Why hello there, Mobafire! I'm d Fridge! And I feel like I'm credible for a Sona guide on this website because I carried myself up from ~800 elo to ~1500 with basically Sona. So, I just wanted to share some of my secrets of Sona for people to share. ALSO, I participate in a stream dedicated to showing people how to carry out of elo hell, and I'll share some of the tips and tricks we go over in the stream in this guide, too.

Stream link: http://www.twitch.tv/escapingelohellfordummies

BUT FIRST! STATS!

My Elo




And my Sona stats! (In just ranked alone. I've also done ALOT more in normals)



EDIT: I finished Season 3 at 1500 elo. Here is my little Gold Trophy as Proof! Also I got a name change as can be seen lower in my masteries section.

Sona is one of the most unique Champions in the League. She fills the role of a support in the current 0-CS meta. Currently, Sona is one of, if not the strongest, support in the game! She does everything, and I'll summarize it in a quick pros and cons section of Sona.

Pros:

+ Crazy Early level Burst
+ Movement Speed Buff/Debuff
+ Damage Aura/Debuff
+ Defense Buff/Debuff
+ AoE Stun
+ Flexible
+ Scales REALLY well into lategame!


Cons:

- Either has to pick between early burst and sustain
- Really Squishy
- Mana problems
- Slow

So, in conclusion, Sona's pros outweigh the cons! Therefore, I encourage EVERYONE to try her out!

V1.0.0.150:
Stats:
Base health reduced to 410 from 450.
Base armor reduced to 9 from 11.

--This means that Sona now has 2 more Effective Health than a melee creep. Basically, they wanted to remove Sona's ability to be a bully in lane and then take no damage due to her heal. However, this, by no means, killed Sona, just a cripple.

When playing Sona, you have to make the decision on how you will be playing. You must make your decision based on the lane you are playing against. If it is an aggressive lane (Supports like Leona and Blitzcrank AND AD carries such as Tristana and Graves) You may want to play passively. And if the lane is passive (Supports such as Soraka and Janna and AD carries such as Ashe and Vayne) you will want to play aggressively. However, it all depends on the lane. You must make a decision and change your runes/masteries according to how you plan on playing. More on this later...

THESE ARE MY BASIC SUPPORT RUNES



Explainations

Greater Mark of Armor - Armor to tank auto attacks and physical damage abilities like Buckshot and Volley.

Greater Seal of Armor - Pretty much the same as Greater Mark of Armor. However, these give a bit more than the mark version, so these are, essentially, more effective.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - Obviously, you get these because you WARD! All kidding aside, these are extremely effective when trying to stop early magic damage abilities like Rocket Jump and Blighted Quiver.

Greater Quintessence of Gold - These Quints are just the golden (haha) standard of the support role. However, with the passive gold buff, these are no longer CORE and can be swapped out for other quints.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN THESE! They are just what I choose to run, and have the most success with when I choose to play AGRESSIVE or PASSIVE!

SOME OTHER RUNES

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - My original support page involved these. I tried them out and used to love them. However, I also died much more in lane. I couldn't tank enemy poke as well, and I kept dying easier in lane. If you can run these, then by all means, they are not bad. I just find that I died much more than necessary in lane.

Greater Seal of Gold - I used to run these when I played passively. They help when your not having to tank minions and not getting killed in lane. They pay off if you can get past laning phase. However, if your opponent is smart, they will take advantage of the fact that you do NOT have a ton of armor and will poke you with auto-attacks. You will also die much faster if you get caught or decide to try and trade.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration - If you have issues balancing your mana pool, then these are not bad to have at all. The issue with them is that if your opponent is aggressive, or deals ALOT of magic damage like a Tristana/ Taric lane, you will die. It's as simple as that. TO ME, it is better to just get an early Philosopher's Stone and that will solve all of your mana problems for the rest of the game once you learn her mana costs.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Pretty much the same as the Greater Glyph of Replenishment, just scaling. TO ME, THESE ARE NOT WORTH IT AT ALL!

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - Scaling MR, I used to run these on EVERYTHING! However, they have the same issues with squishy-ness that the Greater Glyph of Replenishment and Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration have. YOU WILL GET BURSTED BY AGGRESSIVE LANES!

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - Mobility is the most valuable stat right now in League of Legends. So why do I not utilize these on Sona? Because on Sona I like gold. And you should, too. You can do well with these, but you will be gold starved, and will probably feel it. However, playing vs. tanky-initator supports such as Blitzcrank or Alistar, these are recommended.

Greater Quintessence of Health - I'm starting to like these more and more on Sona. They basically revert her nerfs and give her the ability to tank more damage. I would only run these if I'm playing aggressive.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - If you don't have a page to devote to your supports, then use your AP page. Otherwise, this is the worse case scenario, and should be avoided at all costs.

For Sona, depending on how I play, I run 2 different mastery pages.

Aggressive



Explanation:

Perseverance - Extra Health Regen is nice. Depends on how low you are though...

Durability and Veteran's Scars - TAKE THESE! Sona will take every available way to get tankier early.

Hardiness - Extra Armor to make sure you aren't a melee creep.

Unyielding and Block - 5 damage may not add up, but your opponents will try and trade back after you get your combo off. As I have stated a few times before, Sona has 2 more effective HP more than a melee creep. This helps a bit.

Summoner's Insight - -15 Seconds on Flash? YES PLZ!

Meditation - Helps with the early mana issues, and allows Sona to spam a bit more.

Mastermind - I like having this due to the cooldown nerf on Exhaust. Can be replaced.

Artificer - Your going to have 2-4 active items. -15 seconds on Shureylia's Reverie is huge. Can be replace, however.

Greed - THE ENTIRE REASON YOU SPEC INTO THE UTILITY TREE! It's core. You get an extra 2 gp10.

Biscuiteer - The extra health pot. I love having it, as you can activate it alongside your Crystalline Flask or a Health Potion. Can be replaced.

Wealth - Take this to enhance your start. Kinda hard to go without this IMO.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Passive



Explanation of Differences:

Wanderer - When I play passive, I tend to wait on Boots longer. Also helps to keep you out of Blitzcrank's hook.

Explorer - I love this mastery. I take it where I can get it, and in this mastery setup, I can take it. However, I wouldn't get this over 2 points in Artificer .

Nimble - It's a nice mastery. Works well with Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed and Wanderer to get fast early. Allows you to wait on boots much more efficiently.

With the new item's, Sona now has many new items to play with.

Starts

Crystalline Flask - My new standard Start while playing Aggressive. It gives you more sustain than the Faerie Charm start and keeps giving you sustain until you sell it. Sell it before mid game ends. Accompany this with 4 Sight Wards.

Faerie Charm - This is still my start for passive lanes. It advances you further into your build than the Crystalline Flask and you will sustain yourself because you will be maxing Aria of Perseverance. Accompany this with 4 Sight Wards and 1 Health Potion or 2 Sight Wards and 1 Vision Ward if your jungler wants to gank early.

Boots - I feel like this start is kinda ****ty now. I wouldn't recommend it.

First Back

Philosopher's Stone - More gold. I basically rush this on every support that I can. It gives sustain and gold.

Sightstone - If you can buy it by all means, get it. It's core.

Sight Ward - Get at least 2 of these every back.

Vision Ward - Grab one if you have gold left over. I begin to only buy these after finishing my Ruby Sightstone.

Second Back and Beyond.

Sightstone - If you didn't get it your first time around.

Chalice of Harmony - Pretty much core on Sona now. I used to not like it because it didn't upgrade into anything I wanted, but with the new passive gold and the fact that it upgrades into Mikail's Crucible now, I buy it every time.

Kage's Lucky Pick - If you can buy this before the 20 minute mark, then I would go for it. It actually upgrades into things that supports can use now.

Ruby Sightstone - Being able to place 3 wards over 2 at a time is huge. Absolute core. You can buy an early Ruby Crystal for a bit of tankiness earlier if you need it.

Boots - Yes, these are really late boots. Like really late. Either way, you have your Song of Celerity for speed.

Oracle's Elixir - I used to consider this item core, now I usually don't buy it until it's Baron time. However, I'll still include it here, as a reminder of what it once was.

Recommended Upgrades & Other Goodies
This is where it get kinda complicated for supports, so everything listed will be by MY preference on Sona.

Mikael's Blessing - This item is crazy. It's gives you a cleanse and a heal to use on OTHER PEOPLE as well as the fact it builds out of a Chalice of Harmony. I highly recommend this item and get it every time.

Locket of the Iron Solari - This item got MUCH better since it's rework. It gives 450 health (more than a Giant's Belt), 10% CDR, 35 Armor, and 10 HP Regen, as well as a nifty shield. It's a really nice item for 2000 gold and I highly recommend it.

Shurelya's Battlesong - The obvious upgrade for the Philosopher's Stone. It's just too much utility to pass up, unless you took summoner's Heal, in which case you should take a Eleisa's Miracle.

Shard of True Ice - Builds out of a Kage's Lucky Pick and keeps the gp/10 passive, which is really nice. Also builds out of a Mana Manipulator, which is great for poke comps. I mainly buy this item to throw on my ADC or an Initiator. Use this on your AD Carry if he's having a hard time getting people off of him or use it on a heavy initiator like Malphite to cause havoc in teamfights. Only buy this item if you invested in Kage's Lucky Pick.

Aegis of the Legion/ Runic Bulwark - I used to consider Aegis of the Legion super core, but now it's kinda meh. the Runic Bulwark upgrade is extremely expensive, and your jungler should be able to afford it. Just make sure that your team has at least 1 Aegis of the Legion as its power in teamfights is basically unmatched.

Eleisa's Miracle - Not much to say about this item, pretty much just take it if you took Heal or Clairvoyance.

Twin Shadows - Not as good as a Shard of True Ice, but great for chasing/pick off comps. You don't really NEED the extra MR, so I wouldn't recommend it by any means. BUT it's a pretty good item. Only invest in this item if you bought a Kage's Lucky Pick.

Zeke's Herald - Really Meh item. It used to be a great item, but changing the AS to AD was a bad idea, as AD isn't worth as much money as AS now. I usually skip this item, but it's not terrible to pick up.

Banner of Command - A new support-y/AP item, it's really not that great on Sona. Good for push/splitpush comps, however.

Ohmwrecker - For some reason, I have seen some supports take this item. It's a noob trap, the 900 gold you pay for goes STRAIGHT into the passive, so the stats kinda suck.

Will of the Ancients - I have had my cousin sit there and try and tell me that supports should pick this up CORE. I lol'd. Don't do it. If your AP carry needs it, they can buy it.

Tear of the Goddess/ Archangel's Staff - Just build a Chalice of Harmony. You don't really get much from AP anyways, and if you want a shield, then get a [[Locket of the Iron Solari}.

Sona can utilize 3 pairs of boots. Each is situational and nothing is set when it comes to boot choices.

Mercury's Treads
The basic boots. They also cost the most. Get these when the enemy has alot of CC or the opposing lane does a considerable amount of magic damage. Either way, these should be the boots you end the game with unless the opponent doesn't have the CC to justify anything else.

Ninja Tabi
The Ninja tabi are the best choice when you have a long laning phase. I would also advise getting these right after your double gp10's instead of getting items that lead up to your first big buy. They allow you to trade much better in lane vs AD carries, just makes sure that your opponent isn't a Taric...

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
RARELY do I ever get these, but they are still powerful when you don't have a Shurelya's Battlesong and a Locket of the Iron Solari. I would only recommend this when your going for an Aegis of the Legion rush and you will just sell it after buying your Zeke's Herald.

Upgrades

Enchantment: Homeguard - This is usually what I end up with. This item is just cheap and you should be getting your enchantments last, so you shouldn't really care anyways. Also really good for if/when you have to turtle your base.

Enchantment: Captain - Really good for kite comps, since you have to stay back with your carry anyways. Also good for push comps, as it also speeds up minions around you. Most of the time if my team is trying to take an inhib turret, I will get this for the minion speed.

Enchantment: Alacrity - +15 MS is always useful.

Explanation:

Exhaust - The basic support summoner spell. It can change the course of a fight. Use it to keep your carry alive in lane, or use it to help kill theirs. Also goes well with your role as a peeler lategame, as you can exhaust the bruiser chasing after your AD carry. By all means can be replaced now.

Flash - The "must have" summoner spell. Its utility is endless. Use it from escaping to Flash-ult and win a teamfight.

OTHER SUMMONERS

Ignite - Your a support. Try not to steal kills from your AD carry. Just make sure that your team has at least 1 ignite on your team. Also, Exhaust scales better.

Ghost - It's OK as a replacement to Flash. However, you can't Flash-ult to engage/disengage a fight.

Teleport - Not very useful in lane. Better to take something that can help your AD carry in laning phase.

Heal - They made this spell to be better for supports. I still don't like taking this that much, but it's MUCH better than it was before. Make sure to take Eleisa's Miracle to decrease it's crazy cooldown.

Clarity - Riot has said multiple times that they made this for noobs.

Cleanse - Mikael's Blessing gives you the ability to give this summoner spell to another person. Just buy that and save this for your carry.

Clairvoyance - Used to be great, then was continuously nerfed. It's just not that great anymore. Better to take Exhaust and win your lane.

Smite - Jungle Sona is viable but not good.

Revive - No. Just no.

Power Chord

After casting 3 spells, Sona's next attack deals extra 8 + (10 × level) magic damage. This enhanced attack has an additional effect depending on which spell was cast last.

Sona's passive Power Chord plays into her early game power and lategame utility. I'll talk about each individual power chord under each of her 3 auras.

Hymn of Valor

(Stance) – Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, granting nearby allied champions bonus attack damage and ability power until she changes stances.
Diameter:
Attack Damage & Ability Power: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20
Activation: Sona sends out bolts of sound, dealing magic damage to the nearest two enemy champions or minions.
Cooldown: 7 seconds
Diameter: 700
Cost: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 mana
Magic Damage: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+0.7 per ability power)

(Power Chord) - Staccato: If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will double the damage of her Power Chord.


Hymn of Valor is your choice to max if you are going to be playing aggressively. This ability is the key component in being able to harass and zone your enemy. However, as a downside, this tends to take CS from your AD carry, so make sure that you won't take minions as you harass.

Staccatio is your early game burst. Using this to full effect can push your enemy out of lane early on, burn off a free health pot. or even set up a kill.

Aria of Perseverance

(Stance) – Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, granting nearby allied champions bonus armor and magic resistance until she changes stances.
Diameter:
Armor & Magic Resist: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15
Activation: Sona sends out healing melodies, healing herself and the most-wounded nearby ally champion. Additionally, both Sona and the healed champion will receive additional armor and magic resist for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 7 seconds
Diameter: 1000
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana
Heal: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+0.25 per ability power)

Bonus Armor and Magic Resist: 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20

(Power Chord) - Diminuendo: If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will debuff the target to deal 20% less damage for 4 seconds.

Sona's heal, Aura of Perseverance is more about the Aura than the heal. Her heal hurts your mana pool, and should only be maxed when playing passively. It can sustain your AD carry, but does not excel at it.

Diminuendo makes Sona great at peeling. Use it during teamfights to reduce the damage of the biggest threat to your AD carry.

Song of Celerity

(Stance) – Persistent Aura: Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions bonus flat movement speed until she changes stances.
Diameter:
Movement Speed: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20
Activation: Sona energizes nearby allies with an additional burst of speed for 1.5 seconds.
Cost: 65 mana
Cooldown: 7 seconds
Diameter: 1000
Movement Speed: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 %
(Power Chord) - Tempo: If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will slow the target by 40% for 2 seconds.

Song of Celerity is mostly used to get to lane and after teamfights. Great for catching people in the jungle. Syncs well with your Shurelya's Battlesong (and has the same particles!)

Tempo gives Sona a very powerful 40% slow. Use it on the opposing laners when your jungler is about to gank.

Crescendo

(Active): Sona plays her ultimate chord in a broad line in front of her, forcing enemy champions caught to dance stunned for 1.5 seconds and take magic damage upon impact.
Range: 1000
Cost: 100 / 150 / 200 mana
Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 seconds

Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.8 per ability power)

Sona's ult, Crescendo is what makes her possibly the most powerful support in the game. It allows her to engage and disengage fights (though it's not ideal). It fits in perfectly with an AoE team comp and can change the course of a fight by itself. Try and fight in choke points so that way you can stand in front of your AD carry to peel AND hit everyone with your ult.

- As your Ult, Max this first.

- Max Hymn of Valor when you want to be playing aggressively and are trying to zone and poke your enemy.

- Max this next, as it still gives a decent heal and a huge armor/mr buff to the person you heal.

- Max this last, as you get the full slow and a decently large MS boost from one point at level 4.

- As your Ult, Max this first.

- When playing passively, max Aria of Perseverance and sustain your AD carry with the heal. Still take the point in Hymn of Valor at level 1 and at least try to get off the level 1 burst.

- Max this next because by this point in the game, your Hymn of Valor Damage will have fallen off, and will now just be used to help push.

- Max this last, as now your just going to be using this to help push and for the +20 AD/AP aura.

Sona goes well with quite a few AD carries, however these few are INSANE with Sona helping them out. This doesn't mean that other AD carries don't work with Sona, these are just what I consider the best. This list is in no particular order.

- Caitlyn
Caitlyn's auto attack range of 650 makes her adept at poking down enemies using her passive Headshot. Combine that with Sona's Hymn of Valor and Power Chord poke and this lane is deadly.

- Ezreal
Now that Ezreal is a powerful AD carry, everyone is finding out how powerful he is with Sona. This pair can push an enemy out of lane ridiculously fast, and can easily get kills when they both hit 6.

- Miss Fortune
This lane wants to trade with the opposing laners. This is another lane that works to perfection when they both get their ultimates.

Draven
I can't explain this lane much, but ever since Draven was released, I have had success when pairing Sona with him. It's just a TON of damage and trades extremely well.

Finally Decided to do a real quick guide on matchups.

- Alistar

Go passive.
Max W.
0/9/21
Can engage on you and probably kill you after level 2.
Can sustain alot of you damage after level 5.
Build's tanky and will dive you.
Don't die to him early, tends to snowball his AD carry.
Don't get combo'd.


- Blitzcrank

Max W
0/9/21
Will try and hook you level 1, if you get hooked, you will have to Flash or die.
Ward excessively to try and shut him down.
Buy boots early.


Fiddlesticks

Can go Aggressive or Passive.
0/13/17 or 0/9/21
Avoid getting feared.
Don't try and harass him as he can Drain minions and heal himself. Take advantage of the fact that the AD Carry will have no sustain.
Ward and get ready to get ganked.
Merc Treads highly recommended.


- Janna

Aggressive
0/13/17
Keep her shield on cooldown.
Beat her/her Carry up before she hits around level 5, when she can shield away most of your damage.
Take note if her Monsoon is down, she won't be able to disengage you at that point.
She has no sustain, so harass a TON.


- Karma

Can play aggressive or passive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
You outscale her.
You can't really out harass her shield early on, but eventually she won't be able to protect herself.
Run her OOM. Her shield at max level costs around 120 mana.
Run her out of Mantra stacks and she cannot heal/harass you back.
I tend to put an extra point into Aria of Perseverance at level 3 to help a bit with her W harass.
Just hit late game.


- Kayle

Go Passive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
She harasses with auto attacks, so taking 0/13/17 for the Block Mastery isn't bad.
She doesn't scale very well as a support without kills, so avoiding deaths is crucial.
Avoid getting hit by her Q, as she will then just run you down.
Try and hit her with your Song of Celerity Power Chord so that way she can't just run you down.
Get to late game.


- Leona

Go Passive
0/9/21
Avoid her Zenith Blade and her Solar Flare.
She is going to want to get in your face and keep you in place.
Harass her when her Zenith Blade is on cooldown.
I would recommend Mercury Treads. Getting Boots of Speed early isn't bad either.


- Lulu

Go Aggressive
0/13/17
She has no natural sustain.
She is going to want to play aggressive.
Harass her out of lane.
Make her Max her shield to try and protect herself/her Carry.
Easy Lane.


- Lux

Aggressive or Passive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
Avoid Skillshots.
You should be able to burst down her first shield and get the rest of you damage off before her shield comes back.
Avoid Skillshots.
Laugh OP.
Can't sustain you damage.


- Morgana

Aggressive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
Your Power Chord does physical damage. Hit her with the Hymn of Valor Power Chord while her Black Shield is up without fear.
Using Auto Attacks to harass is highly recommended.
Only harass while her Dark Binding is down, since getting caught by that is near certain death.
I often run my passive page despite the fact that I play aggressively vs. this lane for the extra MS.
She only has 425 range, so she won't be able to trade with you well.
Mercury Treads recommended.


- Nami

Go Passive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
She can heal away most of your harass.
If you walk up to try and combo, she will use her Aqua Prison to trap you and then use Ebb and Flow on you to heal.
She is going to want to use her Auto Attacks to harass as well, so going 0/13/17 negates some of that.


- Nautilus

Passive
0/9/21
He's pretty much just a lesser version of Blitzcrank. See that Section.


Nidalee

Passive or Aggressive
0/9/21 or 0/13/17
Avoid spears and this lane should be easy.
Run her OOM with harass.


- Nunu

Go Aggressive
0/13/17
Put a point into the MR mastery to eat some snowballs.
Harass him out of lane.
Has no natural Sustain.
Don't let him kite you around: step out of the brush, combo, then go back into the brush.
Don't let him ult.
Probably one of the easiest Sona lanes.


- Soraka

Aggressive
0/13/17
Push her out of lane quickly.
Keep a level Advantage.
Around level 5, she can sustain ALL of your harass easily.
At level 6, give up on killing her if you haven't already without jungler presence.
Cry as she hits W.


- Taric

Passive
0/9/21
Don't get stunned.
He will want to trade with you.
He will burst you.
He will dive you.
He is your counter.
He is outrageous.


- Zilean

Passive
0/9/21
Can out trade you at level 3.
Is going to throw bombs everywhere.
Try and avoid getting bombed until you max heal.
Sustain and run him OOM.
Killing him is really difficult due to his ult.


- Zyra

Aggressive or Passive
0/9/21
I usually go my faster masteries to avoid her snare, as you are probably dead if you get hit by it.
Don't chase her, as her slowing plants hurt.
Fear the passive.
While her snare is down, harass her. She has no sustain.
Mercury Treads highly recommended.

Early game, you do a TON of damage. Before leaving your base, put your skill point in you Hymn of Valor and put 2 charges on your Power Chord. Then use auto attacks to leash blue/red if you have to, and go to lane and Q+ Power Chord the AD carry. Most likely, he won't be able to return any damage unless you get CC'd down, and you will force the AD carry to use a Health Pot. Remember to use your Sight Wards, by placing one in the river/tri-brush in the river, and another in the bottom brush where the opposing support is probably sitting. From then on, try and be aggressive as possible, while staying safe as possible. As you get the range of Hymn of Valor down, you will eventually stop hitting minions and start hitting Champions. Also, Don't be afraid to use your auto attacks to harass. With you Hymn of Valor aura up, you should do a decent amount of damage with them.

When your jungler comes to gank, try and bait the enemy. Don't make it obvious, but do something to grab their attention, then hit them with a purple Power Chord to slow them down so your AD carry and the jungler can engage. Once you get your ult, try and save it until you thing the enemy will try and Flash. Keep warding at this time, both the bottom brush and the river/tri-brush to make sure the opposing jungler cannot gank.

Vision Wards can be utilized at this time to deny vision to the enemy and to make sure that only your team has vision of the Dragon. Remember to take timers of the wards down in bot lane, and whenever you/the enemy does dragon, take a timer.

Dragon = 6 min.
Buffs = 5 min.
Wards = 3 min.

Trading against the opposing lane is also crucial, but incredibly simple. *NOTE: DONT EVER Exhaust THE OPPOSING SUPPORT UNLESS THE OPPOSING AD CARRY IS DEAD!* Save your Exhaust When you try and force/they try and force a trade. Simply utilize your Q+W+R combo to destroy the enemy.

When playing passive Sona, still put the point in Q and charge your Power Chord and attempt to burst the AD carry, while staying safe. At that point, poke when you have the opportunity, but try and stay safe.

You are now a babysitter! Keep your carry safe and try to make the lane as safe as possible. Ward excessively. Instead of using your blue Power Chord to trade, use your green one and try and cut the damage of the opposing AD carry. Otherwise, most rules apply. Just make sure your AD carry is farming safely. Spam Aria of Perseverance to keep your AD carry in lane, and try and get to Mid Game as fast as possible.

I have been using a website for a while now on the ESSENTIAL ward spots. Keep these warded as much as possible. The site even gives its own reasoning as to why you would ward there.

URL: http://rtsgaming.org/league-of-legends-visual-warding-guide/

By now, you should have your core mostly finished. You also should have pushed down your opponent's tower or your tower has been taken.

Your job at this point is to roam and give as much vision as possible to your team, as well as take away vision from your enemy with your Oracle's Elixir. Try and get others to roam with you and catch people in the jungle. Take every dragon possible, and push down as a group. If a fight occurs, just peel for your AD carry, because by now your Hymn of Valor's damage has fallen pretty hard. At the end of the Mid game, you should be preparing for Baron, and you should being clearing wards.

You now should be fighting for Map Control and Vision on Baron. Oracle's Elixir is the most important item at this point, because being able to see Baron is life or death. Try and keep your team together, unless your team has a dedicated split-pusher such as Shen or Master Yi. Teamfights are going to be plentiful, so having Crescendo off of cool down is a must. You should have completed your core unless you got stomped in lane. Keep wards rolling. Siegeing towers should be pretty common, and you should adjust you build according to how long the sieges are. Also, look for opportunities to do Baron, such as if someone is trying to farm bot lane.

Once your team has Baron, siegeing should become much easier and dives should be common. Be ready for a bruiser to jump on a carry. Take 2 inhibitors and push to win the game.

Sona is a peeler for her AD carry. She should try and be in front of the AD carry at ALL times during the fight. Try and fight in choke points, where you can stay in front of your carries and hit your Crescendo on as many people as possible. Crescendo is a follow up spell, meant to be used after someone else such as Alistar has initiated.

Once you have your Locket of the Iron Solari, pop that when the Bruisers and Assassins jump your AD carry. Otherwise, you should have your Power Chord charged and ready to go, so shoot anyone attacking you AD carry with your green chord to cut their damage. Ult to hit AS MANY people as possible, and when the fight starts to become a chase, e spam to chase and slow for the kill.

12/17/12
Updated for Season 3.