Hey man,

Thanks for your comment! While some heroes like Tony, Glaive, and, as you mentioned, San Feng and Baptiste are indeed played as support some of the time, for the most part they are used to counter a specific hero in the enemy team (i.e. Baptiste against Anka), as well as team comps in 3v3 where the support plays a less important role and games are far shorter. This means that aggressive supports such as these four, who have no protective abilities, are viable there.

5v5 is less forgiving on these niche picks as they generally don't fare as well later on, where protecting your carries become very important during teamfights. As such, you rarely see them 5v5, where games tend to extend for longer than 3v3, just as Fortress is no longer viable as support in 5v5. While yes, it could be argued that one of the most sought-after supports in 5v5, Yates, has no protective abilities either, his ability to single out an enemy hero, as well as CC the entire enemy team is unparalleled, as well as his global presence.

Take San Feng as an example. His early game damage from Divine Fist is unparalleled, and his Tiger's Bridge sets up ganks perfectly. However, later on, everyone has boots and can dodge Divine Fist with ease, Tiger's Bridge can easily be a death sentence (just as Truth of the Tooth can be) as you rush into the enemy team, while a competent support will block Master's Lesson, rendering San Feng useless, as he becomes a meat shield for his teammates. This is in contrast to the likes of Phinn, Catherine, and Yates, all of whom have a reliable engage without the risk of being instantly melted.

In short, in 3v3, those options are perfectly fine and could potentially be beneficial to finish the game early, but in 5v5, I wouldn't advise using those heroes over the traditional supports.

Hope this helped!

~Pasu

Hey man,

Thanks for your comment! It's great to see people appreciate the work I've done on this guide. Its main purpose is to show those up-and-coming players who haven't really decided what they want to play yet that support is indeed viable, as well as those people that might just want to play support when no one else is willing to budge. But if you've mastered stutterstepping, freezing the lane, and other crucial aspects of the game to become a successful laner/jungler, I see no reason you should try to play support. Good luck on the fold/rise!

The guide is slightly messy because it's so long, but I have no idea where to start cleaning it up, any pointers?

~Pasu

Hey man,

Thank you so much for your comment! I was wondering if it was just bots upvoting my guide :P. Anyway yeah, I made this guide to encourage people to play more support because it really isn't the "noob" role that many people think it is. I've improved significantly at writing guides since my Lyra one and this one is far more in depth, due in part to my love for the support role. If you're playing on SEA you could add me with the username "Pasu", but if not, good luck on the fold/rise!

~Pasu

P.S. I really enjoyed reading your WP Churnwalker guide, and tried it out in ARAM to great effect. In terms of support Churnwalker, I do need some more practice at hitting those hooks though, and once I master that, 5v5 is going to be rather easy (provided my teammates aren't vegetables (cue Petal) and can actually deal some damage)!