Counter Guide

How to Beat Sion

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

You kill Sion, he gets back up, and the second Sion is the one that takes your tower.

Laning against him is a slog. He gains health from every minion he kills for the rest of the game, the shield he throws up is a share of that health, and when you finally do kill him he comes back to life and keeps swinging. Late on he charges across the map with his ultimate and nothing you cast will stop him. He's slow and obvious, though. His big stun takes a full second of charging before it becomes a stun, his charge can't turn quickly, and the champions who beat him are the ones who treat his health bar as a target. If you're thinking about banning him this patch, check our solo queue tier list.

Matchup Snapshot Sion, the Undead Juggernaut

Where You Meet HimTop lane

Damage TypePhysical and magic

Why He Is FrustratingEndless health, and he dies twice

MobilityAn unstoppable charge

Biggest ThreatDecimating Smash [Q]

Hardest CounterSinged

What a Counter Needs

Damage based on maximum health, which his stacking only feeds
Enough movement to be gone before the smash lands

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Sion on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Sion

Singed589 games56.4%
Gwen795 games54.5%
Ambessa534 games54.3%
Trundle597 games54.3%
Zaahen615 games54.0%

Picks Sion Beats

Heimerdinger429 games44.5%
Olaf435 games45.3%
Gangplank992 games45.9%
Malphite1,261 games46.6%

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the top lane against Sion. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 33,884 Sion games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Sion Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

His health doesn't stop climbing. Soul Furnace [W] adds permanent health for every kill (a little per minion, more for big monsters and champions), and its shield is a share of his maximum health.
Decimating Smash [Q] is a huge stun. Once he's charged it for a full second, it knocks up and stuns everyone in front of him, for up to 2.25 seconds at full charge.
He fights on after dying. Glory in Death [Passive] brings him back with full health that drains away, and his attacks hit harder and heal him while it lasts.
Unstoppable Onslaught [R] can't be stopped. He's immune to crowd control for the whole charge, which can run for up to eight seconds.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

The smash needs a second of charging to stun. Released any earlier, Decimating Smash [Q] only does damage, and you can watch the charge happen.
A stun during the charge cancels it. Interrupting Decimating Smash [Q] puts it on a short two-second cooldown, and he's standing still while he tries.
The charge turns slowly. Unstoppable Onslaught [R] steers badly, and running into a wall stuns him for half a second.
His second life doesn't heal. While Glory in Death [Passive] is ticking, healing and health regeneration do nothing for him (life steal is the exception).

Countering Sion

One of these will do:

Punish the health. Every point of health he stacks makes damage based on maximum health hit harder.
Stay mobile. Decimating Smash [Q] only pays off if he catches someone who isn't moving.
Walk away from the second life. Once he's dead and reanimated, back off and let the health drain do its work.

Already against him without a counter?

Playing Into Sion Without a Counter

When his axe starts glowing, step sideways. Decimating Smash [Q] grows in range while he charges it (up to 850 units), so backing straight up often isn't enough.

Don't chase a reanimated Sion. He's got full health that falls every tick, and he wants you to stay and trade. Walk out of range and let it run down.

Fight near walls while his ultimate is up. If Unstoppable Onslaught [R] ends by crashing into terrain, the slam doesn't stun or knock up anyone (and Sion's stunned for half a second).

Best Sion Counters

Each of these works for a different reason, and we'd start with whichever you already know.

Singed Won't Stand Still

Sion wants you in one place for a full second. Singed never is. Noxious Slipstream [Passive] speeds him up every time he runs past a champion, and Poison Trail [Q] punishes Sion for following.

Fling [E] throws Sion 550 units over Singed's head and deals a percentage of his maximum health, so the extra health from Soul Furnace [W] makes it hurt more. Mega Adhesive [W] grounds anyone standing in it, and a Fling [E] that drops Sion there roots him too. Insanity Potion [R] adds Grievous Wounds to the poison trail, which matters once he's got life steal while he's reanimated.

Gwen Cuts Through the Health

A Thousand Cuts [Passive] adds a percentage of the target's maximum health as magic damage to her attacks and to Snip Snip! [Q], and the center of each snip is half true damage. The more health Sion stacks, the more every cut takes. Her passive also heals her when it hits champions, so she can stay in a long trade he'd normally win.

Hallowed Mist [W] gives her armor and magic resist and makes her untargetable to anyone outside it (a recast drags the mist to wherever she's moved).

Trundle Steals the Tankiness

Subjugate [R] was made for this matchup. It drains 20 to 30% of the target's maximum health, heals Trundle for all of it, and takes 40% of their armor and magic resist for himself. On a tank with Sion's health, that's a very big number going from him to Trundle.

Pillar of Ice [E] is terrain, and Unstoppable Onslaught [R] can't charge through it (he'd have to leap over it). Chomp [Q] also lowers his attack damage every time it lands.

Itemizing Against Sion

Plated Steelcaps take 10% off his attacks, which do most of his damage in his second life. The other three are for getting through him. Black Cleaver shreds his armor (6% per stack, five stacks), Blade of The Ruined King takes a slice of his current health with each attack, and Liandry's Torment burns 2% of his maximum health per second on a mage.