Arngor here, a player who peaked in Challenger every set and was even hovering around the top 10 mark this Set. I’ve had a lot of success running 6 Sorcerers along with Riven on the PBE server, so today we’ll be talking about that. I believe this is one of the strongest comps in the upcoming 10.12 patch.
Riven Sorcs is an incredibly strong comp, as it is not reliant on three-starring units and can even support multiple players contesting you. Since there are multiple carries and your Riven can use almost any item, this comp is quite flexible. Add to that the fact that you can pivot into a GP carry comp and you have a lot of diversity.
Despite all these positives, players unfamiliar with this comp might have a hard time surviving mid-to-late game.
Table Of Contents
Strengths
Easy transition from various strong early game comps
Flexible composition – You’re always able to pivot into Demo/Sorcs if you hit an early Gangplank
Incredible AoE damage potential – Riven and Viktor offer high burst AoE abilities which can annihilate enemy teams in no time
Item flexible – Riven can hold a large variety of items and even Recurve Bows have a use in this comp (Xerath)
Weaknesses
Mediocre frontline – The frontline of this comp consists of 2 units at best
Inconsistent late-game – To guarantee a good late game you’ll need a 2* Xerath with good items
Items
Carousel Priority
First Carousel
Rod
Sword
Tear
Vest
Belt, Glove, Bow
For future carousels, focus on Riven items until she has three good items so you have a healthy frontline, then look to itemize your other carries or pick up good all-around items like Zephyr and Chalice of Power.
There are typically two routes that you can take early-game in a Riven Sorcs comp.
1. Space Pirates/Sorcerer
Darius combined with GA/IS/DCap is an incredibly strong early carry who can easily hold your Riven/GP items. So, if you ever get the chance to pick him or Jayce up you should definitely do so.
Along with Darius being the carry, you want to pick up another Space Pirate as well as 2 Sorcerer who will a) increase Darius’ damage even more and b) be necessary for your final comp.
If you start with Luden’s Echo components feel free to slam it to ensure an early win streak.
2. Playing your strongest board
(make sure to put item components on the cybernetic units)
(replace Nautilus with Jayce once you find him)
An advanced strategy would be to always play your strongest board.
You want to play highly aggressive – i.e level up at Stage 2-2 and pre-level at Stage 2-3.
Possible boards could be anything from Cybernetics + Space pirates to Chrono Blademasters. You lose out on interest, but win Stage 2, which will pay out in form of win streak gold and a high amount of HP.
Aggressively leveling will keep your win streak alive and also make it possible to hit Riven/Viktor as early as Stage 2-5.
Mid Game (Stage 3 & 4)
If you’re on a win streak, consider leveling at 3-1 instead of 3-2 to keep it, otherwise, you should level to 6 at 3-2 and continue playing your strongest boards. You shouldn’t be rolling at this stage as your rolls at Level 7 and especially 8 are going to be much more valuable.
Here is an example of a board I would be playing in the early mid-game. It is strong enough to still streak in stages 3 and early 4 but also contains four units you will use in your final comp. At 3-7 you should scout around the lobby to see if you’re being contested. If you’re being contested by 2 or more players, you’ll want to go level 7 and roll at Stage 4-1. In case you’re somehow lose streaking you want to do the same.
You should always try to go 8 at Stage 4-3 with at least 30 gold. In the case that you won’t have enough gold left to roll after leveling to 8 – do not level but rather wait until Stage 4-6 or even 5-1.
While rolling down be on the lookout for Riven and GP. If you find a GP before you’re able to get your hands on a 2* Riven you will play him instead.
Late Game (Stage 5+)
Your comp will now look something like this:
or if you didn’t hit Riven 2* it should look something like this:
At this stage, you should be Level 8 with your Riven and Viktor both upgraded.
Level 9 is something you should definitely consider in order to 1) be able to put in an Urgot who is just an insanely strong champion in any comp and 2) to hit 2* Xerath more reliably.
If you decided to play the Gangplank variant you can stay level 8 and roll for his Mercenary upgrades as they have a 2% chance to appear in your shop on any level.
As I mentioned earlier, Xerath 2* is pretty important for your late game as Riven will fall off in the later stages of the game (unless you 3* her).
Just keep in mind that Gnar can be exchanged with any other unit, even a Gangplank as long as you have another Guardian’s Angel laying around.
Variants and Positioning
Standard (Level 8) with Riven
Standard (Level 8) with Gangplank
2 Battlecast with Urgot (Level 9)
Like I said Urgot will be a great unit to put in on level 9 as he is really strong without any items and will activate the Battlecast trait.
Positioning is pretty standard and there’s not much you can change, just make sure that your carries aren’t getting Zephyred or getting focused by an enemy Infiltrator. You can also move your Urgot around since he always ults the farthest enemy in his attack range.
Vs. Mech Infiltrators
Your goal here is to let your Tanks get focused by the Infiltrators and to spread out your carries to have threats on multiple sides of the board.
Riven
Riven
