My name is Sylvan Lore and I have been playing league of legends since pre-season 6.

https://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=sylvanlore

https://www.twitch.tv/sylvan_lore

I've always leaned towards mages as my preferred play style, and my main champion is Orianna. I have just over 400 000 mastery points on Orianna and I am currently Diamond in season 10. Throughout my climb, I used many of the guides on this website and I feel like it's time to give back with the most in depth guide to Orianna I can create. Feel free to come to the stream if you want to watch any Orianna games or ask questions! I stream random evenings and weekends.

Pros:
-Always Meta (especially at worlds)
-High Damage
-Lane Dominant
-Ability to Solo Carry
-Can Peel/Shield Fed Allies
-Ult Can Win Any Teamfight
-Lots of Outplay Potential

Cons:
-Very Susceptible to Ganks (No Escapes and Low CC)
-Quite Squishy
-Very Mana Dependent
-Long CD on only CC
-Tough Learning Curve to Manage Character and Ball Mechanics

For the time being, phase rush still appears to be the strongest keystone choice for Orianna. The mobility this gives you can be vital in teamfights and is very useful when combined with teleport for affecting other lanes. I will still take Summon Aery into specific match-ups that I want to try to bully, but it is really situational. I would say either keystone is fine so play what you are comfortable with.


Mana Flow Band is definitely core on Orianna. This item increases max mana when you trade and then eventually just returns mana when it's off CD. You can feel the increases from this in the mid-game, but it really shines in late game fights when your blue buff wears off!


Although you never really need to use the overcapping cdr bonus that this rune offers, the increase 10% at level 10 is really strong. Not only does it increase the amount of abilities and damage you can output, but it allows you to build greedier damage items that lack the cdr you would need normally.


Since Orianna is quite a lane bully, I like this rune a lot in gaining early leads. Gathering Storm is strong in certain situations where you fear losing early and being outscaled, but I always like to stick to Scorch for that little bit of extra damage every time I poke my opponent.

For Inspiration Secondary:

Along with Scorch for a strong lane phase, I like to take biscuit delivery to allow me to trade aggressively and expand advantages from early lane bullying.


This rune works well on Orianna of course because she scales very well with CDR. This isn't a whole lot better than the Zhonya rune or free boots so it is really up to you for which one of these will make the most sense depending on team comps and matchup.

I feel like this goes without saying, but flash is very core on Orianna. As an immobile mage, this will likely be your only escape from bad situations. If you have an option to flash for a kill, really consider just saving it, because in many cases it is much more useful defensively than offensively on Orianna.


Teleport is in a very strong state for midlane right now and as such Orianna is quite strong with it. Combined with phase rush, this will give you much better map pressure, lane pressure and side wave control depending on how well you can use it. I will take this into any matchup that I feel like I can survive without a combat or defense summoner.


Barrier gives a strong chunk of effective hp to save you from early ganks as well as late game death. It is very strong into situations where you think they will take ignite because it is not affected like heal is. Since Orianna does sufficient damage with just items, a defensive summoner is the perfect thing to close out your build.


This is the main secondary I take instead of barrier. It is perfect to shutdown matchups where a crucial stun is going to cost your life. Take this into champions like Veigar, Lissandra, Annie and Twisted Fate that can only effectively land their damage if you are stunned. I also consider this is situations where their jungler and mid have good synergy and a potential to layer CC. This would be relevant into something like Ryze/Elise or Ahri/Sejuani. This case is much more situational, but still an option.


Heal is also an option if you are uncomfortable with barrier. It can be effective if you need speed to escape situations or need to heal your jungler in order to turn a 2v2 fight mid. This has slightly better team play that barrier, but overall I find it weaker. It is also especially weak after the recent buffs to ignite and nerfs to its cooldown.


Exhaust can be good into specific assassin matchups, but i usually find it quite underwhelming. I take this into champions like Yasuo and Talon that have clear times they can be exhausted. Zed is also a good pick, but in lots of cases he can get most of his damage off before you are in range to exhaust him. I would NOT recommend taking this into Fizz. If he lands his Ultimate on your and uses his invincible E "hop" towards you, you will be unable to exhaust him until after all of his burst has landed.


Ignite is not a great summoner on Orianna because apart from landing phase you don't really want to be in ignite range. However I do take this into very specific matchups. You can take this into Swain and Vlad if your team has no other ignite in order to hinder their healing. But since Morellonomicon is core, even hear i will often take a defensive summoner instead. I also take this into Kassadin since Orianna has such an oppressive lining phase over him and can usually secure a substantial lead and/or kill with it.


This item used to be amazing on Orianna by allowing you to maneuver effectively in teamfights, avoid ganks, and roam more effectively. However, with the nerfs to this in regards to the acceleration, it is no longer strong. Most of the effectiveness of ghost is in the first few seconds which is now much weaker. I would not recommend taking this on Orianna at all anymore.

Your passive gives your auto attacks increase damage based on your AP. It also does increased bonus damage for each consecutive auto attack on the same target. This makes getting CS much easier than for most mages. It also means that you still do decent damage when your spells are on CD. You can even abuse this by starting with E in certain matchups and just auto attacking them.


Your Q commands the ball from its current position to a target position doing damage to anything it hits as it travels and anything it hits at its final location. It does less damage for each target it has gone through so ideally you want to poke champions without hitting minions first for the most damage. This is the primary way you zone champions and set up for your Ult. It is on a very low cooldown and it has cheap mana cost so don't worry about using it for CS or poke constantly.


Your W is a unique ability that creates a small zone around your ball. It does high damage (higher than your Q) and creates a zone that slow enemies and speed up allies. If you are chasing someone, this will slow them down and speed you up allowing you to get at least a bit more damage in. In most cases, you will poke in lane by using a Q->W combo where your press W as your ball is moving to the target Q location. On arriving the W will automatically go off doing both the Q and W damage to the target. Late game, this can be enough to do 70% of a adc's hp alone.


Your E sends your ball to an allied champion (yourself included) and shields for a moderate amount of damage. The ball moves very quickly (faster than Q) and does a small amount of damage, Combined with the Aery rune, this will actually become a large shield. If you have a strong adcs, you can E->W them to give them a shield and speed them up. You can also E->W a tank to speed them up and help them catch up to someone in the cleanup of a lategame teamfight.


Your R is the most important part of your kit. A moderately sized shockwave charges around your ball and then detonates pulling in all targets in the zone and damaging them all highly. It stun them as well. If you land an Ult on all 5 members of the enemy team, the fight is usually over. But in most cases, your ultimate is best used to kill or stun the highest priority target on their team. R followed by a Q->W on the spot is usually enough to 1 shot any non tank champion. In dire situations, you can also use your R to stun a jungler that is trying to gank you or peel your fed adc.

There really isn't much to this. The only time I would ever deviate from this is in matchups where I start E level 1. But after that I still go back to maxing them in the same order as shown below.

Luden's Tempest

Based on my experience, I believe the superior mythic item on Orianna is Luden's Tempest. The close second would be Liandry's Anguish, but the fact that they have identical ability haste means that luden's is better for burst damage, movement speed and just all around damage output.

Seraph's Embrace

The current state of Seraph's embrace allowing for the early grab of a tear and late game power is a must for Orianna builds. Finishing this item as your second main is not mandatory but if you can afford it for mid-game, it adds great strength and a heavy mana advantage for mid-game skirmishing.

Morellonomicon

I find it rare in recent games that there is not extreme sustain or healing in most enemy team comps. For this reason I will usually grab Morellonomicon if I am behind, even or slightly ahead. This item offers great power in a multitude of situations. However, if incredibly ahead, I would usually suggest skipping this item for a faster Deathcap.

Rabadon's Deathcap

Deathcap is incredibly strong with lots ap and scaling on your ap. With the current build path and price, it is difficult to justify as a second item purchase, but it still comes in at a strong 4th item after the first two and boots.

Void Staff

If you ever notice that your team is relying too heavily on AP damage or their team is itemizing towards it, Void Staff is a very cheap buy to negate their defenses.

Zhonya's Hourglass

This item is core against all AD champions with nice armor, survivability and cdr. It also works well against champions like Fizz and Syndra that depend on their ult damage. It is a good second or third item, but it really doesn't offer enough mana or mana regeneration to ever work well as a first item.

Banshee's Veil

This item has saved my life more than any. Strong in any situation where you are likely to get dove or picked by some sort of cc. Can block damage Ults like Fizz R as well as Blitzcrank and Thresh hooks. In almost any case where the enemy team has a dive Champion like Kled or Malphite that can inhibit your ability to output damage, you need this item.

Boots:

Sorcerer's Shoes are by far the strongest boots on Orianna with flat magic penetration at an early level. Pick these in any case where you dont need the other two desperately.

Mercury's Treads are an option for if you are against a burst mage that also has some sort of CC against you. Weaken damage a lot but keep you alive.

Ninja Tabi are an option I only resort to in the case of full ad team comps or when they have more than 3 auto attack based champions.

Other

Why not Liandry's Torment?

Liandry's anguish is by no means a bad item for Orianna. If their team has champions with a lot of health that you will struggle to burst (Mundo, Galio, ...) this item is super high value. At the end of the day, taking this as your mythic is not bad and it just comes down to preference and playstyle.

Why not Everfrost?

It is difficult to even begin with Everfrost since it is so inferior to the other two mythics. This item is super situational at best and I would not recommend trying it unless the teamcomps are perfect.

I believe in most cases the team that wins early just wins the game which is mainly why I play lane dominant champions such as Orianna. I usually do my best at level 1 to match whatever pushing style my opponent is using. I try to conserve mana by mainly using my passive empowered auto attacks to last hit. But when i see an opportunity I will send my Q through the wave and look for some basic poke damage.

The second I hit level 2, I will walk up and land a Q->W combo with refunded mana. After that I will still have nearly full mana and do my best through the next 4 levels to harass while maintaining a cs lead. If your jungler comes, you can use their body to land a E->Q->W quickly on their location and burst out the enemy. If you're still in lane at level 6, you may also attempt an ultimate kill before my first back to at least blow summoners. I always make sure to push my lane out quickly before basing or roaming.

I usually have my first back around levels 5 to 7 and either go with the Tear or Lost Chapter buy depending on how comfortable I am feeling in the matchup. I will go Tear if I'm confident I can live (avoid being solo killed), and I will go Lost Chapter if I feel I need the damage to deter their all-in or gain a lead.

In the mid game, I will usually look to at least match the roams of the enemy midlaners. Orianna isn't the best at 1v1s so she isn't very safe when roaming, but a well played roam bot with proper lane management can be game ending in the current meta. You want to be grouped with champions very often so any plays for mid turret or dragon are perfect places for you to start farming kills and assists and getting strong.

In the late game you are one of the most important champions on the map. Make sure you play far behind your frontline if possible. Getting caught in any way after 30 minutes in the game as Orianna can quickly end the game. You can engage if the enemy team allows you to land a good Ult, but in most cases you are best in following up on others engage. As they dive in to create the chaos, you can sneak your ball in and land a devastating Ult on distracted carries. I will often try to remove their ADC from the fight or peel my ADC if they are our team's win condition. Be careful not to waste Ult as the pressure it exerts by just being off cooldown should not be underestimated. In some unique cases, just burst an out go position support can be all your team needs to win a fight 4v5 or force a Baron play. If used effectively, you can always carry the late game as Orianna.

Using Command: Protect instead of Command: Attack

You should use your E to recall the ball if it is ever far away. Although you can technically Q from one side of your range to the other, it will move much slower and the target will likely move before it gets there. A much more efficient way to do this would be to E the ball to your location and then Q it forward to its destination. This seems small but it can be the difference in a lot of close plays that are time sensitive.

Self Ulting

It is often a waste of a flash since you were already in range to place the ball and Ult, but it can be effective as a guaranteed stun in certain situations. You press your Ult and wait for it to do the initial charge, then at the last second possible, flash towards an enemy and instantly stun the area. This can be effective if you have zhonyas and need to dive a twitch that just came out of stealth, but it's very very situational. Most of the time when I see it done, its a waste of a flash.

Zoning

In tight areas around baron and dragon pit, you can zone the enemy team by placing your ball in a tight area and not allowing any of their team to walk over the ball without a threat of being Ulted. This is even more useful if you can place your ball between their front and back line to zone their back line from doing damage. This will in most cases allow your damage to melt the tanks and turn the fight.

Using Dive Champions

Some champions pair very well with Orianna because they can either get in deep or CC a bunch of nearby enemies. Sion, Akali, and Rengar are perfect examples of these kind of dive champions. Simply E your ball to them quickly and instantly Ult to CC the enemies again and chain your damage. This can also be good if you E an invisible champion as the enemy team will not be able to react fast enough when you Ult on them.

Hiding the Ball

Since your Ult is such a high impact ability, lots of the time the enemy team will avoid it and make it nearly impossible to land a good Ult. In fights in the jungle, it is possible to hide the ball completely in walls. Even more common of a situation is that you can hide the ball in the stubs left behind after a turret has been destroyed. You can then Ult enemies if they walk by the area for a free stun. You can also make a quick Q->R from its hidden position to land on more targets in a way that is still usually too fast to react to.

Using Command: Dissonance on Minion Waves

In tight situations where your team is rushing to break open the enemy base or make it to the next turret before the other team can rotate this can be crucial. Not only can your W speed up allied champions and slow enemy champions, but it can increase the speed of allied minions. Base races are won or lost in seconds so the sooner you can get your minions to their nexus turrets, the better your odds of winning!

Using Travel Time to Surprise the Enemy

In rare situations your ball will be max rangein the complete opposite direction of the enemy. For you to Q all the way across will take roughly 2 seconds. If you command attack the enemy and walk away from them, the command will continue even though it far exceeds your actual Q range. This acts as a fade-away of sorts that can be used to catch people off-guard for a late-game one shot or small poke.

Supporting a Carry over Damage

Orianna is a great champion for supporting and or peeling a fed carry. Although I would not recommend changing you build at all, in certain cases, it is more useful to shield and speed up your carry than use your spells on their tank. The more you play Orianna, the better you will get at understanding what your optimal actions should be in a teamfight. You should always consider things like how much gold you have, who their threats are and most importantly what the win condition of your team is. In many cases it will be a game changing 5 man ultimate, but there are situations where even landing those won't matter if you don't peel your hypercarry from their assassin.

Using W to Shield Allies

There always comes a situation where an ally is about to die or burnout from an ignite and your E is on cooldown. It is important to remember that the speed boost from your W can proc Aery on your ally and give them a reasonable shield. It seems super situational but I encounter situations where this is useful quite often!

I believe Orianna is a great champion to play regardless of what level you are at. She has the complexity to always feel like you can improve and the simplicity to make her easy to learn. There are few feelings that will get as much hype from your team as landing a perfect 5 man Ult. This champion always persists to be Meta and is a great choice into and alongside nearly every team composition. I also think she is good in every ELO which makes her a great champion to begin and climb with.

Special thanks to Chadosan for help in making and editing the guide!

Thank you for reading my guide! Let me know if i missed anything and leave a comment or a like!