Hey there! Our friends at Omen by HP regularly hold an educational stream on their Twitch channel called the Dojo. They have pro-players like CLG Biofrost come in to give commentated sessions on how to improve your play. You can find the VOD of the stream here.
This following article will cover the best tips from Biofrost’s session that can be applied to Supports in general. For 10 more specific tips on playing Melee and Ranged Supports, check out our infographic.
1. Be prepared for early ganks
Generally, you’ll want to ward towards river around 2:30 min. Even if there’s a low chance that an enemy Jungler will gank, it’s better to have a ward there than not.
2. Don’t be greedy when you’re down-tempo
Be aware of tempo and know who will get back to the map faster after a reset. If you’re down-tempo (meaning your enemies will return from base before you), you should avoid doing objectives. If you’re up-tempo, you have more freedom to do things such as making trades in lane.
3. Keep an eye on when enemies Recall
Watching and seeing when an enemy is basing provides valuable info and allows you to play with more freedom, such as playing more aggressively in lane.
4. Lane swap during Mid game
Look to lane swap towards Mid game (between 15-30 minutes), when you get bot tower or if the enemy gets your tower. Usually, when they get yours early, swap top. Letting your bot duo go mid helps you get map priority back and makes the map more “centered” due to numbers.
5. Share the wealth
Try to gift the gold to your allies when clearing wards, if no one wants it take it for yourself.
6. Not leashing? Consider freezing
Generally, if your Jungler doesn’t require a leash, it’s very good to freeze the lane to get a push advantage.
7. Ward around enemy activity
Place wards based on where you think most enemy activity will be. For example, if the enemy sends their bot lane Top, they’re likely going to target the turret as an objective, so prepare by warding around that area.
8. Consider the contextual impact of your runes
Transcendence is more of a greedy pick when compared to Celerity. Celerity is more reliable because it can immediately help you dodge skillshots in lane. Transcendence takes a while to activate since you’re underleveled as a Support, and the game may be decided by then.
9. Use Control Wards to set up picks
Watch for where the enemy team sends the most numbers and look to set up some rotational pink wards. When they walk up and look to contest vision control, it’s a good time to look for a pick.
10. Go for the early cheese
If you aren’t leashing or freezing the wave as you enter lane phase, consider cheesing to get an early advantage.
11. When to pick Lulu
You want to pick Lulu in a safe lane when there’s a low potential of getting killed. She wants to go against Braum or other melee Support that play passively. She’s bad into all-in matchup situations.
12. Don’t play ranged Supports into Blitzcrank
Generally, you don’t want to play a ranged Support into Blitz, if you get hooked you’re gonna get popped.
13. The little things add up
Buy your Yellow Trinket as your first item when the game begins so your next ward can start charging. This may give you a small window of time where you have a ward advantage over your opponent.
14. Look for opportunities to roam Mid
When you’re playing Support and constantly pushing them in, you can roam mid if the lane is gankable.
15. Make the most of bushes
Use bushes to your advantage by staying out of vision, especially during lane phase.
16. Recognize when you can’t save your allies
If you see your teammate in a situation where they are very likely to die and you won’t be able to help, just let them die and get out alive.
17. Take advantage of your power-spikes
If you’re playing a champion that doesn’t have a level 6 ultimate, like Karma, you will lose to champions that do have ultimates at 6, such as Brand. The trade-off is that you should win early.
18. Consider resetting when your ADC dies
If your ADC dies, it may be a good time to Recall and grab more wards.
19. Be patient when you’re behind
When you’re very behind and the enemy is trying to close, play safe and wait until they make a mistake. The WORST thing you can do is try to make a hero play.
20. Aid the invasion
When your Jungler is invading nearby enemy territory, be ready to help them if they need it.
21. Help coordinate for counterganks
If you have the ability to communicate with your teammates, you can ask your Jungler to be nearby when you expect a gank so they can set up a countergank.
22. Fight for the tri-bush
It’s very important to keep the bot lane tri-bush clear of enemy vision -be sure to contest control of it when possible.
23. Slow push when you’re zoning
When the enemy is getting zoned off the creeps, it’s a good idea to slow push the wave so they miss as much CS as possible. Once it fully pushes in, you can usually get in a big chunk of the tower and deal poke damage.
24. Stay calm in the face of adversity
In situations where everything is going wrong, it’s important to stay calm and keep doing what you can to win.
25. Adjust your runes according to the enemy team composition
For example, if the enemy team has a lot of crowd control, you may want to consider Unsealed Spellbook. If they have low CC you can take something like Guardian. Generally, Spellbook is a lot better because of how useful Minion Dematerializer is.
26. Save your Flash if you know you can’t escape
Save your Flash if your chances of getting out alive are low. If you waste it, you’ll be giving up kill pressure and making your lane more attractive for a gank.
27. Maximize your ward efficiency
Try to place the ward at the edge outline of a bush, so you increase your useful vision of an area. Placing in the very middle of a bush may give you blind spots to key areas.
28. Track the minion waves
During lane phase, you can anticipate when the next enemy minion will arrive by watching where yours is.
29. Be a nomad during the Mid game
If you’re not sure what to do after laning phase, look to roam the map helping where you can like a nomad.
30. It’s not over until it’s over!
People make mistakes often late in solo queue, play it out and look for a comeback when you’re behind. 2 out of 10 times it may happen.
Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed these tips from Biofrost, be sure to keep an eye out for the next OMEN Dojo. While you’re waiting for the next stream, check out our Mobalytics platform which has unique scores specifically for helping Supports improve, sign up to find your strengths and weaknesses and take your climb to the next level!
