About the Author Hello everybody. My name is drakon136. I am a relatively new player, having started playing around January of 2013, but I only started playing often around April. I am currently sitting in Silver II, which is also my record. blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext

Why Sion? Good question! Sion is an excellent pick for dive-based team comps. For example, let's say your team has a Swain mid, Jarvan IV in the jungle, and Thresh supporting. These three champions all must dive into the enemy team to deal their damage. In this case, Sion would be an excellent pick, as his ultimate heals those in a small are around him for a percentage of the damage he deals.

What's in the guide? Yet another good question! In this guide, I will detail my suggested runes, masteries, summoner spells, and skill order. I will also cover standard tips on how to play Sion, and provide you with builds I find to be successful. blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext

Pros

+ Fairly strong late-game + Two of the best steroids + Very powerful duelist + Infinite scaling health + Easy last-hitting + Targeted stun

Although he still isn't alwas the best choice for solo-queue, Sion is still fairly good, and significantly better with the new masteries. Enrage gives a massive boost to your Attack Damage when toggled; this makes last hitting significantly easier, and lets Sion trade with his opponent fairly well. Although he has no built-in escape mechanism, Cryptic Gaze is useful for keeping a champion away from you. Thanks to Cannibalism, Sion is also one of the greatest duelists, if not the greatest.

Cons

- Weak early-game - Farm dependant - High mana costs - Difficulty sticking to foes - Susceptible to CC - Terrible innate attack speed

Every champion has its downsides; unfortunately, Sion has plenty of them. One major issue is his high mana costs; Cryptic Gaze uses 100 mana at all levels, while Death's Caress uses 110 mana at max rank. He also has difficulty sticking to enemies he is trying to kill, due to his lack of a gap closer and the short range on Cryptic Gaze. Finally, Sion has terrible attack speed; he has the second-lowest attack speed per level of all AD champions, with only Jinx having lower, and she has massive innate steroid to make up for it. For reference, even Karthus and Anivia have higher attack speed at level 18!

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Feel No Pain, Sion's passive, is hit-or-miss, due to its reliance on the RNG. Overall, it is much more useful in the early stages of the game, where the flat damage reduction will have the biggest impact. It essentially allows one to win trades with their lane opponent on a coin-flip.

• The damage reduction from Feel No Pain is applied before reduction from armor and percent-based reduction.
• Feel No Pain reduces damage by 30 at level 1, 40 at level 8, and 50 at level 13.

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Cryptic Gaze is a very useful ability; not for its damage, but for its stun. It is an excellent tool for locking down a foe out of position. However, its short range means using it may put you in danger. Nevertheless, it is very useful ability.

Cryptic Gaze should be taken at level 2, then maxed after Death's Caress and after Enrage. This is because only the damage and cooldown improve with level, and this spell is not used for damage.

• Cryptic Gaze is great for initiating ganks.
• Avoid using Cryptic Gaze too often; its high mana cost will quickly leave you out of mana and defenseless if you are ganked.
• Cryptic Gaze interrupts channeled abilities, such as Nunu & Willump's Absolute Zero or Warwick's Infinite Duress.

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Death's Caress can be a life saver. At max rank, it blocks up to 300 points of damage; even more if you have Ability Power. If that wasn't good enough, it can even be re-activated after four seconds to detonate the shield, dealing damage to all enemies in an area, allowing you to deal noticeable damage to enemy champions early on, or push minion waves quickly.

Death's Caress should be taken at level 1, then maxed before Cryptic Gaze and after Enrage. This is because both the shield strength and the burst damage scale up with level, although the mana cost does as well..

• When detonated, Death's Caress deals a large amount of damage in a small area around Sion. This is very useful for farming minion waves.
• A combination of Cryptic Gaze followed by Death's Caress deals a large amount of damage early on, but costs a lot of mana. Use this combo sparingly.
• Death's Caress can be activated to reduce the damage you take from an incoming spell.
• Death's Caress does not detonate if it is destroyed by an enemy.

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Enrage is Sion's bread-and-butter. Whenever you last-hit with Enrage active, you permanently gain maximum health. With enough farm, you can reach 4000 health and beyond. On top of this, you gain a massive amount of Attack Damage while active! However, whenever you land a basic attack, you take negligible amount of damage.

Enrage should be taken at level 3, then maxed before Cryptic Gaze and before Death's Caress. This is because the bonus AD and health per kill both scale up with level.

• Be sure you have Enrage on when last-hitting, so you gain maximum health.
• With enough lifesteal, you will heal for more than Enrage's cost, letting you keep it on permanently.
• Enrage has incredible synergy with Atma's Impaler.

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Cannibalism: This is what makes Sion what he is; an unparalleled duelist, a monstrous melee carry, a highly threatening bruiser, and an unkillable lifesteal-tank all in one. Cannibalism is, without a doubt, the best steroid in the game. As if 100% lifesteal and 50% attack speed wasn't enough, with Cannibalism active, you even heal nearby allies for half the damage you deal! And to top it off, it has a relatively short cooldown for an ultimate, and lasts for a whopping twenty seconds!

Cannibalism should be leveled up whenever available; at levels 6, 11, and 16.

• Cannibalism only heals allies within an area of 200 around you; it should not be relied on to keep your team alive.
• Don't be afraid to use Cannibalism in lane to heal up if you are getting low.
• As long as you have Cannibalism ready to use, you should be able to duel almost all champions late-game if they do not have Ignite ready. Sion is rarely played, so people often underestimate his dueling prowess; if they underestimate you, punish them for it.

7 OFFENSE 23 DEFENSE

M O N S T R O U S

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M A S T E R I E S

// At first glance, these masteries may seem strange, but they are very good for Sion. Seven points are taken in OFFENSE for the early attack-speed and scaling attack damage; no more than this as Martial Mastery is not very important for Sion. Twenty-three points are taken in DEFENSE, taking Enchanted Armor , Unyieling, Juggernaut , Second Wind, Swiftness , Tenacious , and Legendary Guardian as important masteries. Q: Is this the best setup for Sion? // In my opinion, yes it is. However, I understand that many people are used to maxing the number of points in each tree at nine or twenty-one, they may seem strange at first.

x3 as x9 as x9 as x9

R A V E N O U S

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R U N E S

// This is a very standard rune page for AD carries. Greater Quintessence of Life Steal allows for decent sustain in lane. Greater Mark of Attack Damage allows for easier last-hitting and more damage in trades. Greater Seal of Armor are for enhanced defense against AD champions. Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist are for better protection from magic damage. The defensive runes are very important due to the lack of Defense masteries. Why Scaling Magic Resist glyphs instead of flat Magic Resist glyphs, you ask? A very good question, my dear reader! Most mages hit their peak in power at level 9; coincidentally, Scaling Magic Resist glyphs begin to grant more magic resist than their flat counterparts at level 9. However, if you are against an AP champion in top-lane with good early power (such as Teemo, Elise, or Rumble), you should take flast Magic Resist glyphs instead. Q: Is this the best setup for Sion? // In my opinion, it is. If you wish, you could take Greater Glyph of Magic Resist instead of Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist.

Recommended

Flash is your standard get-out-of-jail-free spell. Got ganked and have no mana to use your stun? Flash. Got caught out of position and about to die for it? Flash. A near-dead enemy just jumped over a wall and is about to get away? Flash. The instant repositioning Flash gives you is just too good to pass up.

Ghost is a very spell to take with Flash for Sion, as he is in desperate need of the mobility the two spells give him. I used to have Teleport in this slot, but I changed my mind with the coming of the end of season three. blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext

Ignite is a great option if you want more kill potential in lane, or are against a champion with high innate healing, such as Aatrox. Ignite can be used to do all the work of executing the enemy for you as well. blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext blacktext

Other Options

Teleport is a good option with many uses as well, if you do not like Flash or Ghost. It can be used to quickly return to lane after making a purchase. It can be used to join your team if you are late for a teamfight. It can be used to push down towers, or even stop pushes on your own towers.

Exhaust is generally only seen on supports; however, it is also a viable option on Sion. It can be used both offensively (slow an enemy down to get more hits in on them) or defensively (slow one enemy if you get ganked, stun the other). blacktext blacktext blacktext

Cleanse is a very good option if the enemy team has very threatening CC, such as Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow or Veigar's Event Horizon. However, remember that it cannot cleanse supression, such as Warwick's Infinite Duress, or Malzahar's Nether Grasp.

Core

Armor

Magic Resist

Damage

Attack Speed

Boots and their Replacement

Core

Ravenous Hydra is, in my opinion, the one truly 'core' item for Sion. Sion just loves everything it gives him; massive attack damage, health regen, life steal, a powerful active for burst or wave clear, and cleave he can lifesteal from. Get this as your first major item every game.

Armor

Randuin's Omen is considered the standard go-to item if you need a lot of armor, and for very good reason. The stats it gives are excellent against AD champions, while the passive and active are icing in the cake.

Frozen Heart is another good, if unusual, option for Sion. It gives 25 more armor than Randuin's Omen, and has a similar passive. The CDR lets you fire off stuns and set up shields more often in teamfights, and it even gives you enough mana to actually do that without running out in sixteen seconds. However, one important thing to note is that it gives no health, which generally makes it inferior to Randuin's Omen. If you already have Randuin's Omen and you need more armor, it is still a good choice.

Guardian Angel is a great option on carries in general because of its revive and good defensive stats; although it gives both armor and magic resist, I put it here as it gives more armor than magic resist. However, it isn't as effective on Sion as it is on other carries, as Sion is reliant on his ult to be effective in teamfights, and it will be disabled if he is revived by Guardian Angel. Still, it is a good choice.

Magic Resist

Spirit Visage is the best general magic resist option on Sion, and currently the best option in general. Every stat it gives is perfect for Sion, and unlike many other champions, he can use its passive very effectively because of Cannibalism.

Mercurial Scimitar is another great option. Along with magic resist, it also gives a large amount of AD. Mercurial Scimitar is generally good against champions with very threatening single-target CC, such as Malzahar and Warwick.

Maw of Malmortius, like Mercurial Scimitar, is a cross between an offensive and defense item; as with Mercurial Scimitar, I listed it as a defense option as that is what it's often picked for. It gives a huge amount of AD, as well as a nice bit of magic resist. It even gives bonus AD based on how much health you are missing; giving you up to another 35 AD. The most important part, however, is the shield. It is especially handy against mages with long cooldowns, or those with magic damage executes.

Banshee's Veil is another viable option for magic resist. Although it no longer gives mana, it still gives a large amount of health and quite a bit of magic resist. The spell shield it gives is useful in case your team is initiated on by a champion with deadly AOE CC, such as Amumu or Malphite.

Damage

Infinity Edge is the second best damage item for Sion, behind Ravenous Hydra. If you're building crit-based Sion, I suggest you purchase this every game as well. Seriously, it's that good. +50% damage on critical strikes is huge.

Last Whisper is great against highly armored teams, or as a last item in general. Late game, the ability to outright ignore 35% of their armor will give you a huge increase in damage output.

Frozen Mallet is another great item on Sion. It gives a ton of health and a good bit of damage. The main reason why this is good is the slow. Sion has difficulty sticking to people in fights; with Frozen Mallet's on-hit slow, he should have no trouble smashing faces.

Atma's Impaler is arguably the strongest item you can get for Sion. It gives bonus AD equal to 1.5% of your maximum health, along with some armor and crit chance. This, combined with Sion's potentially infinite health, makes Sion the only champion that can have infinitely scaling AD. However, I list this last because it is inferior to other items until very late.

Attack Speed

Phantom Dancer is great for AD carries in general, and that includes crit-based Sion. The attack speed, crit chance, and movement speed are all wonderful for Sion. The passive is just icing on the cake; being able to move through minions means you have a much easier time chasing and escaping.

Blade of the Ruined King is just wonderful. It gives a great combination of attack damage, lifesteal, and attack speed to increase both your damage and survivability in fights. The active is also very handy for chasing a target, or slowing down a chaser.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is another good option for attack speed. Youmuu's Ghostblade was designed for melee carries like Sion; he can use all the stats it gives better than many other champions. It may not seem like it, but the most important part of this item is the movement speed; +20% movement speed is huge, and the active can easily open or close a gap between you and the enemy team.

Statikk Shiv is the last option for attack speed. Although the stats it gives are nice, it is generally inferior to Phantom Dancer and Youmuu's Ghostblade. I only recommend this if you are going to be splitpushing all game.

Boots and their Replacement

Mercury's Treads are the boots of choice for Sion. Generally, you should take these against AP top-laners, or if the enemy team has a noticeable amount of CC. The tenacity it gives is very powerful, to the point where it is almost required on melee champions.

Boots of Swiftness are another option. These are a fairly good option against a team lacking in hard-CC, but with plenty of slows to slow you down. However, against a team with a good amount of hard CC, Mercury's Treads are better.

Ninja Tabi are the last option for boots. These are a good option if you are against a powerful AD top-laner, such as Darius or Riven. However, you should still avoid these unless the enemy team has very little CC in general, whether they are slows or stuns.

Zephyr is the last item on this list, even though it isn't a boot. By the time late-game rolls around, your boots have probably fallen off in effectiveness. By this point, if you have another movement speed item, it is a good idea to sell your boots for this. However, it won't give enough movement speed to be worth picking if you don't have another movement speed item.

Early Game

The early game is Sion's weakest point. For the first two levels, try to avoid fighting your lane opponent, and focus on farming. You'll want to get to level 3 as soon as possible so you can start getting your health.

Once you hit level 3, turn on Enrage, and leave it on. You shouldn't need to turn it off for the rest of the game. Now that you have Enrage active, ask your jungler to come gank for you. Sion is very easy to gank for, due to his decent early burst and targeted CC.

Once your jungler comes to gank, your course of action depends on where your lane opponent is. If the enemy laner is in range for your stun, activate Death's Caress and immediately stun them Cryptic Gaze. Otherwise, tell your jungler to initiate the gank. Either way, once the gank is initiated, run up to him and start beating on him, detonating your shield as soon as you can. With both you and your jungler attacking your lane opponent, they will probably either run, flash, or fight if they know running is hopeless.

Hopefully, you will have killed your lane opponent, or at least forced them to Flash or Recall. If your opponent died or recalled, clear the minion wave, then recall yourself to buy items. If they stay, take a look to see how much health they have left. If they're below one-third health, try and kill them again yourself. If they're above one-third, just focus on farming until you have enough for Tiamat.

Mid Game

By now, laning phase will generally have ended, and teamfights will start happening soon. By now, you should hopefully have your Ravenous Hydra, the boots of your choice, and at least two wards. At this point, you should start splitpushing. Splitpushing is when one champion goes off by themselves to push a lane, putting pressure on the lane and forcing somebody to come defend it. While you are splitpushing, be sure to ward so that you can see if more than one enemy is coming up.

Try to push as far to the enemy's tower as possible. Pay close attention to the minimap; if three or more enemies are MIA for more than 10 seconds, it is probably wise to head back. If one person heads up to stop you and the rest of his team is visible, don't be afraid. Unless they are quite fed, you should be able to kill them if they try fighting you.

Late Game

By now, most champions should be full-build or close to it. Once you reach the late-game stage, it is best to stop splitpushing and group with your team. If the enemy team is smart, they will do everything as a team at this point; including stopping splitpushers. At this stage in the game, a single teamfight, or even a single kill, can determine the outcome of the match, so be ready to fight at a moment's notice.

None yet!

v2.0, 2013-11-30: Guide revamped and republished for the preseason!

v1.2, 2013-08-15: Added Maw of Malmortius as a defensive item, removed some old stuff I forgot about.
v1.1, 2013-08-14: Guide updated, as to Meiyjhe's suggestions.
v1, 2013-08-14: Original guide released!