Riot Games opted to shake up the support champion pool in League of Legends in 2019 with the release of Senna, a character with connections to many aspects of League who had long been imprisoned in Thresh’s lantern. With the help of her husband Lucian, Senna made her way out of the lantern and onto the Rift, bringing with her a new playstyle the game had not seen before.
As a support marksman with the ability to heal her allies, Senna has rotated between the ADC and support roles and has almost always been a central part of these metas since her release. While she has been the recipient of numerous nerfs over the past three years, she nevertheless maintains a solid player base and increasing popularity thanks to what she can offer a team with few drawbacks.
Again Senna sits at the top of the support leaderboards almost completely uncontested, while her ADC counterpart remains a viable option with the right support duo. Though the Redeemer certainly has her counters in the bot lane, her ability to poke enemies and slowly power herself up by collecting souls makes her one of the best options for climbing in the support role.
Here is the best build for Senna in League.
Best runes for Senna
Precision
Keystone—Fleet Footwork: If Senna isn’t using her basic attack on enemy champions constantly, she isn’t doing her job right. Fleet Footwork rewards her for being oppressive and moving around with a burst of movement speed and a hefty heal, and should be procced very often while in lane.
Presence of Mind: One of the only drawbacks Senna faces is her large mana costs. While she is more basic attack-based than other champions in the support role, she still wants to be using her abilities when she can. This rune will provide her with some mana regeneration for damaging enemies, as well as give her some mana back for helping to take enemies down.
Legend: Alacrity: Senna has one of the lowest base attack speed stats out of all champions in League. This stat will increase steadily as the builds items, but taking this rune will give her the attack speed she needs to head into the mid and late games.
Coup de Grace/Cut Down: Both of these runes reward Senna with extra damage based on how much health the targeted enemies have. Against tankier team compositions, Cut Down should be prioritized. Should the opposing team have champions more susceptible to burst damage from your allies, Coup de Grace is a better choice to finish the job.
Inspiration
Biscuit Delivery: Like with Presence of Mind, Biscuit Delivery gives Senna another way to balance her mana usage. Using these will also slightly heal some of the damage Senna has taken.
Approach Velocity: Senna’s basic attacks innately slow allies impacted, normally allowing her to easily gain a soul stack for herself. Approach Velocity will help her stack her passive in this manner much easier due to the increased movement speed towards movement-impaired enemies.
Bonuses: +10-percent attack speed, +9 adaptive force, +6 armor/+8 magic resist
Best starting items for Senna
Spectral Sickle: There are not many AD-focused support champions currently available in League. Yet for those that do exist, Spectral Sickle acts as the AD version of Spellthief’s Edge. With this item, Senna is rewarded extra gold for attacking enemy champions and turrets, which is very easily done with her Q’s range. When completely filled, this item will transform at the fountain and give Senna ward charges that increased upon complete evolution.
Health Potions: Senna’s Q will heal her and any allies hit by hit, but not by much in the early stages of the game. Her enchanter-like state also leaves her wide-open to massive damage from enemy champions, making it important to have health potions on hand when players are able.
Stealth Ward: For a marksman champion, Senna’s mobility is surprisingly decent. Using her E, Senna can make herself and her allies untargetable from basic attacks and grants a boost to the movement speed of all allies inside the shroud. She can use this to head into the bot-side river and place a stealth ward in brush to keep track of the enemy jungler or get out of a sticky situation.
Best core items for Senna
Umbral Glaive: Recent buffs to Umbral Glaive have skyrocketed the pick rates of both Senna and Pyke. This item allows champions to discover and one-shot almost all types of wards, which is crucial for controlling vision as a support. It also provides the user an ample amount of lethality, giving Senna extra power in her already-strong basic attacks. This item should be prioritized before all others, including a Mythic item.
Eclipse: Senna’s Mythic item choices, like her runes, have varied immensely throughout the years. Eclipse is currently the go-to Mythic item for Senna thanks to its synergy with Umbral Glaive in providing her a large amount of lethality. The movement speed and shield it provides her when attacking foes also ensure that not only will they be unable to escape her, but she won’t be harmed too heavily in the process.
Rapid Firecannon: Senna’s attack range scales infinitely with her passive when collecting souls, but still may not be enough for players to fulfill their fantasies of sniping enemies from great distances. Rapid Firecannon works as a third completed item for Senna thanks to her already having built sufficient damage, providing her with more range and attack speed.
Boots of Swiftness: Like many other supports, Senna struggles against various types of crowd control that impede her ability to poke enemy champions. Building Boots of Swiftness provides her with a small boost to her innate movement speed, as well as reduces the effects of slows placed on her from abilities and spells.
Best late-game items for Senna
Mortal Reminder: Just as Senna can heal her allies, so can many of the support champions she’ll be facing in the bot lane. Building Executioner’s Calling then Mortal Reminder gives her not only a large boost to her damage but also access to Grievous Wounds, which will decrease the healing enemies affected receive for a short duration.
Redemption: While Senna has access to healing her allies with her Q and ultimate, the heal might not always be enough to save her allies from getting sent back to the fountain. Redemption gives her a semi-global heal in a large area that is especially helpful in teamfights where multiple allies will likely be fighting together.
