Sion/Strategy

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Gameplay

Sion’s a stubborn and tanky behemoth capable in both the solo lanes and jungle of Summoner’s Rift. With slow and telegraphed attacks, Sion thrives when he chains his assault together, and revels in the thick of battle.

Laning

Sion’s early game power lies in the brute strength and implied threat of his abilities. Smart positioning allows Sion to aim Decimating Smash – which deals plenty of damage along with a hefty knock-up when fully charged – over both his and the enemy’s minion frontline, forcing Sion’s opponent to choose between securing valuable last hits and staying healthy in lane. But as he levels up, Sion’s able to start asserting his dominance with increasing confidence. Using Roar of the Slayer to slow his rival and shred their armor, Sion can line up and reliably deliver more meaningful damage with Decimating Smash. Meanwhile, Soul Furnace gives him a shield strong enough to negate a meaningful chunk of the enemy’s retaliation should his opponent go toe-to-stump with Noxus’s faded glory, or offers enough defense to keep Sion alive as he retreats.

File:Sion Battleaxe.png

Even if the enemy laner decides to shove lane and force Sion to last-hit minions under his tower, he still has a couple of tricks to help him earn the gold he needs to itemize. Standing outside his turret’s range, Sion can take advantage of Soul Furnace’s shield to tank minion damage as he winds up Decimating Smash, which is broad enough to pummel an entire minion wave. And with the enemy laner far from their tower, Sion’s perfectly positioned to call on his jungler and take a kill. He’s a beast during friendly ganks thanks to Decimating Smash and Roar of the Slayer, which provide enough crowd control to let his ally deal their damage. Things are a little less favorable during enemy ganks, however: with slow base speed and no dashes, Sion’s an extremely immobile champion who relies on his shields, slows and health to keep him alive as he trudges back to his tower.

That immobility disappears – albeit briefly – once Sion hits level six. Unstoppable Onslaught is a monstrous ability, capable of charging Sion halfway across Summoner’s Rift. It has numerous uses, including chasing down fleeing enemies and escaping otherwise deadly encounters. Most enticing, though, is the roam potential Sion gains with his ultimate. Though he’s somewhat cumbersome to aim as he charges, there are few sights more awesome than a full-speed Sion barreling directly toward an unsuspecting suspect a full lane away.

Jungle

With his sturdy frame and area of effect abilities, Sion’s also well-placed to make his presence felt in the jungle. All of his basic abilities give him tremendous clear speed, and while he can attempt ganks before he unlocks his ult, he needs to either approach his overextended victim from the direction of their own turret, or work with crowd control-centric allies to deal his full damage salvo. Once he earns access to Unstoppable Onslaught though, things change significantly. The ability’s extreme range and tricky aim make Sion most effective when he ganks up the lane. By starting his charge well behind the action, Sion’s able to barrel into the thick of the fight with relative reliability, knocking his target into the air before butchering them with Decimating Smash and Roar of the Slayer.

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Teamfights

While Sion’s a terrifying enough prospect in the early game, he truly comes into his own once teams group and fight together. He thrives in the heart of battle, triggering Soul Furnace before charging in with Unstoppable Onslaught to initiate the bloodshed. Once in the enemy’s midst, he works best aiming his abilities to strike as many targets as possible, disrupting his opponents with both the crowd control and sheer damage output of his attacks. Sion’s presence demands attention, but even after the enemy team finally cuts the great man down, their work’s not done. Glory in Death provides Sion with a chance to enact his revenge after falling, giving him huge attack damage and attack speed and making the undead juggernaut a colossal threat even beyond the grave.

Synergy

Works well with:	Struggles against:
Ashe - the Frost Archer Enchanted Crystal Arrow Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Volley and Frost Shot all slow Sion’s enemies, allowing him to close distance and set up his punishing but slow attacks.	Lucian - the Purifier The movement speed boosts from Ardent Blaze and dashes from Relentless Pursuit make Lucian a nimble and slippery target for Sion’s sluggish attacks. Death comes quickly to Sion’s enemies, but the Undead Juggernaut has to get his hands on his victim first.
Nautilus - the Titan of the Depths Sion and Nautilus combined form an unrelenting crowd control nightmare for the enemy team. Together, they have more than enough slows, stuns and knock-ups to disrupt multiple targets while their damage dealers take their toll.	Azir - the Emperor of the Sands Azir isn’t just nimble enough to dash away from Sion – he also has plenty of zone control and crowd control of his own to hinder Sion’s already lumbering gait. And while Unstoppable Onslaught is an immense engagement tool, Emperor's Divide blocks Sion’s charge and nullifies his immediate engagement potential.
Zilean - the Chronokeeper Though Sion’s a somewhat lumbering giant, Zilean’s Time Warp gives him all the movement speed he needs to chase down targets and power into the enemy team. Zilean can also plant a Time Bomb Time Bomb on Sion to complement his staggering area of effect damage.	Swain - the Master Tactician Nevermove and Decrepify give Swain the tools he needs to keep Sion at bay, and while other mages meet a quick demise at Sion’s axe, Swain has the inherent tankiness – particularly when he activates Ravenous Flock – to withstand his damage output.

Champion Spotlight

Recommended Items

Tips

Playing As Sion

Playing Against Sion

Tricks

Ability Usage

• Sion relies heavily on good skill timing and placement in order to be useful - the majority of his kit is unreliable in terms of hitting abilities, but they synergize well with each other to result in incredible sustained damage.
• His passive, Glory in Death, is useful for revenge kills but is most prominent in teamfights where enemies will be under threat by the extra DPS he'll have while reanimated.
  • Do not underestimate the damage he deals with Glory in Death. With each hit dealing an additional 10% of the target's max HP, Sion can decimate squishy/slow targets.
• Decimating Smash deals AoE damage and, when charged enough, can knock up multiple enemies. Fully charged and well placed, this ability can singlehandedly turn teamfights. While the potential threat of Decimating Smash is huge, getting it to apply the brief slow can be enough to pick off a target.
  • To more reliably hit opponents, try to hinder the their movement before charging; having your teammates apply stuns or slows beforehand or hitting first with Roar of the Slayer or Unstoppable Onslaught will make this considerably easier.
  • Alternatively, Decimating Smash can be an effective tool to zone opponents. For example, charging it on an area to cut off an enemy's escape route or protect an endangered ally can be well worth it due to its decently low cooldown.
  • A fast cancellation of Decimating Smash will still deal one third of the maximum damage and slow the opponent briefly.
• Soul Furnace makes Sion very durable with both components, as he can gain quite a bit of health from the passive and a large shield that scales off his max health to compliment it.
  • Though the shield may not persist for very long in early teamfights, it is still a powerful damage tool due to its AoE % max health damage.
• Roar of the Slayer grants Sion a ranged AoE damage slow with armor shred, and an effective tool for initiation.
  • Maxing Roar of the Slayer first while pushing minions in lane grants Sion serious long ranged damage poke and wave clear.
    • Since the damage is also magic, it is effective against early armor stacking.
  • Slowing opponents with Roar of the Slayer will make it easier to engage on them or follow up with Decimating Smash.
  • Though the armor reduction only applies to the main target, it is still a shred and will make any enemy that much more vulnerable to physical damage bursts from you and your teammates.
• His ultimate Unstoppable Onslaught allows him to move a long distance while also dealing high AoE damage and providing a significant knockup.
  • Canceling Unstoppable Onslaught briefly before hitting the intended target will let you stop and deal damage at that position - even if the opponent gets away. This way Sion will hopefully be placed right where he belongs - in the middle of the fight.
  • A well used melee range Unstoppable Onslaught is your most reliable tool to save teammates from any instant engage such as a Warwick's Infinite Duress, dealing a fair amount of damage and the knockup.
  • Due to the CC immunity it gives and the long distance Unstoppable Onslaught covers, it can be used to escape or to join a fight.

Mastery Usage

Item Usage

• Many tank and fighter items work well with Sion, but generally some good options support the hard-to-kill, sustained threat that he can be.
• Movement speed will improve Sion's potential to engage a fight without his ultimate and slows will make it easier to land his abilities. Both make chasing and Glory in Death even more threatening.
  • Boots of Swiftness can be incredibly effective against teams lacking in hard CC but with lots of slows.
  • Righteous Glory can be an excellent item for Sion, giving him some extra durability and an active AoE speed up and slow to boot. It can even be cast during Unstoppable Onslaught, meaning a well timed activation can allow your team to follow up and collapse on the enemy quickly.
    • Note that it may be better to opt for other defensive items, as Sion already benefits from theoretically infinite health scaling and already has several tools to engage.
    • Dead Man's Plate could be a considerable alternative for Righteous Glory if Sion needs more mobility for himself, tank and damage mainly coming from his Unstoppable Onslaught. As Sion is using Unstoppable Onslaught, he builds up stacks for Dead Man's Plate to make more damage for his next auto attack when hitting somebody but if he hits a terrain or wall, the stacks of Dead Man's Plate still apply as he's waiting to hit someone with his next auto attack which will still do the same damage unless Sion is stacking it after he used his ultimate.
  • Trinity Force grants the most movement speed possible from a single item along with an abundance of stats that Sion can use, but is primarily offensive and is still expensive.
  • Iceborn Gauntlet is a decent item as it provides mana and cooldown reduction, while also granting Sion armor and a slow field, making it easier to chase down opponents, though it lacks the higher defensive stats of Frozen Heart.
  • Frozen Mallet grants HP and some AD paired with a strong single target slow resulting in a potentially devastating Glory in Death. Combined with Furor enchanted boots, you will be difficult to kite without hard CC.
    • Similarly to Righteous Glory, you sacrifice armor or magic resist for utility, which Sion has quite a bit of already. Keep in mind what you need more as the game goes on.
• Sion can make good use of any AD because of his scaling with Decimating Smash and Unstoppable Onslaught along with his auto attacks during Glory in Death, but can make him an easy target to focus down without some tank stats.
  • Ravenous Hydra can be a decent item, adding to his waveclear, granting him more sustain, and some more AoE damage in teamfights, though is purely offensive.
    • Alternatively, Titanic Hydra is more defensive but gives similar AoE damage that scales off max health.
  • Another strong offensive pick is the Maw of Malmortius. Hexdrinker will make for a good defensive tool against mages early, granting resistances and a shield, and once upgraded, will make him more of a threat at low health, especially when considering his passive.
  • A Liandry's Torment is decent if you have to deal with a fair amount of tanks and are frequently using Roar of the Slayer. With all the CC and AoE damage in his kit, he can make good use of the burn passive along with a slight boost to his shield.
    • An early Haunting Guise works well against armor stacking opponents in lane with Roar of the Slayer and Soul Furnace.
  • Youmuu's Ghostblade can be a decent item for snowballing a lane in your favor as Sion has respectable base damage on his abilities. It also possesses an active that allows you to chase well, both alive and reanimated.
  • Blade of the Ruined King is a decent niche item for dealing with champions that can interrupt and kite fairly easily. While decent as dueling item, he does not benefit from the attack speed as much since his attack speed is fixed during Glory in Death.
• Sion gets tons of HP with the passive of Soul Furnace and has a shield that scales with maximum health, making defensive items exceptional on him. Though health is fairly appealing, it is often better to get armor and magic resist to compliment the extra health unless the enemy has an unusually large amount of true damage.
  • Mercury's Treads are an excellent item for the Tenacity, and can be combined with Elixir of Iron to make even harder to lock you down.
  • Guardian Angel can be a powerful defensive item, giving him a significant amount of armor and magic resist and allowing him to be even more of a threat with another revive.
    • As enemy teams may ignore you because of this item, Guardian Angel is effective on offensive Fighter builds. In tandem with a Maw, Sion will become a threat that is difficult to bring down but can't leave along.
  • Warmog's Armor carries a large amount of health and sustain that scales with max HP. Its passive will force enemy teams to commit to killing Sion or risk him returning fully healed, either situation being unfavorable for them.
  • Frozen Heart is probably the best choice for armor, because the high amount of cooldown reduction supports Sion's sustained ability damage and CC. Furthermore, the attack speed slow works well just by staying in the middle of the enemy team. The lack of health on Frozen Heart hurts Sion less than most other tanks.
    • The build path via Glacial Shroud is quite helpful early against an AD lane.
  • Banshee's Veil is a solid item for tanks and its Spell Shield may also prevent your Decimating Smash from being interrupted.
  • Sunfire Cape is a good item as it provides favorable defensive stats along with even more sustained damage as you'll often be in the middle of a fight regardless.
  • Randuin's Omen, while a staple on nearly every tank or bruiser, synergizes very well with Sion, granting him yet another AoE slow along with a high amount of defensive stats.

Countering

• As Sion's strength lies in his amazing late game with infinite HP scaling, playing an early game champion like Renekton, Riven, or Garen can hinder him from reaching his full potential.
  • In short, anyone who can interrupt his Decimating Smash and burn through his Soul Furnace shield quickly and early will be able to push him out of lane as well as deny his usefulness during teamfights.
• Soul Furnace's shield can deal a large amount of damage to your team if you don't break through it fast enough. If you cannot destroy it within the three second period before it can be detonated, consider disengaging and letting it expire, as it has a fairly significant cooldown.
• Pay attention to the game's audio as you can hear the noise Sion's Unstoppable Onslaught makes globally, and position yourself to dodge out of the way.
  • While the engage potential of Unstoppable Onslaught is significant, the cooldown is very high at early levels. Keep this in mind if he uses it defensively.
  • Without Unstoppable Onslaught, Sion is very vulnerable to kiting. Try to engage or force an objective while it is down.
• Sion does a large amount of mixed damage, especially in the laning plase. Avoiding his abilities early is important in securing the early game against him.
• Roar of the Slayer is relatively fast compared to the rest of his skills, but its high base damage and slow makes it important to dodge to avoid follow up.
  • The empowered damage only applies if you are hit by a minion or monster. Try not to give Sion the opportunity to hit you with one.
• Sion excels at zoning low mobility opponents with his abilities. Ryze and Teemo can be effective against him, provided they do not get too close.
• A well timed Zhonya's Hourglass can prevent Sion from landing Unstoppable Onslaught on you.
• Much of Sion's initiation damage is physical, so building armor will be effective for teamfights or if he manages to land his ultimate.
• Banshee's Veil can be effective in reducing his magic damage against you and prevent any kind of initiation from him.

References

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