League of Legends: How to carry a bronze/silver solo queue game as support

In League of Legends, there aren't many words more painful to hear than "Solo Queue" and "Support" (except maybe "Fed Rengar"), but I'm here to tell you that there is a way to have a big impact on the game as a support champion. Most people tell you to play full AP annie support and pretend you're a mid laner, but I disagree. The support role exists for a reason, and you should keep up with your usual practices when playing it. By which I mean keep warding, keep building the full support item first, and keep following your ADC around like a lost puppy.

So, what's my technique for being successful as a support in solo queue? Play something that can initiate a teamfight. And do it well.

Yeap, that's all. And now is the part where I explain why, right? Well, in solo queue, the reason it regularly feels hard to carry as a support is because you have less of a personal impact on the game. Your job is to help others to do the carrying, or as I like to call it, you "Enable" your teammates. But what's the use in peeling for your ADC if he doesn't know how to right click?

Play someone who acts like a permanent ADC buff like Janna, Lulu or Braum and you are at the mercy of terrible ADCs. If they are pointless, you become pointless too. But if you play Morgana, and you consistently land your snare to catch out enemy champions, no communication is needed for your team to follow up. The same goes for Leona, Zyra, Alistar, Blitzcrank, and more. Because although there is a likely chance you get paired with an ADC who is either a bad player, on tilt, or having a crappy day, there is a very slim chance your entire team sucks, so land a good Leona ultimate and you can still carry your team forward.

"So, does this mean I can win every solo queue support game by picking these champions?"

Of course it doesn't, but it will help. Now that you have the right champion, practice them. Make sure when you land a Leona ult, you lock down the priority targets. Make sure you are fast enough on Morgana's black shield. And unless you want to be torn apart in chat, make sure you can land Alistar's W - Q combo.

What next? Now it's time to make sure you can actually play in the support role as effectively as possible. Which means you need to know a number of things:

• What matchups you can win, and what you can't
• Where to ward to get the most effective ward coverage
• When you go warding
• When to roam(if ever)
• How to set up for your jungler's ganks
• Objective control

Most of these are fairly obvious, but I'll explain the last one. Objective control is very important for the support role, as others will rely on you to make some of the important calls. Both you and the jungler have less to focus on at once, and therefore have more time to focus on what's happening on the map. Is Dragon a good idea, or should you keep pushing the lane? Are you too pushed in your lane, or is there no threat? Can your bot lane take this fight or should you disengage?

If you can answer these kinds of questions correctly in a majority of cases, you can be the deciding factor in your teams success. Or, alternatively, if someone else makes the call, and it's wrong (we've all had a bad baron call from time to time), it could cost you the game.

However, if you follow all this advice, you could still keep losing your games. But you have to remember what is important - you can't change who you get into games with, you can only improve yourself. So instead of getting angry after a game that you lost because your team tried to take a fight 4v5, take a break. Personally, I like to get outdoors, helps to keep you fresh for your next game. And when you get back, think about how you can do better. Maybe even record your games for some post match analysis?

Good luck in all your future games, and in your escape from ELO hell.