So I suppose you want to play Sona? Well, of course you do! I suppose you're ready to hear some spiel though, right? I should deliver on that expectation.

I'm writing this guide, hoping that it'll help out at least someone, as well as being somewhere to look through for myself. It's also my first guide that I've ever written, so I hope to see how well I understand Sona as a champion.

But anyway. Every champion on the roster is, of course, unique. Sona is... an odd case and that's part of the reason I love her. Most champions have you function off skill shots, or enhancing your auto-attacks (I know she does that too, but that's not what I'm getting at). So guess what? You don't have to be good at aiming skill shots to play Sona!

I, myself, am a Silver 5 (wow, what a scrub) and a Support main. Sona is my absolute favourite champion as well as my main (though I got to Silver with Soraka, don't tell Sona!). I know that doesn't sound very impressive, and I may edit as I discover more once I climb higher. I hope this helps and that I don't sound like a fool!

Go forth and read!

Power Chord
While Sona's basic abilities themselves fall a little short sometimes, her passive picks up the slack. After 3 ability casts, this power chord will be powered by the last basic ability that was cast.

Your Power Chord is incredibly strong if used right. Hit the right people with the right kind of chord and you can turn a fight! If you have mana regen and CDR, then you'll be able to have another Power Chord back up in no time!

Hymn of Valor
Sona's Q has a relatively short range, but is your main method of poking. The ability damages the two nearest enemies, prioritising champions, meaning you just have to be in range, and boom, poke! You should always follow up your Qs with an auto-attack since this Q will deal extra damage!

A Power Chord under her Q is extremely power, dealing 40% more damage. That can be enough to kill a squishy or low life enemy. Don't hesitate in finishing off an enemy if your ADC can't get them, or bursting down one of the laners to try force them out of lane.

Aria of Perseverance
Sona's W, although not a powerful heal like Soraka or Nami's, also grants a shield to near-by allies. I find this ability is most useful in a team fight since it grants shields to everyone in the aura.

The Power Chord under the W is actually quite strong. It's extremely underestimated. If you're down bot, and you get in a fight, use a W Power Chord on the enemy ADC. Their damage goes down by 25% straight away, and you're more likely to win that fight.

Song of Celerity
Sona's E is a movement speed buff that lasts longer for her out-of-combat. Although it can be used to chase down the enemy, it's better for running away or roaming. If an ally is lingering behind with enemies chasing you down, take the second to go back and give them the speed buff, because it just might save their life.

A Power Chord under the E is a slow of 40%, quite a lot even if it is short. That short time could save you or your ADC's life. If your ADC absolutely can't take any damage, slow them down instead of damage or damage reduction.

Crescendo
Last but not least, Sona's ultimate. While you should max Sona's cooldown, her ultimate passively lowers her basic abilities even further making her auras easy to swap between. Her ultimate itself is a wide, and relatively long (as in length, not time) stun.

Sona's stun does not have a lot of time though, so the best time to use her stun is for escaping, or when a fight has already initiated. You can easily pull off 3 or 4 man stuns in fights (5 if they're silly and stand together when a Sona is there).

Pros:

Easy to play, even for beginners!
Strong poke
Can keep strong damage even into late game
Sustain and peel for days
Her passive and E makes it hard to gank a lane if done right
Viable kit allows her to deal with most situations

Cons:

Squishy, unless you build defensively
Quite often the focus
Poking can be punished easily
Lacks early game healing potential
Mana sucks early game
Can accidentally steal kills a lot
Lacks reliable CC

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Elaboration:
If you don't want to read this, you don't have to! It's just some explanation.

Easy to play, even for beginners!
As I mentioned in my introduction, Sona doesn't have skill shots really! Her difficulty mostly comes in with her mana consumption, cooldowns and passive. It's no problem to pick her up and play around with her kit.

Strong poke
Self-explanatory, but I can elaborate. While Sona has a poor early game heal, her poke is one of the best in my opinion. Using her Q, and following it with an AA will scare off most people at early levels, especially if the AA is also powered by the power chord. To make this even better, you gain the aura from the Q, meaning you empower your ADC's next attack!

Can keep strong damage even into late game
Building AP allows a Sona to keep that early damage she has over others. Although most mid laners will still have more damage than you, underestimating a Sona is a bad move. You'll most likely move with your ADC, meaning you can burst them down easily, and the ADC can clean up the kill. This also helps in team fights later, and if you hit a 5-man ultimate, that's a heap of damage as well as a 5-man stun!

Sustain and peel for days
Sona's W heals, and the aura gives a shield, allowing her to keep her ADC mostly from harm. In addition to this, the Power Chord empowered with a W allows her to reduce the damage output of the enemy it hits. She also peels like mad. Her E gives an aura that speeds up allied champions, and the Power Chord slows down an enemy. As long as a Master Yi isn't chasing you, you're usually golden. To add to this, it's easy to aim your ultimate at an enemy chasing you, so you also have a stun for peel.

Her passive and E makes it hard to gank a lane if done right
As above, Sona's E is great for getting away. It's difficult for most champions to gank a Sona. The only times I've had difficulty is with Master Yi, and champions like Ekko and Zed who can turret dive and get away with barely a scratch.

Viable kit allows her to deal with most situations
Easy to understand. Sona has a strong poke, a heal with a shield, a movement speed buff and a stun. Full CDR and her ultimate passive allows her to almost freely change between these all the time, allowing her to adapt.

Squishy, unless you build defensively
Easy to understand. She has little health, little armor and magic resist. This means you can be burst down without a problem, making you an incredibly easy target. Solution? Don't wander off on your own too much.

Quite often the focus
Even if you're not dealing the damage, Sona's usefulness cannot be denied. Although you might not be the first focus if you lack damage, you'll definitely find yourself burst down more than once if you aren't careful. Again, the solution is to try not wander alone.

Poking can be punished easily
Sona's poke has a slightly smaller range than quite a few other supports, with the exception of melee ones. This can make her difficult to poke with, and easily punished. Morgana and Lux can easily snare you and throw out their AoE ability for the extra damage. Blitzcrank, along with Nautilus and Thresh, can pull you. If a Zyra is smart, she can easily wait and ambush you with a lot of plants. So while Sona's poke is powerful, it's also risky.

Lacks early game healing potential
Early game, Sona's heal is probably one of the weakest, except maybe Kayle's. The easiest way to combat this is to max your W first, but you sacrifice your poke. The other way is to take Windspeaker's over Thunderlord's, but again the same. As you build AP or items like Ardent Censer, you'll find your heal and shield more useful later.

Mana sucks early game
When you first play Sona, say goodbye to her mana, because you'll run out of mana just as fast as Anivia. If you don't understand Anivia's mana problems then... let's just say, you'll be out of mana before you hit level 3. And that's being generous. Sona is not easy on the mana. I've tried to fix this using runes and masteries, and I believe it's worked, but you just have to think about your mana consumption. Don't heal for every little bit of damage your ADC takes.

Can accidentally steal kills a lot
Sona's damage is rather unexpected, especially once you build Lich Bane. If you time your abilities right, you can have Sona's Q, followed by her Q bonus damage, Power Chord empowered by her Q, a Lich Bane proc AND a Thunderlord's proc! The number of times that has been enough to just kill a mostly full health ADC is unbelievable. If you steal a kill by accident, don't worry about it! It happens. Of course, try to set up kills at other times with your W/E Power Chord or ultimate.

Lacks reliable CC
This can be mostly true early game, when you don't have a Rylai's, or are learning Sona. Her only consistent CC is her ultimate, which has an incredibly long cooldown early game. You also have a slow on your E Power Chord, but it means sacrificing the poke or damage reduction. Having the Rylai's means you have a permanent slow on all your Power Chords and your Q.

Sona is a little bit of a niche support actually. She's kind of good at everything... meaning she excels at nothing. Most supports excel in one way or another. Some heal, shield and buff. Some are good at CCing the enemy. Others are good at zoning and poking. Then you have... well, meat shields. Sona sort of tries to dabble into a lot of those. She heals, shields, buffs, CCs, zones and pokes. The only thing she can't do is meat shield. All that variety leads to her not being super strong anywhere.

Now. This really sounds like I'm trying to say don't play her, doesn't it? Well, that's not what I'm saying. Instead I'm saying that it's her biggest weakness... but also her biggest strength. Most supports are stuck in only excelling at a couple of those things, but Sona can do almost all, meaning she can adapt to any situation.

When should you pick her then? Well, think about your team composition, but more specifically, your ADC. Think about the ADC going with you. Can they follow up your pokes, and get the kill? Can they defend you if the enemy laners target you because of your pokes? If not, don't pick Sona. Although she can hit like a truck, you have to have your ADC back you up, otherwise you'll end up with no money and a large amount of deaths.

If they can follow up though, look at the rest of the team. Do you have enough CC? Do you have enough tanks, and enough people who can initiate a fight? Yes? Then Sona is fine. If your team is lacking something, sometimes it's your job to fill what is lacking.

Flash
A standard on most champions now, Flash also gives Sona that extra ability to escape. Useful for getting over walls, possibly stealing drakes, and getting extra kills, it's not hard to see its potential on any champion.

Ignite
A more aggressive choice for a support, Ignite can give a Sona the extra ability to kill. I personally find Sona lacks that little bit of damage straight away to kill off the laners in one. Although the aim should be letting the ADC have the kill, there's no harm in bullying them either.

Exhaust
This is usually the standard on supports now. While Sona lacks CC, Exhaust can give her something else to help lock down a target for her ADC, or slow down someone chasing. Exhaust has many uses, and is what I personally take alongside Flash.

Smite
Now look. Hear me out. This is still experimental, so try this at your own risk - ADCs and Junglers will also probably get annoyed - but I tried this a few times and it works like a charm. Taking Smite allows you to buy the Jungle item, and this means you can upgrade it to Tracker's Knife - Runic Echoes. Plus! Double Smite. Who doesn't love double Smite? Oh, most people? Well then. This is a genuine valid choice though, and essentially combines a Sightstone and Luden's Echo together. Both sides are weaker, but it opens up the sightstone slot for another item without losing your wards!

The rune set I have chosen focuses on late game damage, as well as combating one of Sona's biggest weaknesses - her mana regen.


Greater Quintessence of Scaling Mana Regeneration
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
While I could easily choose flat mana regen, I chose scaling for late game purposes. The small boost from the runes' early levels is enough to combat Sona's mana issues early game, as long as you're still careful, and scaling helps keep the issues at bay into mid-late. Right into late game, you don't really notice her mana issues anymore, but it's worth using these runes to be a better support at early game.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power
Greater Mark of Scaling Ability Power
This choice depends on you and how you want to play. Choosing scaling allows your power to keep up into late, giving you more damage later on, but you can easily choose the flat ability power. Choosing flat ability power would let you have a stronger early poke. Choosing flat or scaling here is more dependent on when you want to have your power.

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Other types of runes that can be chosen here are ones like:

Cooldown Reduction
Mana
Magic Penetration

When taking Cooldown Reduction, try to even it out to 10/20/30/40%. All final items in the game always even out at tens, so this avoids wasting CDR on items. I tend not to take this because my build reaches 40%, but alternative builds may require the extra 10% from runes.

Mana is an okay choice, but I find it's better to take mana regen runes over mana. Once that mana is gone, it still takes the same speed to replenish it even if it's a bigger pool. You'll usually always have some mana missing, and its spending is usually more gradual than a burst, so you shouldn't find yourself running out of mana because your mana pool is too small.

Magic Penetration runes is incredibly useful if you find yourself against a tanky team, or if you want to go mid with Sona (since AP Carries). In the support role, I find it's a little less useful. I go for ability power over magic pen, because ability power makes Sona's W and E more powerful as well, not just her Q.

Spellthief's Edge
My choice over Ancient Coin, especially if you're poking a lot. You'll earn gold for each hit on the enemy or turret. Since your poke isn't a skill shot either, this is super easy to proc. Just be careful with the lane minions.

Ancient Coin
The other starting item option for Sona in support, since you can't proc a Relic Shield. Taking Ancient Coin is a better choice is you end up being against a Blitzcrank or a Thresh who can pull you out of position for your pokes, or someone like Varus who pokes like mad. Each minion death gives you money and health. It's slower, but it's better than being killed when you try to poke.

Health Potion
Never leave base at early levels without one.

Control Ward
Usually you'd buy 3 health potions, however taking an early Control Ward means you can place it in numerous places such as:

Dragon Pit
River Bush
Tri-bush (blue side)
Bush behind turret (red side)

Stealth Ward
A long cooldown but if you and your ADC work together, you can keep your lane well warded between the two of you until you can afford a Sightstone.

Sightstone
As long as you don't die, you should first back when you have at least 800 gold. This should be your first item when you back, and your first item in general as a support! Vision is your friend, and everyone should be warding, but this lets you ward a bit more freely. Once you get this, change your trinket out for a Sweeping Lens. Now you can keep your vision and get rid of the enemies'!

Sweeping Lens
A good item, that should later upgrade to Oracle Lens when you can! Even if there's no stealth champion on the enemy team, you can clear out enemy vision, making them easier to gank, and forcing them to make risky plays.

Frostfang or Nomad's Medallion
Whichever starter item you built, after you have sightstone, you should now try to upgrade your gold earning item. This earns you more gold, helping you get items quicker. Should you upgrade it further though? Not at the moment. Both of these items will still earn the same amount of gold at Frost Queen's Claim and Talisman of Ascension. Leave it at this level, and put your money towards better items.

Dark Seal
If you're doing well in lane, this is always a good choice. Don't go straight for Mejai's Soulstealer yet, since things can still go wrong for you.

Boots
Although your E speeds you up, that uses mana. Why not get these boots that speed you up? For free? Mostly. They'll only cost 300 gold!

Lich Bane
After getting your Early Items, you should try get this as soon as possible. Although Sona doesn't rely on auto-attacks, the Power Chord and Q proc allow a Lich Bane to be extremely useful on her! If you don't need support items, then aim straight for this item, and you'll have even more poke. Watch your enemies' health go down!

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
You probably shouldn't get this until you have full CDR, but it's a brilliant item on Sona. I mentioned before that Sona lacks CC, and Rylai's helps to combat this. This means you can focus more on Q and W Power Chords over E ones. All the slows plus the health is extremely useful.

Tip: Although I list this as a core item, I've sometimes found myself bursting the enemy down too quickly for this to be useful. Perhaps replacing this later would be fine, unless you're support focused.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Depending on your runes and your other item choices, these may or may not be necessary. I personally choose these because it's a cheap 10% CDR. I usually grab these once I finish Lich Bane.

Mobility Boots
If you don't need CDR, then this would be my next choice. What's better than full CDR? Being able to roam at super fast speeds, so laners don't know what hit them. Prepare for the Sona gank train, choo-choo! In all seriousness though, these boots are amazing for supports. You'll be able to ward and help out at objectives without spending too much time travelling.

Sorcerer's Shoes
What else is good? Magic penetration! If you're against a tanky team, or perhaps the support in bot is tanky, then you've got your choice! While I think Ionian Boots of Lucidity should still be your first choice, if you can spare them, these are also good.

If you're needing more peel or protection for your ADC, you might want to consider buying some of these items. Each one is situational, and it depends on what you need.

Ruby Sightstone
Upgrading the Sightstone is never a bad idea. It's usually a waste when you're going damage but if you're struggling and need more vision, this is the way to go! Instead of 3 charges, you have 4, and then it's another 350 health. If you're building support items, you'll find a lot of them have Actives. Taking this cuts those cooldowns by 20%! Can you believe it? A must-have if you're going the full support item build.

Frost Queen's Claim
If I upgrade Frostfang, this is my choice. Vision is your friend in League, and that's true, but sometimes wards can't do the job well enough, and you still get ganked. This handy item sends out two lovely ghosts to the nearest enemies, gives you vision of them and slows them! If you're being camped, or get taken out when just walking somewhere, consider this.

Eye of the Watchers
I. Do not like this item. Why? Well I feel like it's a waste of gold. But it does have its purposes. This item does allow you to keep the Frostfang stats, while combining with a Sightstone so you also get wards! It's useful if that's what you need, but since trinkets are now in the game, I feel like it's not as useful. It's a choice though because sometimes it's okay for early game, then replace it later.

Talisman of Ascension
If you built Ancient Coin, you'll probably want to go for this over Eye of the Oasis. The Talisman is not only a great sustain item, but since you're in a lane with an ADC, you'll find the armor it gives helps! To add to that, the Active allows you to speed up people around you, much like your E, except faster. This can be used in two ways - to escape or jump on the enemy.

Athene's Unholy Grail
If you're being pokey, but your heals need an extra little oomph, Athene's stacks with damage and heals that to the next person you heal. Not only that, but this helps immensely with mana regeneration if you ever find yourself having issues. 20% CDR, 40 Ability Power and 25 Magic Resist as well, this item is a must-have almost every game.

Ardent Censer
Again, if you need more oomph in your heals (and shields this time), Ardent Censer or even Mikael's Blessing or Redemption are good items to pick up. You'll lose out on Ability Power no matter what, but if heals and shields are what you need, grab them.

Banner of Command
Do you need a super strong minion in at least one lane that's immune to magic damage? Then you've got the right item! This item grants resistances to both Attack Damage and Ability Power, making it a good defence, but even better, it gives you pushing power! Struggling to push a lane? Just pop this active down. If it's not in your lane, hopefully the laner will keep the minion alive for a bit and let it help push. Try use this Active as soon as it comes back up so you can make the most of it.

Zeke's Harbinger
If you're always with your ADC, making them stronger is the best. While you have Knight's Vow now, this item is a little more effective. Getting this makes you stronger, as well as the person you're linked to! Your ADC is usually the first choice, but anyone that needs Critical Strike Chance or Ability Power is good too!

Hextech Rocketbelt
Sometimes an extra dash is a good idea. If you're finding yourself need a dash to catch up for whatever reason, it's a good idea. The item is also more cooldown, and some health if that's what you're needing.

Everfrost
Still having mana problems with all the mana regen? The GLP might be an idea. Not only does it give mana but a good amount of health and a pretty good active. Because who doesn't want more slows?

Luden's Tempest
The passive is A+, the movement speed it gives you means, if you really want to, you can sell your boots later. And a great amount of Ability Power. Overall, just a great item for bursting down the enemy.

Mejai's Soulstealer
If you bought Dark Seal and you're doing good enough, upgrade it. Don't hesitate to do that! The amount of Ability Power this thing gives is great, and if you're roaming, you'll pick up assists everywhere. You can spare Ability Power in other places if you manage to fully stack this.

Tip: If you start getting focused, and keep losing stacks, don't worry about selling it for something else.

Rabadon's Deathcap
Everyone's favourite Ability Power hat. Not the best item, but definitely their favourite. If you're building Ability Power, this probably has a place on your 'To-Buy' list already.

Void Staff
As I've said with Magic Penetration throughout, this heavily depends on the enemy team composition. If they have tanks, this isn't a bad item.

Liandry's Torment
Healing too much? Tanky? Need a little health but a good amount of Ability Power too, because they nerfed Rylai's Crystal Scepter? Well here's your next stop! Combine it with one too, and ouch!

Zhonya's Hourglass
The extra cooldown, armor and its Active are extremely useful. In fights, if they're seeing you and bursting you down, try take this and Zhonya before they burst you down, and let them waste their abilities. If you don't have allies with you, it might be best not to waste this. The cooldown is fairly long.

Tracker's Knife - Runic Echoes
Now. If you read Summoner Spells, here I am telling you this item might not be as powerful as a Ruby Sightstone or a Luden's Tempest, but combining the two items is pretty effective. You get the movement speed, mana regeneration in the jungle, and although it only holds two charges, if you visit the shop regularly, it shouldn't be an issue. Take a Farsight Alteration if it's really an issue.

Iceborn Gauntlet
Really, I haven't tried this one myself. It gives armor, cooldown reduction, mana and the passive is pretty good. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it on support OR damage Sona, but if you're building defensively, this is probably a good buy.

Zz'Rot Portal
Who needs pushing power, you need pushing power! Sona is not a pusher, so sometimes you need that power. If you're struggling to push a lane or want to try and subtly push a lane while you're dealing with somewhere, this is never a bad shout. It will also give you defences necessary to survive.

Spirit Visage
Haven't tried this, but if you're finding yourself singled out a little, this may help with your W. It increases your self-healing, so may save your life by increasing your heals a fair amount.

Guardian Angel
If you're bursting, but get burst back, get a Guardian Angel. This means you can burst each other, and you'll be the one to get back up. Not only that, but it'll give you defences of both kinds.

The build I've given as an example here would be the one selected with the runes and masteries I've chosen. By taking Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Lich Bane and Morellonomicon, you hit max CDR at 45% (without the Intelligence mastery, 40%).

Having Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives you a permanent slow on your Q, which you can cast almost constantly with the CDR. Lich Bane gives your Power Chord a boost in power.

As for Mejai's Soulstealer and Rabadon's Deathcap, I believe they explain themselves. Their slots can easily be changed out for items such as Luden's Tempest or Liandry's Torment but usually I go with them for the heavy boost in Ability Power.

The boots are sometimes replaced with a Zhonya's Hourglass, allowing you to keep max CDR, but gain more ability power, and an incredibly useful active.

This item build is mostly for damage over support, and a support build would likely look a lot different. For example, going a support build likely means, say 10% CDR on your runes, mana regen, maybe ability power. Your item set could be:
Any of these items could be swapped out for others, but going with this gives you a fair few advantages. The boots would give you the ability to roam swiftly. You keep your wards. Athene's gives you extra healing potential. The Banner gives you pushing potential. Then the Rylai-Liandry combo makes sure you maintain some damage, while all those items tank you up a little - nothing awe-inspiring but enough.

Which ability should you take first? Well, for your first choices, that depends on what you need. For Sona, you should make sure you have all your abilities at Level 3 so you have her whole kit.

Level 1

This is usually either your Hymn of Valor or Aria of Perseverance. For this, you have to think about the laners the enemy has. Will they punish you for poking, even at level 1? If so, you're better taking your W and healing. If you can punish them easily, take your Q and maximise that punishment.

Whichever skill you don't take at level 1, take at level 2. Then at level 3, you can take Song of Celerity.

What to max first?

Again, this is dependent on situation. Of course you want to prioritise your Crescendo, but putting that aside, what basic ability do you maximise? Well, that depends on what you need. If you're involved in a lot of team fights, max your W. The potential of that in team fights is more useful than it seems. Yes, it's not very good at healing, but the shield potential makes up for it. 5-man shields? Yes please.

But if you're having a lot of lane phase fights, and you're lacking damage, max your Q. Give your ADC that extra damage.

I usually don't find a need to max Sona's E first. Maybe second if you're a killing machine with her, because it would let you chase down the enemy, but usually you're better leaving it till last.

Deathfire Touch VS Thunderlord's Decree VS Windspeaker's Blessing
This really depends on your playstyle. Damage or heals/shields? Deathfire and Thunderlord's both boast on more damage, more poke, more aggression. Windspeaker's boosts your ADC's sustain in lane, giving them more shields and healing, and sometimes more team fight potential. With Sona's quick spell casts, you can set off Thunderlord's in quick succession making this an ideal choice when playing aggressively.

Thunderlord's tends to be more effective with Sona's playstyle, rather than Deathfire.

Offense VS Defense VS Utility
So where should you put your points? Let's start with Deathfire. If you choose Deathfire as your keystone, then Offense is maxed. You have 12 points to put elsewhere. Defense means you can go for mana regen, extra gold, and more movement speed out of combat (useful if you'll sell your boots). Going for utility will give you more health, armor, but may also increase your healing to yourself, making you a better support in some cases. With Sona's mana issues, I find it's better going Defense, but if you need the survivability, Utility is better.

If you've gone for Windspeaker's or Thunderlord's Decree, then Defense is maxed. Utility still stands as being a better choice for surviving, but you will sacrifice the damage from the Offense column.

Fresh Blood VS Expose Weakness
I've put up Fresh Blood for my mastery but either of these work as well as the other. Sona mostly auto attacks for her Power Chord, giving you the extra damage for that one auto attack. The Fresh Blood cooldown is short enough to be effectively used with her Power Chord. The damage eventually builds up.

However the other is just as useful. Although it doesn't increase your damage, it will increase team-fight potential, and if you go for damage, but want to still support your team, this mastery is a good idea.

Bounty Hunter VS Double Edged Sword VS Battle Trance
All of these are actually pretty useful. It really depends on your confidence. If you think you're going to get a lot of kills, taking Bounty Hunter is probably your best bet. You permanently increase your damage output, making you a force to be reckoned with. But as a support, you shouldn't be getting kills so take carefully.

Double Edged Sword is just that. It's a Double Edged Sword. Sona is squishy already, and can be crushed with no issue. This mastery usually just increases that weakness. You have to be pretty confident you can take out the enemy before they take you out going with this.

With Battle Trance you skip out on the weaknesses above. You can increase your damage output for team fights, making you stronger. For burst fights, it's useless though, meaning if you come toe-to-toe with a mage, she is probably going to have more damage.

Secret Stash
The other two are useless. Look at me. Take. Secret Stash. Unless you are a Mid Sona, Secret Stash is the only one that is really useful. As a Support Sona, you won't be receiving the buffs a lot (no matter how much you want them) making Runic Affinity pointless. You should also never be on your own, rendering Assassin useless. Secret Stash makes your potions better, which should make up for only buying one (well, it doesn't but hey, it's a start).

Bandit VS Dangerous Game
Honestly, both of these masteries are good for Sona (ignore the other one, it doesn't exist for you, you're a Support Sona). Dangerous Game will give you more sustain, especially if your lane is aggressive and winning, aka killing the enemy. I personally find Bandit is safer though. While you would get gold for assists and kills, you actually need to get them. You can't guarantee those. Taking bandit gives you extra gold, and if you get a kill or assist, A+! More gold! You only lose out on the sustain. It depends on you though. More gold or sustain.

Intelligence
You are under my control now... Take Intelligence... do not be dumb... Do you hear me? Yes? Good. While Precision might give Magic Penetration, that's not really a focus for Sona. Yes, against a tanky team this is good, but you know what's better on Sona? Max CDR. Taking that extra 5% cooldown will work miracles. Late game, it's less noticeable but trust me, it's saving your life. That split second off your basic abilities? Life saved. Taking that extra 5% means you can have 85% cooldown on Sona's three basic abilities. How cool is that?

Recovery VS Unyielding
Either of these are good. I find Recovery more useful, purely because I don't usually build Armor or Magic Resist. If those are what you're building though, take Unyielding over Recovery. It depends on what you're building for each of these.

Explorer
While the other two ( Tough Skin and Siegemaster ) have their uses, I find they have little use on Sona. Siegemaster can be good for tanky Sona, but otherwise, you're best going Explorer. It's an extra 15 movement speed in the river. You remember that ganking Sona train I mentioned earlier? Yeah, this helps that.

Insight
Are you a tanky Sona? Yes? Then consider Perseverance or Fearless . If not though, take Insight. Your Summoner Spells will be on a shorter cooldown, making them that much more useful! More Flashes, Exhausts, Ignites or Smites (whichever you take).

So, you made it to the end! Sona is not a very difficult champion to play all-in-all. In fact, she's one of the easiest. But her simplistic abilities makes her one of the best beginner support champions. Instead of focusing on skill shots, you can focus more on the map and everything around you. While some people might think that skill shots aren't that hard, they do take a part of your focus to actually hit them.

But she's also not the greatest support. Her lack of expertise in just one area does weaken her sadly. Once you play her enough though, you somewhat counter those weaknesses with items, runes and just play-style.

The way you play her is up to you, and I hope some of the options here helped you out.

Lillia
EUW