Sona Build Guide : For the risks, an AP Sona Mid Guide :: League of Legends Strategy Builds

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i played with a friend going full AP sona, and watched them absolutely stomp.
like her passive and q did like?? all of nami's hp bar so now there's no doubt i should play and perfect this playstyle that seems too op atm

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Ok, I feel like I should just mention that, realistically, Sona isn't as strong or as OP as she used to be. To compare, when we had Thunderlord's Decree, you could oneshot a Jax who has a Triforce, Merc Treads and 2 other items as well as being in his ult and still oneshot him with Q+Auto. Now, even with electrocute, you can't do that, which is a shame. Even despite that, she's still decently strong. Gragas and Malphite have better oneshots though to be honest.

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Hey Cloud375,

I happen to stumble upon your mid guide today and it really made me curious. :>
I have to admit, I like uncommon picks just for the sake of confusing the enemies at least. :D

I really love how detailed your chapters are! It's really clear that you worked quite a lot on each on, like the threads and synergy section - big wow - with all the different possible match ups and stuff. I also like that you have different builds for different play styles and (probably) the varying match up situations. Also, reading your thoughts on items you shouldn't pick as is pretty nice and what probably makes your guide quite outstanding in that kind of matter - usually only items you should consider picking up are being discussed. So well done on that part. :D

By and large, there's only one thing I could find to improve your guide to move it a step closer to perfection: Most of your chapter are quite detailed (which is amazing, if I haven't stated that already, I'll mention it here xb). But the bad thing about detailed is that usually it comes with long paragraphs and text that just looks "huge and too long to read" because most people are lazy. A quite useful thing to keep readers tied to your guide and to read on instead of switching to another guide, is to simply add some pictures - like Sona skins or fan art every now and then. This helps the eyes to take a quick pause and keep on reading. But basically anything would do. I've seen you already did some of the kind of thing I'm talking about in your rune chapters. Just add some more things like that and it's great.

But anyway, it's a really awesome guide already. So keep up your brilliant work.
+1

Cheers, Wicked Cherry. :]

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Heya, so first off, thanks for all the compliments. It'll take me a long time to update anything properly. I'm not adept with properly coding these things and I just don't have enough time on my hands with university being an absolute pain. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it finished, but it will definitely take a long time.

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Hey there,
sure please take your time. Since I'm starting my master studies in October I really know how much university can impact your life. I wasn't able to perform my reading hobby for 2,5 years during the bachelor (except for the stuff I was reading for university). So take your time, I'm sure when you find it, it'll turn out quite amazing like the rest of your guide already. :)

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Will you update guide?
Lots of love and I hope you're doing well <3

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Doing so atm, will slowly throw out updated bits and pieces ASAP

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Thanks for the update! My Sona became stronger and more playable on the mid, even in 1v1 !!! I will wait for new updates, good luck <3

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Yeah no worries! I'll always keep this updated when I can. If you have any questions or need help, just ask and I'll get to answering questions ASAP since I check every day.

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Also, I'll be trying to add sections about certain things that I want to elaborate on slowly, so make sure to check it out in case there are a few things that are not fully understandable.

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Can you update this? :)

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Currently doing so, it's just taking a while to get the stuff I want to say right sorry. I also just moved to an area without fibre so I don't have internet for 10 days (27th of December), so I'm writing it out using mobile data.

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I have finally finished updating this guide. It is as complete as I can currently make it.

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That's a lot of strong counters to Sona mid.

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Unfortunately, that's just how it is. Last season it was not so bad when Thunderlord's Decree still existed. But now that we got these new runes, everyone is stronger, but electrocute no longer works on Sona effectively to be able to burst until mid to late game. Due to this basically you can think of it as most other champions getting a powerspike, but Sona being one of the ones that didn't get as big of one. Additionally, unless you know how to play safe enough, most of those on the list can actually destroy you easily due to your squishiness and overall immobility early game, which is a really big issue with all the assassins being strong level 1 onwards.

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Will u update this guide?

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Ok, so currently, I'm busy dealing with my school life since I am taking SAT's which are next week along with external examinations (since I come from NZ) in November and those are really important to me, so not yet no. But once my exams are finally over and once I manage to pull myself enough time, I will update it. For now though? No.

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I have finally finished updating this guide. It is as complete as I can currently make it.

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> "Zhonya's is an item which, although maybe thought to be good against AD champs, when used (Especially in the late game) it leaves you extremely vulnerable to being picked off quickly."

I'm confused, how does it leave you extremely vulnerable unless you're way out of position to start with?

Zhonya's is specifically made for squishy champions to help protect them from getting dove on by assassins (like Zed is prime example). If you use in it a sufficiently defended location (under a turret, behind your team, etc), where you should usually be anyways, then you shouldn't be left extremely vulnerable.

I'm Soraka main, and I've had my share of negative experiences with Zhonya's when I use it improperly. But when used properly (not in the middle of the enemy team), Zhonya's is indispensable against champions like Zed, who dive in, ult you in the back line of your team, and then escape while you die. There's generally no way he can stay there for 2.5 seconds to finish you off unless your team is horribly behind or asleep. xD It can be pretty good against champions like Lux as well, who have large burst combos.

But yeah, I would think it should be a pretty strong buy on Sona in some matchups.

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Heya, so yes, ordinarily for champions such as Orianna, Karthus, etc - Zhonya's is a naturally good item to get all the time. On Sona however, it is quite different.

Today, there are a lot of champions which can completely exploit Zhonya's such as Akali and Talon, who will easily make you use it up, only to still kill you and get out (presuming they have at least that much skill and knowledge to think straight and do it - which is really not that hard to pull off).

Although it happens to be that Zhonya's/Stopwatch is good in matchups such as Zed and Yasuo (any matchup really) on Sona, I would either take the Stopwatch mastery or buy one early game when I could - but never upgrade it into a Zhonya's. This is mainly due to the fact that (and I express this as one of the most important things you should be able to do), when playing Sona mid, the most important thing is to be able to dodge abilities properly. If you can dodge abilities correctly, then there is no need for a Zhonya's in the late game if you are careful enough. In the early game, if it is an easy matchup, I would suggest pressuring them down and force them to back off whilst also freezing the lane so that their Jungler cannot gank as easily (You should try not to get CS with your Q when possible - It should be used only to hurt other champions, if you can't use it without hurting the enemy while they are there, don't use it, but if the enemy champion is not in lane, then go ahead and use it to farm, but remember to take care of your mana usage!). Early game, Sona needs to be aggressive by only using Q's and empowered autos when SAFELY possible. If you can land it without getting badly punished, do so, otherwise, play safe and let the wave push to you so they can't kill you so easily. This way, even if the enemy midlaner is a Zed, Talon, Akali - They cannot just rush in and attempt to kill you. If anything, these players (once they see that they cannot get a good opportunity to get a kill without trading) would naturally gank other lanes for better income. When this happens, you leave the lane as well passively through the jungle towards whichever lane and just give support until the enemy mid laner leaves that lane (Warding is also essential for any midlaner regardless so if you can't remember to ward bushes, please practice - you really need it)

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Additionally, in mid lane matchups where you are heavily unfavored due to range issues (such as when you are playing against a Lux, Brand, the occasional Xerath, etc) - Then getting a stopwatch can be useful for the early game, but late game, dodging abilities becomes a lot easier due to the Sona E giving so much movement speed. Additionally, by the late game, there is no need for a Zhonya's as either you would be supporting your team through heals or oneshotting a squishy enemy through a full combo.

If you still want to buy one - that's completely fine, everyone has their own playstyle (At least, I'd like to think so) so whether or not you are good with a Zhonya's or want to have one for the sake of having a defensive items, it is completely ok. But in my case, I don't run it since I personally have enough faith in my own abilities to dodge enough skillshots and play according to the situation to win games.

All in all, Zhonya's is just an item for whoever wants it. If you don't want it, you don't have to - just build damage instead. If you want to get it, sure go ahead, but make sure you know how to use it properly, otherwise, problems with occur frequently!

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it would be really nice if you upgraded this guide

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I have now finished updating the guide the best that I could for now. I will try to make it better when I can though, but for now, it is as complete as I could make it! (Although I did run out of time, so I couldn't edit the part about the runes for the last build path for kleptomancy)

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wrote:

I have now finished updating the guide the best that I could for now. I will try to make it better when I can though, but for now, it is as complete as I could make it! (Although I did run out of time, so I couldn't edit the part about the runes for the last build path for kleptomancy)

thanks a lot!

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Yeah, honestly, I wished I had the time, but life has been slightly hard on me so it's taking a fair bit of time for me. I'll go and update it now, but it will not be a perfect finished work because I just don't have that much time on my hands for the time being. Once I have more time, I'll go ahead to finish it up. All in all, I'll update it now.

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Is there a certain reason why you would take Electrocute or Comet over Aery? Aery has much stronger poke than Comet, as you have no cc except your ultimate and e powercord. Not only that but Aery is more reliable, gives you a shield, and can proc much easier with your abilities, making it a much better pick on Sona. Would love to hear you thoughts tho, as I knew you could run TLD on Sona before preseason, but electrocute seems a lot weaker then TLD. :)

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No worries :) This is going to be long though so I'm going to divide this into multiple comments for my sake, just bear with it please.

So, first off, you're not actually wrong about Aery being extremely useful and could be considered the better choice over the other two.

Since this is a build for the Mid Lane, there are two main problems that Sona has which makes Aery less useful than the other two.

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The first problem is damage. When you compare the damage you can deal with Aery, it is less than Electrocute and Comet due to the AP scaling being largely different. This plays a major factor as, compared to Comet and Electrocute, Aery does not provide enough burst or consistent high damage. Being able to deal high damage is really important especially to Sona in the Mid Lane. Her early game is rather weak when taking Aery because you deal less damage. The problem with having less damage early game is that it makes it tougher to keep a lot of pressure applied to your lane. You want to forcibly suppress your opponent so that, if they try to get CS or try to poke you, they risk dying.

An additional note - You can't target yourself with Aery to give yourself an extra large shield on your W, I have tried and it doesn't work that way plus the rune does specify allied champion so it only applies it's shield onto allied champions and not you. If it did, that would be much too strong.

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The second problem (and this is a minor one) is that my builds are designed for bursting, high damage, and assassinations - not utility. Aery is more of a utility rune rather than something you should take on a high damage Mid Laner. If you intend to play as a utility Mid Laner, then it is better off that you go with Aery because it provides the utility you need. Otherwise, if you intend to be the one acting as a carry or an assassin, then taking Electrocute or Comet is normally the better choice.

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Following up on the second problem - The build I provided is actually not very good to be running with Aery. This is mainly because, since it provides a shield to an ally in replace of damage, it is better to play as a half damage utility with supporting items such as an Ardent or a Redemption as the extra heal and shield power does affect how much effect Aery has.

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So, when seeing how useful the runes are, yes, normally, Aery would be considered the better choice over Comet. However, the comet isn't something that can be dodged easily so the damage normally does hit them most of the time, and that is what makes it more preferable than Aery. However, it is still perfectly fine to take Aery over Comet, IMO, when you rank the two abilities, they actually would be ranked the same due to their special pros and cons which evens out the two. I prefer Comet, so I take it, but others would prefer Aery and that's completely fine.

Now, this is the interesting part. Electrocute would actually be above both Comet and Aery depending on if two conditions are met. These conditions are
1. If you run the build above and buy a Hextech Revolver ASAP.
2. The enemy team has at least 3 major squishies (e.g. Vayne, Ahri, etc).

As long as these two conditions are met, taking Electrocute is better as you can perform assassinations which will help towards getting your team to the win by removing the enemy's main damage source within one second.

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This is the gist of the problems. There is more I could elaborate on, but it would take much longer to do and I feel like I should have explained it enough. If you feel like you need me to elaborate more on something, feel free to ask.

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I'd recommend making sure you have all the sections you want to have finished before publishing officially (you can always archive it until you're finished). The coding looks nice so far though.

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Thanks, I just haven't had the time to do everything I wanted to just yet. Though in all honesty, I'll update it slowly as the new preseasons going to change a lot so I'll have to change the guide again regardless so I'll take it slow and finish it hopefully a little bit after the new runes and masteries come out.

For the risks, an AP Sona Mid Guide

For the risks, an AP Sona Mid Guide

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