Riot put a swift end to top lane Sona in League of Legends Patch 10.4, reducing her to a shadow of her former self. The nerfs were evidently a step too far, though.
In Patch 10.5, Riot is reverting Sona’s nerfs, and adding a restriction to her most powerful item, Spellthief’s Edge, to compensate for the changes.
Sona currently has a 47.73 percent win in platinum and above—the fourth lowest in the support position. Her initial buffs in Patch 10.2 targeted her Song of Celerity (E) ability, increasing its bonus movement speed by a significant amount. It was meant to give her a small boost in the bot lane, but instead of improving her capabilities as a support champion, she became a top lane menace and reached an unprecedented 57.34 percent win rate.
In the next patch, Sona’s E is set to be fully reverted, increasing its bonus movement speed from 10/11/12/13/14 percent back to 20 percent at all ranks.
To stop her from dominating again in the top lane, Riot is also adding a “must be near an ally” restriction to Spellthief’s Edge. This means she’ll be forced to play in the bot lane, or pick another item entirely.
This should solve her top lane power and let her be as strong as she should be for support, according to Riot.
As well as the changes to Sona, League‘s next patch is expected to bring buffs to Kai’Sa and nerfs to Ornn and Sett.
Patch 10.5 releases on March. 3.