Note: This is not a complete guide yet. I'll fill out the chapters once I have more time. Please see the general thoughts chapter on what will be included in the guide.

This is a Zyra build / guide focusing on her poke, zone and peel abilities, to enhance those and work with them.

Zyra shines when she spawns plants all around her and when she continuously slows you down with plant attacks. The core items support this annoying ability. With Greater Mark of Magic Penetration runes, either Piercing Thoughts or Precision, Sorcerer's Shoes and Haunting Guise you ignore about 40 magic resistance, that is a lot at mid game and you deal almost true damage to everyone who has not built resistances yet. Your poke will hurt and discourage everyone.

These will be expaneded to a full guide later.

• I consider Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Liandry's Torment to be the core items on Zyra. The synergies are just too great to not build these items. You get the slows for free with Rylai's ( Grasping Roots plants just have a too low range for their slow to be effective) which is good for both peel and soft engage as well (because with all the slows the suggested items provide your team can follow up easily) and the percent health damage of Liandry's plus the magic penetration. Also, because you build resistances only on a very situational basis the health of these items is a good defensive stat against mixed damage.
• Since the season 6 mid-season mage update and the changes to Morellonomicon I consider it now also a high priority core item for Zyra. The addition of Lost Chapter solves Zyras mana problems early on and the finished item allows her to spam her abilities.
• Use Stranglethorns only after a) enemies used their dashes/blinks because it is rather avoidable or b) if you want to counter a massive all in. Because this ultimate can be easily avoided, make sure you use it at the right time.
• About masteries: I do not think the Resolve tree is worth on Zyra because she is a) a back-liner and b) she has less synergies with that tree than a more tanky support has. Going full damage in masteries is worth more to accentuate poke. I am in general not a fan of Natural Talent because it a) does not accentuate early game and b) scales not well enough, i.e. the stats are too flat - 15 AP at level 18 is just not worth in my opionion. I rather take the 2% spell vamp and sustain a little bit. (Consider the last a personal preference. It would be interesting to see the actual math, but, I guess, both choices are fairly weak on Zyra.)
• Why max Deadly Spines first? Poke.
• What to max second? Grasping Roots for longer root/snare duration (better peel and may give your team more time to follow-up to finish someone off), Rampant Growth for lower seed cooldown and plant health. Which to chose is a) situational and b) depends on your play style.

When to avoid picking Zyra:

The enemy team has two or more enemy assassins or divers who can quickly burst down either you or your carries, e.g. Zed mid lane and Rengar jungle. Assassins and divers are quite mobile and can kill your teams backline, including you, often before you can do anything. Zyras hard CC is rather avoidable and to unreliable to serve as a good enough protection against such dives. Building tanky to avoid being one-shot by those divers would also be contra-productive because you would lack damage.

When to pick and play Zyra:

Your poke and zoning can be used in the laning phase to deny the enemy ADC farm and experience, i.e. the enemy support can't do much about it (rule of thumb: poke beats engage, sustain beats poke). Your zoning and peeling / kiting can be used when skirmishing and team fighting, e.g. versus slower bruisers or tanks.

Feel free to vote, comment, post matchup experiences.