Syndra is your standard Ability Power (AP Nuke) Champion and therefore it is highly recommended that she takes the middle lane. It may require a bit of time before you get familiar with her due to her different play style and therefore it is not recommended for beginners to choose her as their first AP mid. Like Orianna, Syndra cetralises her play style around her orbs.

This guide mainly focuses on making her a sustainable as well as a destructive force to be reckoned with. In here, we also take a different approach to Syndra and instead focus more on Force of Will and Scatter the Weak

Ignite and Flash are the standard summoner spells for majority of AP Nukes thus it is highly recommended that it should be picked for Syndra. Ignite is chosen as it does sufficient damage via DoT [Damage over Time] or in other words it's another source of damage that would help kill the enemy champions faster. Flash is chosen as it a brilliant summoner spell. It can be used for both offensive (engage an enemy abruptly and surprise them with all your spells) and defensive (a great escape mechanism as it distances you from the enemy) purposes.

However, if necessary, Ignite may be traded for other summoner spells such as:

• Teleport - Advised if you are struggling in lane or wish to go back to base whenever yet keep/ maintain your lane or even protect or surprise gank other lanes.
• Cleanse - Works very well against a team of CC's and perfect with flash if you ever get caught and need to distant yourself from enemy champions.
• Ghost - If you really want to be more agile and have a tendency to gank a lot then this may be the spell for you.

Note - We do not replace Flash with any of the spells as you will always need some form of escape as an AP Nuke because you are likely to be one of the first targets in a group battle and there is no better escape mechanism than flash.

Runes

We use AP orientated runes to maximise our damage output. A combination of AP per level (APpl) seals and glyphs and flat AP quintessences with magic penetration marks give us a sustainable level of AP throughout the whole game. The APpl seals and glyphs may be replaced by flat AP ( Greater Seal of Ability Power and Greater Glyph of Ability Power) if you wish to have an early advantage. If mana really becomes a problem then you may replaced the glyphs with greater glyph of replenishment.

Masteries

Here we will go in depth as to why we level Force of Will and Scatter the Weak over Dark Sphere.

Force of Will is a great source of damage but it has been overshadowed by Dark Sphere. This is because if we calculated, overall, Dark Sphere does more damage but that is if we were to use it every time the cool down refreshes. Realistically it is very hard to do this and that is why many people who max Dark Sphere get Chalice of Harmony and then build it to Athene's Unholy Grail. They play her like Karthus spamming his Lay Waste.

We are aiming to play Syndra as an AP Nuke where she drops everything with a bang. Therefore we focus on leveling Force of Will as it does the most damage in comparison to the other two skills. We get Scatter the Weak next as it is second in damage output and lastly Dark Sphere (Don't forget to get your ultimate Unleashed Power!!)

We are building Syndra somewhat tanky (in terms of health) and not glass cannon. The good thing here is that she won't get 2-3 shot or die so fast in team battles and still maintain sustainable damage to kill enemy champions.

An alternative to Doran's Ring is Boots and 3x Health Potion; it really depends on your style of play. Personally I get the ring because it gives me health, ap and mana regen. That's the whole package! But I guess the downfall would be: if you get harassed by the enemy champions too much or an enemy jungler comes you may be in deep trouble.

Rod of Ages is a great item for Syndra as it gives health, mana and ability power to her improving her overall performance. We get Rabadon's Deathcap to pump up your AP and
Rylai's Crystal Scepter which improves her health and AP and as a bonus her skills now slow! The second last item would be Void Staff to penetrate those annoying tanks and semi-tanks who have built up their Magic Resist (MR).

The last item is pretty much up to you but I recommend Zhonya's Hourglass as it give you AP and the ability to go invulnerable for a few seconds, increasing your chances of survival. Guardian Angel would be recommended for long games (60+ minutes) as a death can decide a win or loss during those times. Abyssal Mask is also another item of choice as it further improves your damamge.

Syndra is different from other champions and requires a bit of clicking and understanding before you can get use to her. She is fun but may be a bit complex for beginners and is therefore not recommended if you have minimal or scarce experience in playing AP mid champions. And don't forget - It's all about practice! Everybody needs practice. After all, practice makes perfect!

Oh and remember to be flexible, if you see one section not working for you feel free to change and adapt to whatever circumstances, don't let the guide chain you down, after all it's just a guide not a rule book!

And that's about it! This is my first guide and I hope that it was helpful for you guys! Let me know if I made a mistake or if there was anything I could improve on.

Cheers