Dodge the charm and abuse your range and you will be fine
Alistar
Abuse him level 1 and poke him for as much of his health as you can before he gets his W + Q combo. Save flash for his flash Q and be careful of his all in potential after level 2 while poking him and his ADC when possible. Should go even at least in lane and outscale
Amumu
Very difficult matchup. Hook champs counter senna and making laning for her pretty hard. His E makes him super tanky and one bandage landed on you is instant death. Pre 6 try to stand behind minions and abuse range to poke but be careful not to get caught
Annie
This champion is just very strong in the support role right now and with the recent changes her ult stun combo is very hard to predict / react to and if you are caught by a stun you will essentially be instakilled. Try to poke and punish early before she gets level 6 as that is your main window but be sure to play safe as soon as she gets ult
Ashe
Low cooldown hard CC is always scary and you won't have cleanse for every ult she throws. You do outscale and outrange after you get 20 souls but her ults will have way more map impact then yours. Be safe while poking and try to abuse her early before she gets level 6. Make sure to get swiftness boots
Bard
Relatively simple matchup, you outrange him and out sustain so abuse him and his ADC early. Make sure to call out his roams since he will leave lane and build an advantage elsewhere or else your team will flame
Blitzcrank
Insanely difficult matchup, one of the hardest 2 in the game. Blitzcrank hook means instant death on you if you get hit and your ADC as well meaning if blitz can find one good hook angle in lane it's usually game over for you. Be careful of his flash hook and flash E combo to set up ganks and for early invades. Try to bully him level 1 and bait out a hook to get some damage in but otherwise this matchup is miserable. Would recommend banning or dodging
Brand
He is strong and does a lot of damage early but you will easily outscale and can bait out his ability cooldowns pretty easily. Once you get around 60 souls this matchup becomes very easy and you can poke for free essentially if you know movement
Braum
Insanely easy matchup. These are the types of champs senna loves to play against since he needs to be in melee range to do anything and doesn't have a reliable form of CC or gap close on you. Poke him and his ADC for free souls all game and dominate
Fiddlesticks
Uncommon to see this matchup. Generally you should be pretty free to poke as you can abuse your range to do much more then he can, just make sure to ping his roams and once he hits 6 ping and be careful of the ult from over walls as that is really his only play
Galio
You have a big range advantage over galio and his only engage is very telegraphed. You should be able to poke for free similar, albeit with a bit more caution then the braum matchup
Janna
Janna is pretty free as you outrange her autos and can dodge her tornados with relative ease. Landing a W on her early in lane can get you a free kill and just poke her and her ADC to build a lead and outscale
Karma
Karma is extremely good early game and does a ton of damage with Mantra Q. She will get wave control over you and shield all of your poke while being a menace in early game skirmishes. Try to avoid her Mantra Q if possible and be wary of stepping up too far and being run down by Mantra W. You will eventually outscale so do your best to survive the poke and help your ADC get through laning phase
Leona
Not quite as bad as the other hook champs since she goes into you but she still has long-range pick potential with her ult. A lot of senna players tend to have difficulty with this matchup so I highly recommend taking cleanse as your secondary summoner spell to counter her ult engage post 6. Make sure to punish her and her ADC off the wave as much as possible level 1 before she gets her Q and E to use
Lulu
Not a major issue, very similar to the janna matchup. She will shield most of your poke but you will be able to farm her and her ADC for souls whenever they walk up. Don't be baited into a bad fight where she can ult her ADC and poly you and you should be fine to outscale and win the game
Lux
Similar to Karma. Second wind and Senna base HP health nerfs made this matchup more difficult to play since one snare and you will die while her E will do a significant chunk of your health on a relatively low cooldown. Try to take advantage and play aggressive once she wastes key cooldowns like her Q and if you can't then just play to poke with Q and outscale in lane
Maokai
Very annoying matchup. His point and click CC counters you pretty hard and he can blow flash to set up a gank early on. Make sure you don't get caught out and ulted by him after 6 and try to be wary of bushes filled with saplings. Other then that try to punish him levels 1 and 2 as he is relatively weak and can't beat you until he gets his full combo or a jungle gank
Morgana
Just make sure to dodge her Q and you will be fine. Morgana is in a really weak state at the moment. Just make sure she can't walk up and ult you for free and this matchup should be smooth sailing
Nami
She has good sustain for your poke early on and if she hits a bubble on you early you are pretty much dead. This champ isn't too bad but paired with an ADC like lucian it's very hard to even walk up to farm as lucian will E forward and chunk you for half of your hp in one combo. Poke as much as possible level 1 and 2 and if you are playing against lucian nami make sure you are playing safe early on
Nautilus
Pretty difficult matchup. Punish him level 1 and don't be caught in a invade. If he misses Q make sure to punish the long cooldown and poke as much as possible and regain control of the wave. Post 6 be very careful as his ult + Q combo will instakill you in most matchups
Pantheon
Even matchup but I think it is slightly senna favored. I would recommend taking cleanse as his only real play is W stunning you and going for an instakill otherwise he will take a bad trade. Cleanse fixes this issue but with an aggressive ADC sometimes you can still die. Play careful and poke him before he has level 3 combo and you should be able to take wave control
Pyke
This is my permaban. His entire kit counters senna and among most senna mains he is regarded as the best senna counter in the entire game. He will sustain all of your poke with his passive and once he gets umbral glaive or sweeper you can't walk up to ward against him anymore either. His roams are deadly and hard to punish since he could just be sitting in a bush bot lane or going to kill your mid laner. Unlike other hook champs he is also high mobility so a good flash E from him which is insanely hard to react properly to means instant death in most cases. I recommend banning this champ or dodging
Rakan
Pretty predictable engage but if it hits you will be in for a world of hurt. Make sure to poke him as much as possible level 1 and 2 while being wary of his flash W combo or jungle ganks. He is very good in the meta right now and recent buffs made him quite good so I bumped him up from Minor to even threat
Rell
Moderately difficult matchup that can be bumped up to insanely difficult if paired with certain ADCS. Samira, Tristana, or Nilah with rell can jump in and insta CC you, killing you very quickly with high mobility and low reaction time. Poke with Q auto and get out so you aren't caught with a dismount and generally speaking you should be able to get out of lane in an okay spot
Renata Glasc
Just make sure you don't all in her as she will turn fights with her ult and bailout. Be content with Q auto poking in lane and outscaling and you should be fine
Seraphine
Seraphine is very high range and very safe so she is harder to poke then other enchanters but doesn't have a ton of kill pressure on you early. Make sure you dodge her root / slow and you should be fine to scale
Shaco
Glaive and sweeper destroy this champ and his ADC is essentially free souls early game. Be careful of box cheese in bushes and mind games with ult at level 6 as that is really his only win condition. Otherwise make sure you go glaive and scale up for the win
Shen
His only threat on you is a low range dash taunt. Make sure you be careful to poke and stay at your max attack range and you will be able to punish him for free the entire game and scale super hard
Sona
You outpoke her early but to be honest, her shields and utility late game are stronger then your scaling unless you get to SUPER late game. Play to build a lead in lane and play for a strong mid/early game against sona so she can't get to her Archangels Staff and passive power spike and perma outheal all of your damage
Soraka
She has good sustain but she is free souls in lane. You scale really well and your burst can catch out people in the late game through her healing. Make sure someone on your team buys anti heal and you should be good here
Swain
Dodge his E and this matchup is very easy. Abuse your range and minions to poke for free and you will outvalue him for most of the game
Taric
He scales extremely hard with ult and can get cheese kills with E but overall I do not find this matchup very challenging. Save flash for his flash E and you will be able to farm souls and scale super hard
Thresh
This matchup mostly depends on how good the thresh is. If he is really good at reading movement and hitting good hooks this matchup could be bumped up to major threat but if you play around minions and poke properly level 1 and 2 you should be pretty even in this matchup. It is more dependent on player skill then the actual matchup here
Twitch
Cheese matchup. He will perma roam, just be aware of this and buy control wards and ping your laners when he leaves. Punish his ADC hard when he roams and you should outvalue him once you start to get items
Vel'Koz
His Q does a lot of damage to you since the health nerfs and he will chunk you for a lot of your HP. Since he outpokes you it can be hard to get souls and his ult is deadly if he hits a combo on you. Similar to lux but harder
Xerath
Like lux and xerath but once again slightly worse. Senna hp nerfs and second wind nerfs hit hard here as his Q does a lot of damage early and is really hard to avoid before you get your full boots, making wave control hard to get. He will pretty much always outrange you with his Q so even in late game teamfights you have to be wary of his insane long range burst damage
Yuumi
This champ is laughably bad right now. Poke her and her adc for free and outsustain and damage that she might do. Claim your freelo vs this champ
Zac
Not super easy as he is tanky and has long-range reliable engage. If he hits elastic slingshot on you it almost always means death so be careful and don't walk up too much outside of Q auto after level 3. Ward bushes to nullify his jump out of bushes as when it is in vision it is pretty telegraphed and easy to avoid
Zilean
A good zilean will scale really hard into the mid game and threaten double bomb on you when you walk up to poke. When paired with hecarim or maokai his 99% speedup is deadly so be careful of enemies running you down. Abuse his poor level 1 and low bomb damage to poke in land while avoiding ganks and double bombs and once mid game turns to late game you should outscale him
Zyra
Annoying poke but you can sustain and and so long as you avoid her root you should be able to outscale super hard and survive laning phase with relative easy compared to other mages like xerath, lux, and vel' koz
Caitlyn
Long range ADC that has a very similar gameplan to what you want to do. Your W plays into her traps and you are both long range wave controlling poke ADC's. Good synergy
Varus
Similar to caitlyn. Long-range poke ADC whose ult can lead into free kills for you. Very easy to play with
Ashe
Basically the same champion as you with worse scaling and a better ultimate so you obviously synergize pretty well
Seraphine
Very strong with senna. Perma clears waves while being safe and being AP. You both scale very well at very little danger to either of you and don't have to worry about double AD bot lane
Veigar
He has insane scaling like you and his cage can control wave pretty well. Since hs is AP you don't have to worry about double AD bot and therefore he synergizes pretty well
Jhin
Good range and his W can play off of your W or Q very well to set up nice kills in early lane
Tahm Kench
Best fasting senna partner, classic duo that started it all. Provides a good frontline while farming and high damage all while being able to ult you and save you from any danger. The perfect duo
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Caitlyn
Long range ADC that has a very similar gameplan to what you want to do. Your W plays into her traps and you are both long range wave controlling poke ADC's. Good synergy
Varus
Similar to caitlyn. Long-range poke ADC whose ult can lead into free kills for you. Very easy to play with
Ashe
Basically the same champion as you with worse scaling and a better ultimate so you obviously synergize pretty well
Seraphine
Very strong with senna. Perma clears waves while being safe and being AP. You both scale very well at very little danger to either of you and don't have to worry about double AD bot lane
Veigar
He has insane scaling like you and his cage can control wave pretty well. Since hs is AP you don't have to worry about double AD bot and therefore he synergizes pretty well
Jhin
Good range and his W can play off of your W or Q very well to set up nice kills in early lane
Tahm Kench
Best fasting senna partner, classic duo that started it all. Provides a good frontline while farming and high damage all while being able to ult you and save you from any danger. The perfect duo
Hello! I am a Diamond 1 100LP peak League player who plays for a collegiate league of legends team as a support. Ever since she was released I knew senna would be the champion for me and I have played her ever since. Please feel free to contact me on discord if you have any questions about her and I would be happy to help.
Discord: Cyclic#9417
Things to Learn to play Senna
Positioning - Positioning is very important as you play like a marksmen and have to play on the edge of your range while maximizing damage output at the same time. This can take time to learn and I suggest watching a positioning guide on youtube to work on this.
Q Unit Sniping - You can use Q on ally wards and minions to hit enemies you are out of range to cast Q on. This can be used to snipe low health enemies or get poke in lane without putting yourself at risk of dying. This skill is essential to playing senna and getting good at angling your Q through units will make you a much better player.
Pocketing - Learning which pocket to stand in in the bot lane is very important. This essentially just means the "zone" or "section" of the lane that you will be standing in. This depends heavily on the matchup, spell cooldowns, game state, and jungle but overtime you will learn things like when you are at risk of being ganked you want to stand closer to the bottom side of lane so you have more time to run away and don't get CC'd from over the wall by the enemy jungler.
Warding - Your job is still as a support despite the fact you are playing a carry champ. Make sure you learn proper ward spots and rotations as it will be your job as the character with the support item. I recommend watching a free skillcapped warding guide on youtube as this can help a lot.
Roaming - It is important that you understand roam timers and know when it is ok to help your mid lane and jungler with plays like dragons and mid ganks as well as early game skirmishes. Typically this will be after you come off of base from dying or recalling OR after pushing your wave all the way into your enemy tower. This gives you time to go leave lane before the wave comes back to you without putting your ADC in danger or losing too much xp or mist stacks yourself.
Pinging - People always say "but my teammates never listen to my pings" well trust me, they have more of an impact then you might think. Make sure to ping things like missing in your lane AND danger on your mid laner when you think your enemy support is roaming. It is important to do both as your mid laner might not see your missing ping in bot lane and throwing a danger ping right on their head will make it much more likely that they see the gank coming and play safe until your laner returns.
Combos - Your only real combo is Auto Q Auto or if you hit root, walk up and Auto Q auto. This is your bread and butter combo for damage and stacks in lane while being safe and not taking much damage in return. Make sure you use this when your Q is available and it is safe for maximum souls.
Macro - I highly recommend watching a skillcapped guide on macro / moving around the map as it is important to be with your team when you need them and be in the right place at the right time. You do a lot of damage and you need to do your best to carry your team to victory every game so if you are never at fights you are doing something wrong.
Mist Stack Maximization - This will take time but try to find the best balance between poking for stacks and staying healthy in lane. You want to scale and get as many as possible since they give you damage, crit, range, and eventually lifesteal. Follow your jungler around if there is no wave to grab the mist from camps they kill for extra stacks when you don't have anything to do.
Tempo - Tempo essentially just means pressure and using your time as efficiently as possible. Don't waste any time wandering around doing nothing and always be efficient and fast about making decisions and doing things like warding, ganking, roaming, pushing waves, and executing recalls. Wasting time gives the other team chances to come back into the game and puts you at more risk of counterplay. Use all of the time you are given.
Mental - Keep a positive mental and stick with it! Don't flame your team and always ask yourself what could I have done better this game. Almost every death can be avoided and think deeper about why certain things happen in your games and you will find yourself improving much faster then you would otherwise. Your teammates might be bad but they are not the reason you can't escape your rank as high rank players can easily climb up to where they should be and you can too if you make an effort to have the winners mindset and look to fix all the flaws in your own gameplay.
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