User blog comment:Rollnstoned/Types of Supports/@comment-6301771-20130813211506

You made it way too complex and binary. Really there are two attributes that need to be kept track of.

1. Whether the support is a dedicated support or not

2. Whether the support is an offensive support or a defensive support

A dedicated support would be people like Soraka, Sona, Taric, Nami, etc. but it also encapsulates champions like Leona and Thresh who aren't just sitting there healing allies or harassing but still have kits geared towards assisting allies rather than stomping by themselves.

The offensive/defensive line isn't a plain binary switch as you present it. It's a scale. The more offensive a support is, the more damage they can deal and the more cc they tend to have as they specialize in killing opponents (Thresh, Kayle, Leona, Nami, etc.). The more defensive a support is, the more buffs and heals they tend to have and the more short ranged they tend to be (Soraka, Sona, Janna, Taric, etc.) Keep in mind that just having a heal doesn't automatically make a champion terribly defensive, and having cc doesn't make them automatically offensive. Kayle and Nidalee both have heals, but they are both very offensive supports. Taric has a stun, but he's still very much a defensive support. But this is far from a binary switch. Nami, for example, has both a decent degree of offensive power and survivability. She leans offensively, but unlike Leona she can very easily stabilize a losing lane with her defensive utility. Conversely, Alistar is very short ranged and more adept at defending than attacking outright, but he has some plays to set up kills if he needs to.