Now that everything has cooled off a bit and people start to find their place in the revamped season 6 (If you haven’t, don’t worry, you eventually will!), it’s time to target more specific matters.

As former AD Carry mains are returning back to their old habits and others who relentlessly stayed loyal to the role are –at last- able to take a deep breath filled with relief, the time has come for Support players to gear up and get ready for a new storm. It’s time for them to take matters into own hands once again and make sure their botlane counterpart reaches the twenty minute mark without a scratch.

Early game aggression

In the end, there is a possibility that the outcome of the game already gets decided due to how one specific lane turned out. As for botlane, getting incredibly powerful or getting diminished to a heavy burden can be decided with one mouse click, more than the other lanes. Everyone has their own neat story of how a slippery Kalista or a tumbling Vayne made their eyes almost spin out of their sockets.

One vital key to the above mentioned scenarios not happening is picking the support that fits both your own team composition as well as one that (partially) counters the opposing team’s composition. Although there are a lot of variables to take into account, a general flowchart can be made explaining how to react to most situations:

- Versus Assassins

As soon as the word was out that AD carries would receive a buff, people shifted their attention to the fact that , as was displayed in Season 3, the rise of the AD carries would eventually implement the return of Assassins as well. Assassins are the biggest tool in the “fight against AD carries”, as they were capable of deleting the Champion faster than people blink with their eyes. Besides the obvious counter that Guardian Angel brings to the table, the Support will be the next best thing to make sure the fragile but potent Caitlyn stays alive or that Tristana can keep using her trampoline whilst annihilating the enemy.

Last time AD carries vs. Assassins was the battle that dominated the fields or Runeterra, one important tool to protect the marksmen was missing. With the introduction of Tahm Kench, every AD carry now has that little more room to go that extra inch for some additional damage without having to worry every single second as to whether not they overstayed their welcome. The strongest aspect of Tahm is that he basically doesn't have any weaknesses and can synergize with an aggressive ADC as much as a more passive ADC playstyle.



Image courtesy of C-Shy

However, whenever Tahm Kench is no longer on the table or for some peculiar reason the frogman might not seem the best fit, other protective supports such as Morgana or Janna might be the best fit. It is pretty obvious that Janna had no place in the Season 5 meta, and although she’s still only a mere shade of what she once used to be, Janna can offer protection against a Blitzkrieg compositions(Gnar, Yasuo, Renekton and Nocturne to name a few) that simply wants to get to the high priority targets, regardless of the costs.

Another way to keep off the enemy, being it more focused on the Mage Assassin(Fizz, LeBlanc, Kassadin) types, is Morgana. Not only is Morgana’s Q, Dark Binding, capable of temporary putting the endless jumps of the aforementioned to a halt, but her Black Shield is capable of buying her ally just that extra bit of time or neglect that one Crow Control spell that eventually will make it possible to turn the whole situation around.

- Versus high priority targets

Whenever you find yourself in a situation where your utility AD is matched up against a hyper carry, Sivir against Jinx for example, the more preferable way to play is with an aggressive support capable of locking down a Champion or set up a play. Most notably in this category and more or less favoured in the current meta are Alistar and Leona. Being it a Flash Pulverize coming out of Alistar or a seeing the clouds above you make place for a Solar Flare followed up by an EQ combo can put the hyper carry in an extreme bad place and eventually leave the opposing team scattered and trying to flee for their lives. More often than not a team fight turns out to be a race to kill each other’s high priority targets first.

Bananas

This article wouldn’t be complete without a reference to League’s Starchild, Soraka. Lately Soraka has risen in popularity and could in some matchups be pictured as the perfect fit. With the ability to heal quite frequently and a passive that makes her capable of moving to an injured ally as fast as a pigeon to breadcrumbs the nickname “Walking Hospital” seems about right.

With a decent positioning in the laning phase, the idea of Soraka and her partner dying in lane or getting pushed out of the lane seems too far-fetched. Being incredibly powerful in the early game has some downsides in the later stages nonetheless. Although there always will be the possibility of Soraka single handily turning around a team fight, the odds of getting run down and deleted from the map before being able to cast two spells are about the same (Mr. Olaf or Mr. Mundo don’t really care anyway). Thus it could be concluded that although Soraka can be an extremely potent pick in certain matchups, a careful deliberation before locking in and being aware of your surroundings all the time will always be mandatory. Whenever you feel like the opposing team has to much tools to simply run you down, Soraka will not be the best option.

For every situation there will be a suitable support, but picking the right one is the real challenge.

Thank you for reading and best of luck on Summoner’s Rift!