Hello everyone! I'm Sjorry, a Grandmaster EUW player and the previously ranked number 1 Orianna on both the EUW and Korean server. During the preseason and over the coming days I'll be updating this Orianna guide to help you guys get the best understanding of the most optimal strategies and build paths on Orianna, so you can play her to perfection.

Stregths

- Orianna is the queen of balance, she has a very strong kit which means she will usually be meta
- High burst
- Offers utility with her shield and speed up
- Insane zone control
- Very clear item spikes
- Outranges most other champions
- Strong at all stages of the game

Weaknesses

- No mobility leaves her weak against ganks
- She can struggle versus a lot of dive
- Low cds means you spam spells and run out of mana
- If people flank you / get ontop of you in fights you're gonna die
- She can't really do anything if she gets outranged

Flash very simply just allows you to have some sort of mobility which is super useful considering Orianna is an immobile mage. Generally be a bit more conservative when it comes to flashing in, since this is your only form of mobility.


Teleport is an all around strong summoner spell since it allows you to get great recall timings in lane, responding to plays happening around the map, instantly joining your team during midgame, and proactively setting up plays. This is most often going to be your secondary summoner spell on Orianna.


Exhaust is really useful when it comes to dealing with assassins, as it prevents them from being able to all in you, generally you'll only be taking this versus assassins and yasuo.


Barrier gives you a massive shield that blocks incoming damage, I would generally only really recommend taking this against assassins like Fizz where you can't get exhaust off before getting oneshot.



Cleanse is super useful for dealing with hard CC, take this against lane matchups that can very easily land hard CC on you like Lissandra or Twisted Fate - otherwise they'll be able to setup ganks too easily.


Ignite gives you a lot of kill potential, although generally speaking it is unecessary on Orianna since you're not really getting into ignite range. Only take this if you have a really easy lane matchup where you can actually look for kills or if you're a lot better than your opponents (smurfing)


Heal is another defensive option if you're not comfortable with timing barrier to prevent getting bursted, although it is easily countered by ignite. It makes your 2v2 mid a lot stronger since you can heal and speed your teammate. The speed can be helpful to give you a bit of extra mobility.


Ghost gives you a lot of mobility but it is not really advised to go this unless you're playing with spellbook, since ghost is most often useful in teamfights to kite and outspace your opponents. There are usually just better options for summoner spells.

Phase rush is generally the best keystone on Orianna since it gives her some much needed mobility which she would otherwise be lacking. You can very easily proc it aswell with your Q-W-E combo


Aery is generally recommended for beginners on Orianna since it is a very basic and simple keystone, you just very simply will deal more damage without having to know any combos or think about how to proc it.


Manaflow band is super useful because you can very easily proc it in lane with your low cooldowns and long range, the extra mana and mana regen you gain is a noticable difference, especially if you don't get any blue buffs.


Transcendence is by far the best rune in this row because Orianna requires and scales very well with ability haste - which this rune gives you for free. Generally when you reach your first item + transcendence spike you're incredibly strong because of the amount of ability haste and damage you have.


Gathering storm is generally advised because it gives you a lot of damage, unless you're trying to play incredibly aggressive in lane and play for complete lane dominence


Scorch is really helpful if you're trying to play extremely lane dominent especially against melees or champions you generally outrange because you can consistently proc scorch - if you're getting outranged take gathering storm.



Taste of blood is the only rune you can really go in the domination tree, it gives you a lot of sustain in lane which allows you to take trades more aggressively and regain your HP


Ravenous hunter is useful if teamfights are going to last for a while, since it allows you to regain HP when hitting your opponents with spells.



Magical footwear is super useful because it saves you 300 gold and is generally the best rune to take in the inspiration tree if you don't intend on playing extremely aggressive in lane


Biscuit delivery gives you a lot of sustain in lane which again can allow you to take more aggressive trades and get more lane control


Only take timewarp tonic if you're going corruption potion, otherwise the rune is completely useless, but with corruption potion it allows you to take a lot of damage in trades and still come out on top


Cosmic insight is helpful because it gives you lower cooldown on your summoner spells, it might be the new most broken rune but I need to test it a bit more



Prescence of mind allows you to regain mana in lane very easily, which means you can spam spells a lot more without running out of mana, plus it basically ensures that you're never running out of mana in mid/late game teamfights


Tenacity is obviously good if the enemy team has a lot of CC and you for some reason can not afford to take cleanse as a summoner spell


Coup de Grace is generally the standard rune if you are going for the precision tree since it allows you to deal a lot more damage when the enemy drops lower HP, which helps with executing enemies when going for solo kills


Cut down is only really useful if the enemy team is very tanky and you are going the tank killer setup

Unsealed spellbook is super good if you're experienced on Orianna and you do not need the mobility of phaserush, so for example if the enemy teamcomp is long/midrange and you can not really outspace/kite them with the mobility phase rush provides. I WOULD ONLY RECOMMEND EXPERIENCED ORIANNA PLAYERS TAKE THIS BECAUSE IT IS HARD TO DETERMINE WHICH SUMMONER SPELL IS BEST IN MOST INSTANCES







Transcendence is good in this setup if you are getting outranged in lane and can not poke the enemy laner a lot


Scorch is strong if you can easily hit the enemy laner with spells for example if you outrange them

Doran's Ring is by far the most common starting item you should be going on Orianna, it is overall great. It makes it easier for you to CS due to the extra onhit damage against minions, it gives you mana regen allowing you to cast more spells, it gives you AP making sure you deal more damage AND giving your passive more damage on your auto attacks. All around a great starting item to give you a solid early game


Corrupting potion is a great item if you plan on trading very aggressively in lane, in a manner that is going to cause you to take damage, OR if you can auto attack the enemy laner a lot to proc the magic damage DOT from corrupting potion. Generally you'll be taking this against most melee champions since you'll be taking damage whenever you trade aggressively, combined with timewarp tonic this allows you to take trades very aggressively in lane


Do not build Dark seal first item, but if you have excess gold because you have an awkward recall this is always a great item to pick up for the potential snowball factor - and you can potientially upgrade it to a mejais


I personally dislike tear as a starting item since it doesn't give you any actual useful stats for laning phase, however, if you are a fan of the new archangels then go for it, I just personally find it very underwhelming...


Always pick Seeker's armguard up early if you are against an AD laner, the amount of stats it provides is crazy. It is the most cost effecient item in the game when fully stacked.


Ludens Tempest is great, it gives you a lot of AP, ability haste, mana and most importantly magic pen and additional burst. Since Orianna is a burst mage who is not really meant for constant DPSing, having an item that allows you to have an addtional amount of damage whenever you go for your burst combo is extremely beneficial. Plus the magic pen bonus you get is very powerful on Orianna since it allows you to deal a lot more damage with your spells, which is why you should get this item 1st


Cosmic drive is an insane item, it provides so many useful stats in the form of AP, ability haste, and HP which are all great stats for mages. I personally think this is going to be the most broken AP item in season 11 very simply because it provides mobility with the passive AND overall useful stats, which is why you'll usually be getting this item 2nd


Deathcap gives a lot of raw AP which on Orianna translates both to extra damage, but also extra utility due to her AP scaling on her shield (E), which is why you'll usually be picking this up as your 3rd item


Voidstaff is extremely useful if the enemy team has multiple targets who are building magic resistance, since voidstaff gives a percentage magic pen it is strong against a lot of magic resistance. Generally you'll only want to pick this up if the enemy team has multiple targets with 40-50+ MR. Voidstaff usually comes in as either a 3rd or a 4th item.


Zhonya's Hourglass is an incredibly strong item against AD champions, because it is built out of seekers armguard, which is just an incredibly broken and cost effecient item. Furthermore the active of hourglass can deny almost all assassins from killing you in teamfights, which is why you should pick this item up 2nd if you're against an AD assassin.


Banshees Veil is an incredibly strong and cheap magic resistance item, which provides you with a nice spellshield to prevent you from getting engaged on or caught out by AP assassins. You should generally pick this item up 2nd or 3rd if you're against multiple AP damage dealers on the enemy team or if you are at threat of getting assassinated by an AP champion


Morellonomicon is generally not considered a strong item due to its cost ineffeciency, however if the enemy team has a lot of healing you should definitely pick this up either 2nd, 3rd, or 4th depending on how much healing they have and whether or not you need to pick up other items first for example against AD assassins you would rather pick up hourglass 2nd and then grab Morello 3rd/4th


Mejais is great if you manage to get 10 stacks on your dark seal since it counts as a legendary item, which allows you to get an additional mythic bonus. This item however is very risky to purchase so only buy it if you are super far behind and need to make a comeback or if you are super far ahead and need to snowball. It is an item of extremes


Demonic Embrace provides some useful stats seeing as it gives a lot of HP and AP, however it does not give you any ability haste, mana, or magic pen which are all stats Orianna desperately needs. It does however give you a passive that makes your spells apply bonus damage over time, however as Orianna is not really a mage that can constantly apply this DOT effect, this passive cannot be utilized fully on Orianna. The way you play fights on Orianna simply does not allow you to constantly proc the DOT unfortunately


I think Seraphs embrace is the biggest noob trap item in season 11, it only gives you mana and AP, no ability haste, no useful passive. You do not really need the excess mana that Seraphs gives you since you should already have a mana item and manaflow fully stacked, and if you want AP you would be better off just buying a deathcap


Liandry's at first glance seems like the go to mythic item on Orianna, but again Orianna cannot apply the DOT from liandry's frequently enough due to how she uses her abilities in fights for it to actually be the best item. However, against a tankier teamcomp where this should be your mythic item of choice as the percentage HP burn and the additional ability haste really shines through and allows you to shred those tanks


No, just no, it is too short range, a colossal bait of an item.


your standard boots of choice since it allows you to deal an insane amount of damage and pairs really well with the mythic passive from luden's, which also gives you magic pen.


Pick these up if you are against a heavy burst mage in lane like Syndra, or if you are against an AP midlaner and jungler.


ONLY PICK THESE UP IF YOU ARE AGAINST 3+ AD CHAMPIONS ON THE ENEMY TEAM


Since these now give ability haste I am not sure how useful they are due to the dimishing returns, but I'd say just stick with sorc shoes instead.

Orianna's passive, clockwork windup, makes your auto attacks deal bonus magic damage to your target, the more consecutive auto attacks to the same target the more bonus magic damage.

This passive is going to help you last hit during the early laning phase AND allow you to win most single auto attack trades. It is very important to utilize the fact that your auto attacks deal more damage than other mages during the early game - therefore you need to weave in auto attacks during your poking spell rotation as this will allow you to deal bonus damage without having to use mana


Orianna's Q, Command: Attack, is a spell that allows her to make her ball travel from one location to another dealing damage to anything it hits dealing less damage for each target it has hit. This is by far Orianna's most important spell as her entire kit is built around her ball, and this is the most consistent way to relocate it.

This spell has a pretty low cooldown allowing you to basically spam it after you have a bit of ability haste and mana, usually you can get multiple Q's off during a trade allowing you to deal massive amounts of damage - try to use it to poke the enemy laner whenever you have it available.

It is very important to remember that the travel time of your ball depends on the amount of distance it has to travel from the starting location to the targeted location, the longer the distance the longer the travel time and thus the easier to dodge the spell - therefore sometimes you want to simply use your Q to relocate your ball to a more beneficial location so the distance it has to travel to the target is shorter.

Due to the low cooldown and manacost this is also going to be your main ability for pushing the wave, and don't be afraid to use it to grab CS you wouldn't be able to get otherwise


Orianna's W, Command: Dissonance, creates a small field around her ball, which deals
a lot of damage, slows enemies, and speeds up yourself and allies. This ability is by far Orianna's best ability, it offers utility and damage at a pretty low cooldown once you have a bit of ability haste. Once you get to around lvl 13 and have this ability maxed your Q-W combo is going to deal a lot of burst damage at around a 6 second cooldown.

The cool part about Orianna's W is that it can be input buffered, meaning that while your ball is travelling you can use this ability and then as soon as your ball arrives at its destination the W will activate.

After you get your first mana item you should be spamming Q-W on the enemies for massive amounts of damage.

It is important to remember that this is not just a damage tool, it also offers utility with its slowing and speed up allowing you to gain distance when chasing down enemies and when kiting / running away.
In team fights this ability can also be used to speed up your teammates.


Orianna's E, Command: Protect, has both a passive and an active
The passive gives whoever is holding the ball extra armor and magic resist which is super helpful at making you and your teammates a lot tankier.

The active sends the ball to a friendly champion (this includes yourself) giving them a shield upon arrival and dealing damage to whoever is struck by the ball.

In lane generally you're going to use this ability to grant yourself a shield during trades and to help you proc phase rush with your Q-W-E combo.

During the midgame generally this spell is used to relocate your ball since this spell has a considerably faster travel time than your Q, allowing you to relocate the ball faster. You can also use it on teammates to give them a shield and then use your W to speed them up - which is super useful to keep your carries alive and to help your bruisers engage and avoid being kited. Furthermore you can use it on whoever is engaging on your team to help you line up a massive ult - the classic ball delivery system.


Orianna's R, Command: Shockwave, is her most gamechanging ability, it creates a shockwave around her ball and pulls in all enemies dealing a huge amount of damage and dislocating them. This ability gives you the opportunity to completely turn around teamfights by dealing a huge amount of burst to the entire enemy team if you can hit a multiple man shockwave. Generally you're going to use this ability to either onehit an enemy carry during teamfights, or look for atleast 2+ man ults if you cannot hit an enemy carry.

It is very important to be patient with your ultimate if you cannot hit the enemy carry or a multiple man shockwave. Most often people will forget and lose track of your ball in teamfights allowing you to hit massive ults when the enemy team starts moving forward.
This is by far the hardest ability to master.

So I am of the belief that laning phase is the most important part of the game, as it is the part of the game that will remain the most consitent with a low amount of variables. Therefore I prefer to play as aggressive as possible in lane, Orianna although is very weak when it comes to extended trades, so make sure to take trades as quickly as possible, usually you can deal damage the the enemy laner without them being able to return damage to you - because you outrange them. Your bread and butter ability in lane is going to be your Q, whenever possible you want to Q the enemy laner, some people will say Q - W the enemy laner however this is usually not adviced since W costs a lot of mana and will run you out of mana very quickly. However, if you're landing a lot of damage on the enemy laner with AAs and Qs you can start adding in W to threaten a kill.

Remember your auto attacks deal a lot of damage due to your passive so always try to weave in AAs when you're poking the enemy with Qs, this is important seeing as it allows you to deal damage to the enemy laner while conserving mana.
Keep in mind, Orianna wants to play lane slowly, so only get aggressive when you have your spells available - remember to play around your own cooldowns.

When you get enough gold / have low mana or low hp, you can blow all of your cooldowns on the wave to push out the wave before going for a recall. Orianna is generally a bit weaker before her first recall - so this is when you're going to get your powerspike, especially if you manage to pick up a lost chapter.

At this point you should be around lvl 7-9 with a lost chapter which means you can start just spamming Q-W on the enemy laner and look to get a lot of control in the lane, however, you still need to remember you're only looking for shorter trades to slowly chip away at the opponent. When you've dealt a bit of damage to the enemy laner this is when you can start looking for solo kills with your Q-R-W-AA-E-Q-AA combo which is usually going to be dealing around 50-70% of the enemy laners HP
if you can't seem to find solo kills simply push out the wave to get lane priority and then try to look for either roams or jungle camps - farming jungle camps is always adviced when you've pushed out your wave and you don't need to recall or you can't find a roam, as it just propels you closer to your powerspike.

During the midgame your botlane is generally going to be heading mid to apply pressure to the enemy midlane tower and match the enemy botlane, therefore, to avoid sharing farm with your ADC you should be heading into a sidelane to pick up CS. Locate the lane that is free so you can pick up solo gold and solo XP, push out the waves as far as possible while still remaining safe, since you do not have an escape you need to be VERY aware of where the entire enemy team is and if anyone is heading towards you. After you have pushed the wave out and applied pressure on the side of the map you have a couple of options: 1st, you can look to group up with your teammates and seige, 2nd you can farm a jungle camp, 3rd you can trap in the enemy jungle and try to oneshot someone, or 4th you can simple recall - the best choice will depend on the gamestate, however usually either grouping or farming a jungle camp should be the most common choice.

Remember to be aware of when the next objective is coming up, since you need to have pushed out the sidewaves around 30 seconds before the objective spawns to be in a position to setup around the objective. Due to Orianna's insane zone control with her ball it is always beneficial for you to protect an area and force the enemies to come into you instead of you being the the attacker where you have to walk into an enemy territory - Orianna is a stronger defender than attacker so you need to be at the objective before it spawns to be in a position to be a defender.

As the game progresses towards the lategame stages you should start valueing getting to the objectives first a lot more highly as it is harder to regain control of an area as Orianna during the lategame stages.