Zyra Build Guide by RoMz

Introduction / About Me

Hello ladies and gents my name is RoMz and my IGN is BoD CloseCombat. I am a Platinum ranked Top/Mid main but I do play support when my team needs it. In my opinion the role of support is to get the carry big and protect him/her at all costs. I have lots of experience with Zyra played her since she came out in Season 2. Around her patch is when I joined LoL and I grinned ip for forever for her. I basically played her mid to level 30. She is one of my favorite champs. Recently I've been playing her support over mid but I still love playing her :D. I think I might eventually make an add-on guide to this for the mid lane. But only time will tell.





I'm a bit embarrassed showing my Zyra stats :P for most of Season 3 it was over 60% but now sitting at 56% :/. Don't worry though I'll get it back up there!

Pros / Cons

Pros:
[+] Bursty
[+] Tons of CC
[+] Long auto attack range
[+] Good at zoning
[+] Very fun to play :D

Cons:
[-] Very squishy (be careful)
[-] No healing/sustain, its all or nothing with Zyra
[-] No escapes, susceptible to ganks
[-] Relies on hitting skill shots

Summoner Spells

Flash is a must it's just too good.

For the other spell you can take Ignite, Exhaust, or Heal its up to you.
I take Ignite for the lane killing pressure since Zyra is generally extremely aggressive the change of getting kills are quite high and making sure you get that with Ignite is good. Plus reducing healing from Grievous Wounds is great against a Taric or Sona. This extra pressure is good since ADCs don't take Ignite anymore like they did in Season 2. They generally take Barrier or Cleanse since it's so important for them to stay alive.

Exhaust is another great choice. Great for peeling for you AD if someone like a Zed jumps on him. Also great against the enemy AD in lane since it slows Auto Attack speed.

Heal is another viable choice and is great in prolonged fights later on in the game. It is also good for baiting out fights in lane just watch out if the enemy support takes Ignite

Runes

Marks: x9 Hybrid Penetration = 8.1 Armor Penetration & 5.49 Magic Penetration
I take hybrid pen because Zyra has a long auto attack range and will do a lot of extra harass damage with the armor pen while harassing with auto attacks. The magic is good for her spells for them to deal extra damage. If you feel you need more armor you can go for Armor reds.

Seals: x9 Armor = 12.69 Armor
This is just an obvious choice. In the bot lane there is an ADC who does AD damage and supports auto attacks are AD as well.

Glyphs: x9 Magic Resist = 12.06 Magic Resist
This one is debatable though. You can change this out for a mix of flat and scaling MR or you can go more offensive and grab Magic Penetration blues.

Quintessences: x3 Health = 78 Health Points
I never really like Gold per quints, and even more so now with the Pre-Season 4 changes. Taking gold quints is like accepting that you're going to lose lane and will try to farm passively and out scale with the farm and the gold from quints. You don't really need the gold from the quints now anyway since the gold from the Ancient Coin and Spellthief's Edge is so great. But I'll get into items more into the items section I'm getting a little side tracked :P. Back to the quints. Quints of flat AP is another viable choice. But I go with the flat HP because Zyra is really squishy and this really helps. I don't really think Zyra needs more damage since she has pretty good base damage and I also take the Hybrid Pen reds for the damage.

Masteries

9 Points Defense:
2 points in Block Taking reduced auto attacks especially in the bot lane is great! ADCs are made to auto attack. Supports also do auto attacks for harass and reducing that damage is great.

2 Points in Enchanted Armor This is up to you weather to take this or Recovery . Recovery is better for laning and healing up from the battle/harass. Enchanted Armor is better when you have more armor/MR. Now I'm now good at math but I hope this is right xd. Keep in mind this is for BONUS armor/mr so your base armor of 65 and base MR of 30 is NOT factored in the equation also note this is based on level 18 statistics. With my build the Armor yellows and Randuin's Omen is roughly 82.69 armor. 5% of that would be 4.1345. So you get roughly 4 armor from Enchanted Armor . With the MR blues and Twin Shadows you get 54.06 magic resist. 5% of that is 2.703. Let's round this. 2.7 is greater than or equal to 5 so it gets bumped up to 3. So roughly 3 magic resist from Enchanted Armor . Now I know that 4 armor and 3 MR doesn't sound like a lot but that 4 armor or 3 magic resist could be the difference from living or dying and that could be the difference of your ADC living or dying.

1 Point in Unyielding this just like Block reducing damage is always mice but because you are ranged this reduces the reduced damage from 2 to 1 but its still good.

3 Points in Veteran Scars +36 Health helping making Zyra less squishy always good.

1 Point in Juggernaut 3% Maximum Health: More math yay -.- (using my example build) 1687 health from base HP + 360 from Ruby Sightstone + 500 from Rylai's Crystal Scepter + 500 health from Randuin's Omen + 78 from runes which comes out to = 3125 health. 3% of that is
93.75 which we round up to 94 HP. So you get 94 HP from Juggernaut (again using my example build). 3125 + 94 = 3219 HP in total.

21 Points in Utility:
1 Point in Phasewalker Reduced cast time of recall. Getting out of lane quicker means getting back to lane quicker which means getting more farm/dragons etc which means getting more gold.

3 Points in Fleet of Foot Increases movement speed by 1.5% which is pretty nice.

1 Point in Scout Increases cast range of trinkets by 15%. Pretty nice especially when you grab the Sweeping Lens later on.

3 Points in Summoner's Insight Reduces cool down on Summoner Spells by 10%. Great to have them off cool down more often. Ignite now becomes 189 seconds CD instead of 210. Flash now 270 seconds from 300.

1 Point in Alchemist Increases duration of potions and elixirs by 10%. So you get roughly 2 extra ticks on a health pot. So you heal 165 HP instead of 150.

1 Point in Culinary Master Your health pots turn into Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation. The improved health pots now heal a total of 185 HP and 10 mana (20 health and 10 mana instantly)

3 Points in Greed 1.5 gold every 10 seconds. Nice since you won't be CSing.

1 Point in Scavenger +1 extra gold every time an ally kills a nearby lane minion. This is tailored for supports. Stacks well with Ancient Coin and Spellthief's Edge.

1 Point in Wealth +40 extra starting gold great for supports since you almost always want to start with a Stealth Ward

2 Points in Inspiration +10 experience while around a higher level champion. Scales well out of lane since the Duo Bot lane is usually behind levels of the Solo Top and Solo Mid. Though this scaling does stop at level 18. Up to you if you want to take another mastery over this one.

1 Point in Bandit +3 gold every time you attack an enemy champion. Great with Spellthief's Edge actually. Note that you can't occur on the same champion more than once every 5 seconds.

2 Points in Intelligence +3.5% CDR and 7% reduced cool down on activated items which is great because this build has a lot :P I don't take the last point in here because I'd rather put it in Bandit because Zyra has build in CDR with W Rampant Growth.

Last 1 point in Wanderer +5% movement speed OUT OF COMBAT. This is great for warding and great with the Boots of Mobility passive.

Note: You can go 9 points in Offense grabbing Sorcery , Mental Force , and Arcane Mastery for extra damage. Yup to you.

Items

Starting items: Ancient Coin Warding Totem Stealth Ward 2 Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation Starting the Ancient Coin to get the Talisman of Ascension quicker.

First back: Try to upgrade Ancient Coin to Nomad's Medallion

Rush: Rush the Sightstone ASASP once you get this sell the Warding Totem and get the Sweeping Lens to get rid of vision from the opposing bottom lane preferably around dragon.

Core: Boots of Mobility pick those up when you feel its necessary. Talisman of Ascension Ruby Sightstone Rylai's Crystal Scepter

Later: Randuin's Omen & Twin Shadows
Randuin's Omen is great for peeling with its active and Twin Shadows is great for chasing with its active.

Other: Locket of the Iron Solari if your jangler doesn't get it. Mikael's Crucible is like a free Cleanse for your ADC great item to keep them alive especially if they took Barrier and didn't pick up a Quicksilver Sash. Banshee's Veil to eat up some poke always nice against a Nidalee or a Jayce.

Lane Synergy

Ashe [★★★★★] Ah the well known Korean-combo popularized in North America by Cloud 9's Sneaky and Lemonation. This lane works really great together on the bases if your Ashe can actually land Enchanted Crystal Arrow. Ashe and Zyra in their own have a really safe lane with range and disengage tools Ashe's Volley and Zyra's Grasping Roots. Both of these champs bring a lot of utility to the team and both can start fights down in the bot lane. The abundance can be devastating against the opposing duo laners especially in Solo Q.

Caitlyn [★★★] : I don't this is that great of a lane compared to some of the others but you both have a lot of poke and range. Caitlyn has little burst how ever. Caitlyn's Yordle Snap Trap can set up your Grasping Roots nicely. If Cait gets them low enough try to get a nice snare combo on them and let Cait's ult finish it off.

Draven [★★★★★] : Me and my friend Joe run this lane quite a bit with much success. Since Draven all-out aggression this goes really well with Zyra who is also very aggressive. You should easily be able to out-duel other bot lanes early on with the great amount of damage you both have and even at 6 if you land a great combo Draven is primed for a double kill. Draven doesn't really have any escapes like an Ezreal or Graves so landing Grasping Roots for his get away is key and with his new passive League of Draven this is even more important so he doesn't have to get stacks back up.

Ezreal [★★★] : This lane is ok at best I suppose. Ezreal really isn't the aggressive in your face im gonna kill you. You both will have a lot of poke and a pretty safe lane with your Grasping Roots and Ez's Arcane Shift. His Trueshot Barrage and your Stranglethorns aren't to bad combo-ed together actually.

Graves [★★★★★] : Another lane me and my friend Joe commonly run together with great success as well better than Draven I would say. This mafia man and this fiery plant have great synergy together. One of the best lanes in my opinion. You both have a TON of burst Graves with his Buckshot and Collateral Damage and Zyra's Grasping Roots, Deadly Bloom, and Stranglethorns. Your roots + ult can help set up a nice Collateral Damage. Graves and Zyra both have like to be aggressive and when they get the chance they blow up the enemies, great lane to run.

Miss Fortune [★★★★★] : Very good synergy. Both aggressive and high damage. Pretty good range with MF's Double Up and your natural range. Not the safest lane since Miss Fortune doesn't have an escape besides Flash. Bullet Time + Stranglethorns = GG. Plus this lane has boobs can't beat that cant you?

Kennen [★★★★★] : Now I haven't personally played with an ADC Kennen but I feel like this lane would be quite strong. A lot of poke with his Thundering Shuriken safe lane with Lightning Rush and great ult synergy with Slicing Maelstrom and Stranglethorns. Plus Kennen has good natural CC from his passive Mark of the Storm with goes well with Zyra who is full of CC.

Kog'Maw [★★] : I don't think this is that good. Kog is more of a late game guy. Try your best to protect him and get to that late game. Trading kills with Kog isn't bad since Kog'Maw will just out scale them. At 6 when Kog'Maw gets Living Artillery he gets extremely pokey so keep that in mind. You both have passives where you can kill an opponent from the grave which like I said isn't bad for Kog'Maw since he just out scales. I reccomend just trying to protect Kog'Maw and let him get as much farm as possible and peel for him since he has no escapes besides Flash and sometimes Ghost since I know people like to run both of those at times.

Sivir [★★★★] : Since the rework Sivir has become very strong. She has tons of poke and great all in potential. When you and Sivir hit 6 you can run over the competition with On The Hunt. On The Hunt is great with the Talisman of Ascension active.

Tristana [★★★] : It's alright I guess, nothing to special. I personally haven't had that great of an experience with Tristana. She doesn't have bad burst at level 2. But I would recommend waiting till level 6 to fight. She's more of a late game carry. If you land a snare then Tristana can jump on them and go ham.

Varus [★★★★] : Pretty good lane. If one of you lands a snare the other can easily follow up with the other and do your combos. Try to get a Grasping Roots off when Varus gets someone in his Hail of Arrows (it slows + healing debuff.)

Urgot [★★★★] : Same as Kennen I haven't actually played this lane. But in theory I think this lane would be quite strong. The trick with Urgot is to land his skill shots and Zyra can help him greatly with that. Land a Grasping Roots to help Urgot land his Noxian Corrosive Charge and he will be able to land his Acid Hunter with ease and end up dumping on the target. Great to shut down someone like Vayne. Urgot is also pretty tanky with Zaun-Touched Bolt Augmenter and Terror Capacitor.

Vayne [★★★]: : Not bad but not great. Protect her pre-6 because she's **** pre-6. Once you both hit 6 you guys can outplay the other duo lane with Vayne's Condemn and your Stranglethorns and Grasping Roots you guys will have a lot of lock down. Much like Kog'Maw Vayne is more of a late game carry so do your best to get her big and try to protect her in team fights.

Matchups

Alistar Difficulty: Medium Man I haven't vsed an Ali in a long time. Try to shut him down early. After he hits 6 he becomes a juggernaut and is very hard to kill. If he lands dat Alistar combo you're probably gonna go down since you're very squishy.

Annie Difficulty: Medium She's become a very popular support since Tabe showed her off at the World playoffs and rightfully so. Pre 6 abuse the range you have on her. She's rather squishy. When she hits 6 be VERY careful of Summon: Tibbers even when support she has a lot of damage. Always keep track of her Pyromania don't get baited if she has only 2-3 stacks she can easily get those other stacks with her other spells to set up a deadly Tibbers.

Blitzcrank Difficulty: Medium All depends if you can dodge the hook. It costs a lot of mana and is on a roughly 10 second cool down. Keep note that he uses his right hand even though the icon shows left :P Rocket Grab. Try to keep the bush he's in warded and stand behind minions. If you get grabbed you're probably gonna die or have to burn Flash.

Janna Difficulty: Easy She's really defensive. Just try to not get knocked up too much and not to get knocked into tower by a Flash -> Monsoon. Try to bait out her Eye Of The Storm so she uses it on her self then try to get a Grasping Roots on the AD.

Leona Difficulty: Medium Be careful at level 2 for her Zenith Blade -> Shield of Daybreak combo. You'll get stunned then get destroyed by the AD's damage comboed with Sunlight. Punish her if she misses Zenith Blade. Keep the brushes warded and juke that stuff. Watch out for 6 with her Solar Flare if you get hit in the center you'll get stunned and open to get hit by her E->Q and a ton of damage from the AD.

Lulu Difficulty: Easy You out-damage her and can break through her shield Help, Pix!. As my friend Chris would say "EZPZ"

Lux Difficulty: Medium Rather even and a skill match up. Be careful of getting snared by her Light Binding. She also has a lot of burst from her ult Final Spark. She's rather squishy but also has a shield be wary of that.

Nidalee Difficulty: Easy Keep bushes warded and dodge spears. Try to stay out of the bushes since her traps hurt quite a bit. Be careful at 6 when she Aspect Of The Cougar shes got good execution with that if you get low. She has a heal Primal Surge so be sure to Ignite to reduce the healing. If she Pounces into you recklessly snare her and unleash all hell.

Sona Difficulty: Easy Be careful at level 1 she can chunk you pretty bad. At level go aggressive on her even with her heals she won't be able to handle the damage that you because shes so squishy.

Soraka Difficulty: Medium Annoying lane Ignite is highly recommended. Since She out sustains you so try to go all-out when fighting her. Ignite before she heals! Her heal grants armor so your damage isn't reduced much.

Taric Difficulty: Easy Recommend Ignite. He's melee so keep snaring him and if he walks up to get a stun off back off. If he stuns your ADC snare his.

Thresh Difficulty: Medium Skill match up. Watch out for that hook. Poke him down and fight when the opportunities come about.

Ashe Difficulty: Medium This can be rather annoying with her slows and stuns and that OP Hawkshot. Try to not get cheesed by her crit from her passive Focus.

Caitlyn Difficulty: Medium She's got a lot of range and she can hurt you with it. Try to stand in minions so you Piltover Peacemaker does less damage. If you want to poke her do it when she doesn't have her Headshot

Draven Difficulty: Medium He deals a world of pain but thankfully this has become a lot easier since they changed his passive from Wicked Blades -> League of Draven. He used to deal ABSURD damage and he would just destroy you anyone this used to be a very hard lane. But now people can stand up to him. Try to snare him when he goes to pick up his axe. If he drops his axe he damage drops dramatically.

Ezreal Difficulty: Hard (more annoying) He's got that free flash on his E so he can dodge your snare or hop out of your ult. Rather annoying. His poke from Mystic Shot hurts as well so try to stand behind minions. If you get a snare on him you can beat him down since his health pool is low one of the lowest if not the lowest in the game.

Graves Difficulty: Hard : Tanky with his passive True Grit and he's got an escape on his E Quickdraw and has a lot of burst. Try to burst him down fast since his passive goes up as long as the fight goes on thus he excels at pro-longed battles.

Lucian Difficulty: Hard : Extremely mobile and does a hell of a lot of damage with auto attack reset on his Lightslinger Don't get culled :x

Miss Fortune Difficulty: Medium : She hits like a truck and has grievous on her W Impure Shots. As crazy as this sounds try to not stand behind minions to avoid taking the extra damage from Double Up. She has no escapes so getting her with a snare will be deadly. Her Bullet Time does tons of damage you can interrupt it with your ult.

Sivir Difficulty: Hard : Her Spell Shield will block your spells and give her mana. Her poke hurts a hell of a ton and her ult On The Hunt makes her kinda hard to pin down.

Quinn Difficulty: Easy : Her Harrier procs do a lot of damage if you let hit you with an auto. Don't let her do that. Her Vault can dodge your stun. Quinn has a short range try to abuse that. She'll go in for an execute with Tag Team / Skystike but that'll put her in melee range.

Tristana Difficulty: Medium : She can escape you clutches with Rocket Jump but it has a long cast time. She's got range and a healing debuff on her E. She's got a lot of damage and self peel at 6 so watch for that.

Twitch Difficulty: Easy : He's got no escapes to when you land a snare go all-out and don't let him get his poison stacks if he gets a lot they start to hurt.

Varus Difficulty: Medium : This guy does a good bit of damage and can start fights in a instant with his ult Chain of Corruption. Watch out if you have 3 Blighted Quiver stacks because his Piercing Arrow will hurt a lot more. His Hail of Arrows also has a healing debuff so try to not pop health pots while thats on.

Vayne Difficulty: Hard she can dodge with her Tumble she can catch up to you easily with her Night Hunter. When she hits 6 and gets Final Hour she can out play very hard. Getting Condemn will mess you up. Abuse her weak early game and low range. Try to punish and shut her out early and end before she gets farmed.

Closing

Thanks for reading! Leave a rating and some suggestions on how I can improve if you would like :P

Change log

12/17/13: Guide Released