Sona, How Is She Viable?

Kngfgms1·Oct 25, 2015·7 votes·829 views

Whenever I play support, I tend to think which support would be the best option. While looking at different champions, I think how that champion can help, like Thresh and his hooks, Braum and his ability to stop projectiles, and so on. Looking at the different options, there is one I REALLY want to play, but I can't play them, and that's because their playstyle doesn't help much ingame. I'm talking about Sona. While her kit can be useful, ingame, she has it hard in a sense that if ahead she is great, behind, report Sona. Even though she can buff her teammates, it is up to the player to decide when it is a good time to buff her teammates since without cooldown, she ends up wasting her abilities for nothing.

Looking at her kit, she does fit in the role as both a harass and utility champion. Sad thing is, even with so much that she can do, there are other champions with a much versatile kit that completely outshine her. Her ult can stop the enemy team for 1.5 seconds, but using it and missing it can cost a fight. Also, her 'stun' can be replaced with using a different champion. Annie's passive allows her to get many opportunities to aoe stun the opposing team, Thresh can hook and lockdown a single player in just a few seconds, Braum can be tanky and use his passive to stun and deal more damage on his autoattack, Morgana can move while using her ult to stun the enemy, Alistar can knockup and knockback the enemy on a short cooldown, and many more that makes Sona's ult look weak. The main thing that is supposed to make Sona shine is that when using her abilities(minus her ult), she buffs surrounding teammates with her spells. While her Q can buff teammates, it only helps their autoattack, that while making the marksman do more damage, makes champions who rely on spells a wasted effort. While Sona's Q can shoot out 2 projectiles that prioritizes champions nearby, she is forced to be in a position that can make her extremely vulnerable to ganks if she steps too far away from her minions to hit with Q. Her W gives a shield to teammates and heals the Lowest health. While it sounds useful, the heal isn't strong, the cooldown is long, and the shield is somewhat weak. The shield can easily be replaced by a Locket of the Iron Solari. Even the heal, you can't control who you heal, champions like Alistar, Soraka, Janna, Nami, their heals are much stronger than Sona's. Between using Sona and another for heals, other champions are a better priority than Sona. Although Sona could use Ardent Censer to buff her team more, it's useless if her team are more caster than autoattack based.

What's supposed to make Sona a viable pick is how you use her passive to deal bonus damage and add an effect to her autoattack based on the last spell she cast. Q does more damage to her next hit, W lowers damage output on the target, and E slows the target. One issue that can hurt players is using which one to hit the opponent with. Also, if she uses her spells and accidentally hits a minion, her long cooldown to use 3 spells to get her passive up again takes time and mana, making a small accident a waste of time. Even after one is able to understand how to use her, the next big hurdle to playing Sona is item build. It can be tough to play Sona when she is one of the weakest champions in League, but building defensively can put her behind if you forget to build cooldown on her for fights, whereas building ultility and power can make her spells stronger, but still be very easy to kill if she fails to ult properly.

To put a long story short, Sona as a champion is just a champion that while she seems to do so much, she contributes so little when a mistake is made using her. When looking for utility, Thresh, Morgana, Leona and Braum provide more while being able to stay alive longer. Looking for heals, Soraka, Alistar, Nami and Janna heal so much more while also having a rather much more useful kit. Building more damage, just don't. Before her rework, Sona had a constant aura that gave nearby teammates a buff based on which spell she used last. Now, she has to use her spells and spend time to give her team the buff before her aura wears off. Between choosing having a constant buff and using her spells to buff her team, it cost so much from Sona to use a spell, touch everyone, spell, touch everyone, spell, touch everyone, hit an enemy with her passive, and wait. Looking at Sona now, her utility is weak compared to other supports, making Sona not be such a viable pick ingame. While she can be played in normal matches, in ranked, other champions are a much better option than Sona. Besides, when was the last time people played Sona, oher than just for her DJ skin? Maybe there are some who are higher ranked than me who use Sona on a daily basis, I personally believe the majority of players would never play Sona.

29 Comments

redniwediSOct 25, 20152 votes

I would definitely play Sona for a placement match, but not as a support. As a support she feels like a "win more" champ, and doesn't really contribute much unless her team is already winning. When I'm playing support I want to play someone who can roam around mid game and help whoever needs it, carrying the team instead of babysitting the ADC, and Sona just doesn't fill that role right now.

As a mid laner, however, I find her fun. Not always effective, but she's simple and let's me focus on putting my knowledge of the game to use instead of worrying about mechanical skill, which is what I like when it comes to champions for lanes I don't focus on.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20151 votes

Out of curiosity, how does she play in the mid lane? I only ask this since one issue is her waveclear. Whenever i play Sona, it makes more sense to put her as a support, so putting her in mid, what can be done differently that makes her better at mid?

redniwediSOct 25, 20152 votes

Her waveclear is a bit like Anivia pre-6, only at level 6 instead of getting wave clear you get the ability to 100-0 most champions in the game. She's a roamer who wants the lane phase to end quickly and can do a lot in a team comp that has a similar plan across the map. That said if she's put into a team comp that relies on extending the laning phase things will often go sour for her, and quickly.

Just to be clear I don't play her in ranked, however if I was duoed with the jungler and had the right team comp I wouldn't be opposed to the idea.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20151 votes

Interesting. While the idea sounds good, how often are people willing to go along with the idea. Not trying to say that its bad, but it sounds like if laning goes bad for her, she ends up falling behind, which can make everyone on the team rage. As a thought, are people willing to try to wait til Sona hits 6 for her to 100-0 the other mid laner? But if you can make it work, i don't see why not, although other champions sound like a better option, but that's my opinion on a mid lane Sona.

redniwediSOct 25, 20151 votes

With a full AP build she does a ton of damage early on, and once she get's Lich Bane she scales well into the mid game. If she does well her other laner will quickly learn to respect her range, as even though she can't 100-0 people too early she can still chunk them down by 25-50% per Q-Powercord if they are squishy.

You did, however, hit her downside right on the head. She's far from reliable, which is why I mentioned having a jungler you can trust with you in ranked. For normals she's really fun to play as a mage, but if you ever try it in ranked it's definitely good to stack the deck in your favor first.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20151 votes

Thank you for taking the time to reply to all this. It is true that it sounds that she can be useful in mid lane. It's only upsetting that there are other options that sound more reliable, making Sona sound very risky to play if you don't know what to do.

Hayaishi2Oct 25, 20151 votes

How is she not?

In soloqueue everything works.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20152 votes

Interesting thought, but I'm pretty sure most things like a mana regen Vladimir could only work in about 1 in every 10,000 games. Not to say that you're wrong, but just saying that most champions win more because of the kit they provide. While a jungle Sona may sound appealing to some people, a champion like Rek Sai instead is much more forgiving and useful than a Sona who takes a while to farm in jungle. But if it can work, I don't see why not, provided that it makes sense in how it can help a team win a match.

Maple CrusaderOct 25, 20151 votes

She's a jack of trades. Not the best healer, not the best poker, and not the best engage.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20153 votes

You're right, she is a jack of all trades. But what makes her such a bad option is that there's nothing that makes her stand out. When playing a champion, you play around something that makes them strong, and Sona is just too vague to be of any use to anyone.

Maple CrusaderOct 25, 20152 votes

She's not great in this meta. I play Sona because I feel a lot comfortable with her more than with all-in supports like Ali, Thresh and Leona. If it's ranked and I'm going against a kill bot lane, I would definitely pick someone like Janna, who's my first supp main.

Kngfgms1Oct 25, 20152 votes

Exactly the point, she can be fun to play, but she isn't strong right now. When up against different matchups in bot, Sona may not be the best option if they end up being a kill bot lane. While other matchups sound better for Sona, how often are people gonna play other supports? I'm not saying you shouldn't play her, I feel that other supports are a much better option than Sona. Janna is a good example, a support that can heal more than Soraka can be a much better option to play.

Pika310Oct 26, 20152 votes

She's not good in ANY meta. The only meta that she could've been played in: pros picked Nami instead. That was BEFORE she got gutted in 4.13, now she just doesn't work in the game at all.

chipndip1Oct 26, 20151 votes

I said yes because after the hundreds of Jinx and Sona games I've played, I'm comfortable enough with her to be able to properly exploit the fact that not a lot of people have match-up experience against her. If she was more mainstream, people would be able to abuse her weaknesses and I'd lose more. However, because this isn't the case + I used her so much climbing this far anyway, I'm pretty much just cruising on through while my opponents don't even know what to do about it.

As for your assessment, it's fine if she's easy to kill in her current state. The problem is that she's the easiest support to kill in the game, but the mileage you get for being in this position is just lack-luster. There's A LOT of things she's simply the worst at, but there's no proper compensation for it anywhere. Damage is low unless you're using her passive, her shield + heal is weak, the shield doesn't last more than even 2 damn seconds (Brand's passive burns you longer than this shield can last), her E speed boost is weak and EVEN WEAKER for HALF THE DURATION on allies, her ranges are poor, and her ult is her only life-line. Like, why is she so high-risk if her reward is so bogus? Does every champ need skill shots to warrant having some satisfaction in their kits? Meanwhile Thresh can do just about everything he does while being THE BEST at a few niche functions (lantern mechanics). The whole thing is just bogus. If it weren't for Lich Bane, Sona wouldn't be worth a pick and all my Sona games would have been Nami games, most likely.

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

If Sona builds damage, she can't be cc'd or else she dies. Build to survive, she only provides weak utility. The big concern for using Sona is that, in my opinion, you aren't allowed to make a mistake with her. Sure, you can use her passive no problem if you can manage cooldown and mana, but it takes one mistake, like autoattacking a minion, and her passive is useless for a few seconds, seconds that, during a teamfight, can make or break the outcome. I'm not trying to judge how she should be played, but that maybe she needs something to give her an identity ingame. Thresh is all about choosing a victim to kill, Tahm is about eating everything, Braum is about shielding and protecting teammates, these supports and more have something that makes them have a core identity. Sona's identity is maybe a bard, a musician that can help her teammates, but it doesn't feel like it. Maybe her damage is what makes her playable, but again, one mistake is all it takes to make her useless in a fight, minus her ult of course.

chipndip1Oct 27, 20152 votes

{quoted}

If Sona builds damage, she can't be cc'd or else she dies. Build to survive, she only provides weak utility. The big concern for using Sona is that, in my opinion, you aren't allowed to make a mistake with her. Sure, you can use her passive no problem if you can manage cooldown and mana, but it takes one mistake, like autoattacking a minion, and her passive is useless for a few seconds, seconds that, during a teamfight, can make or break the outcome. I'm not trying to judge how she should be played, but that maybe she needs something to give her an identity ingame. Thresh is all about choosing a victim to kill, Tahm is about eating everything, Braum is about shielding and protecting teammates, these supports and more have something that makes them have a core identity. Sona's identity is maybe a bard, a musician that can help her teammates, but it doesn't feel like it. Maybe her damage is what makes her playable, but again, one mistake is all it takes to make her useless in a fight, minus her ult of course.

I'm fine with her being this squishy, but if she's gonna be this squishy, her mileage as a whole needs an increase. As it is right now, her risk/reward isn't fair. Soraka gets more reward than her in what she does and all she does is sit back and spam W...almost literally. A good Sona's going to be WAY more engaging in the lane phase but, outside of Q spamming or the occasional R, the effect she has in-lane is pitiful. If she builds defenses, she doesn't die as fast, but now she's even more useless and less satisfying to play. This needs some serious addressing.

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

I agree, she needs something that can ACTUALLY help her. When i played her before her 'rework', she could still give her teammates a constant buff based on her last spell used when next to her. Maybe Riot Games could bring it back or give her auras some buff, something to make her feel like she can actually make a difference. Not saying she is unplayable, but she might be close to being unplayable if nothing is done to help her.

chipndip1Oct 27, 20153 votes

{quoted}

I agree, she needs something that can ACTUALLY help her. When i played her before her 'rework', she could still give her teammates a constant buff based on her last spell used when next to her. Maybe Riot Games could bring it back or give her auras some buff, something to make her feel like she can actually make a difference. Not saying she is unplayable, but she might be close to being unplayable if nothing is done to help her.

As things are right now, her higher-level play rate is continually sinking. There's literally no point in picking her because Thresh is a better generalist champ for supporting. Listing out character flaws gets boring at a certain point. I just want some confirmation that I'm not screaming into drying paint on a wall.

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

Thank you for taking the time to reply to all this, and i am sorry if I end up being like drying paint on a wall, its just there's so much that seems wrong with playing her, it might be hard for some to see how she is useful. Don't misunderstand, I enjoy Sona, I'm just asking if there's others who feel my sentiment in if she's in need of a buff or not. But if I sound like a broken record and it becomes annoying to either hear or read, I'm sorry. Once again, thank you for your input, this way I can try to understand how different people view Sona.

Pika310Oct 27, 20151 votes

I sincerely doubt you offended him in any way.

I'm sure he was directing the dry paint comment at Rito and not at you. As you may or may not be aware, they're blatantly unwilling to discuss Sona in any sort of form or manner. Completely ignoring and brushing off players' attempts at discussion as nothing more than wind blowing through their hair.

chipndip1Oct 27, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Thank you for taking the time to reply to all this, and i am sorry if I end up being like drying paint on a wall, its just there's so much that seems wrong with playing her, it might be hard for some to see how she is useful. Don't misunderstand, I enjoy Sona, I'm just asking if there's others who feel my sentiment in if she's in need of a buff or not. But if I sound like a broken record and it becomes annoying to either hear or read, I'm sorry. Once again, thank you for your input, this way I can try to understand how different people view Sona.

No, you're not the drying paint. Riot is. xD

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

From how I was reading it, I assumed you meant me when you said pointing out flaws gets boring, so I thought the drying paint comment was towards me. Once again, thank you for replying to all this.

Athenes LuluOct 26, 20151 votes

She's strong against disengage champions, or is simply a counterpick to certain matchups (cough Lulu and Janna botlane cough). Who cares about disengage when Sona can flat-out poke you down?

Wouldn't say she's not viable or even "weak" in general, but just needs her rework reverted. Like most poke supports today, she needs extreme outsmarting skills to remain playable in this meta.

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

While Sona can poke the enemy down, at the current meta, and maybe more until they help Sona get back in the spotlight, this kind of playstyle doesn't seem to be effective. Even though one can use a poke support, compared to other supports that have more survivability(Thresh, Alistar, Tahm), poke supports fall off towards the endgame whereas tanky supports can survive even longer in fights. Poke supports rely heavily on early harass, forcing enemy players to run from towers, and possibly burst damage. Poke supports currently, like you said, rely on outsmarting skills, but why outsmart the enemy when you can just tank the damage. Not saying that tank is the way to go, but playing poke support is a high risk playstyle that people don't want to risk if the damage becomes useless as the game goes on. If a game continues to drag on, they can only provide utility for the team, compared to the current tank supports who can survive longer and still provide more utility for the team.

Athenes LuluOct 27, 20151 votes

It is more fair to say that squishy/poke supports IN GENERAL are currently outclassed. Why pick squishy ones when tank ones do (almost) everything as well, but better?

People happen to bring up on Sona because she doesn't have much utility as compared to say, Nami.

Raka is one of the only exceptions because of her ability to keep her teammates invincible through healing.

chipndip1Oct 27, 20153 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cancerous Lulu,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=m8ZloZ4H,comment-id=000400000000,timestamp=2015-10-27T05:11:53.432+0000)

It is more fair to say that squishy/poke supports IN GENERAL are currently outclassed. Why pick squishy ones when tank ones do (almost) everything as well, but better?

People happen to bring up on Sona because she doesn't have much utility as compared to say, Nami.

Raka is one of the only exceptions because of her ability to keep her teammates invincible through healing.

People bring up Sona because, due to her kit and the over-nerfing she received, she's basically in the worst spot at the worst table, sitting with Zyra, consoling themselves with the fact that they at least get a table unlike Fiddlesticks and Nunu. Other caster supports are either decent ( Janna Morgana Soraka ) or can just go somewhere else and not care ( Morgana (again) Lux Lulu ). Zyra and Zilean at least gotten SOME attention. Riot literally refuses to comment on Sona in any fashion. I personally hate it. All this Mordekaiser whining and we can't focus on champs that actually need attention.

Pika310Oct 26, 20151 votes

Short answer: there's NEVER any reason to EVER play Sona over the likes of Nami and Bard. Hasn't been since season 4 started and the gap became exponentially wider when they ruined her in 4.13.

At least before that, you could get away with playing Sona if you didn't have quite enough experience on Nami yet. Now even a first-time Nami will almost guaranteed out-perform a Sona "main."

RebonackOct 27, 20151 votes

She is viable by playing Dominion rather than League's PvE mode.

Kngfgms1Oct 27, 20151 votes

How is she useful on Dominion, I only ask since Riot Games puts more focus on Summoner's Rift than other modes. Please note that I'm not trying to sound like a jerk about it, I'm only asking out of curiosity.