The Decline and Fall of the Sona Empire

Pika310·Jan 20, 2015·39 votes·6,731 views

Season 3 - Tier 1

Damage, sustain, scaling, Sona was the queen-of-all-trades. Thresh was the only support to outclass her completely.

Season 4, 1st Half - Tier 2

The support class changed, gold was easier to obtain, pink and orcale goldpits removed. Sona lost her AP scalings and got left behind other supports like Nami, whilst mid-laners started appearing to abuse the new support changes, like Annie and Morgana. No longer a queen, she became outclassed, but still remained at least somewhat viable.

Season 4, Patch 4.13 - Tier 3

Brought completely to its knees, an empire has fallen. A slew of 17 direct nerfs. Follow-ups of more nerfs bring the total to 21. Other changes continue to nerf her indirectly to arguably over 30 total. She used to rule the world, now she sweeps the streets she used to own.

Meanwhile the greatest world power named "Thresh" continues to rule as strongly as ever. Nobody will ever contest its reign.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pika310/SonaBuvelleRIP2_zps73bd6199.jpg

64 Comments

DJ SiamakJan 20, 201516 votes

She's still playable and her winrate is still fine.

Emmy Cha0sJan 20, 20159 votes

If Sona is "playable," then by your logic, Thresh, Lee Sin and Zed must be the ultimate omnipotent forces of the universe.

PS: Using win-rates as a clutch just proves you're trolling.

FLY SlotmachinerJan 20, 20155 votes

I think she is playable, hell I still play her and do perfectly fine with her; I get my support essentials and start going for lichbane, and let the damage do the rest.

It Is I EmotoJan 21, 20155 votes

thats the problem I have with her though. Sona was never supposed to run Lich bane as Support. but rushed nice support items like Locket, Mikaels, etc. Now she's supposed to let her damage do her job, as a glasscanon damage support, and I said this to an rioter already; I don't like this way of playing Sona.

FLY SlotmachinerJan 21, 20151 votes

Personally, I did not like how old Sona worked and I like this new Sona a lot; then again, I am just 1 out of many. It is kinda strange that she is a glasscannon support, but cant really do well in mid :P Edit: I dungoofed, I meant can't and not can

It Is I EmotoJan 21, 20152 votes

can she? with the current mobility meta.. well I dunno lmao Maybe its more fun to see enemies getting mad at Sonas damage output... well, many went like "WTF" after an Q powerchord, though she can't even do that anymore with those Q nerfs lmao

FLY SlotmachinerJan 22, 20151 votes

Rereading it.... I meant she can't... lol But yeah her Q Powerchord is strong

It Is I EmotoJan 22, 20152 votes

The problem is, people don't focus her because there are appearantly higher prioity targets than Sona.. what would be accurate, if she would not be forced to do damage. At mid lane, she's completly vurnable without an lane partner, making her an easy target to kill, mostly in the mobility meta.

manbearswineJan 21, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Best Poro,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=OTNFcEFH,comment-id=000000000000,timestamp=2015-01-20T22:57:50.815+0000)

I think she is playable, hell I still play her and do perfectly fine with her; I get my support essentials and start going for lichbane, and let the damage do the rest.

that's stupid,everyone knows frozen fist is the way to go.

It Is I EmotoJan 22, 20151 votes

I love frozen fist, because its a perma E powerchord on her lmao

TsundayJan 20, 201516 votes

and connects two sentences. She is still playable and her winrate is still fine. DJ did not say 'she is still playable because her winrate is still fine'.

I believe Sona is still playable and I don't believe Thresh is an omnipotent force. I believe both of them don't have WW or Eve extreme winrates and that having winrates in the terms of average means that while they may be on one side of the up/op scale it means that they are at least well balanced enough that they haven't shot up or crash and burned in response to buffs/nerfs.

SecretAgentHulkJan 21, 20152 votes

While I agree with what you say about Thresh (and think that Sona could maybe maybe use a little bit of a range buff, probably), there is no other reason to bring up win rate if not to show that she's in a healthy place.

DiostukosJan 21, 20151 votes

{quoted}

While I agree with what you say about Thresh (and think that Sona could maybe maybe use a little bit of a range buff, probably), there is no other reason to bring up win rate if not to show that she's in a healthy place.

Ehh I think the Q range buff is actually what increased her winrate after the rework.

I say nerf her Q range, buff the %missing health ratio on W back to 1:1, and call it a day.

Pika310Jan 21, 20159 votes

There was no Q range buff, it was the undoing of 2 Q range secret nerfs. Now it's just identical to what it used be, nothing more.

DiostukosJan 21, 20151 votes

{quoted}

There was no Q range buff, it was the undoing of 2 Q range secret nerfs. Now it's just identical to what it used be, nothing more.

I recall Bakanino saying it was 850? Unless the tooltip is wrong.

Pika310Jan 21, 20157 votes

The original range was 700 units. It was secretly nerfed by 50 units in 4.13 and another 100 in 4.16, making the range 550 units, whilst the tooltip continued to list it as 700. In 4.17, they returned the missing 150 units, but didn't note its actual range and falsely claimed this to be in addition to the already falsely listed value.

Hence why the tooltip is 150 units off the true value, the exact sum that was secretly nerfed.

Pika310Jun 30, 20151 votes

Riot also just recently admitted they nerfed the width on Crescendo in patch 4.13 too. This despite numerous times of lying directly to us claiming that it had been left unchanged, no matter how many times players called them out on it. Fact of the matter is that Riot's hatred of Sona is so incredibly deep-seated, they're willing to take any underhanded methods to ensure that she's unplayable.

It Is I EmotoJan 21, 20151 votes

Yeah if you run a lich bane and a voidstaff on her.

BeersteinJan 22, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=DJ Siamak,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=OTNFcEFH,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-01-20T22:13:37.321+0000)

She's still playable and her winrate is still fine.

Her win rate is fine simply because she's such a simple champion that she dominates low lvl/mmr games. Doesn't mean she's not trash, assassins do the same thing.

DJ SiamakJan 22, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Her win rate is fine simply because she's such a simple champion that she dominates low lvl/mmr games. Doesn't mean she's not trash, assassins do the same thing.

That's flawed reasoning since winrate takes diamond+ into account as well.

Also most assassins aside from Kat and Fiora have shit winrates.

TarynJan 21, 201511 votes

I'll never forget that Sona was the reason I started League, and continues to be the reason why I put up with the game today. She was the first champion I officially owned after saving my IP while leveling back in 2012. Muse Sona was the first skin I bought RP for, and now I happily own every Sona skin and rotate through them every game I play. I fell in love with her lore, her personality as a champion, and the grace that she brings to the Fields of Justice.

It's a shame that the champion that holds such a strong meaning for me has become the punching bag of Riot. But alas, they need someone to be their scapegoat while they ignore actual overloaded and ridiculous champions so long as they fuel their pro scene ratings. (Granted, back when she was Queen she really did dominate, but look at the game today...who is she possibly outshining that warrants such hatred?)

But Sona is strong, I believe that she'll persevere as long as we as Sona players don't give up on her. I know I won't, I continue to proudly choose her in Teambuilder, and I pick her in draft so long as I'm not counter picking myself. (Though, according to her most recent nerf Sona isn't allowed to be strong against anyone, but is allowed to be easily countered. Okay Riot, whatever helps you sleep at night.)

Stay strong my muse, you'll always have a faithful summoner in me. Sona

Luner HunterJan 21, 20154 votes

Sona was my 2nd by (after Warwick but thats cuz i'm a huge fan of wolves and werewolves) but i mained sona from around lvl 9 till her season 4 nerfs... i feel exactly the same as you do :(

Miku Hime samaJan 21, 20159 votes

I do miss playing Sona, but it's becoming painfully apparent that Riot doesn't want her to exist in any form.

... and now they're nerfing Ahri too? I'm not sure how much more of these anti-balancing nightmares I can take. If Riot wants to prove their balance and rework teams are incompetent and unqualified to work on this game, they're doing a helluva good job already.

RoyaiChaosJan 22, 20152 votes

Ahri wasn't nerfed.... She was just changed. There's a difference.

RatbertJan 22, 20154 votes

The change was a nerf. 20% damage for 20 damage. hmm

Pika310Jun 30, 20151 votes

Then the additional nerfs later, not just to her damage AGAIN, but this time also to her spell-ranges as well. I'm honestly getting tired of the balance team being allowed to do whatever the hell they want without fear of repercussions.

FakeGravityJan 21, 20156 votes

nerf Thresh ? impossible, he could do zero damage and still be completly viable he have an overloaded kit

Pika310Jan 21, 20154 votes

The truth, it hurts. item 3151

There are other options like longer cooldowns and higher mana costs. Death Sentence has already had its CD reduced before, so it's not a completely unfeasible option.

SexyTaylorSwiftJan 20, 20155 votes

R.I.P item 3070

KnalxzJan 21, 20154 votes

I think the reason she was nerfed is because she doesn't take as much skill as other supports. All she had to do was just monitor like any other person in the game and when to show the superior Sona it just came down to who could land their ult first. Most of the top tier supports all ahve skillshots that turn the tide of battles while Sona was just walk...floating buffs.

You guys might lycn me for saying that but its the only logical reason she'd be nerfed along with her uncanny damage.

Pika310Jan 21, 201514 votes

Playing Sona required greater skill than people want to believe or give credit for. Stuck in the top 10 squishiest champions, whilst having a kit focused solely on aggressive lane harass put Sona in a difficult position. With mediocre sustain, poor mobility and a complete lack of hard CC outside of ult, a single misstep held the chance of being insta-gibbed, regardless of Flash. Completely unforgiving of error, she required far greater decision-making skill and judgment than the majority of supports, especially the likes of say Leona, Thresh and Braum or even Morgana and Nami.

That was before July 30th. Nowadays, her playstyle is identical, but her damage is lower, her sustain is nearly non-existent and abhorrently expensive, whilst having even less mobility and more squishiness. A lot more risk for less reward.

The sheer idea of nerfing a champion who isn't tier 1 is inherently illogical. Attempting to use logic to make sense of the situation is itself a flawed idea that wields incomprehensible reasoning. You're attempting to use logic to explain prejudice, such action will not yield usable results. As soon as people realize this, they can begin looking at Riot's actions with an impartial view and realize their recent changes have been completely for selfish desires and pull the balance further away from the true health of the game.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pika310/SonaBuvelleRIP4_zpse99e0455.jpg

KnalxzJan 21, 20153 votes

The flaws that you've listed are flaws that most supports have to deal with. The difference between those other supports is that they had to aim or had to go all in and win or die.

I understand your point of view but i don't see Riot buffing Sona until they add a skill cap that isn't featured in a basic support.

You can say that Sona was wrongfully nerfed but just look at Taric. Most have put him as nearly unplayable and hopefully this rework will come out soon. I'm not saying Riot won't add in more skill for her. They're doing the same for Alistar but until then they want to keep a auto-targeting champion from being OP.

Or just leveling out the stars. As you said she was once the best support and she held that title. We all know its never fun to have a champion who is you either get them or you lose the game.

The best play that a Sona can bring is a flash crescendo. You know who else biggest play is a flash stun? Off the top of my head i think of Taric and Morgana.

But atleast when Morg you have to put yourself in so much danger or risk everyone just escaping.

Pika310Jan 21, 20156 votes

The flaws that you've listed are flaws that most supports have to deal with. The difference between those other supports is that they had to aim or had to go all in and win or die.

"Aim," "all-in," these are minor issues all things considered. Most "skill"-shots have giant hitboxes and/or great range making them very close to being point-click abilites, for example: Zenith Blade, Dark Binding or Howling Gale. "All-in" champions have so much natural durability that doing so still puts them at far lesser risk than mage supports. Having said that, Sona has the least amount of pre-6 CC amongst the entire support class, the support flaws are far more prevalent on her than anyone else as she has no viable means of protecting herself. A caught Sona is a dead Sona, she has no hope of escape, even Flash cannot save her from most situations.

but until then they want to keep an auto-targeting champion from being OP.

Season 4 Sona was NOT OP, she was a balanced 2nd-tier support outshone by Nami is most situations. She was perfectly fine where she was at, just in need of minor trimmings like changing her ult cost to 100 mana at all ranks, etcetera. Fearless took something that wasn't broken and then actually broke it, in a bad way.

We all know its never fun to have a champion who is you either get them or you lose the game.

Thresh LeeSin Gnar Zed

But atleast when Morg you have to put yourself in so much danger or risk everyone just escaping.

Morgana is one of the safest supports in the game. She has a 3 second root with 1175 units of range, a spellshield that grants full CC immunity, impossible to break for AD champions and her ult works through Zonya's Hourglass. Not to mention her passive grants free sustain to herself and her wave-clear nearly unparalleled amongst supports. She's already begun gaining pro popularity back into mid lane and even 1 team can play her into top as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pika310/SonaBuvelleRIP10_zps0704b155.jpg

A Wild AP SonaJan 21, 201513 votes

{quoted}

The best play that a Sona can bring is a flash crescendo. You know who else biggest play is a flash stun? Off the top of my head i think of Taric and Morgana.

But atleast when Morg you have to put yourself in so much danger or risk everyone just escaping.

I smell bullshit and sona is capable of making ALOT of plays if you arent trash and actually have mechanics (something most sona playesr dont) go ahead and watch some of my gameplay where I carry the living shit out of my team as her in diamond elo by getting 15+ kills http://www.twitch.tv/awildapsona

and you are constnatly in danger with sona if you get hit once you have to flash or ult because your boots of mobility turn off and now everyone with something better than basic boots can easily stick to the most squishy champion in the game that gets 2-3 shotted anyways

it doesnt get more dangerous than having to burn flash simply because someone right clicked towards you within 1000 distance do you even sona?

KnalxzJan 21, 20151 votes

I don't doubt that someone can RekSai with Sona and you're just proving Riot right at this point. Even with all of her previous nerfs you're still caring your entire team with 15 KILLS...as a support.

So is OP just some unskilled Sona unable to carry and is complaining because now he's not playing a God tier champion. That's all Riot is going to think after reading comments like this and seeing games like yours.

It doesn't matter how much danger you're in because every support is in the same situation. They either have really crappy mobility or skillshots sometimes both. Effectively making them more skillful than Sona. She doesn't have to aim anything besides an AEO while giving out buffs and dealing damage.

Also I don't mean to insult I didn't say Sona's only plays are flash crescendos i said her biggest plays are, as I'm sure just about ever Sona montage on YouTube rounds out to be just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aCEuYHnmpo

such skill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TPcRd77eko

to be fair this is a trollish montage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWcUKR4nHjk

THE BIG PLAYS! lol even in this video the guy makes fun of her "mechanics"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFX76zrL9Dg

The most boring of the 5 to be honest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j2UOwNSxCI

I"m not so big on anime but alot of my friends are so here's one with a custom anime skin of someone they call fap material.

These were all just picked up from me going to YouTube and typing loL Sona Montages. The only difference in terms of skill in all of these videos is the skill of the editor.

If Sona got reworked into a champion with skillshots she'd basically before Super Ezreal so the odds of that happening is slim. For now all Sona fans have to do is be as good as you. Which, by those videos is just having general mechanical understanding and great reflexes.

I want Warwick to be top tier, but all his skill basically boils down to "who should I ult?" Typically it will be the person with the most kills. I don't cheese so i've ignored the WW smite top, because i'm a good little boy and i'm just eagerly waiting his rework.

btw Knalxz means Servant of the Endless Wolf.

A Wild AP SonaJan 21, 20156 votes

{quoted}

I don't doubt that someone can with Sona and you're just proving Riot right at this point. Even with all of her previous nerfs you're still caring your entire team with 15 KILLS...as a support.

So is OP just some unskilled Sona unable to carry and is complaining because now he's not playing a God tier champion. That's all Riot is going to think after reading comments like this and seeing games like yours.

hardly its common sense the best player in the world for a champion should be able to carry with it no?

I just had to point out you made the common mistake of mistaking sonas low skill floor for her having a low skill cap

KnalxzJan 21, 20152 votes

Why yes Sona's do have a low skill cap, just like most champions at 3150 and below. The Major skill difference is general mechanical skills and reflexes.

The amount of skill that Sona takes isn't comparable to anything mainly because all but one of her abilities are point and clicks. Actually they aren't even that, she doesn't even point and click she just clicks.

I know you guys don't like how that sounds but if you favor skill over brainless face rolling then yo shouldn't mind her nerfs. If you have general machinical skills that weill set you above the other Sona's.

I.E. how people can still carry with her in Diamond but if you're just bronze and you managed to learn everything about Sona and know how to use her effectively but can't tell the difference between TP and Flash then yeah, you're not going to be all that good with the champion or any, I hope.

A Wild AP SonaJan 21, 20157 votes

{quoted}

Why yes Sona's do have a low skill cap, just like most champions at 3150 and below. The Major skill difference is general mechanical skills and reflexes.

The amount of skill that Sona takes isn't comparable to anything mainly because all but one of her abilities are point and clicks. Actually they aren't even that, she doesn't even point and click she just clicks.

I know you guys don't like how that sounds but if you favor skill over brainless face rolling then yo shouldn't mind her nerfs. If you have general machinical skills that weill set you above the other Sona's.

I.E. how people can still carry with her in Diamond but if you're just bronze and you managed to learn everything about Sona and know how to use her effectively but can't tell the difference between TP and Flash then yeah, you're not going to be all that good with the champion or any, I hope.

her skill is in the positioning/predicting the next 10-15 seconds of gameplay before it happens

anyone who cant do that will never be good as sona

thats the worst logic ever so because someone is good with sona they shouldnt mind the 0% win/pick rate sona that deis in 2-3 hits and is considered a troll pick in h igh elo getting nerfed for a 30th time when there are gamebreaking champs like fizz going around?

downvoted

Pika310Jan 21, 201512 votes

For now all Sona fans have to do is be as good as you.

So Sona fans only have to be as good as the #1 most skilled Sona user worldwide, then she becomes playable.

Thank you for clearing that up, I'm sure it'll be useful in further proving my point.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pika310/Sona%20Buvelle%20RIP%203_zpsn0todp4p.jpg

ApexInTheCircleSep 10, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I smell bullshit and sona is capable of making ALOT of plays if you arent trash and actually have mechanics (something most sona playesr dont) go ahead and watch some of my gameplay where I carry the living shit out of my team as her in diamond elo by getting 15+ kills http://www.twitch.tv/awildapsona

and you are constnatly in danger with sona if you get hit once you have to flash or ult because your boots of mobility turn off and now everyone with something better than basic boots can easily stick to the most squishy champion in the game that gets 2-3 shotted anyways

it doesnt get more dangerous than having to burn flash simply because someone right clicked towards you within 1000 distance do you even sona?

At work, was only going to skim over the video but ended up watching almost all of the video. Sexy sexy

It Is I EmotoJan 21, 20154 votes

You know, Even if I play Sona, I feel so useless, until i get a lich bane on her. Yeah she does nice on-hit damage because it became a MUST BUY item for her, but it's so upsetting that Riot promoted that Playstyle and then nerf it again with no buffs for any of her other spells. her W and E are still extremly shit and I probably feel like to buy a relic shield as support item for Sona, so she has an in case heal if she's oom.

Pika310Jan 21, 20153 votes

Ya, I know what you mean. At least AD runes/masteries or hybrid pen are all options for mage supports as a large amount of their harass comes from auto-attacks. So that would make last-hitting for Relic Shield easier to do.

I already plan on making a rune page for something like this once the sale hits this weekend.

Pika310Jun 30, 20151 votes

Like, I've spent this whole time explaining to my friends how bad they made Sona. So they recently decide to give her a try for one game. Lo and behold they are like "OMFG this champ is so bad" and one of them is practically a legit bronze 5 players. Even he realizes she's complete shit and clearly his standards are exceptionally low. The other already knew, but apparently had forgotten just HOW bad she is. I was like, "Come on dudes, I'm not just blowing hot air when I say she's the weakest champion in the game."

Emmy Cha0sJan 22, 20154 votes

https://imgflip.com/i/gok6y

Pika310Jan 22, 20154 votes

Lol, pretty much.

bradJan 22, 20153 votes

shouldnt taric get an honorable mention

Pika310Jan 22, 20151 votes

Probably, but I'm not the right person to do it.

I wouldn't be at all adverse to somebody advocating for him, he's essentially only 1 step more viable than Sona. Kind of depressing they're listed as "friends" and are both now tier 3 supports. Birds of a fallen feather...

BorblandJan 21, 20152 votes

Sona was realeased in 2010, but I remember she was considered trash in the middle of s2 when I started playing.

I know that cause i bought her cause I always like supporting, and I got flamed by people because "She is useless".

At the start of S3, they slightly buffed her, and she was OP suddendly.

Pika310Jan 21, 20152 votes

When I was still newish to the Vocaloid fandom, I joined League when I saw a friend share fanart of Sona. He'd been trying to convince me to join for about a year until then. That was in the 2nd half of Season 3, so that's about as far back as my 1st-hand experience goes. Anything before that is just speculation, word-of-mouth and what I've read from old patch notes.