Hello and welcome to my first guide. This is, of course, for Mid lane.

I assume you're reading this guide to get a general idea of to how this champion should build. Along with a solid build, I also hope to enlighten a few on how Syndra should play out. I will try my best to explain my methodologies, but I do not guarantee success. I've used this build and found that it is best suited for early pressure, a great mid game, late game teamfights, and maximum damage output; by focusing on 40% cooldown reduction.

I am no one special, just a random player who enjoys competitive play. I bring this guide to you because I enjoy Syndra, regardless of what people think about her; good, bad, or indifferent.

Despite what the stats say, it seems to not take into account. There is 40% CDR.

-Play Defensive
-Lane Defensive
-Pay More Attention to Mana
-Learn Positioning
-Find Balance between the flow of gameplay and roaming as Syndra

Syndra is caught out of position easily, and little mercy is shown.
Stay in the back during teamfights, landing as many Qs as safely possible. However, don't be afraid to take a hit or two if it prevents you from getting almost all of your damage out.
While difficult, Syndra is very good bait (be wary of enemy CC when baiting!!). After getting Rylai's and T2 boots, her Q is a great tool to lead with while slowing all those hit by it(Rylai's). In combination with the CDR, this is a great main source of damage later game.

Wards should always be bought at appropriate times.

Starting Items:
x2
While it may seem odd, for this build I suggest not buying Doran's Rings...at all. In the end, this will have taken away the mid game advantage, and your value in teamfights later game (SEE Chp on Role).

Kage's Lucky Pick and, if possible, some Sight Wards
It is important that you get this item almost immediately after you can afford it. It is also very important you not change this item into a DFG until after you have T2 boots, Rylai's and at the least, a chalice of harmony. Rylai's and Boots of Swiftness are the beauty of this build.

OR
Only grab an early NLR if you feel you need the damage, you're doing fine surviving as is, and teamfights haven't started. So basically, if you're getting fed early game. Keep in mind the enemy team composition. Be a little more offensive with an NLR, but remember that a Giant's belt helps stay in lane longer.


Now finish your

A note on Rylai's and Boots of Swiftness
These items are extremely important, for both survivability and team play.
Rylai's provides you with the utility needed to escape, bait, lead, commit, whatever; as does Boots of Swiftness.


...................................................................Choosing Your Boots.......................................................................
__________________________________________________________________________________________


Speed is important, especially for Syndra; ...she is all about control. This gives you some more utility. With this you may outrun enemies on top of slowing them. You may bait better, get to places faster, dodge skills easier; quality of life stuff.



Only if enemy team is largely AP based.
Should this actually be the case, you may wish to pick up a instead of a late game. In this case your tank should be building magic resist, so he should pick up an to help both of you out.

__________________________________________________________________________________________


At this time you may get any of the next three items. I suggest not leaving DFG for the last of these three.


If you buy this first and have the extra gold, get a NLR(if you're building a Zhonya's). I highly suggest this first for the CDR. This will max your CDR and give you much more damage output in teamfights, as will setting up your ult for maximum damage.


Solves mana issues. This keeps you going for long chases, makes you somewhat more durable. Since you're most likely combining with boots of speed, you shouldn't be taking much damage, but burning a lot of mana. A chalice early games helps out a ton as well, because after a few trade offs, your mana is low. To top things off, a chalice is extra magic resist for the trade offs. ALSO, having will destroy their burst during trade offs; not to mention game changing during teamfights and ganking.


More damage.




Preference / Situational
OR OR
This is the time in the build where you have some choice. Now you can either start building an hourglass (recommended first), create a WOTA, or make a GA.

I feel Syndra doesn't need a WOTA. If you get caught away from team with CC, you're probably going to die. Zhonya's on the otherhand can change team fights, and keep you alive against large range ults (Ez ult, Lux ult, etc..). If you play her right in teamfights, you shouldn't take too much damage. WOTA makes sense in a couple ways, if you prefer it over Zhonya's, then grab it.
Sometimes you need to be a little more offensive, or you have been. Grab aGA if you think it will give your team a massive boost in teamfights.



Lovely void staff. Since you do not have much magic penetration, and no sorcerers shoes, this is recommended. If for any reason you think your damage is fine, you can substitue a Void Staff for any of the items above.

You may be thinking "what the heck" when you look at the rune page. Typical magic penetration reds, typical mana regeneration yellows, typical quints...but the blues. Why in the world are they set like that??

I put a lot of thought into the item build, runes are a big part of what the build can do for you. The blues are set up the way they are for a very specific reason. The build and masteries leave you 5% short of max CDR; which is very vital to damage output. These runes make it so you end up with 40.2% CDR. Flat magic resist runes to per-level evens out around level 7. This is about the level that the enemy mid can afford Sorc Boots. I believe the magic resist runes were the best bang for the buck for the remaining slots (I took into account, different variations of CDR runes).

The pros and cons for this BUILD AND PLAYSTYLE are as follows:

+MAX CDR Reduction
+Great Survivability
+Great Damage Output (especially constantly late game)

-Requires a Good Team to Really Shine
-Odd combinations of runes can be of extra expense
-Difficult to master sense of damage/defense (risky if caught)

Early game:
Play defensive! Focus on last hitting, and only poke when you're comfortable poking. Syndra burns mana quickly and it is important that you stay in lane early game. Ideally, you should be using Q to poke as the enemy goes to last hit.

Take advantage of your enemy trying to last hit!
Syndra can do a lot of damage, very quickly, in the first couple of levels. Since having bought 2 mana potions, this is a great time to pressure the enemy. After getting W at level 2, you have the ability to poke extremely well. As you should know, killing minions is extremely important and that it is okay to use mana to get farm. Q is a great farming tool, however, it also doubles as a big threat to the enemy. By killing a minion with Q, an orb will be on the ground. Wait until Q is almost off cooldown to use W and pick up the old orb. If timed correctly, you should be able to throw the orb and land a Q as the first orb hits an enemy champion. Due to mana to damage ratios, I believe this is best done at level 3, after leveling Q to rank 2.

Doing large damage with this combo gives enemies a less offensive attitude. By capitalizing on this damage, you may proceed to dominate with your mid game build.

Another good combo is Q, to a quick E. This can get a fast stun out, and also save you in a lot of cases. Keep in mind that after using ult, all the orbs remain on the ground for a short period of time. Using E after ult can create massive havoc in teamfights. Also, keep in mind that your ult should be used primarily on squishy targets (such as ADC and mid laners). After getting some orbs out in a team fight, wait to drop your W until Q is off cooldown again. Using ult after the "drop combo" can take an ADC down VERY quickly late game. Getting an orb out, then instantly picking it up is a good way to come into teamfights as well. You will already have 2 orbs out, that will have just started their despawn timers.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR ULT...especially if you don't have more than 1 orb out. Syndra's ult does a large amount of damage for early on. If the enemy is under half HP, you should feel comfortable committing to a kill. Eventually you will create a feel for when all of this needs to happen, but to newer players, using ult almost right after you get it on a weak enemy could kill him. If you don't kill him, he should probably go back to base to heal up. After getting a Giant's Belt and having blue buff on, you should be able to easily stay in lane after pushing them away/to base.


Mid & Late Game:
Proper positioning is extremely important during these phases. With this build, Syndra should be more on the defensive side, making it so she has less time to roam in a pushed lane perspective. There are a few reasons for this. A big reason is that you don't want to waste too much mana when farming, as ganking will become pointless. You also don't want to disrupt your early/mid game "self-harmony". By this I mean that there is a general flow you should start feeling between these phases, and that keeping this flow is important for the future of the game.

This does not mean that you should not roam. Roaming is great! With the damage her poke combo does, you should have plenty of time to roam; however minions may still be pushed closer to your tower. Finding the balance between the flow of gameplay and roaming is important.


Your Team and You:
It is important to be in sync with your jungler. It is important that you stay in the back during teamfights. It is important that you find a balance in positioning; that is, leading, baiting, initiating (a combo of both, of course the tank takes over while you make it to the back), and roaming (your placement when roaming). As stated before, Syndra gets caught easily.

Ask if someone that will be getting close to enemies buy an Abyssal Scepter. Keep in mind their end game builds and their role. It wouldn't be good to have one on somebody that can't utilize it very well. Having a teammate with an Abyssal Scepter will make your Q wreak more havoc in late game teamfights.

Other than what has been previously stated in this guide, here is a quick way to get your ult damage up (with orbs)...

Q prior to a fight, not necessarily hitting anyone.
W AFTER Q is off cooldown.
Q when off cooldown, WHILE still holding first orb.
W -> Q combo (simultaneously, same spot if hitting a target/s)
Ult a squishy.

Preferably an ADC.

Flashing to quickly kill an ADC if you know you've got the kill, into a Zhonya's (if owned) into a friendly form of AOE/CC (ex. Amumu ult), is an example of a great way to start a teamfight.