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed and ran somedown down, it's definitly worth. And eventually, in the lategame, when everyone is full build, movement speed matters more then money in the bank that you can't use.

Note: These are of course personal preferences, and you can swap out any if you like.

Depending on the champion, you can go in one of the three mastery trees.

-Offensive: Take some points in here if you are a poke support, otherwise only take Sorcery or nothing at all.

Good offensive masteries:
Tier 1: Sorcery for free CDR, Double-Edged Sword to deal more damage.
Tier 2: Expose Weakness to increase allied damage, Mental Force if you benefit from AP.
Tier 3: Arcane Mastery if you need more AP, Executioner to win close fights.
Tier 4: Dangerous Game to escape from close fights.
Tier 5/6: I don't think it's worth to go this deep since your job isn't to dish out huge damage.

Not so good offensive masteries:
Tier 1: Butcher you're not farming, Fury you most likely won't benefit from attack speed.
Tier 2: Feast you're still not farming, Brute Force extra AD per level won't help you.
Tier 3: Martial Mastery you didn't take Brute Force did you.
Tier 4: Warlord and Archmage ; you won't have that much AD/AP to increase. If you reach 100 you get 2 extra, big deal.

-Defensive: Will always pay off, no matter what you play. Obviously works best on tanky supports. You can either run down 21 or even more in the tree, or just 16 and grab something in the utility tree.

Good defensive masteries:
Tier 1: Block and Recovery are good during/after fights. Take Enchanted Armor only if you're gonna build loads of resistances.
Tier 2: Unyielding helps a lot. Veteran Scars are free hitpoints.
Tier 3: Oppression helps if you/your team brings a lot of CC. Juggernaut gives even more free hp, but only as %, so take this if you'll end up with a lot of hp anyways. Hardiness and Resistance give free resist, where armor is more important then magic resist.
Tier 4: Swiftness is great against slows, Reinforced Armor helps a lot lategame and Evasive is worth against AoE compositions.
Tier 5: -
Tier 6: Tenacious less CC, more time to do stuff. Worth.

Not so good defensive masteries:
Tier 1: Tough Skin , you're not jungling.
Tier 2: -
Tier 3: -
Tier 4: I don't like Perseverance that much, if you're that low either recall or use it to bait enemies.
Tier 5: Second Wind; you won't have lifesteal or spell vamp, so half is useless. Runic Blessing isn't even worth if you die a lot, which you don't want to do anyways. I don't like Legendary Guardian that much, especially if you're not a close fighter.
Tier 6: -

-Utility: This tree can give you a lot (mostly in the sacrifice of tankyness), but if you aren't a tanky support it's worth for sure. I only take 21 points in this one for Nami or Janna and Blitzcrank.

Good utility masteries:
Tier 1: Fleet of Foot free movement speed is great, and Meditation if you use a lot of mana. Scout can help you, well, scout a lot safer.
Tier 2: Summoner's Insight gives you more flashes etc. Alchemist gives you a lot as well.
Tier 3: Greed gives you free gold and Culinary Master makes you benefit more from Health Potions.
Tier 4: Scavenger and Wealth give you even more free gold.
Tier 5: I only take Bandit if I'm a ranged. Intelligence is great, CDR for active items.
Tier 6: Wanderer helps a lot with roaming and getting places.

Not so good utility masteries:
Tier 1: Phasewalker doesn't offer that much, but it might save your life every once in a while.
Tier 2: Strength of Spirit , I don't plan on having that much mana to make it helpfull.
Tier 3: Runic Affinity you shouldn't be having buffs, Vampirism no damage means no return.
Tier 4: Expanded Mind , I'm still not planning on having that much mana (exception: Blitzcrank).
Tier 5: Don't take Bandit if you're melee.
Tier 6: -

Starting/early game items:
- Doran's Shield: If you're melee and against poke, take this as soon as you spawn.
- Ruby Crystal: If you want tankyness and early wards, start with this. Most likely you can get a Sightstone on your first recall.
- Sapphire Crystal: I take this on Blitzcrank only, since it helps me with keeping my mana pool up for my passive. I build it into a tear ASAP.

- Spellthief's Edge: If you're a poke champion ( Lulu, Morgana) take this, unless you need something else more. It'll really help with your mana and gold income.
- Ancient Coin: If you don't use the passive of Spellthief's Edge to much ( Blitzcrank etc) take this, unless you need something else more. Get it ASAP tho', as you need the gold income.
- Relic Shield: I mostly take this on Alistar and Leona, as it helps with your tankyness and sustain, besides the gold income. Upgrade this ASAP to a Targon's brace, you'll get stacks way faster.

- Sweeping Lens: I only start off with this as Blitzcrank, to sweep the bushes and be a threat early on.
- Stealth Ward: Always take this until you finished your Sightstone, then get a Sweeping Lens.

Note: If the enemy has stealth champions (e.g. Akali, Rengar, Teemo etc) upgrade your Sweeping Lens early on. It makes them really vurnarable.

When to complete:
- Talisman of Ascension: This item is always good to build. 20% CDR and a great escape/engage.
- Face of the Mountain: Build this when you started with a Relic Shield. Make sure to use it on carries when they need it, and don't forget that it deals damage as well.
- Frost Queen's Claim: I don't really like this item, if you really want the AP you can take it I guess. You can use it to chase enemies down or slow them from following you, but you can do the same with Talisman of Ascension.

Note: You can start of with a Spellthief's Edge and when the laning phase is over, sell it for an Nomad's Medallion. With the gold you got from the Spellthief's Edge passive + the money you get from selling it, it's worth to get it first and sell it later.

What boots to take:
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity: If you really need to get CDR from your boots, do it.
- Mercury's Treads: Tenacity is OP. Always a good option.
- Ninja Tabi: Only against a full AD team.
- Mobility Boots: Can help you greatly if you don't need tenacity. Get alacrity on it, otherwise you'll move really slow in combat.
- Berserker's Greaves: Are you here to deal damage? No. Don't.
- Sorcerer's Shoes: For tons of damage. Not a fan of these boots on support.
- Boots of Swiftness: If you don't like Mobility Boots, you could get these. (Especially fun on Janna)

Mid-late game items:
- Mikael's Blessing: Helps a ton with your mana. Get this when you need to cleanse your adc from hard CC (against Leona etc). Now also give 10% CDR.
- Aegis of the Legion into a Locket of the Iron Solari: Nice active, take if you need magic resist but don't need to be in the frontline or initiate.
- Ardent Censer: If you have a heal in your kit and your carry greatly benefits from attack speed (e.g. Vayne), consider this. Gives you even more CDR.
- Banshee's Veil: Take if you need magic resist and have to initiate. Note: Now enemies most likely won't use skills on you, which isn't that great, but if you can ignore some CC you can be of more use.
- Thornmail: If you have a lot of hp, are a frontliner and they have a full AD team. Maybe.
- Morellonomicon: If you need the passive along with some AP and cheap CDR. (Against Swain/ Dr. Mundo etc)
- Twin Shadows: Nice active, has quite some AP as well.
- Zeke's Herald: Only if your team is full AD. Maybe.
- Frozen Heart: If you really need armor, get this. Nice CDR as well.
- Sunfire Aegis: If you are a close-combat support (e.g. Leona), you could get this. Makes you dish out some damage as well. If you get this early, make sure don't to ruin your carries farm.
- Iceborn Gauntlet: Nice passive, nice CDR, high cost. Helps with peeling. I like to get this last on Leona or Alistar.
- Randuin's Omen: Nice active if you're close-combat. Give quite some defensive stats. People will regret attacking you.
- Void Staff: If you have high base damage and need more raw damage, consider this. It's cheap and will skyrocket your damage. Only if you really need more damage and you are far ahead.

Note: You'll always want to end up with 40% CDR (the maximum ammount of CDR possible) because as a support you'll need your abilities as often as possible to either peel or buff your carries. It's quite easy to get this cap as talisman of ascension already gives 20%, but you should make sure that you hit this cap. You could rely on an Elixir of Brilliance to hit the 40% but since you'll have to keep buying it as the game goes on I wouldn't recommend that.

Managing your actives
When you have a lot of actives, such as a Ruby Sightstone, talisman of ascension, Mikael's Blessing, Oracle's Lens and a Randuin's Omen, it's hard to keep track where they are in your inventory. I therefore order them the same roughly every game.
1st slot: Talisman of ascension
2nd slot: Randuin's Omen
3rd slot: Mikael's Blessing
4th slot: Oracle's Lens (this one is standard bound to the 4th slot)
5th slot: Ruby Sightstone

I order them in this way because the trinket is always there, and I can easily and quickly reach to 1, 2 and 3 on my keyboard. In these slots I put actives I need to use fast. If I would need 2 seconds to find my Talisman of Ascension and I also place a ward while trying to find it, I'm wasting a lot of time and resources on using that active. Time I most likely don't have. Most of the times I have some time to place a ward somewhere, so I don't need to reach out for that inventory slot fast.

Note: If you have additional buttons on your mouse, you can bind an active to one of those buttons as well (e.g. placing a ward quickly while trying to be Insec).

If you have the luxery of picking whatever your team needs, pick wisely.

My team needs:
-Initiate/Pick: Leona, Thresh, Blitzcrank, Braum, Annie
-Disengage: Janna, Thresh, Zyra, Karma ( Talisman of Ascension always helps)
-Peel: Lulu, Morgana, Janna
-Sustain: Soraka, Sona, Taric
-Poke: Karma, Zyra
-Waveclear: Karma, Zyra
-Damage: Morgana, Lulu, Karma, Annie (When your toplaner and jungler are full tank, you might actually need some damage)

If you have a Yasuo, get someone like Braum or Alistar. You'll wrek teamfights.
If you have a Orianna + Miss Fortune, get Leona or Nami. Even more wrekt teamfights.
You get the idea.

In champion select, you can always ask for a certain (type of) adc to play with, e.g. if you like to go agressive you can ask for Draven or Lucian etc.
You can also ask it the other way around: ask what kind of support your adc likes (sustain, poke, engage etc). If it doesn't matter to you, play what he likes/what fits the team.

Note: Be creative with your kit, you can do a lot if you use your skills wisely.

While laning, you need to keep in mind what you are and what you have to do:
You need to help your adc, either by buffing them or setting up fights, or zoning the enemies to let him farm in peace. You need to protect him by getting wards. It's your job to ward dragon as well.

-Before the lane even starts, your jungler might ask you to leash his buff for him. You could help him a bit, but don't babysit him, he should be able to do it himself. Make sure you get into the lane in time to not miss any experience.

-Invades
If you have an agressive support like Blitzcrank or Thresh, and your team is stronger then the enemy team at level 1, you could try to invade them. You can either steal away a buff to set the enemy jungler behind, or take first blood. Make sure you can actually do one of those, don't waste your time on chases through the jungle, you could be giving up firstblood yourself.

-Fights:
Only pick fights when you can win; e.g. Thresh just missed his hook or the jungler is coming to gank for you.

-Wards
Get a Sightstone pretty early, as you'll make the most out of it that way. Ward lanebushes that are dangerous ( Blitzcrank camping in one of them) and at least one in the river/tribush. You can get a pink to place somewhere where it 'll last long, to make the most out of the 100G you paid. Always remember, you can only place 3 normal wards and 1 pink.

-Zoning
As soon as you have an advantage, zone the enemies from farm and exp. You don't need to fast push the lane, it will only make you vurnurable for ganks. Sweep the bush upper bush and hide in it, to zone the enemies.

-Pushing
When you forced the enemies to recall, you can push the lane. This way the tower will kill the minions and the enemies will miss out on experience and farm. You should tell your adc to do so and help him with pushing the lane. Make sure you don't mess with his farm. Only hit minions that still have lots of hp.

Note: If the lane forces you to level something else then normally, you should do so. What I (or anyone) recommends is not written in stone, and there are always exceptions. Always play accordingly to the situation.

There are two kinds of powerspikes one can have: One from levels and one from items.
Items: When the enemies just bought items, they'll most likely be stronger then you, or at least stronger then before. Always check their items and play accordingly.

Levels: There are two powerspikes here: When the enemy hits level 2 and when they hit level 6.
If they miss no experience, it takes 6 melee creeps and 3 ranged creeps to hit level 2. Make sure to count the minions to know when they will hit level 2, and make sure to push the lane a bit to make sure you hit level 2 first. If you hit level 2 seconds against a Blitzcrank or Thresh, you can die pretty easily.

The other powerspike is the level 6 powerspike. Braum with or without ultimate makes a huge difference. This also goes for ADC's as Graves or Vayne.

Laneswaps could be helpfull to your team when your mid or toplaner has an easier time playing 1vs2 botlane then being in his own lane, or when you yourself can't handle the lane matchup. However, when you laneswap, you'll always want to come out on top. A Leona or Alistar can't do much in a 2vs1 lane, since the enemy will be safe under his tower. A Lulu or Karma can still poke them. Try to only laneswap when you have a support that is suitable to do so.
Try to take the tower and rotate to the other sololane or just back to the botlane.

When you are winning botlane, you could either push the tower and rotate, or you can't. When you know you can dominate the enemy botlane, and kill them again to make them lose more farm and experience, it might be worth to let the tower be and don't push it down. However, when your team is behind, they might need a gank and the money from getting the tower. It's up to you what you think it's best, as long as you keep playing proactive and presuring the enemy team.

In order to carry you need to do more then winning your lane and getting your adc fed and farmed. You need to destroy the nexus to win. Therefore you need to take objectives (Dragon, Baron, Towers, Inhibitors). These give you global gold and/or presure. If you can kill some enemy champions, you aren't really winning unless you also take an objective. Always remember, kills don't win games, objectives do. Killing obviously helps while taking objectives, but in the end objectives get you the victory.

If you play an offensive support, it's way easier to get your adc fed and therefore to win the game. Try to create more advantages with the advantages you already have. When you reach lategame and everyone has completed their build, kills dont matter anymore. If you have a lot of kills try to win early. If you are behind, wait untill you reach the lategame to win then.

When your team is behind, you can help them by roaming. If your adc can handle things at bot, you can set up a gank mid or top to help them with their lane, and maybe take the tower. Don't leave your adc for to long however.

Doing or baiting baron can help greatly in winning the game. While doing baron, you aren't gonna deal much damage to baron. What you better do is keep the area clear of wards, ward the area and zone enemies away from baron.

Lastly, to actually make these things happen, you need to be a shotcaller. You guide your team towards victory by telling them what to push, when to take or bait Baron Nashor, etc. Be proactive, and most teams will listen, especially when you make good calls.

As a support, you're not gonna dish out huge ammount of damage. If you're squishy, you want to stand right beside your adc/apc in the backlines to protect them.
There are a couple of things you can (and probably should) do:

-Peeling. Peeling. Protecting and peeling. Did I mention you should peel? You have to make sure your adc stays alive, since he is the one that can take objectives quickly and is gonna deal the most damage. Whatever you do, he has to stay alive and you have to make sure that he does. Unless you can lock the whole enemy team up and wrek them, stay with your carries.

-Initiating. If you have a good initiate ( Leona's Solar Flare or Nami's Tidal Wave, then you can do so. Always make sure your team is complete and you can win the fight. Remember though, you also have to peel, so keep an eye out for the carries.

-Coordinating. Ping the most dangerous targets. Ping when to fall back. Make use of smart pings. Before the fight starts, type something like ''Defend Lucian, CC Zed down and focus Caitlyn>Zed>Shyvana>Sona''. This way your team knows what to do.

Here I'll be telling you how to play WITH or AGAINST the following adc's.

AGAINST
Ashe: Stay behind the minions to dodge her volley. She'll most likely be passive farming untill level 6, be carefull for her Enchanted Crystal Arrow, as it might get you killed pretty easily, especially in a gank.

Caitlyn: She'll poke you down with her auto attacks and Piltover Peacemaker. To dodge her Piltover Peacemaker, watch the animation and sidestep (you most likely won't outrun it). Try to block her Ace in the Hole if your adc needs it, even if you'll die instead of him. He's worth more then you. (If he won't die of it, don't block it if it get's you killed.)

Corki: He can all-in fight you pretty well, and after level 6 he'll easily poke you down. Especially watch his Big Rocket, as it will do more damage in a bigger AoE. Make use of the fact he is short ranged.

Draven: His auto attacks will hurt a lot because of his Spinning Axe. However, you can predict his movements if you goes to catch his axe. Be carefull of the RETURN of his Whirling Death and try to shut him down early if you can. Don't let him cash in his adoration stacks.

Ezreal: Stay behind minions or get poked down 24/7 with his Mystic Shot. When running away or recalling low hp, be carefull of his Trueshot Barrage. Make use of the fact it will do less damage for each enemy it passes.

Graves: He has a short range but a very high burst. It's safest to wait till he uses his Buckshot to farm before you harass him. His passive True Grit makes him pretty tanky as well.

Jinx: Be real carefull for this maniac. She has free attack speed, traps and a nasty slow. Don't stand next to her farm if she uses Fishbones to kill them. Be extemely carefull of her Super Mega Death Rocket!, since it is an execute with a gigantic AoE/hitbox. If you need to escape from her run different directions, since she gets movement speed upon getting a kill, so when you run away in a different path, she can't easily catch up on you.

Kog'Maw: He won't do much in lane. Be carefull of his extended range and after he hits level 6, of his ult Living Artillery. If you lack someone who can burst him down lategame, make sure to win early.

Miss Fortune: She can trade and fight pretty well, and her range isn't to bad. Be carefull for her Double Up if she uses it on you or the one in front of you. If you have CC, wait till she ults to cancel her ult Bullet Time.

Lucian: Dodge his Piercing Light if he uses it on minions and you'll most likely be fine. He's a real lanebully like Miss Fortune. Don't underestimate his ultimate The Culling, since the damage adds up. (It doesn't stack, but a lot of small damage causes big damage).

Quinn: Isn't seen often, will poke you with her Blinding Assault (which blinds for obvious reasons). Don't trade if her passive is on your head, and be carefull of her ult Tag Team: She get's real fast and the damage is an execute.

Sivir: If you rely on skillshots, bait her into using her Spell Shield before engaging for real. Dodge her Boomerang Blade (it comes back!) and don't underestimate the movement speed of her ultimate On The Hunt.

Tristana: Won't do much in lane, since she's lategame. But boy oh boy watch out when she reaches that point, she can self peel and melt oponents. Don't stand next to your adc since her ult has a little AoE. Also don't stand next to her farm, since she'll deal AoE damage upon killing something.

Twitch: Always expect him to come out of stealth, that way you won't be suprised when he does. Don't line up for his ultimate, and be warry of his Contaminate when you have some stacks of Deadly Venom on you. Carry a Health Potion with you, so that you can heal up and prevent your death when you're low hp.

Varus: Please dodge his Piercing Arrow, or you're screwed. However, when he charges it, he is vurnarable, since his movement is impaired. Be carefull of the spread of his ult Chain of Corruption and when he procs his passive Blight as it deals additional damage.

Vayne: Don't let her proc her Silver Bolts and harass her before she hits level 6. Be carefull after that, since she'll deal tons of damage. Make use of her short range and poke her. While trying to land a skillshot, take into account that she can Tumble out of it. Don't stand next to walls, since she can Condemn you into a wall and stun you.

WITH:
Ashe: Poke a bit before she hits level 6, set up fights and ganks as soon as she hits level 6.

Caitlyn: Let her farm and set up fights if you can. Be prepared to take some damage, since they might just not reach her and focus you instead.

Corki: Play agressive as you can, but always be wary of his mana costs. A Corki without mana is a sad corki.

Draven: Let him farm up a bit first, to stack his passive. When he gets a few levels, or even better, a B. F. Sword, you can win fights pretty easily.

Ezreal: The only thing he is good at is poking, so play accordingly.

Graves: Make use of his burst damage and don't be scared to go deep with him.

Jinx: Make use of her range and her kit, you can win fights easily.

Kog'Maw: Just protect this guy and let him farm up, as long as you can peel for him later on he'll carry you lategame. You can set up ganks to make this go way easier.

Miss Fortune: You can trade a lot with her, since she's just so strong in trading. While ulting she is static, so protect her and/or keep the enemies in place.

Lucian: Same as for MF.

Quinn: Since blinds really hurts adc's, you can trade a lot with her.

Sivir: Let her poke with her Boomerang Blade, she's better in poking then in acutally fighting.

Tristana: Just let her farm and set up some ganks.

Twitch: Make use of his Ambush. Don't make it obvious that he is in stealth tho': bait the enemies. He's pretty strong, but he needs his stacks of deadly venom, so make sure to trade extendedly.

Varus: Let him poke with his Piercing Arrow and you'll be fine.

Vayne: Don't get into a real fight before she is level 6 and try to protect her while she farms it up.

Note: Always make sure to do things together, as they may work out more then twice as well. If you notice your adc needs some of these tips, give them. Some of them work instantly and will help you winning the lane, since you can't win the lane on your own.

You don't only play against the adc, he'll have a support with him as well (and if it isn't a support, at least someone). Some supports can be really dangerous in terms of CC or damage, while others are almost to ignore.

- Alistar: He's here to protect and peel his adc. His heal Triumphant Roar is ignorable since it only heals half for his allies. If he engages on you he'll do his Headbutt Pulverize combo, or he can flash Pulverize Headbutt. If he uses Unbreakable Will he gets a ton of AD, so be carefull. Try to poke him when his cooldowns are up, or when he lacks mana for his combo.

- Annie: When she has her passive Pyromania up, be carefull since the next ability will stun you. You'll see something appear around her middle when it's stacked. Her damage output might be higher then the damage from the adc, so maybe you need to focus Annie over the adc if you're fighting. Be extremely carefull of her Summon: Tibbers since a lot of damage is dealt from his attacks and AoE burn. Poke and win the lane early, because after she hits level 6 it's a 2vs3. Consider a Mikael's Blessing to cleanse your adc and for the magic resistance.

- Blitzcrank: Try to dodge his pull (he launches his right arm), or even better, bait it. Stay behind minions and pretend to walk to somewhere where he can grab you, but don't actually walk there. Get a sightstone quick to ward the bushes and consider getting early boots. Try to poke him heavily when his Rocket Grab is on cooldown. A good blitzcrank might walk up to you first to use his Power Fist, so be carefull of that as well.

- Braum: His passive Concussive Blows is a real pain in the ***. Try not to get hit 4 times. Be carefull as he can leap to a minion with his Stand Behind Me to close the distance. Be carefull while poking him, since his Winter's Bite hits like a truck. Consider a Mikael's Blessing to cleanse your adc.

- Janna: Janna is here to keep her adc safe, but only at a safe range. As long as her Eye of the Storm is up it grants bonus attack damage, so either break the shield fast or back off. Try to dodge her Howling Gale and interrupt her Monsoon.

- Karma: She will poke you 24/7 with her Inner Flame, or even worse, her Soulflare. Her Inspire also gives movement speed to escape/close the distance. Try not to get snared by her Focused Resolve as she'll hit her Inner Flame for sure. She however is squishy without shield, so poke her when she's weak.

- Leona: Leona is the tankiest of all due to her Eclipse. Don't bother poking her when that's active. Try to bait or dodge her Zenith Blade and you'll be fine. Consider a Mikael's Blessing to cleanse your adc from her immense CC. She's very good in setting up ganks, so be carefull. Try to poke her early.

- Lulu: Lulu is a very annoying little witch. She can poke from a safe distance by casting Help, Pix! on a minion and then casting Glitterlance. Her Wild Growth not only heals but also knocks up nearby enemies. Try to poke her early and try not to get kited during fights.

- Morgana: If she hits her Dark Binding you're screwed. Consider a Mikael's Blessing to cleanse your adc. Try to CC her in order to walk out of her Soul Shackles. Knockbacks are great. Bait her Black Shield before engaging, or your CC will be useless. Try to poke her down since she's squishy.

- Nami: Her Ebb and Flow will bounce a couple of times unless you prevent it. The mana cost get's quite high, so by poking her she'll run out of mana. Try not to fight her when she uses her Tidecaller's Blessing. When you dodge her Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave you'll be fine. She's extremely squishy so try to burst her down.

- Nidalee: Always stand behind minions or you'll get poked down by her Javelin Toss. Her damage in Aspect Of The Cougar is quite high. If you try to land a skillshot, consider her passive Prowl. Try to hard engage on them and fight closely since she can't deal with that.

- Sona: Be carefull of her Hymn of Valor Power Chord combo. Most Sona's wil level her Aria of Perseverance second, so poke her down harder then she pokes you. The fact that she's squishy helps a lot. Be carefull of her Crescendo, but make use of it's long cooldown.

- Soraka: If you don't poke hard enough she'll keep healing her adc with Astral Blessing. It also grants armor, so wait 2 seconds before fighting her. It makes sense to poke down Soraka since she's most likely way squishier then her adc. Warn your allies when she hits level 6.

- Taric: Not seen often. Try to ignore the fact that he is fabulous. His cooldowns are quite high, so make use of that. His Shatter grants passive armor when it's not on CD. Try to bait and dodge it.

- Thresh: When he throws his Dark Passage behind him, you better start running. You can easily get ganked so be carefull. Try to dodge and bait his Death Sentence. Don't let him come to close or he'll Flay you. The walls of his ultimate The Box hurt and slow a lot. Try to poke him when he's going to collect a soul, as you'll know where he's heading for. Consider a Mikael's Blessing to cleanse your adc, as Thresh can't reactivate his Death Sentence to close the distance.

- Zilean: He'll poke you down with his Time Bomb's. Make sure you don't stand next to an ally with the bomb on your head. Burst him down before he hits level 6 as he is very very squishy. Always try to fight him when he puts a Time Bomb on you, otherwise you'll lose trades and fights. Always consider his Chronoshift while fighting. As soon as he uses it on someone, stop focussing him unless he's a really big threat.

- Zyra: Zyra defends her adc like Janna does. She deals a lot more damage however and you shouldn't fight her plants. If you walk over her Rampant Growth it'll grant vision over you, but she can't use it to create a plant. After you kill her, be carefull of her passive Rise of the Thorns. Walk out of range or try to juke it. Try to dodge the knock-up of her Stranglethorns and you'll be fine. As most poke champions she's squishy, so when she doesn't watch her positioning, burst her down.

-Step 1: DO NOT FLAME. Nobody performs better while getting flamed at.
-Step 2: Help him. Give him tips on how to dodge skillshots/farm/trade etc. He'll most likely apreciate it.
-Step 3: Stay positive. Ask your jungler for a gank (politely) to get back in the lane (or just to survive the lane).
-Step 4: Let your team carry you. It might suck, but if it works, it's worth it. ''Stop dying'' is easier said then done, but it is basically all you need to do. Stay safe.

Sometimes it can be worth to give up your tower. When you have an agressive jungler, the enemies will be pretty scared to overextend, and you can freeze the lane to your liking.

Random Tips:
-If something is lost, let it be. There is no point in defending a tower that only has 100 hitpoints. If someone get's cought 1vs4, there is almost no way you can save them (except maybe for a Dark Passage into a talisman of ascension). Don't waste time or resources to save something that can't be saved.
-Use your kit accordingly: do what you can do and don't try to do what you can't.

Communication:
-Tell your adc what you're going to do (e.g. ''ult in 10'' or ''gonna engage when we hit 6'')
-When you make a mistake, admit that it was your fault. This way there is no need to flame and the game can go on (e.g. ''My bad, didn't realize his ult was still up.'').
-Post in chat when an enemy uses a summoner, to let your jungler no there is an easy gank (e.g. ''Lucian summoners down, Nami no flash'')
-Say ''gj'' when you get a kill or something, and thank the jungler for trying to gank. It takes a second but it improves the quality of the game a lot.
-Ask your team to buy wards as well. Vision wins games more then having Nashor. If they say it's your job, remind them you only can have a limited amount of wards and that vision wins games.
-When you see the enemy put down a ward and you can't clear it, post something like this in chat: ''tribush ward 13:37''. This way your jungler knows how to path/where to sweep.
-Keep timings of dragon and nashor (later on, that is). Dragon respawns in 6 minutes and Nashor in 7. Post the time they'll respawn in chat, e.g. ''Nami (40:30): Baron 47:30''
-It therefore makes sense to add timestamps to your chat.
-If someone is being toxic, you can do two things: ask him to stop or defend the one being flamed. This helps sometimes. Remind the other of what we are doing: trying to win. As soon as you know it won't help (anytime soon), mute them. Mute everyone if you need to. When you're arguing, it's not about winning the game but about winning the argument.
-Don't be toxic yourself, obviously. Don't flame. Don't even be passive aressive (e.g. sarcasm, exclamations like ''Really?'').
-Try to make calls. (Good calls, obviously.) Enemy jungler and adc dead? Take dragon. Etc.

Laning:
-Watch the hp of your own minions as well. Line up a skillshot as soon as it dies, this way a lot of enemies won't expect it and get hit.
-If you're not sure if a lanebush is warded, stand in the front of it, or take minion agro and walk into it. If the minions (still) attack you, the bush is warded, because they won't attack you without having vision.
-Poke enemies when they are going in for a last-hit, since they either have to sustain the poke or give up the last-hit.
-When you've got nothing to do for a second, look at the map. Ping allies back if you spot an incoming gank or something.
-Unless your poking, fight together. Make sure your adc is in position to fight with you. Also make sure your adc doesnt miss a lot of farm because you want to fight to badly.
-If you're behind, ask for a gank to make sure you get back into the lane. However, if you're ahead, tell your jungler to help out other lanes, as you can win your lane by yourself.
-You obviously aren't farming when the adc is in your lane, but if you are for some reason in lane by yourself, you should try to get all last-hits possible. Unless there is need for it don't push the wave tho, as the majority of the farm should go to your adc.
-While fighting in lane, especially in the early levels, be carefull for minion agro. Minions hit like a truck early on and can easily be 20% of the damage when you die.

Fighting:
-Instead of doing Nashor, clear out the area for wards and bushcamp. Baiting Nashor makes you win easier then actually doing Nashor.
-When you're fighting, you should commit fully to the fight. If you die with your Flash up, that sucks. When the enemy escapes and you have Ignite, that sucks. If your adc dies and you could have used Wish, that sucks. Commit fully.
-Whereas you should commit fully, you don't need to exaggerate. You don't need to use Crescendo on an enemy with 100 hitpoints left, etc.
-Try to fight in warded areas, as people can't juke you between bushes while waiting for their cooldowns.
-Consider the team compositions. If you are up against Miss Fortune or Twitch for instance, don't fight in small areas like the jungle, etc.
-Consider the team comps even more. If you have a poke composition, don't teamfight at all. Just poke them down, as that is the strenght of your composition. Disengage when they try to engage on you.
-While contesting dragon or baron, try to focus the jungler over everyone, since he's the one that could outsmite your jungler.
-When an escaping enemy is juking a skillshot you're most likely gonna use (e.g. Dark Binding), wait until you can hit it. While juking the enemy wastes time since he isn't running away from you in the fastest path. This works especially if your adc is hitting him all the time, and even more if he has a slow (e.g. red buff or Tidecaller's Blessing).

Items:
-Check if your adc (or anyone on your team) bought a trinket. It's easily overlooked in the shop. Make sure to have all trinkets upgraded lategame.
-Make sure to buy potions when you're full build. Tell everyone to do the same if needed.
-While the game processes, you can keep an eye out for what people are building. If you feel like someone needs to build something, you can ask them to consider it, but be polite about it. (e.g. ''Hey Syndra, consider building an Hourglass, since it'll help you survive and it's good for your damage output.'' or ''Yo Udyr, consider building some magic resistance like a spirit visage, since they have Rumble, Elise and Nidalee.'')
-Watch what you're buying. It's alright to have a lot of small unfinished items, but it also means that you need to save up like 2000 gold or something to finish something because you have no more slots.

I hope you now know what to do to support yourself out of low elo. There is a lot of information in this guide, so feel free to read it again as you might have skipped over some things.

If you have any questions or if I forgot anything/you would like to know more about something, please comment down below or catch me on my stream: http://www.twitch.tv/gg_alert

I'll make more detailed guides about the main supports. Comming soon.

My other support guides are in fact an extension of this guide, where I'll go more in-depth about that specific support, tips and tricks etc.

Thresh
Leona

18/06/2014 - Added the Ardent Censer.
17/06/2014 - Added Annie to ''But what about these champions''. I also added more in-depth mastery setups and more tips.
14/06/2014 - Added ''What is this support going to do?''. Added ''General tips''. Small fixes.
13/06/2014 - Guide launched