Hi, I'm absolute.0. The author of AP Master Yi - The need to Know Guide and Lux's Q & A - Ask me anything Guide.

Currently placed at Silver1: Teemo's Scout with more than 1,000 wins on my Normal Queue.

This is my 3rd Guide here at Mobafire and i decided to write about Orianna.

The objective of this guide:
- For you to better understand Orianna.
- For me to learn from your comments ^^
- For your enemy to fear you.

I would really like to hear your comments at the end of reading more than up/down votes.
Gives me something better to think through
(Don't get me wrong though, not being hypocrite, I'd LOOOOVE some upvotes.)

Orianna's lore is one of my favorite among those lore out there.
Do look it up if you don't already know.

Here's a little synopsys (great, now i'm imitating movies.)



Corin Reveck loves her daughter, Orianna has talent for dancing but, she wanted something more.
Drawn by her facination to the League of Legends she set out to train herself and join them someday.

Things did not go as she planned.

One of her training leads her to her own demise.


Driven by grief, Corin secluded himself from the others, obsessed himself with technology.
Still his outlet is not enough to fill the void left by his daughter's death. He still misses his beloved daughter which leads him to a decision.
He decided to build one. One that would complete the dream of his daughter, he then created

Orianna.

Hmm.. So you might be wondering what v2.0 means...
you see, while i said this is my third guide, it's actually my 4th published guide.
the one before this is also an Orianna guide, an unfinished partial draft that i published.

That said, the guide still has a lot of stuff to be added and some changes to be made and basically lack a lot of things. For example, the guide before this one max Command: Dissonance over Command: Attack, but thanks to some people's comment that made me rethink Orianna's kit, i now max Command: Attack first. More on ability later.
So then i archived the previous one and re-release this (hopefully) better version of the 1st published draft.

Hence. My Orianna - A Deadly Clockwork version two point oh. o_O

I think the question you gotta ask is, "Why not her?"
(yeah, I'm quoting Moose from Step Up: Revolution. Bite me.)

Orianna has a very unique play style, all revolves around The Ball which is what first caught my attention. Let's see....

Glorious Rising Pros
+Above average range.
+Partial Support.
+Can scout with Command: Attack.
+1 Shield in form of Command: Protect is a gem.
+1 Soft CC in form of Command: Dissonance is a rare gem.
+1 Hard CC in form of Command: Shockwave is an even rarer gem!!!
+All ability does damage!!! aaaaaaand...
+All ability does AOE damage!!!
+She can dance.


Tragic Downfall Cons
-Vulnerable to gap closer when the Ball is thrown.
-High learning curve due to her unique mechanism.
-Her skins ONLY looks nice but has no change in animation on abilities.

Now, seeing those pros and cons. What do you think? I think the pros very much makes up every cons right? i mean:

Con #1 can be avoided by learning positioning yourself, knowing the leash range and positioning the Ball.
Con #2 is something that obsoletes over time and practice.
Con #3... err.. well.. no remedy for that unless Riot says so. Just hope they release a nice Summer Skin. Just imagine.... Human Orianna in bikinis with a beach ball, with Frisbee for AA.

Anyways... hold that daydreaming and let's proceed to the next chapter, shall we?

The runes i put up there are the runes I use, not because their best for Orianna, but simply because i bought those runes a long time ago and i only have 2 rune page so that's the runes i use for all my AP champion.

You already have your standard AP Champion runes, are you really gonna make a new rune page, buy new runes, and arrange them just specially for her?

If you do then Continue reading.

If you decided you don't want hassle and will use your standard runes then skip this page because it won't have much impact on you.
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Marks
These are rune that specialize in Offence, AD user benefits from these most.
There are also marks that grants ability power but they're only secondary runes in the Marks Category, But since this category is offence, MPen is a primary rune here.

Seals
The Defence runes, primary runes in this area are for tanks. Not saying that you can't buy them, just making it easier to categorize these runes... Magic Resist and Armor Runes are Primary here. They also have AP, AP per level and Flat Mana seals albeit being secondary. And note that, even though Seals are considered to be defence runes, Magic resist is just secondary in this section.

Glyphs
The Magic runes. The runes are AP Champions best friend!! whether Flat AP Runes or AP Per level Runes, this section will cover you. Magic resist is also a primary here.

Quintessences
This is the Utility runes. These runes provides most stat of everything.. whether you want AP, AD (no!! you don't want that!!!) move speed, mana, whatever.. one of these is equal or higher than 3 of any glyph, mark or seal.
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Now. I don't believe that there's a FIXED way for ANY champion when it comes to runes.
Runes are subjective. It all depends on how you play.

If you're someone who's aggressive then playing Orianna you'll need:
- Flat AP runes
- Magic Penetration
- Movement Speed

Or, if you are snowballing. Go for:
- AP per Level Runes
- Armor or
- Magic resist

In the end, It's all up to you really.

I put a section of my AP YI guide below in the spoiler to explain the runes i use.

Been using them for quite some time for all my AP Champs and have no plans at the moment to change them... ^^

My masteries are quite simple, Just follow the side of the offence tree that is AP Friendly,

Please note that i also took Fury for increase attack speed which benefits my Clockwork Windup.
(Can be replaced with Havoc . For over-all damage output.)
Durability for a bit health.
and Resistance since you'll most likely be facing against AP in mid lane.
Lastly, Summoner's Insight for -15 sec on our Flash.

Something I want to clarify.
Normally Mastery Page goes 21-9-0, the reason mine is 22-7-1 is because:

• I put 1 point in Summoner's Insight for that -15 sec CD, If you wanted to have that 1 point in Veteran's Scars then you would have to give up Summoner's Insight .
• If you take Ignite, remove 1 point from Fury to Summoner's Wrath .

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Personally, I take:

Teleport is a nice spell, it allows you to gank other lane faster than your mid opponent can call "MIA!!!"
Flash for utility. early phase of the game Command: Dissonance just isn't good enough for escaping ganks. And it give you over-wall flexibility for chasing/escaping...

Other viable option are:

Ignite, it's a good (too good) offensive spell that deals true DOT AND!!! reduces those pesky healing abilities your enemies might have. (Hi Swain!!)

Barrier for survivability, because Command: Protect should be use for your ally most of the time.

Exhaust if you're support.

Spells that you DON'T need:

Clarity gives you mana regen. you need mana regen.. but we have Chalice of Harmony so we don't need Clarity and believe me, you'd still run out of mana even if you get this considering it's cooldown. Besides, who at level 30 still use this spell? right! no one...
( I did use this on Caitlyn when i feel like annoying my lane enemy, they just hate it when i'm an ADR yet i can almost spam my Piltover Peacemaker every 10 sec like an AD caster. hehehe. useless when laning is over though ahaha)

Ghost... I don't recommend this because you don't really need THAT much mobility.. you already have Command: Dissonance for speed boost and Flash can go over-walls!!

Heal uhh... heal can be countered by Ignite unlike Barrier so i suggest the latter. Unless you want to heal other than yourself... then go for it..

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This innate ability allows Orianna to also harass with her AA, not many AP Mid champion can do that. Abuse this!!! This also scales with 15% of your ability power so it's presence doesn't diminish over time. This, in conjunction with Spellsword will deal 20% of your ability power in every hit!!! Ok. 20% might not be that much but hey... "when life gives you lemon, you make lemonade." Besides, some other AP champions have useless innate so consider yourself lucky, (Don't glare at me LeBlanc, you know your passive sucks and has little utility.)

Think of it this way.
Attacking 3x at a single target will deal 60% of your ability power (not counting your attack damage and base damage of Clockwork Windup.


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This is your "Q" ability which allows you to move The Ball. This deals damage to all enemies it pass through but decreases by 10% for every enemy hit.
This is also your "Zoning" ability. If your opponent knows Orianna he'll be avoiding this ability because he knows standing near The Ball will be bad for him. I always imagine my Ball like a spiked ball or a floating blade, hurt anyone it touches when i move it.
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Note: Maxing this ability allows you to move The ball more often (every 3 sec w/o CDR at max rank.) giving you more damage and flexibility on Ball positioning.


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This ability can slow down/speed up your enemies/allies respectively. Very straight forward skill.
To better understand:
To your allies, the movement modifier is like Jayce's Acceleration Gate, to your enemies, it's like Singed's Mega Adhesive.
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This is an ability that shields you or your ally for a substantial amount and it also leaves The Ball attach to your ally if you cast this on them.
Remember that it also deals damage as it pass any enemy.
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Note: Sometimes (very rare.) you might want to max this over Command: Dissonance, doing so will increase the shield amount and the damage to enemy it pass through but remember that the cooldown of this ability remains at 9 sec at all level.


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A make or break ultimate that let Orianna turn the tide of the battle!! (No Nami, not even your tidal wave can stop Ori.)
This ultimate flings every enemy inside it's range towards The Ball at a fixed distance.

Important: What do i mean by fixed distance? it means, if you're on the outer edge of The Ball you'll be fling and land in the middle.
But, if you happen to be at the center of it right on top of The Ball. You'll be thrown outward towards the edge instead.
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Why I max Command: Attack over Command: Dissonance?
Hmm... The reason for maxing Command: Attack first are:

- Mana cost, it's mana cost remains at 50 at all level so you will less likely suffer from mana starvation.
- Damage scaling is good. Just avoid diminishing it by hitting too many targets.
- 3 Sec. Cooldown at max rank without CDR. Allows you to move The Ball 1 - 2 more times in between Command: Dissonance.

Now, because i can't do some fancy math i will try to make a simple math table. Do correct me if i'm wrong please.

I'll use 300 AP for my rough scetch. And since we'll max Command: Attack by level 9, that'll leave us with level 2 Command: Dissonance.

Command: Attack at max rank deals 180 (150) = 330 damage/3sec CD/50 mana
Command: Dissonance at level 2 deals 115 (210) = 325 damage/9sec/80 mana

Assuming you use Q-W-Q-Q-Q-W sequence, thats
1970 damage &
360 Mana Cost in about
10 sec
WOW, now let's turn the table to Command: Dissonance's favor.

At level 9 with 300 AP you got
Command: Attack at level 2 that deals 90(150) = 240 Dmg/5.25 CD/50 Mana
Command: Dissonance at max rank deals 250(210) = 460 Dmg/9 CD/110 Mana

With this leveling, I use the Q-W-Q-W, which deals
1400 damage &
320 mana in about
9 sec

So you see, maxing Command: Attack first gives you 570 more damage within the same (or almost the same) time and at only 40 more mana.
when you're laning, or even after laning and simply harassing, just Q-Q-Q-Q sequence using the same elements will deal...

1320 Damage in
9 Sec using only
200 mana. XD


Typically, you want to max Command: Protect over Command: Dissonance when you're against melee with gap closer who really, really hurts when they can get up close and personal like Talon or Fizz, the bonus armor and Mres together with the shield should be able to keep you from dying.

But don't be over confident. Stay at a safe distance.

Even with the benefits of Command: Protect they can still kill you if you try to trade attack with them. Just Q-Q-Q-Q your enemy and try to stay at maximum range.
If they can't reach you, they can't kill you.


It's still viable to max W first, in which case you should build like a burst mage* rather sustain damage caster because of Command: Dissonance cooldown, you'd want to kill them as soon as possible.

Besides, the above arithmetic is calculated at 9~10 sec damage, maxing W first deals more damage with just Q-R-W-Q combo. (an all out burst combo)

Stay away from tanks and tankies**


*See build option 2: Burst Mage.
**Tank-Kee
noun: Person who isn't a tank, but has considerable amount of HP and/or Defense Stats.
Adj: Tank-ing, to be tanky, tank-like?

In this section, i will explain why i build Orianna the way i build her. It might not be perfect, but i find it suits me. That's why i recommend these item.
I have heard some people said that Orianna can burst people down with her combo. Not true.
Orianna can take out a HUGE chunk of your enemies HP but she can't kill them in one All-Out combo, She has to continually move the ball around in a clash, AA to utilize her Clockwork Windup and move around herself to stay alive and repeat. Re-rinse, Rewind and remix.
My build focus on being a sustain damage mage, who can wreck havoc if left unattended.
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This is the 1st item i build on Orianna,the magic resist is good against mid laners but that's not the reason behind this. If you have played Orianna even once you'll know just how fast she can run out of mana, the unique passive of Chalice of Harmony increases your regeneration the lower you mana gets, about 7.5 to 8.5 per sec when you drop to 10-15% of your mana pool. NOTE: The only reason we buy this item is purely for mana regen only, I personally don't recommend rushing Athene's Unholy Grail. you can leave the Chalice of Harmony until later in game when you got other core items. Not saying you can't though. if you're still running out of mana (which you shouldn't.) or you want CDR for some reason then you probably should rush Athene's Unholy Grail.

Once you have your Chalice of Harmony purchased and you mana problem is therefore solved, This is the best shoes for Orianna, I do not recommend using Ionian Boots of Lucidity because Ori doesn't benefit from CDR as much as other champions do. Aim for Mpen for more damage.

this item was introduced to us at the start of S3 and i learned to love this on my sustain damage champ. This item does damage regardless of whether you're attacking Tanks, Support, ADCs or whatever. It simply deals Current HP % damage!!! since all of your skills are AOE, it makes Liandry's Torment hurt a lot of people in a clash. Also, Command: Dissonance impairs movement which make this item deals double damage. With ability power, HP and MPen on the side. Sweet! NOTE: If for some miracle the enemies have no machos in their line-up, like Pantheon, Singed or Darius. If they're all very squishy, I suggest skip this item and go straight for Rabadon's Deathcap.

This is my complimentary build to Liandry's Torment, before i don't really build this on Ori since all her ability comes in AOE, this items slow will always be halve, but due to Liandry's Torment dealing double damage to movement impaired units, even 1% slow is good enough for it's purpose. Now even your Command: Attack and Command: Protect slows and hurt all the more due to Liandry's Torment passive. Plus it also give some HP, also nice. NOTE: Not recommended if you decided to skip Liandry's Torment.

Every AP caster MUST HAVE THIS. This item increases you AP by a hefty amount. And the best is, this items unique passive increases your over all AP by 30%!!! every AP points you got in your mastery, runes and item will burgeon in size!! even Sona's and baron 's buff will be taken into account. o_O

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Items I did not mention in my build is listed down here, some are good addition to the build, some i just don't like but could be added. think carefully if you want to replace some item in my build.
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Rod of Ages: A nice item that makes you a bit tanky yet takes time to reach full potential, and expensive, which delays some of my core item.

Abyssal Mask: Normally you wouldn't want this item because of it's Mres deduction range is quite small, but if you're against melee AP Carry like Diana or Fizz this can be a good defence/offence item.

Deathfire Grasp: Not normally built on an AOE sustain mage. But cdr and ap addition is nice.

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Mejai's Soulstealer: I love and hate this item, love it, because if you manage to stack 10 and above, they (the enemy) will be stunned (figuratively) at the damage you can dish out. Hate it, because it puts a "KILL ME!!" sign above your head (again, figuratively).

Void Staff: Best item in my opinion to add if the game drags on, The Mpen will increase your damage output and makes Liandry's Torment DOT hurts more.

Will of the Ancients: I've been thinking of adding this item in my build for a time now imagining with almost unlimited mana ( ) i can have almost unlimited HP regen with this, but... can't seem to insert it when playing.. IDK.

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Zhonya's Hourglass: If you're being focused no matter how hard you try to distance yourself, you might want to buy this somewhere along the way.

Twin Shadows: Mres, good. Move speed, nice. Active, Why would you need it? buy sight ward instead. It can be an offensive item though.... hmm...

Lich Bane: Another item that i wish i could add to my inventory, gives a good burst to those foolish enough to get close to you. o_O

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Malady: nice synergy with Clockwork Windup, But i don't recommend building item with only your passive in mind.

Here, I will explain my purchase order when you're playing support.


Hmm... To start with, following the masteries I put up for the support role, you'll have

525 starting gold,
1 Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation &
1 Explorer's Ward.

Now, with that 525 gold you would be able to buy:

1 Faerie Charm ~ 180 gold
1 Vision Ward ~ 125 gold
2 sight ward ~ 150 gold
2 Health or Mana Potion ~ 70 gold
Total cost of 525 ^^

These starting items gives you 530 HP regen if you buy Health Potions & 4 wards with a bit mana regen on the side.


As shown above, your first recall items are:

You can buy these items with 745 gold. Without killing, assist or CS, your passive gold earning will reach 756 gold at 08:30 mins of the game. Enough for you to buy the above-said items.
each hit of auto attack with Pickpocket will decrease the time for you to buy them by 2 sec. utilize it. Assisting on an early kill or CS reduce it drastically.



Prioritize. Buy what's important first.
sight ward takes highest priority,
then Sapphire Crystal.
Completing Tear of the Goddess takes lowest priority for a premature recall.

Even as a support, perhaps more so as a support. Orianna is still a mana hungry champion, normally as AP mid I would buy Chalice of Harmony but since we're playing support now, this is the cheaper alternative. Can be built into Archangel's Staff later in game.

Better for your current role, more flexibility with spell. We're gonna aim for max CDR so we can move the Ball and Shield our ally more often. If you think you don't need max CDR, buy Sorcerer's Shoes instead.

Because we can't afford expensive Ability Power items now. We buy this. Liandry's Torment deals damage regardless how much AP we have. (which is not much. ~_~)

Decent AP, CDR that, paired with our boots and mastery reaches 40% CDR(actually it reach 45%), mana regen and passive that halves healing to targets below 40% HP.

This build give us max CDR to utilize our ability, mana and mana regen so we won't be useless after right after a battle. A bit AP paired with Liandry's Torment to hurt enemy even when supporting.



You could build like a traditional support, up to you really.
But as it is, you already have a speed modifier, isn't taking Shurelya's Battlesong a bit redundant?
on the other hand, your shield, together with all your other skill, including your passive. Scales with AP.

Let's face it, you are not a traditional support.
You are an AP Carry who is partially support, I would not have recommend you to go bot lane.
But if for some reason (Hopefully not because some low elo player insta-lock on Annie.) you are going to play support role, aim for AP items that have cheap components.

The idea is to support your ADR early in game then transcend to being an AP carry late game.
This build makes you a threat to the enemy and not just someone who stands behind and give off auras. It also splits your enemies attention 'cause now they have 2 AP Carry to worry over.

DO NOT FORGET TO WARD!!!!!



Personal preference.
Having Sightstone saves me money but in effect it occupies 2 of my item slots, Sightstone gives you unlimited wards, the downside of it is that you can only drop 2 at a time, having 2 active ward on the map is not nearly as helpful as having 4~5 ward up. Only early game I can handle with two wards, later I often have up to five wards at the same time out, so I have to use one spot for that stone and one for wards, leaving me with four other item-slots, which really is not that much.

Pick Orianna of course, that's why you're reading this right? sheesh..


Go to the restroom, make sure you pee before the game start so you don't have to get up anytime soon, and make yourself a cup of coffee if one of the player has slow loading dumb computer.

A cup of coffee is beneficial to you because:

1. Coffee lowers heart attack rate, when the game gets too exciting, you'd be glad you have made that coffee.
2. Coffee does not raise blood pressure so you won't shout at people when they die cause of a mistake.
3. Caffeine Increases Power & Strength Performance, everybody knows that. (unless you don't then i guess it's not everybody.)
4. Caffeine Increases Motivation & Reaction Time, So when Fizz suddenly throw that Chum the Waters at you you'd react almost by instinct and press F to Flash.

You're probably thinking I've gone loony or trolling right now.



To start, i recommend:

2x Faerie Charms and 3x Health Potions, this provides better mana regen than a Doran's Ring(not counting it's passive) and gives you a nice HP regen to stay in lane longer.

Other starting item could be:

1x Faerie Charm 2x sight ward and 4x Health Potion
A bit mana regen, a couple ward to be safe and better HP regen than the 1st option.

1x Boots and 3x Health Potion
For more mobility against skill shot enemy and again, HP regen. Doesn't gives you mana regen though so be frugal about throwing your skills. every point of mana counts!!

Just Doran's Ring. It gives you 15AP, 80HP and a bit mana regen, and a passive that returns 5 mana per unit killed. Not really recommended as your 1st item.



Farm. take at least 4 minion every wave. 5 including siege minion.
Aim for that. But basically, out-farm your opponent.

Take note of who your enemy jungler is and what's his spell and ability.
Doing so allows you to know if you can afford to extend more than usual.

Say for example their jungler is Warwick who takes Smite and Ignite.
This set up allows you to extend a bit more because their jungler has absolutely no CC.
Just be wary of your lane opponent's CC though. And don't extend too much.
even without any CC if you have to run a long way to reach your tower you could still die.

Pay attention to missing enemy on other lanes, being surprise by a Blitzcrank from bot lane is not something you will like.

If a jungler does came. What you do is quickly recall the Ball using Command: Protect then cast Command: Dissonance.

-BUT- If the said jungler has a gap closer (ie Xin Zhao), move the Ball in front of him using Command: Attack then cast Command: Dissonance.

Call MIA whenever you can't see your lane opponent. the moment you don't see him.
Follow him/her if you know which lane he's going to counter gank.

Also pay attention to your opponent's starting item.
If he starts with a Doran's Ring then it's already in your favor because he can't stay in the lane long due to lack of sustain. It also means you can trade a bit since you can sustain yourself.

Or, if they start with boots and 3 Health Potion, then that means you have same amount of HP regen. He's advantage is he's quicker, your's is that you have mana regen via Faerie Charm.

For most (or probably all) match-ups, your asset is your range, kinda like Lux.
Range is your meter of success in lane.

The closer you are to an enemy the higher the risk of you dying.
The farther you are the better for you.

Note: These are only general idea of laning phase. Please refer to the "Match-Up" section for more info.



After laning, your goal will be to take down towers.

Gaining kills are great but tower takes priority.
Leave split pushing to those who are more suitable for the job.

Help your support warding the map.

DON'T FREAKING RELY ON 1 GUY TO DO ALL THE WARDING!!!

Seriously. Mid game (actually it's all throughout) is when you want to have most map control.
Relying on your support to ward is sheer stupidity.
The guy have no kills and minimal CS (if any). You are the one with most earning.

Yes it's understandable that we needed the gold to buy our core items but please!!
Make sure you have extra gold when you recall .
that 75 gold can save lives!

So basically, Take down towers. Wards.
If you never have to fight to take down their turret then fine! (although that's kinda boring)
If you have 0 kills yet you manage to destroy their turret then it's ok. (for me)
If you manage to destroy their turret but got killed in the process it's worth it.
(So long as it's only you. 2 or 3 lives for 1 turret is a bad bargain.)



In a team fight, your role is to stand far far away from the area as is possible.

Move the Ball whenever your Command: Attack is off cooldown.
But don't just cast it like crazy. make the Ball chase priority target and squishies that are within your reach.

Likewise cast Command: Dissonance under them whenever possible and shield ally that are being focused on with Command: Protect.

Casting Command: Shockwave should be done when it can catch the most enemy.
That is the basic rule.

If you can't catch 'em all (Pokemon!) then settle for the one your team is focusing but try to hit 2 or 3 at the least.

If there are any enemy who have channeling ability like Nunu & Willump or Katarina save it for them.

If you can do all those on the other side of the wall then so much better!
You will not be revealed inside the fog of war when casting abilities so there's no way for them to retaliate. Just don't use your auto-attack if you want to use this strategy cause that will reveal you.

Disclaimer notice: Information written herein is base on my personal view of the champions.
These infos are not perfect. Or might not be to your liking.
If you see any errors or have any suggestions feel free to comment on it and I'll see to it. o_O
Also note that these infos are for early laning phase of the game.

So.. This concludes my Orianna guide. For now.

As you can see I'm still not one with the match-up section but I'll be working on them.

Questions, Corrections and Suggestions are very much appreciated.



5-25-13: Published!!!