User blog comment:Kygehn/Support Rantings/@comment-9044052-20131230180545/@comment-1836772-20140103213708

Annie is instant death in close range, but outside of sending her bear into the turret, if she can't get close enough to unleash her payload, or the carry is in a tight spot, she has no answer for it. Her shield only affects her, and the only utility she has is the stun. Outside of that, she's a direct damage dealer, and nothing else. Compare with classic supports:

Taric, Can tank the enemy, heal, stun, provide additional armor, remove armor from the enemy, and buff all allies around him for several seconds.

Janna: Passively speeds up nearby allies, can shield and buff attack damage (which scales with AP), can slow down and knock up enemies, and heal allies and knock away nearby enemies.

Lulu: Provide cover fire which pierces AND slows (and scales the falloff amount with AP), speed up an ally by a large amount, disable enemies, shield allies (which can extend her range of covering fire; VERY handy for escaping or pursuing enemies), and an in-a-pinch healing buff which knocks up and slows down nearby enemies.

All the damage in the world won't mean anything if the enemy has a way to negate that, and that's the only card you have to play. Other classic supports might not stand a chance against someone like Xin Zhao or Master Yi bearing down on them, but they have a bigger arsenal of abilities and utility, like buffing and healing the guy who can take on the Garen built like an iron fortress.