Talk:Orianna/@comment-217.83.162.222-20130222121134/@comment-4677525-20130225150015

The reason why mage supports are generally not used in solo queue is that games are usually decided by the 30 minute mark, so they will rarely reach that stage where they have more utility and damage compared to a support (especially if they actually buy wards like a support should instead of AP items). Although it is possible to come back from a bad laning phase and outscale the enemy support, usually your teammates will instinctively blame you if your bot lane fails and morale will dampen.

Traditional supports like Thresh and Taric add so much free utility without worrying about itemization. However, even heavy-utility mages like Orianna and Zilean NEED items (and, by extension, gold) in order to compete. The only one that has really caught on at all levels of play is Zyra and that is because she has high base-damages on her abilities and her plants give her, essentially, free wards and damage (although Lux and Nidalee are occasionally seen on bot, with mixed results).