How to play support in League of Legends: the fundamentals

Know your champion’s job

Supports come in a few kinds, and each one plays differently:

• Engage supports start fights with crowd control and take the damage in front.
• Enchanters shield, heal and speed up their carry, and punish anyone who dives them.
• Mages and poke supports deal damage from range and control the lane with their spells.

Your plan in lane, in fights and when you roam follows from that job. An engage support looks for the moment to go in; an enchanter waits for the enemy to commit, then protects.

In lane: protect, poke, punish

Leave the minions to your carry and spend your time on the enemy duo. The classic moment to trade is when the enemy carry walks forward to last-hit: they have to choose between the minion and your poke. Play around your carry’s health and cooldowns, and trade together.

Watch their key spells too: “Trade when their key spell or Flash is down — not before.” An engage support whose crowd control is on cooldown is the best target you will get. The lane brushes are yours to hold: standing in one hides you from the enemy duo, and a ward in the river covers you both against ganks.

Be your carry’s eyes

Your carry is busy last-hitting; you have more time to watch the map. Ping when the enemy jungler shows near your lane or when the enemy mid laner goes missing, and back off together before the gank arrives. When a fight starts elsewhere, tell your carry whether to join it or stay.

Lead the vision

Vision is a team job, and supports lead it. Early on, ward the river and the lane brushes; once your lane is pushed, go deeper with your jungler; and buy a Control Ward whenever you recall and can afford one. Sweep where the enemy likes to ward around the next objective. Going deep alone is a risk of its own: “Before entering their jungle, ward ahead or bring an ally.” Our vision guide covers where and when to ward, role by role.

Roam when your wave is pushed

When your wave is pushed into their tower, the enemy duo has to deal with it, and you are free to move: help your mid laner, cover your jungler in the river, or ward ahead of an objective. Gankademy’s rule: “Wave pushed? Move first to the river, before they do.”

Don’t leave your carry alone two against one when the enemy support stays in lane, and come back if the play is gone. A roam that gets nothing costs your carry farm and safety.

Set up objectives

Fights at Dragon and Baron are won before they start, by the team that holds the area with vision. Before the objective spawns, ward its area with your jungler, clear their wards, then group: “Objective in a minute? Ward its area before you go.”

If the enemy already holds the area and you are a player down, don’t walk into the dark: “Down a player? Don’t contest — trade elsewhere.”

Engage, or peel

In fights, a support either starts the fight or stops the enemy from finishing it. To engage, check first: “Before you engage, check your team can follow. If not, wait.” To peel, stay near your carry and keep your crowd control for whoever jumps on them: “Your carry is dived? Protect them before chasing a kill.” A kill for you is worth less than your carry alive: when in doubt, protect.

With Gankademy

One of the missions Gankademy measures is about vision: SETUP, a ward placed in the two minutes before each objective your team played — measured straight from Riot’s match data after every Summoner’s Rift game, for free. It is one of 22 principles, and your three missions are drawn from what your own games show — or, until they show enough, from your role’s fundamentals.

When you ask for a coach analysis, the judgment sees only what your screen showed: enemy wards, purchases, items, gold and positions are removed from what it receives. In game, Gankademy never shows anything the fog hides: vision stays your job. In champion select, its options include the best pick in your draft, for example magic damage when no ally deals it. Meet the coaches · What it reads · See the film.

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