In-Depth RLlukaGuide
Build Guide By Bunan
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17
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25,552
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6
Comments
Sylas Build Guide By Bunan
25,552
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6
Comments
Sylas Build Guide By Bunan
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Runes: FIRST STRIKE (META)
1
2
Inspiration
Resolve
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health
Spells:
TELEPORT
![LoL Summoner Spell: Flash]()
![LoL Summoner Spell: Teleport]()
Flash
Teleport
Items
Ability Order RUNES
Petricite Burst (PASSIVE)
Sylas Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Threats
Synergies
Extreme
Major
Even
Minor
Tiny
Show All
None
Low
Ok
Strong
Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Zoe
First Strike- Magical Footwear - Futures Market- Cosmic Insight - Second Wind - Unflinching AH AP HP FLASH TP Sapphire Crystal Refillable Q ->E->W Q max -> W -> E Ask for early gank (Immobile) Stay behind minions (block Q & E) Never engage when she has E (Good zoes will hold E) Only engage if she wastes E (16s CD) & Q (8.5s CD) Wait for ganks Zhonyas second (E) R 0/10 Dont take
Alistar
Practically unkillable for 7 seconds (55/65/75% dmg reduction) & cleanses current CC
Synergies
Ideal
Strong
Ok
Low
None
Alistar
Practically unkillable for 7 seconds (55/65/75% dmg reduction) & cleanses current CC
Champion Build Guide
About Me
Questions & Feedback appreciated
Not all matchups have been covered (Low pick rate matchups) comment if u want me to add any
I'm currently a S2022 EUW Masters player. I main JNG/MID & mainly play sylas midlane and am ranked top 150 Sylas EUW. I finished Gold IV S2021 however achieved masters in 3 months with some dedication. These are my stats with Sylas, most games were played in high diamond/master tier on EUW.
Pros
• Sylas is extremely versatile as he can adapt to everygame using his key ability Hijack
• Sylas excels in skirmishes due to his sustain and burst damage
• Sylas' stat growth is close to unmatched (XP is extremely important)
• Although weak early his wave clear is great 20+ minutes especially when ahead
• His combos are very rewarding and he has a high skill ceiling mechanically and macro wise
• He is also extremely versatile when it comes to keystones allowing for increased adaptability
• He can greatly impact every teamfight if there is a powerful ult available
• Sylas' short cooldowns and high mobility in the mid game make him extremely powerful
Sylas is a champion with incredible scaling, damage, sustain/tankiness, mobility, CC and is arguably the best one trick solo carry champ as he has the greatest adaptability out of any champ in the game. Althought he is extremely powerful he is difficult to master as he has a high skill ceiling however thats what makes him so fun to play. The only apparent weakness is early game which can be overcome throughout in-depth matchup knowledge.
Cons
Abilities
Petricite Burst (passive)
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Sylas' next basic attack consumes a stack to whirl his chains around him, which has an uncancellable windup and deals magic damage to the primary target and damages nearby enemies.
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Damage to secondary targets executes minions that would be left below 25 health.
Chain Lash (Q)
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Sylas lashes out two chains that converge at a point damaging & slowing enemies.After a 0.6s delay the intersection detonates damaging enemies again.
Kingslayer (W)
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Sylas lunges foward to strike an enemy and deal magic damage. If used on a champion sylas heals for an amount based on his missing health (capped at 60% missing health)
Abscond/Abduct (E)
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Sylas dashes a short distance. For 3.5s he can recast the ability to whip out his chains in the target direction damaging, stunning (0.5s) and airborning (0.5s) the enemy
Hijack (R)
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Sylas hijacks an enemy's ultimate gaining a copy of their ability.
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Sylas cannot select the same champion again for a set duration depending on the targets ultimate cooldown (200%) & his Ability Haste. Sylas can hold the enemies ult for a maximum of 90 seconds. Hijack scales off of Sylas' ult level & his own stats.
Skill Order Explanation
• Kingslayer
is sylas' core ability as it provides damage,sustain & gapcloser enabling sylas to thrive in extended trades & when he is weak (due to the missing health heal scaling).• Chain Lash
is Sylas' main source of wave clear & poke in lane and many people underestimate its damage especially when maxed first. Max first in most matchups• Abscond/Abduct
is sylas' main engage tool however is maxed last as its scaling is inferior to Kingslayer & Chain Lash.• Hijack
embodies sylas' identity as it is what enables him to be so adaptive and fun. In late game with enough CDR the Ultimate cooldown reaches 15-20 seconds allowing it to be used multiple times in a single fight.
Runes
First strike:
Good for snowballing as it provides a ton of gold in the rune tree (First strike, Magical footwear & Treasure hunter) enabling sylas to have a large power spike in the midgame.Sylas is one of the few meeles that can utilise this rune as he can easily engage on an enemy due to his high mobility and has powerful burst damage.Electrocute:
Good VS squishy comps & laners with short trade patterns as sylas can proc it very easily.Conqueror:
improves sylas' extended trades by providing AP & healing & can be stacked easily due to sylas' quick combos.Subrunes:
All the subrunes are pretty self explanitory and are provided in the individual matchup guides.
Summoners
Flash:
Always a mustGhost:
Only taken in the singed matchups so you can counter his roamsIgnite:
Increases kill pressure in lane and can allow sylas to snowball earlyTeleport:
allows for early bases in difficult lanes which drain mana & HP. Allows for Sylas to easily join teamfights in the mid/late game.Cleanse:
Some players take cleanse into the zoe matchup however TP is better statistically and from my own experience
Starting Items
Sapphire Crystal:
Allows Sylas to fix his mana problems early giving him a lot more freedom to start roaming and skirmishing more, especially when paired with futures market as it enables you to get Lost chapter with 800 gold and builds into your item meaning you can hit your mythic power spike before the enemy laner allowing you to snowball early. My personal favourite.Dark seal:
Matches sylas' playstyle perfectly as he wants to snowball early/mid game to dominate each game.Dark seal is extremely gold efficient & allows for early refillable pots making it the perfect buy.Dorans Ring:
provides sylas with a safer early game due to the additional 30 HP compared to dark seal & increased mana regen. Also makes Csing easier due to the bonus physical damage passive.Control wards:
Crucial for sylas to buy early as he is prone to ganks due to his lack of disengage however in most matchups he is usually pushed into tower. The main need for control wards is to allow sylas to roam more aggressively without being spotted making his ganks even more deadly.
Mythics
Everfrost:
has been core on sylas for a while and remains to be the best option due to its CC pairing so well with his kit. Rooting the enemy allows Q1 Q2 and E2 to all be hit with ease with the general combo being E1 Everfrost Q E2. In order to optimise everfrost usage time E2 for the end of Everfrosts Duration.Night Harvester:
Due to recent everfrost root duration nerfs (1.5->1) & Night Harvester Ability Haste Buffs Night harvester is much more viable. Night harvester provides the most base Ability Haste out of any Mythic (also in the mythic passive) & a ton of AP, burst and movement speed allowing sylas to stick onto enemies better. Night Harvester is also strong when paired with first strike as it increases sylas' burst & therefore his income/true dmg increase. The buildpath is also stronger than everfrost as the components empower sylas early allowing him to go for solo kills(unlike kindlegem). The only downside to this build is mana issues and that he spikes later (400 gold more) however building tear or getting blue buff removes this items only downside. Since this item provides so much ability haste Sylas opts for Sorcs instead to further increase his Dmg & true dmg/gold gain from first strike as with his 2 core items sylas has 60 ability Haste (Night Harvester & Cosmic Drive).Liandry's Anguish:
Sylas' go to into tank comps generally built when the enemy team has 3+ ''tanks''. Paired with Demonic Embrace Sylas melts tanks. When going Liandry's Anguish Cosmic drive is a must not only because of the 30 Ability Haste but because Cosmic drives passive 40+AP & 15% MS is extended.Ludens:
Can be built against Squishy teams or when you are solo AP. Provides ability haste mana and lots of dmg/pen. Should always be paired with Sorcs. The full build Lacks ability haste meaning your CDs will be longer than desired. This build also results in you being more squishy due to your reduced HP and healing (lower CD = lower W casts) therefore poking down enemies with Q is optimal before engaging.
Items
Plated Steelcaps:
into heavy autoattack/AD comps.Mercury's Treads:
into heavy CC/Ap comps as most CC disables Sylas' W & E making him vulnerable. Into heavy CC comps sylas should always take Unflinching as its a stupidly strong rune especially for sylas since he likes to skirmish at low HP (improving unflinchings slow resistance and tenacity).Ionian Boots of Lucidity:
Should be Built whenever not going Night Harvester due to the cheap cost & large amount of ability haste.Sorcs:
Should be built when going Night harvester or Ludens.Morellonomicon:
Into heavy healing compsDemonic Embrace:
Into tank compsShadowflame:
into squishy comps or comps with lots of shielding when you are solo APLichbane:
Due to recent buffs is a strong 3/4 item for sylas as he likes to weave autos inbetween his abilities procing the On-hit passive.Void Staff:
Should be built into enemies who are building MRRabadons Deathcap:
Extremely cost efficient Item that should be built 4/5th for the huge AP boost or 3rd is really ahead (stacked mejais)Banshees's veil:
Should be built into comps with alot of MP helps prevent sylas from being picked off & bursted due to the spell shield passive.Spirit visage:
provides more survivability but less damage than Banshee's veil into heavy AP comps therefore should only be built when ahead.Zhonyas:
Should be built into comps with alot of AD helps preven sylas from dying by entering a stasis and allowing his abilities to come back of cooldown allowing for another burst combo. Ideally built into enemy comps with impactful ultimates such as Pyke/Diana/Karthus/lux etc.Seraphs embrace:
Provides sylas with mana, CDR & AP to suffice for when he builds into Night Harvester. Should be completed 3rd.Cosmic Drive:
this item is a must for sylas as it provides him with ability haste, AP & MS fitting right into his playstyle. It is also very easy for sylas to stack and is extremely gold efficent (105% base/174% whilst passive is active)Mejais:
A must for any sylas as it enables him to snowball extremely quickly even when a bit behind if played correctly. The goal of ever Sylas should not be to scale but to snowball and close out the game as sylas' winrate decreases with game length as he is outscaled by many champs who will simply be more impactful than him later on in teamfights due to their high DPS.Muramana:
Fun build - makes ur passive autos much stronger however the buildpath is unoptimal as you have to build AD items before you reach the powerspike. Can be built if your team is mainly AP and needs AD.
Early Game
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Sylas struggles early into most matchups as they are usually ranged and have better wave clear than him, therefore they harass and shove him under tower. Early game Sylas should focus on CSing with Q & E whilst simultaneously poking his opponent, only using W for trading as it doesnt provide good wave clear. On first base you should look to buy a tear and refillables at least as sylas has mana issues early.
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You should always try to close out trades with W for the increased healing effectiveness when low. As stated before Sylas scales extremely well of XP as he has one of the best stat growths out of all the characters, therefore you should gived up CS for XP so that you can stay in lane longer with sufficient HP and mana.
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Sylas reaches his first powerspike at Lvl 3 as he has access to all his abilities making him extremely powerful and able to easily burst through half his opponents HP. The downside to this is that sylas has extreme mana issues early & therefore has to balance CS & trading inorder to ensure he doesnt waste his mana.
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Due to sylas' weak laning phase its important to know how to play each matchup & track enemy CDs to find the optimal time to engage. Your goal is to try to keep up in CS (you will generally be 20/30 CS behind as sylas has an average of 5.5 CS/min whilst most champs have 7/8). This is why First Strike is so crucial in many matchups as it allows you to gain a ton of gold from runes in a gold orientated meta which helps suffice for sylas' poor early Csing.
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To optimize Csing you should aim to Q through the wave hitting the epicenter on the casters & E1/E2 in between the casters and the meeles using the passive to hit all 6 minions to maximise the passive damage & execute. If you have difficulty Csing with Sylas you can opt into an early dorans Ring for the passive physical damage to minions & increased mana however this delays sylas' powerspike.
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Sylas thrives in early scrimishes because although he has mana issues he can easily burst targets. Because of this you should always look to fight the enemy jungler with your jungler. At level 6 you have another larger powerspike as you have access to 5 ultimates. This allows sylas to kill many of his laners if the ult is strong enough.
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You should also start to look for roams and skirmishes to impact other lanes and gain strong ultimates. To reduce Sylas' mana problems in the early game you should always look for honeyfruit (6:00-6:30 spawn time). To help aid this you should ensure you buy an early pink for one of the river bushes.
Mid Game
Sylas' wave clear improves in the mid game as he will have a few points into Q & more AP so it allows him to clear and roam excessively and look for skirmish opportunities. The Phantom Dancer powerspike is insane for sylas' midgame as he'll beat most opponents 1v1 and winout on skirmishes.
Sylas is very hard to shutdown in the midgame if played correctly due to his adaptability throughtout his Ultimate, Kingslayer & Abscond/Abduct. Post 14 minutes you should switch to oracle lens so that you can roam effectively & find areas where enemies have no vision and wait to burst an opponent. Oracle lens also helps you from being potentially picked of by enemies who know your whereabouts.
Sylas excels in the mid game therefore you should communicate well with your team and force a lead throughout solo kills, objectives & skirmishes.
Sylas is very hard to shutdown in the midgame if played correctly due to his adaptability throughtout his Ultimate, Kingslayer & Abscond/Abduct. Post 14 minutes you should switch to oracle lens so that you can roam effectively & find areas where enemies have no vision and wait to burst an opponent. Oracle lens also helps you from being potentially picked of by enemies who know your whereabouts.
Sylas excels in the mid game therefore you should communicate well with your team and force a lead throughout solo kills, objectives & skirmishes.
Late Game
Sylas damage scaling is good however since everyone becomes so strong sylas can easily be bursted so you have to play cautiously. A single misposition could lead to you being shutdown quickly. Sylas' playstyle changes from game to game depending on the ultimates he has access to as he could be the engage tool / carry peeler / DPS carry/ Anti engage tool etc. Learning which ults to use and how to use them effectively comes with knowledge and experience.
Tips & Tricks
- You can R mid E2 (especially useful vs yasuo to instantly knockup and ult)
- You can animation cancel a short range E with W (to burst your targer for clutch healing)
- E cooldown begins after E1 is casted
- Sylas can auto W a target as his E2 chains travel
- Flashing after E2 connects prevents you from being pulled to the target
- Flashing before E2 connects allows you to dodge abilities and still be pulled towards the target
- You can escape over walls using E2 onto camp
- You can W over short walls
- You can use item actives mid E2
- You should utilise your passive to shred towers in the mid/late game whilst simultaneously hitting minions
- E2 allows sylas to ignore CC as he always travels towards his enemy if E2 connects (especially useful vs zoe to reduce her Q dmg when you are slept by closing the gap)
- You can use ults mid E2 which is useful for hiding animations (e.g. pyke R)
- You can walk away whilst E2 is travelling to extend the chain range for additional style points
- W can be used to cancel E1 animation or to cancel E2 pull if used after chains connect
- You can spin in zhonyas by spamming Q to change direction (VERY IMPORTANT)
- You can buffer W then F for an instant W
Bunan
Sylas Guide
In-Depth RLlukaGuide
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