Hi guys! Welcome to my master tier Syndra guide! My name is Mayu, but in the lol community i'm known as Yeager. I'm a affiliated streamer and high elo midlaner in league. I started playing league at the end of season 3. I finished in Platinum 5 in my first season of ranked, Diamond 1 seasons 5-6. At the start of season 7 i decided to take a break so i could focus on studying. 8 months after i returned to league and climbed to Master tier in soloqueue and challenger in flex. This guide is made for the purpose of sharing what i have learned from playing against diamond, master and challenger players in soloqueue. I understand that not everyone might agree with the builds/runes, as there are many different ways you can build Syndra, but this build has given me the most success on the ranked ladder, so that's why i stick to it. Hopefully this guide will improve your Syndra gameplay and let you climb the ranks faster!

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Pros + Massive burst + AOE CC + Strong waveclear + Versatile Syndra is a mage who focuses on creating and manipulating dark spheres to damage and disrupt her enemies. When played to perfection, Syndra can take out her enemies without even taking damage back. She is very versatile as she can fit in many different teamcomps but she is immobile and squishy, so poor positioning and awareness will cost you a lot.

Cons - Immobile - Skillshot dependant - High skillcap - Squishy Syndra is very hard to master and quite difficult to pick up if you aren't familiar with her playstyle. She is a champion that wants to win by destroying the opponents in the laning phase, but her lack of mobility makes her extremely vulnerable to ganks. Syndra has a very high skillcap, so it will take a lot of games before you can fully master her kit.

More sustain for when you're taking trades or poking the enemy champion.

Syndra is a lanebully, so this rune synergizes perfectly with her playstyle. She has to get a lead in the laning phase, so Eyeball Collection will reward her even more.

It's weak early, but when you start getting kills on the different champions in game, the sustain this rune provides you with, is just insane.

When above 70% HP, it will give you bonus damage. As Syndra you will mostly be above 70% HP due to her being a mage. Her job is to stay behind the tanks while dealing damage, so this rune will be active for the majority of the game.

Weak early on, but slowly ramps up. From minute 20 you will start noticing the difference this rune can make. Sometimes your team will get a huge lead, but since it's soloq, they will most likely fail to close out the game. This rune is basically the late-game insurance if you aren't able to end the game.

Flash Is THE BEST summoner spell in the game for most champions. It lets you catch, escape and outplay enemies.

Ignite The go-to summoner for kill pressure in lane. It's perfect for lane bullies like Syndra who needs to get ahead in the laning phase. I go with this summoner unless i'm vs a enemy i absolutely can't kill, or if they have too much CC.

Cleanse If you are playing against a heavy CC mid + jungler, then you want Cleanse for sure. The benefit of having cleanse is the fact that you don't need to buy Quicksilver Sash and can focus on buying your core items.

Barrier The more selfish summoner spell compared to Heal. It has lower CD and is a much safer pick against assassins and other opponents with Ignite.

Heal It used to be the standard summoner for most mages. It recently got some cooldown nerfs while Ignite so it's not the best summoner anymore, but it's still decent. It heals you and a nearby teammate, so if you are planning to skirmish a lot with your jungler, this is a viable option.

Exhaust This helps a lot against assassins and other burst-type champions.

PASSIVE ABILITY

Transcendent (Passive): Spells gain extra effects at max rank. Dark Sphere: Deals 15% more damage against champions. Force of Will: Deals 20% bonus true damage. Scatter the Weak: Spell width increased by 50%. Unleashed Power: Range increased by 75.

Q

Dark Sphere (Q): Syndra conjures a Dark Sphere dealing magic damage. The sphere remains for 6 seconds and can be manipulated by her other powers.

W

Force of Will (W): Syndra picks up and throws a Dark Sphere or enemy minion dealing magic damage and slowing the Movement Speed of enemies.

E

Scatter the Weak (E): Syndra knocks enemies and Dark Spheres back dealing magic damage. Enemies hit by Dark Spheres become stunned.

R

Unleashed Power (R): Syndra bombards an enemy Champion with all of her Dark Spheres.

Dark Sphere is maxed first as it's our bread and butter ability. Her entire kit is built around her spheres, so it makes sense to max this.

Scatter the Weak is maxed second. It's Syndra's medium/long ranged AOE stun. We mainly max this second to lower the cooldown of it, but also so the spell width is increased by 50% at max rank. Having lower cooldown on her hard CC ability lets us go for plays more often.


Unleashed Power is maxed third. This is the ability Syndra is known and hated for. The moment you hit level 6, every opponent should start respecting you or they will disappear in split-seconds. We put points into this ability whenever possible to increase the damage and lower the cooldown so we can use it as much as possible. At max rank the range gets permanently increased by 75.

Force of Will is maxed fourth and last. It does A LOT more damage when maxed out since it will deal 20% bonus true damage.

Do i prioritize maxing Force of Will or Scatter the Weak? Well, if you want more damage, then you max Force of Will. If you want more utility instead, then go for Scatter the Weak.

Doran's Ring

Doran's Ring: Is still the standard starting-item for most mages. In patch 8.9 the item no longer returns mana on minion kill. We now get 5+ mana regen per 5 seconds and +5 on-hit damage vs minions. Basically, we have to be more careful with how we spend our mana. CS'ing with basic attacks will be easier now though.

The Dark Seal

Dark Seal: The gold-efficient option. It rewards you for getting kills/assists by giving more AP stats, and it increases the healing from potions by 25%. The 100 bonus mana is really useful for the early game. I suggest buying this on your first back if you have nothing better to buy. This is often bought with Refillable Potion for extra sustain.

Control Ward

Control Ward: Is my most bought item for a reason. It will save you and your team from unexpected ganks. It's SO important to always have a Control Ward on the map. I ALWAYS make sure to buy 1 every time i base - Yes, even if i have a control ward placed on map already. If you find yourself in a scenario where you already have 6 items, for example: Doran's Ring, Luden's Tempest, Lich Bane, Sorcerer's Shoes, Rabadon's Deathcap and Void Staff, I suggest selling your Doran's Ring and buy a few Control Wards because denying vision is super important on Syndra.

Ninja Tabi: Is the standard buy into AD heavy teams. It offers armor and 12% damage reduction on autoattacks(Yes it counts magic damage from autos too). This is a good buy against champions like Jayce, Irelia, Tryndamere, Riven, Gangplank and so on. If the enemy team lacks CC, and has a fed ADC, Ninja Tabi is still a decent buy.

Sorcerer's Shoes: Gives a big early-midgame spike with the flat magic pen. I often buy this when i'm not against a heavy CC team.

Mercury's Treads: Offers magic resist and 30% tenacity. If you are playing against hard CC, these boots are a must-buy. Syndra is very vulnerable to ganks in lane, so these boots will give her that extra bit of safety. Here are some examples of when you should buy Mercury's Treads. When you face Ryze + Sejuani or Xerath + Elise or LeBlanc + Skarner. Basically you want mercs, when you are up against any combination of mid+jgl, that has some form of hard CC.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Gives 10% CDR on abilities and summoner spells. This has insane synergy with Unsealed Spellbook. With our build, we have 30% CDR. If you want that 40% and you use Unsealed Spellbook, then these boots are a good buy.

Morellonomicon: The flat magic pen stats makes this a powerful early-midgame item. Combine this with Sorcerer's Shoes and you will almost deal true damage to any squishy without resistance. Buy this against heavy healing opponents like Swain, Vladimir, Soraka and so on. Lategame .

Banshee's Veil: Provides some some CDR and AP which Syndra loves to have, but it also gives 70 MR and a spellshield for "flashy" champions. I buy this against for example AP Gragas and Annie, because they rely on catching people off-guard with Flash+combo. This item counters them completely.

Liandry's Torment: If you are playing against a tank-team, you want this. It deals increased damage the longer you are in combat(10%max). The TORMENT passive deals damage based on 1.5% of targets maximum health. If the target is immobilized, the damage will increase to 2.5% of targets maximum health, so if you hit a tank with any of your CC, you will shred them fast!

Zhonya's Hourglass: If you are facing a heavy AD team, or just AD assassins, this item will save you a lot. Rush this item 2nd(replacing Lich Bane) against Zed because we need the active to counter his Death Mark. Against for example Talon and Kha'Zix you can get away with just building Seeker's Armguard and then upgrading this item last.

Quicksilver Sash: This is a must-buy against Malzahar and Skarner, as it is the only item that cancels Suppression. I only buy this item to counter Suppression - for everything else you should get Cleanse, so you don't have to use up a item slot.

Despite being a lanebully, your playstyle in the laning phase changes depending on the matchup and your skill-level. In a good matchup: Your goal is to establish lane dominance. Take advantage of the fact that Syndra has low cooldowns, and she doesn't have input buffering on some of her spells. Basically, you can move while casting Dark Sphere and Force of Will. This combined with her long range CC is what makes Syndra strong at kiting and hard to punish. You can actually fight someone without taking any damage back if done correct. Use your Dark Spheres to zone opponents from CS and go for quick combos if you land stuns with Scatter the Weak. There is a higher chance of getting ganked by junglers when you play agressive, so be sure to ALWAYShave a Control Ward on the map. The Stealth Ward and Control Ward should be enough to keep you safe for the laning phase. In a bad matchup: Syndra's bad matchups are usually assassins and other champions with high mobility. You can push the first 2 waves and let it bounce back. After that you should AVOID pushing. The reason for that is, that champions like Fizz and Ekko can't do anything to you, if you freeze right outside of tower range. By constantly keeping the wave at your side of the lane, they will be vulnerable to jungle ganks. Your goal here is to survive the laning phase and group with your team asap. Syndra outperforms all assassins in teamfights!

This is the point where Syndra becomes a real threat because of her ultimate, Unleashed Power. Opponents should start respecting you and play defensively. If you have enough vision on the river, then you can go super aggressive and try get some kills with your full rotation and Ignite. If the enemy plays far back in the lane, there is nothing you can do here. Shove in the wave, and look for roams. Syndra is immobile, but her AOE CC and singletarget burst makes her a powerful roamer. With Syndra you need to play the "objective game" because that's what she excels at. Every single time you shove in the wave, you should go out of vision and get some deep wards. Afterwards you roam to the other lanes and try get them ahead. Whenever you get a kill, focus on getting objectives. The most reliable way to win a game is by focusing more on objectives and less on kills! Powerspike: is a state where your champion becomes significantly more powerful. You get a huge powerspike when you max out Q: Dark Sphere and you have Luden's Tempest, Sorcerer's Shoes and Morellonomicon. At this point in the game, you will almost deal true damage to ADC's and other squishies without magic resistance. It's really important that you abuse her powerspikes and force something. It can be kills, objectives or whatever, just make sure you get a lead so you can snowball the game.

A lot of people think Syndra is bad lategame. While she is weaker compared to other champions like Azir and Anivia, she is definetely not bad. You just need to play around her strengths, which are sieging, getting picks or objective-control. As Syndra you pretty much want to be constantly grouping with your team in the late game. You can still go to other lanes to pick up big waves, but you should avoid splitpushing. Champions that are good at splitpushing are usually high mobile champions that can move around the map fast, or hard-scaling ones like Tryndamere and Fiora, who destroys anyone in 1v1 and can take towers fast. This is NOT something Syndra can match so you should only be with your team. How you play Syndra in the lategame depends on the teamcomp. Syndra is not very strong against tanky teams because she doesn't have the DPS to shred them fast. She also struggles against assassins. Your goal here would be to defend your main lategame carry, the ADC, and let them shred the tanks and assassins. If you are against a squishy team, you can play a bit more up-front and look for AOE stuns on the priority targets. Even though Syndra falls off a little in the lategame, you can still oneshot carries, or force them to base with 10%hp, so you can force objectives while it's a 5v4.

This is the normal combo you use in the laning phase. You don't need to place Dark Sphere on top of your enemy to get the combo off. Sometimes it's better having Dark Sphere close to you, or in a minion wave so it becomes harder for the opponent to dodge it.







This is the basic trading combo, and the follow-up to combo #1. You will be using this one most of the time because it's easy to setup. It's important getting the basic attacks early game because they do a decent amount of damage.