As one of the very first champions to have walked Summoner's Rift, Sivir has helped to shape the game's identity. In Season 5, Sivir was a staple pick in the bottom lane. The advent of a Cinderhulk/Juggernaut meta helped Sivir rise above AD Carries and be the driving force in solo queue and competitive play. Her strength and power translated into the pro scene, having an 87% pick or ban rate in the 2015 North American LCS Summer Split and often being prioritized over the likes of Gragas, Azir, and Rumble in the pick and ban phase. Because the amount of utility an AD Carry can provide to their team is a valued characteristic in Season 7's meta, Sivir has been slowly been making a comeback. Nerfs to Lethality and buffs to Fervor of Battle have opened the doors for more crit-based AD Carries like Sivir to shine in the bot lane. In this article, we'll explore Sivir so that you too can be victorious.

Pros:

Not challenging to play

Great teamfighter

Universally understood ultimate

Amazing minion wave clear

Cons:

Low auto attack range

Extremely item reliant

Lacks escape

Summoner Spells

Flash:

Because Sivir doesn't have an ability that lets her easily remove herself from dangerous situations, Flash is necessary. Flash can also serve as a gap closer and help her secure kills or to reposition in teamfights.

Heal:

For a fight to be won successfully, the AD Carry must survive. Heal will allow this to happen by giving you huge boost to your hit points and bonus movement speed which helps them reposition.

Runes

This is the standard AD Carry rune page. This is what is what this page is composed of:

x9 Greater Mark of Attack Damage

x9 Greater Seal of Armor

x9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resistance

x9 Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed

Masteries

Ferocity:

Tier 1- Fury will increase the number of auto attacks you can dish out.

Tier 2- Feast makes your laning phase much safer. Taking bad trades won't be as much of a problem since you will be able to regain some of your health from just farming.

Tier 3- Sivir's build path doesn't typically build any lifesteal items until later on in the game. The extra lifesteal gained from Vampirism will help to make up for this lifesteal deficit and help to keep you alive in teamfights.

Tier 4- Battle Trance is especially useful when playing Sivir. This is because she is an auto attack based champion. The 3% damage increase makes your auto attacks more impactful and Ricochet deadly.

Cunning:

Tier 1- Savagery allows you to farm more efficiently and have Ricochet be more effective when pushing the lane.

Tier 2- Secret Stash's Biscuits will restore more health than Health Potions and regenerates mana also. This mastery makes your laning phase safer and will help you make it to the mid game.

Tier 3- Merciless in conjunction with Battle Trance will make your damage in teamfights even more fatal.

Tier 4- Dangerous Game can make the difference between surviving an enemy's burst or give you the time needed to reposition in order to survive and consistently auto attack the enemy team.

Keystone Mastery:

Warlord's Bloodlust:

Take Warlord's Bloodlust when you know that your laning phase will be difficult. Sivir is item-reliant and doesn't do that much damage in the early stages of the game. Feast and Warlord's Bloodlust will help you survive the laning phase and get you into the mid game. Crit-based AD Carries like Caitlyn, Tristana, and Sivir don't opt to purchase any lifesteal items until later on in their itemization. This keystone mastery combined with Vampirism will help to make up for the lack of lifesteal in your build.

Fervor of Battle:

Fervor of Battle is extremely useful when you're making trades in lane or fighting in mid game skirmishes. Because Sivir's main source of damage is her auto attacks and Ricochet, you'll be able to easily stack Fervor. The bonus physical damage will make her auto attacks more powerful and Ricochet even stronger.

Abilities and Skill Order

Passive: Fleet of Foot

Sivir gains a short burst of movement speed when she attacks an enemy champion.

The absence of an escape ability from Sivir's kit leaves her prone to being focused by her opponents. Fleet of Foot makes kiting your enemies a breeze. Kiting can be done manually or using the attack-move feature. To attack move, hold the shift key while right clicking. This will attack the closest enemy target. Attack move will prevent you from misclicking near your enemy and accidentally running toward them. You'll proc Fleet of Foot also if you hit enemy champions with any of your abilities. This makes Fleet of Foot especially useful for repositioning in teamfights since your Ricochet bounces are bound to be hitting your enemies.

Q: Boomerang Blade

Sivir hurls her crossblade like a boomerang, dealing damage each way.

Use Boomerang Blade to harass your enemies and deal additional damage to your enemies. At early levels, Boomerang Blade will significantly drain your mana pool. If you want to shove your enemies in with Ricochet, you cannot use this ability subsequently. As the game progresses, you'll be able to use Boomerang Blade in conjunction with Ricochet to clear waves and push the lane. In teamfights, save Boomerang Blade for when the enemy has been hit with crowd control so that you're guaranteed to hit both strikes. Max Boomerang Blade first.

W: Ricochet

Sivir's next few basic attacks will bounce to nearby targets, dealing reduced damage to secondary targets.

This is the bread and butter of Sivir's kit. Ricochet will deal a surprising amount of damage in the mid and late game. This is because Ricochet's bounces will critically strike if one of them crit. With your core items, this won't be difficult to achieve. In addition, the cooldown reduction gained from Essence Reaver will let you use Ricochet more often and dish out more damage. Ricochet also serves as an auto attack reset. If timed correctly, it will cancel Sivir's auto attack animation so you'll be able to use two auto attacks consecutively. Take Ricochet as your first ability at level one. Use Ricochet once per minion wave during the laning phase. Make sure to max Ricochet after Boomerang Blade.

E: Spell Shield

Creates a magical barrier that blocks a single enemy ability cast on Sivir. She receives Mana back if a spell is blocked.

Spell Shield, like Fleet of Foot, also helps to make up for Sivir's lack of reliable escape. Since Spell Shield's duration is so short, it must be used reactively. During the Laning Phase, use Spell Shield to negate enemy engage and crowd control like Thresh's Death Sentence or Morgana's Dark Binding. Spell Shield can also be used as a way to increase your mana if you don't really have to worry about being locked down or ganked. Abilities like Caitlyn's Yordle Snap Traps can easily proc Spell Shield without getting too close to the opposing laners. Max Spell Shield last.

R: On The Hunt

Sivir leads her allies in battle, granting them a surge Movement Speed for a period of time. Additionally, it passively grants Sivir bonus Attack Speed while Ricochet is active.

On The Hunt is what gives Sivir's teammates the utility they need to succeed in teamfights. Its universally understood by summoners of all rankings that when Sivir uses her ultimate, it's time to do something. This is part of the reason that Sivir is so powerful in Bronze and Silver. On The Hunt has great synergy with teams that have a lot of hard engage. The movement speed boost will help your team get in the proper position to start a teamfight. Sivir's ultimate can also be used as a disengage tool. This is especially useful when you're against champions that can run through your team and kill you like Master Yi or Olaf. Skill On The Hunt whenever possible.

Items

Starting Items:

Long Sword & 3 Potions: Doran's Blade is actually worse starting item because Long Sword will shorten the time needed to purchase Essence Reaver. Three Total Biscuits of Rejuvenation will help sustain your health and mana pools throughout the laning phase.

Core Items:

Essence Reaver: This is a fantastic item when purchased by Sivir. Essence Reaver's passive will give you additional cooldown reduction as you gain more critical strike from other items. Since Sivir's itemization is mostly composed of items that provide increased critical strike chance, you'll acquire a vast amount of cooldown reduction. The increased amount of cooldown reduction will let you use Ricochet more often and dish out more damage. Critical Strike also returns 3% of your maximum mana pool which will alleviate the mana issues that you faced in the early game.

Phantom Dancer: This item will significantly increase your mobility. One of Phantom Dancer's passives, Spectral Waltz will enable you to pass through minions and move 7% faster when enemy champions are nearby. Lament makes building Phantom Dancer on Sivir safer since she'll be taking less damage from an enemy and get more auto attacks off on them.

Infinity Edge: The Infinity Edge purchase is one of Sivir's huge power spikes. The critical strike amplifier will magnify your damage output and crit more often. Your Ricochet bounces will be something to be feared and you'll never run out of mana since some of it is returned as a result of Essence Reaver's passive. These powerful and successive critical strikes can single handedly win you teamfights.

Berserker Greaves: This is most beneficial boot choice for Sivir. Auto attacks are one of Sivir's main sources of damage. Sivir also needs to auto attack in order to use Ricochet, lifesteal, and stack Fervor of Battle. The movement speed gained from Berserker Greaves will also help Sivir avoid ganks and reposition during fights. Purchase Boots of Speed after you have bought B.F. Sword.

Situational items:

Lord Dominik's Regards: Purchase Lord Dominik's Regards if the enemy team has champions that are starting to build armor. Always purchase Last Whisper first since it'll provide you with the armor penetration that you need to whittle down their health. You should complete Lord Dominik's Regards by the time your enemies have stacked armor.

The Bloodthirster: The Bloodthirster is one of the most common lifesteal choices for AD Carries. This item will give you a shield. Since the shield's bonus health is based upon your current champion level, you'll gain a significant amount of extra health. The Bloothirster will help you survive in mid and late game teamfights. Purchase The Bloodthirster after Lord Dominik's Regard or in its place if the enemy team is not tanky.

Rapid Firecannon: Buy Rapid Firecannon after the Bloodthirster if you haven't built Lord Dominik's Regards. Sivir players purchase this item instead of Statikk Shiv because the Static Charge passive will kill minions that Ricochet needs to bounce off of. Rapid Firecannon's Energize passive will still give you the damage bonus while giving you extra range. The critical strike chance that Rapid Firecannon has to offer will also make your Ricochet stronger.

Early Game

The reason for taking Ricochet level one is to push the first minion wave as fast as possible. This is done in order to be the first in the lane to hit level two. The level two advantage in the laning phase is huge. Make sure that you communicate with your support that you intend to make something happen or else you'll waste this edge. If you're in a hard lane, take Spell Shield at level two to avoid being hit with your enemy's abilities and potentially dying. Most of the time, Sivir should be looking to shove in the minion wave so that your minions are underneath their tower. Generally, players in Bronze and Silver elos aren't very good at farming under tower. This is also done because Sivir's damage comes from the items that she purchases. You will begin to notice a large CS discrepancy as the laning phase progresses. When your wave is under the enemy tower, you'll be able to harass them with Boomerang Blades because they must also focus on farming minions.

Mid Game

At this point in the game you should have your core items. Your objective in this stage is to group with your team and fight. teamfights are where Sivir shines the most because of her massive area of effect damage and movement speed aura from On the Hunt. Watch the small skirmishes that your teammates take part in. If it turns into a larger encounter, enter the fight. When you're fighting, always be on the lookout for potential threats. Spell Shield should be used to avoid and negate any crowd control or high damage abilities that may come your way. Outside of teamfights you should be looking to get as much guaranteed gold as possible. Keep in mind any objectives that may be up or about to respawn before you do this. Ward surrounding brushes and any probable paths the enemy team might take to collapse on you while you're farming.

Late Game

Champions on the enemy team have had time to farm up plenty of gold and increase their KDA. They are enormous threats since you have such a low attack range. Do your best to safely shove minion waves. Stick with your team when you're venturing out to avoid being picked off or being forced to burn your ultimate to escape. teamfighting without your ultimate in the late game puts your team at a huge disadvantage. Sieging towers is fairly simple since you can clear enemy minion waves easily with Ricochet. This lets the allied minion wave crash into their tower and gives your team opportunities to poke the enemy and whittle down their tower.

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