Support is currently one of the most impactful roles in League of Legends. A good Support can take over the map with their Micro and Macro pressure. Macro management can be hard to understand and improve on because of how the game is played.

League of Legends is a very situational game and having good Macro depends on how the game is going. You can still turn games around by improving on your in-game Macro, and you can still win a game with poor Macro. The best players adapt to each game and play around it. The decisions they make will be directly affected by how that game is going, how your teammates are playing, and how the enemy is playing.

Let me introduce myself. My name’s PicklePants. I’m a Diamond Support main from the UK. I’ve been playing League of Legends for the past 4 years and have been Diamond for the last two Seasons. I peaked Diamond 2 in Flex Queue and Diamond 3 in Solo Queue during the 2017 Season.

Roaming

Are you playing a champion that can roam? Are you roaming and helping other lanes? Are you roaming at the right time and not leaving your ADC in a sticky situation? Are you providing vision for your team whilst roaming?

Why It Is Important

Knowing when to roam is quite difficult. Practice makes this experience a whole lot better. You should roam if you can get something out of it, such as a kill or forcing the enemy to burn their Summoner spells. Roaming should not be done if your ADC will die, be unable to farm, or have to sacrifice XP to stay alive. Roaming is highly situational and depends on the Support you’re playing, your ADC, and the Mid lane.

How to Improve

Roaming in the early game is one way of getting a global lead and applying global map pressure. As a Support, it is one of your duties to help other lanes out by roaming to their lane and applying pressure. Depending on which Support you’re playing, you will find yourself roaming more often. On some supports, it is much harder to roam. As a tank Support such as Blitzcrank or Thresh, you should be roaming more often than a Support like Janna or Lulu.

There are some golden rules to roaming. You should only roam if you can get something out of it such as killing the enemy champion or burning their Summoner spells. Roaming is situational, and in some games it will be near impossible to roam successfully. Before you start to roam, you should always make sure that your ADC will be safe and can stay alive. You should also take a peek at Mid to see if it is in a position to be ganked. You do not want to roam Mid and see that your Mid laner cannot follow up.

Example Video

Knowing when you can roam is important. I trust my ADC to play safely while I roam. In this example, I know that the enemy is missing core Summoner spells. Unintentionally, I roamed with my Jungler to gank Mid lane. We could easily gank the enemy as she is rather squishy and missing her Flash. Surprisingly we found a wild Rengar hiding in the bush and we quickly took him down. It worked out because we had the numbers advantage. This also prevented our Mid laner from getting killed. Before roaming, I made sure that my ADC will be kept safe. He has the wave in a good position where he can safely farm without dying. He gets a kill himself with the mechanic outplay!

Objective Control

Are you making the call to take either Dragon or a tower? Are you keeping objectives warded and using all your powers to determine if the enemy is doing them? Are you taking away the fruit around the map and denying the enemy?

Why It Is Important

Objective control is not only taking Dragons or Barons, but it’s also towers and providing vision for your team. As a Support, it is your duty to keep an eye on the map and the enemy’s whereabouts at all times. In most cases, you will be the shot caller for your team. It is important to do Dragons and take objectives when you can, especially in the early game. As the Support, it is important to always be on the lookout for opportunities where you can further your lead.

Throughout the game, it is important to keep the Dragons warded. This will prevent the enemy from taking and sneaking them. On many occasions, after a gank, you can take the Dragon. Dragons spawn every 6 minutes and it is important to take them away from the enemy.

How to Improve

Objective control is important in every game. I recommend keeping the Dragon warded early, especially against an enemy champion that can solo it such as Shyvana or Master Yi. Vision is important throughout the game and it can help you do a lot of things. Sieging towers is hard but can be made easier when you have vision around your objective.

In the early game, it is important to take low-risk Dragons and towers. If an enemy player has backed off to either roam or recall, you can push your wave and start to get damage down on the enemy's tower. This is considered as an act of attrition as you will be slowly wearing away at the tower. You can take Dragons once the enemy has been killed, or you’ve received a gank. It’s not just the Junglers job to make the call for Dragon. When to take Drake is situational and depends on many in-game factors such as the whereabouts of the enemy Jungler. If you see that the enemy Jungler is Top side, you may be able to get it. Try to provide vision around the Dragon pit, behind it, and around the front of Jungle camps or Jungle entrances.

Efficiency is key when you’re trying to take objectives, so be quick and be precise.

Example Video

In this example, you can see that I am going to ward around the Mid lane and provide vision for my team. Vision like this is very important as it gives all your laners information on the location of the enemy Jungler. While I am doing so, I have a close eye on the minimap. I see that the enemy Mid laner has used his dash ability - I can tell this by his icon blinking on the minimap. This would be the optimal time to go in for a gank. I know we can pull this off because he has used his dash ability and has no real way to escape by combo (unless he Flashes). Providing vision and being in the right place at the right time can open up opportunities for you and your team.

Now, this isn't strictly objective control however, it's putting together all the other things listed in this guide to pull off a Macro play.

Vision Control and Map Awareness

Are you warding your lane? Are you providing enough vision? Are you warding properly and not wasting your wards? Are you buying control wards and warding accordingly? Are you deep warding at the right time? Are you watching the minimap? Are you using pings wisely?

Why It Is Important

Vision control is incredibly important as it will allow you to directly impact the game. Vision and vision control are the unsung heroes of League of Legends. Vision control and warding are not just about placing wards - anybody can place wards. The difference between a good ward and a bad ward is how much information it can provide for your team. A bad ward will not give your team much, if any, information. A good ward can give information such as the location of the enemy Jungler or knowing the direction of the enemy as they rotate - the possibilities are endless!

How to Improve

There are many different areas around the map where you can ward in the early game and it is important to place wards in active areas. Throughout the game, it is important to keep placing and preventing enemy vision.

In the early stages of the game, you want to pick up a Sightstone and place the wards around Bot side or in the river. Make sure not to waste these wards. In some cases, you may be able to get a control ward too. I recommend placing it in the river. Alternatively, you can place it in one of the bushes near Bot lane. Like vision wards, it’s important to buy and continue placing control wards around the map and throughout the game.

Where to ward depends on many different things. Experience will allow you to notice when and where you should ward, it will also allow you to know where you shouldn’t.

Example Video

In this example, I’m keeping an eye on the minimap the whole time while I am rotating. I see that our Jungler is wanting to take the enemy blue because I am playing a champion that can that can easily follow and rotate, I am preparing myself to move and help him. I am able to move quickly as I am positioned close to the river. My ADC is in a rather safe position so he should be fine. I mess up the combo, but we still get the kill and my ADC is still relatively safe.

Rotating

Are you rotating at the right time? Are you using everything in your power to rotate when you can? Are you following the enemy when they rotate around the map?

Why It Is Important

During the game, it is important to keep an eye on everyone and communicate with pings. As a Support, it is your duty to follow the enemies if they rotate to another lane. It depends on which champion you’re playing, but you should always look for times when you can rotate before them. Rotating and roaming in the early game can be very hard. It is important to know when you can and when you cannot rotate safely.

Once the first Bot lane tower is down, you should switch to either Mid lane or Top lane. Rotating to another lane opens up the map and will allow you to have global map pressure. This will not only help you out, but it will also help your other lanes and give your team a gold advantage. Rotating like this usually depends on your other lanes too, so keep that in mind when rotating. If your other lanes are struggling, you can attempt to rotate to their lane and switch with them or stay with them. You can then force objectives.

How to Improve

If you have lost lane and the enemy is roaming Mid, it is wise to leave your ADC Bot lane and rotate to Mid lane and help them instead of staying Bot side. In games like this, you may not be able to kill the enemy while they are there. Your job in this situation is to hold the tower and not let them get it.

Always keep an eye on the minimap and look for potential opportunities to roam or rotate to another lane. If you are a champion like Blitzcrank, Thresh or Alistar then you will find it easy to roam. But before you even thinking about rotating to another lane you leave your ADC, make sure that they will be safe and stay alive. They should not have to blow any Summoner spells or be denied farm.

Example Video

In this example, we have unfortunately lost lane and the enemy has moved to the Mid lane in attempts to get the tower and obtain global map pressure. I’m holding Mid lane tower and protecting it (while my ADC stays in the Bot lane). I am waiting for my Mid laner to come back where he gets a cheeky W and stuns the enemy. If I was staying Bot lane with my ADC, they would’ve taken Mid tower for free and we wouldn’t have got a kill. Instead, I am giving up XP and gold to hold an objective. This selflessness not only saves us the tower, but it also gives my ADC time to farm and catch up on experience.

Experience is something that plays a huge part in learning about Macro management, especially knowing when and how to do something. It takes some time to learn and notice patterns in your gameplay. Do not worry if you cannot get everything done at once, eventually, it becomes second nature and you will learn how to adapt to every single scenario. As a Support, it is your duty to help your team out as much as possible. While you may not be actively killing creeps during the laning phase, it is still important to keep an eye on the map and look for moments where you can impact the game. You may be supporting your ADC during the laning phase and the game, but you are the true carry!

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