Bard
The mechanic
Bard's ultimate freezes everything in its area for 2.5 seconds, allies, enemies and towers alike, and his portal opens a one-way tunnel through walls that allies cross faster than enemies. Both only work if the team understands what just happened.
Why it needs saying
The only support whose ultimate can freeze his own allies. Without a word, the team hits invulnerable targets, ignores a portal that would have saved it, and blames Bard for a spell it did not understand.
When you play them
- team chat
what you type
dont hit in stasis
in full english
Don't attack anyone in stasis.
the context
"stasis": frozen and invulnerable, like under a Zhonya. For 2.5 seconds, every spell cast on a golden target is wasted. The call stops the team dumping its ultimates into nothing.
- team chat
what you type
take portal
in full english
Take the portal.
the context
"portal" is what everyone calls Bard's tunnel, nobody says "magical journey". It lasts ten seconds, one way, and allies move through it 33% faster than enemies. A shortcut the team has to decide to take.
When an ally plays them
- team chat
in full english
Bard, ult the tower and we dive.
the context
A frozen tower does not shoot for 2.5 seconds. That is the safest dive in the game, but it has to be set up: the ultimate reaches 3400 units and the team has to be ready to walk in the moment the tower freezes.