Lich if enemy picks Meepo.
Lion if enemy picks Terrorblade.
SD if your teammate in lane is Mirana or Kunkka.
Ancient Apparition if you're trilaning and aiming for first blood.
Veno if enemy picks TA.
Veno possibly if enemy picks Pudge.
Earthshaker if enemy picks PL or Undying or Brood.
Venge if enemy picks Void or Batrider.
Dazzle if enemy picks Legion Commander or if you have a Legion Commander on your team.
Shadow Demon if enemy picks Omni.
I'm sure there are others.
^he's not asking abt counterpicking.
he wants good team synergy like aa/wd into chrono or something similar
It's so much easier to counterpick the enemy in terms of support because you have no idea which heroes your team is going to pick or even which lanes they plan on going to if you play solo queue. So I pick SD ... well guess what, my Mirana teammate wants to solo offlane.
I think Rhasta (Shadow Shaman) is a really well rounded support that offers plenty throughout games that are long or short. Good nuke early for harass and wave clear/farm. 2 great dissables that scale really well and an ult that is super for tower pushing or team fighting or even roshing/ Aghs upgrade really good too.
Think Rubick and Witch doc have really good skill sets too, lots of fun to play. Current meta favouring ES, Veno, AA and the like.
Omni is a great starting point for support, his abilities work well with and against most heroes, he doesn't need many items that aren't support items and he kind of looks like Chuck Norris. Also if you can learn to play a kotl that doesn't snake farm from carries, you will go far.
You generally want to pick supports that provide lane presence and do not fall off lategame.
The lanepresence is important, so you do not lose safelane. Earthshaker for example is a great support and often picked in competitive dota. But if your safelane farmer is spectre, and you have a jungler, you have lost 1 lane allready. The earthshaker can only sit behind the spectre and do nothing. He will rely on ganks and need his blink to get effective.
If you plan on buying wards etc. es is a horrible solo support.
Since pubgames are often not objective oriented, you do not want to have support that falls of hard. Heros that get useless beyond min 35 are not fav. in the current meta, esp in pubgames.
Warlock, Omni, Lich, Lion, Silencer, AA, Rhasta, Veno, Rubick (not so good on lane) are really good supports, that excell through all stages of the game.
^ this
Also, read these
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=282801741
http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-strategy/465496-the-art-of-support-part-2
The second mentions what the author calls three types of supports: Defensive, Aggressive and Greedy. You should take this into consideration when picking, eg what your pick wants to accomplish.
Earth Spirit.
High skillcap, highly rewarding, fits any setup, doesn't rely on items, beast from early to late game.
My experience with supports
Wisp: most fun by far
Lich: if you are brain damaged (also good in 1v3 offlane)
Leshrac: for pushing
If u are new and unsure what other heroes do - OGRE MAGI is a great support to have ( Tanky + Useful throughout the game)
or WARLOCK (Heals + Lockdown/Push) or SAND KING(Lockdown + escape kinda + Burst)
Because playing support is much more than the hero you choose
you need to know - Warding, Counter warding, positioning for support (throwing stuns to save), ganking and stacking
Other heroes you can consider if you are new:
Lion - (Lockdown + Burst)
Shadow Shaman - (Push + Lockdown) Note: lvl 1 shackle then max hex
Jakiro - (Push + kinda lockdown) Note: Shitty casting animation
Skywrath - (Burst) Powerful nukes + silence
Crystal Maiden - (kinda lockdown + aura + BOOBS)
I wont recommend earth shaker for newbies
Get better at heroes who have a bad laning presence (either because they are melee or they just don't have useful spells for laning) and heroes that are very good at saving allies. A timely Disruption, Shallow Grave or even a Nightmare can turn a teamfight.
void - best support best carry best mid best offlaner best jungler best roaming hero pick and win
Shadow Demon works well. Visage can be annoying with timed familiar stuns. Boss Magi is a baller in this patch.
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Hi, I've been playing Dota 2 for a couple months and I've really loved the support role. I've played most supports and I enjoy most of them pretty well. However, over the last couple games I've realized that for me each support really works best when it complements the team well, as I keep getting this feeling that supports have to fit a certain niche in the team composition or it just does not work as effectively. If the support does not synergize well with their team, it isn't ideal.
So I came here to ask if there are any support heroes that are very versatile or are very destructive to other teams if played correctly. Basically anything that works with almost any team or a hero that can work wonders for your team if played well (high skillcap = high reward).