Ranked League of Legends is one of the fastest growing E-sports in the world. Twitch just released an article saying that League of Legends now surpasses Starcraft 2 as "Most Streamed Game". Most of these streams are players participating in Ranked 5v5 matches as well as professional LoL players doing the same. Now I have almost 1,500 total games played with about 130 of them being ranked matches. I went on a ranked binge just before Season 2 was announced. I would play any new champion that I bought in a ranked match because I assumed that our Ranked ELO would reset with the new season. And then Season 2 came and went and I still had 603 ELO... Since then I have gotten much more serious about Ranked Matches but haven't played many due to my ELO being so low.
Carry Your Way Out Myth - Any League of Legends player who has been around the block a few times will tell you that the only way to get yourself out of "ELO Hell" is to "Carry Your Way Out". This means that you need to pick a character that is an AD/AP carry that is doing well in the patch you're on or OP and carry your way to multiple victories until you are out of ELO Hell. I don't think this is the only way to do so even if it seems to be the smartest. Carries (for the most part) are extremely squishy if they do a lot of damage. And if anyone on your team feeds anyone on the other team (especially their carry) then it doesn't matter who you picked because you're going to die unless you happened to get more fed than them. And even if no one else on the other team is fed if you don't get fed because your lane partner isn't any good/the other team plays hyper defensive then you're still pretty much useless.
Playing Support in Low Ranked ELO is generally looked down upon but I find that I help push my team to victory much easier than if I'm playing a damage dealer. This might be because I'm uncomfortable playing DPS in most games when I have the ability to be a Healer/Bard. But if you're good at what you do, like I like to think I am, then playing your strength is much better than playing what's OP at the moment. As a Support you can be the guardian of you team and keep them from feeding. Pick a Support that has a stun, slow or knock back so if your carry decides to constantly face check bushes then you can heal them and stop the enemy team from chasing. Janna is a really good support right now, long ranged knock up and healing knock back can save your AD carry from certain death. Taric is another really good support in ranked. His heal heals both himself and his target as well as a long ranged stun. Janna's ult is also great for saving your team from a team fight you're losing.
Playing a Support can push team fights in your favor. Keeping your AD/AP carries alive longer makes them do more damage, obviously. But with a support with a stun you can also keep the enemy teams highest damage dealer from doing as much damage as possible while you focus them down. If you're losing a team fight and they're chasing you while you're retreating, Janna's ult can blow them away from your team and ensure that you all get away safely.
Picking your support based on the AD carry of the team is extremely important. If your AD carry has a stun it will be beneficial to pick up a support that has a stun as well. Double stuns allow for great amounts of damage and quick escapes. If your AD carry goes Life Steal quickly then a shielding support will be much better than a simple healing support. Summoner spells are also extremely important. If you're a support like Janna or Zilean that doesn't have a healing spell than picking up Heal is extremely beneficial to your AD carry. Picking up Clairvoyance is still beneficial even after it's nerf. If you're not sure where the other team is CVing into a bush instead of face checking is a great way to save yourself from an early death.
Get Oracles Early. This is a strategy I have been using that I am always shocked when people acted so surprised. Oracles can be used to clear enemy wards to keep them from warding against your jungler or keeping an eye on Dragon. It also helps against Teemo mushrooms and stealth champions like Twitch and Shaco. I generally pick up Oracles after my Philosophers Stone and Boots (unless I'm Janna where I don't need boots that early) to keep as much vision from the enemy team as early as possible. Killing wards gives you money and denies the enemy team money. If you're not killed extremely early, if they're MIA and you go through river alone that's your own fault, don't do that, this is extremely beneficial. If they stop buying wards because they're frustrated with you killing them all and they start trying to kill you intentionally then you are doing your job right and Oracles has paid for itself!
Buy Wards! I know I shouldn't have to say it but right now I have been in a rough spot where I'm stuck between buying too many wards and not buying any Aura items for my team and not buying wards at all to rush Aura items for our carries. You should be buying wards and placing them based on the situation. If they are ganking a lot you should ward enough to cover River. If they are constantly in your jungle you should ward your buffs, killing them and getting your buff back is very important.
Long story short, I feel that playing Support in Low Ranked ELO is still viable no matter what people say. You need to play what you are comfortable with and if you're like me and not very good at dps then you are only going to drag your team down in the long run and you're not going to be having fun playing the game. Support has always been what I do best and I know I would help my team achieve total victory by supporting those actually good at killing things. Video games are fun and if you shouldn't be forced to do something you don't enjoy. Good luck supporting your allies and I hope you achieve swift victories on the Field of Justice.
League of Legends: CQElaina
Twitter: @CQElaina
Youtube: ElainaTV
No comments:
Post a Comment