LoL: Why Don't Pro Players Buy Support Items?
With the start of Season 14 Riot Games has changed a lot about the item system. With the change to support items there were also some meta shifts in the bot lane.
Season 14 has brought us a new item system. Mythic items have got removed, and support items have also been changed. Every Support now buys the same item at the start. Or do they? If you watch some pro players in the Korean LCK you can see that some supports are buying Doran's Items instead.
LoL: Doran's Items As Support?!
Support items have changed. Everybody starts out with a World Atlas which evolves into a Runic Compass and then into Bounty of Worlds. This can then be evolved into all the different new support items. Read all about those in our article here!
So why are pro players not building those items? Well, they are buying Doran's Items instead. Ever since the buff to Doran's Items in Season 13 they have been insanely strong in the early game. These items give you a lot of combat stats and make trading in the early levels very strong.
But the problem lies in the functionality of the support item. It does not give any gold on the first wave. This means that if you want to get into a fight early the support will deal significantly less damage as World Atlas gives no combat stats.
If the enemy support has a Doran's Item and you have a World Atlas you are automatically losing the first bot lane skirmish and potentially the game. This means if you are playing versus a Mad Man like World Champion Keria on his support Ezreal (He is just that guy) and you are not matching his potential Doran's Item, he will bully you out of lane and make the game living hell for your ADC.
This is why both supports are now buying Doran's Items but reset early to get the support item. They will not be far behind as both players are following the strategy and the early skirmishes will be stronger.
If you want to see the strategy in action watch here!
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