User blog comment:Canvasofgrey/A New View on Supports v.1.1/@comment-96.30.138.69-20120419191717

I main supports, and I've been experimenting as well with some of the same characters as you.

With Cassiopeia leave Q at level 1 so you can keep your passive at 5 stacks for free, then max e. As long as you get 2 E per Q you end up doing more damage than you would if you maxed Q. It's more difficult but it pays off, and much more mana efficient.

With what I call "unconventional supports" I feel like you should harass constantly don't bother setting up kills, just aim to push them out of lane constantly. A kill weakens them and strengthens you and your partner, pushing them out of lane weakens them just as much as a kill but takes much less time to coordinate. Harassing them down low enough to ensure a kill but not low enough to scare them away takes more effort, I feel it's better to just aim to scare them away and get a kill if they make a mistake.

If you're not making use of your extra damage in lane then you might as well be playing a conventional support, as you won't be scaling quite as well. Check the graphs at the end of the game and compare your damage to the enemy support's damage, if it's not significantly higher (at least double) it's usually not worth it.

Here are some more unconventional supports I've had moderate success with, and a very brief explaination of their laning phase. Mostly I build them the same (philo, HoG, boots, some other situational items) but some need to be built with some of their normal build items.

Anivia: Wall + stun combo is scary, do that once or twice and they'll be running or dead. Basically play her the same as you would play her in mid, just don't last hit :P

Akali: Stealth near your minions and once you hit 6 you'll be scary, may require gunblade, sheen type item seems useful. Manaless is both a blessing and a curse on supports, on the one hand philostone loses a lot of worth (shurelya's is still be worth it unless someone else is getting it), on the other hand you have

Evelynn: Sort of the same idea as Akali, sometimes it works better sometimes it works worse, sheen type item seems useful.

Ezreal: Very aggressive poker, if they try to retaliate blink away and kite. Sheen type item again useful.

Fiddlesticks: Drain. Drainnnnnnnn. Fear. Drain. Need I say more? Kage's Pick is a good idea, maybe a wota if your team would benefit.

Fizz: Dash in, deal some damage, dash out. Very fun with varying success. Sheen type item seems useful.

Twitch: Poke poke poke, stealth behind them and go for the kill or roam and help elsewhere. Same kind of idea as Akali and Eve, seems the most consistent.

Also pretty much every top lane can succesfully support if they have some utility. Sustaining yourself while you harass them (the thought occured when I tried Fiddlesticks support) will make your enemies cringe, and becoming fairly tanky end game... Well it's scary.

Vlad and Lee Sin were the best that came to my mind, Riven, Wukong and Renekton are also quite good, but I need some more experimenting with them. Tanky, self sustaining and very annoying.

Runes and masteries for unconventional supports are a tough choice though, I love me some gp10 quints and masteries, but you might need extra armor since you'll be extra aggressive.