The world was introduced to Seraphine, The Starry-Eyed Songstress a long time ago when Riot Games started to build up her faux-online presence on social media. However, she finally came to League of Legends in October 2020, right before the World Championship final. This means the professional players have had plenty of time to get to grips with the new champion in the offseason, and as a result, we’ve already seen her a fair few times. We asked the players of Vodafone Giants, who play in the LVP Superliga, to give us some tips on how to incorporate Seraphine effectively into your own games. They could even be of some use to the participants in the upcoming RedBull Solo Q competition too.
“I think Seraphine is a good champion right now,” says Giants support Kamil ‘Kamilius’ Košťál, who highlights her versatility as one of her main strengths. “You can probably even triple-flex it, and play it either in the midlane, the botlane, or as support.”
His team-mate, midlaner Ronaldo ‘Ronaldo’ Betea, agrees. “Right now, Seraphine is a pretty good control mage with really good wave clear, but you need to create a team composition around her.”
So, what kind of champions go well with Seraphine? Since there are a variety of ways she can be played, there are also different comps you can consider.
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“Olaf, Udyr, Hecarim, or basically any champions that want to go in,” says Kamilius. Seraphine has the ability to buff her allies’ move speed, so works great with champions that need to get up close and personal. Often these are the kinds of champions that can be kited around by tricky carries, or stopped in their tracks using crowd control. However, Seraphine can give them the edge they need to get into the fight quickly.
Alternatively, you can also use Seraphine’s tool kit to keep enemies at bay if you don’t want to fight them head on. “You can pick her against comps that don’t have much engage,” adds Kamilius. “You just peel and poke and they can’t do much.”
Getting a handle on a champion’s abilities is essential for playing them well, but Seraphine in particular has a number of different interactions based on which order you use them in. Both Kamilius and Ronaldo agree that you should max out her Q first.
High Note is a damaging ability over a decent sized area that deals extra damage based on the target’s missing health percentage. Her W, Surround Sound, gives her allies a boost to their speed and a shield, or a heal if Seraphine is already shielded. Her E, Beat Drop, deals damage in a line while also slowing enemies it hits. Enemies that are already slowed are rooted, and enemies that are already rooted are stunned. Her R, Encore, projects a large wave that deals damage and charms enemies. Any allies that are caught in it extend the range.
But it’s Seraphine’s passive, Stage Presence, that provides the most interesting interactions. Every third ability she casts will automatically cast a second time, creating a range of options depending on the situation. “Use Q third if you need damage,” says Kamilius. “W if you need a shield and speed, or E if you need to root someone. Important combos are just situation based, you need to be smart when using your passive. You can also find some fancy ultimates if your team-mates stand in front of you so it’s longer.”
As for items, you have some different options too. If you’re going for a more support role, Kamilius says you go for Moonstone, Staff of Flowing Water, and Ardent Censer to maximise your shields and give you great mana regeneration so you can keep casting abilities over a long period of time. However, you can get more aggressive with it. “In competitive play you go for Moonstone,” says Ronaldo. “But in solo queue you can go full AP if you want as well.”
During the laning phase, as a support, Kamilius says “if you have a good matchup you can play the champion on the limits. Just remember to place a ward and be conscious of enemy jungler pathing.” On the other hand, as support, Ronaldo says you should play it a bit safer:
“You should not play very aggressive in laning at all,” he says. “All you want to do is push waves and chill. You can’t really pressure the enemy mid, and if you die it’s very bad for you.”
In teamfights, Ronaldo says: “Usually you want to play slow with Seraphine. You have heals and crowd control, and if you can wait for the right timing to use those you can win the fight alone.”
Seraphine’s power level has definitely been reduced since her launch, with a couple of nerfs coming in to balance her out. However, the pros agree that she is still a strong champion with a lot of benefits and very few downsides when played in the right team composition.
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