Vynertje's Support AMA and advice thread

[quote=Vynertje][quote=utopus]What can you do to control lane as a ranged support ([[janna]], [[thresh]], [[morgana]]) if your ADC isn't helping you assert lane pressure, and you're vs another ranged support? I try to tell my ADCs something along the lines of 'have lane presence', but is there any way to easily communicate to your ADC that you're looking to play more aggressively than they are allowing?[/quote] I just usually tell them to play a little bit more aggressively, but I don't think you can force someone to play in a way that doesn't match his playstyle because that may only cause him to play badly. If he still doesn't play more aggressively after telling him to, just try to adapt.[/quote]

[quote=Blian]When would you recommend the cow (a.k.a. [[Alistar]] as a support?[/quote]

[quote=lanilwow][quote=Vynertje][quote=utopus]What can you do to control lane as a ranged support ([[janna]], [[thresh]], [[morgana]]) if your ADC isn't helping you assert lane pressure, and you're vs another ranged support? I try to tell my ADCs something along the lines of 'have lane presence', but is there any way to easily communicate to your ADC that you're looking to play more aggressively than they are allowing?[/quote] I just usually tell them to play a little bit more aggressively, but I don't think you can force someone to play in a way that doesn't match his playstyle because that may only cause him to play badly. If he still doesn't play more aggressively after telling him to, just try to adapt.[/quote] I ran into this two games in a row the other night. Specifically a Lucian that was scared stiff of an Ez - Blitz combo. So scared that if they approached the CS line he would run away. He was missing CS just based on the fear of them. They weren't even being aggressive towards us till later. I ended up staying in lane till 8 but I wondered if I should have started roaming around 4? Is it bad to leave your ADC like that, even though he was playing defensive? Or could that roaming help apply lane pressure elsewhere and tilt the game in our favor? Playing that defensive we were losing lane on CS. (I was on Janna)[/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard][quote=Vynertje]Don't really like her due to the way her E works, but she can be really really strong if you use her to bully low range lanes. Late game she's rather weak compared to other supports due to only having her ultimate as really effective support skill so you have to make it work early game.[/quote]Thanks. I've had some luck picking her into [[Leona]] and such, so I was curious exactly how playable she is.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=lanilwow][quote=Vynertje][quote=utopus]What can you do to control lane as a ranged support ([[janna]], [[thresh]], [[morgana]]) if your ADC isn't helping you assert lane pressure, and you're vs another ranged support? I try to tell my ADCs something along the lines of 'have lane presence', but is there any way to easily communicate to your ADC that you're looking to play more aggressively than they are allowing?[/quote] I just usually tell them to play a little bit more aggressively, but I don't think you can force someone to play in a way that doesn't match his playstyle because that may only cause him to play badly. If he still doesn't play more aggressively after telling him to, just try to adapt.[/quote] I ran into this two games in a row the other night. Specifically a Lucian that was scared stiff of an Ez - Blitz combo. So scared that if they approached the CS line he would run away. He was missing CS just based on the fear of them. They weren't even being aggressive towards us till later. I ended up staying in lane till 8 but I wondered if I should have started roaming around 4? Is it bad to leave your ADC like that, even though he was playing defensive? Or could that roaming help apply lane pressure elsewhere and tilt the game in our favor? Playing that defensive we were losing lane on CS. (I was on Janna)[/quote] Janna isn't the best roamer so all you can do is make sure you have good vision control and let your adc CS as good as possible. If you leave him he's only going to lose more. You could opt to roam on other champions like thresh/leona though, but only if you're sure your adc can hold 1v2. [quote=Blian]When would you recommend the cow (a.k.a. [[Alistar]] as a support?[/quote] Not at all. In pretty much every situation there is a better pick. That doesn't mean he's bad though, there's just not a specific situation in which I'd prefer him over any other pick atm. [quote=Vaan99]What would be your example builds for Janna, Nami, Braum and Alistar? I'm curious how other support players build them, I already have my prefered build but there is always room for improvement.[/quote] Janna and Nami: pretty much exactly like my nami guide. Spellthief into mikael's, followed by whatever you need (locket vs double ap, frozen heart vs autoattackers, ap if you're just yolo snowballing etc) Braum and Alistar: relic into face of the mountain, randuins/frozen heart and mikaels if necessary. [i]Edit: don't forget locket if you need it ;-)[/i] Obviously sightstone on first/second back. I never really make it past 2/3 core items so yeah, didn't put too much thought in what would be a logic 4th/5th item.[/quote]

[quote=utopus]I'm finding that you don't talk a whole lot about [[locket of the iron solari]]. Any particular reason for that?[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=utopus]I'm finding that you don't talk a whole lot about [[locket of the iron solari]]. Any particular reason for that?[/quote] It's a very straightforward item. It's really good vs double/triple ap compositions, otherwise it's flat out not worth it. Besides that, there isn't really a particular reason for not talking about it a lot. I personally get it in about 50% of my games.[/quote]

[quote=MyBloodisBlack]I have a hard question to ask but hopefully I can explain myself clearly and get this question across. Recently I have been trying to figure out what is causing me so many problems as a support and recently I figured out the root cause of it is simply because I am constantly worrying about my ADC. Now I am not trying to put blame on someone else however I have found that I struggle to do any kind of warding or I am casting shields and stuff far too early because I am not sure what my ADC is going to do. On multiple occasions when I am going to ward I have informed them and got a reply however when I go to ward suddenly they have engaged in a 2 v 1 out of nowhere and usually die quickly leaving me bemused to say the least. And when I am with them their movement is so irregular that I can't predict whether they are planning to engage or step back and it usually ends up with me using too much mana as I try to guess their intentions. So my question to you is, However you ever had this same problem and what ways did you combat it?[/quote]

[quote=Vapora Dark]This isn't really a support specific question, but I figure a support main would be the best person to ask about this: How the hell do you use Sweeper? I switch my yellow trinket to a sweeper every game I play Talon in at around level 6, but I only ever sweep 1-2 wards in any game, even if I spam it every time it's off cooldown. I think the most I've ever had in 1 game was 3 swept wards, and that's because I managed to find 2 wards in 1 sweep then another in another sweep. Am I meant to save it specifically for spots where I already know they warded, or are they just not warding as well as I'm expecting them to? I don't just sweep random spots, like if we're about to start drag I'll sweep the river brush along with the brush near blue, but I almost never find anything there. Feels like either I'm using it wrong or it's a waste to take sweeper in solo q when I could have a free ward instead.[/quote]

[quote=lanilwow]Great question MyBloodIsBlack! I struggle with that as well. I can't wait to the answer![/quote]