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Active: 23127 users

[Champion] Sona

Forum Index > LoL Strategy
Post a Reply
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Sponkz
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark4564 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-12 14:11:50
October 02 2013 15:59 GMT
#1
Sona, Maven of the Strings

[image loading]

Author's Note
+ Show Spoiler +
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I'm a Diamond 1 Support main in Season 3 on EU West. I have somewhere between 400-500 Sona games and she was my most played champion in Season 2 and my second most played champion in Season 3.

In this guide, I am giving my own opinion on item builds, runes/masteries, AD carry synergy and support match-ups to hopefully allow you to master the magnificent hentai babe.


Patch Notes
+ Show Spoiler +

v4.2

E - Song of Celerity
TOOLTIP TEXT :: Fixed a bug where the tooltip improperly showed Song of Celerity as having a .04 AP ratio for both effects - only the slow should have a .04 AP ratio
HASTE RATIO BUG :: .01 AP Ratio ⇒ .02 AP Ratio
SLOW RATIO BUG :: .02 AP Ratio ⇒ .04 AP Ratio

v3.14

Summary: With new gold flowing into Sona's support coffers, it turns out Crescendo and Hymn of Valor would rock just a little too hard. We've reduced the ability power ratio on both, as well as adjusting the base heal amount of Aria of Perseverance at later ranks. She can still hit the high notes with her Power Chords, though, and we've added an AP ratio that'll allow Sona to scale better into the late game. Finally, the base activated speed boost of Song of Celerity has been slightly reduced, as it now scales its speed bonus with ability power.
Context: Our core focus with Sona is to take some power from her abilities to shift into her Power Chord and her Song of Celerity, which allows Sona's utility to scale into the late game while also ensuring her choice of Power Chord remains relevant at all stages.

Passive - Power Chord
Added a 0.2 Ability Power ratio to the damage of Power Chord – Staccato
Added a 0.02 Ability Power ratio to the damage reduction of Power Chord - Diminuendo
Added a 0.04 Ability Power ratio to the slow amount of Power Chord - Tempo

Q - Hymn of Valor
Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.5 (from 0.7)

W - Aria of Perseverance
Base heal amount reduced at later ranks to 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100 (from 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120)

E - Song of Celerity
Active speed boost now scales at +1% movement speed per 50 Ability Power (0.02 AP Ratio)
Active speed boost changed to 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12% (+0.02 Ability Power) (from a flat 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14%)

R - Crescendo
Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.5 (from 0.8)

v3.08

Sona is a consistently strong support, so after we fixed a long-standing bug with Power Chord: Diminuendo we felt she would be a dominant pick without additional balancing. On that note, we’ve reverted some of our older changes to Sona. These changes are designed to maintain her parity with other supports by lowering her early game burst and her late game durability while making her a little more forgiving in the early game.

Base Health increased to 450 from 410
Base Armor increased to 11.3 from 9.3

Power Chord
Base Power Chord damage changed to 13 / 20 / 27 / 35 / 43 / 52 / 62 / 72 / 82 / 92 / 102 / 112 / 122 / 132 / 147 / 162 / 177 / 192 from 8 + (10 x level)

Aria of Perseverance
Fixed a bug where Aria of Perseverance's Power Chord: Diminuendo was not decreasing damage dealt
Lowered the duration of Aria of Perseverance's Power Chord: Diminuendo to 3 seconds from 4
Bonus Armor and Magic Resistance to self and healed ally reduced to 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 from 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20
Changed aura bonus Armor and Magic Resistance to 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 from 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15

Patch 3.02 - 2013-02-13

Power Chord is no longer consumed when attacking wards
v1.0.0.150 - 2012-10-25

Base Health reduced to 410 from 450
Base Armor reduced to 9 from 11
v1.0.0.143 - 2012-07-19

General
Basic attack and Power Chord missile speeds increased to 2000 from 1500
Aura persistence duration reduced to 1 second after deactivation from 2
Global cooldown reduced to 0.5 seconds from 2
Power Chord
Power Chord now resets your attack timer so you can use it immediately
Crescendo
Now deals all its damage instantly, rather than over time
Fixed: Opponents can no longer Cleanse the damage portion of Crescendo
v1.0.0.142 - 2012-07-06

Hymn of Valor
Mana cost reduced at earlier ranks to 45/50/55/60/65 from 65 at all ranks
Champion prioritization range slightly increased to better match her attack range
v1.0.0.136 - 2012-03-20

Power Chord damage increased to 18-188 from 10-180
v1.0.0.134 - 2012-02-14

Power Chord damage adjusted to 10 per level from 14 + 9 per level
Hymn of Valor passive attack damage and ability power aura reduced at earlier ranks to 4/8/12/16/20 from 8/11/14/17/20
Aria of Perseverance passive armor and magic resist aura reduced at earlier ranks to 3/6/9/12/15 from 7/9/11/13/15
Song of Celerity passive movement speed aura reduced at earlier ranks to 4/8/12/16/20 from 8/11/14/17/20
v1.0.0.133 - 2012-02-01

Fixed a bug where Power Chord did not trigger while Taunted or Silenced
Patch 3.02 - 2013-02-14

Power Chord is no longer consumed when attacking wards
v1.0.0.131 - 2011-12-13

No longer automatically acquires attack targets when idle while Power Chord is active
v1.0.0.129 - 2011-11-15

Aria of Perseverance

Mana cost adjusted to 60/65/70/75/80 from 65 at all ranks

Passive aura reduced to 7/9/11/13/15 armor and magic resist from 8/11/14/17/20
v1.0.0.125 - 2011-09-14

Aria of Perseverance heal amount adjusted to 40/60/80/100/120 from 25/50/75/100/125
v1.0.0.124 - 2011-08-24

Aria of Perseverance
Base heal reduced to 25/50/75/100/125 from 35/70/105/140/175
Ability power ratio reduced to .25 from .35
Now grants double her passive aura bonus to her heal target and herself for 3 seconds
Reduced the lockout time while casting Sona's songs to make them more responsive
Fixed a bug where Hymn of Valor and Aria of Perseverance caused her to deal 20% reduced damage
v1.0.0.120 - 2011-06-22

Fixed a bug where shields and Ignite could sometimes cause her spell sounds to get cut off early
v1.0.0.116 - 2011-04-25

Power Chord
Diminuendo duration increased to 4 from 3
Tempo slow amount increased to 40% from 25%
Hymn of Valor's attack damage and ability power aura increased to 8/11/14/17/20 from 6/8/10/12/14
v1.0.0.115 - 2011-04-11

Hymn of Valor mana cost reduced to 65 from 75
Aria of Perseverance mana cost reduced to 65 from 75
Song of Celerity mana cost reduced to 65 from 75
Fixed a bug where Power Chord: Diminuendo was reducing true damage
v1.0.0.113 - 2011-03-15

Power Chord now deals 14 damage + 9 x lvl (from 24 + 12x bonus magic damage) in bonus magic and a bonus effect depending on Sona's last song played.
Hymn of Valor
Base damage reduced to 50/100/150/200/250 from 60/110/160/210/260
Ability power ratio increased to .7 from .5
Mana cost changed to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85
Power Chord - Stacatto: Deals double power chord damage
Aria of Perseverance
Base heal increased to 35/70/105/140/175 from 30/55/80/105/130
Ability power ratio reduced to .35 from .5
Mana cost normalized to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85
Power Chord - Diminuendo: Debuffs the target to deal 20% less damage for 3 seconds
Song of Celerity
Mana cost changed to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85
Power Chord - Tempo: Slows the target by 25% for 2 seconds
Crescendo
Cooldown decreased to 140/120/100 from 170/150/130
Ability power ratio increased to .8 from .7
v1.0.0.106 - 2010-12-01

Hymn of Valor base damage reduced to 60/110/160/210/260 from 70/120/170/220/270
Hymn of Valor ability power ratio reduced to 0.5 from 0.6
Aria of Perseverance healing reduced to 30/55/80/105/130 from 40/65/90/115/140
Song of Celerity active movespeed reduced to 6/8/10/12/14% from 8/10/12/14/16%
v1.0.0.105 - 2010-11-15

All aura durations reduced to 2 seconds from 3
All aura buff durations reduced to 0.25 seconds from 1
Hymn of Valor
Attack damage and ability power aura reduced to 6/8/10/12/14 from 8/11/14/17/20
Mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75
Song of Celerity
Active movement speed boost reduced to 8/10/12/14/16 from 8/11/14/17/20
Mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75
Aria of Perseverance mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75
Crescendo range reduced to 1000 from 1100
v1.0.0.104 - 2010-11-02

Fixed a bug with Song of Celerity where it was granting more movement speed than intended
Crescendo cooldown increased to 170/150/130 from 160/140/120


Abilities
+ Show Spoiler +


Passive: Power Chord

After 3 ability casts, Sona's next basic attack will deal 13 / 20 / 27 / 35 / 43 / 52 / 62 / 72 / 82 / 92 / 102 / 112 / 122 / 132 / 147 / 162 / 177 / 192 bonus magic damage, with an additional effect depending on the last basic ability cast.

Hymn of Valor RANGE: 700 COOLDOWN: 7 COST: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 MANA

ACTIVATION: Sona sends out bolts of sound that deal magic damage to the two nearest enemy units within range, prioritizing champions.
MAGIC DAMAGE: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+ 70% AP)
STANCE - PERSISTENT AURA: Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, granting nearby allied champions within 1000 range bonus attack damage and ability power.

POWER CHORD - STACCATO: If this spell was last cast when Power Chord is ready, Power Chord's bonus magic damage will be doubled.

ATTACK DAMAGE / ABILITY POWER: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20



Aria of Perseverance RANGE: 1000 COOLDOWN: 7COST: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 MANA

ACTIVATION: Sona heals herself and a nearby allied champion with the lowest health percentage, granting both of them bonus armor and magic resistance for 3 seconds.
HEAL: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+ 25% AP)
BONUS ARMOR / MAGIC RESIST: 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
STANCE - PERSISTENT AURA: Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, granting nearby allied champions within 1000 range bonus armor and magic resistance.

POWER CHORD - DIMINUENDO: If this spell was last cast when Power Chord is ready, Power Chord will also reduce the target's damage output by 20% for 3 seconds.

AURA ARMOR / MAGIC RESIST: 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10


Song of Celerity RANGE: 1000 COOLDOWN: 7COST: 65 MANA

ACTIVATION: Sona grants nearby allies increased movement speed for 1.5 seconds.
MOVEMENT SPEED INCREASE: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14%
STANCE - PERSISTENT AURA: Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions within 1000 range a flat movement speed bonus.

POWER CHORD - TEMPO: If this spell was last cast when Power Chord is ready, Power Chord will also slow the target by 40% for 2 seconds.

FLAT MOVEMENT SPEED: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20



Crescendo RANGE: 1000 COOLDOWN: 140 / 120 / 100 COST: 100 / 150 / 200 MANA

ACTIVE: Sona plays an irresistible chord in a line, dealing magic damage to enemy champions and stunning them for 1.5 seconds, forcing them to dance.

MAGIC DAMAGE: 150 / 250 / 350 (+ 80% AP)


Summoner Skills:
+ Show Spoiler +
Flash/Ignite. Exhaust can be a better option, if they have someone whose damage you need to control in team fights. It's up to you if you wanna sacrifice lane dominance for better team fighting.


Masteries:
+ Show Spoiler +
For solo queue i advocate 5/21/4

For ranked 5v5 i advocate 0/9/21

Alternative options:

Ketara: 5/22/3 and 0/21/9

MCMilo: 0/15/15


Runes:
+ Show Spoiler +
Quints: Armor, Hybrid Pen, Gold per 10, Health, Movement Speed
Marks: Armor, Hybrid Pen
Seals: Armor
Glyphs: Flat or scaling Magic Resist, flat Ability power

Choosing the runes for the right match-up

Health is great with stacked armor and flat magic reset against disadvantageous support match-ups (Leona vs Sona).
Hybrid pen with armor and magic resist is generic and works in every support match-up.
Gold per 10 is not a popular options anymore, but if you're playing an advantageous support match-up like Janna vs Sona, you can choose these quints, to scale harder.

What i prefer myself is Movement Speed quints, Hybrid Pen Marks, Armor Seals and either flat Magic Resists or flat Ability Power Glyphs. Keep in mind, this is not a generic optimal and should not be seen as the only viable choice. Experiment around and see what fits you the best.


Skill Order
+ Show Spoiler +
Generally you want to go QWQWQR, R > Q > W > E, taking a point in E at level 8. However, if you have an urge to stack up power-chords extremely fast to trade better in lane, than take a point in E at level 4. It's important to remember that your W will be very weak and extremely mana-inefficient until you skill it again at level 8.


Item build
+ Show Spoiler +

With the launch of Season 4, the options have gotten greater than previously. The most important thing to note is the release of trinkets to balance the heavy warding haunting every tier of the game through Season 3. Please note, that there's is no exact build for any support, but you can follow some guidelines:


Oracle Lens > Pinks > Mikael's Crucible > Ruby Sightstone > Tier2 boots [CORE] -> Luxury items

Yellow trinket

Basic trinket gives you a green ward that lasts for 60 seconds with a 120 second cooldown. You don't want to upgrade this at all, since you'll be getting the red trinket for map-control, earliest at level 9. I mainly use this for brush control, since bot-lane ganks are postponed until junglers are level 6 (on average, 7-8 minutes into the game).

Red Trinket

So broken, yet so balanced. Red trinket gives you the opportunity to swipe the opponent's wards on a 60 second cooldown, granted you know where the wards were placed. Get this at level 9 (upgrade cost 475 and requires level 9) and start sweeping shit everywhere, from dragon to baron, to their freaking base.

Blue Trinket

This is the trinket, that RIOT so desperately hoped would be a diversity to Clair Voyance. Sadly it's inferior to its sisters, and remain a niche tool for some AP-mids like Nidalee or Lux.

Doran's Shield

Health? Check
Hp5? Check
Auto-attack reduction? Check

Doran's shield recently got nerfed from 100 to 80 health and hp5 from 10 to 6. It's still a good early-game item if you're thinking "Lulu/Caitlyn? Fuck my life", but before it was rather mandatory because of its gold-efficiency, nowadays it's situational.

You should aim to purchase it from game-start. It can be very useful in certain situations versus e.g Zyra, Lulu or Caitlyn.

Sightstone/Ruby Sightstone

The best solution for supports at the moment. You want to rush this, because it allows you to keep up with the map control. Remember that for every ward you place with Sightstone, you save 75 gold.

Upgrading Sightstone has become easier with the ruby crystal gold change from 475 gold to 400 gold. Nowadays just upgrade it to max, when you need the health to complement your additional armor and magic resist purchases.

Spellthief's Edge

Added in Season 4 to grant supports better gold income, this item is rather sexy. Sona is already a poke-heavy champion and therefore she's using the passive effectively, giving her an absurd amount of gold income, from doing what she's designed for.

Spellthief's Edge's max upgrade Frost Queen's Claim has an active that slows your opponent with a click from maximum 850 range. The slow starts at 80% and decays over 20 seconds.

This item is good in solo queue, where picking off people alone and baiting them to fight you is more common. In arranged Spellthief's Edge is lackluster, because you will be fighting in 5v5 scenarios and the slow matters less.

Ancient Coin

You can buy this from game-start and it's a rather simple item. You grant gold when minions are killed near you. The full upgrade Talisman of Ascension grants you and nearby allies 40% movement speed for 3 seconds. Very useful in mid/late-game and still mandatory for ranked 5v5.

The hp5 and mp5 helps you in lane to control the lane better with your poke, the CDR is just broken. Note that the passive gold generation on this item is lower than Spellthief's Edge. Consider utility masteries if you plan on buying this.

Chalice of Harmony

Incredibly strong on Sona. Allows you to spam your spells in team fights to keep your passive up. The magic resist also helps a lot in early/mid-game team fights. It upgrades into Mikael's Crucible which is a must-have in any support core.

Vision ward

Previously this section included green wards as well, but the changes to maximum capacity of green wards and pinks wards have made this dull.

Always sit on 2 pink wards after laning phase, they're good at keeping the pressure. Consider placing them in awkward spots, so they don't get erased shortly after you placed them. (Pictures to come in a near future)
.
Boots of Mobility

I love these boots. You're fast, so you are able to place/swipe wards easily. And since you're so fast, it's easier to get away from people, which is a huge plus, because you're so squishy.

Ninja Tabi

I hardly buy these except if I'm against an AD heavy team comp.

Mercury Threads

Most common purchase, if you aren't going to buy mobility boots. CC reduction can be crucial, so be sure to choose wisely.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

Cooldown reduction boots can always be a great thing, because you're rarely allowed to purchase CDR from items such as Kindlegem (previously used to create Shurelya's Reverie) or Fiendish Codex. These boots go hand-in-hand with Chalice/Crucible, allowing you to spam spells like a real slut.

Boots enchant: Home-guard

The only tier 2 boots upgrade i ever get. I have hardly experienced with "Captain" or "Distortion", though i can definitely see some potential in those upgrades.

With home-guard you can defend faster, and sometimes they can be the deciding factor between winning or losing a team fight.

Mikael's Crucible

Buy this. Do it, no matter what. The only scenario where you will not be buying this and upgrading to Athene's unholy grail, would be against a 1 Heavy CC, 4 CC-less team, and that rarely happens. It upgrades from Chalice and the cost is small, compared to the active. Be smart in fights! You can soft-reset fights, if you stop important Crowd Control like Suppression or Snare/Bind.

Support Match-ups
+ Show Spoiler +

Alistar

Difficulty: Easy

He's never played anymore, but even so it's fair to say a few words about him. Generally your focus should be towards poking him down with your auto attacks in laning phase. At level 1 you MUST go balls deep and force him to back off from the side brushes, he can't do anything to you (beware of his ad carry though).

Annie

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Annie is being seen more and more often in the support role for many good reasons. Her AA poke is incredibly painful to deal with, her burst is some of the strongest among supports. Tibbers just give you a harder time trying to get off your Q. Luckily you have sustain, so play smart during trades and do not commit hoping that you will out trade. You will not.

Blitzcrank

Difficulty: Medium

By some people considered the #1 counter to Sona, I've yet to come across someone who absolutely shuts me down, unless my positioning is all fucked up. Unlike Thresh, Blitzcrank NEEDS to land a hook to be efficient, and by having superior positioning (aka. staying behind the minion line) you can poke him down. Everytime he misses his hook, you're looking at 15-18 seconds of downtime for you to do your thing.

Fiddlesticks

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Fiddlesticks can be either extremely annoying or extremely easy. His E-poke is generally easy to sustain through, just be careful when he goes in for a Q and is paired with the likes of Varus and Corki. Post-6 make sure to control brushes and call MIA (some fiddle's like to pretend they're jungling and gank mid).

Janna

Difficulty: Easy

For reasons also stated on page 2 and 3 of this thread already, Janna isn't an issue in lane. Your poke is also better than her shield is early on, so abuse it. After level 7 or 9 (depending on the ADC Janna is paired with) she will slowly start outscaling you in terms of 2v2 power, so it's a better option to end laning early.

Leona

Difficulty: Medium

Although Sona's advantage from level 1-3 is rather high, some Leona's will just accept that fact and rape you later on. Avoid Leona's gap-close range at all costs and be sure to stack up pinks, because if she lands one good E, you're dead. Go balls deep level 1 if you can, abuse your explorer's ward to bait out the infamous auto-Q-auto ward-erase that Leona's tend to do, gain your brush control and auto-auto-auto (with some Q's in between if you fancy).

Lulu

Difficulty: Medium

Careful of her Pix, if she lands double Q and you don't land double Q back, you're gonna lose trades. Her polymorph is extremely good at catching you off guard, if you try to poke too aggressively. Brush-control is important, however not necessary. Her ultimate is a perfect counter-initiation to your ultimate, so either engage before she's 6, or keep in mind that you need an extra 300 damage (jungler help is advised).

Nami

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Nami is a make-it or break-it lane. If she lands a few good Q's, the lane can be pretty much over, if she misses them, you should be winning hard. Her ultimate slows more than you would like as Sona (so slow QQ), sometimes it can be good to hang on to your ultimate during a gank. Hard-engaging with burst is usually what works best.

Soraka

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Aggression strongly advised. You take a huge dump on her pre-7, but once her heal gets a lowered CD, she will slowly out-scale you. Ignite is strongly advised!

Taric

Difficulty: Medium

Used to be a hard-counter like Leona, but due to nerfs, he's under-played and easier to manage. Careful of your positioning and make sure to keep up brush-control. His level 6 burst is incredibly strong with ADC*s like Graves and Ezreal, but other than that, you should win her with your Q-poke.

Thresh

Difficulty: Hard

Everything about this guy annoys me. Not only does he have a hook, but also semi-range, shield, knock-back with slow and the oh-so-famous box. Though the hook is easy to evade (see blitzcrank), there will often be situations where the poke overwhelms which makes it a lot easier for Thresh to hit the hook, and if he does hit you, you're dead.

Zyra

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Fucking plants everywhere. Her poke can be devastating, you need superior mechanics and understanding to win this lane. Predict her setup of seeds, don't walk into brushes if you're unsure, as double plants with a root will put you well below 60%. Upfront burst is strongly advised to kill her post-6, if she lands the ult correctly and you need more time to finish her off, chances are that she will get away.


AD Carry Synergy
+ Show Spoiler +

Ashe

Very strong combination of poke and crowd control. You can definitely set up nasty ganks with your jungler. Just beware that this combo is extremely vulnerable to all in lanes like leona/graves.

Score 3/5

Comments: Can definitely be strong in the right hands, but in solo queue it can be rather difficult to time it all correct.


Caitlyn

Incredible early siege potential. You're basically boosting Caitlyn's already strong laning phase with heals and free AD from your Q as well as your own poke.

Score 4/5

Comments: Not the best Caitlyn-lane, but it can work. If you plan on running this in ranked 5v5 i recommend lane-swap.

Corki

Very good poke, the strong combination of magic damage and physical damage from Corki's kit, allows him to gain a strong boost from Sona's Q. Post-6 you should demolish every single lane if you haven't fallen behind.

Score 4/5

Comments: Mediocre pre-6, incredible post-6 but hard to get there.

Ezreal

Strong poke and burst. Like Corki, good mix of magic and physical damage. Both of your ultimates synergize well.

Score 5/5

Comments: Poke for control, pressure for tower and ward deep!


Graves

Very strong burst and good crowd control from Graves W allows to zone and poke back. At level 6 you can all-in easily.


Score 3/5

Comments: Graves' late-game isn't that strong and the burst can be mitigated easily by bruisers/tanks. See if you can close out the game during mid-game.


Kog'Maw

Zuna and Bloodwater from former Team Vulcun loves this combination. Extremely good poke, extremely good scaling, at the cost of a risky early-game. If you can get to level 6 without much trouble, you will dominate most lanes.

Score 4/5


Comments: Risky for solo queue, effective in ranked 5v5 - Lane swap recommended

Miss Fortune

One of the most popular Sona lanes from my experience. Strong combination of magic and physical damage and your ultimates combined melt people down.


Score 3/5

Comments: Miss Fortune's ultimate isn't what it used to be, which was why this combo was so powerful.

Tristana

Strong poke pre-6, powerful burst at level 6 and very good scaling in general. Dominates most lanes if left untouched.

Score 5/5

Comments: Rather classic lane with a lot of potential, though not seen often.

Twitch

Strong laning phase after level 6, strong ultimate synergy and strong scaling. Beware that the rat is rather squishy and so are you, and committing can sometimes result in death.


Score 4/5

Comments: Very snowbally lane. Deaths result in hard stomps, but kills result in rather easy games.


Varus

This lane has everything. Strong poke, strong crowd control, strong burst. The only downside is that you're both vulnerable before level 6 and have no escape.

Score 5/5


Comments: This combo can be played with nearly everything because of your crowd control.


Vayne

Vayne has a very weak laning phase, and your job is to help her survive that. Despite the other lanes, focusing more on aggression, this lane should be play rather passively. Vayne's scaling is insane, and all she needs is farm, therefore your focus is to counter-play.

Score 3/5


Comments: Communication is vital in this match-up. Make sure not to all-in too much, it usually ends up with Vayne dying.



+ Show Spoiler [changelog] +

10-03-14 -> Updated a few places to make it relevant to season 4. Hoping to all more details in the nearby future.
12-03-14 -> Minor updates, added user submission.



*****THINGS TO BE ADDED*****

+ Show Spoiler +
-Morgana match-up (if anyone has wisdom, please share)
-DAT ULT and how to use it in team fights
-DAT Q and how to use it in lane
-DAT W and why it's broken
-DAT E and why it sucks early, but broken late-game.
-Pictures or something to illustrate shit :3
-Rework of Support-match up and AD-Carry Synergy to match Solo Queue and ranked 5v5/LCS
hi
EquilasH
Profile Joined April 2009
Denmark2142 Posts
October 02 2013 16:31 GMT
#2
Sponkz sure knows his Sona. Seems like a solid guide for anyone wanting to learn Sona
wat
Alaric
Profile Joined November 2009
France45622 Posts
October 02 2013 18:10 GMT
#3
You mention "can be good in certain situations" on several occasions (like for the summoners spells and using dshield), but you don't say anything regarding what these situations are. Would you care detailing a bit?

I'm mostly curious about the 2nd summoner spell choice, exhaust vs ignite. I get that ignite with a high damage support (Lulu at early levels, Sona when trading with powerchord up, Leona, etc.) gives a big early kill/all-in potential, but since the solo lanes often prefer Ignite or Barrier you may hold the only exhaust available.
How do you prioritise one or the other? Ignite seems like it'd be chosen for the laning phase, while exhaust is more defensive/teamfighting-oriented. Would you still take Ignite against a lane you can abuse if the enemy team has, say, a Zed?
Cant take LMS hipsters serious.
Fildun
Profile Joined December 2012
Netherlands4122 Posts
October 02 2013 18:17 GMT
#4
What do you think of more aggresive runes (AP quints, Magic pen reds) vs weak lanes, like a vayne or a janna lane? Imo the early damage can either kill or completely zone them in cases like that. And no, hybrid pen is too expensive for me.
Sponkz
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark4564 Posts
October 02 2013 18:28 GMT
#5
@Alaric

Yeah I'll try to add more details. Thanks for for pointing it out

The only times i get exhaust nowadays, is when I'm versus someone like you mention, Zed. He dives hard and exhaust is the perfect punishment for it. You could say that i pick exhaust to bring utility to my team in team fights, thus sacrificing the killing potential you would get from running ignite. I wouldn't recommend not taking exhaust if there's someone like Zed, Jax, Poppy etc.


@Fildun

You should consider running hybrid pens on marks and quints instead of AP quints and mpen reds. I'd say it's sort of silly to go balls deep on offensive with AP, because you don't buy any additional AP.
hi
Fildun
Profile Joined December 2012
Netherlands4122 Posts
October 02 2013 18:29 GMT
#6
On October 03 2013 03:28 Sponkz wrote:
@Alaric

Yeah I'll try to add more details. Thanks for for pointing it out

The only times i get exhaust nowadays, is when I'm versus someone like you mention, Zed. He dives hard and exhaust is the perfect punishment for it. You could say that i pick exhaust to bring utility to my team in team fights, thus sacrificing the killing potential you would get from running ignite. I wouldn't recommend not taking exhaust if there's someone like Zed, Jax, Poppy etc.


@Fildun

You should consider running hybrid pens on marks and quints instead of AP quints and mpen reds. I'd say it's sort of silly to go balls deep on offensive with AP, because you don't buy any additional AP.

Hybrid Pen too expensive QQ
But I mainly run it for the extra earlygame damage, not for scaling, so not buying AP doesn't really matter cuz in the beginning of the game nobody really has AP.
Sponkz
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark4564 Posts
October 02 2013 18:31 GMT
#7
Hybrid pen would still do more damage than 15 AP.
hi
ZataN
Profile Joined July 2010
New Zealand414 Posts
October 02 2013 20:23 GMT
#8
On October 03 2013 03:31 Sponkz wrote:
Hybrid pen would still do more damage than 15 AP.

Just go both

I run hybrid pen reds, ap quints, flat armour/mr, 10% CDR from masteries and buy a chalice ASAP pretty much every game. Fun way to play sona. I need armour quints pretty bad though...
CJ BABY | FAKER > PAWN BELIEVE IT
Alaric
Profile Joined November 2009
France45622 Posts
October 03 2013 02:42 GMT
#9
I'm pretty sure AD quints would do more good than AP quints on a champion like Sona anyway, at least during the first levels (hybrid pen marks/AD quints Lulu is glorious, although full hybrid pen Lulu is a scary monster in its own right).
Cant take LMS hipsters serious.
FaCE_1
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
Canada6166 Posts
October 03 2013 15:49 GMT
#10
Need more replay

really nice guide thanks. I love to play her when I get to support.

speed boots are awesome

I'm really surprise you just give 3/5 for ez. I love to carry ez when i'm on sona.
n_n
GrandInquisitor *
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
New York City13113 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-03 17:40:01
October 03 2013 17:31 GMT
#11
Masteries: I prefer 1/14/15 but obviously you can switch some points around if you prefer to have the biscuit and explorer's ward lvl 1. My personal opinion is though, that biscuit+explorer is useless because you already start with so many wards and pots compared to back when it was more popular to rush philosopher's stone.

There's a reason why almost every top support in the world runs 1/13/16, and why no one ever runs 1/14/15: reducing the cooldown of activated items (and getting an extra 1 MR) is so much laughably worse than having biscuit/explorer ward. This is especially funny because in your recommended items section YOU DON'T EVEN GET ANY ACTIVATABLE ITEMS.

Skill Order: Generally you want to go QWQWQR, R > Q > W > E, taking a point in E at level 8. There isn't much point to the movement speed/slow from E early on, but you can take it at level 4 if you feel like you need it.

Depends entirely on the lane! Skipping E is only a good idea if you desperately need to heal up against very strong poke, and really, in that situation, maybe you should be doing QWWEWR instead.

The advantages of leveling E at level 4:

1) Refreshing your power chord is considerably faster, because you can do it once per cooldown cycle instead of once every two cooldown cycles;

2) You get access to Sona's only non-ultimate CC ability. Giving up a powerful ranged slow can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful gank;

3) You get the movement speed buff for chasing down enemies / fleeing enemies / returning to lane.

Runic Bulwark

Used to be an item that was bought by the support, but due to changes in play style, it is bought by the jungler now. 2950 gold is way too much to spend on an item, and you won't have the aura before late-game. Consider investing in wards and oracles instead.

Man, my jungler never builds Runic Bulwark for me any more -.-

[ADC scores]

Are you ranking the ADC's, or ranking your synergy with them? Because it's pretty obvious Sona combos better with Ezreal than with Vayne, even if you think Vayne is a stronger ADC than Ezreal.
What fun is it being cool if you can’t wear a sombrero?
Sponkz
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark4564 Posts
October 03 2013 19:03 GMT
#12
On October 04 2013 02:31 GrandInquisitor wrote:
Show nested quote +
Masteries: I prefer 1/14/15 but obviously you can switch some points around if you prefer to have the biscuit and explorer's ward lvl 1. My personal opinion is though, that biscuit+explorer is useless because you already start with so many wards and pots compared to back when it was more popular to rush philosopher's stone.

There's a reason why almost every top support in the world runs 1/13/16, and why no one ever runs 1/14/15: reducing the cooldown of activated items (and getting an extra 1 MR) is so much laughably worse than having biscuit/explorer ward. This is especially funny because in your recommended items section YOU DON'T EVEN GET ANY ACTIVATABLE ITEMS.

Show nested quote +
Skill Order: Generally you want to go QWQWQR, R > Q > W > E, taking a point in E at level 8. There isn't much point to the movement speed/slow from E early on, but you can take it at level 4 if you feel like you need it.

Depends entirely on the lane! Skipping E is only a good idea if you desperately need to heal up against very strong poke, and really, in that situation, maybe you should be doing QWWEWR instead.

The advantages of leveling E at level 4:

1) Refreshing your power chord is considerably faster, because you can do it once per cooldown cycle instead of once every two cooldown cycles;

2) You get access to Sona's only non-ultimate CC ability. Giving up a powerful ranged slow can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful gank;

3) You get the movement speed buff for chasing down enemies / fleeing enemies / returning to lane.

Show nested quote +
Runic Bulwark

Used to be an item that was bought by the support, but due to changes in play style, it is bought by the jungler now. 2950 gold is way too much to spend on an item, and you won't have the aura before late-game. Consider investing in wards and oracles instead.

Man, my jungler never builds Runic Bulwark for me any more -.-

Show nested quote +
[ADC scores]

Are you ranking the ADC's, or ranking your synergy with them? Because it's pretty obvious Sona combos better with Ezreal than with Vayne, even if you think Vayne is a stronger ADC than Ezreal.




I'll swap the masteries around. I've been way used too taking the item activation thing for reverie, that i forgot what it actually did


1) It also costs way more mana to use E. You can easily prepare a power-chord just with Q and W

2) That's why it's situational. I would be surprised if it was more of a trend to take E @ level 4 among high elo players, because the heal is just that much stronger. You have to remember it also gives resists to your targets aswell as a resistance aura.

3) You rarely need it early on, because the fights are not bound to be chases.


Regarding the scores it's a mixture of both. I wrote in the comments that i placed sona/ezreal abit low, because i have yet to see an Ezreal that did well after the nerfs to blue build. Obviously I'll try to update it frequently, because i have a feeling Corki might be nerfed soon etc.
hi
GrandInquisitor *
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
New York City13113 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-03 19:55:54
October 03 2013 19:54 GMT
#13
With everything off cooldown, preparing a power chord with Q/W takes at a minimum 7 seconds. With Q/W/E it takes only 1 second. That's a pretty huge difference. Otherwise you probably aren't going to get two power chords off during a single gank. Level 1 E costs more mana than level 2 Q and costs the same amount of mana as level 2 W, but the important thing is that it gives you the option. You don't have to do it, but you can when you need to.
What fun is it being cool if you can’t wear a sombrero?
Complete
Profile Joined October 2009
United States1864 Posts
October 03 2013 22:20 GMT
#14
Because of Sona's mana problems I agree with not getting E until 8 in general, but I do run in to occasional situations where having E could have potentially netted a kill with the speed boost and/or slow for a gank. It's not a bad idea to hold on to a point in skills until you need to use it, and to keep an eye on whether your jungler is coming on your side of the map.
Slayer91
Profile Joined February 2006
Ireland23335 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-04 10:24:38
October 04 2013 10:14 GMT
#15
as the best worst sona player this guide gets 5/5
except I always buy cdr boots, and make up for the cc reduction by being tankier by never buying any wards or oracles using gold to buy something else
its legit

also isn't runic bulwark gone now? Its locket now, which is slightly better buy on sona than bulwark cause of cdr.

I don't skill E until level 13 unless I get a level while chasing or something
yolo
E costs a lot of mana and healing is underrated
I would absolutely never want to skill it over Q but if you're going to skill it instead of W it's mosly a question of if laning phase is going on (sustain more important) or towers are going down (fights happening more, more power chords and opportunites where E power chord>q power chord)

GI GTFO with your level 4 E that's crazy. Q W Q chord is a fine combo to use. The rate of power chords isn't that important because its good mostly in a fight but in a fight extra healing mr/armour is probably a not better than 1 extra chord at least considering it burns your mana super fast and in any situation but an all-in or maybe some really close ganks W is better.

if you like E you get it at level 8, if you don't level 10 or 12 or 13 is fine. 4 is wayyyy too early.

also yeah don't buy ap on sona. I would say normally armour>ad because you already have enough damage to harass anyone and in all-ins targeted on you you want armour more. hybrid quints are good I guess but only if you have 2 runepages because you want full on d against all in lanes. (Leona blitz thresh zyra and shit)

also W W Q chord gives you 120 healing at level 4 if you need sustain and E W Q gives you 40 healing which is a pretty big difference. there is no way that the extra damage from 1/3 of a chord is going to beat 80 healing on 2 people.
Complete
Profile Joined October 2009
United States1864 Posts
October 04 2013 10:33 GMT
#16
ah yes i was going to mention cdr boots, I buy those for sona, but i've like literally never bought mobies ever on anybody :p
Slayer91
Profile Joined February 2006
Ireland23335 Posts
October 04 2013 10:33 GMT
#17
mobility boots are for running around with wards and oracles
not a great strat if you don't buy them LOL
Sponkz
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark4564 Posts
October 04 2013 10:56 GMT
#18
Oh right i forgot it was re-named to Locket of the Iron Solari LOL. I still don't think it should be a purchase for supports, since every jungler at the moment likes ancient golem+locket.

Will add a section for CDR boots
hi
Lonyo
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United Kingdom3884 Posts
October 04 2013 12:25 GMT
#19
I normally go QWQW (in some order depending on how the lane is going) -> E - > R, as a noob, because it gives the additional speed for escape/ganks when you are ready to use ults at level 6 for fights, and before then I don't find it that useful (at lower levels).

HOLY CHECK!
Haiq343
Profile Joined August 2011
United States2548 Posts
October 04 2013 13:48 GMT
#20
I don't understand why people are dismissing the E-@4. Yes it's not ideal for pure-poke/sustain trading. It is massively better for actual fights for all the reasons GI listed (move speed, additional chord option, single cooldown cycle chords). If you don't expect to have jungler interference or other all-in pressure it's obviously 'wasted' flexibility. Tailor your build to the situation some, it's not like Sona has anything else to do.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination encircles the world. -Einstein
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