Sivir: Just Run At ‘Em

Foreword: This is a short article purely analysing Sivir’s kit and why it’s so effective in current competitive League of Legends (as of 5.11).

It has become known by a variety of different names, but the classic composition built around Sivir has dominated the competitive scene since the Mid-Season Invitational. The fast, aggressive nature surrounding the strategies used with Sivir go hand in hand with the success they’ve seen, and the aforementioned marksman (or markswoman, if you prefer) is at the heart.

So, with her top tier status definitely cemented as of patch 5.11, why do so many analysts adore this pick?

What wave? I don’t see a wave.

Let’s start with the most basic mechanic that she offers to the team: endless wave clear. It doesn’t cost much mana, but Sivir has the ability to delete a wave with two spells (in some instances an entire wave can disappear in less than a second, courtesy of critical strikes).

The strategic advantages this offers cannot be understated.

• This allows constant wave clear, allowing a potentially slow scaling team to survive the onslaught of an aggressive early composition, stop sieges and relieve pressure.

• Objective pressure can be gained from the lane being constantly pushed. For instance, if the Sivir has the bottom wave pushed constantly it gives her team greater potential to rotate to dragon, or alternatively, rotate down and dive / take the bottom tower.

• The option to constantly push the lane in is advantageous to the Sivir, as being constantly under tower inevitably will result in loss of farm for the enemy marksman, however this exposes the Sivir to ganks where she may need to use her ultimate to escape, thus requiring good vision control.

• The fact that the champion is relatively simple to play in both a mechanical and strategic sense (let’s face it, she’s pretty forgiving) often results in a strong laning phase and high farm numbers. There is the potential of her being abused early, but Sivir is not an easy champion to gank, and the number of champions she struggles against in lane is limited in professional play. Conversely, despite being slightly weaker early, there have been several instances of Sivir scaling and winning lane by 10-15 CS purely based on the ability to clear the wave.

Just go at ‘em.

So, we’ve touched on her exceptional wave clear, ease of use and strong laning. What really makes her the strongest marksman currently in the game, however, is her utility — the ultimate, On The Hunt.

• Not just for aggression, Sivir can also fit into a poke composition relatively easily, thanks to her kiting ability and high damage on her Boomerang Blade.

• But she does aggression so well! Lately we have seen strong diving/pick champions focused on early and mid-game power spikes orientated around a Sivir flourish as the optimal composition to play competitive League of Legends. No other marksman offers the same kind of destructive element to a team, but it’s not just for diving and making picks. Whether a team is looking to reengage, kite or simply have more mobility, the usefulness of On The Hunt in team fighting is fantastic.

• A team with clearly defined win conditions can make good use of a Sivir, with her ultimate allowing for clever baits or aggressive objective control / rotations.

A bundle of good things… and gold.

Aside from these obvious traits, there are some others to mention. The passive, Fleet of Foot, acts as a natural Furor boot enchantment, which aids Sivir individually in skirmishes. In fact, she can survive a difficult lane (due to outside factors; perhaps there was a gank, etcetera) purely farming with the Boomerang Blade and utilising her mobility and Spell Shield for positioning.  

In addition, as Ricochet is an auto-attack reset in addition to being area of effect, it allows for fantastic short trades in lane. In fact, done properly and coupled with Spell Shield, there’s the possibility for Sivir to win lane based on trades alone. Not to mention with the mana return on the aforementioned ability, the Battle Mistress is very much self-sufficient in lane.

An afterthought of Ricochet: the synergy with the attack speed ‘steroid’ courtesy of On The Hunt is particularly strong in early skirmishes, and coupled with the potential to critically strike, can decimate a vulnerable opponent.

As it stands, this kit is one of the strongest in the game, and is very much first pick / ban worthy, along with Gragas, Ekko and Ryze.

But if you find yourself on the wrong end of her blade, don’t fret. After all, “it’s just business.”

Credit to Riot Games for the image.

Written by Mitchell “Zeju” Smith, if you liked this analytical review of Sivir’s kit in the competitive scene, you can follow him on twitter, @Zejura.

With thanks to Alexandre Weber for his input on the subject, you can find him on twitter, @AleWM9.