Zyra Build Guide by Vezzax

Introduction

Hello Zyra players. This guide is going to show you the in and outs of mid lane Zyra. I am going to keep it as short and straight to the point as possible and any feedback or possible changes you would like to see to the guide can be posted in the comments and will be appreciated.

Now without further adieu, Zyra!

Pros / Cons

Masteries

Masteries

1/1

3/4

4/4

1/1

3/2

4/1

4/3

1/4

1/1

3/3

1/1

3/3

1/1

Expanded Mind

Meditation

Swiftness

Runic Affinity

Runes

Runes
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3	Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction 9

• Greater Quintessence of Ability Powerx3 a 15 AP boost early game will help your harass
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetrationx9 The magic pen I find will benefit you more throughout the game than flat AP marks
• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regenerationx9 The extra Mp5 will allow you to stay in lane and spam a little more early game
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reductionx9 With these glyphs, Rampant Growth and Sorcery at level 18 your CDR will be around 34% so no need to buy into more CDR! (These are interchangeable with flat AP glyphs)

Other Viable Runes

This is just a quick note on other runes you could run (although I wouldn't recommend most of them minus the Glyphs, change them as you see fit).

Runes
Greater Mark of Ability Power 9	Greater Seal of Ability Power 9	Greater Glyph of Ability Power 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power 9

• Greater Mark of Ability Power: Extra AP although not as effective as flat magic pen.
• Greater Seal of Ability Power: More AP but you will lose out on the Mp5 from the suggested Seals which means less ability spamming.
• Greater Glyph of Ability Power: Again more AP! This could be a better alternative to Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction if you want to pick up the CDR else where.
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: Finally and shockingly, more AP. Exact same explanation as the previous glyphs.

Summoner Spells

Ignite: A nice bit of extra damage and along with Summoner's Wrath a 5 AP boost

SPACE

Flash: Zyra's only escape, a must in my opinion

• Teleport: Get back to lane a little faster and coordinate some ganks with other lanes
• Exhaust: An extra defensive spell, stop someone from ganking you or fleeing
• Ghost: I would never recommend this over Flash but if you want to its a nice escape or chasing spell

Skill Sequence

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

Deadly Bloom

Rampant Growth

Grasping Roots

Rampant Growth

Stranglethorns

Ability Explanation

• Rise of the Thorns: Zyra's passive is pretty bad. It will score you maybe a kill or two per game. Good to just snipe that last chunk of damage off an escaping enemy who just killed you.
• Deadly Bloom: Zyra has an amazing Q, its harass potential when combined with Rampant Growth is phenomenal. Use it to either harass or farm creeps like a breeze.
• Rampant Growth: This spell is tricky and takes some getting use to to really master it. Use Rampant Growth as a ward or to pump out massive damage when combining it with Q/E.
• Grasping Roots: Another awesome spell. The root will save you more times than you can count and makes harass with Q ridiculously easy. Hit an enemy with your W and instantly follow up with a W and Q and you will chop them down and out of lane in no time.
• Stranglethorns: Zyra's ult has so many uses its crazy. Depending on the situation it can nuke, win you team fights with the knock up, make your plants tear enemies apart or just knock people up for an easy escape. When you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter it makes your ult extremely hard to escape.

Core Items

Zyra doesn't have a strange build to her, fairly typical. Start off with your Boots of Speed and 3 health potions then continue on to the following:

• Catalyst the Protector: Health and mana boost, plus the level up restore makes Zyra a majorly sustainable laner
• Sorcerer's Shoes: Typical AP carry boots. Maybe swap them with Mercury's Treads if the enemy team is CC heavy and seem to use those CC's on you.
• Rod of Ages: Upgrade Catalyst and now you have some nice AP, lots of health and mana, and the level up restore. The only reason to leave lane now is to buy more stuff.
• Rabadon's Deathcap: Massive AP boost. Thats it.
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter: Quite possibly my favourite item on Zyra. The slow you get from it affects your plants so now your Thorn Spitters have good range plus a slow, obsoleting your Vine Lashers but who cares. Also, Rylai's makes your ult slow so less chance of enemies escaping the knock up.
• Zhonya's Hourglass: 100 AP, 50 Armor and the Stasis on use? Focusing Zyra in team fights is not an option anymore. With Zhonya's you can run in, pop all your skills, stasis when they start in on you and then spam your abilities all over again when stasis ends.
• Void Staff: A pretty typical AP carry item, the 40% magic pen will help you take out the most tankiest of adversaries. This item can be swapped for Abyssal Scepter if you're getting hurt by enemy AP damage and either Void/Abyssal can be built before Zhonya's Hourglass if melee aren't a problem or you are doing well enough in the game you dont need the stasis effect.

Other Viable Items

Zyra has a lot of diversity to how she builds. If you would rather start the game with a Doran's Ring that's fine, although probably not better than Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions.

If you're finding yourself being bullied by AD champions then by all means grab some defensive items such as:

• Earlier Zhonya's Hourglass
• Guardian Angel
• Frozen Heart I recommend this one the least

• Abyssal Scepter
• Quicksilver Sash This will shut down champions like Malzahar from killing you
• Banshee's Veil

• Archangel's Staff With enough mana gives a massive AP boost and will cause you to never OoM
• Morello's Evil Tome This would be ideal if you're using AP Glyphs. The CDR, nice AP, Mp5 are all nice, however the on use will really shine on champions like Dr. Mundo and Soraka who have those annoying heals.
• Deathfire Grasp This is a good item for Zyra, provided you swap the Glyphs for AP Glyohs.

Will of the Ancients

Problematic Midlaners

During lane phase you are going to have a bad time with certain enemies. Ones with high mobility and burst are going to hurt you but you can win as long as you play smart. Some champions that will give you a hard time include:

• Kassadin: Obviously he gives everyone a run for their money in mid. Against a Kassadin, play smart. Dont position your self where he will just burst you down and let your plants do most of the work for you. Luckily, if you have a good jungler you can root the enemy and burst them down.
• Talon: Another champion who has high mobility and burst. Get ganks on him, out harass him and laugh as you win lane. Make sure you save Grasping Roots for ganks or to flee from him.
• LeBlanc: The bane of my existence in mid lane. She will kill you if you over extend even the slightest bit after level 6. Luckily for Zyra, the build prioritizes early beefiness and sustain. Harass her, you may be a little squishy, but she is way squishier.
• Fizz, Akali and Katarina: These 3 have the mobility and burst required to beat you. As with every other champion I've discussed so far; get ganks, dont over extend, out harass and use your plants to your advantage.

Farming

Zyra, not surprisingly, is an amazing farmer. After a certain level you can start clearing waves with just Q/E. During lane phase, try not to push too much (easier said than done with all the AoE you have), make sure you last hit everything you can while harassing.

Once lane phase is over, use your Q and E to farm creeps fast and easily. Hit them all with E then Q the back 3 minions and they will die, wait for Q to come off CD and Q the front 3 and boom the wave is dead. Plants can also help you farm but beware as sometimes they will let minions last hit.

Team Work

Zyra will thrive in 1v1 or in team fights. It is important you know your role as Zyra in team fights. You are to find a high priority target, lock them down and blow them up. Use your ult to knock up the highest amount of enemies and make sure to use your roots to lock down melee champions. Stay in the back, throw out seeds to make Thorn Spitters and kill kill kill.

Advanced Tactics

Advanced isn't as advanced as it sounds. These little tips and tricks are pretty basic but at the same time, pretty game changing for mid lane.

The first and foremost best in my opinion is Zyra's plants will block skill shots. If you're facing a high skill shot mid laner such as Lux, Morgana or Kennen make sure you have some plants in front of you and you can block their skill shots.

Harassing and kills. Hit them with your Grasping Roots, immediately follow up with 2 seeds and a Deadly Bloom. If they are low enough pop Stranglethorns on top of them (making sure your plants get hit by your ult) and watch as their health bar diminishes to your awesome damage.

Zyra's seeds. These are tricky. You can have 4 planted and 2 stored, once planted they last 30 seconds. They work as a small ward which will help you see oncoming ganks but only last 30 seconds, use these to ward small paths that junglers use to gank but do not think they are good enough to use in the 2 bushes in mid lane to prevent ganks.

Another thing with the seeds, use them to check suspicious bushes instead of face checking.

There isn't a lot of secret tricks to Zyra, but if you find anything else let me know.

Summary

Okay, all done. So now you should have an understanding on how to build, fight in mid, team fight and farm. Thanks for reading, throw any feedback you have in the comments and have fun wrecking mid lane.