Support is not a position that many players enjoy due to its limited ability to “carry the team” in-game, which is why the importance of this role has been debated many times by players ranging from unknowns to famous ones, and the “rank climbing king” Dopa is no exception.
Here are Dopa’s thoughts on the support position in League of Legends:
If everyone is at the same skill level, I think support is the worst position in League of Legends. This is something I have believed for the past 5 years. Why is that? Let me analyze it for everyone. When laning, you need to pay attention to three factors: yourself, your opponent, and farming minions. Each factor requires different influences to play well. In the eyes of Top, ADC, and Support, these factors are even more distinct.
However, one special thing is that Support does not need to farm minions; of course, they must disrupt the opponent’s farming, but that’s something all positions need to do. Because of this, Support can “time” the opponent’s summoner spells and “read” the map. Last hitting minions is very, very difficult, but Support does not have to worry about this, so there is a lot of room. Yet in solo queue, most Supports do not do the work they are supposed to do.
If ADC needs 100% focus on the game, then Support only needs less than 80%, and they can even climb ranks higher than usual. Jungle also has a different playstyle compared to the other four positions; however, this position becomes increasingly difficult with each new season, with more things for junglers to pay attention to, unlike the “free time” that Support has.
When ADC and Support lose lane, it is mostly due to Support’s mistakes. For instance, if the bot lane loses a skirmish, 90% of the time it’s due to Support’s mistakes when I review the replay. At the same elo level, from Silver 1 to top 1 Challenger, Support seems very poor at using skill shots, focusing, or making decisions in-game. For example? In League of Legends, the player who uses Flash first always has a significant advantage; Support can always use Flash first to draw the attention of the enemy ADC. However, even when Support initiates a fight, there are many times they still lose in solo queue; why? Because they play poorly. Exceptions? There are no exceptions, even in professional play. What about Mata? He changed the way Support is played.
But I’ve said, at the same skill level. Don’t bring in players of a different caliber like Mata or BeryL to refute me. It’s like saying that on average, men are stronger than women, but if you bring in a female fighter, I would obviously get “smashed”; that’s a matter of skill level. So if you want to compare with Mata or BeryL, compare them to players of their skill level like ShowMaker or Pawn. Support is certainly an important and respected position, but I cannot stand when Supports act like they are better in-game and ping wildly while insulting others.
Both Mid, Top, and ADC can play Support if you check the stats on op.gg and have over 50% win rates, while Support playing other positions doesn’t fare as well.