During the preseason of League of Legends, new playstyles for the champions are constantly being tested. The champion Sona has become one of the strongest champions for the support role.
What has changed? The change is an adjustment to Sona’s item build. While the champion currently has a positive win rate and is well-positioned in the list, LoL players are always looking for new options to play their champion stronger than others. The new supporter could pose a competition for Sona.
Thus, support players have come up with entirely new ideas for Sona in the meantime. The champion was played for ability power. This leads to a significant increase in her damage. However, this does not do justice to her role, and most players, around 89% (via LeagueofGraphs), start with a more traditional build for Sona.
The item Rod of Ages gives the Sona build a new twist. Although she does what she did before, she does it better now. She no longer faces the dilemma of having too little mana, and the focus is on supporting her teammates and thus directing the game.
In this video, you can see how massive League of Legends has become:
Why almost everyone can play the champion
What does the Rod of Ages do for Sona? With the item’s early stages, Sona is able to stay longer on the lane right from the beginning of the game. Her mana pool will not deplete so quickly, and she can use her abilities as soon as their cooldowns are over.
Her abilities themselves are designed to affect nearby enemies and allies.
- Her Q ability deals damage to 2 nearby enemies, prioritizing champions.
- The W ability heals herself, one ally, and provides a shield to all around her.
- Her E ability increases the movement speed of allies that are within her range.
The basic abilities are very easy to play since they only work around Sona. The only challenge is her ultimate ability, where enemies are stunned in a line in front of her. This needs to be aimed and hit. With a little practice, this should not be a problem.
The rod transforms into the item “Seraph’s Embrace” at full stacks and allows Sona to restore health when she consumes mana. Additionally, the item comes with the ability that the cooldown reduction increases the more mana Sona has.
All in all, this item harmonizes with the attributes Sona wants to build. Cooldown reduction is important for her, so she can cast her spells, and she needs a lot of mana to cast many spells. Additionally, her strong self-healing allows her to exert influence on the lane for a long time.
Other items that synergize well with her abilities and playstyle as a supporter are:
- Shurelya’s Reverie
- Glacial Augment
- Rod of Flowing Water
- Chemtech Putrefier
- Riftmaker
Some of these items need to be considered in individual situations. However, they can serve as a guideline if you are unsure.
Why does this make her the strongest healer? Through the healing of her ability and the health she gains from Seraph’s Embrace, Sona is a champion who can survive on the lane for a long time. This is particularly annoying for opponents, as she always represents a potential threat.
Unfortunately, not much helps against Sona. The simplest way is through the new strong jungle strategies. It is important to focus on the bot lane and hit Sona with as much damage as possible at the same time to avoid long fights.
However, it is not always so easy on the bot lane. It is characterized by fights where you want to gradually defeat the opponents. Sona, however, disrupts the opponents’ plans here. The long fights allow for health regeneration and healing for her team.
What are the most exciting builds you have tried with Sona? Let us know in the comments.
