Sejuani Build Guide by MTaur

What's with the clothes? It's freezing out there!

Endurance training! Says so in the bio:

When Sejuani was born, the mystics of her tribe foretold that she would be the one to unite and lead the divided territories of Freljord. Her people had suffered for centuries, as a losing war on the frozen tundra pushed them farther and farther from Freljord's limited food supplies. Sejuani grew up surrounded by this misery, and it fueled her desire to fulfill her destiny. She pushed herself to extremes, walking out into blizzards without food or furs and training while frigid winds raked her flesh. She sparred with the strongest warriors of her tribe, one after another, until her legs would give out beneath her. She sustained injuries that would have killed any other member of the tribe, but she would only rise again, driven by sheer force of will and what her tribe took to calling her ''heart of the blizzard.''

On her twentieth birthday, Sejuani declared that she would lead her people out of their remote isolation to conquer the lands of their enemies. She had completed her training and she was ready to face the leaders of the opposing tribes. Her feats had already become legend and soldiers in her company were inspired to new heights of strength and resolve. However, before she struck out on her campaign, Ashe began campaigning for peace in Freljord, joining the League of Legends to demonstrate how the people could be spared violence. To Sejuani, this was a violation of tradition - a coward's ruse to hoard Freljord's precious few resources. She saw the confidence of her people wane as it seemed they would never be delivered from their plight. She decided that to truly prove herself as the rightful ruler of Freljord, she must defeat Ashe completely and unquestionably on the world's stage in the League of Legends.

"Freljord provides for the few. For the others, 'peace' means only death." - Sejuani

I LOLed. You have to give them credit for trying, anyway.

Anyway, this build is kind of funny because a lot of the final items are all somewhat thematically linked to the character. That's how I'm building at the moment, at least.

Summary

This build goes for well over 4k health, 200 armor, and 100 MR in longer games. This makes for a strong main tank, granting Northern Winds enough bonus damage to make Sejuani a legitimate threat. Meanwhile, you're CCing everyone all the time and hopefully they're having a hard time killing you. Frozen Mallet and Frozen Heart together disables enemy auto-attackers, while Warmog's Armor makes you sturdy and DPSy at the same time. The catch is that you have to farm it up to get to this point.

It is also possible to ward a lot and play a support style, but don't expect to have the best k/d/a ever. If no one else wards for you, Sejuani is a decent choice for going underfed, as her utility and especially her ult can win fights even if she's a bit underfed. If you solo queue into a game with no supports, then Build 2 might work.

There's also Dominion, where I suggest a more damage-oriented build, and where Warmog's Armor isn't available anyway. In smaller skirmishes, your DPS is more badly needed.

Core stats

These are in an approximate, not strict, order of importance. They often tend to synergize, or a base minimum is sometimes necessary for a "less prioritized" stat in any case.

Health

Northern Winds scales with this. Also, you're a tank.

CDR

5/6 uptime on Northern Winds, and a ton of maneuverability (wall jumps for the win!) with Rank 5 Arctic Assault at 40% CDR. CDR is indispensiblem and I'm a bit offput at the high-ranked guides which neglect this stat. Note that I use runes and masteries to pick up all the CDR that doesn't come from items.

Resists

Armor is usually a bigger deal, as auto-attackers tend to do more total damage, meaning you just need enough MR to survive the inital AP burst. Also, turrets! Rework the build a little if the enemy team doesn't have the usual balance tilted toward AD.

Auras and on-hit effects

Frozen Heart and Frozen Mallet, or possibly Shurelya's Reverie and Randuin's Omen. Sejuani's kit really needs that little bit extra to round it all out.

HP5

Always handy, especially in jungle. Luckily, Warmog's Armor gives you a ton without you even trying for it.

Mana

A little goes a long way. MP5 also does the trick.

AP

This goes at the top of your food pyramid, if you will. Sejuani's burst improves a little with AP, but I tend to use AP sparingly outside of Dominion, where Warmog's Armor isn't available anyway, and where skirmishes are smaller and you need to chip in more damage.

Move speed

This is always welcome, but outside of runes and masteries, I don't make room for it.

Overhaul - 7/5/12

7/5/12

- Changed %health yellows to flat armor yellows. First jungle with Regrowth Pendant is sort of viable this way. I really wanted to use %health yellows to go with her passive, but it just doesn't work out. There's always Dominion, though.

Also, builds 1 and 2 were too similar, so I just got rid of 2 and tweaked 1.

5/18/12 -

Frozen Mallet is sort of so-so; it has utility, but I moved it to the end in the generic build 1. Often Permafrost and Exhaust used at proper times together with CDR is enough. It's good if you're ahead, but not quite tanky enough to rush if not.

Sejuani is pretty good in Dominion - also, Flash is nice

Dominion tends to be fast-paced. Mobility is priceless there. Hence Sejuani. I find her to be the easiest tank for me to play there, with her high mobility and somewhat DPS-heavy kit (for a tank). She's better when roaming, suddenly turning 2v2 into 3v2 wherever she appears next. It's great, and you don't have to let wolves and wraiths beat you half to death for 5-10 minutes every game.

Also, Dominion freed me from Smite, allowing me to learn the power of Flash.

Ok. Let me explain. A good opponent can block your escape, so that Arctic Assault can't save you. But it's a lot harder to do anything at all about a Flash + Arctic Assault combo. Just make sure you Flash past your obstacle and you have a clean leap ahead of you. You'll be half a screen away or more in under a second.

You probably won't get a chance to finish this build. Take Frozen Mallet earlier if you'd like to.

EDIT: About that jungle...

I didn't have any jungle experience before Sejuani, really. But I tried it on her, and it was a blessing, to borrow religious language. She tends to not do well in poke and DPS in lane, but turning a 2v2 into a 3v2 with a stun, a leap, and a blizzard is pretty brilliant.

The downside: Levels 1 and 2. As soon as she can QWE, she can clear wraiths and wolves rapidly, with golems being not too bad either; mana is an issue, but whatever; start with blue, maybe buy a Mana Potion or two on your first recall or two; a Sapphire Crystal can be worked in there somewhere early-ish, too. Before long, you'll be fine taking down Lizard. Soloing Dragon probably won't work, though.

Start at blue, and then do wolves and then wraiths. With all those potions, you can do golems and take the lizard helpers. Then you can do wolves again and then wraiths again, and that'll do, pig. From there, do whatever.

Items (Summoner's Rift)

Core

, optional and/or

You can swap out the boots for something else and add Negatron Cloak to the above. Or you can just add Negatron Cloak to the above in any case, depending on urgency. If you get that far, you'll have good tank stats with just a touch of health-heaviness, which is just what Sejuani wants, thanks to Northern Winds scaling.

Starting items

You will get more done in your first trip out to the jungle with these items than anything else. Unfortunately, Cloth Armor builds into Frozen Heart, but not into Glacial Shroud, meaning it will sit in your inventory looking pathetic and underused for a long time with the build given. Possible item choices to avoid this problem: , . Neither are my favorite.

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Regrowth Pendant and Health Potion can be tempting, building into an early Philosopher's Stone for some more GP10. However, the first trip out to jungle will hurt a *lot* and leave you susceptible to counterjungling if you go this route. You might even have to sit around waiting to regenerate health just to finish of Golems. I really hope Sejuani gets an early-game buff to make this item choice more tempting.

Mid-game items

Optional; we won't build it into anything here, but health + GP10 is useful.


You can reverse the order if you'd like, but I tend to go mad when my Q isn't ready soon enough. And by go mad, I mean feed during turret ganks and turret dives. Sej is pretty useless between cooldowns. Either way, you need to pwn everything and farm *both* of these items ASAP. It's sort of ok to take Frozen Mallet in place of Warmog's Armor for now, if you want to. But it's a bit squishy to do so, and you definitely need Philosopher's Stone for the sustain if you want to try this.

Late-game items

We're about done with the core items now (except for the optional choice of when to upgrade to Frozen Heart).
or

Frozen Mallet:

Finally, some real slows.

You will usually want to save your Permafrost until right after you can't hit them with Frozen Mallet anymore, allowing you to sustain a 40%+ slow for a really long time; don't hit E all at once like an eager noob. It's ok to hit Permafrost earlier than that if you don't have Frozen Mallet, though, because 10% is weaksauce.

/repeat

Also, the mallet probably isn't worth it if your team already has one, or if your team has other slows.

Banshee's Veil:

You might need this instead around now if you're up against AP or you just need a little help staying alive. You can also take an early Sunfire Cape at this point if you're trying to do damage while surviving AD from champs or turrets. Sunfire Cape would be a good advantage-pushing option. Frozen Mallet might not really be an option this early if you need MR. If you get the mallet, be more selective about engaging.

or
Now you're a pest. Those enemy AD carries should be hating you now that they can't get to their intended target, and they can't attack fast enough. Meanwhile, you're aura-poking them. Good times. Aren't you glad you got fed? Be sure to tell your bot lane support thanks for the wards for you.

Sunfire Cape for damage (aura + health scaling), or Frozen Heart if the thought of that aura is making you drool. Usually it's clear whether you need to speed up Frozen Heart or not.

Finishing a build

or
Choose two (if not taken earlier).

* Banshee's Veil is obviously good for dealing with fed AP carries; also makes you a bit harder to peel off. It's hard to pass this one up, given the low MR up until now. Negatron Cloak might need to be worked in earlier in the build.
* Abyssal Scepter is a great choice if you need MR. Should be taken after Banshee's Veil, not before or instead. Health --> damage, yo. The only exception would be if your team REALLY needed the aura. 120-something MR is often enough, but sometimes not; if not, get the scepter. It naturally works with Northern Winds, Sunfire Cape, and your AP carry, as well, making it my favorite AP item for Sejuani.
* Sunfire Cape is more appropriate if you're the only one who can tank turrets. This is perhaps the most vanilla option for a sixth item, especially if you're not getting AP bursted much.
* Rod of Ages gives a bit more burst; perhaps this is the most likely candidate for replacing with a second Warmog's. +%HP runes make such a replacement tempting. If the enemy AD carries are underfed, this can speed the game up. Extra mana makes up for not taking Philosopher's Stone, too.
* A second Warmog's Armor is sort of an option, given the health scaling on Northern Winds and your +%HP runes.
* Frozen Mallet if you didn't get it earlier. Probably not worth it if your team already has one of these, or if your team has other slows.

Items - Runners up (Summoner's Rift)

This is a decent MR item, granting MR, a unique passive synergizing with Warmog's Armor, and move speed. However, Banshee's Veil is more tempting to me because of the necessity of stacking health for Northern Winds. You might find the 8% move speed more useful to your play style, though.

If you're really good at using the active properly, this can be helpful. It can go with Shurelya's Reverie for CDR + active, and you will be able to get rid of Frozen Mallet and Frozen Heart, which then would be a bit redundant. However, this means you'll have at most 10% CDR ( Kindlegem) until you get rid of your GP10, and I don't like that much.

These choices are a bit dubious, but they let you backdoor in a pinch; otherwise, they're probably not worth it. Health stacking makes Atma's tempting, but in practice it just isn't that grand in fights. I used to have these as my two last items in my secondary build, but not anymore. Sejuani likes the idea of impaling Ashe, but meh, don't do it.

Ionic Spark provides a bit more health, a decent on-hit effect, and enough AS to make Atma's Impaler semi-worthwhile. They should probably be taken together if at all, and they synergize with Frozen Mallet... just not well enough for me to actually recommend them in general.

Let me repeat that I don't think this is optimal unless you love love LOVE to backdoor. Arctic Assault is a nice escape mechanism. You could even mix in Shurelya's Reverie + Randuin's Omen to be really slippery. But... I don't care for that; I'd rather tank.

The "I don't think so, Tim" tier

Everything you do is AoE. The Arctic Assault -> Permafrost combo already does 70% AoE slow, so the extra 15% isn't that great (counted at half effectivness, for a 7.5% slow... this multiplies out to a 70.75% slow, seriously). Sure there's AP, but I'd rather be a tank. This is sort of respectable because at least it's not a Deathcap or anything. But I think it's not worth it. Basically it'd only be good for slowing with Northern Winds, but I like to proc that alongside Permafrost anyway.

However, Rod of Ages has almost the same AP and health, making Rylai's not that bad of a choice, relatively speaking. If you're close to 18 already, you won't make much use of the RoA recovery passive, so you may as well build Rylai's instead in such a case. I personally don't like either of them that much, except on Dominion as a Warmog's substitute.

Considering how well her skills combo, there just isn't enough Sheen damage to go around. The other stuff is sort of tempting maybe, but not that tempting. Zeal is attractive-ish and helps with Atma's Impaler, but to me, at best that sounds like an option for a sixth item, with the understanding that the game's almost over.

Runes

Probably MPen marks, maybe AS if you want to experiment with Atma's. Your call. AS might not be used to the fullest in most games, as Atma's is at best a fifth or sixth item throwaway, but it does help you tag enemies with Frost a bit more easily. Also, dual pen is another option, if you plan to get Ionic Spark + Atma's Impaler.

Flat armor yellows are sort of the only way to make Regrowth Pendant work in jungle. I sort of want to take %health seals, but they just aren't that good... they barely beat out hp/lvl.

CDR/level glyphs because 8% from masteries and 20% from Frozen Heart leaves a little more than you can do with glyphs, getting you close to the maximum.

Movement quints and %health are strong options. Your call again.

Summoner Spells

or Ghost is really helpful, since your job is to stay close to enemies a lot. Flash can help you get past an enemy blocking your Arctic Assault escape dash. If you can avoid having your escape route cut off, and if you don't charge in at a bad time, you'll be ok with no Flash. Note that Arctic Assault lets you jump over walls and trees, when used correctly.

Because you don't have enough CC already. But seriously, I get it a lot. It's just that good.

Obligatory, since I insist on jungle with this champ. Not jungling? Then I get another champ.

Skill Sequence

All skills are tempting leveling options. Arctic Assault levels can save you because of the shorter cooldown. Northern Winds is your damage source. Permafrost isn't that good of a slow unless you take two or three levels. Usually I get everything to three, then max Northern Winds and then Arctic Assault. Northern Winds at levels 1 and 4, if I'm not ganking just yet, but a second level of Permafrost is taken if I'm about to gank early.

On Dominion, I tend to prioritize Arctic Assault slightly more just to be able to jump around the map faster. It tends to be necessary, with the fast pace of the game mode.

Masteries

1/21/8

Sorry, I did it like Phreak, and I know that's unfashionable or something. But resistances, health, movement, CDR, and gold are all available in a 1/21/8 setup, as well as both enhanced summoner spells.

You can also try 9/21/0, since with runes and Frozen Heart, this will put you right at 40% CDR and you'll get nifty MPen.

Play style

Seems pretty straightforward to play, actually...

* Don't waste your dash if you might need it to escape. If you don't have the upper hand, then dashing in could be a very bad idea.

* Note that Northern Winds does more damage if frost is applied, and Permafrost doesn't affect unfrosted targets. Auto-attack to apply frost, or use Arctic Assault to splash at the end of the dash or at your first champ collision. So if you have several targets, you can indeed lead with your dash, following with your W and E... But only if it's safe.

* Don't use Permafrost too soon. If you ult, Permafrost right as they recover from the stun. You'll waste part of your slow if you chain them too close together. See also my remarks about Frozen Mallet and Permafrost; I made these remarks twice already in blue.

* About that ult... Your call. If you've been playing for long, you should have enough of a general idea of when to ult, and this champ's ult isn't so unique as to be mind-bending or anything. It should already feel familiar. As it is with anyone else, it's pointless to harass with your ult if it's just going to be a damage trade that doesn't go anywhere. Something really interesting should be going on, like you have enough to finish it, or you have to stop them. Initiating a teamfight is one use as well, but usually you'll want to wait for a decent shot on two or more targets, or a really good shot on one squishy target.

* You can ult and then Arctic Assault over a wall. It is one of the most devastating turret dive initiates in the game, if they're noob enough to be in position for it.

* You're a tank. A little AP is ok, but the cooldowns are longish and the scalings don't add up to enough. You can experiment with Rod of Ages or even Rylai's Crystal Scepter if you want, but I think damage that comes from tank stats is better.

* About that jungle - note that W and E require permafrost, so for the wraiths, I like to dash in, hit W and E, and attack the big one. They all generally die around the same time. If you need a second Northern Winds, you can auto-attack the smaller ones once each to get Frost on them again. QWE clears minion waves rapidly, too. Watch your mana, and don't steal from your carries if they're around.

* Experiment with the dash. Sometimes you can jump over walls. This can save your life, or in other cases, it can box in an enemy.

Pros/Cons

Pros

* Long-range dash, one of the longest in the game
* Slowslowslowslowslow stun slowslowslow
* Clears wraith camp particularly well at 2+, so you can swing by sometime and pick up a few gold occasionally
* Teamfight not wanting to start? Hit R. A lot of stuff will happen every time.
* 4k+ health with a full build (with this setup)
* Ult is a fairly easy skillshot, broad as a barn door, and devastating when it catches them flat-footed

Cons

* No free tank stats
* Expensive builds, hard to finish. Things don't really get good until mid-to-late game.
* Compared to other champs, not quite so much versatility seems to exist in her kit, despite its general team helpfulness. She can perma-slow and engage/disengage whenever she feels like it, and that's pretty much what she does.
* Simply can't tanky DPS quite like a real tanky DPS, and can't quite tank like a real tank. (It still sort of works, as there's some power in that tank-tanky DPS grey area. Team coordination is a must.)
* A missed ult is a terrible thing, as she's a bit weak without the threat of R available.

Ultimately, I feel like she needs just a little bit of attention from Riot. An early-game buff, a passive buff, a speed buff... something would be nice. Anything. I'm not sure what. But she's definitely playable.

Chillin' in my Dominion! - Possible starts

Pretty vanilla. A nice compromise between mobility, sustain, and tankiness. I recommend it. Great for tanking turrets and being a pest with Northern Winds.

Not quite as tanky, but CDR has great utility. You'll want Kindlegem anyway, and this lets you rush other items instead of blowing gold on Doran's Shield.

Great passive, with the obvious drawback that you can't get boots. You might want Ghost. This is a decent choice for playing defensively in bot and just farming tons of creeps, but up top, it's probably better to be mobile and ganky.

Chllin' in my Dominion!

* Fair fights aren't your friend. If you can gank, do it.

* You are one of the better Hextech Sweeper users, if the option to take it comes up. Karthus might be the best, though, with Defile. Take it fairly early if you need it, starting with Kindlegem if the enemy has two or more of those obnoxious stealth buggers.

* More damage than usual is taken here because of the skirmishy nature of Dominion. Less teamfights mean that your damage is more valuable.