Guide · Support

Sona Guide

Maven of the Strings

Support

Mage

Tier B Support

Sona, Maven of the Strings, is a support and mage champion of medium difficulty. Across our 710 analysed ranked games, Sona is mostly played as Support (100% of its games), with a 49.6% win rate in that role: tier B among Support champions (#21 of 39, ranked by win rate). Sona's damage is mostly magic (76%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 52.2% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 385 games) versus 41.0% in long games (over 35 min).

Average KDA

2.2 / 5.7 / 15.2

ratio 3.1

Damage / min

406

CS / min

1.0

Gold / min

314

Kill participation

61%

Vision / min

2.72

Averages measured over 710 Support games played with Sona, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Written guide · based on the official ability texts

Sona is an enchanter whose every ability has a direct effect and an aura for the allies it hits: Hymn of Valor damages and gives bonus damage, Aria of Perseverance heals and protects, Song of Celerity speeds up. Her passive reduces her cooldowns when she uses her abilities well, and her ultimate stuns and forces enemies to dance.

Harassment

E AA AA

When: An enemy is close to you and your carry.

Hymn of Valor deals damage to two enemies and gives an aura to your allies; chain to trigger the Power Chord on your attack.

Protection

When: An ally is under threat.

Aria of Perseverance heals you and a nearby wounded ally, with a shield for the allies hit by the aura; Song of Celerity speeds up your team.

The engage ultimate

When: Your team is ready to engage.

Crescendo stuns enemy champions, forces them to dance and deals magic damage to them.

Laning phase

Chain abilities to benefit from your passive's ability haste. Your next attack after a few abilities deals bonus damage and an effect depending on the last ability cast.

Common mistakes

Casting the ultimate with no ally ready.
Not using your abilities when you can: your passive reduces cooldowns.
Neglecting mana: every ability costs some.

Riot's official tips for playing Sona

Make sure to tag your allies while Sona's auras are active, but avoid getting caught out by enemies.
Save Crescendo for the game-altering moment.
Well-timed uses of Aria of Perseverance will grant you maximum survivability.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Staff of Flowing Water, Moonstone Renewer, and Echoes of Helia (29 games, 48.3% win rate).

Staff of Flowing Water

29 games · 48.3%

Dawncore

27 games · 44.4%

Staff of Flowing Water

Echoes of Helia

Dawncore

23 games · 43.5%

Summoner spells

Flash + Heal50.0% · 650 games

Exhaust + Flash46.0% · 37 games

Flash + Ignite45.5% · 22 games

Most-played runes

Summon Aery + Resolve

45.6% · 274 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band98%

Transcendence59%

Gathering Storm89%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Revitalize99%

Conditioning55%

Shards

Adaptive force85%

Adaptive force63%

Health scaling68%

Summon Aery + Precision

50.6% · 233 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band100%

Celerity80%

Scorch58%

Secondary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind98%

Cut Down55%

Shards

Adaptive force55%

Movement speed52%

Health54%

Summon Aery + Inspiration

56.8% · 155 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band98%

Celerity95%

Gathering Storm88%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear92%

Jack Of All Trades85%

Shards

Ability haste70%

Movement speed92%

Health71%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Sona's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team51.7% · 232 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Echoes of Helia 52.8% ▲

Moonstone Renewer 52.4%

Staff of Flowing Water 52.5% ▼

Dawncore 50.0%

Mikael's Blessing 58.3%

The item that stands out most is Echoes of Helia: 52.8% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team49.7% · 175 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Echoes of Helia 49.1%

Staff of Flowing Water 63.1% ▲

Moonstone Renewer 55.8%

Dawncore 35.0%

Ardent Censer 75.0%

The item that stands out most is Staff of Flowing Water: 63.1% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team47.9% · 303 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Echoes of Helia 45.5% ▼

Staff of Flowing Water 55.2%

Moonstone Renewer 53.0%

Dawncore 40.9%

Mikael's Blessing 47.6%

Ardent Censer 50.0%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Sona as Support

Milio Sona: 40.0%20 games

Milio has the edge in 60% of the 20 Support duels against Sona. See the Milio guide.

Bard Sona: 41.2%17 games

Bard has the edge in 59% of the 17 Support duels against Sona. See the Bard guide.

Senna Sona: 47.8%23 games

Senna has the edge in 52% of the 23 Support duels against Sona. See the Senna guide.

Lulu Sona: 50.0%24 games

Lulu has the edge in 50% of the 24 Support duels against Sona. See the Lulu guide.

Nautilus Sona: 63.6%22 games

Nautilus has the edge in 36% of the 22 Support duels against Sona. See the Nautilus guide.

Who Sona is strong against

Nami66.7% · 30 games

Karma64.3% · 28 games

Nautilus63.6% · 22 games

Lulu50.0% · 24 games

Senna47.8% · 23 games

How to play against Sona

Spread out when you see Sona so she can't make your entire team dance.
Kill Sona first, as she will heal up her team if left alone for too long.

Riot's official tips.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Sona's matchups.

Abilities

PassivePower Chord

Accelerando: Sona gains non-Ultimate ability haste permanently for her basic abilities as she uses her abilities well, up to a cap. Beyond that cap, further successful uses reduce her ultimate's remaining cooldown instead.

Power Chord: Every few spell casts, Sona's next attack will deal bonus magic damage in addition to an additional effect based on what basic Ability Sona last activated.

QHymn of Valor

Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, sends out bolts of sound, dealing magic damage to two nearby enemies, prioritizing champions and monsters. Sona gains a temporary aura that grants allies tagged by the zone bonus damage on their next attack against enemies.

WAria of Perseverance

Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, sending out protective melodies, healing Sona and a nearby wounded ally. Sona gains a temporary aura that grants allies tagged by the zone a temporary shield.

ESong of Celerity

Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allies bonus Move Speed. Sona gains a temporary aura that grants allied champions tagged by the zone bonus Move Speed.

RCrescendo

Sona plays her ultimate chord, stunning enemy champions and forcing them to dance and dealing magic damage to them.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best build for Sona?

The most-played core build is Staff of Flowing Water, Moonstone Renewer, and Echoes of Helia (29 games, 48.3% win rate).

Who counters Sona?

Sona's toughest matchups as Support are Milio (40.0% win rate over 20 games), Bard (41.2% win rate over 17 games), and Senna (47.8% win rate over 23 games).

What are Sona's best matchups?

Sona posts its best win rates against Nami (66.7%), Karma (64.3%), and Nautilus (63.6%).

What game length suits Sona best?

Win rate varies with game length: 52.2% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 385 games) versus 41.0% in long games (over 35 min).

Which runes should I play on Sona?

The most-played rune page uses Summon Aery with the Resolve secondary tree (274 games, 45.6% win rate).

Full Sona page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides