Zilean vs Sona Counter Pick

Sona is the frailer champion at 550 health and 2,097 at level 18, below Zilean’s 574 and 2,206, and she still wins the pairing. Zilean takes 46.0% of 617 games on patch 16.13.1, a large sample with a Hard computed rating, which makes the result hard to wave away.

• Sustain decides the poke war. Aria of Perseverance heals Sona and a wounded ally on rotation, so chip damage from Time Bomb is repaired between casts instead of accumulating.
• Power Chord grants permanent ability haste as she uses her abilities well, which gradually outpaces the cooldown reduction Rewind produces.
• Song of Celerity distributes move speed to nearby allies, cancelling much of the tempo advantage Time Warp is supposed to create.

Attack range is level at 550, magic resistance starts at 30 on each side and both bars run on mana, so itemisation offers no lever at all. Zilean is quicker on foot at 335 against 325 and holds the better armour curve, 109 to 97.4 by level 18. His decisive tool remains Chronoshift, which answers Crescendo only when the revive is already placed before the stun lands. Complexity ratings of 6 for Zilean and 4 for Sona push the practical burden further onto him. Hymn of Valor compounds it, since its two bolts prioritise champions and hand her trade damage that costs nothing in positioning.