HOW TO PLAY SION IN MID LANE AND TOP LANE

Welcome to my Sion Guide! Im El Fletchy (Yahulo on OCE Servers), the same guy that made 6* WAYS TO BUILD GAREN. Im here to explain a champ i like to play both mid and top, who lets be honest is a champ that is amazing. Sion is war hungry, blood thirsty, hulk smashing grunt that fights for noxius. He can be played as many roles, but manly either tank or bruiser. I like to build Sion as bruiser but use him as a tank, because he has great cc to disrupt the enemy formation, he can initiate fights, he can 1v1 or even 1v2 with no problems. Sion is champ that is meant to deal damage but tank for the team. He is probably the perfect definition of tank that actually scales from AD (thanks riot!). This guide will explain why i build sion the way i do and how to use him in mid and top lanes.

Sion has many advantages and a few disadvantages.

Pros:
-Insane damage early which actually barely drops.
-Great farming potential (Q and E)
-A poke that has 1500 range!(his E when it first hits a minion and ya now, bai have a great time!)
-A shield that scales from both AP and Tank
-Insane AD ratios
-Infinite HP gain potential--->infinitely gets tankier as the game gets longer
-Hard to gank cause he can slow you and stun you with q and e
-Hard to even get on top of him if your a melee champ due to Q and E
-Ulti is unbelievably amazing, can initiate a fight from fountain to another point on the map.

Cons:
-Squishy early game due to low starting health and scaling health.
-Full combo burns alot of mana
-Item dependant
-ability reliant--->prone to cc which will interrupt his damage output
-Countered by champs that have sustain and no mana dependancy.
-Abilities require skill to use them
-E needs practice in order to be really efficient in lane (im being dead serious)
-Sion overall just makes laugh which can be distracting (too fun rip)

For runes its pretty straight foward, Hybrid marks so he can take advanatage of his base damage and turn it into burst. scaling armour seals are simply the way to go, after lvl 6 you will be getting more armour than everyone else. Same as with scaling mr, except these make you more resilient to the late game transition of the apc. Flat ad quints make last hitting better and takes advantage of your ad ratios.

21/9/0 is simply the only way Sion can really take advantage of his stats and abilities. Everything in the offensive mastery tree just makes sion a better laning champ, since thats actually one of his main problems. 9 points in the defensive just make us tanky enough until we get the items we need. And remember we are rushing tank items first which is why 21/9/0 actually helps us, means we can delay the building of ad items until we have the core items.

In Lane, ur all about farming and poking, there are only a few starting kits that actually give you this option. The ones i mentioned give sion everything he needs to stay in lane longer. Get one depending on really what the opponent is like, adapt to their damage style.

For items its straight foward, you want to address all areas of sion, which are, magic damage, physical damage, cooldown reduction and tank. This build addresses all of that already.

Sorcerers shoes addresses the magic damage

Frozen Heart addresses the physical damage resistance and gives cooldown reduction

Spirit Visage adresses the magic damage resistance, health, sustain enhancement and cooldown reduction

The Black Cleaver addresses the physical damage, armour penetration, health, cooldown reduction

The ravenous hydra addresses the physical damage, sustain, cleave and farming for his W passive


From the above hopefully you understand the kind of items you want to be building, you want items that enhance everything he has to offer. Cleaver is possibly the best ad item for him as it gives everything he needs. Cleaver is his second best friend as it gives him huge burst, lifesteal, and a great way to farm his W passive.

6th item options are really dependant to the reader, but the ones i suggested all give sion stats he needs. Bork is actually good on him, since he have a lot of shred from cleaver and your E, your autos will actually hurt alot more thanks to the bork passive. Also makes trading with champs that simply outtrade you late game alot easier. Darius will wombo combo you late game cause your abilities actually take a while to cast compared to his, with autos it gives a secondary reliable way to heal urself and deal some damage until the next tick to use your combo. Makes Tower taking alot easier too.

The boots replacements are the same reason for bork, except they enhance the stats the bork gave to sion.

The tank option for the 6th slot are really up to you, find what you need most, more mr or armour or simply raw tank stats. Same with the damage options, find what your team actually lacks in teamfights and address that issue with the 6th item.

Sion has many counters in mid and top lanes.

Mid champs he counters:
Anything in mid that has a range less than your E(1500 when it tosses the minion) then you can get it low and then go all in. Also if they are really squishy that makes it even worse for them.
All these champs here are bound to get destroyed in mid.
-Lux
-Teemo
-Ezreal
-Syndra
-Katarina
-cho gath
-Talon
-Zed

goes well with but can get hard if not careful:
These champs are favourable matchups but with a risk factor.
-Diana
-Leblanc: can burst you too
-Orianna: same as LB
-Kassadin: he becomes more of a pain but still no threat
-Xerath: his long range ability is only 1400 range, yours is 1500 (RIP!) and no matter what he does,a good sion will always win this matchup

Gets destroyed by:
-Akali: out sustains no matter what, just farm up and roam, your team fight potential is way better than hers
-Morgana: she counters you in every way, stun to prevent you using Q, a Magic shield to stop your W and E damage. Its no way a good matchup for you, but if she ****s up, hand down she is dead.
-Cassiopeia: same as akali and morg, sustain and huge poke with aoe pools, you name it. Lane swap with top or just farm under turret and wait till late game, other than that expect to b alot.

Top lane champs you rek:
-Teemo: since we max E first this little piece of **** will get out ranged and damaged allowing you to go all in. Once you get ahead, teemo is out of the game.
-Riven: you out range her and if land a stun on her, she is ****ed, your shield is way better since it can be used to damage her. You actually have a passive.
-Malphite: in most games, he cant do anything to you. If he goes tank expect him to go oom trying to trade with you. He goes ap, then expect him to burn health pots and easy trades.
The moment you get cleaver and hydra, malphite cant do anything.
-Garen: Easy lane, poke and longer ranged abilities just make it harder for Garen to trade or go even near you. If your a good sion, Garen cnt even trade with you. Get hexdrinker to counter his ulti.
-Darius: same as garen, except one with a mana bar and pull. Bait his abilities especially the pull then w combo. Just stay in lane poke him, if goes for a trade E,W,Q and pull back for an easy trade.
-Nasus: Early game you win, mid game you win, Late game it comes down to skill but still in your favour. Sion has more initial burst and once gets items that actually allow him to deal more burst then nasus cant do much. Get bork for this matchup, its the only way you will win him late game (sell boots for zephyr too)
-Gangplank: same as Nasus matchup
-Gragas: very easy, you out range him, you can out farm him. Just dont get cokcy cause he can punish you for it.
-Vlad: once you get visage, you have stop his combo for now. Get hexdrinker early to counter his ulti. Just poke him and avoid trades if feel unconfident, freezing the lane against him is good, since you can farm with E, and you have opened the way for easy ganks for you favour.
-Pantheon: his passive is useless against you, you out range him, you out tank him, you out trade him. His early game is his only chance he can get ahead, deny him that.
-Gnar: like teemo pretty much except he is more deadlier in mega gnar form, but he cant trade with you. Just concentrate on farming and poking with E.
-Cho gath: same as gnar he gets outclassed by you easily, and you our sustain him once you get a vampiric sceptre derivative.
-Jayce: very easy and no matter what form he changes too, he will always get outtraded.

Goes well with but if not careful it will hard:
-Diana: its an either way matchup, however, you have more tools at getting her low than she does, your E and Q
-Mordekiser: Skill lane but in your favour, you have longer range, have better abilities for farming with and your abilities dont cost hp :D
-Lee Sin: You win except he can put out an insane amount of damage, Be careful with him
-Xin Zhao: your more useful overall, remember that for team fights. In lane you have the advantage, once you get frozen heart, he cant do much.
-Rammus: a pain to get rid of, he can only out trade you with a gank, but yeah its in your favour, but remember he can setup ganks perfectly against melee champs
-Trundle: His ulti and Q make your life a living hell, but other than that it should relatively fine for you, just dont get cocky, it might be your undoing.
-Yorick: he has the advantage overall, but he makes 1 mistake, he is ****ed. If you can get on top of him, he is ****ed and he burns 10 times the mana to even trade with you, bait that bar.
-Renekton: early game cant really do much, but the longer the game goes the better it is for you. Just freeze the lane and farm, dont bother trading with him, just poke with E, and farm, thats the safest thin you can do. Get frozen heart and then you can trade.

Gets ****ed over by:
-Irelia, better scialing, she is overall better than you, just farm and E poke.
-Tryndamere: early game you can win but he still out bursts you. Freeze lane and farm. Late game he is a monster, but useless in team fights compared to you.
-Lissandra: she will out trade you with everything she has, but you can easily get her low with E and of she is really cocky, a Q and W combo. But dont count on that. Just farm and poke.
-Kayle: no hope, she will poke you all day even if you out range her with E or Q. Just freeze lane or ask for a lane swap.
-Aatrox: you can win him, its just his sutain just makes him win almost every trade. Dont fight him unless you can win even with his passive. theres one thing you have which he wishes he had, your w passive and your passive.

Laning:
In lane focus on farming. Use your E to poke. Make sure to E a minion to send it flying towards the target location. A great strategy with the E is to use it poke and farm at the same time. Positioning comes into practice here, position urself so you can get a row of minions and poke the champ. Follow up on E with Q to get dat farm. Sion laning is about farming, but poking and returning trades with Q if they get struck with E. W is used to clear minions but also absorb incoming damage.

(will be putting up a vid soon to explain more about this)

Early/Mid Game:
This phase, you should have your core items and be on your way to building your damages. You should be roaming around the map assisting you team mates. Sions great advantage which makes him so good, is his team fight. All of his abilities work will the abilities of others, in other words your abilities help others land theirs more successfully, this why roaming is good for sion.

Late Game:
Sion should be focused on starting team fights for his team and being the tank. Sion has CC and initiation abilities, which is what makes something a tank, they need to be able to cc more than one person whilst peel for the carries and tank loads of damage. Sion is a tank, but one that has the potential to carry damage for the team. My build allows sion to be the target in fights due to his carry potential whilst soaking the damage and peeling. When coming into a lane, use ulti to head into the fight or start one if you see an opening. Make sure not to goin urself otherwise, you will make Sion cry and unhappy :(

Sion other than being leagues first proper AD Tank :D , he is also a bruiser, he needs to protect his carries when ever possible, this when positioning is important. You want to be as near your carries whilst being at the front line. When you see assassins jumping around in the backlines, tell the teams bruiser(Garen, Darius etc) or the soaker(Mundo, Singed, Cho Gath, Nasus) to take over for the mean time. You must save your carries. Do what you can but its important to keep at least one of them alive. When focusing a target, make sure you focus the carries and assassins, champs with very very high carry potential. This will most likely wind up focusing yours but by avoiding you (since thats what assassins are meant to do). So when you go into the fight go in straight for theose, kill at the start so they dont turn the tables, logical :)

Who are the tanks?
In this section you must know who is a tank and who isnt, so you can set your priorities right.

The tanks of league are (0-2 items for damage):
Yourself
Shen
Leona
Braum
Sejuani
Alister
Thresh
Rammus

Initiators(they need to build somewhat tanky since their only purpose is to start the fight ONLY! Tend to have 2 items for damage.):
-amumu
-malphite
-leesin
-xin zhao
-blitz
-Singed
-Warwick
-Chogath
-Yourself


Bruiser(tanky dps champs. Tend to have 2-3 items for damage):
-Garen
-Darius
-Renekton
-Nasus
-Yourself
-Vlad


Soakers(champs that tanky like tanks but lack the cc, and do more damage than the standard tank. Tend to have 1-2 items for damage):
-Yourself(if theres lets say a leona on the team etc)
-Mundo
-Nasus
-Cho Gath
-Singed
-Mord(but he is still a dps, except one that take huge amounts of damage)
-Garen(if built cleaver tank or full tank but as we all know thats the pinnacle of ******ation)


Tanks are the frontline, they are meant to peel for the backline with CC lockdown abilities (stuns,slows you name it) and are able to take insane amounts of damage for the team, they also draw attention to themselves by being at the front or simply with taunt abilities)

Initiators are champs that are specifically designed to starts fights only. They are built tanky because they will go in first and the golden rule is, if u go in first you need to live. But overall these champs are dps bruisers.

Bruisers are tanky dps champs that form the middle line of teamfights. They are to protect the carries from assassins and others that have managed to break through the vanguard. They also can act as temporary frontliners if the tank is dead or very low. They must at all times stay with the carries and if they fight is going to planned, focus the squisher targets.

Soakers are champs that are beefy like tanks, excpet they have more damage output than the typical tank and have no cc at all. They form part of the frontline. You might ask then why are tanks with cc. Put this way, tanks and brusiers peel for carries, you peel for tanks, cause what makes you win teamfights is CC. Soakers need to keep the CC man/lass alive as long as possible.


After reading all that knowledge hopefully you can understand why some champs dont fit certain roles or why some should. Very confusing i know, took me a while but it all makes sense trust me.

Overall, i hope i didnt tank too much of your time. Sion is a really fun champ and i strongly urge you guys to try him out and kick ***. He is a warm hearted, cuddly person deep in inside him, you just need to see the happy side of things :D.

Thanks for reading my guide, hope you understand what this champ is capable of doing.


Post pictures/screenshots of your games and i will post them in the guide for you (y)
Im still new to this guide building thing, so sorry for the lack of detail.