Hello and welcome to my new AP Sion guide!

This is the first guide I ever published on mobafire, so feel free to tell me what i can improve. Also I want to say that English isn't my national language, so my grammar and my vocabulary isn't very good.

When I started playing League of Legends, i asked on Yahoo Answers for a powerful and easy to play champion. Someone suggested Sion, I bought him and know (1 year later) he's still my favorite champion.
In this guide, I'll explain why i think that AP Sion is one of the best mid-laners and what's the best way to play him.

Have fun with learning more about this cool champ!!!


Noni
@Team PentaNetwork

AP Sion Pros

- Strong Nuke (Q+W, both scale 90% with Ap)

- Hard Stun

- A shield, which tanks much damage, does huge damage and is very great for harrassing and farming.

- Permanent health gain (E), if you farm well between 300 and 600 extra health in lategame.

- Does very well against frequently played mid champs (Karthus, Kassadin, LeBlanc,...)

- Strong ganks

- Good farmer



AP Sion Cons

- Melee Fighter / Nuker (Sion has to get close to the enemy to do damage)

- If his shield is broken, his Nuke isnt that strong anymore

- Very low mana pool

- Hard CC counters him

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
Magic Penetration is very good during the whole game, because it helps you to get firstblood in earlygame and it's usefull in lategame, too.


Greater Seal of Replenishment
Greater Seal of Replenishment
Sion's Mana pool is very low (Cast 2 spells and you're oom), so i decided to take Mana Regen /5 Seals.



Greater Glyph of Ability Power
To dominate your lane early, Flat AP Glyphs are the best choice. They allow you to harrass your enemy hard in early levels.
Another viable option is Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power



Greater Quintessence of Ability Power
^Same reasons.

Masteries

You can see my masteries on the top of this site.
They are the normal 21-0-9 masteries, only with one change:
I removed one point of Mental Force and put it in Summoner`s Wraith.
The 5 bonus AP you gain while Ignite is in cooldown are much better than just 1 AP but permanent.

Notice: Do NOT skill Summoner`s Wraith if you never choose Ignite as Summoner Spell!!

Summoner Spells

Recommended

For Summoner Spells I recommend Ignite and Flash. Ignite is good to pick up first blood and also useful on healers and escapers in lategame. Flash is just an awesome spell to escape from ganks, initiate fights and secure kills.


Other viable Options
Ghost Possible to use instead of Flash, it's very good as gapcloser also nice to escape from ganks.
Exhaust Good for early 1vs1 fights and a good to shut down ad carries, but I think Ignite is much better on Sion.
Teleport Good for getting back faster to your lane after shopping and can provide you an advantage against your enemy. Also good for suprise ganks, assuming your team place wards.


NOT viable Options
Heal It's funny to surprise your enemies in early battles with this spell, but overall it's useless.
Revive A SION NEVER DIES! Revive is pretty cool to have in lategame, but it's useless in earlygame.
Promote Nice, when you're going to destroy a turret, but not good on Sion in my opinion.
Cleanse Better build Quicksilver Sash and take another Summoner Spell.

Sion is an AP Offtank (not an Full AP Mage), thats why we build him with some Offtank Items.
Moreover we need to improve his nuke, so we buy Lich Bane or Deathfire Grasp for more DPS.

Core Build

Mobility Boots are great for ganking. Rod of Ages is a very good alround item. It improves your sustain and gives you a lot of mana, health and AP. Rabadon's Deathcap is your main damage item. It gives you a great amount of AP.



Now you can choose between:
and

Lich Bane gives you AP, Magic resist, Mana and Movement speed. Very nice for Sion, but to use it's special skill, you need to get close to your enemy. Morello's Evil Tome improves your AP and reduces your cooldowns, so you can use Lich bane's special skill more often.

Deathfire Grasps special skill is a ranged spell, but it has a high countdown. I buy Deathfire Grasp when the enemy team has much cc and when they can burst my shield down, before I can let it splod.
But in most situations i like Lich bane more, because of Sion is excellent in farming and in mid-game he's above average strong, so Lich bane is the better to dominate the enemies and win the game fast. Moreover Lich bane is great for jungling, and it makes Sions ultimate useful again.
Whenever you buy Deathfire Grasp in most cases you'll need Abyssal Mask for magic resist, but If they have heavy AD you better buy Zhonya's Hourglass.

Last item

Against Heavy AP


Before choosing the last item you should look for what you have a lack of.
If you need more magic resist, buy an(other) Abyssal Mask. Banshee's Veil is also a good choice, but it don't give you AP. Quicksilver Sash is nice when you want to escape effects (like Mordekaisers ultimate).



Against Heavy AD
]

If the enemy team has heavy AD buy Zhonya's Hourglass (if you don't have it yet). Another possibility is Frozen Heart. It doesn't give you AP, but 20% cdr are also great.



More damage


There will be a few games in which you feel you need more damage. Void Staff is a great item if the enemy team stacks magic resist. If they don't, you can buy it anyway, or you build another Rabadon's Deathcap (but the passive isn't cumulativ). Archangel's Staff is also possible, but I don't like it on Sion, because it takes very much time to stack it's passive.



Adjust your boots!


I usually choose Mobility Boots for strong ganks, but if the enemy team has much CC, Mercury's Treads are great. When they stack magic resist against you think about building Sorcerer's Shoes make them die anyway. If you've started with Mobility Boots, sell them in lategame and buy Ionian Boots of Lucidity for Cooldown Reduction instead.

Example Builds

Against Full AD


Against Heavy AD


Against balanced Teams


Against heavy AP


Against full AP

Skill Explanations

Feel No Pain is your PASSIVE.
It gives you a 40% chance to ignore 30 damage (= a minionhit) in laning phase.
This allows you to play very aggressive in early levels.

Cryptic Gaze (Q) is your STUN.
Cost much mana but does much damage and stuns the enemy for 2 seconds.
I max this secondly.

Death's Caress (W) is your AOE NUKING, FARMING and HARRASSING TOOL.
It gives you a strong shield and does tons of AoE damage. What more could you want?
I max this first.

Enrage (E) your LIFE-GAINER.
It increases your Attack damage and you gain permanent life for every creep kill. Keep this activated all the time!
I put an early point in it, to make lasthitting easier, but I max this last.

Cannibalism (R) your SUSTAIN & JUNGLING TOOL.
On AP Sion his ultimate is only a jungling tool. It helps you to steal golems very fast or to pick up blue buff without help of your jungler.
Together with Sheen or Lich Bane you can also tank enemies in mid-game.
I put one point on level 6 in it for better sustain, but I max it third.

Ever keep in mind:

> > >

In Draft-Mode, never pick Sion when you're the first pick. There are some champions like Ryze and Brand, which can dominate you easily.
Wait until the enemy team has picked a mid champ. Sion is i.a. good against LeBlanc, Veigar, Kassadin, ... ...feel free to pick him in such cases.


Sion is an early- and midgame beast.
Try to become level 2 as fast as possible an put your stun + shield combo on your enemy to win the lane early, if its not possible, ask for an early gank. After that: Harrass your enemy as hard as possible!
But think about where the enemies jungler could be. Stay safe if he could come to gank you.
When you're first back you should have enough money to buy Doran's Ring, Mobility Boots and Sight Wards.

Place your wards like this:

1: Your turret
2: Defensiv ward
3: Offensiv ward (This is an alternative for the defensiv ward, but more riskful)
4: Another ward

I play Sion as a Roamer. When you're on your lane harrass your enemy. When you've pushed him to the tower or forced him to go back, try to gank top or bot (depends on what lane needs a gank more). Than go back to your lane, push again, gank again, ... fine!
When you placed an offensive Ward in the enemies jungle, you can also try to steal wraiths when your lane is pushed.

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I hope you enjoyed my guide.

Noni
@Team PentaNetwork