How does Sivir hold her own against other ADC's right now?

Mattafack·7/19/2014, 4:10:19 PM·1 votes·697 views

I've tried playing her a few times lately, and she seems semi-week, but I'm not ruling out my inexperience as a factor. My Q was the only thing that did damage, but it was minimal through the whole game. Her W is useful for some AS level six and after, but a real gimmick early game. Her E is still amazing for some outplays and mostly makes up for her lack of an escape. Her ultimate also seems a little behind to me. The boost is great for the whole team, but it lasts too little for your teammates and the cooldown seems unfairly large for the utility.

I'm not saying she's weak. I'm asking if she is, and if she isn't, are there some great tips in general to follow as Sivir that makes her unique and strong enough to play competitively?

5 Comments

cshakes7/19/2014, 4:22:49 PM1 votes

Sivir is a burst ADC. Lategame, she should be this AoE beast who drops her combo of Q+aa+W and watches the enemies melt. I do agree with the ult's cooldown. A large part of her unpopularity is her 500 range. What supports have you been running her with? I suggest having your support pick something like Leona, and go all-in at level 2 or 3. Her W resets her autoattack timer, so you can pretty much proc every Sunlight mark with Q + aa + W.

Khodexus7/19/2014, 9:48:05 PM1 votes

I used to main Sivir, and I totally wrecked with her. She had the sustained damage to compete with most other ADCs, and could even be played as a mid-lane burst damage champion.

It's been harder lately, because I think she's been subtly nerfed, while other ADCs have mostly been getting buffs. Spellshield seems kind of bugged, alot of time I activate it and it does nothing, even though visually it looks like it should have worked (and I've improved my internet connection so ping is almost never a problem for me anymore). I also think in the current metagame her ultimate needs a significant buff, either letting the speed boost last longer and fall off more slowly, or (my personal preference) make effected targets immune to slowing for the duration of the effect.

Also, reduced cooldown would be nice for an ultimate that is basically pure utility.

As for how to succeed with her in the modern game, I've struggled, but I still pull out wins with her from time to time. Her wave clear is very solid, and she's great at pushing waves even at early levels. I like to start with W instead of Q in order to help her push, plus it costs less mana (and that's a major issue early on), and I don't pick up Q until level 3, but then I max it first.

One thing most people don't consider is that Sivir's ultimate has a passive that makes her W an AS steroid. As such, it's often a great idea, especially in the late game, to pop W whenever attacking a turret. Hopefully your team's tank will be grabbing aggro from the turret, if there are champions around, otherwise you'll just help to clear the minions while attacking the turret and benefiting from that improved AS.

The biggest buff they've given her recently was possibly unintended, in the form of Essence Reaver. She truly excels with this item, particularly now that it matches BT for AD bonus. Some people might say she doesn't need it, due to her E, but E is a stop-gap/defensive measure, and even if you can regularly get it off, ER still grants some great bonuses for her.

CDR is very powerful on Sivir, and as such I like to build not only Essence Reaver, but also Ionian Boots of Lucidity, and Zephyr (usually my last item). She also suffers from not having any CC, so I like to build a Frozen Mallet immediately after rushing Essence Reaver. You might not need to if you have really strong CC on your support, but I've always done well with it. Besides it really fits the theme of my Snowstorm Sivir (though I call her Shivir).

For my remaining two items I like Infinity Edge and Last Whisper. Both fairly standard on ADCs. I also like the Alacrity enchant on my boots.

Hope some of this helps.

MrSc0tty7/19/2014, 9:49:26 PM1 votes

Sivir is the best ADC to take against champs who rely on a single "pick" skill like either supports like Thresh or Leona, tanks like Naut or Rammus, or mages like Xerath or Lux. Add in her awesome teamfight potential and she's just awesome at nuking large groups. She suffers against bursty assassins and sustained damage

Jinemba7/21/2014, 11:16:40 PM1 votes

Damage wise I'd say shes pretty low on the list but she has to be because of how insanely strong her shield is. She shines in baiting, and laning where she can get a enemy utility champion to focus a big skill on her which then gives her and her support the upper hand even though her damage may be a bit lower. Because on a rather low cooldown she gets to ignore 1 or possibly 2 (depending on how long the fight is) skills. Solo I'd rank her as mid tier ADC, her damage wont be on par but even then her shield can dodge a critical skill that may even the odds in a 1on1. In a team I'd rank her as High Tier ADC, that shield is just way too good.

Imagine laning phase and you manage to shield the enemy Nami's bubble, if its pre 6 you win that fight now because your Support still has their utility. If its post 6 it still gives you a temporary advantage. Or shielding a blitz hook, that means blitz is either out of the fight so he doesnt take free ranged harass or hes way too deep in the fight because he ran in hookless.

Solo: Mid Tier ADC

Group: High Tier ADC