Sona

magic pole·Dec 1, 2015·4 votes·762 views

let's be real, is just about the most braindead champion in this game, besides perhaps

point and click nuke (in lane) which is easily avoided by just backing the fuck off

with the new regen masteries, basically infinite health in lane if you play your cards right.

about the only "skill" she has is her ult, but thats usually flash ult or used to counter engage. which is fine. point is, her point and click nonsense toxic kit needs some work.

and she gets dumpstered by a gank or some focus in a team fight...yeah...she needs some work. oppressive in lane and skirmish... garbage if behind

9 Comments

Emmy Cha0sDec 1, 20152 votes

Weakest sustain in the game, lowest damage amongst supports, all whilst completely lacking CC, mobility or durability. You're right that she needs work, but the reason being because she's complete shit. Useless as hell while ahead, dead weight while behind.

dannykunDec 1, 20152 votes

I wouldn't say that, she's got decent damage for a support, especially when you consider others who were designed for the class. She's also got the best synergies with high damage items (lich bane particularly) and benefits more from the windspeakers blessing than any other champion in her class (she's literally able to get the boost 7 times for one cast, not including it's own boost, along with the fact that it's on one of the shorter CD's for a heal). She's def the weakest when behind, but her ability to synergize with items is way better than any other support champion. Sona's Strength lies in Fighting with more people, she becomes more effective for each champion present, not to mention crazy synergies with Ardent Censor and incredible engage with talisman. She's the only support champ that when she gets ahead can be super versatile by focusing on either damage, utility or engage potential depending on her teams needs.

Professor WardDec 1, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Emmy Cha0s,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wYnW8PaP,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-12-01T08:45:45.054+0000)

Weakest sustain in the game, lowest damage amongst supports, all whilst completely lacking CC, mobility or durability. You're right that she needs work, but the reason being because she's complete shit. Useless as hell while ahead, dead weight while behind.

yet she almost always stays at above 51% winrate and top 5 in support performance. Pretty odd as i agree with you

Emmy Cha0sDec 1, 20151 votes

Well, consider that Lich Bane is built over a third of the time on her and she has a considerably higher than 60% winrate with that item. The math that offsets this number in turn states that Sona without Lich has a lower than 45% winrate.

So we need to ask ourselves, "Is Sona actually performing well or is Lich Bane?"

This is just one example of why we can't look at just one factor and jump to conclusions. There are countless numbers that all need considering and this one probably says Lich Bane is overtuned.

Professor WardDec 1, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Emmy Cha0s,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wYnW8PaP,comment-id=000000010000,timestamp=2015-12-01T11:10:51.585+0000)

Well, consider that Lich Bane is built over a third of the time on her and she has a considerably higher than 60% winrate with that item. The math that offsets this number in turn states that Sona without Lich has a lower than 45% winrate.

So we need to ask ourselves, "Is Sona actually performing well or is Lich Bane?"

This is just one example of why we can't look at just one factor and jump to conclusions. There are countless numbers that all need considering and this one probably says Lich Bane is overtuned.

most say that "lichbane isnt part of sonas kit" which i agree with, but i also feel that it is very easy to effectively proc lichbane instantly on her** without the possibility of a "missed" skillshot or aa reset** delays, etc. Everyones line is "anyone can build lich" but not everyone has 100% accuracy and an auto that is ALREADY empowered before the lich proc (which i think accounts for her being wrongly classified as high damage)

EMPOWERED AA LICH PROC Q _**all in the span of less than 1 second **_tends to look pretty hefty when in fact, as most people state, its not that crazy. So i feel that while lichbane may account for some of her winrate, her actual ease of use with the item also accounts for some of that.

We need to ask ourselves "does sona proc lichbane easier/with less effort/skill than most other champs?" id much rather be a lich sona than a lich morg that just missed her q and morg is bae

And i dont see how buying lich bane on sona discounts her winrate because as i think ive heard you say many times

"lich bane isnt part of sonas kit, anyone can buy it"

so buy lich on every support and let me know whos at considerably higher than 60% winrate

Gotta pick one: -lich bane is broken on any caster support and will increase winrate to above 60%, has nothing to do with sona

-sona synergizes better with lich bane than most champions(something you have denied frequently)

Miku Hime samaDec 1, 20151 votes

While that depends on each individual champ, I've come to conclusion the answer is "No." Here's a few reasons:

550 AA range. Every ranged champion with equal or more than this can use it with the same or even less effort.
CC users. Any champ that can apply hard CC gives themself enough time to proc Lich Bane.
AA-reliant champs. I don't just mean anyone who relies only on basic attacks, but any champion in the game that will consistently use a basic attack during a fight will proc Lich with zero effort.

The things about Lich Bane:

It gives any champ who builds it an additional scaling on their kit that at best has a 2-second cooldown and at worst has the same cooldown as that champ's next spell.
It grants 80 AP on its own, worst-case you're only giving up 20 AP to add a new scaling damage source to your kit and spell rotations.
It scales off AP, which you're already building and base AD, which only requires leveling up to increase.

I've built Lich Bane on many mages before. Annie, Ahri, Nami, even Hecarim and etc., not only do all of these use it even easier than Sona does, the results have been terrifying every single time. There's a very important reason every shrewd person points out that it's not part of her kit. Hell, before Lich Bane was nerfed many moons ago, countless champions intentionally had their damage kept low specifically because of how OP this item is, including Ezreal, TF, Fizz, Sona and others. Difference being, Sona was on the short list that didn't receive compensation afterwards.

Professor WardDec 1, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Miku Hime sama,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wYnW8PaP,comment-id=00000001000000000000,timestamp=2015-12-01T11:53:16.356+0000)

While that depends on each individual champ, I've come to conclusion the answer is "No." Here's a few reasons:

550 AA range. Every ranged champion with equal or more than this can use it with the same or even less effort.

Ahri, Nami, even not only do all of these use it even easier than Sona does, the results have been terrifying every single time.

First let me state the most forgotten of all sona perks, She doesnt stop while casting spells which is infinitely important to the ease of her auto attacks, making lich procs seem smooth and easy with her.

Youre stating that its easier to use lich with skill shot based champs. Inherently wrong. Sonas 100% accuracy and the fact that empowered auto/lichproc/q all hit at the exact same time are what im arguing here, nothing else

and then the glaring question, if this one single item is enough to boost a champions winrate over 20%, then why in christs sake is no one building it on other champs? I mean honestly? should i be building it on morg every game after seeing these numbers?

Miku Hime samaDec 1, 20151 votes

Nami also doesn't stop while casting Tidecaller's Blessing. Likewise with Janna's Q, Thresh's lantern, Ahri's W and countless other spells, including most AA-modifiers, which a lot of happen to be AA-resets as well.

I never mentioned "skillshot" champs in any specificity, but I don't believe that has any relation. Look at Ezreal and TF, they are BOTH "skillshot" champs and both of them received compensation buffs when Lich Bane was nerfed. Using Sona's "100% accuracy"(which it is not) is nothing more than an excuse. Every AA in the game has 100% accuracy(except Kalista) and countless spells do as well. Including: Nami's W, Annie's Q and Janna's W.

As a matter of fact, Sona's spells are NOT "point & click," "100% accuracy," "single target" or anything of the sort. It's auto-target, which is less reliable and harder to use. First, you need have your range perfectly memorized, just a slight miscalculation results in burning the spell, wasting a cooldown and mana. Even if you are in range, you have no control over its auto-tageting system, the only way to guarantee it working exactly the way you want is to position yourself to be perfectly in range of ONLY your selected target(s) and NOBODY ELSE.

Many champs can cast their full combo instantly. Annie does it by bashing your face against the keyboard. Watch Froggen the patch immediately before Ahri was gutted and you'll see her do it as well. Even Anivia is literally just pressing E and R at the same time. This isn't something that's either new or unique.

Lich Bane for most champs is seen as a "win more" item. Any champ with good scalings prefers the extra 20-40 AP from other 1st-item purchases(Echo in particular is ALSO an artificial scaling, but w/o sacrificing AP). If you need Morello or Grail, that 100/120 AP item becomes a 2nd-purchase. You're gonna want Deathcap at some point and you eventually need Void Staff guaranteed. Boots are nigh-close to mandatory and you probably want a defensive item or 2. While it's true Lich Bane greatly amplifies your damage, it's difficult to find room for it in your 6-item build unless you completely forgo buying a defensive item entirely. Most champs have high enough scalings to get the job done without needing to buy a sub-optimal AP item for 1 more artificial scaling.

The champs you typically see buying Lich Bane tend to have poor AP scalings(often due to their Spellblade reliance) and usually don't suffer from mana problems. They NEED the extra scaling on their kit, but in turn this also means sacrificing the 20-40 AP doesn't hurt them, this includes Sona. I'd compare it to a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way: they have to buy Lich Bane because their scalings are low; they're allowed to buy Lich Bane because their low scaling lessens the blow of lower AP. Rito is LITERALLY balancing them around the fact they commonly buy Lich Bane. Perhaps if their scalings were buffed, even they too would stop buying it for its low AP stat that disfavors it as an early item, but that's only conjecture.

Miku Hime samaDec 1, 20151 votes

TLDR: Lich Bane is an enabler. It makes shitty champs perform better. The weaker your champ, the wider the gap the champ performs with vs. w/o it. Hence why Sona has almost a 20% winrate gap between the two.