Syndra is hands-down one of the most fun champions to play in League of Legends. However, it can be hard to play her right. This quick guide will get you started playing Syndra. I am currently using this build for Season 4 and I'm sitting at a 59% win rate with 103 games with Syndra played as of writing this.

Not many people realize the benefit of having a good Syndra on your team. She can deal huge amounts of damage in a very short time. Need the AP carry nuked? No problem. Need the AD carry nuked? No problem. Enemy support being annoying putting wards in river? Syndra's taking care of it. Jarvan IV about to jump on you? Nope! Syndra's got your back. So let's jump right into pros and cons.

Pros:
-Extremely bursty. Can take down most champs with a good combo.
-Good harass (especially with CDR)
-Long range
-CC with Scatter the Weak and Force of Will
-Fun to play

Cons:
-No escapes
-Pretty squishy
-Very reliant on skillshots and can be hard to play at times
-Teamfights are a weak point, but this can be remedied to a degree
-Somewhat weak against melee champions

The runes that I recommend running with Syndra are pretty standard. Magic penetration marks help negate some of the enemy's starting magic resist for more damage output. Armor seals and magic resist glyphs give Syndra some early game resistances which can help enormously especially against early ganks. Flat AP quintessences give Syndra that little bit of early damage for some effective harass.

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Needless to say, take your ult at level 6, 11, and 16. That's pretty self-explanatory. It does more damage and has less cooldown time with each level and gains 75 range with Transcendent when maxed.

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Dark Sphere should be maxed by level 9. It is Syndra's primary damage doer and should be used to harass enemies. Plus it will do +15% damage to enemy champions at max level thanks to Transcendent.

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After you max your Dark Sphere you should be maxing Force of Will. The damage output from this ability is enormous and the slow increase when maxed is extremely helpful for catching those pesky escapees.

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Finally, max Scatter the Weak. Take a point in it early so you can stun combo someone. Beyond that, you'll get more damage and utility out of Force of Will.

Summoner Spells
Ignite and Flash are probably the best to use with Syndra. Ignite is really good at taking out enemies you may have not quite killed with your combo. Alternatively, you can ignite enemies before or during your combo for some added damage. Flash is a must have on account of Syndra's lack of escapes.

Farming
When you have all 3 of your core abilities, it becomes really easy to farm. As minions are coming down the lane in a line, simply use your Dark Sphere on the first couple, then quickly Scatter the Weak. This will kill many of the minions and push the remaining back into a group. Then Force of Will either a minion or your ball and throw it into the group to clear the wave. It takes Syndra almost no time to clear waves when done like this.

Harassing
Harassing is really just a matter of landing Dark Sphere on the enemy and then quickly stunning them with Scatter the Weak and using Force of Will afterward. You can even use Scatter the Weak and Force of Will on the enemy while they are under their tower, all the while staying out of tower range (watch for ganks though).

Kill Combo
Before starting a kill combo in the early game, make sure to harass your opponent to about half health. Late game their health doesn't really matter especially if you have your core items plus Rabadon's Deathcap. To kill an enemy, do the standard Dark Sphere + Scatter the Weak combo. While they are stunned, quickly hit them with Force of Will and then Unleashed Power. If it doesn't look as if the combo will kill them, throw Ignite on them. Alternatively, before starting the combo, you can place an extra Dark Sphere on the field for some extra damage on your ult.

Extra Notes

• When playing against champions with gap closers, try to save Scatter the Weak to push them off of you.
  
• It is possible to counter-push your lane (let the enemy minions push). Simply grab an enemy minion with Force of Will and place it in front of your advancing minion wave. This will cause your advancing minions to stop and attack it, allowing the enemy minions to push to your tower. Works especially well with enemy siege minions.

-Sometimes it can be hard to get ahead early especially against mids like Kassadin, Talon, and Swain. Try to convince your jungler to gank early against tough mids. Getting a kill, assist, or simply gaining a level on your opponent once they've been forced out of lane can make a huge difference. Syndra is nearly unstoppable if you get even slightly ahead early.

-If you're playing against a Leona, you can time Scatter the Weak properly to negate her dash from Zenith Blade. If you can catch her mid-dash, she'll be sent right back to where she started.

-In instances where you are pushed up to the enemy tower, harass with only Dark Sphere and Force of Will. It's very important to save your Scatter the Weak for champions that can gank you easily. Ganks can be entirely avoided if you are careful about when you use it. Stunning an enemy jungler early will allow you to have time to safely travel back to your turret.

Hope this guide helps! It's not too terribly in depth, but I wanted to keep it short and to the point. Syndra, like any champion, is best learned from playing her yourself and not by reading a guide. This guide is here to point you in the right direction, but ultimately it comes down to practice.

I will probably be updating the "General Strategy" section with videos later on in order to clarify some of the strategies.