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Sona Build Guide by mrblindostrich

AP Carry What Masterpiece Shall We Play Today? [Mid Sona]

AP Carry What Masterpiece Shall We Play Today? [Mid Sona]

Updated on December 7, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author mrblindostrich Build Guide By mrblindostrich 20,766 Views 4 Comments
20,766 Views 4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author mrblindostrich Sona Build Guide By mrblindostrich Updated on December 7, 2016
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ghost

Ghost

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Intro to Mid Sona

So you want to play Sona mid? Get ready because you're going to be called a troll and every name in the book the moment you lock in. Don't worry too much though, because with a little help I'm going to get you ready for any match-up and situation you can dream of. Some things to note while playing Sona mid: You do hella dps, but your damage falls off hard late game; You are a beefed up support essentially, you won't be one-shotting the full tank Malphite; and finally, make sure you're cooperating with your team if you actually want to win. It sounds simple but it can get difficult so stay cool and let's get down to it.
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Pros/Cons

Pros:

    Very high burst damage on squishy targets
    Easy rotation, low skill floor
    Great overall team buffs
    Huge team-fight presence
    The surprise factor

Cons:

    Very squishy
    Falls off late
    Gets shut down easily
    Not as effective when in a hard match-up
    You're going to get called a troll

Right so we see here that Sona isn't the be-all end-all for mid, if you're looking for an easy win on an op champ, then sorry bud, this isn't the guide for you. Go play Syndra or Viktor or something. Sona is really fun to play and her kit makes for some really funny plays but you have to keep in mind her flaws, especially when playing from behind or countered.
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Spells

Flash- Flash is a must on Sona at mid for escape and kill pressure with ult. Just take it. Don't question it.
Ghost- This is a viable second summoner as you can chase down or run from enemies. Ghost is more useful late as opposed to the other summoners in the game.
Exhaust- Useful in bad match-ups. You can reduce their damage and resistances while slowing them to either secure a kill or evade death. Not as useful in easy lanes.
Ignite- Probably the best summoner for lane pressure. Useful if the enemy team has a big healer like Swain or Mundo, or you're in an easy lane.
Barrier- Probably less useful than exhaust, but it does have its uses in lane. Barrier gives a pretty large shield on a fairly short cooldown. Take it if you're sure you need the shield over the damage reduction, like facing a big burster like Annie.
Teleport- Not the best only because Sona is fairly quick as it is and she needs help from other summoners because she is so squishy. On top of that, she also can't push waves very fast at all. Only take this if your top isn't and you need more map pressure.

Everything else is mostly irrelevant for mid Sona. I'd say in general your choice for your second summoner would go:
Ghost> Ignite> Exhaust> Barrier> Teleport
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Skill Sequence

This is probably the most confusing part about Sona mid. I'm going to lay out three paths you could go for different situations, as none of these are set in stone. The first will be Max-E, the second Max-W, and the third is Alternating E-W.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
This is the Max-E skill order. You're essentially pouring all your focus into Maxing E second. This is useful in easy lanes or with immobile teams as you can move them around faster and chase kills easier. This is also a bit riskier as you're sacrificing heals for speed. I'd recommend taking this skill order when you're confident you're far enough ahead or your team is getting chased down in team fights.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
This is the Max-W skill order. This is more focused on the defensive aspects of Sona's kit, providing more heals and shields than maxing E second. This skill order is best on teams that need some sustain or in a lane that you're getting bursted or poked out in. This is probably a safer skill order than Max-E, but you lose some kill pressure at the cost of it. If you're unsure whether you can keep up a constant lane advantage this is the safer option.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
This is the Alternating W-E skill order. I can't write out all the possibilities of each skill order using this method, but essentially you're Maxing W and E simultaneously so you get a smaller amount of both. This is especially helpful when you need to heal your team in mid-game fights while maintaining the ability to chase kills and slow enemies. I personally use this skill order the most due to its well-rounded bonuses. The only real downfall to this method is you have to be very observant to how your team is doing to know whether you should continue on this route or swap to maxing one of the two.

So that's about it for skill order. Keep in mind, Sona is a very flexible pick in terms of skill order. You could think to yourself that you need more speed and realize three points in that your team needs more health and swap to Max-W and still end up doing all your roles fine. Sona is hard to understand her max order if you keep to a static routine every game, so keep an eye on how the game is going to be of the most use to your team.
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Masteries

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Runes

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush
So I spoke briefly about this set of runes before but I'm going to go a bit more in-depth here. This rune page is essentially my staple for mid Sona due to it's defensive and offensive capabilities. This rune page helps Sona late game while covering for her squishiness in the early game. By taking flat Quints and Seals, Sona is able to trade earlier with Q and basic more easily than if she were to take more ap. These seals can be traded for flat MR if their team is AP heavy, but this is also risky as Sona does not build much armour in the first place. The Marks are pretty set in stone, as most of her damage comes from q and basic, and this shouldn't be traded out for anything. The Glyphs are also very good on Sona as her damage falls off late, and this gives her a small boost to eek out a bit more heals and damage as the game goes on. The only other Glyph you could run is flat AP.
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Items

So here I'm going to go over Sona's staples and also evaluate the pros and cons of each, and which items are better in each situation.

Boots


Ionian Boots of Lucidity Vs. Sorcerer's Shoes Vs. Mercury's Treads
I tend to take Lucidity Boots for the most part because it gives CDR, which is pretty essential to Sona's kit. Taking Sorc Shoes will give more MPen, but you lose a bit of CDR, and really, with another Q from the CDR you'll be doing the same damage, or more, than with the MPen. The third boot option for Sona mid can be Merc Treads, but this is pretty much only if the enemy team is very AP heavy or has a lot of hard CC. I don't really like this choice as much because of the reduced burst that you get from the other boots, but it can be viable in some situations.

Core Burst Items


Lich Bane & Luden's Tempest & Rabadon's Deathcap
Notice here I put AND instead of OR. That's because you're pretty much required to grab these to do real damage and keep your utility up. Rushing Lich Bane is the best options since it empowers your basics and allows you to trade much easier than without. Luden's is the second burst item in rotation since you'll be getting a huge AP boost and splash damage off the passive. Rabadon's is last in rotation for the massive boost to overall power. Technically you could swap this one out, but We'll cover that next.

Situational AP Items


Abyssal Mask Vs. Void Staff Vs. Zhonya's Hourglass Vs. Morellonomicon
Each of these items have their situational use. Abyssal Scepter is the best for team comps that are stacking MR, or when your team has multiple AP threats; like Rumble top or Elise jungle. Abyssal is not the best if you're getting killed by an AP threat, as there are better items for keeping you alive. Void Staff is really powerful against comps that have some MR and multiple squishy threats. Void Staff is the best for bursting squishies into next week. You gain a ton of MPen, and since squishies like ADCs you'll be pretty much hitting them for true damage. Zhonya's Hourglass is extremelly important in assassin match-ups as you'll be able to survive their burst and gain a couple seconds where you can wait out some of your cooldowns. If the enemy team is AP heavy, it really isn't the best choice as you'll be gaining armour instead of precious MR. Finally, Morellonomicon is viable against comps with healers or enemies who heal themselves a lot. Some examples are Swain, Mundo, ADCs with double life-steal, Soraka, and top laners with double life steal or self heals. Morello also gives CDR so if you opted for this option you could run Sorc Shoes instead of Lucidity Boots.

Defensive Items


Guardian Angel Vs. Frozen Heart Vs. Spirit Visage
Guardian Angel is your on-the-fly Zilean rez. You can pick up Guardian when their team has a good spread of damage types. GA is also really strong when you're one of the biggest reasons your team is losing and your death could mean the difference between winning and losing the game. If you do opt for GA make sure that you're not burning its cooldown on a stupid death though, or its a useless buy. Frozen heart is really good against fed ADCs, since you'll slow their attack speed and get a lot of armour. It is also pretty good since you get a lot of mana from it, so you can spam more heals for your team. Spirit Visage is viable when the enemy team has either a fed AP threat or multiple AP threats. I prefer this over Banshee's Veil since you can pump out better heals and get a bit of CDR.
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Lane Play-Team Play

Sona has a unique playstyle that most laners don't have the luxury of. Sona's Q is one of the easiest to hit skills in the game, as it targets champions if they are within its range. This makes for poking with Sona fairly easy, because you can hide behind your minions and poke at the enemy laner. Sona is dificult to farm with, however because of this same mechanic. Because Q prioritizes champions, (or if there are no champions in range, the two closest minions) you must be very conscious of when Q is being used. Your main damage source does very unreliable damage to minions and sometimes you will miss getting the final blow because of the movement of the minions. Try to position yourself in the lane when you are cs'ing so that you are closest to the minion you are attempting to execute with q. If it misses the minion you mean to hit, just use your sheen-proc to finish it off instead. This comes with practice as you will see, it's sometimes very weird.

Essentially your job in lane is to poke out the enemy laner and jump on them when they're low for a surprise kill. You do a very consistent amount of damage to champions, so it's hard to get kills with just q-basic alone.

As the game progresses Sona hits a couple of power-spikes. These come as follows: Sheen pick-up, level 6, Lich Bane pick-up, Luden's pick-up, level 11, Rabadon's pick-up, level 16. At each of these intervals Sona does the most damage and has the highest impact on the game. Keep in mind that not all of these are equal, however. Sona's early game is much more dominant than, for example, her level 16 spike.

Use these power-spikes to your advantage for kills in lane or roams to other lanes. You can Ghost+E to chase kills from the fog of war when ganking top and bot for a surprise Ult and a kill for you or your fellow laners.

After lane you'll start to move to scraps. It may be a 3v3 or 5v5 but you have to know how to position yourself to be of the most use to your team during these fights. As Sona has high burst damage, your job is to isolate and kill squishy targets, be cautious as you can get bursted in return. The easiest way to do this is to position yourself slightly behind your front-line, or to the side where you can flash ult when the enemy team is grouped up. Make use of your short cool-downs and continue to provide move speed and heals to your team while you finish off the adc or enemy mid. If you get into a bad spot, utilize your zhonya's or re-position yourself behind your tanks while you regain health. Blue buff is virtually a must in extended fights as you will be spamming w, which costs a lot of mana.

Keep in mind, even though your damage falls off late you can still be a valuable resource to your team in late-game. Remember to ult grouped enemies and keep heals down and your team will surely come out on top.
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Summary

That about wraps up my mid Sona guide. I like to think of myself as a decent Sona player, as I carried myself into Plat 5 with her last season. If you have any questions leave a comment or message me in game. If anyone is curious; Op GG LolKing LolSkill
I've been messing around with regular support Sona too, so my current win rate with her is kind of low, but that will change when I get back to playing her mid again :)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, and I apologize for my limited knowledge of formatting and the like, I really wish I could have made this more appealing to look at! And if you liked my guide, drop a like or comment to make sure others can see the guide too.
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mrblindostrich Sona Guide
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What Masterpiece Shall We Play Today? [Mid Sona]

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