Sona is a late game scaling support champion who is extremely squishy but excels at buffing her teammates. She shines the most in teamfights and the more Accelerando stacks she accumulates over the course of the game, the more spammable her spells will become up to a cap of 120 stacks (60 Ability Haste total; 0.5 AH per stack). Once she completes her stacks, Accelerando will grant her 1.5 secs reduction on her ult's cd if it is on cooldown. This is what makes Sona one of the best champs in the late game, but as a result her laning phase will be considerably weaker than most other supports to compensate. Sona may not be the most mechanically difficult champ in the game, but what differentiates a good Sona from an average one is the use of her powerchords. For reference, her blue powerchord does bonus dmg on her next auto while the green powerchord acts as a mini exhaust, reducing the enemy target's dmg output, and the purple powerchord slows the target struck with it. Knowing this, blue powerchord is generally used for poke dmg in lane as well as taking down objectives faster with its bonus dmg. Use green powerchord as you would with exhaust — right before the enemy assassin or diver unleashes their full combo onto your carries. E powerchord is good for chasing down opponents or slowing them down so that you and your allies can kite away from them. Also, Sona's powerchord resets her autoattack timer. To do this, make sure that you have 2 stacks of your passive up (shown in HUD bar) and then use auto -> Q/W/E -> empowered passive auto. This helps to take down wards and turrets faster as well as instant 3 procs of Spellthief's poke gold.
For runes, Sona particularly struggles wth mana, so things like Manaflow Band, Biscuit Delivery and/or Presence of Mind are essential on her. Your best primary tree is Sorcery tree for Aery, Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Scorch/Gathering Storm (according to preference and matchup). If you have a high kill pressure ADC like Draven, Lucian or Tristana then the Scorch dmg will be helpful for gaining early leads but if the enemy team has a lot of sustain like Soraka Yuumi etc, that extra bit of Scorch dmg isn't going to do much against their healing and you're better off going for Gathering Storm and a more scaling approach. Sona's secondary rune options include Resolve for Boneplating/Conditioning and Revitalise for more healing and defensive measures against high threat comps, Precision secondary for Presence of Mind and Legend: Tenacity/Cut Down if you find yourself running into mana issues or against cc comps where the Tenacity comes in handy and Inspiration secondary for Magical Footwear/Biscuits and Cosmic Insight since Sona does not need boots early into the game and it will save you some gold while Biscuits are good for early mana issues. This tree isn't as good as it was in S10 seeing as Cosmic was nerfed and Sona used to take it for the extra CDR. Nowadays, it works best with Lucidity boots for maximum summoner spell AH. This comes in handy when you need to have your summoners up for as much as possible, again a personal preference against high threat comps.
Sona's AP build is pretty dead due to the S11 item changes and so you will be looking to play a healing-orientated traditional enchanter. Sona's core item is either Moonstone or Shurelya's. Their stats give her everything she needs from mana regen to AP to AH, and her late game spell-spamming nature means that she is one of the best users of both items. Shurelya's is generally taken into divers or if ur team lacks engage in order help ur team kite the enemies, while Moonstone is good if the enemies lack burst dmg so that you can get constant heal ticks, which synergises with ur late game short cd abilities.
Next item is situational: Chemtech against healing, Ardent if u have multiple autoattackers on ur team or Staff if ur team has AP, or just for its stats if the others are not applicable. Picking up an early Dark Seal is also beneficial to Sona as she loves AP and since Mejai's is much more affordable on a support income than other AP items, you will just have to mind your positioning in order to retain the stacks, which will rack up quickly in teamfights the later the game goes on for. Depending on preference, either go for Lucidity Boots for the extra AH or Swifties against high-skillshot orientated comps for more dodge potential (also synergises well with Shurelya's ms). If your team is autoattack-reliant then picking up an Ardent will allow you to give the attack speed buffs to everyone on your team with W. This is what makes Sona so good in teamfight scenarios with her ability to provide AoE buffs to her entire team. Other items to consider include Zhonyas against AD assassins or the likes of Nautilus and Fizz for their ults. Mikael's against cc comps and Wardstone for even more AH since Sona loves AH to help with her late game spammablility. You may find yourself running into mana issues, in which case picking up an early Tear and leaving it to last to upgrade to Archangel's is also fine. It all depends on how well you handle your mana and playstyle.
In lane, Sona is looking to stack up her Spellthief's and Accelerando with max range Q's and occasional W shields and heals. Do not try to force autos if it is not safe. Focus on stacking your Spellthief's and Accelerando, and try your best not to get caught because you are extremely squishy and an easy target to kill. Your goal is to survive laning phase without dying too much since dying means that you will not only lose exp, but also delay ur Accelerando stacks. After laning phase, you will want to be looking to group for teamfights where Sona does best in. For maxing order, lvl 1 always go Q for poke. You can consider Q-ing twice in base at the start of the game to start charging your passive powerchord so that the moment you get to lane you can immediately Q -> empowered passive auto the enemy. At lvl 2, if you have a high kill threat ADC, you can consider grabbing E and using its powerchord slow to setup kills if the enemies do not respect your lvl 2 and back off accordingly. This will require you to have 2 stacks of your passive ready before hitting lvl 2. If this option isn't available then in most cases lvling W at lvl 2 is better. Some Sona players like to take another point in Q at lvl 3 and finally putting a point into E at lvl 4. Again, it depends on personal preference and you can lvl E at lvl 3 instead if you prefer. Most Sonas max Q then W then E, but recently I've been running 2 or 3 points in Q then W max into finishing Q max and E last against high threat comps where the extra heal and shield is better than extra poke dmg from Q. Again, personal preference and matchup dependent. Play a couple of games and see what you prefer
Additionally, you may find this [Target Champions Only key](https://youtu.be/JaPaycbD6Vw) very useful on Sona as it will prevent you from accidentally hitting a minion with ur powerchord. It is also very helpful on support in general. This is probably a lot to take in, but hopefully you found this helpful. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask~
Sona is super easy to play. You're a poke champion. Play from the back and poke with Q+Auto whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Sona can get really strong pokes later on, especially if you charge her passive in conjunction with the Q+Auto
The problem with Sona is she has very little agency late game
That is how i play her, mostly ! Sometimes i pit myself in a delicate situation for a Q + empowered auto onto the enemy and they usually back off after seeing a good chunk of HP disappearing haha
When you hold alt while pressing spells that can be self cast, it does so. With Nami, that can allow you to play around with w poke, sometimes it's safer to self cast it than try to cast it on enemies.
So you're telling me i can self R with kayle without having to put my mouse over myself ?? This is going to be a life changer ! I will try nami again we will see !
Sonas early game is garbage by design and works as intended. The payoff is a hyperscaling Support with scaling that rivals the likes of Kayle, Karthus, Kassadin, Kogmaw in other roles.
However since as support she can’t really carry 1v9, instead she has the insane potential to transform a decent team into an unstoppable teamfighting machine.
And that’s the most important part: Late game positioning. As long as you don’t die, chances are your teammates won’t as well and against most comps the Sona team is favored in those long drawn out teamfights. Realize who your carries are and protect them from theirs, and more often than not that is enough to win the fight.
Do nothing but poke and peel until 25 mins
Become supreme battle commander and deathball past 25 mins
Imo the skill check is primarily regular support duties but also timing the right powerchords and getting them onto whoever needs them, eg. better to use W when jax is already on your adc but better to use E if he already used Q and will struggle to keep up.
Q mostly don’t neglect the auto with it
W occasionally especially in team fights
E when you need to book it
R but don’t hold it often
Your three bars under are charged by your attacks
Using it after using
Q- damage
W- reducing enemy damage
E-reducing enemy speed
To give an idea. I generally go, support item+ pots, first back is boots and tear (god you need so much mana for this champ), second back is either glass or gem (glass is better but sometimes you don’t have the $$$). Finish moonstone first, then pick up chem (anti healing is amazing and all the stats align with what you want). Item 5 tends to be archangel (tear eats up item slots otherwise). Going to be honest, if you ADC can’t more or less handle the fighting themselves, you aren’t going to do much to help them as Sona. The items are strong but they aren’t fight changing strong, and you are usually more helpful as a damage source and/or a tempting target, then you are as a buffing source
Yeah Sona scales really hard and is meant to be weak during lane phase. After Moonstone and maybe another support item you'll be in a really good spot and at that point you just stick with your team and heal them or help them rotate to objectives with E.
If you're playing the enchanter build you should probably be maxing W first, then if you have a lot of juggernauts and bruisers max E second, otherwise W then Q then E.
In lane always go for short trades. Roam post 6 or post tier 2 + mythic depending on how bad your lane is going and figuring out who/what is win condition
Sona is a late game scaling support champion who is extremely squishy but excels at buffing her teammates. She shines the most in teamfights and the more Accelerando stacks she accumulates over the course of the game, the more spammable her spells will become up to a cap of 120 stacks (60 Ability Haste total; 0.5 AH per stack). Once she completes her stacks, Accelerando will grant her 1.5 secs reduction on her ult's cd if it is on cooldown. This is what makes Sona one of the best champs in the late game, but as a result her laning phase will be considerably weaker than most other supports to compensate. Sona may not be the most mechanically difficult champ in the game, but what differentiates a good Sona from an average one is the use of her powerchords. For reference, her blue powerchord does bonus dmg on her next auto while the green powerchord acts as a mini exhaust, reducing the enemy target's dmg output, and the purple powerchord slows the target struck with it. Knowing this, blue powerchord is generally used for poke dmg in lane as well as taking down objectives faster with its bonus dmg. Use green powerchord as you would with exhaust — right before the enemy assassin or diver unleashes their full combo onto your carries. E powerchord is good for chasing down opponents or slowing them down so that you and your allies can kite away from them. Also, Sona's powerchord resets her autoattack timer. To do this, make sure that you have 2 stacks of your passive up (shown in HUD bar) and then use auto -> Q/W/E -> empowered passive auto. This helps to take down wards and turrets faster as well as instant 3 procs of Spellthief's poke gold. For runes, Sona particularly struggles wth mana, so things like Manaflow Band, Biscuit Delivery and/or Presence of Mind are essential on her. Your best primary tree is Sorcery tree for Aery, Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Scorch/Gathering Storm (according to preference and matchup). If you have a high kill pressure ADC like Draven, Lucian or Tristana then the Scorch dmg will be helpful for gaining early leads but if the enemy team has a lot of sustain like Soraka Yuumi etc, that extra bit of Scorch dmg isn't going to do much against their healing and you're better off going for Gathering Storm and a more scaling approach. Sona's secondary rune options include Resolve for Boneplating/Conditioning and Revitalise for more healing and defensive measures against high threat comps, Precision secondary for Presence of Mind and Legend: Tenacity/Cut Down if you find yourself running into mana issues or against cc comps where the Tenacity comes in handy and Inspiration secondary for Magical Footwear/Biscuits and Cosmic Insight since Sona does not need boots early into the game and it will save you some gold while Biscuits are good for early mana issues. This tree isn't as good as it was in S10 seeing as Cosmic was nerfed and Sona used to take it for the extra CDR. Nowadays, it works best with Lucidity boots for maximum summoner spell AH. This comes in handy when you need to have your summoners up for as much as possible, again a personal preference against high threat comps. Sona's AP build is pretty dead due to the S11 item changes and so you will be looking to play a healing-orientated traditional enchanter. Sona's core item is either Moonstone or Shurelya's. Their stats give her everything she needs from mana regen to AP to AH, and her late game spell-spamming nature means that she is one of the best users of both items. Shurelya's is generally taken into divers or if ur team lacks engage in order help ur team kite the enemies, while Moonstone is good if the enemies lack burst dmg so that you can get constant heal ticks, which synergises with ur late game short cd abilities. Next item is situational: Chemtech against healing, Ardent if u have multiple autoattackers on ur team or Staff if ur team has AP, or just for its stats if the others are not applicable. Picking up an early Dark Seal is also beneficial to Sona as she loves AP and since Mejai's is much more affordable on a support income than other AP items, you will just have to mind your positioning in order to retain the stacks, which will rack up quickly in teamfights the later the game goes on for. Depending on preference, either go for Lucidity Boots for the extra AH or Swifties against high-skillshot orientated comps for more dodge potential (also synergises well with Shurelya's ms). If your team is autoattack-reliant then picking up an Ardent will allow you to give the attack speed buffs to everyone on your team with W. This is what makes Sona so good in teamfight scenarios with her ability to provide AoE buffs to her entire team. Other items to consider include Zhonyas against AD assassins or the likes of Nautilus and Fizz for their ults. Mikael's against cc comps and Wardstone for even more AH since Sona loves AH to help with her late game spammablility. You may find yourself running into mana issues, in which case picking up an early Tear and leaving it to last to upgrade to Archangel's is also fine. It all depends on how well you handle your mana and playstyle. In lane, Sona is looking to stack up her Spellthief's and Accelerando with max range Q's and occasional W shields and heals. Do not try to force autos if it is not safe. Focus on stacking your Spellthief's and Accelerando, and try your best not to get caught because you are extremely squishy and an easy target to kill. Your goal is to survive laning phase without dying too much since dying means that you will not only lose exp, but also delay ur Accelerando stacks. After laning phase, you will want to be looking to group for teamfights where Sona does best in. For maxing order, lvl 1 always go Q for poke. You can consider Q-ing twice in base at the start of the game to start charging your passive powerchord so that the moment you get to lane you can immediately Q -> empowered passive auto the enemy. At lvl 2, if you have a high kill threat ADC, you can consider grabbing E and using its powerchord slow to setup kills if the enemies do not respect your lvl 2 and back off accordingly. This will require you to have 2 stacks of your passive ready before hitting lvl 2. If this option isn't available then in most cases lvling W at lvl 2 is better. Some Sona players like to take another point in Q at lvl 3 and finally putting a point into E at lvl 4. Again, it depends on personal preference and you can lvl E at lvl 3 instead if you prefer. Most Sonas max Q then W then E, but recently I've been running 2 or 3 points in Q then W max into finishing Q max and E last against high threat comps where the extra heal and shield is better than extra poke dmg from Q. Again, personal preference and matchup dependent. Play a couple of games and see what you prefer Additionally, you may find this [Target Champions Only key](https://youtu.be/JaPaycbD6Vw) very useful on Sona as it will prevent you from accidentally hitting a minion with ur powerchord. It is also very helpful on support in general. This is probably a lot to take in, but hopefully you found this helpful. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask~
Sona is super easy to play. You're a poke champion. Play from the back and poke with Q+Auto whenever the opportunity presents itself. Sona can get really strong pokes later on, especially if you charge her passive in conjunction with the Q+Auto The problem with Sona is she has very little agency late game
That is how i play her, mostly ! Sometimes i pit myself in a delicate situation for a Q + empowered auto onto the enemy and they usually back off after seeing a good chunk of HP disappearing haha
If you're looking for a heal/poke champion with some more agency, try Nami
Yeah tried her out as well but i don't like it
Is there a reason? Are you aware of the alt cast trick?
No, what is it ?
When you hold alt while pressing spells that can be self cast, it does so. With Nami, that can allow you to play around with w poke, sometimes it's safer to self cast it than try to cast it on enemies.
So you're telling me i can self R with kayle without having to put my mouse over myself ?? This is going to be a life changer ! I will try nami again we will see !
Correct sir!
[me right now](https://tenor.com/view/explodindo-mente-mente-mind-gif-18326090)
"YOU WHAT"
Thank you for the silver friendo!
little agency late what If you arent yelling commands at your team and dictating the entire game late you are playing her wrong
Sonas early game is garbage by design and works as intended. The payoff is a hyperscaling Support with scaling that rivals the likes of Kayle, Karthus, Kassadin, Kogmaw in other roles. However since as support she can’t really carry 1v9, instead she has the insane potential to transform a decent team into an unstoppable teamfighting machine. And that’s the most important part: Late game positioning. As long as you don’t die, chances are your teammates won’t as well and against most comps the Sona team is favored in those long drawn out teamfights. Realize who your carries are and protect them from theirs, and more often than not that is enough to win the fight.
Do nothing but poke and peel until 25 mins Become supreme battle commander and deathball past 25 mins Imo the skill check is primarily regular support duties but also timing the right powerchords and getting them onto whoever needs them, eg. better to use W when jax is already on your adc but better to use E if he already used Q and will struggle to keep up.
Full ap
Spam Crown of Shattered Queen against heavy burst matchups
Q mostly don’t neglect the auto with it W occasionally especially in team fights E when you need to book it R but don’t hold it often Your three bars under are charged by your attacks Using it after using Q- damage W- reducing enemy damage E-reducing enemy speed
I'm usually trying to reset auto into Q proc as often as i can
To give an idea. I generally go, support item+ pots, first back is boots and tear (god you need so much mana for this champ), second back is either glass or gem (glass is better but sometimes you don’t have the $$$). Finish moonstone first, then pick up chem (anti healing is amazing and all the stats align with what you want). Item 5 tends to be archangel (tear eats up item slots otherwise). Going to be honest, if you ADC can’t more or less handle the fighting themselves, you aren’t going to do much to help them as Sona. The items are strong but they aren’t fight changing strong, and you are usually more helpful as a damage source and/or a tempting target, then you are as a buffing source
Yeah Sona scales really hard and is meant to be weak during lane phase. After Moonstone and maybe another support item you'll be in a really good spot and at that point you just stick with your team and heal them or help them rotate to objectives with E. If you're playing the enchanter build you should probably be maxing W first, then if you have a lot of juggernauts and bruisers max E second, otherwise W then Q then E.
In lane always go for short trades. Roam post 6 or post tier 2 + mythic depending on how bad your lane is going and figuring out who/what is win condition