SION: The Extremely Stoppable Juggernaut. A.K.A. The King of Counterplay. via /r/leagueoflegends ift.tt/eA8V8J In the middle of last year (2014) I had become bored with league, and stopped playing for several months, saying only the Sion rework would bring me back to league. Sure enough in September he was teased and I immediately returned to league. Post-release, I can say Im disappointed with his rework, and Im making this post because I never see anyone talking about his issues, other than laughing at his MANY failed ults.I will first say that Riot was spot on with his theme, He is the image of the juggernaut or massive, unmovable undead lifesteal tank Morello mentioned back in 2013 ift.tt/1yTktJA) though in reality thats not was he is. The role of late game unstoppable lifesteal tank has been filled by Aatrox or Trundle at this point, both with kits that support that role better than Sions. Sion, meanwhile, has found a place as a pure tank or bruiser, with a secondary health stacking passive (a holdover from old sion) though I find this to be gimmicky rather than a useful tool for getting a health lead on the enemy, though in honesty, the health stacking was what attracted me to old Sion so long ago, and I was admittedly excited when I heard it was staying for the rework, though my mind has changed after playing him so many times. Sion has an abysmal base health of 543 lvl1 - 1784 lvl18 which requires him to farm in lane or jungle consistently to keep up with other tanks,(see Mundo,Garen,Jarvin,Maokai...etc)and this is no easy task for reasons Ill elaborate on. So lets see what Rito called their most ambitious project yet has to offer. ift.tt/1JJPZes has a strange kit when it comes to laning, as he has several counterintuitive elements holding him back from reaching his potential. For example, he has awful trade in 1v1 fights. Watch any champ with mobility or cc of any kind run rings around him and out damage him by a wide margin. (see Riven,Garen,Gnar,Lissandra...etc.) We all know landing a fully charged Q with Sion is nigh impossible save for in teamfights with a high cc team, but I wonder why he suffers in game for taking it early when its only use in lane is clearing minions. Trading in lane with q can lead to mana problems and unwanted pushing of the lane. Try doing area denial with this in lane and see how much farm you lose by A. not getting last hits you would normally get, or B. by unintentionally pushing and risking ganks from which you will not escape pre-lvl6. I often get good hits with the Q when i hide in the bush and wait for my enemy, but Im missing farm the whole time, which i need to maintain my health. Arguably, the best place for his Q is teamfights, but i find a huge problem in this area as well, and that problem is demonstrated perfectly in this CLG vs. T8 game ift.tt/1BZhLo6 where sion has a good initiation and ultimately fails to follow up with the Q he needs to help his team. Count how many Qs he tries and is denied by cc. 3 Qs denied in that fight, and the 4th only just landing and to no effect as his team is already dead. Sion simply took up space after initiation making that 4v5 a 4v4 that his team lost. Some ideas for improvement of this spell might be a slow 360 degree radius rotation or a slowed movement charge like Vis Q, (picture sion moving slowly and dragging his axe behind him into a slow drawback and final slam whilst moving slowly forward.) though both of these would mean animation changes for sion, which is something I dont think Riot is willing to do.We come to his W, what many see as one of his few good spells and one worth keeping, and I do like it, but it also has some problems. Sions W scales off of health which encourages tanky builds and becomes somewhat useless on the unviable AD Sion builds that his Ws health stacking passive encourages. His W also scales off of AP which i found to be a halfhearted way to appease old sion fans wanting to try the ridiculous AP sion build that(just like old sion)renders 2 spells utterly useless and falls off hard late game. I enjoy this spell on a tanky built sion, but while it offers some protection/poke in lane, it once again results in sions unintentional pushing of the lane, and its shield can be broken quite easily early game when playing against champs with ranged autos or cc to negate its damage, or most use one could possibly get out of it. Late game, his W can be very useful in teamfights for a secondary source of damage and protection, but watch any late game AD kite this shield and sions remaining health into oblivion and back. Keep in mind diving into the backline and opening a path for his damage dealers is his job, but once hes there hes a joke without team cc to aid him, which should really be his job, considering you would be hard pressed to find a team that builds around an already weak Sion pick. Finally, his health stacking passive will come in handy once every blue moon when you get to the extremely late game and manage to farm beyond typical means which is very rare. Sions entire kit encourages teamfights, which there are better champs for and also means farming less in favor of team progression, which means ending the game early, which once again negates the efficacy of a health stacking passive which only has any use late game. As much as I enjoy the idea of health stacking, in practice I find it lackluster and ultimately pointless, when one could simply up his base health like other tanks or up the stacks he gets per kill/farm which might result in an unbalanced supertank.Sions E is his saving grace in a 1v1 lane and still it is riddled with problems. Many people max E first when going top, and sometimes in jungle, as it has better and (though it is a skillshot) more reliable damage than his q and w, and allows for some very sketchy/precarious pre-6 ganks. Sions e does magic damage and scales off of AP, it slows the enemy it strikes and does negligible damage though it shreds armor. If it strikes a minion it goes farther and does 50% increased damage. I also feel this somewhat hearkens back to Sions old AP scaling Q stun, hilariously titled cryptic gaze. I do think this was another way to appease the old sion crowd though it is a more well-crafted spell if somewhat thematically off from the rest of Sion. Sions E once again suffers from unintentional lane pushing when attempting to punish the enemy laner. Of course Sions E is ultimately a set up for his Q, though it is never guaranteed. This E Q combo is slow, awkward, and risky when compared to Jarvins instant (though not necessarily easy)E Q combo that can be more effectively combod with Jarvins ult than Sions combo with anything else. Jarvin and Gnar essentially do Sions job better, making him obsolete in the meta. This is not mentioning that maxing his E first takes up the first 8 levels of play (assuming you want an ult and his full range of spells) which makes him profoundly weak in those crucial mid-game teamfights where the rest of the game can be decided.Finally we come to Sions infamous ult, which is most often a source of comic relief rather than a game changing ability. Everyone has seen the Sion ult fail compilations and your own in game live fails before your eyes, and there is a reason there are so many. Sons ult is extremely unreliable, Its hugely telegraphed and countered by terrain, player created terrain (including an ALLIED AZIRS ULT!), champions with mobility, and players with common sense. if you are playing against a sion, you merely need to move behind a turret, or off to the side, or duck into one of the many available jungle openings. Those initially convinced Sions big damage ratios on his ult would make it devastating have been proven wrong. More often than anything, Sion players will ult point blank range to avoid wasted or embarrassing ultimates that make your team cringe and the enemy team laugh. Ulting point blank range of course has its own drawbacks, as you will likely hit them, but you will do severely reduced damage, and your cc will be very brief, allowing maybe for another half charged Q if they dont react quickly. Sion is reliant on his team to a degree where he can easily become a burden if not babysat by jungle and fed early, which can result in other lanes suffering. Sions ganking capabilities are impressive post-6, but rarely capitalized on for fear of losing precious farm or failing utterly and giving ones lane/jungle opponent the upperhand. Id rather see his ult change totally, but if it must stay, perhaps we can at least be granted the boon of being able to flash mid ult. Just like Gragas E, flash could be used to extend the utility and efficacy of this spell. I understand merely buffing Sion could create a highly toxic champion, but leaving him untouched until he is reworked again in a thousand years is unacceptable as well. As he has been doing, you will continue to see Sion slide down the most played ranking to the bottom with his old friends Yorrick and Urgot.Sions passive,(commonly confused for a hidden 2nd joke emote) is hit or miss, most often miss though. Ive had sion passives left alone to take towers,nexuses,(nexus/nexi?) and clean up team fights, but mostly i get, and see a giant screaming psycho struggling to chase his infinitely more mobile enemies until he dies to no effect. His single speed boost is hardly enough to catch up to the enemy, much less if they have a single cc spell among them. Hell, he can easily be burst down by a mage or ad regardless. I enjoy the idea of his going into some mad last stand mode tearing apart his enemies with his bare hands, but in practice we get this. ift.tt/1yTktJC you’d think this theme of unstoppable undead juggernaut would afford him some tenacity on his passive or elsewhere in his kit, but that of course is reserved for the unstoppable juggernaut of Ionian grace, Irelia. On this point, must I really say that 2 hit or miss (but most likely miss) passives on one champion doesnt make them as good as other champions?In conclusion we have Sion, a flashy, fun to play noob crusher. If you dont know what Sion does, or are just starting the game, Sion will be a nightmare for you, but if you like me, have aspirations of seeing him played seriously, or want to master him, good luck getting over the huge obstacle that is his very design. This is a champ where one must use his passive to take wolves or dragon just to feel even with his lane opponent by getting an often short lived level lead. As someone who plays Sion more often than any other champ, i find the feeling similar to playing a champ with no legs, or is always slowed, or some other frustrating permanent handicap. He is truly a walking counterplay magnet as it is hard to find a champ who doesnt stomp his ass into the dirt in at least one way. He seems once again like a messy kit focused on appeasing the old Sion loyalists (which shouldnt be appeased because old Sion sucked)and attracting low levels, all built around flashy and admittedly impressive aesthetics.With that said, I also take issue with Ritos increasing range bias, but I wont yammer on about that. I can however, link you to this forum post that goes into Riots balance issues at length, as well as many of the issues with Sion. ift.tt/1JJPX6c closing, this is merely my opinion, I am open to legitimate opinions and realize Sion may not get the changes I feel he needs, and may not get them in a timely manner. I understand Riot has a lot on their plate, but i know they arent beyond admitting mistakes or implementing changes when people react poorly to something.(see Cassiopeia rework and Shurima lore) So Im asking because I love Sion, and main him despite his MANY issues, give him some love.If anyone else cares to talk about any pros or cons to Sion in the comments, feel free.TLDR: Old Sion sucks, but so does the new one.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 00:54:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015