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Syndra Build Guide by Elexias

Middle [PRE-SEASON] Syndra, the Dark Sovereign (AP Mid Carry)

Middle [PRE-SEASON] Syndra, the Dark Sovereign (AP Mid Carry)

Updated on November 8, 2017
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Elexias Build Guide By Elexias 64 5 2,185,323 Views 53 Comments
64 5 2,185,323 Views 53 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Elexias Syndra Build Guide By Elexias Updated on November 8, 2017
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Runes:

Domination
Electrocute
Cheap Shot
Eyeball Collection
Ravenous Hunter

Sorcery
Celerity
Scorch

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ghost

Ghost

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

GUIDE FULLY UPDATED TO PRE-SEASON 7


Hello,
I'm Elexias, I play on EU Nordic & East since this season (Been on North America for long), My current division is Diamond IV, I started played League in S2 and been playing normals until S3 than started playing ranked, last season I was in Gold while now I'm in Diamond. Syndra is my favorite mid champion, I play her since she's made.
She's one of strongest mid lane (dmg wise), has nice area of slow when W is maxed and provides nice stun when landed properly (Has big range and you can stun your targets without being near them).

Beside Syndra, I like to play Ahri, Viktor and Azir on mid, Hecarim in jungle and Janna on bot lane.

I have as well played World of Warcraft for 8 years until this summer as I have stopped playing after hardcore raiding in guild called Apex (World #25 in that time)

I love making guides and I have over 20 guides for World of Warcraft.

"Power belongs to those who can wield it."
― Syndra
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Items

Syndra is one of strongest if not strongest mid laners since she's made, I'm playing her since she's made and I really like of how she works, she has unique spell mechanics and has 3 out of 4 spells as skillshots which makes her a lot harder to play than some burst champions that everyone can play, while her ultimate is really strong and her combo is deadly, don't forget that you need to hit your spells before your ultimate can finish up your opponents. I will show you items that are must and those that are viable on Syndra, it is your choice to combine them together and make yourself a really strong Syndra player, during the time I played her I either used those 2 builds that I've shown at start of guide.

Main Items

Tear of the Goddess
If you're going for Morellonomicom do not buy this item, they don't go combined as there's no point, I kinda used to play Syndra more with Tear/Archangel build but yeah in this season It is obviously better to go for Morellonomicom as it gives an early lane bully and provides you with all stats faster than Archangel would, if you're having problems with survivability make sure to go for Archangel and Zhonya those two items combined will give you an ultimate protection with help of your team you shouldn't die that much in team fights, fully charged Archangel staff gives more AP and mana than Morello would, but as I've said it takes more than 20 mins to fully charge your Tear and later on upgrade it to Archangel, this is situational item and if you like Tear more than Morello than buy it instead.


Sorcerer's Shoes
As Syndra is AP carry, this is the only boots that actually fits to her role, the bully with nice amount of damage, with this boots you will get magic penetration to help you finish your opponents faster than without the boots, I wouldn't recommend any other boots as this boots gives her everything she needs, wouldn't replace them with anything, make sure to get them as soon as possible after second item is must, because Syndra is immobile and you may be ganked often.


Abyssal Scepter
In 6.22. this item got update and is one of best items to buy on Syndra, I recommend taking this item as it gives everything that you need when you're facing an AP opponent, it's new passive is absolutely awesome and provides you 10% more damage taken to your opponents which means that every ball you use from your ultimate will deal +10% more damage, also your every ability does more which is something that Syndra needs, it also gives your magics resist which you can use early to protect yourself from AP casters as opponents.



Rabbadon's Deathcap
This is must item for Syndra, obviously you don't buy it as first or second item but third or forth which depends how your laning goes, if you're having good advantage and nice chance to win a game go for Morello -> Abyssal -> Deathcap which will give you above 400 AP and nice amount of damage to finish your opponents quickly with few spells, I do recommend this item as fifth or as last one if you're losing your lane and need some kind of protection than in that case you can go for Morello -> Abyssal -> Zhonya -> Deathcap or Rilay. This is best item for damage increase for AP mid casters, and should be bought always on Syndra.


Morellonomicon
Currently one of best items for Syndra, provides nice amount of AP, unique passive to reduce healing of opponents, and nice amount of CDR (20%) it is 50% of CDR you can get max. It also gives nice amount of mana to use early on to bully your lane opponent, recommended if you're not going for Tear of the Goddess. If you're buying this item make sure you buy it as the first item.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter
A good item for Syndra as her spell combination fits with this item, it has unique passive that provides slow to enemies whenever they're hit by Syndra spells, this item also has nice stats to provide to Syndra, a nice portion of HP to give her more survivability and nice portion of AP to provide her enough damage, make sure to use passive of this item when chasing down opponents as it can slow them down and make them a vulnerble targets for your team, I often buy this as last item or as fifth.


Zhonya's Hourglass
A main item when you're facing AD opponents on mid like Zed, Yasuo etc.. or when their team is full of AD make sure you build this item as first or second, it gives nice stats beside it's special effect to make yourself invulnerable but it also gives nice amount of armor and ap to help you survive some of most ******ed ultimate spells like Fizz (R), Yasuo (R), Zed (R) etc.. Even if their team doesn't have much of AD always buy this item as you're really immobile.


Elixir of Sorcery
Important, buy this when you finish your build, obviously best potion for AP MID champions, provides you with nice amount of ability power and increased damage to turrets, do not waste your gold on this item unless you have at last 4 completed items.

Items that can be used on Syndra

Athene's Unholy Grail
I haven't seen anyone buying this item as AP mid, this is not something I recommend on Syndra, Id rather buy this on some AP support instead of bully like Syndra, low AP, nothing special, it is waste of gold, you can be something useful instead of this.


Liandry's Torment
I don't buy this item that often, it is not something that fits Syndra in this meta, but it can be good in situations when you're losing your lane and need some kind of survivability, it provides you with nice portion of HP and AP and gives MP, also it's passive burns enemies HP, not recommended for standard build but a good situational item.


Mejai's Soulstealer
Buy this item only if you get an early lead, by that I mean that you already have few kills before you reached level 6, and you're absolutely sure that you will not die soon, make sure that after your first/second kill you buy Dark Seal item to already start stacking it, Mejai is good choice only if you're going to get win the game in like 25 mins, this item gives more ability power than any other item when fully stacked and also has passive that increases your movement speed by whole 10% when have more than 15 Glory stacks.


Void Staff
Id consider this item as one of best items when it is late game and everyone has full build and enemies have a lot of Magic Resist, don't buy this as first or second item, and Id consider this as not a main item for build, also make sure that when you buy Void Staff you already have your boots upgraded.


Luden's Echo
At the moment not of great importance for Syndra, it gives nice amount of AP and nice portion of movement speed that can be used to either get away or to chase down people and also it gives passive effect similar to static shiv, I used to play with this item a lot but since last patch it's kinda not that effective Id rather get Abyssal Scepter instead that can provide me better effects for my plays.
I consider this item as not important at the moment but can be bought if you're used to play with it.
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Abilities


Transcendent: Syndra's passive. This passive does't come into effect until at least lvl 9.
Each of Syndra's normal abilities gain an extra effect at max rank.

Dark Sphere: Spheres last an additional 2 seconds.
Force of Will: Force of Will now grabs up to 2 additional spheres within 400 range of the primary target, increasing the size of the slow/damage zone on reactivation
Scatter the Weak: Cone width increased by 50%
Unleashed Power: Increases range by 75



Q: Syndra conjures a dark sphere at a target location, dealing 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+75% of ability power) magic damage in an area. The sphere remains for 6 seconds and can be manipulated by Syndra's other abilities.
Once at max rank, Spheres last an additional 2 seconds
This summons a sphere after a short delay that does AOE damage. It synchronizes with your W, E, and R to give additional effects.

"Barriers exist to be broken."
"Power without limit."


First Cast: Grabs a target dark sphere, enemy minion, or neutral monster.
Second Cast: Throw a grasped dark sphere or enemy at a target area. Enemies struck by the projectile take 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and are slowed by 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 % for 1.5 seconds.

Once at max rank, Force of Will now grabs up to 2 additional spheres within 400 range of the primary target, increasing the size of the slow/damage zone on reactivation.
Syndra grabs any spheres, neutral monsters or enemy pets including Tibbers, Zyra's plants, and Heimerdinger's turrets and throws them as a skill shot after a short delay. W also refreshes the duration of spheres already on the map. You can use this skill to reposition spheres already places on the map.


"I love to watch them fly."
"I will not hold back."



E: Deals 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+50% of ability power) magic damage in a cone and knocks enemies away based on how close they are to Syndra. Dark spheres within the area-of-effect are also knocked back, dealing magic damage and stunning enemies in their path for 1.5 seconds.

This skill makes Syndra extremely strong. Alone, it acts as a knock back against all enemy and neutral targets. Combined with Q, it has an extremely long AOE stun range and fast projectile speed. Although hard to land, it is also extremely hard to dodge. Note that you can E after you ult to create a huge AOE stun effect with all the spheres out on the map.

"They won't even come close."
"I am untouchable."


R: Draws upon Syndra's full cataclysmic power, harnessing all dark spheres to deal 90 / 135 / 180 (+20% of ability power) magic damage per sphere to an enemy champion. This spell will cause the three spheres floating about Syndra to become active, dealing a minimum of 270 / 405 / 540 (+60% of ability power) magic damage.
This is a targeted nuke. Syndra launches the 3 spheres floating around her at a target enemy champion. This skill does MASSIVE single target damage and deletes squishes. The damage is increased with every additional sphere already on the map. Due to this, you generally want to have placed at least one or two extra spheres down along with the three floating around her.
Note that this skill leaves the three spheres that originally float around her lying around the target enemy champion after cast. Using E after your ultimate can create an Amumu/Sejuani- like AOE stun effect.


Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

"My potential is limitless!"
"Play "I will not be restrained."
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Masteries



Ferocity



Sorcery- Increases damage from any ability by 2%, this is must even tho if you go for Deathfire Touch or Thunderlord's Decree, always take this talent.

Fresh Blood - Your first basic attack provides bigger damage to your opponent, useful when poking your enemy at early game.

Natural Talent - Provides you increase of AD and AP at start and gives you increase of AP/AD per level, I use this more than Vampirism because of easier lane bullying.

Bounty Hunter - Provides you 1,5% damage each time you kill an unique enemy champion up to 5 champions on Summoners Rifht = 5x 1,5% = 7,5% more damage ;)

Cunning



Savagery- Provides you better farming at early game phase, means you can sometimes get level 2 faster than your opponent, also try to use this mastery so you don't lose mana using spells to farm but to farm with your autoattacks

Secret Stash - Upgrades your health potion into

Merciless - Deals more damage when champion has lower hp than 40% up to 5% more, good one.

Dangerous Game - Kills and assists regens 5% of your health and mana, I pref this one over the cooldown one.

Precision- Gives you nice amount of armor and magic penetration per level, really nice mastery.

Thunderlord's Decree - Every 20 seconds, your 3rd attack or spell on champion deals nice amount of damage, this scales of Attack Damage and Ability Power, really nice for Syndra.

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Runes

+15 Ability Power

+7,83 Magic Penetration

+215.46 health at level 18

+12,06 Magic Resist



You can use runes for armor instead MR if you're playing VS AD champion like Yasuo, Riven or Zed, you can as well combine more rune pages for different builds for Syndra or any other mid champion, I just love this one mostly, you can get some CDR runes per level as it can fit as well.
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Pros/Cons



Pros
+ Has good AoE damage
+ Her poke with Q W E combo is insane
+ Can kill your really fast if properly played
+ Good CC (Slow and Stun)
+ One of best Single Target Nuke with Ultimate
+ AP scaling is good



Cons
- Hard to master
- All skills beside ultimate are skillshots
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Spells

I will describe most common spells that are used on Syndra, will explain why others are not so viable:

Major spell

- Don't even plan getting into the game without this spell, not only that it can save your life but you can get many kills with this spell. If you're getting chased or being low hp you can flash to escape death, when your enemy is like 40% or so and you're farming without poking him, you can flash ex. Q E R Ignite combo to kill him and in 99% he will die, because your Q E combo is unpredictable and people can't react that fast to your Flash Q E combo. Just always take this spell and down there choose between one.

(Chose between one)

- In 90% games I take Ignite as my secondary spell just because I got used to play Syndra with ignite, 90% of my first bloods are taking with this spell, also Ignite provides nice amount of damage and combined with ultimate power of Syndra Q E R W Ignite your target can die from 100% if you hit all your spells later on. It reduces healing of target as well (Good vs champions that can heal, Swain, Vlad...).

- If you're having problem in lane and playing vs champion that you're sure you can't beat take this spell as it will help you survive deadly combo of that champion, also exhaust can also help you kill target if he's running away from you.

- Same as Barrier just this one provides you better amount of heal and movement speed when used also it can heal target near you when you finish your lane phase, take this one if you need heal or some kind of escape.

- To be honest I never used this spell but it can come as optional spell with Syndra, if their mid or whole team has a lot of stuns (Naut, Cho Gath and the others that can slow, silence or cc you on any other way).

- If you're playing on passive lane that you won't be able to kill 1 vs 1 during late game or without help of jungler take teleport to secure your farm as all you will be doing in lane will be farming, also you can use teleport to TP on bot or top lane to provide such a good gank with good damage :).
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Laning



Syndra is champion that can be played on mid or on bot lane as support, I will be talking about MID laning,

First 10 minutes try to farm, try to farm without losing your mana for spells, when you're using spells practice to only damage minion you wish to kill (at start), you don't want to push your lane because than you will be in risk of getting ganked by their jungler, if your mid opponent is squishy (Twisted Fate, Zyra etc..) try to poke them down or if mid laner is some melee AD try to poke with autoattacks as you will lower his HP with Thunderlord's Decree.

When you get level 6 and Tears of Goddess try to get a kill if you can solo do it, you can kill any target with your Q W E Q Ignite R combo, make sure hit your spells if you want your target dead, if you're playing against some hard pushing or champion that can poke you without taking damage (Xerath) be careful and farm under turret.

If you're having problems wining your lane ask jungler for help, ask jungler for 2nd and every other blues, as blue is really important as it provides you nice amount of mana regen and cooldown reduction.

When you reach levels past 6, try to clear minion wave with 3 spells (fast) so you can go and roam, helping your team is really important, ask if top or bot needs help, clear wave, go to bot or top, you don't roam if you're not having Ultimate up, Ignite or Flash as it is really risky and can lead to dying.

Try to learn her using Smart Cast!
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Team Fight

Positioning is really important with Syndra, you can change whole team fight with your CC (stun), make sure to aim for their carries (mid, adc, jg or top if they're squishy), try to kill 1 of those targets quickly with your Q E Q W R combo or just if they're low hp already you can kill them, if team fight is going slowly and you're just poking, try to poke as much as possible, reduce their HP with your Q or W, Q is really nice as after level 9 it does 15% more damage to targets.

If they jump for you and your support/top/jg don't have any abilities to help you (ex. Tahm W, some AoE stuns for enemies), don't worry, you have Seraph's Embrace shield and Zhonya's Hourglass to save your life.
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Screenshots

Some screens as proof that my build works :)

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Elexias Syndra Guide
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[PRE-SEASON] Syndra, the Dark Sovereign (AP Mid Carry)

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