Syndra

I fell in love with Syndra the moment she was announced, yet found her disappointing on release. A big part of this was because she felt so unintuitive to me, unlike, say, Orianna. But I persevered, and would often start to get a feel for her. However, with me constantly flitting between champions I would lose any grasp of how to play her and have to begin pretty much from square one. It was my experiences with Syndra which made me start focusing on one champ at a time, and it payed off. I took my experiences in each game and brought it forwards to the next, improving upon it each time. Nowadays I understand her kill potential and can set up and execute burst combos reliably.

Syndra is a champion I find incredibly fun, exceeded only by Orianna, but I am unlikely to choose her as one of my mains. This is because Syndra still remains a very difficult champion for me, my level of success is very inconsistent across games. In the future, when my skill has improved in general, I would like to reconsider Syndra, but for now I'll just keep to having the off game with her in normals, I just can't count on my play with her to bring me up ranked. That said, I've had a lot of success with her against opponents I usually struggle with, such as Zed and Diana, by just outright killing them before they can turn on me. Sadly, later on I have fallen down due to getting jumped by them in team fights. A bit of peel from my team-mates would help, but better positioning from me is also something I need. WHich leads on to...

Bonus: Positioning

I'll be frank. There have been games where I tunnel vision horrendously with Syndra and completely fail to consider my positioning. And the habit was formed because my opponents let me get away with it. I could just waltz up, burst down carries and waltz out, still alive to start chunking everyone else with Dark Sphere. But I cringed just watching those replays. I know that any competent opponents would punish that so hard. So yeah, I need to break that habit, and Syndra, having no real escape outside of Scatter the Weak, cannot afford to get caught out by CC.

Ahri

I have a bad history with this succubus. I bought her ages ago but could just never get the hang of her. I read quite a few guides, some helpful, some not so much, but didn't get anywhere. Things changed when I started watching streams, specifically I watched a lot of Hafu playing Ahri. I got a good idea of her kill potential, usage of Spirit Rush and kiting, and found things improved rapidly. My first game was mediocre, but the next three all went very well on my part, both in and out of lane. Some of my opponents were recognizably weak, but some were level with me. Anyhow, I actually cut my Ahri practice period short one or two matches because I felt I now could grasp her kill potential and ability usage, which is the purpose of each practice period. Getting particularly good at a champion comes later.

So, what about Ahri as a champion? As it stands she's probably my first choice for an assassin due to being entirely ranged and getting those lovely three dashes, even if she loses a fair bit of her assassination power once that's down. She just straight up stands as an offensive choice, and one I find satisfying to play. Why? We find out below.

Bonus: Planning and Execution

Q-W-R, followed by any suitable combination of R and E with Q and W when they come off CD gives me a flexible and powerful combo, and at least at my level, my enemy laner never seems to expect it. However, it takes a while to execute. When looking to go in for the kill I must consider everything. Can they burst me before I can kill them? What abilities can I juke? Any CC which I absolutely must dodge? Should I save E for interrupting anything? Add into this awareness of the jungler and there's a lot to consider. I must plan every step of the kill attempt and execute it successfully. This applies to all champions in every role, there is no excuse to die to something I failed to consider, but I'm never so aware of the need to do this than with Ahri.