This is my first guide, if I'm lacking any information, please comment about it. This guide is really hit or miss as all supports can only do as well as the person they're supporting. This guide is USELESS if the champ you're supporting is terrible at last hitting. Make sure the person you're supporting isn't impaired or oblivious to the way you operate.

This is the build I use for ranked. The key of this setup is 0 cs and allowing your ranged dps to get all the cs in your lane.

The runes I have chosen offer Soraka a higher starting magic resistance early game. They also give you a small amount of armor to counteract being extremely squishy. With the three +1 gold per 10 quins and +2 gold mastery, you should start gaining gold quite quickly.

Typical support masteries here. The couple given in the defensive tree help you cope with being so squishy. It may look dumb to place one point in the defensive tree for 10% greater healing, but it can be very VERY helpful during early ganks when you're just barely under your tower.

Ultimately your final build will have you extremely tanky and potent. It will be extremely hard for any dps to focus you, and you will be able to last a lot longer in battles. If you're not getting ganked as often as you *should* be, you might want to consider getting your third gold item before shoes. Given you'll gain about 20 gold per 10 (1200 gold per 10 minutes) + the default amount of 13 per 10 which totals to 5940 gold per 30 minutes.

Your primary goal is to keep your dps getting experience and gold. The only reason to get starcall is for the mr shredding it does. Encourage your dps to use mana frequently and make sure s/he is always full as well.

Another crucial key to this guide is the champion you're supporting. I always prefer Caitlyn as my counter-part as she has traps(anti-jungle), and that knock-back + slow. However if she's banned or unavailable theres: Graves, Kog'maw, Sivir, Vayne, Tristana, Corki and Ashe. Virtually any range will do the job, but the main part is to make sure they have ways of escaping. I'd never recommend a melee in your lane unless you're absolutely certain it's the best solution to the situation.

The other ranges and why to use them:
Graves- has a blind, a dash, and a cone that can pass through enemies. He'll offer junglers a good reason not to gank.

Kog'maw- dat w. his long range allows for him to harass enemies from further away than any champion. Passive AS from his q also grants extra attacks during these w sessions. However he is extremely squishy and has no means of exiting battle except for ghost/flash.

Sivir- A good choice, and with her latest change a great chaser. Her spell shield and boomerang blade allow her to check bushes and clear caitlyn traps with no issue. Her ult allows for the entire party to make an easier escape and her ricochet helps hitting every enemy champ in battle. Her con is that she's useless if they're good at dodging her q and like kog, she also has no means of escaping battles quickly unless she pops her ult.

Vayne- Another decent choice. Her good knock-back and tumble will allow her to escape from early ganks.

Don't. do. it. The entire point of this build is to allow your dps to gain gold as a solo lane would but with better survival chances.

Probably the most important part of LoL ranked. Despite how great you are with a champ, you still need to have a well balanced team. What I really mean is that you need CC. Picking Soraka won't cut it if it's the sole provider for CC. You need to have at least 3-4 CC provisions in bot lane. This includes exhaust, CC from AD, CC from you, and CC from jungler. If it's lacking and there's only 2, you're going to have issues with not only your early laning, but with team fights towards the end.

A very delicate support early game with armor, however your base MR will be 74. This minor weakness will give the opposing team the idea that you are squishy. Later, however, you will become extremely resilient to physical damage, and even offer your team mates ad, 12 armor, and 31 magic resistance(!). I've even had a game where I've managed to kill a couple of champions on my own because of their under-estimation of Soraka. Hope this guide proves to be useful.