Support is my main role.
I'm okay at it, but I'd really like to be better.

I know the basic stuff.
Get your gp/10
ward things
early Pinks for dragon
oracles
Don't take cs/kills
Your life<Your carries life. (Such as if you and your carry are being chased and it doesn't look like you can get away, throwing yourself at them to distract them so your carry survives is usually worth it- especially if you managed to not take any kills)

But I'd really like to know more in-depth things.... such as...

Such as:

which supports counter other supports?

which carries counter which supports?

What are the strongest carry/support combos?

I'd like to know the rationalization of mobi-boots... is this a high elo thing or are they only viable on certain supports?

Shurelia's vs. Locket of Solari- what to finish off first? (Or is it purely situational?)

What do you do when you are keeping dragon timers and clearing wards on it, always have vision on it- but when it comes time for dragon your team ignores it and lets the enemy have a free dragon?

Is it ever worth it to take magic pen. over armor marks? Are there any other alternatives?

What do you do when the enemy support got an early oracles before their second GP/10 and you can't kill them? Even if you get an oracles as well- you can't have vision on anything if they kill a ward every time you place one. (maybe a stupid question but this happens a lot...)

If you are sucking badly and dying a lot, should you keep buying oracles anyway?

Also, possibly relevant... the supports I play are:
Sona, Soraka, Janna, Lulu and Leona. I've tried support Lux ONCE and did okay with her but didn't feel too comfortable. I've also done support Galio but prefer him mid or top... <_<


That's all the major questions I have. (sorry I know there are a lot)
Any strong advice I can be given seperate from the questions I've asked would be much appreciated as well. Any links or videos that explain any of the things I asked would be awesome too!

Thank you for your time. ^^;

Two things from a fellow support player:

Know your lane partner's style

Know when to use your cooldowns

This might help a little, just with one of those
http://www.reignofgaming.net/blogs/a...y-jungle-karma

I'm not pro and don't even play ranked games, but:

IMO don't buy oracles unless your team is currently winning. Seriously this gold is a lot and can really add up. Buying invis wards is usually better.

"What do you do when you are keeping dragon timers and clearing wards on it, always have vision on it- but when it comes time for dragon your team ignores it and lets the enemy have a free dragon?"

Support just supports team even if they are stupid ^_^

"If you are sucking badly and dying a lot,"

IMO: If you die once for no reason in a game then your team just got let down, big time. If (as you mentioned) the support throws themself at the enemy to save an ally, die from a bait of enemies whatever it's okay as you more than likely know.

I never put myself in a position where I could possibly die for no reason.

I'm too noob to know about counters.

Also, I have watched many many pro games and many times there are 1 or 2 wards, but usually ABSOLUTELY NO WARDS AT ALL. The first time I was watching a tournament and saw this I was shocked.

If you play the game right and have all the gold rune/masteries/items, starting at 35 minutes you should be able to maintain no less than 4 wards at all times, I have no problems with this with any support aside from Lulu.

Good luck ^_^

EDIT:

One huge thing I do when playing is to learn the style of my enemies. The four things I look for are
- Warding style (sometimes the warding enemy has a special place they ward every once in a while)
- Fight initiations (certain things that a certain player will do - even when a gank is coming in from brush which gives away the gank)
- Fighting styles (certain players will retreat for certain reasons out of a fight and it can be a waste to focus)
- reaction to buff/dragon respawns (some people are there as the buff respawns, some wait or aren't paying attention. I signal my allies to trap for late coming buff grabbers)

By communicating all these things to my allies it gives us a huge advantage, especially since I kind of just exist early game anyway.

to be a great support:
Dont buy wards, build damage items
start with a doran item
take all the kills
always put urself over others
take minions
proceed to carry the game

Buy lots of wards.
Position well in teamfights and protect your carry.

Builds are situational, I rush Shurelias, some people rush Zeke's, etc.

Know exactly where to place every ward to get the most amount of sight possible.
A good example is the right/top side's curvey bush near mid.

Another one: Purposely don't re-ward bot, and watch how long it takes for their support to ward then come back.
You'll know whether you need to purple your bush, or purple the river. If it's the river, you can position it in such a way that you can get lots of sight towards their red-jungler-bush as well.