This is my first guide, and its about Sona the Maven of the Strings. Hope you'll like Sona as much as i do. ;)

Well, Sona is a support (one of the best in my opinion) to have in a game. She has auras that benefit EVERYONE around her, this gives great early game damage/suvivability. She can heal, increase movement speed and also stun people with that freaking ult of hers. Well getting back to the point, Sona is a very good support who can help your team and turn the tables on the enemies, simply by ulting or buffing the team.

Pros :D

• She has auras that gives good buffs, either for AD(attack damage) or AP (ability Power) allies.
• She has a HUGE heal range
• Can turn a team fight easily (her ult can stun for 2 sec and it can stun ANYONE)
• Can be a life saver
• A freaking Passive that will grant great harass early game

Cons :(

• VERY squishy
• usually focused first
• cannot spam skills (you got to wait for an extra 1 sec after casting a spell to cast another one)
• Easilly mana hungry
• Low mobility
• Heal and heal buff was nerfed (it always is)
• Her Passive is counted as a spell, so banshee can block it

Well runes are dependant on the play style you choose for Sona: survival/buffer or AP

If your going for Survival sona then get armor, magic resist and heatlh runes

But if your going AP sona get magic pen marks and the rest flat AP

In one side i go for the defensive while in the other i go for utility, this is basically 2 different ways to create 2 different play styles. Since sona is usually the first target in team fights (cause shes squishy) you could go for the defensive, but if you want to play full AP (which is still bulky) you go for the utility.

Well as you all know starting with a Doran's Ring Doran's Ring is the best choice for Sona since it gives you 100hp, 15AP and 5 mana regen. per 5 seconds. Thats a great deal for something that costs so little and if your doing bad you can just buy another one of this, it will surelly help you improve your score.

Early Game Goals:
You want to have a Archangel's Staff and a Boots of Swiftness. With this you are gonna get more chances to survive, more chances of reaching an ally who needs help and no mana issues. Also if the enemy is full of CC (crown control) champions (e.g. Sion, Veigar, Ashe, Taric, Sona) get a Mercury's Treads instead of the Boots of Swiftness.
Note: you can start spamming your skills after you've got your Tear of the Goddess, since your mana regen and the extra mana you get will compesate your use of mana, BUT don't over do it, not to the point where you get mana hungry.

Mid Game Goals:
Now is when you want to have your Rabadon's Deathcap and your Rylai's Crystal Scepter. By now your heal should be decent, you should do a satisfactory amount of damage AND you can slow people to save your teammate(s) of to help chase an enemy down. Since you can slow up to 2 enemy champions with Sona Hymn of Valor it will be VERY helpfull for saving. And also more AP means more potent heal, while more HP means more chances to survive. :D

Note: Potions are only worth to buy until you reach level 11, afterwards its juat a waste of gold.

Late Game Goals:
Right now you should have a Rod of Ages, you'll gain more AP, health and mana with time. Most of you must be saying like "OMG this nb got a RoA now?" or "you just wasted its great passive, now your level 18 and it can't do much. The game is also almost ending you won't get the stacks. You just wasted both of it's passive at once!". True I DO agree on that point, BUT the mana regen, movement speed, slow (health included) and AP are just to valuable early/mid game.

Note: But you could always get Catalyst the Protector or the Rod of Ages early on, so can benefit from any passive, but the RoA I would leave for later, since it will disrupt your items order.

The Last Item:
I made a section just for these, since the last item is very optional and will always be different when you play games. Here are some eample:

A melee or carry is raping your team?
get a Thornmail or a Randuin's Omen. With this you'll get more bulky and you might slow the attacker or deflect their damage to them. With this your team will get more chances to win.

A mage is turning your team to dust?
get a Banshee's Veil it will negate one of their spells and it might just save you. Or you could go for a Aegis of the Legion, this baby here will give you and your allies more magic resist, armor AND attack damage, ain't that great?

A tank is fed and is carrying their team?
Sorry mate you are screwed. Only your carry or melee can kill him, theres nothing your tank, mage and you can do. All you can do is gank the tank, support your carry/melee and let them get all kills to be fed.

What if the game is tied, and both sides have been pushed to their inhibitor turrets?
Well f this happens now is the time for wards ( Sight Ward or Vision Ward. Ward the WHOLE jungle (theirs, yours, neutral, it doesn't matter) whenever possible use the vision of the jungle to gain an advantage like and ambush! Here are some examples of what you can do when you see them in your jungle:

They are alone getting a buff? You entire team gank hims. Thats 1 more kill for your team.

They are at baron? Your entire team ganks them and your team WILL steal baron from them.

They are at dragon? Your entire team ganks them and you MIGHT steal dragon (considering it dies so fast late game).

They are moving around in the jungle? Your team waits in the nearest bush and when they come you all spam your skills. Thats an ambush, you lie waiting and then you kill all of them at once. They'll never know where the train that hit them came from :D.

Someone is trying to trick your team into their ambush? You can all get back and when they finally get tired of waiting they will all fall for YOUR team's ambush.

They have all died? Then someone on your team aced, you can all push as much as you like (within the time limit of course) or they might just surrender. See why wards are useful?

Passive: Power Chord



After casting 3 spells, Sona's next attack deals 14 + 9 x lvl bonus magic damage in addition to a bonus effect depending on what song Sona is currently playing.
Additionally, Sona's Auras persist for 2 seconds after deactivating and set off a 2 second global cooldown.

This is your main harassing tool, you'll use this SO MANY times that you won't even notice. I'll explain more about it later.

Note: Remember you can always spam your skills at your base so you can get the stacks for your passive without losing mana. Also even if the aura of your last song is still on your passive will only get the effect of the last song you played.

1st Skill: Hymn of Valor



Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, granting nearby allied champions bonus Damage and Ability Power. Additionally, casting this ability sends out bolts of sound, dealing magic damage to the nearest two enemy champions or monsters.
Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, increasing nearby allied champions Damage and Ability Power by 8/11/14/17/20.
Activation: Sona fires bolts of sound, dealing 50/100/150/200/250 (+0.7) magic damage to the nearest two enemies (prioritizes champions).

Power Chord - Staccato: Deals double power chord damage.

This is your other harassing ability (its also a KS tool but just don't use it to KS). Since it prioritizes enemy champions you can always deal damage to them from affar when they come too close to you or your partner.

Note: When you have your passive while this song is active is only going to be useful when your partner wants to kill an enemy fast, since it will deal double damage or when your alone and want to creep. But if that is not the case DO NOT use your passive charge while having this song on.

2nd Skill: Aria of Perseverance



Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, granting nearby allied champions bonus Armor and Magic Resist. Additionally, casting this ability sends out healing melodies, healing Sona and a nearby wounded ally.
Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, increasing nearby allied champions Armor and Magic Resist by 7/9/11/13/15.
Activation: Sona sends out healing melodies, healing Sona and the most wounded nearby allied champion by 40/60/80/100/120 (+0.25) and inspiring them to receive an additional 8/11/14/17/20 Armor and Magic Resist for 3 seconds.

Power Chord - Diminuendo: Reduces the target's total damage output by 20% for 4 seconds

Now this is when it gets tricky, you have auras and heal right? But what good are they when they are constantly nerfed? Well I'll tell you. You can always use your passive combined with this aura, since it will reduce the damage output of a single enemy champion, it's like a miny exhaust :D. Also you can use your passive to easily kill enemies who are tower diving you or your partner.

Note: Your heal is NOT useless, you can heal an ally to full health in just a short amount of time, BUT this does not mean they can go and suicide and expect you to save them. REmember your heal heals over time, kinda like health regen. but in greater amounts.

3rd Skill: Song of Celerity



Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions bonus Movement Speed. Additionally, casting this ability energizes nearby allies with a burst of speed.
Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions 8/11/14/17/20 bonus Movement Speed.
Activation: Sona energizes nearby allies, granting them 6/8/10/12/14% Movement Speed for 1.5 seconds.

Power Chord - Tempo: Slows the target by 40% for 2 seconds.

This skill is like a gift from Sona to all of her teammates who want to run/chase. This skill is still VERY useful (even at low ranks), you'll notice its usefulness after some experience with Sona. Her passive when playing this song is just a pain for an enemy escaping, since it will slow them by 40%. You can alway do a combo to save some one with this song (you can only do the following combo after you have a Rylai's Crystal Scepter). Whenever you see a teammate running away from an enemy you just run straight to them (with or without your passive charged) and slow the enemy with your Hymn of Valor and Rylai's Crystal Scepter passive, then you increase your ally's movement speed with the Song of Celerity and IF you have you passive ready you auto attck your enemy, this will almost always guarantee that your friend there escapes with 100hp and a troll face.

Note: This is very important if an enemy is chasing your mate and he is Master Yi or Olaf don't try to slow them (don't waste your passive) use the Aria of Perseverance and run auto attack the chaser this will reduce most of his burst damage and your friend MIGHT survive until your team comes to gank the chaser (if your team doesn't bother to come, start running, or Master Yi will get a double kill).

Ultimate: Crescendo



Sona plays her ultimate chord, forcing enemy champions to dance and dealing magic damage to them over time.
Sona plays her ultimate chord, forcing enemy champions in a line in front of her to dance and take 150/250/350 (+0.8) magic damage over 1.5 seconds.

Now this is the best thing Sona has to offer, this is her trump card. ALWAYS try to save this ultimate for teamfights, since it can easily decide the oucome of the fight. Because its a area stun you can hit multiple enemies, so always try to position yourself in a way that it will hit most (or all) of the evil guys. Don't think this ultimate is only for teamfights, because its not. This ultimate can also be a life saver, like when a Master Yi is chasing he'll probably ult so he doesn't lose the kill, be ready cause you can't slow him but you can stun him. When the enemy is chasing its good to ult on them, so you and your partner can jump on him and finish him off. Also this ult can be very good against possible ganks.

Note: Use Flash to possition yourself for your ult. Also you can always use Flash to gank. Get into a bush wait for the right moment then Flash and stun them in their faces, this will happen so fast that they'll die the moment they see you (if you team helps of course).

Summoner spells Sona should have are Flash and Clairvoyance since map awareness is a key ingredient to achieve victory. Always use Clairvoyance when you need it or when your team requests it (don't waste it just because its on CD). Flash Flash is also very important since you can escape ganks easily or gank easily. And I ALWAYS get Flash since I'm used to the way it works :P.
But if you don't like using Flash you could always use Ghost instead.

Other Options:
If another person already took Clairvoyance you can change it for:

Heal
Don't underestimate Heal, it can saves as many lives as your ult, plus its a good thing to have in teamfights. Heal can turn the team fight to your favor since you will all have more hp than the enemies. Also its great for lain sustainability.

Promote
This spell is very useful if you want to push your lane a bit more, since your canon minion will give you an advatage, plus you get the gold for the creeps the promoted minion killed. This spell should only be used once your more confident with Sona, because when you push a lane too far you might get ganked. SO always be careful when chosing when to use this spell, preferably use it when you have your lane warded.

Teleport
With this recalling won't be a problem, also if you die it's a good way of not losing most of your exp. and also to be there to support you partner as quickly as possible. Also it makes you pop out of nowhere and your team won't lose your support. Also you can swich lanes if they are having any troubles.

Cleanse
This is just if you are not feeling very confident with Sona. You afraid of CCs? Affraid you might die because of them? Well cleanse is the solution for that problem, if not don't bother with this spell. Use that free spell slot to get something much more worthwhile.


Viable Options:

Exhaust
Don't get me wrong, this spell can be useful because it reduces enemy damage output plus it slows them. So its basically a spell that doesnt let trynd, xin or jax rape your team.

Clarity
This is if you really feel that you are always in need of mana while playing as Sona.
ONLY use this spell if you always have serious mana issues in every game you play. Otherwise its worth investing this slot for something more useful like heal or clairvoyance.

Revive
Only get this spell when you REALLY feel like you need to be where the teamfight is happening, or when your team can't win wihtout you. Not the best option since you could fit something with a smaller CD there but still viable.

The Bad:

Surge
Please if I EVER find a Sona using Surge I WILL report her after the match. Surge is for people who need attack speed or extra AP (in Kog'Maw or Teemo case that spell will do wonders). Sona wont do much difference with the AP given with that neither with the attack speed.

Ignite
I thought alot about this actually, does Sona really needs Ignite Ignite. The answer is NO. She is a support, Ignite is a spell for champions to finish off enemies, not to support. Also the same applies for ignite as it does for surge. You wont get benefits from the extra AP

Smite
If you ever want to use Smite with Sona give me a call, I'll come straight to you and whack you. I'm gonna beat some sense into you. Sona DOES NOT have what a jungler requires, she has the qualities of a support. So don't even think about doing jungle Sona.

I know this obvious and all BUT, your team needs to be balanced (1 melee, 1 carry, 1 mage, 1 tank and 1 other random char or a support with heal) or you'll all fail miserably and just lose. In the end the one who takes the blame is Sona. People will usually say "ur lucky ur friend there doesn't suicide" or "ur so lucky our Sona is a feder" and blah blah blah. Ignore those idiots, they dont understand that as a support its your role to babysit the other champions and sacrifice yourself. If u died but Xin Zhao got away with 10hp and a troll face its ok, it was worth it. BUT if you sacrifice yourself to save a yi that was with 20hp and sudenly he came back to try to kill an enemy with that health and die you have a reason to get mad. It doesn't matter how awesomely (not sure if its a word) well you play Sona, if your team sucks balls, you might as well start the surrender vote. Remember, their lives are more important than yours. And PLEASE don't try to save a tank, I saw some Sonas just going out there 5x2 to try to save an Alistar. That is just being dumb. Alistar, like any other tank, was made to survive, they are made to take the damage while your team rapes theirs. The ideal score for Sona you want to get is 0/0/??? try to die as less as possible and please DON'T KS. Don't waste your ult for ks, its meant to stun their whole team so you can all rape them hard and painfully.

Thanks for reading my guide, and please comment on what I could improve and what was good. Feedback is ALWAYS essential.

'Her melody moves the soul, her silence sunders the body.''
- Jericho Swain, after attending her concert