Sona CDR Rework

Hello Summoners,

My name is Mig, "Lasrevar", Hidalgo and I've played league since s2. As a huge fan of the game on the big stage and in my bedroom, I've had some ideas over the years of cool reworks with new mechanics to old champions to refresh some old favorites of fans who rarely get screen time anymore (Q.Q Garen)

I know a sneaky Sona/Taric play has recently become meta in the new patch, however, this is the one of the few times I've seen the DJ queen picked and it wasn't even as a support. Boo. Sona was one of the first champions I learned to play, yet she only gets played whenever a cheesy strategy becomes exploitable in each patch. Major Boo factor. So I started thinking of a new kit for Sona, and below is what I came up with. Feel free to take a look and let me know of any recommendations or other champions to rework.

Sona CDR Rework :

Passive - Rhythm of Ionia - ‘Rhythm of Ionia’ can exceed the CDR cap. Dealing damage or healing with an ability grants one stack of ‘Rhythm of Ionia’ and resets the decay timer. Each stack grants (.75-2.5 based on level)% CDR and (.4-.8)% MS that decays over 8 seconds, up to 6 stacks. (The first stack should generate a faint circle around Sona expanding with each stack, adding a faint themed tint to the ground and highlighting the range of her ult)

Q - Empowers nearby ally Champions within her passive radius and awakens Sona’s harp for (2.5-3) seconds. Re-cast up to 3 times to release magical notes, dealing damage and cycling through CC buffs. (Each cast within the window counts as 1 stack, not each magical note. The decay timer starts from the last note landed.) Type: Straight Skillshots, medium range (Think Ezreal Q) - 1 : Silence - 2 : Slow - 3 : Knockback + Very Brief Stun CD: .5-.2 between notes, 8/>7/<6/4 Mana: Low-Medium Consumption

W - Plays a healing tune that heals one nearby ally Champion and can chain to other ally Champions with reducing effect (leveling goes from 3-5 bounces, cannot hit same champion twice, CAN heal Sona AND be self-cast. The whole spell counts as 1 stack if cast on an ally Champion.) Type: Simple point and click, medium-short range (Think Brand R/Fiddle E) CD: 10/>9/>8/6

E - Creates a zone that slows enemy Champions and speeds up ally Champions, lasts for 5 seconds (Does not deal damage, so no stacks generated) Type: Point and click field, circular, medium radius (Think Bard R, Nasus E) CD: 20/18/16/14

R - Sona unleashes all of the energy in her harp after channeling for .5 seconds, releasing all stacks of ‘Rhythm of Ionia’, dealing (25x/50x/80x (+20x%) AP) and stunning them for 1.5 seconds. The range of the cast depends on how many stacks are released.

DMG EXPLANATION: A 100 AP Sona with maxed R deals 100 damage PER EACH STACK of her passive on ultimate. Minimum damage = 100 while the maximum damage = 600, adding way more damage potential, but lower baseline damage to her ult. The stun remains the same while the range also has higher potential, but lower baseline range.

Type: Cannot be cast with 0 stacks of ‘Rhythm of Ionia’. Conical wave skillshot, medium range and spread + extra range and speed for each stack (Full-stack ult projectile should complete almost instant, i.e. shorter-range ults should be easier to dodge than longer-range ults) (Think Xayah R, Scales from Talon W to a bit shorter than a Jhin R, extends to the radius of her passive) CD:140/120/100

Playstyle: Sona steps up into the big leagues and can now function as a solo laner mid, although she works best as an aggressive support similar to Karma. She’s designed to max Q taking adv. of its scaling CDR, a core component of her kit. She starts slow but should scale into a cast-heavy support able to dish out huge damage with her R combined with her passive. Stacking her passive is crucial to the kit as it raises her CDR and MS while building up a huge engage with massive damage. Her downside is that she takes some time to engage and has diminished effect with few stacks, paired with her usual squishiness. Q is a huge boon/bust as it can be used to engage or disengage, yet is a skillshot. Her R can also be interrupted by CC now, adding more variability to her play. The combo would be to Q1/E/Q23/R, Q123/E/R or E/Q123/R after you’ve stacked some ‘RoI’, applying endless CC to clumped enemies or singling out champs too far forward.

This re-work significantly reduces her early-game impact in favor of her late game potential and adds more difficulty to her skills in favor of outplay potential. Sona goes from being a beginner champion designed for learning the game, to a viable mage with insane CC and a bit of a learning curve. With runes designed around CDR builds already, she would likely run Aery/Cosmic Insight on standard builds, which most mages build already.

This is my first time posting one of these, so I appreciate any and all input, even if it's negative as long as it's respectful. Thank you and good luck on the rift!

-Lasrevar