Can Someone Defend Sejuani?

Chimp Joker·Aug 16, 2016·2 votes·704 views

Let me get straight to the point. I hate Sejuani. Not in a way like, "OMG she is so OP plz Riot nerf this champ!" No. That is faaaaaaar from that. Whichever Riot employee thought of Sejuani must have had a vision for her. But I clearly don't see it. "A tank without any defensive boost. A jungler without any way to sustain or clear fast. A cc based kit with only one good CC ability. A bruiser without damage." Can someone please try to convince me to play Sejuani. I've played around 20 games (win or lose) with her but I just dont see the appeal. I have a better chance of winning a match with Katarina jungle than Sej. If you want to call me stupid, by all means you can, but not without explaining how I'm stupid for disliking her. My hatred for teemo is usually at the top of the list of champs I hate. Sej does not pass Teemo, but she is quite up there.

23 Comments

DryditchAug 16, 20165 votes

Happily.

Sejuani has a fantastic clear. Starting W at Krugs into Q at level 2 usually leaves me with about 1/4 health if I don't smite red. At that point, I go, take scuttle, end up at 3/4 health, and move on to raptors. I'm always healthy enough to finish my jg clear, and can usually even get a gank off at the end since I have blue buff for the mana restoration.

Q is a phenomenal CC ability since it isn't a targeted dash, and can actually interrupt any other dash in the game, short of Malphite's Ult.

Sej is among the few junglers where I feel that cinderhulk, rather than bami's cinder, is actually a required breakpoint.

Your E is a wonderful slow that's under-utilized by a lot of Sejuani players.

By mid-game, you're sitting at about 3K health with Cinderhulk, Dead Man's Plate, and maybe the start of a Locket. You're already an obnoxious tank, and if you're ahead enough, you can pick up an early GA (4th item including boots) to make your enemies hate you more. Late game, you should cap out at 4.5K health with nearly 150 of each resistance if you're against a balanced team.

I don't know how else to justify Sejuani, except to say that she's a phenomenal tank with a CC that isn't blocked by minions and is accessible as soon as lv 2 if you really want to cheese a gank after your first buff.

ModWulf HelhammerAug 16, 20162 votes

Runic echoes is also fantastic on her.

Fun little build I've been meaning to try if I run into a heavy AD team is a blue build: runic echoes, Hextech ice bolt thing, iceborn, frozen heart, MR boots, and I forget what the last item is

DryditchAug 16, 20161 votes

Really? I've never run her mostly AP, but that's mostly because I play almost exclusively ranked these days, and don't want to risk a new build I'm not sure of unless I drop my dumb ass back down to B5 and have to start the climb again.

ModWulf HelhammerAug 16, 20162 votes

Yeah, it's not the best. Low on health and mostly armor. You're relying on the burst damage and CC you'd have to kill the target before they get too much of a chance to react. The only health items in the build would be the Icebolt and then Banshee's if you get that as final.

Be that as it may, Runic echoes is still pretty good on her in any case. Helps wth clear speed and gank damage (for the same reason pros build it on AP tank junglers like Gragas)

DryditchAug 16, 20161 votes

I'll check it out. Thanks! Good luck freezing fools in True Ice!

EndlessSorcererAug 16, 20163 votes

Personally, I've always preferred purchasing Frozen Heart as my second item on Sejuani. While it might not be the most effective item for health-scaling (W and Cinderhulk) or general survivability, I love building CDR on her for uptime on her CC/mobility and the attack speed slow is useful for reducing the enemy's DPS.

The fact that attack speed slows will double the damage dealt by Liandry's Torment is a nice bonus; even if they aren't slowed, the burn will be amplified.

DryditchAug 16, 20161 votes

I like the idea of going Frozen Heart, but I've always been a big believer in the idea that if you have 1 health, all the armor in the world won't save you. (Malphite's Armor caps at 99% damage reduction, even with his 30% armor increase and a full armor build)

I also didn't know that AS slows double Liandry's damage, but then again, I don't really run it on her. At most, I pick up a Rylai's for that beautifully CC inducing permaslow on her W.

EndlessSorcererAug 16, 20161 votes

I find that her E is almost a perma-slow with 40% CDR and, since every ability aside from her W always has a longer lasting CC), I've never felt the need to purchase Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

I've never really found myself lacking health on Sejuani either. Between Cinderhulk, Strength of the Ages and Scaling Health Seals, I end up pretty close to 3k HP even without any other HP items by mid-game.

DryditchAug 16, 20161 votes

Fair enough. I'll have to give it a shot. I've just had a ton of success with my current build, and I'm always hesitant on a new build.

PaugusterAug 16, 20162 votes

You're stupid.

Also, she's akin to Amumu in her damage and aoe cc. Anything that has aoe cc like that will always be strong. Plus she has health-scaling damage with a fairly strong defensive steroid on her passive which translates to hyper tanky. She has a lot of pick potential with the slows and long ranged ult, and her charge can lead to some devastating ganks.

Chamuel85Aug 16, 20161 votes

Let me guess... You hate Amumu just as much.

Chimp JokerAug 16, 20161 votes

Nope. I dont hate Amumu at all.

Chamuel85Aug 16, 20161 votes

Everything you said about Sejuani is pretty much the same for Amumu. Amumu maybe has a little more damage. However, if you don't think Sejuani Q is 'good CC' or her Slow, then Amumu's Q isn't good CC (it doesn't go through minions even and is simply a stun... which is less than a Sej Q which isn't stopped by minions (knockup)). Sejuani Q will always reposition her and isn't reliant on hitting a target like Amumu Q. His ult is a tad bigger, but only affects around him. It only entangles (prevents moving and AA) compared to a long range stun. In my experience, their clears are similar. Neither has a 'defensive boost' (I say this because Amumu E blocks some AA damage, but Sejuani passive gives armor). So I don't see how you like Amumu but hate Sejuani. Especially since Amumu pretty much MUST start blue to be able to clear where as Sejuani doesn't have to really.

Chimp JokerAug 16, 20161 votes

Oh I never said I liked Amumu. To me, when I see Amumu my reaction is usually "....Meh...." It's just that I have never played Amumu before. But what you said has changed my perspective on him a bit.

Chamuel85Aug 16, 20161 votes

Oh that was my assumption. My bad. Yeah, I mean they're a lot different but their CC is fairly similar.

EndlessSorcererAug 16, 20161 votes

She's one of the stronger junglers at the moment (ranking 5th on champion.gg) and has been for most of the season.

While her ability to duel targets isn't great, she is a monster when ganking and teamfighting due to the strength of her CC and sustained AoE damage.

Her two strongest abilities are probably her Q and her R.

Her Q provides unconditional mobility, letting Sejuani traverse the map using non-standard routes, escape pursuers and position herself during ganks. In addition, it has a knock-up which is great for locking down a targets during ganks for your CC-chain.
Her ultimate is a ranged AOE stun. You can easily initiate teamfights/gank or disengage without having to commit to a fight and from a safe distance.

Aside from that, her W and E provide great sustained damage during fights and a fairly spammable AoE slow.

tl;dr Sejuani is really strong if you know how to play her and have a team capable of capitalizing on your CC and disruption.

Side note: Poro Rider is fluffy and adorable.

Nar7iaAug 16, 20161 votes

I bet you never saw what seju ulting 4-5 people in lategame teamfights can do :)

Maximum MordeAug 16, 20161 votes

I liked her when her % damage was on her charge. When they changed that I stopped liking her because she doesn't have any good skins available, and the playstyle had to change slightly.

Chimp JokerAug 16, 20161 votes

Thank you for your responses. I will keep on trying. If there is anything else you guys would like to suggest like runes, other builds, etc. I'm all ears.

DryditchAug 16, 20162 votes

If you want the rune/mastery setup I run on Sej, it's: AP Reds and Quints, Armor Yellows, MR Blues

with a 0/12/18 mastery setup: Wanderer>Runic Affinity>Merciless>Dangerous Game Unyielding>Explorer>Runic Armor>Perseverance>Swiftness>Strength of Ages

Hope that helps!

EndlessSorcererAug 16, 20162 votes

Personally, my setup is along the lines of:

Runes: 2 Flat Armor Seals + 1 Scaling CDR Quint, Scaling CDR Glyphs, Scaling Health Seals, Attack Speed or Magic Penetration Marks
Masteries: 12/0/18 (Strength of the Ages and increased damage to CC'ed targets)
Item Build (general build, may vary): ( or or ) -> -> -> -> -> ->