Syndra Build Guide by Fuzzmonkey

Hi, my name is Fuzzmonkey. I've been a League of Legends player since pre-season 4. I've mained Mid lane since season 5 and Syndra has always been my second main. I peaked Diamond 2 at the highest in Season 6, but always hung around Mid Diamond since then. My goal at the moment is to hit Masters on EUW, and will be updating this guide regularly to show you guys that even you yourself can get to where you want to be in SoloQ with her.



I am currently Diamond 3 on EUW. I stream everyday on my Twitch channel where I teach my audience how to play LeBlanc and League in general. I also upload to my Youtube channel as well. Feel free to come over and ask me anything! I'd be glad to answer any questions!

Syndra is a long range mage who focuses on creating and controlling spheres to damage and displace her enemies. Once she's played to perfection, she can easily take out opponents without even taking damage. Her CC is fantastic for teamfights as it can easily turn the tide of games. Positioning is absolute key on Syndra since she is immobile and is prone to getting jumped on. Poor awareness and positioning will cost you.

Syndra was my first ever mid lane champion that I played. I would recommend her to anyone who is looking to play a high-burst, semi-high skill cap one shot machine.

PROS:

+ Long-range poke (great for laning phase)
+ Insane burst damage
+ Versatile
+ Fantastic waveclear
+ Great AOE CC
+ Fun to learn!

CONS:

- Bad positioning = very easily punished
- Skillshot reliant
- Squishy
- Semi-high skill cap
- Hard to carry with

Here you can find some short montages and highlights on my Youtube channel.


HIGHLIGHTS

You can play Syndra passively or aggressively, mainly depending on what the mid/jungle synergy is. For example if you're playing against a Shyvana jungle and Cassiopeia midlane then you can pretty much play aggressive the whole time since Shyvana won't really be able to do anything pre-6. On the other hanf if you're against a Zed mid and Elise jungle, you'd want to try and poke as much as you can but not overextend since you'll most likely get caught by Elise. You should always take Flash. Syndra is extremely immobile and you'll need this as an escape route.



Another great option if you're really not down to play against Assassin's like LeBlanc, Zed, Talon. This will help prevent high-burst champions from 100-0'ing you instantly. It will give you a little chance to fight back and has a much lower cooldown than Heal.



Another great summoner spell to take after the above. As an immobile mid laner, you're prone to getting CC'ed a lot by junglers like Rammus, Elise and Sejuani. Even mid laners that have CC too. It also saves you from having to waste money on a Quicksilver Sash.



Again, this summoner spell is only viable if you plan on skirmishing a lot and healing other allies in team fights. Good option, but the others above are a lot more viable.



High burst champs such as, Katarina, Zed, Talon don't do well against exhaust since all their damage is "all-in" damage. I'd recommend taking this if you're not willing to play aggressive into these type of champions.

Below, you will find the runes that I particularly think are the best runes to run on Syndra. Towards the bottom of this section I have added an Alternative runes bit in case you want to try a different set of runes.

With any burst type of mage/assassin, Electrocute will be your bread and butter rune. With Electrocute you'll need to hit all of your pre-6 abilites in order for it to proc. At level 2 you will need to add an auto attack after hitting a successful Q + E combo for Electrocute to proc.

Since you're a long range mage this'll be a perfect rune to help you sustain in lane. Enemies will also struggle to trade with you if they have no gap closers, since you'll be able to out range them and heal yourself.

Again, you need all the power you can get early-mid game, so that you're a monster late game. Syndra is pretty decent at roaming since you can hard push waves. Try to roam as much as possible to maximize the potential of this rune.

Since Syndra is an immobile mage, you're going to need all the movement speed you can get to help you dodge skillshots and roam around the map faster. I'd highly recommend taking this rune.

You're going to be poking your enemy a lot, which is going to use quite as bit of mana in lane especially if you're going to have to use mana on minions a few times. This rune will help you so much once you've poked your enemy a bit in lane since it gives you more maximum mana every time you damage an enemy champion. Poke as much as you can. Be careful you don't miss a lot otherwise this will leave you vulnerable.

Personally, I like to take Transcendence on Syndra due to the fact that, if you're not running Ultimate Hunter then you'll always have some backup CDR for your ultimate ability. Again, this is my own preference.

A common swap would be Electrocute to Arcane Comet. Now with the Sorcery tree, you'd then run Arcane Comet > Manaflow Band > Absolute Focus > Scorch. This build is mainly focused on the players who can hit 90%+ of their abilities and can discipline themselves to not take significantly bad trades.You'll be poking the enemy constantly with both extra damage from Arcane Comet, Absolute Focus and Scorch and your lane opponent will be in need to constantly dodge your abilities which will result in them being zoned from farming minions waves and also using abilities to dodge your skillshots.

It's also quite common to run the Inspiration tree along side Sorcery since you'll benefit from the utility/sustain affects from Magical Footwear which grants you a free pair of boots and Biscuit Delivery which helps you sustain in lane for even longer and allows you to then poke your enemies out more often.

Another rune which you can take is Ultimate Hunter instead of Relentless Hunter. I would only take this if you're really good at dodging skillshots and want a lower Unleashed Power cooldown.

Below you can find Syndra's abilities. I will be explaining what they do, what order to max and how to effectively use them.


Dark Sphere is Syndra's main ability. Everything she uses is based around her sphere's, this will always be maxed first.

Scatter the Weak will be maxed second. This is maxed early because it gains a massive 50% width at max rank. It is also extremely low cooldown when max which can help us get out of sticky situations. Can also be used to initiate.

Unleashed Power is always maxed third. This is Syndra's bread and butter ability. Point and click massive damage. At max rank (level 16) this ability has 75 more range.

You want to max Force of Will last. Once this is maxed at level 18 you will then deal 20% true damage which is a lot in late game.

Below, I will be showing you what items you can buy and will give a brief description about why the item can be good/situational/bad on Syndra

As with most mages/AP mid lane champs, Doran's Ring is the standard starting item as it gives AP, HP and +5 mana regen every 5 seconds. Since Syndra will be poking a lot, it's definitely recommended to take this over Corrupting Potion since you won't benefit that much from extra auto damage. You will also take 2 Health Potion's to help you sustain HP in lane. If you get ganked extremely early on and are forced to back early, I would highly recommend buying Dark Seal. This item is gold efficient and will help you survive longer during laning phase since the passive gives you a +25% extra healing from your Health Potion's.

Core 1st back item for any AP laner. It gives AP, mana, +10% CDR and even a mana regen passive on leveling up, all for an incredible 1300g. This will sustain you easily through the rest of your early laning phase. Even without the passive on this item it is still 112% gold efficient which makes it a 'must buy' on your first proper back.

This again is a very good item to get if you ever have a spare 150g on an early back. It refreshes every time you go back to base and it means you never have to buy Health Potion's again. I would not recommend buying this past the 12+ minute mark though. Don't be afraid to sell any leftover Health Potion's that are in your inventory just to buy this.

I can't urge you guys enough to buy one of these every time you back. Wards win games and save lives as they say. Whenever you go back and you have a spare 75g, buy one and just place it somewhere around your mid area. This WILL save your life multiple times throughout a lot of games.

The core of all AP mid laner items. It gives massive AP, lots of mana and +20% CDR. The passive also helps with waveclear (even though Syndra already has enough) and damage on your enemy. Using a single Dark Sphere on the ranged minions, will wipe them out 100%. You can also Dark Sphere + Force of Will to 100% clear a melee minion wave too.

These are the boots that you want to be buying the majority of the time as they will help with your damage output. If you need the extra flat magic penetration, pairing these with your Oblivion Orb will help help with the early game damage, since FLAT magic penetration is extremely good early-mid game.

So this is an early purchase especially after Luden's Tempest. I'd just build the Oblivion Orb if the enemy team has no early MR, or self sustain then move onto your next item and finish Morellonomicon if needed. Since both Oblivion Orb and Morellonomicon both share the exact same flat magic pen. it's extremely good on mages/assassin's at early stages of the game.

This will definitely be either your 3rd or 4th item. It is the strongest late game item on mages. If enemies have lots of MR, you will need a Void Staff before buying Rabadon's Deathcap.

As mentioned above, this item is mainly to counter Magic Resist, so if you see the enemy team buying MR, buy this as soon as possible. Again, this item would mainly be built either 3rd or 4th depending on how soon the enemy purchase MR, if any at all.

As defensive as it gets to be honest. It doesn't have to just be built because the enemy team is full AD but it can really save your life too with only a 2 minute cooldown. It can negate things like Karthus's Requiem, Veigar's Primordial Burst and Fizz's Chum the Waters. I don't recommend building this early at all. If you are really struggling in lane against an AD mid laner like Zed, Talon etc. I would build Seeker's Armguard just to help you against their damage. Don't bother completing Zhonya's Hourglass until 2nd since you'll ruin your early powerspike. I would still say that purchasing this item even towards late game is still worth - it could save your life.

So once you've completed your Oblivion Orb you'll need to see if the enemy team has any self-healing or healing abilities. The reason for this is Morellonomicon negates healing. So, it's pretty simple, if the enemy have healing, finish building your Oblivion Orb into a Morellonomicon. If they don't, just don't finish this item until last. DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM early if they don't have major healing like multiple healing champs being Soraka , Aatrox , Swain on one team.

This is a great item if you're afraid of being bursted down yourself i.e Fizz, Akali, LeBlanc or even Katarina. Banshee's Veil is well-known for it's spellshield passive which blocks a single ability which could potentially save your life if your opponent wasn't able to get their full combo off on you. It works great against CC champs like Sejuani, Elise, Zac, heck even Blitzcrank as it can stop one major ability which CC you to death. It also provides a massive 60 MR.

I'm going to be completely honest, this is EXTREMELY situational and would very rarely purchase this item, I just put it in here just in case some people wanted to ask about it. This item is specifically only helpful if 3+ members of the enemy team are stacking health. A comp like, Kled, Zac, Ryze, Varus and Braum would probably be a time I'd purchase. Even then, I'd still prioritise magic pen if the enemy team were to stack magic resist.

Another very situational item. Would only build if you really needed kiting potential. For instance if the enemy composition consisted of a Jayce, Nidalee, Cassiopeia, Lucian and Leona which is quite a heavy initiating comp, Rylai's Crystal Scepter would help kite these champs out.

Below you will find a short video of me breaking down Syndra's combo's and how to effectively use them.

Your playstyle on Syndra will change due to what matchup your against, and your skill level.
If you're against a good matchup, you should aim to constantly zone the enemy from farming. Since you have extremely long range, and a low cooldown Dark Sphere use this to your advantage.

Going in for quick trades like I mentioned in the combo video above ( Dark Sphere + Scatter the Weak ) and not taking damage in return will benefit you extremely in the long run, since your lane opponent will have to make multiple returns to base just to regen. health.

Don't get too cocky in lane since Scatter the Weak is your engage tool AND disengage tool. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO BUY A Control Ward WHEN YOU BACK. THIS IS EXTRA IMPORTANT AS AN IMMOBILE MAGE. Engage when you know there is no jungle nearby, and save it if you have not got a ward down and you are not sure where their jungler is. Scatter the Weak can save you from ganks pretty easily and you won't have to burn your Flash if used correctly. Again, reference the combo's video above this section if you're not sure what combo's to use in laning phase.


If you're against a bad matchup i.e Fizz, Yasuo or even Ekko try to avoid pushing your lane into their turret. Reason being is, Fizz and Ekko for example have gap closers and can easily dodge your Scatter the Weak which again is your ONLY disengage tool. If this is on cooldown, you'd have to burn a Flash which isn't good since it can leave you prone to ganks. Your goal against these types of champions is to survive.

If you somehow do manage to get a kill, use this to your advantage by pushing with Dark Sphere's and Force of Will quickly, then roaming. Remember, towards the late game, you outperform the majority of assassin's so play carefully.

The aim of the game with Syndra is to play with your team. Syndra is not a good split pusher and should never be in a lane by herself farming. It's ok to go to lanes to pick up big waves though. Syndra strengths are, getting picks, objective-control and sieging due to her Scatter the Weak being a powerful zoning tool.

You want to concentrate on getting vision when possible. That means, pushing waves as soon as possible so you can get some deep wards in the enemy jungle (whilst being with your jungler of course). Getting objective's like dragons and turret's are extremely important and again, zoning with your Scatter the Weak is extremely beneficial when doing these.

Your powerspikes with Syndra are mainly.


First powerspike > Level 9 Dark Sphere - which now adds 25% more damage to your Q's.


Second powerspike > Getting your first few items Sorcerer's Shoes, Luden's Tempest and Oblivion Orb / Morellonomicon since you will be dealing true damage to squishes that have no MR.

Third powerspike > Will be getting your Rabadon's Deathcap or Void Staff depending on if the enemy has built magic resist or not.

Once you have hit one of the powerspikes above, use it to your advantage. Play aggressive, force objectives once you and your team have killed someone, and get vision on the enemies side of the map.

Late game teamfights are not the best for Syndra but they're not too bad either. Utilising your Dark Sphere + Unleashed Power + Scatter the Weak combo in a teamfight is a great way to stun multiple enemies and have your team mates finish them off. You can still try to one shot a carry with a full combo or, even down them to low health, which will then force them back to base and you'll be able to force objectives as a 5v4. Again, your main tool is Scatter the Weak so use it with caution. If you think someone will get onto one of your carries, use it to disengage. If you think you've got a good initiation comp, use it aggressively.

That just about sums it up for my Syndra guide. I hope you guys learnt something from this and I will definitely be adding to it very often to keep it up-to-date.
If you have any questions please feel free to post them here and I'll get back to them as soon as possible.

If you'd like to see my mid lane gameplay you can follow my Twitch channel. I stream everyday from 12pm GMT onwards! I answering pretty much any question in chat too!

I also have a Youtube channel which I upload to very often, don't forget to subscribe!

Updates to show you guys what I've added to the guide and when I did them:

22/05/2020 - Changed some errors within the guide that people have pointed out for me. Thanks guys :)

09/10/2020 - Added Yone to the match ups with detailed description. Updated Oblivion Orb details on when to buy. PLEASE CHECK THIS. Same with Morellonomicon Will be doing a full updated for when the new items come out :)