AP Sion Perfect "Escape ELO Hell"...

[quote=DaManBearPig]Hello. New to MOBAFIRE, and not sure if I'm posting this in the right place. But I've been playing AP Sion pretty exclusively as of late, and wow, I gotta say, he has done wonders for me. My ELO is low, around 1200, but in ranked games, when I am able to take mid with AP Sion, it goes REALLY well. I just wanted to post this for others because you really don't see Sion played very much, and I just wanted to highlight how good he can be in low ELO games. So let's look at a few things I consider to be "reality" in low ELO ranked games and then I'll talk about how Sion is able to succeed given that reality. - Reality #1: Most AP nukes don't take advantage on AP Sion's weakness. Sion's biggest AP weakness is that his most damaging spell can be completely negated by breaking his shield. I understand that he can be vulnerable to a really well played AP nuke that can break his shield before he gets his stun off at early level, but in low ELO games, those AP nukes really are non existant. Not to mention the fact after you hit stun/shield, most people are like "WHOA WTF GET ME AWAY FROM FRANKENSTEIN" rather than "let me hit him back because his 2 damage spells are on cd"...again, might be taken advantage of at higher ELO, but down around me, most people run scared. - REALITY 2: Alot of people seem to play with less-than-ideal runes. I do think it is important to have a proper AP nuke rune page to take advantage of AP Sion at low ELO. With proper runes (I run Mpen reds, mana regen yellows, mr per level blues, and flat AP quints), you can do pretty insane damage right from level 2. - REALITY 3: Low ELO players suck at farming. Everyone kind of accepts that "farming (cs) wins games", and watching high ELO streams, its true, those bastards really get almost every creep. But in low ELO games, that is not the case AT ALL. Like, so many creeps aren't last hit. Alot of people claim to "know how" to last hit, but in reality very few actually do it. I attribute knowledge of last hitting as the one thing that has improved my game the most. And with AP Sion, farming is easy mode. Even at really low levels, with one point in E, last hitting becomes much easier, and then once you have a few points in shield, you can literally just activate shield, hit the melee minions once or twice, detonate, and boom, 6 cs. Oh, and did I meantion that you just got a free 12 hp too? Seriously, AP Sion farming is easy mode, and if you want a lesson in how much having a gold advantage can help destroy enemies, give him a spin. - REALITY 4: Communication with junglers (and junglers in general) aren't very good. One downside of AP Sion is he does push the lane a fair amount. You have to try to stay disciplined and not just stand at the enemy's tower, but even if you do, you SHOULD be able to escape as Sion. 1. Most mid players start acting unusually aggressive when help is on the way. 2. Always carry flash. 3. You have a stun and your shield. 4. As noted above, you SHOULD have a gold advantage on the enemy mid. There is literally no excuse for those mid bushes not to be warded. It is worth thte gold. I promise. - REALITY 5: LOW ELO games end pretty quickly. I love watching the pro streams where you never are quite sure who is "in the lead", and in one team fight one team can win, and in the next one the other does. Low ELO games rarely work like this. More often than not, once a team gets the upper hand, it keeps it. Also, if a player dies a few times early, or gets totally denied in lane, it is common for them to go "on tilt", either making them rage, or at least play in a less-than-smart way. So dominate with AP Sion early. He doesn't scale as well into late game as other champs, but if you do as well as I think you should be able to early, it probably won't matter. - REALITY 6: Enemy team communication is usually really lacking in low ELO games. Did I mention Sion pushes the lane alot? So say you have some serious minions under the enemy tower....welll it's a perfect time to gank if the enemy has pushed. You land a stun/shield combo on a side lane squishy, boom, at least half their health is gone. I have even gotten mobility boots early to really be able to execute this (not ideal in my mind, but it can be fun). And yes, I know "any mid champ ccan do this", I just think Sion is kinda "easy mode" for doing it. Sorry that the post is so long. I just wanted to share a strategy that has really given me some good results as of late. I know I am not saying anything "new", it just I feel that Sion is underplayed, and really has a ton of hidden potential as a Mid champ. The sad part is, the most difficult thing in alot of my games, is convincing teammates to let me mid. Even if we don't really have a "traditional AP", teammates will still be like "Sion mid troll!". Very frustrating. Oh well, Hope this lets at least some of you try out Sion. Let me know what you think! Thanks! Oh, if you want some more details of how I play him: (I said my runes), masters 9/0/21 (thought about 21/0/9, havent tried it though), I run flash and teleport usually to stay in lane. Start w/ dorans ring. At 800 gold, get another dorans and boots. I then typically get hextech revolver for lane sustain (but I'm not sure this is best); build rabadon's and sheen; then typically I get Zhonya's for thte awesome active on Sion, turn Sheen into lichbane, and finish typically with a Guardian Angel. Never typically get past this. Any questions just ask! TL; DR - In low ELO games, AP Sion mid can be brutally effective. Go and play him![/quote]

[quote=DuffTime]You think people call you a troll for this, just wait until you want solo top as Olaf.[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf][quote=DuffTime] You think people call you a troll for this, just wait until you want solo top as Olaf. [/quote] Maokai is better just, FYI. :3[/quote]

[quote=DuffTime]You know where to find me >:)[/quote]

[quote=Virtus]And then there are those games where people know what to do against AP sion. Which makes one not want to play AP sion ever again T_T[/quote]

[quote=DaManBearPig]Just curious, never really ran Olaf OR Maokai top lane. Jungled with both of them, and my experience has been Olaf can get beast late game if he is fortunate to succeed on a gank or 2 (his ganks are pretty weak) and Maokai is just, pretty underwhelming outside of his pretty amazing ganks. Slow jungle, not much of a factor besides a snare-bot late game. Do you guys have better luck with each of them top lane? Love to hear some tips if you have em ;)[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]Top lane maokai. Use E to harass. when you think you can get a kill, E on them, W afterwards, R then Q. Explode R when you can.[/quote]

[quote=DuffTime]Yeah, Olaf beats pretty much anything in a solo lane. Nasus, Galio, Renekton, etc etc etc etc. He's just a savage barbarian ownerlord.[/quote]

[quote=Joobieo#41288]Olaf doesn't beat Galio lol.[/quote]

[quote=DuffTime]Yes he does sir.[/quote]