Sejuani Build Guide by sirrahbk

Guide History

01-26-2012
-Updated the Mark runes to use Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
-Removed Phage and Frozen Mallet from the Purchase Order
-Added a Solo Top section to the Early Gameplay chapter

01-23-2012
-Genesis!

Intro

There are a wide range of Sejuani guides out there ranging from jungling to AP/off tank, but I haven't come across a pure tank Sejuani that truly does her justice. With her moderate damage and mediocre to awful AP scaling, I believe that Sejuani's main roles should be as a jungler or as a tank.

My experience with jungling is still pretty low, so this guide will be focusing exclusively on tanking as a solo top or a duo lane. This is my first guide I've posted, so any constructive feedback will help me (and hopefully others who read this later).

Finally, I would like to stress that this isn't a typical build, but meant as an INFORMATIVE GUIDE. In my experience, adhering to a strict build (as a tank) for every game will produce varying results (example: having a Frozen Heart against a heavy AP team may not be the best route). I try to address this as best as I can in the Items section and any tips in improving the information is greatly appreciated!

Masteries

For the most part, the masteries are self-explanatory. There are a few that are interchangeable:

: I mainly have a point in this slot for the extra early gold you'll yield from assists (and if you can manage, from kills too). I can see this being relocated to Evasion or Summoner's Wrath (if you choose Exhaust or Ghost as one of your spells.

: If you don't have Flash or Clairvoyance, you'd do well to reassign this point to Expanded Mind so you can still net the full amount of points into Swiftness .

Runes

While I initially picked the greater mark of desolation, I've given the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration a little more game time and realized how much more potent her abilities Northern Winds and Permafrost become with some magic pen sprinkled into the mix.


Greater Seal of Armor, at 1.41 per seal, is almost on par with starting with a Cloth Armor and with the removal of the dodge runes this is a shoe-in.


In the glyph department, I usually run Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for all of my tank builds, and Sejuani is no exception. I go with the scaling as opposed to the flat runes for three reasons:

1. Early game laning phases will hardly see the benefits of getting an extra 13 magic resist. If you are being harassed so heavily by an AP champ that early, you need to play more passively and rush your Mercury's Treads. By getting so much damage that early, they're having to spam their abilities, which drains their mana (for the mana dependent) so it'll only be sporadic as opposed to the more consistent physical damage you'll take.

2. Mercury's Treads, in most cases, will cover your magic resist needs for the laning phase.

3. You will have games where the enemy's AP champ is a non-factor and their AD is carrying like a truck. Having the 24 magic resist late game will help shore your defense from AP while you tailor your item build for more armor.


Things become less clear cut in this section. I have Greater Quintessence of Armor selected because the extra 12 armor makes you more durable early game, but there's a few others that could elevate Sejuani's effectiveness.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed can help curb some of her sluggishness. When I obtain a full set of these, I plan on testing it out to see how much it helps her chasing early game.

Greater Quintessence of Gold could benefit Sejuani as well. The extra 3 gold per 10 seconds, in combination of Philosopher's Stone and Heart of Gold, will get you 13 gold per 10 seconds. With this extra income, you can speed up some of your more pressing items or, more importantly, afford a ward every minute. This could help also if you're laning with a partner and don't want to heavily impose on their farming.

Summoner Spells

: This spell is self-explanatory. Good for escape and great for chasing. If you master jumping over walls and cliffs, this in combination with Arctic Assault will make you hard to catch and harder still to escape from. Due to the excessive cool down, it would be better to use it after Arctic Assault in most situations.

: This will not only allow you to pick up items more frequently without sacrificing significant lane time, but it will help you minimize enemy backdoor action. If your team is punctual about laying down wards, it can help to set up for some excellent ganks.


When laned with a partner, your summoner spells aren't as clear-cut. When in doubt, you can go with Flash and Teleport. There are solid alternatives, however.

: It has a shorter cool down, which means you don't have to be as shy about using it. The removal of unit collision makes a HUGE difference, especially during the laning phase. If you're on point with Arctic Assault then having Flash may be redundant, and Ghost will help with your movement speed woes.

: With your built-in slow, you would pick this for the armor and magic resist debuff. The damage redux will save your laning partner from potential lethal damage, too. However, it would be redundant for both you and your laning partner to pick this.

: Not only will your jungler love you, but you can use this to set up for some deadly ganks. Use it to check a bush, confirm an enemy is present, then initiate with Arctic Assault or Glacial Prison (depending on your distance). The enemy being in the bush will have them thinking offensively, so turning the tables so quickly will startle them enough to set up for a potential kill.

: Pretty silly to use by herself, but it will more than likely help to secure a few early game kills for your laning partner (and sometimes yourself). Like Exhaust, getting two of them in one lane is redundant.

: You would get this if your partner is squishy, and it would serve little purpose late game. Grab it if you know it'll assist your teammate, because it more than likely won't benefit you much.


: With this build, you wouldn't be able to capitalize on the AP boost and you don't do nearly enough damage for the attack speed to matter.

: If you're spamming your abilities to the point where you need Clarity then you're not using your abilities properly.

Skill Sequence

: A great multipurpose ability. Chase, escape, initiate, and slow are the obvious uses, hence why it should be selected first. Aside from the lowered cool down, however, there is little incentive to level it above the other abilities past level 1. For the mana cost of later levels versus damage output and the static range across all levels (700), it should be dedicated as a utility ability.

: A nice chip damage ability that works well with her passive, health, Arctic Assault, and Permafrost. A constant 40 mana cost across all levels and 6 second duration has me leveling it above Arctic Assault, but not before Permafrost.

: Your bread and butter. Maxing this ability first will punish any straggler you gank and makes escape nearly impossible for anyone you focus. Capping at a staggering 70% movement speed redux and 260 BASE magic damage makes it an excellent anti-escape mechanism. Designate your target, dash in, hit Permafrost and the enemy will be guaranteed to die.

: A skill shot, but an excellent trap mechanic. Time it right and you can ensnare the whole enemy team (or its primary troublemakers). Use it as an initiator, cancel an enemy's retreat, or even a tool to cover your escape from a faster champion.

Items (Core)

You may notice that the item sequence at the top of the page is incomplete for 4 items. This was done on purpose because for a successful tank THERE IS NO SET BUILD FOR EVERY GAME. There are typical builds, yes, and for the most part the enemy team is fairly balanced between AD and AP. However, being able to actively alter and tailor your tank build based not only the enemy team but their performance throughout the game will elevate you to a great tank and a huge asset to your team.

For the beginning, there's two optimal ways to proceed: Cloth Armor or Regrowth Pendant. Whenever I'm laning, I almost always start with the Regrowth Pendant because your armor from your masteries and runes should be plenty to start and the pendant will help your sustainability, allowing you to stay in lane long enough to earn more gold in between trips. For this, the core items tend to look like this:


You'll start with the pendant and 1 health pot and ideally port back when you have 715, which will buy you your Philosopher's Stone and basic boots. There are times where your farming is compromised or your laning partner is leaving little scraps, so don't be shy to go at 365 gold to get a Philosopher's. Getting that ASAP will help your sustain (health AND mana) and curb some of your gold problems.


There are times where the enemy team picks a jungler with a predictable route and your team is confident enough to disrupt their jungle from the start. If you're expecting a level 1 slug fest, you need to be at your strongest. Picking up a Cloth Armor and 5 health pots will see you through most of what the enemy team initially throws your way. Barring an ace on your team, you should have enough assist (or kill) gold to immediately port back and pick up a Regrowth Pendant or basic boots, depending on how well your team did. Either way, you want to rush a Philosopher's like normal because a successful team fight won't mean much if you don't have the sustain to keep applying pressure.

Items (continued)

At this point you need to evaluate how the game's going. How's your laning partner doing (if you're not solo lane)? What enemy champion is being fed? How well are you farming in your lane? There are crucial items to build (and should be built ideally for every game) but the real trick is WHEN to buy them.

If you're having trouble getting quality farm, it's time to build up to a Heart of Gold. Combined with your Philosopher's Stone, you'll be earning 1 extra gold per second. While not fabulous, it'll give you more breathing room and allow you to attempt a couple of ganks without losing out too badly on gold.

If your laning partner is moping up any opposition, you may entertain picking up a Giant's Belt or a Phage. Both items offer better sustain and build into better items later in the game if needed ( Giant's Belt into Warmog's Armor or Sunfire Cape and Phage into Frozen Mallet) and will allow you to feed your teammate more kills.

Are the enemy AP champs starting to shine? Gear up for a Mercury's Treads and your current armor stats should allow you to grab a Negatron Cloak before a Chain Vest.

If the enemy team is pushing a lot of physical damage, grab a Ninja Tabi followed by a Chain Vest. Grabbing a Giant's Belt will help you as well if you can afford it.

Aside from the boots (you only benefit from choosing one), you should have all of this gear at some point.

Advanced Items

Take a quick breather, reassess the situation and build accordingly. There are a great many tools available to help counter the enemy, but you have to be careful not to double up on unique abilities (example: Having 2 Frozen Heart on your team would be redundant as the passive aura doesn't stack). Below I'll list the items that will best compliment Sejuani and why they should be purchased.

: A great hybrid item combining health and offense. At 700 health it initially ranks 220 health below Warmog's Armor, but it makes up for it with its additional 40% movement speed redux on your basic attacks. That's 50% slow every 3 seconds you hit an enemy, up from Sejuani's 10% passive. This will make escaping turn from difficult to impossible, as their average move speed will be significantly lower, especially while Permafrost is on cool down.

Buy it when: your survivability is respectable and you have trouble keeping the faster enemies down.


: A situational item, but excellent in that it's a triple threat: armor, health, and magic damage. This item will give you better damage as you chase and slow an enemy, and will make your farm that much faster.

Buy it when: you need a boost of health and armor early to mid game. If you don't have it by late game it's best to skip it for something more potent.


: A huge shot in the arm in terms of health and health regen. Will make your sustainability almost god like, allowing you to more than likely stay after a team fight to push the advantage.

Buy it when: the enemy team has dangerous casters and/or nukers.


: Decent health, better health and mana regen, great cool down redux, and an awesome AOE speed boost.

Buy it when: you have Mercury's Treads and can't benefit from Eleisa's Miracle and it's Tenacity (Eleisa's is an excellent buy if you opted to buy Ninja Tabi). Buying this when the laning phase ends is an ideal time.


: Beefy armor item (3rd highest in the game) that can slow the enemy's attack AND movement speed when they hit you, and WILL slow both when you activate it. Excellent initiator and useful escape tool.

Buy it when: nobody else has it on your team and the enemy team relies on DPS. The extended duration based on the amount of armor and magic resist of the user SHOULD have it going to you (the tank) every time, but weirder things have happened.


: Highest rated armor item in the game. Returns a respectable amount of damage.

Buy it when: the enemy team has a strong AD champion or line-up (Tryndamere, AD Yi, Ashe, Vayne, to name a few). Remember that it only reflects basic attacks, so champions who aren't building for crit damage or DPS won't be turned away from this. Either way, good last item to build if you're hurting for armor.


: Second highest rated armor item in the game. Slows down the enemies' attack speed and helps with your cool down woes.

Buy it when: nobody else on your team has it. The passive aura DOES NOT STACK so having two in a team (aside from the armor and helping with cool down) would benefit nobody. Great counters against any AD foe.


: A combo armor/magic resist item that revives you after you die.

Buy it when: you're being focused first and they manage to kill you. If you're their last target in a team fight and you revive, chances are that you'll just die again 5 seconds later. It'll only benefit if your team survives long enough for you to disrupt again.


: Highest rated magic resist in the game, super health regen and movement speed boost. Dramatically increases your sustainability, allowing you to push after successful team fights.

Buy it when: there's at least one problematic AP champion on their team or you need only one magic resist item.


: Respectable magic resist, health, and mana boost. Completely blocks one negative spell every 45 seconds.

Buy it when: you're going up against a heavy CC team, or they have a Karthus.


: Good magic resist item that reduces any nearby enemies' magic resist.

Buy it when: you have a strong AP team and nobody else has it. Since its aura is unique, it would just be a defensive item with almost useless (with this build) AP tacked on. Try to leave it for the AP champs.


: Higher magic resist than Banshee's Veil and the ability to cleanse ANY negative spell on you. Very cheap, too.

Buy it when: the enemy team has a lot of CC, ignites, or snares (Amumu, Warwick and Malzahar immediately comes to mind).

Early Gameplay

How you start the game depends on a few factors. Determine the following:

-Do you have a jungler?

-If you have a jungler, will you be holding down the top lane?

-Does your team plan on invading the enemy's jungle?

-Which nexus are you starting at (blue=bottom, purple=top)?

After answering the first two questions, which hopefully was determined during character select, you can reference the appropriate solo or duo lane sections.

If your team decides against counter jungling at the beginning, your primary duty will be to defend your jungle. If you're blue team, then you'll be watching over the blue buff. This is best accomplished by camping in the bush right next to the blue buff or the bush that extends into the river (marked in the picture below). Either way, make sure that BOTH bushes are covered, as they're the most frequently used avenues in counter jungling.



If you're purple team, then you'll be watching over the wraiths (and, to an extent, red buff). For this, I find that staying in the bush directly south of your red buff will offer you a great view of the river entrance while keeping you concealed. When guarding the wraiths, you usually only have to wait until the 1:45-1:50 mark before heading to your lane (anything past that means they're not planning on smiting the wraith or they're extremely late). In cases of flexible junglers like Shaco and Warwick, you may have the mid lane take this bush location so you can guard the tri-bush further up (marked on the map). Some enemy junglers like to start by ganking the opponent's red buff, and my come in through the top to avoid detection.

Okay, the buff creeps have spawned and you're now back to top (after a smooth start for your jungler, of course). As a solo top laner, you have a few key responsibilities:

-Focus on last hitting. For those who aren't familiar with this, it means that you don't engage the enemy minions until you're guarantee to land a lethal blow. This helps to keep you from pushing your lane out too much. If you extend anywhere past the middle of the river, you can be forfeit for a gank from the enemy jungler. If you can't get many last hits, make sure that you're close enough to gain experience from the minions dying. Being behind in gold is one thing, it's another monster to come back from gold AND experience deficciency.

-Harass the enemy champion when you're not last hitting. Of course you have to use your common sense. Don't go running through all of their creeps JUST to hit them; you'll draw unwanted aggro, you'll be overextended, and you'll take unnecessary abuse on your trip back to your side. Only engage them if they get close enough or they're focused on farming.

-Reserve your mana. Sejuani's spells are relatively cheap on mana, and if you follow the skill leveling order at the top, you shouldn't have too much mana troubles. Arctic Assault should be level 1 for a long time, meaning that it has a longer cool down (ensuring you don't abuse it) and a lower mana cost (so you're not taxed heavily when you DO use it). Focus on using Arctic for quick escapes and closing the gap to your opponent when your jungler wants to gank.

-COMMUNICATE. I cannot stress this enough; while it's true that everyone needs to exercise mini map awareness, it'll make everyone's life easier if you give people a heads up if you lose track of your opponent. Haven't seen them for more than 5 seconds? Call "MIA". Don't be shy; you can always announce "RE" if you find them shortly after, but it's harder to fix a death on mid (or bottom lane) that resulted in your no-call. Make sure you have the alert ping assigned to a convenient hotkey as that will grab people's attention better than the chat log at times.

Also on communication, make sure to let your jungler know if you're having trouble with your lane. Maybe your opponent is more aggresive than average, or the enemy jungler makes frequent trips to top. While you don't want to monopolize your jungler's time, you NEED to let them know if the opponent is free farming and your attempts to curb it fall flat, and you NEED to let them know before it gets out of hand. There's little difference between being fed and being farmed.


If you're going with Option A in the Item build section ( Regrowth Pendant) then you'll want to hang back if you take a bit of harassment (50% health or less). Reserve Arctic Assault for escape purposes only for the first two levels. Farm and mildy harass your opponent until level 3 when you have a point in each ability. At this point you can feel free to dish out a bit more punishment to your opponent (especially if you went back for your Philosopher's and basic boots). When your opponent starts to push a bit past the river (towards your tower) give him a scare with Arctic Assault and Northern Winds (you can actually activate this in the middle of Arctic's animation for maximum effect). Hold off on triggering Permafrost until your opponent begins to retreat or you realize you're losing the fight. While it may be tempting, do NOT chase the opponent past the river unless you know where their jungler's location. Your goal is to harass and zone them out when possible; getting a kill by yourself is just a perk.

Like with any other champion, controlling the bush is crucial with Sejuani as her Arctic is harder to dodge when she can't be seen. If possible, try to occupy that space between the creeps and the bush (it'll allow you to farm safer, minimize the chance of a sucessful enemy gank, and retreat into the bushes and break any unwanted aggro at a moment's notice).

An easy way to spook the enemy is to randomly go into the bush. If you don't see any easily killable creeps and the opponent is starting to get a little too close, back up into the bush and immediately dash in their direction with Arctic. It doesn't even have to hit them; if you've been doing the ability combo effectively, this should inflict some unplesant flashbacks for them and more often than not they'll back up. Soon, you'll find that just going into the bush will be enough to spook them.

When you hit level 6, you become even more of a serious threat. Not only do you have a 50% slow with Permafrost, but now you have a longer reach disable in your ult. Every visit from your jungler should result in a kill (if he's mindful enough to check your mana level and if your ult is up). The key here (unless your jungler has an ensnare ability like Amumu or Warwick) is for YOU to initiate. Jump in with your Arctic Assault/ Northern Winds combo, start wailing on them, and pop your Permafrost when you see them start to turn tail. If you choose not to go for the Phage or Frozen Mallet, they may start to out run you. Before they manage to get to their tower's range, trap them with Glacial Prison and help the jungler finish them off. At this point, if they're still alive, don't be afraid to tower dive them. What you need to do, however, is to make sure YOU'RE THE ONE THAT HITS THEM FIRST. Drawing tower aggro away from your jungler will help you two to get the kill. When it's a sure thing and your jungler is guaranteed to escape, use Arctic to quickly get out of tower range (Flash afterwards if you're in real deep).


Coming soon.

Tips and Strategies

COMING SOON: PICTURES OF WARD PLACEMENT IDEAL FOR TELEPORT GANKS

-For easy farming and max damage, go Arctic Assault-> Northern Winds-> Permafrost.

-You can activate Northern Winds and Permafrost in the middle of [[arctic assault]'s animation without interrupting it.

-Try to save Permafrost until the enemy attempts to escape. However, the damage and your cool down redux from items late game should allow you to abuse it during a fight to inflict more damage.

-Don't be afraid to use Glacial Prison to ensnare aggressive enemies who are chasing you. An ult burned to keep you alive is better than giving up an easy kill.

-Practice using Arctic Assault through trees and cliffs. With enough practice you'll know exactly what you can and cannot jump through, making you both elusive and hard to escape from.

-When fleeing, always use Arctic Assault before using Flash. When engaging an enemy, sometimes you can gain the element of surprise by using Flash to get into Arctic Assault range.

-If you build a Warmog's Armor, keep an eye out for any Madred's Bloodrazor. If you notice any of the enemy team building up to one, immediately shore up your magic resist.

-Learn to coordinate Glacial Prison with any global/AOE ults your teammates have. Example: Sona or Amumu would achieve more triggering their ult before you. On the flip side, Gangplank should trigger his ult after you ensnare the enemy team.

Summary

TL;DR;?
- Permafrost is your (and your team's) friend. Level it fast.
-Actively watch the enemy team's progress and items, and counter buy items accordingly.
- Arctic Assault-> Northern Winds-> Permafrost for farming, max damage, and optimal slow.
-Brush up on your skill shots and Arctic Assault wall jumps.

Special thanks to:
-Eagleshadow (LoL community forum) for the Summoner's Rift picture.
-All of the posters with their helpful criticism. Due to the changing of characters and the game, this is forever a work in progress, so keep the comments coming!