User blog comment:Bachoru/Your job in a team/@comment-3358335-20110401195054/@comment-3325853-20110404220812

I agree wholeheartedly with that goal Exiton. The real distinction is their intention in a situation.

In the lane, a mage is trying to farm and score kills whereas a support is trying to protect/assist their lanemate so that he/she can farm and score kills. That support may be through shielding, healing, harassing enemies, etc, etc.

In a team fight, the mage is trying to combo/burst down the highest priority target they can successfully target with some leeway for who is more/less susceptible to their damage. The support is trying to assist the overall team in any way possible which may be shielding, healing, CCing someone attacking a teammate, CCing an enemy attempting to flee, etc.

In general, the intent to play that way also impacts their builds. A mage-intent Morgana/Lux will have items like AA Staff, Mejai's, and Deathcap. They need to farm a lot and hope to do the kiling themselves. The support-intent Morgana/Lux won't have as much farm so they may have aura items or stuff built from 5g/10s items. The support-intent person should also be buying a lot of wards for the team.

It really is a fundamental difference in style...and many characters can play either way, such as Morgana (not so much anymore on the mage side) and Lux. Of course the true power of such character is when you can play one way but utilize the other way. The full mage Lux that still effectively shields her team and uses her CC to protect teammates is truly valuable. The support Morgana that can still find the time/mana to provide decent damage through her AOEs is truly valuable. As an example, nobody wants the Zilean that just runs in and ults. They want the one that is double bombing the person low and trying to flee, slowing down enemies or speeding up allies, AND is landing the ult on the right person at the right time. Support is a tricky role that most people don't understand well. At high Elo, you see Janna picked or banned in every game...at low-mid Elo, people don't even know who Janna is.