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The 2019 Sona-Taric meta had created one of the most oppressive bot lane duos in the history of competitive League of Legends. But ever since their nerfs and Riot's itemization overhaul in season 11, Sona has seen less and less playtime.
She is by far one of the weakest support options in the game, and with where the League of Legends meta is, the community feels that she brings nothing useful to the table.
Hence, Riot has been planning for the Sona “quality of life” upgrades for some time now. According to the devs, she will feel a lot more rewarding from now on.
Sona’s ultimate was one of the biggest points of criticism, as not many felt that it was as impactful in a meta that favored initiator supports like Alister, Leon, and Nautilus.
So in patch 11.16, the League of Legends devs will be making changes that give her “Crescendo” the much-needed boost to be more reliable in team fights.
RIot outlines some Sona changes for League of Legends patch 11.16
In their last quick gameplay thoughts on July 9, the League of Legends devs went over some of the major changes they plan for Sona for 11.16.
The blog mentions that,
“In place of high mana costs and a mana refund, we are replacing Sona's Ultimate cooldown passive with a stacking mechanic that rewards her for using Q and W in a way that matches the mindshare of those spells. A positive incentive rather than a negative one that doesn't punish her by preventing her from casting future spells will make for a generally more enjoyable experience.”
The update will help Sona possess a stacking ultimate, which will create an incentive for League of Legends players to use her abilities more often. Each stack that she attains will give her more ability haste for basic abilities (up to a cap), and the number of stacks she can generate will depend on how her abilities are used.
This will grant a bit more playmaking options, while the reward system will make her a bit more enjoyable to play.
Riot states that,
“Striking two different champions with Q will grant two stacks, and W can grant up to 5 stacks if it heals an ally and blocks damage on all four allies. This new passive rewards Sona for using Q and W well in a duo lane, rather than penalizing her as the mana refund did.”
“After Sona reaches the cap for Accelerando, subsequent stacks will instead refund a bit of R - Crescendo's cooldown. We chose ultimate cooldown refund as a reward here to encourage very exciting, aggressive Crescendo plays.”
The current League of Legends bot lane meta is filled with pro-active and aggressive support picks. Hence, by giving Sona a reward system for aggressive plays, she might be able to sneak her way back into the meta.
