Why is Sona so slow?

only zhule·Jun 8, 2018·4 votes·1,707 views

So this just based off me playing her, but i swear there is some issue with Sona and proper movement speed. Like if a champion with +10 MS is chasing me that champ is going to run me the fuck down and wreck my face in a matter of a few seconds, BUT when i've got like +40-50 MS compared to someone else i will CRAWL towards them at a snails pace. Given how naturally slow and fragile Sona is, coupled with her limited offensive damage output (one non ultimate spell), it's insane how hard it is to secure a kill against a fleeing opponent and/or how hard it is to out run an enemy who has a little bit higher base movement speed (but WAY less movement speed if you pop her movement speed buff)

23 Comments

D357R0Y3RJun 8, 20186 votes

they nerfed her base ms after her disgusting rework and she proceded to never show up in competitive anymore everything they did to her only made her worse including the mini rework

they should just vgu her

Daedric EtwahlJun 8, 20181 votes

Honestly I couldn't care less about the fact that she never appears in competitive anymore. They're such a tiny fraction of the playerbase, they shouldnt dictate what happens to a champion (though I realize yes that's not how this tends to go)

If they do end up VGUing her I really hope they leave her character intact, and still let me support my entire team

D357R0Y3RJun 8, 20182 votes

nah i care about it fact that she doesn't show up in competitive just means a simple thing: she's a cheese pick that only works against mongoloids

the moment you play against a smart dude you will autolose with sona because of how trash she is with those weaknesses

Daedric EtwahlJun 9, 20181 votes

I mean... maybe? I honestly think you're just selling Sona and her players short, but, you do you, I guess

Honestly I firmly believe that balancing for pro play is a mistake. There are players in Challenger who one trick Sona. She can do fine at any normal level of play, and I'd rather the pros keep their noses out of it

D357R0Y3RJun 9, 20182 votes

there are one tricks for any champions, doesn't make your champion any less cheesy ROFL

if sona was meta in challenger tho or a regular pick in the sense that a support main can think about picking sona in games, then i would definitly take back my words she would no longer be a cheesy pick

Daedric EtwahlJun 9, 20181 votes

Sorry, I just have to flat-out disagree. There's a difference between being cheesy and being non-meta.

Sion taking enemy buff level 1 is cheese. Smite Tryndamere in lane is cheesy. Taric mid with Yi is cheese.

Playing Sona support isn't cheese...

D357R0Y3RJun 9, 20182 votes

it kind of is because if you don't play against sona a lot of times you will forget how to win against her

and it's extremely easy to abuse her

Daedric EtwahlJun 9, 20181 votes

How do you forget how to play against Sona lol and what sort of reasoning is that? "I forget how to play vs this champ that must be the problem not me"

Sona's one of the easiest champs to counteract in lane. You don't just "forget" something like that

chipndip1Jun 9, 20182 votes

I mean, Destroyer isn't wrong.

Sona isn't picked because she's good in League of Legends. She's picked because she's good in Solo Queue. Lots of stupid shit flies under the radar in solo queue because we lack coordination and quick communication. If this were played like a REAL team game, Sona would be ENTIRELY shit as a champion, and he's trying to convey this to you.

Things like Teemo, Kayle, Master Yi, Garen, and Sona...champs like these are generally bad, but we lack the means to exploit that.

Daedric EtwahlJun 9, 20181 votes

Sona is still generally pretty easy to exploit, let's be honest. She's in a better environment for her than in pro play. This game will always be uncoordinated. But the fact of the matter is that Sona is not a difficult champion to fight unless you just hand the lane over to her - In which case that isnt her fault.

Honestly I would absolutely despise if they reworked her completely because she isnt played in pro. I couldn't give a rat's behind about what the pro players want, they play a completely different game and I'm glad they keep their hands off of our champion.

I just wish people would let me play my champ in peace, instead of constantly failing on me that my champ is "brain dead trash" , being a champ for "mongoloids", to "learn a real champion" both ingame and out. It's so, so tiring anymore, and if you ever had me as your support, I'd be way better for you on Sona than I ever would on Janna or Soraka or whoever is meta st the time.

chipndip1Jun 10, 20185 votes

Well, lemme answer you like this:

People will ALWAYS say Sona's brain dead because she is brain dead. She is the only champion in the game where almost all your decision-making doesn't even require proper aiming or target selection. Everything in her kit is automated, save R and passive application. If you don't like how people perceive this, then you need to either ignore it or she needs to be reworked.
I honestly don't give 2 shits about how fast or slow Sona is. In solo queue, Sona doesn't need buffs, so don't give her buffs. The reason you think she's weak is because her kit is awful. Period. It does a shit job of conveying its strengths to literally everyone, even the person playing her. You feel when you crash and burn. You don't feel much when you don't, however. Like, look at how you set up your OP. "When they have MS higher than me, I get hawked down and die, but when I have MS higher than them, it doesn't even feel like it makes a difference". Idk when Sona players are going to quit this toxic relationship with her outdated kit, but the sooner they do, the better. I used to make a multitude of long think-pieces about this shit, but I'm long tired of it. Long story short is that if you honestly like Sona the way she is now, and don't want any "major" changes to her and only want some QoL stuff, forget about it entirely. This iteration of Sona isn't getting it, nor does she need it.
You know, as much as people like to shit on the pro scene, when it comes to competitive games, pro scene matches actually do something for the immersion of the players and the validation of different strategies, play styles, and character choices. That said, if there are champs that are NEVER seen in pro games EVER, odds are people's appreciation of them in general decreases. Also, when it comes to having interest in pro games, some people watch pros for the players, while others (like me) watch pro games for the character picks. I don't necessarily watch for the players and teams more than I watch to see how my favorite characters perform at higher levels of play. It'd be lovely to see that such a thing even exists for some champs, though. I'd love to see Sona actually being useful in a pro match...ever, instead of being shit.

Daedric EtwahlJun 10, 20181 votes

Honestly at this point we should just agree to disagree: You think Sona's brain dead, I dont. You want her to get pro play... I dont. I couldn't give a crap about what the pros do or play.

And where are you seeing me asking for buffs here? You're actually just yelling at me and trying to fight me over something that doesnt exist. It's annoying.

You know what I think about Sona now? I think she's fine. You know what I want Riot to do with her? Leave her the fuck alone. You can ask for a rework or VGU or whatever you want, and I will hope for them to leave her be. Despite what you so obviously think, that doesnt make my opinion wrong, or inferior, or any of these other things that put you on your high horse

And you know what? When I do well on Sona, I can actually see it. When that enemy Jax gets hit by Diminuendo right before he jumps on my Draven and Draven lives with a sliver of health. That was me. When I land a multiman ult, my team wombs combos, and we win the game off of that despite being very behind, I know what I did, and nobody can reasonably say I did nothing. Or just when we're sieging the enemy base and I keep healing off the enemy Xerath's pole, and my teammates never die because I wont let them I feel meaningful, I feel impactful, I can see myself being rewarded for making it past that weaker early game.

So, honestly, at this point we should just agree to disagree. Neither of us is wrong on these subjects, as there is no right answer. Itll be easier for the both of us

SangreDeNocheJun 10, 20181 votes

{quoted}

nah i care about it fact that she doesn't show up in competitive just means a simple thing: she's a cheese pick that only works against mongoloids

the moment you play against a smart dude you will autolose with sona because of how trash she is with those weaknesses

Rengar was trash too when they broke his legs. Cho'gath was trash too after they broke his legs but before they overbuffed him (adding gargoyle's and updating righteous so he could 1-shot)

Daedric EtwahlJun 8, 20183 votes

BUT when i've got like +40-50 MS compared to someone else i will CRAWL towards them at a snails pace.

You're not making any sense here... "I'm slower than the enemy despite being faster"? If you're going to complain about our homegirl at least be coherent about it

Sure Sona's early game is pretty rough, her base MS not helping those matters, but probably the main reason she is initially slower than most is because it's very easy to get 100% uptime on your E with a little CDR, and a little mana investment. After that Sona is zipping around the map, and is boosting her allies with her. This only gets stronger as the game goes on.

AP Sonas do this even better than Support Sonas. Theres a clip of Sneaky getting dunked by an AP Sona charging at him and he comments "What is that movespeed?"

only zhuleJun 8, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Daedric Etwahl,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=hcQ4qkvb,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2018-06-08T23:30:32.424+0000)

You're not making any sense here... "I'm slower than the enemy despite being faster"? If you're going to complain about our homegirl at least be coherent about it

Sure Sona's early game is pretty rough, her base MS not helping those matters, but probably the main reason she is initially slower than most is because it's very easy to get 100% uptime on your E with a little CDR, and a little mana investment. After that Sona is zipping around the map, and is boosting her allies with her. This only gets stronger as the game goes on.

AP Sonas do this even better than Support Sonas. Theres a clip of Sneaky getting dunked by an AP Sona charging at him and he comments "What is that movespeed?"

you misunderstand my comment. I'm not saying that i'm slower and yet faster. i'm saying that it seems like despite having like 40-50 more MS for 7 seconds, the difference in distance traveled is next to zero. Yet it honestly feels like if an enemy has something like +10 MS on you there is nothing you can do, if they want to run away they will pull far enough ahead that you couldn't close the gap even if Sona had a proper dash ability; and if they want to catch you they will run you down in next to no time (even without having to burn their built in dash mechanic)

Yeah sure late game she is zipping around, turns out between passive bonuses from items and an ability you can keep up infinitely, +40% (or more) MS tends to be enough.

Daedric EtwahlJun 9, 20181 votes

Honestly that seems more like a you problem... I honestly never have these sorts of issues playing her.

OurLestradeJun 8, 20182 votes

The lady's got no legs, give her a chance.

BobaFlautistJun 8, 20181 votes

Because at level 6 with two points in e and 10% CDR it has 80% uptime on 11% movement speed, and it just keeps getting stronger than that.

only zhuleJun 8, 20183 votes

{quoted}

Because at level 6 with two points in e and 10% CDR it has 80% uptime on 11% movement speed, and it just keeps getting stronger than that.

I get the feeling you didn't bother reading the actual post and are just responding to the title.

Doge2020Jun 8, 20181 votes

Are they hitting you with slows while you are chasing/running away?

EDIT: and do you have tier 1 boots or an upgrade? I easily catch a lot of people when I play sona. so idk if it is because of other factors or you are just not building correctly. Maybe try build items that have MS built in.

only zhuleJun 8, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Are they hitting you with slows while you are chasing/running away?

EDIT: and do you have tier 1 boots or an upgrade? I easily catch a lot of people when I play sona. so idk if it is because of other factors or you are just not building correctly. Maybe try build items that have MS built in.

I shouldn't have to buy MS items (not counting boots) near the start of the game. I've noticed the issue in the early-ish part of the game like around the first 15 or so mins. I'll have like 20% more MS then someone and it translates to maybe a few inches difference in distance traveled.

Doge2020Jun 9, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=only zhule,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=hcQ4qkvb,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2018-06-08T22:20:05.091+0000)

I shouldn't have to buy MS items (not counting boots) near the start of the game. I've noticed the issue in the early-ish part of the game like around the first 15 or so mins. I'll have like 20% more MS then someone and it translates to maybe a few inches difference in distance traveled.

Oh I was talking about mid to late game lol.

ParoeJun 10, 20181 votes

@thread

Sonas movement animation feels slow is all - im pretty sure movement speed is "the same" as far as distance covered. Nautilus has the same issue to an extent.

Teemo feels SUPER fast, as does Udyr, even at low movement speeds.