Pros:
* Good build, but your team might hate on you for it.
* Make a bigger difference sooner
* Build nothing but tank items. Melt their carries in teamfights.
* DPSier than most tanks
* Gain hipster cred

Cons:
* Good build, but your team might hate on you for it.
* No GP10 --> failing to capitalize on early-game power leaves you without an auto-catchup (a sort of moot objection, because carries, solo tops, and junglers of all sorts have to play their best and farm hard without GP10 to fall back on, anyway)
* Team-dependent
* Bad duelist
* First jungle is slow/vulnerable
* Squishier than most tanks
* Gain hipster cred

I only call this build "Hipster Piggeh" because it features an unpopular item on an unpopular champion. But it works, I promise.

She's a tank with no shields or defense steroids, wtf?!?

Armor, HP5, health. Survive burst with armor and health. Sustain with HP5. (The only thing you have to watch out for, especially, is magic damage, so be extra careful if you gank mid, at least if you don't have Null-Magic Mantle yet.)

She's closest to Amumu in this respect, but at least Amumu gets creep damage reduction. Sejuani absolutely needs resists and sustain.

Sejuani needs to stack health to do damage, but she'll blow up if she doesn't build resists early!

It's too bad the only cheap health+armor item in the game is totally awful and you should never get it. No wait, just kidding.

Or you can just build Heart of Gold and Philosopher's Stone like everyone else and then feed.

What this gets you:

+240 Health
+16 HP5
+20 Armor
+24 MR
+50 Move Speed

Cost: 1700 gold.

Basically, this covers all of your bases early-game, and you can take either a Mana Potion or a Sapphire Crystal as needed, depending on your farm. Blue buff works for a first jungle, but I find that extra mana helps a lot with this build.

It takes a fairly long time to fill up the item slots, so those shields will serve you well for a good amount of time. If you buy wards, then the time you hold onto the shields will increase further. And if you're playing solo queue Normal, then if you don't buy wards, no one will.

Catalyst the Protector

Some good resists, and great sustain for some time to come. This also grants a good chunk of health for Northern Winds without going crazy. You should try to farm this all up at 10, or maybe 8 or 9 if you're doing really well. Sapphire Crystal first is better than Ruby Crystal, because you shouldn't hog the blue buff.

The treads are an all-around great item, and pick up MR where Doran's Shield doesn't. Plus, Sejuani's kit asks you to stick to a carry for five seconds whenever possible, and Tenacity is completely mandatory. There's rarely any good reason to get any other boot. It's better to get Warden's Mail or Thornmail as a situational than to give up your tenacity.

Cloth Armor and Health Potions are a reasonable start for the jungle. Let's look at the most direct comparison to basic items for the early core build.



What this gets you:

+180 Health (-60)
+15 HP5 (-1)
+18 Armor (-2)
+24 MR
+50 Move Speed

Cost: 1960 gold (+260).
5 Health Potions for first jungle: +175 gold
So 435 extra gold to get this far.

You could be in very good shape after you finish Aegis of the Legion 750 gold later, for example. To deal with mana, you could hog blue buff one or two more times beyond the first one, or you could buy mana potions for a while longer. (For Sejuani's personal use anyway, 750 gold for the aura is more or less equally efficient as buying more basic items. The +8 AD for free is sort of nice, but not great for Sejuani; the Aegis shines more when you take the sharing of the aura into account. The other thing about it is that by itself with runes and masteries, it brings the resistance totals up to a nice place all by itself, and well-roundedness pays.)

I've only tried this once, and the other team was feeding so hard that anything was bound to work. It sets you back 435 gold to break even, and then it costs another 750 to pull ahead, and then you're in a Good Place. I was going 3/1/5 or something like that early on that game, but that's mostly luck.

Philosopher's Stone

+200 Health (-40)
+15 HP5 (-1)
+0 Armor (-20)
+0 MR (-24)
+50 Move Speed
+8 MP5 (+8)
+10GP10 (+10)

Cost:
1950 gold (+250)

The thing is, Sejuani isn't Sona. She can't hang back in duo bot, score 0 farm, lay out an occasional power chord, and play 0 cs ward monkey. She needs to get in the action. She needs to gank. She's not Leona, so she can't build GP10 and still do ok by leveling up her steroid. Simply put, a GP10 Sejuani is a gimped, vulnerable, and worthless Sejuani who can't even gank a lane half the time because she'll blow up.

The +8 MP5 early on saves you from having to buy maybe two Mana Potions (+70 gold).

This is a decent and balanced set-up for competitive play. You can start with Cloth Armor and Health Potions, for example. However, it suffers from the same drawbacks as mentioned in Part 1. If you can play conservatively for the early-mid-game, you will be pretty solid with the full setup above + the boot upgrade of your choice (I recommend Mercury's Treads). You just need to adapt to a more dangerous early-mid game.

Just know that if you opt to play more conservatively, then that could mean not making some life-saving or kill-securing plays, and "free" GP10 is never really "free". The actual costs have been highlighted in red above. Yes, Shurelya's Battlesong is a great item, but Malzahar wouldn't be caught dead building it, and it's not optimal for Sejuani's early game, either.

My suggested build seamlessly maintains a power curve all game, but without the GP10 safety net, it can fall off mid-to-late game if you make mistakes. If you gank prudently and effectively, you will give your team an edge above and beyond the value of some GP10.

Feel free to experiment for yourself, but Sejuani just plain blows up if you try to capitalize on the health scaling of Northern Winds by taking too much health too soon. Warmog's Armor just doesn't work as a 1st-3rd item. You'll blow up in fights, I promise. "A little extra damage and a little less resists" is never a fair trade. You'll lose much more damage than you gain that way, because you'll just blow up in fights.

Get your resists over 120 before you even *think* about Warmog's Armor. You can skimp a little on MR maybe if the situation makes it acceptable, but make sure that their AP really is that lacking first.

By late-game, you should have 4k health, or 3.5k in shorter games. This is more than enough to melt large chunks of a carry's lifebar.

I listed my most typical build already; sometimes, I continue to buy wards instead of getting Frozen Mallet, or more often, the game is too short.


If the MR is justified, pick this up around the time Catalyst has just about run out of level-up juice, like level 14-18. This bubble makes Sejuani a little stickier. Health + MR is great, and the mana is sufficient for late-game skill spamming.

You can skip the Catalyst for something else. Read on for more ideas.

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A bit redundant mana-wise with Banshee's Veil, but both items are great for enough reasons that it's justified to get both. CDR from this, masteries, and runes gives Northern Winds only about 2-3 seconds of downtime. Frozen Heart has a great aura, since Sejuani's kit begs you to stay in close to the enemy ADC for five seconds at a time.


A great choice, unless you're already armor-heavy. This is hard to pass up. You might want the CDR from Glacial Shroud first. Your call.


Only worth it if you have a ton of resists already. In my default build, you would have 120 Ar/MR already. You may still want to do even better before going for Warmog's.


A serious contender for a rushed item, either in place of my Catalyst, or you could even skip Doran's Shieldx2 and rush this item, starting with Cloth Armor for the jungle. It will be a bit unpleasant to either waste money on potions, or go another 435 gold out of the way for a Regrowth Pendant in this case, though.

A nice compromise: Philosopher's Stone + Boots + Aegis of the Legion. Very balanced, not that expensive, and fairly gold-efficient. But you early game will suffer a bit, until you finish Aegis. This is a solid choice for duo bot, but you have to be a bit conservative more often than not, as I repeat, you are not Leona. You will want so save Q and/or Flash for escapes, unless it's really a sure kill.


A great utility item, but not mandatory. It can help, but it's a bit squishy and can get you killed if you take it too soon, or when you're behind. It can be a fifth or sixth item, but you might find it unnecessary with a good team and skillful use of Permafrost. It's your call. I personally don't get it often, because games are too short.

Good item. Not really for Sejuani especially, but it could be what you really need as a fifth or sixth item, after all.


A bit redundant with Sejuani's kit, but the active is welcome anyway. It's hard to speak badly about this item.


Move speed is welcome. This is a solid alternative to Banshee's Veil, or compliment, if you are up against serious AP threats.


Somewhere between viable and very good, depending on the game. Check your team comp and how they're doing. This item will make you a bit squishy, but the aura is great. If your team fails at AP, then don't even think about it. There are other options.


Probably works well with Abyssal Mask, but you'll need armor, too. ( Doran's Shieldx2, wink wink). It's not quite perfect because AP is a little weak, but it's worth a try sometime. It's probably a bit too squishy, so be careful and possibly be ready to modify playstyle. (I haven't tested it yet.)


Nice active for teamfights. Supporty build path which I think hurts Sejuani's early game too much to be worth it. Plus, Glacial Shroud/ Frozen Heart is fabulous, and covers your CDR bases already with help from runes. Lots of pros swear by (a second) reverie (for your team), in which case, do what you want. You just really have to know your team, and know that it's worth it, because you'll be vulnerable early on.

Some people swear by it. Sounds fishy to me. AP scaling isn't good enough, and the passive doesn't ever get the strong proc. It's too oddball. If you really need AP for damage, then it's probably because your carries are failing and you can't win, anyway, unless you're just that much better than everyone... then be my guest, I suppose.


Really only good on Treeline or Dominion. You don't really need to squeeze Sejuani for damage in the form of AP when there are so many large-scale fights going around. It's brilliant in Dominion, because you level up so much that your health keeps filling up all game long, and in small fights, the extra burst damage from Q, E, and R is more essential to finishing up conflicts.


Some sort-of-questionable CDR options that also aren't bad. Spirit Visage can be taken as part of the Mundo trinity: This is probably MR overkill for most games, and you almost always need at least a Chain Vest long before then.


Sort of tempting. Probably not worth it. You need to be able to stick, most of all.


Unlike Abyssal Mask, this tanky AP item doesn't have team utility. It just lets you screw around with a selfish active effect. You *could* ult, Q, and W, and activate at low health if you want to try something goofy and edgy, but I'll probably think you're a big tool. I don't think it will work. The fast pace and gankiness of Dominion might make this active into something deadly and difference-making, though, I guess.

If you really, really must... there's always Eleisa's Miracle, but... ewwww. Consider covering these bases by any other available means, if possible.


No. Just no.


GTFO. Now.


I mean it. GTFO.


That's not even funny. Stop it.


This item isn't even in the game. No.

Flash and Smite aren't really negotiable. To escape, sometimes you need to Flash first just to get over a champion blocking your way; or you might need a backup if you need Arctic Assault to initiate; or you might need both to initiate or escape, back-to-back. Flash is just too good, and Arctic Assault has too long a cooldown, especially early.

If you're not jungling, Exhaust is probably your best bet. Heal maybe. Garrison if you really think so. :-P

Standard 9/21/0 jungle masteries. You can switch around a little for Dominion, getting rid of the less-effective Mercenary as well, for example. (Too much innate GP10 makes the mastery not as noticeable)

Flat AD reds could help your first jungle or two, but MPen wins teamfights.

Flat armor yellows together with Doran's Shieldx2 make Sejuani a strong presence as early as possible.

MR/level glyphs are solid as always, but I choose to cap CDR between Frozen Heart, runes, and masteries, taking Glacial Shroud early, but not really rushing Frozen Heart except situationally.

Move quints are always handy, and are especially strong for Sejuani.

Max Northern Winds (W) first. You have to do damage, or else you're just a sub-par slow bot. I promise it W hurts bunches. Tanks and tanky DPS might shrug it off, but carries *will* need to stay away at all costs. Zone them out or kill them, depending on the situation.

Permafrost (E) is a good slow with 2-3 levels, but Arctic Assault (Q) has a very long cooldown at low levels, so I max Q second, after 2-3 levels of E.

As the game goes on, you'll be in larger battles more often, leading to the need for more frequent gap closers. A carefully-used Q at the best time is good enough for a gank, especially if you have Flash as a backup. But mobility demand climbs as the number of champs on the screen increases. It's more important than E, and more likely to save your life (wall hops ftw)

Try not to use Arctic Assault (Q) too soon, or when you will likely be dodged. If the enemy has pushed the lane, you might be able to get to them without using Q at all. If you can force them to burn a dash, then you can close the gap with Q afterward, allowing you to W and E, and you're in good shape. If you Q but they run in a direction you're not expecting, then you probably botched the whole gank. The less options they have, the more sure you can be to either hit them, or trap them in a bad place, and the more confidently you can burn Q.

The other thing about ganking is that they'll just turn around and kill you if you try to gank with just Heart of Gold and/or Philosopher's Stone, but I tried to warn you away from that already. If you've ever tried to gank AP mid with two Doran's Shields and no Null-Magic Mantle, then it's sort of like that, but still the same no matter which lane you try to gank. You can probably gank mid safely in this case, though, if you're at full health, and the enemy jungler is known to be nowhere near. Just expect to sacrifice a lot of health in the exchange, while helping your mid out if you're lucky. Just don't die, and make sure it's worth it if you don't have Null-Magic Mantle yet.

Wait for a clear shot on 2+ enemies, including at least one carry. Be sure you have comparable or better numbers. Ult. Run or Q in. W. E when they recover from stun. Hopefully win teamfight.

If you don't have such a great opportunity, protect your carries, and zone out the enemy carries. If anything gets close, auto-attack, W, and possibly E if they're either a threat, or in danger of being killed by your team.

Just think twice before spamming things. Q in particular is valuable, but you can be more liberal with it at high levels and high CDR. If you don't build CDR, then you just have to be that much more careful with Q all the time.

Don't try to 1v1 that often. You can take a carry from 50% to 0 in some cases all by yourself, but it only gets harder from there. Sejuani needs heavy artillery at her back, or she just can't get things done.

Overall, her AoE damage is good, but she's no duelist, and she can't take damage liberally like Rammus, either. With a full tank build, she's halfway between a tanky DPS and a pure tank. If you build AP, you still will probably fall a little behind the average tanky DPS, and I only recommend such a thing on Dominion.

(NOTE: Mobafire apparently classifies a guide as a Dominion guide if any of your builds include Dominion items, so I had to remove the build and make a section here instead.)

Here's my typical Dominion build progression. I don't want to say much about it, as some of the reasoning is included in other sections, and situational variations can be figured out similarly, too.


Catalyst the Protector


You're very unlikely to finish a full build, and even a fifth item isn't anywhere near a sure thing. It's up to you whether the Mallet, GA, or something else serves you best, as they are merely solid throwaway choices, imo, and not something I'm totally sold on.

* Try to roam a lot. Solo bot is boring and there are stronger options. Sejuani is a DPS gank tank, so roam.
* Dominion is where I originally discovered Doran's Shieldx2 on Sej. I don't play Dominion that much, but I liked the build when I tried it, so eventually I made Hipster Piggeh my standard Sejuani opener on all maps, after starting regrowth+HPot for a long time on Rift.
* Masteries: Change as needed. I prefer a modified 9/21/0 with CDR and MPen. In particular, Mercenary isn't great when there is a ton of innate GP10 for all, and should be switched for something else.
* Runes probably don't need to be changed. This build doesn't max CDR, so all CDR/lvl glyphs could help. Your call.

Doran's Shield is so wildly unpopular that I'm not trusting people to vote anonymously.

Try the build out before you vote, because I know it's solid. Everyone has been trained to have a kneejerk aversion to Doran's Shield, but I know what it does, and it's rather good here. Not on all champs, but it's exactly what Sejuani needs.