Hi all, I've updated my guide a tad. In the previous version I had the Void Staff as my final item and suggested a few alternatives depending on situation and enemy team makeup. Well the way I play I don't die often so survivability isn't a big thing for me. However, there are certain times in games where u make a mistake and get caught up and BOOM you die and you just lost 6 stacks off your mejai.

So, to remedy this I've been playing with Guardian's Angel as my last piece for the simple reason of having that second chance to remedy a mistake and save your stacks. I've found this way has been more beneficial and would be better suited to new people who are trying out Orianna. Not to mention the extra 70 ability power from void staff is not essential as you will already be hitting hard enough and have probably already caused the opposing team to surrender.

So in closing Rylais Scepter and Guardian's Angel will be your final items. I have also updated my variations on the two last items depending on the situation in it's own section titled " Variations".

Updated/New Material
[*] Variations Section
[*] Tips

Welcome to my first guide. If you have picked up Orianna you have done yourself a great thing. She is a great champ and a beast in the right hands. With my build you should be killing entire teams and winning team fights for your team. Orianna can no doubt be played many different ways but i will be focusing on all out offensive. Sure you will be tossing out the random shield or two to help out your allies or a Dissonance for a great escape BUT! You will be hitting hard enough to turn the tides in any team fight. Unless of course the other team has 3 or 4 tanks. But that's situational and unlikely and you can always adapt. This build is somewhat like a Lux build I use with different variations depending on the enemy team makeup. Don't know how to do the little icons next to the skills or items I will be talking about but for reference open up the item list on the League of Legends main site if you need.

Pros

Great lane control
Crazy aoe damage
Helpful escapes
Great at starting or ending team fights with ultimate combo
Big burst damage


Cons
Often gets focused first
Squishy
Need a good understanding of her moves to play properly

My rune selection is basic for all ability power champs. Not much explanation needed. I go with the .95 magic pen for marks because the ability power runes for marks are not worth it in my opinion and these will help more mid/end game when characters start building magic resist. For seals/Quints/and Glyphs I choose the .59 ability power/4.95/and .99 so that i can max my ability power as much as possible at the start of the match. These runes combined with dorans ring at start should give you somewhere between 45-50 ability power right of the bat instead of just 15. And you will notice the increase in damage you do making early kills much easier.

I chose to go with the basic 9/0/21 mastery set. This is what most magic users build aside from putting a point in both ghost and flash which I prefer using with squishies and will explain why later.

Alright here goes. I start off with a dorans ring for a little extra ability power and mana regen at the start as Orianna is very mana dependant for most of the game and is why u will be getting blue buffs whenever you can to maximize your effectiveness in team fights. I try to wait for enough gold to buy my kages lucky pick next to get extra gold from its passive flowing ASAP. Most of the time I'm doing well in mid picking away champs with my Q(Command: Attack) so i can hold off buying items until I have enough for Kages/ a 435 tome/ and 350 boots. I can normally get a kill before 6 if the enemy plays very aggressive but if not I get my last hits and wait for special. Then I toss out my ball with Q and wait. More often then not the enemy will walk by your ball not even paying attention to it the first time. This is where you unleash hell and make them think twice about ever coming near again. As soon as they r in range I Q them and immediately use my Special R(Command: Shockwave) followed by an immediate W(Command: dissonance). This will more then likely kill or leave them 1-3 hits from dead at which point you activate ghost and finish them off. Can be done without ghost but i like to activate it just in case they have flash. Mejai's will be your next item and the most important. You want to get 20 stacks ASAP. You will notice all your moves will be hitting like a truck by 10 stacks. Once i get mejais I grab the 860 rod and begin forming my rab cap. At this point if i see an opportunity to help Top or bot i will take it to get some kills or assists for my stacks.

Next item will be my boots. Usually by this point champs will be scared of u as your balkl is so deceptive and powerful and none will want to get caught in your ultimate combo Q/R/W as its a free kill for your team and you can easily decimate the entire team with that combo if you can catch them all bunched up in same area.

Once You finish off your Rab cap you will be dealing even more hurt. Lich bane will be your next item for its unique passive. Great for finishing off your kills and massive damage seeing as how this build maximizes your AP. Rylais Scepter and Guardian's Angel are my final items (See "Variations on final two items" section for options against specific build enemy teams.) Rylais Scepters unique passive almost ensures a kill for your team. Its slow opens up a window for your teammates and yourself to catch up and continue dealing the final blow. The added HP also makes you meatier so you can take a little more punishment if you find yourself in a rough spot. Guardian's Angel I choose as my last Item to protect the time you have invested in your 20 stacks and rectify a mistake that could of cost you or an ally a death. The added magic resist is also usefull against those pesky AP carries.

Once you have your full build you should be buying the elixirs whenever you can. Your ability power with elixers should read between 730-780.

Hope you enjoy this build and have as much fun as I do blowing up teams with Orianna.

[*] Team fights don't usually start until everyone is level 10 or higher. Since your midding you should be level 12 or 13 and just about to get your first level in your shield skill making it ready for team fights. This is why I recommend not getting your shield until 13 so that you maximize your chance for getting fed early since in most cases you will not need your shield until mid game and later. Some people feel getting shield at 5 would be the right course of action so you have it available. This is fine If your focusing Orianna to be support and you plan on maxing the shield first. However in this build that is not our focus and the shield doesn't protect you a significant amount at low levels anyway. Our main goal with this build is firepower and fast! :)

[*] When working towards getting your 20 stacks of Mejai do not forget to shield allies for 2 reasons.
1. If you shield an ally just about to kill an enemy you will get an assist.
2. The other reason is it can set up nice kills for you.

For Example - You have a Xin Xhao as your ally. Most xin's are aggressive so to start a gank or even a team fight Shield xin as he goes into the fight. Stay back but close enough that the ball stays around xin. When xin dives to an enemy you can activate a W/Q/R combo to kill the enemy while the ball is still around xin. Shielding your allies is one of your best offensive tactics. Your not only supporting but setting yourself up for kills. This combo is great when a xin type character dives into 5 enemies to start a team fight. 1 thing to remember is if your ganking 1 or two players judge wether or not its a good idea to activate your ultimate. Sometimes a W/Q combo is enough or a Q/W.

[*] You should always be in the back of team fights staying away from harm but unloading when you can. Never be the first to attack unless it's a surprise attack from a bush to open up with your ult combo. You don;t want to be the enemies first target. Coming late to team fights or waiting in bushes for your tanks to initiate a team fight is where you shine. Wait for your moment when the enemy team bunches up and unload with Q/R/W followed by a shield on an ally setting up for another combo and saving your allies life.

[*] Levels 1-12 try asking your teammates to help u get the blue buff when they can if you don't have a jungler. Levels 12-18 try to get it yourself whenever you can. This will increase your effectiveness in every aspect since we aren't building our mana.

[*] Early game try to pick away your enemy in mid slowly conserving mana and keeping them at a point where they feel comfortable with their health. If they have heal/potions, ignore the previous statement and get them low so they waste those items. Some mid players will be aggressive and push into you. Let them! use your minions and position your ball according so you know they can only come at you 1 way. (Example- Push him left or right by placing your ball into his minions limiting his zone and setting up ganks or being able to predict where he will come from.) If they push you before Level 6 use your Q/W combo and pick away. If you think you can get the kill flash after them when they retreat auto attacking and keep Q'ing until you can combo Q/W again to finish them off.

If you have been picking them away from the start and letting them push only getting last hits on your minions. Once you hit 6 unleash and get your first kill. If they r low enough you might be able to finish them off with a Q/W auto attack combo. If you don't think you can, Q/R/W and finish them with auto attacks if not already dead. Flash & Ghost if needed to chase them down.

[*] When running away try to position your W move so that you and your allies all get the speed burst.

[*] Don't be stingy with your ult. If you can save an ally with it then use it, you may even be able to combo a kill or two after and your ally will be greatfull.

[*] Your Q doesn't use a lot of mana and is a short cooldown. Make sure your always spamming it before entering bushes so you don't get surprised by an ambush.

[*] Once you get your lich bane make sure you add auto attacks in your combo after using an abilty. However Be very careful and don't run after someone to auto attack them if you put yourself into a chance of death doing it. Be smart about your auto attacks, running into 4 enemies to kill 1 and get yourself killed in process is a big no no. Need to keep your stacks.

[*] When chasing enemies don't forget to E/W your closest ally to them so they can kill and get you a stack or CC them so you can catch up for a kill.

Tanky Team (2-4 tanks on a team- Unlikely but possible)- Rylais Scepter & Void Staff ( You need to be able to do as much damage to the enemy tanks as possible to give your team a fighting chance. Another good combo would be Deathfire Grasp & Void Staff which was suggested by Ladusi and is also a viable combo.

Heavy Magic Team- Abyssal Scepter & either Force of Nature for increased movement speed + magic resist or Guardians Angel for Second Chance + Magic resist. Some could Argue that force of nature is wrong choice but it's just an option and one I've tried out for myself in a normal match that had 5 AP carries (situational). I Would choose the Abyssal and Guardians personally.

Heavy AD teams - Hourglass & Guardians angel. Hourglass offers you 100 AP, 50 Armor, and the most important active against AD champs. 2 seconds where they cant damage you. Perfect for buying time on your Dissonance cooldowns so you can run away or to survive just those couple seconds until your team arrives to help you out.

Rylai's Scepter & Guardian's Angel I usually use for Hybrid Teams and luckily they are the most common. If I'm feeling fed and untouchable I sometimes go the route of Rylais Scepter and Abyssal Scepter Just to add a cherry on top of the cake. But the first choice is safer. Options are good and to play a good Orianna you always have to adapt. That is the great thing about this game. With over 70 champs there is always room for mix & match.

For spells I prefer ghost and flash. But I often use ghost and exhaust or flash and exhaust as well. It's really player preference but I wouldn't recommend anything other then these 3. The mana spell just isn't usefull enough after early game to justify it in the place of any of those 3 spells since your going to be getting the blue buff whenever you can mid game and on. If your W is down a quick ghost or flash can save you in jungles. Even your ultimate can save you. Being squishy I feel you can never have to many escape mechanisms. Not to mention ghost and flash guarantee no champ can get away from you.

If you feel unsure about your mid game take exhaust for guaranteed early kills and pick either ghost or flash as second.

Ok, you want to max her command attack and Dissonance first for max damage early on. This will ensure more kills early on. Shield I don't get until you have to at level 13 because in this build we are focusing on being a killing machine and if done right you will be killing champs faster then they can kill your aliies meaning you will not need your shield until late stages of game. However, if you truly truly truly really really really disagree with this. You can get shield at level 5 and max it last later just so you have it. But you will be losing damage dealing fire.