Vynertje's Support AMA and advice thread

[quote=Vynertje]Yo everyone. I'm an ex-master tier (Diamond since season 3, right now I'm Diamond 1) support player and I hang around Mobafire frequently and see a lot of people having support questions, or just not knowing how to support in general. In this thread you can ask me anything, as long as it is support related, and I'll try to help you out as best as I can. [spoiler=Credentials for those not familiar with me] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/ksgjNcu.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/TdMQxqq.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/qxXkvaH.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/bM3sHPm.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/J8XNmOA.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/bmX6HqO.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/AqFTuAH.png[/img] [img width=500]http://i.imgur.com/RH7xNfJ.png[/img] [/spoiler] Long story short, ask me anything about supports here![/quote]

[quote=OTGBionicArm]How do you keep supporting fun and fresh? It's arguably my strongest role, but I am constantly bored or sick of doing it.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=OTGBionicArm]How do you keep supporting fun and fresh? It's arguably my strongest role, but I am constantly bored or sick of doing it.[/quote] Mix up what you do from time to time. Play some other roles in normals or learn a new champion - there's absolutely no way one can claim to master all the tier 1 and 2 supports, so get started on that. Playing duo queue with a good friend on skype/ts/etc also helps because it's overall more fun to play with someone you know on botlane. At least that's all I do.[/quote]

[quote=OTGBionicArm]Yea, I seldom duo, so I guess supporting feels more like an obligation and I'm babysitting someone I don't trust. I also only really play Thresh, Leo and Alistar. I guess I should diversify. xD[/quote]

[quote=Latest Legend]What do you think are the best supports at the moment? What do you pick when you see a [[nami]]? What do you pick against [[zyra]]? What do you pick against stomp lanes like [[pantheon]]/[[jarvan iv]] support?[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=Latest Legend]What do you think are the best supports at the moment? What do you pick when you see a [[nami]]? What do you pick against [[zyra]]? What do you pick against stomp lanes like [[pantheon]]/[[jarvan iv]] support?[/quote] 1. [[janna]] is by far the best support right now and the only support that is worthy a ban right now. The other top-tier support next to her would be [[Thresh]] due to his versatility. 2. [[janna]], [[leona]] and [[braum]] all do pretty well versus her. Janna can outtrade her AA-W-AA combo with a single shield, Leona can all-in her and come out on top and braum is really good in teamfights due to his shield blocking the wave while still having a decent lane. A special niche is [[Blitzcrank]] if you're super confident in hitting hooks, but it's a high-risk pick. 3. [[Nami]] does fine, but overall anything that can lock her down quickly can win the game. Against zyra it's more about who NOT to pick (e.g. [[Braum]] and [[Thresh]]) 4. [[janna]] if possible (she can interrupt all the gap closers with her Q), but anything 'safe' is fine. [[Lulu]] does relatively well due to polymorph and shields, although pre-6 is risky regardless. [[alistar]] also works wonders due to his innate tankyness and disengage.[/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard][quote=OTGBionicArm]Yea, I seldom duo, so I guess supporting feels more like an obligation and I'm babysitting someone I don't trust. I also only really play Thresh, Leo and Alistar. I guess I should diversify. xD[/quote]Sounds like you need to find someone you DO trust to duo with. Trust me when I say it's much more fun when you do.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=The_Nameless_Bard][quote=OTGBionicArm]Yea, I seldom duo, so I guess supporting feels more like an obligation and I'm babysitting someone I don't trust. I also only really play Thresh, Leo and Alistar. I guess I should diversify. xD[/quote]Sounds like you need to find someone you DO trust to duo with. Trust me when I say it's much more fun when you do.[/quote] Yeah. I play duoq with an old highschool friend of mine who has a relaxed attitude about the game and is roughly the same level as I. It seriously helps a lot to enjoy botlane ^^[/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard][quote=Vynertje]Yeah. I play duoq with an old highschool friend of mine who has a relaxed attitude about the game and is roughly the same level as I. It seriously helps a lot to enjoy botlane ^^[/quote]GMD duos with me on his NA smurf a lot and it's quite fun...for me, at least. xD Though lately he's been playing mid lane and I've just been supporting a random ADC, which is sometimes fine, but sometimes it makes me want to slam my head through a wall. Especially if they've picked an ADC no one ever plays, because then they usually are total trash. Brings me to a question: I'm completely jaded when I see people picking things like [[Varus]], [[Ashe]], and [[Jinx]] in this Elo because they tend to be utter trash, have no idea how to play a low mobility carry, and often just feed unless the enemy support happens to be garbage. What support would you suggest to pick with these sorts of people? I often opt for [[Braum]], [[Janna]], [[Nami]], or [[Soraka]] with mixed results.[/quote]

[quote=utopus]Mechanically, what are the top three things you yourself could improve on? What are the top three things that a support player should improve on to get from D5 to D4? Basically, i'm asking what ultimately differentiates a D5 support player from a D4 support player.[/quote]