Hi! I've recently been playing a lot of Tank/Support Alistar in Bot Lane, and have learned the basics of support(warding, protecting carries, and baiting) but want to learn more about it and some small things to remember. Are there any outstanding things that people forget as a support?

Thanks.

Level 24. >_>

I think the main thing to know at your current level is simply knowing when to be aggressive, and when to be passive.

A lot of people that play aggressive supports like Ali don't fully take into account the situation when they initiate. Sometimes their partner or their team is not in position to even follow up (or aware that they should be), which essentially leaves you a sitting duck. Sometimes they badly misjudge what the enemy is capable of doing in response and get themselves or their partners killed for no reason.

It's okay to play passively. Ali has one of the best lane sustain spells in the game, so you can simply bide your time and wait if need be.

Also, learn when it's good to do the headbutt to pulverize combo, and when you want to flash out, pulverize and then headbutt someone back to your partner. The former is better for some quick harrass, but the latter is MUCH better for kill attempts as it isolates him from his team mates and puts him further from his tower. You may not need to do the latter much, but keep it in mind anyway.

So yeah, mostly you just need to learn the capabilities of your partner and your opponents, and make sure that your partner is in position and paying attention. The paying attention part gets better as you get more and more experienced team mates as your level rises. The in position part relies on you.

Cenerae touched on a huge aspect I think supports need to know. You need to learn what your combo is able to put out, what your enemy is able to put out, and what both of you are doing to counter that. Alistar is a high CC champion with minor sustain because of his heal. He's also very tanky. But he's not the best support for safely harassing enemies. A support like Sona or Lux, for example, can harass enemies to a high degree, denying enemy carries farm. But a burst carry like vayne can counter-harass, or escape quickly. It's things like that you need to be aware of.

Another thing is to pay attention to what your enemy builds. While a lot of people start out the same, that's not always the case. Adapt to enemy builds and skills as you can. Enemy has cleanse and quicksilver? Don't go in for kills right away on first CC. Enemy has ignite? Learn to stay sustained and healthy.