Hey everyone, welcome back to another TGH guide written by Trade. As mentioned in his last guide, Trade has managed to hit Challenger three days after set 6.5 came out playing Innovator AD Flex and 6 Hextech Sivir into capped legendaries. He is currently around rank 10 on the Challenger ladder. Here is his LoLChess and Twitch . In case you missed his Innovator AD Flex guide released 2 days ago, you can find it here .
6 Hextech Sivir is an extremely easy comp to pilot, and there are already a million guides on her so this guide will only briefly touch on it. However, although 6 Hextech Sivir is quite overpowered at the moment, she does not often win lobbies without hitting Sivir or Alistar 3. Hextech as a trait is EXTREMELY powerful in the early-mid game but usually falls off in the late game and seldom has the potential to win lobbies. This strategy abuses Hextech’s extremely powerful early-mid game to get to level 9 and transition into an extremely powerful Zeri or Viktor carry board in order to win lobbies.
A player should typically aim to play 6 Hextech Sivir when they are offered a Hextech opener. Hextech is an extremely powerful early-game trait that can often get the player to level 8 or even 9 with ease. Additionally, this comp uses many powerful early game slam items such as Statik Shiv, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Warmogs Armor, Sunfire, Frozen Heart, etc, so if a player is offered a powerful Hextech opener with good items, they should commit to 6 Hextech Sivir. However, the difficult part of this strategy is knowing how and when to pivot into a capped legendary Zeri/Viktor board. Typically, if the player is struggling to two-star units at level 8 and must donkey roll every turn for Sivir and Alistar 2, do not try to play Zeri and simply play for top 4. However, if a player finds themselves with a very stable 6 Hextech board at level 8 and can easily push level 9, then they should definitely aim to pivot into a capped legendary board in an attempt to win the lobby.
The Sivir board is extremely simple. It consists of 6 Hextech units plus Vi or Silco. Typically a player should aim to run Silco; however, it can often be hard to hit him given how contested he is.
This is the final board the Hextech player should aim for. Alistar can be kept in, and alongside him, Galio should be slotted in for Colossus. From there, Zeri is the main carry (with the Sivir items), so the rest of the board will facilitate her. Do not attempt to pivot into this board with Zeri 1 Galio 1 as this board is weaker without upgraded units. Only pivot into this board with enough econ at level 9; however, a successful pivot with fully upgraded units is basically a guaranteed first.
This is the second board the Hextech player can opt-in for if they were unable to hit Zeri. Viktor’s items aren’t as flexible as Zeri’s, but can still easily win lobbies with Sivir items such as Giant Slayer, Statik Shiv, Quicksilver, and Guinsoo’s Rageblade. Just be sure not to pivot into Viktor if Sivir had items like Infinity Edge and Last Whisper (carry Jayce instead).
There are many other five-cost carries that can hold both AD and AP items, but these are probably the two strongest iterations. A player should not tunnel on either of these boards and should instead, focus on building a board with the units they hit. At level 9, a player can Jayce, Kaisa, Jinx or even TK and Galio depending on their items and who they two-star.
Sivir’s ideal items are Quicksilver, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, and Statik Shiv, which just so happen to also be pretty close to best-in-slot Zeri. Sivir can also use Giant Slayer very well; Deathblade, Last Whisper, Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster are also fine but are not preferred. What makes Zeri so good is that no matter what a player’s Sivir items were, they would work absolutely fine on Zeri. Infinity Edge, Last Whisper, Deathblade? Great! Edge of Night, Rageblade, Hand of Justice? Fantastic! Essentially, Zeri will work with any offensive and defensive item in the game. She definitely prefers items that buff hybrid damage (Giant Slayer, Jewelled Gauntlet, Hand of Justice, Titan’s Resolve) but a 2* Zeri will literally pop off with any items she is given as long as she has an amazing supporting board.
Viktor on the other hand has more restricting itemization options. Obviously, Viktor can not hold AD items such as Deathblade, Bloodthirster, etc, but items such as Statik Shiv, Giant Slayer, Rageblade, Edge of Night, and other items are actually pretty good on him. Last set, Viktor needed really good items to pop off, usually a mana item and two damage items. So what changed? Silco. Silco not only provides Viktor with mana, he also provides Viktor with health, attack speed, and a MUCH beefier front line. Last set, Viktor could usually only cast once, and then either the enemy board was dead, or not dead. This set, however, a Silco buffing the front line of a team buys Viktor enough time to cast two or three times. In addition, if Silco ever gets the buff onto Viktor himself, Viktor will basically fire two more casts before dying given his extra health and attack speed. Lastly, Silco’s Mastermind trait gives Viktor enough starting mana to guarantee at least one cast, even without any mana items or attack speed items.
In both the Sivir and Zeri comp, Alistar should hold all the tank items. Usually, these consist of items such as Stoneplate, Sunfire, Bramble, Dclaw, Warmogs, Redemption, Frozen Heart. Alistar is also really good with pseudo-offensive items such as Morello and Ionic Spark. In the Sivir comp, leftover tank items can be allocated to Vi. In addition, Zeke’s is AMAZING when buffing Zeri and Sivir; Trap Claw is also good and Chalice is fantastic when buffing Zeri, so be sure to build aura items whenever possible.
When playing the Zeri board, leftover AD items should go on Jayce and leftover AP/mana items can go on Silco or Orianna. A player can use Galio as an item dump as well for any utility/AD/AP/tank items.
If a player is pivoting into the Viktor board, they should move items from Alistar to Vi as the primary tank, damage items from Sivir to Viktor, and AP + mana items to Silco or Renata. Jayce can hold leftover AD items, Ekko can hold Morellos/Frozen Heart, and Tahm Kench can eat all the leftover AP and Tank items.
Given that this comp mainly prioritizes Statik Shiv and Guinsoo’s Rageblade, bow is the ideal start; however, tank items are actually very good in this comp so starting those are also great. Bow > Belt = Chain > Tear > BF = Glove = Rod = Cloak.
The early game for this comp is incredibly simple. Run Hextechs, Bruisers, and Strikers early game. This strategy relies on hitting a strong board and win streaking, so do not pre-level on 1-3 or level on 2-1 if sitting on important pairs such as Nocturne and Jarvan. The early game comp also does not chase super high-cost early-mid game units so there is no point in leveling aggressively without first upgrading the one-cost units (hitting Lucian is nice, but 6 Hextech is gated behind Sivir or Alistar anyways). Below is an example of a SUPER strong early game board, especially if a couple of the units are upgraded. Hextech early game is such a broken trait that this can literally streak a player into stage 4.
Nocturne can hold Sivir items such as Statik Shiv and Rageblade. Rek’Sai, if upgraded early, can also hold all the AD, Attack Speed and Tank items. Swain can also hold tank items. Ideally, the player would want to only stack 1 of Nocturne or Swain, as one of them must be kept in the final comp for 6 Hextech. (For example, if stacking AD items on Nocturne, stack tank items on Rek’Sai; if stacking tank items on Swain, then stack AD items on Reksai). If a player has to stack both, it’s not a big deal, but they will have to remake one of them later on into the game as tank items eventually go to Alistar and damage items are placed on Sivir.
On 3-2, level to 6 and feel free to roll down if bleeding out or if the player’s bench is filled with pairs. Unless a player is able to high roll a Sivir, simply plug and play an additional unit to buff any existing units. Based on the board above, any Assassin (preferably Ekko or Talon), Arcanist (preferably Malzahar or Vex), or Enforcer (preferably Vi). If the player was lucky enough to high roll a Sivir and Lucian, they should definitely play 6 Hextech. The jump from 4->6 Hextech more than doubles the effectiveness of the trait, and even a full 1* 6 Hextech board can often win streak a player till mid-stage 4. If the player is rich and can level on 3-5 without dropping below 30 gold, definitely level just for unit odds and a stronger board.
On 4-1, unless the player’s board is insanely powerful and has not yet lost a single round, they should probably roll down at least to hit 1 Sivir and 1 Alistar. If the player only hit Sivir but has an upgraded Swain, Nocturne, and at least 1 Vi, that is also acceptable. The point of rolling down here regardless of winning or losing is that 6 Hextech is beyond broken. The shield goes from 180→ 400 and the damage goes from 50 → 100, over doubling the effectiveness of the trait for simply adding 33% more units. A 6 Hextech board should almost always carry a player to level 8, so from there, they should stop rolling and sit. Below is what a board should look like. Nocturne is sold and his items are put on Sivir. Rek’Sai is solved and her tank items should now be on Alistar. Note that this board can be played without Alistar, simply put Nocturne back in and add a Vi.
Assuming a player did not have to roll all of their gold to hit 1 Sivir, a player should be able to level on 4-5 with around 20-30 gold remaining. From here, add a Vi to the board shown above or a Silco if the player was able to find one. Roll down the remaining gold until Sivir and Alistar 2 are hit. If a player was able to get here without taking massive mid-game damage, they have probably top 4’d.
If the player still has not hit Sivir and Alistar 2 by early stage 5 and is starting to bleed HP, they should probably donkey roll every turn and fight for top 4. However, if a player was able to hit Alistar 2, Sivir 2, and preferably a Vi 2 or Silco 1, a player must consider their options of pushing 9 and playing a legendary board. Unless the player’s luck was rotten, it is very likely that they should have a pretty high HP and strong board. If a player is healthy and can afford to go 9, they should econ back up in an attempt to go 9 and pivot their board into a late-game cap. If the lobby just so happens to be extremely high roll and accelerated or the Hextech player was unable to win-streak mid-game and is rapidly losing health, simply donkey roll on 8 in order to try to hit all upgrades (Silco 2 and any of the other Hextechs that were not upgraded). However, if the player has the health and economy to be able to sacrifice a few rounds, simply econ back up and attempt to level and roll on 6-1, 6-2, or 6-3 (depending on a player’s econ). DO NOT pre-pump XP into the leveling bar before leveling; given a few bad losses, it may be wise for the player to abort attempting to go level 9 and simply roll instead. Ideally, after leveling to 9, a player should have ~40 gold to roll to start hitting their legendary board. However, if a player has made it to level 9 but does not have the money to fully upgrade their capped legendary board, it is wise to not pivot, and simply run both Silco and Vi in the level 9 comp — usually, the player will end in 2nd or 3rd if they are unable to fully cap out their board. DO NOT pivot into the Zeri or Viktor board unless the player is certain that they have the money to hit at least most of the units. An upgraded 6 Hextech board will always be stronger than a Galio 1, Zeri 1, Jhin 1, Orianna 1, Jayce 1.
Positioning for the Sivir comp is relatively simple. Alistar (with at least 2 or 3 tank items) should be placed in the solo front line of the comp. His ability targets the unit he is currently hitting, so be careful not to let him get baited away from the enemy team (tip for playing against Alistar as well!). Also be sure not to get Alistar Zephyr’d either, as removing Alistar removes most of the comps front line. In general, use Vi or Sejuani to protect Sivir from Assassins or to bait out Zephyrs and make sure whoever is next to Sivir is holding the aura items. Nocturne can attempt to snipe a backline unit to disrupt their casting patterns or even assassinate a unit. Lastly, Silco should almost always be buffing Sivir and Jarvan, as their instant casts will allow the player’s board to wipe the enemy’s board and decide the fight incredibly early into the fight. However, if Sivir can not be positioned in the third row due to matchup constraints (Assassins, Alistars, etc) a player can simply place their Silco behind both Jarvan and Alistar, giving Alistar a slightly earlier cast and Jarvan giving everyone attack speed right away. As always, be sure Sivir and other important carries are not getting hooked.
The Zeri board should once again have Alistar in the solo front line, with Galio and Orianna receiving the Silco buff, as these two early casts can CC the entire enemy board for eternity. Jayce is typically positioned in the backline to buff Zeri, Jhin, and Silco as this comp has sufficient front line and this can heavily increase a board’s DPS. As always, make sure Zeri or any other important carry is not getting hooked.
Lastly, the Viktor board can simply spread out their front line, with the tankiest units on the outside to receive more aggro. Seraphine should be in a corner for maximum value, and Ekko should be jumping into the biggest clump to manipulate targeting and to feed him mana quicker. Jayce can be in the back or front row depending on item economy. Backline him if the team needs more damage, front line him if the team lacks tank items. Renata should be placed in the second row in order to damage the enemy backline, as her ability only spans 5 hexes. Viktor should always be buffed by Silco, and the second unit buffed can either be Ranata or Ekko, depending on which unit has Morellos and which unit has more impact in the matchup.
Augments that give combat stats are typically the best for this comp, as they must hit level 9 with high health and a decent economy. Augments such as Luden’s Echo and Electrocharge give the team so much early game damage that the board is almost guaranteed to get to level 8 while taking very little damage. Hextech hearts and emblems are extremely powerful even if the player ends up pivoting out of them, as they provide so much tempo in the mid-game and make it so much easier to play 6 Hextech as the player is no longer gated by a 4 cost in order to play it.
S (Amazing): Hextech Heart, Hextech Emblem, Hextech Soul, Knife’s Edge, Backfoot, Phalanx, Hexnova, Luden’s Echo, Electrocharge (on 1-3, A tier on 3-3), First Aid Kit (synergizes exceptionally with Hextech shield)
A (Very Good): Ancient Archives, Makeshift Armor, Cybernetics, Pandora’s Box, Portable Forget (Anima Visage, Eternal Winter, Black Cleaver, Collector for Ali and Sivir), Disintegrator, Exiles, Woodland Charm (duplicates Ali and helps win streak)
B (Decent): Hextech Unity, Item Grab Bag, Meditation, Second Wind, Thrill, Celestial, Underdogs, Weakspot, Binary Airdrop, Battlemage, Blue Battery,
C (Usable): Target Dummies, Stand United, (S tier if pivoting into capped board, C tier if staying on the Sivir board)
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