Hello guys,

This is as you will notice, my first guide ever. Maybe it contains a lot of faults, is written horrible, or is extremely boring. I'd like to hear your feedback.l
First off, I want to tell something about myself: I am Ikheetluc14, also probably my more common name: Deadric Princes. I, as you may have noticed in the lines up here, love comma's. They just add so much more sense into your sentences. Also I am from Holland, so already my apologies for my bad English. Also remember that this is all my opinion, and that there are much more ways to play Zyra
This guide will hopefully help you with playing, and I hope you enjoy!

Why would you even pick Zyra? She is worthless, is only good at pushing and supporting and really sucks...bla, bla, bla.
YOU WILL NOT SAY THIS AGAIN AFTER YOU LEARN TO PLAY HER!
Zyra is one insanely bursty mage, but not many people know this. I learned to play her from a famous Youtuber called Anklespankin, so all credits go to him. But she is really rewarding when you learn to play her!

The runes!

But why?
I will explain the runes 1 by 1 and give my opinion about what is best. Also I will say why I take this and not something else.

This mark is really awesome. It gives magic penetration, and when you have 9 of them you can penetrate trough half of their base resistance. Why do I take this over Greater Mark of Ability Power? Just because I personally find magic penetration much more useful than flat Ap early game. And late game this little bit wont even matter, while magic penetration will so defenitely matter.

and are just the best seals and glyphs at this moment. This gives you the resistance to survive the early game. But why not Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration? Because Zyra has pretty low mana costs, and you dont spam you abilities early game anyway.

This thing is the best creation (after Zyra) that Riot ever made. They give so much more than the Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration for any Ap mid. They just give 15 Ap early game! Isn't that awesome?!

Alternative

Since patch 4.5 there have been some nerfs to the Greater Seal of Armor and the Greater Glyph of Magic Resist so you could take Greater Seal of Scaling Health so that you can still have that tankyness. Or you could take Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction to reach that 40% late game.

These items are a pretty normal thing for Ap casters. Although this is pretty easy to see, I will explain it anyway.

Starting
x2
This is a good start. You will have mana-sustain, Ap and health. This will make you a little bit more durable.

Preferrable 1st back
or ,
This really depends on if you are using loads of mana. When u are, buy Chalice of Harmony. When u are not buy Fiendish Codex. The Stealth Ward is so that u have vision of everything. And the Boots so that you can get to lane much faster and you can dodge skills better.

Then start working towards:

These items give you an insane damage output, while in teamfight your plants ought to die. Your ult will deal enough damage to at least half the carries. Zhonia's Hourglass is awesome when in a teamfight, because your abilities continue while in statue state.

Then

This gives you the tankyness and the penetration to sustain trough a teamfight while still doing damage.

Other items:

These are really situational.
Abyssal Mask: When playing against an Ap heavy team.
Rod of Ages: When you have a hard laning phase, or you want to become more tanky. When buying this you should pick up a catalyst of the protector early]]
Void Staff: When they start to stack magic resistance or you think you don't deal enough damage yet.
Will of the Ancients: Early pretty good, pick this when you are against a poke mage, so
that you can sustain. But sell it later on in the game.
These items should be replaced with Zhonia's hourglass or Rylai's Crystal Scepter

Here I will discuss the skillset that Zyra has and what every skill does.

Rise of the Thorns: Upon death, Zyra returns to her plant form for up to 8 seconds. After 2 seconds, she can use any learned ability to fire a Vengeful Thorn in a line towards the cursor, dealing 80 + (19 x level) true damage to every enemy it passes through.

This is her passive. When you die you become a plant that can fire one skillshot with any ability-bound key. This has a long range and deals true damage. Very usefull for sniping off enemies when they are almost dead, and you are. In teamfights, when you die, wait till they are low and try to snipe on of the carries. When they are not getting low, just try to deal damage to the carries.

deadly bloomDeadly Bloom:Active: After a short delay, thorns shoot from the ground at a target location, dealing magic damage to enemies within the area.
Rampant Growth:If Deadly Bloom hits a seed, a Thorn Spitter grows that lasts for 10 seconds. Thorn Spitters have a long ranged attack and deal 23 + (6.5 × level) (+ 20% AP) magic damage.

This is just flat AOE damage, that can really add up when stacking Ap. When this hits a Rampant Growth seed, a Thorn Spitter grows. This is a ranged plant that deals damage. I max this first just because of the damage.

Rampant Growth:Passive: Grants bonus cooldown reduction.
Active: Plants a seed at a target point for 30 seconds, granting sight of a small area around it. Zyra generates seeds over time, can hold up to 2 seeds, and cannot plant more than 4 seeds at a time.
After 1.5 seconds, if an enemy champion steps on a seed, it will be destroyed, but they will be revealed by true sight for 2 seconds.
If Zyra's spells hit a seed they will sprout into a plant, automatically attacking nearby enemies for 10 seconds. Plant damage is based on Zyra's level. Extra plants striking the same target deal 50% less damage.

This is Zyra's all famous seed planter. The seeds can be affected with spells. But they can also be used to scout brushes. I max this second, because of the cooldown reduction that it gives.( Rampant Growth+ Athene's Unholy Grail+masteries=35% cooldown reduction.

Grasping Roots: Active: Sends vines forward in a line, dealing magic damage and rooting enemies hit for a short duration.
Rampant Growth: If Grasping Roots hits a seed, a Vine Lasher grows that lasts for 10 seconds. Vine Lashers have a short ranged attack that deals 23 + (6.5 × level) (+ 20% AP) magic damage and slows enemies hit by 30% for 2 seconds.

This is her root. I max this spell last, just because it doesn't scales that well. When combined with Rampant Growth a Vine Lasher grows. This one is melee but also slows.

Stranglethorns:Acitve: Summons the fury of nature, growing a twisted thicket at the target location which deals magic damage to all enemies in the area as it expands. After 2 seconds, the vines snap upward knocking enemies into the air for 1 second.
Rampant Growth: Plants within the thicket are enraged, increasing their attack speed by 50%.

Take a point in this whenever you can. It deals a high amount of damage and knocks-up after a short delay. When combined with Thorn Spitters or Vine Lashers they gain increased attack speed, and get bigger.

Skill order

Zyra's skill oder is pretty straight forward: start with deadly bloom because it has the best base damage. At level 2 you can take Rampant Growth or Grasping Roots depending on the enemy jungler and your lane opponent. When the enemy jungler has a fast clear time ( Shyvana), or when your lane opponent has a gap closer ( Jax). At level 3 you take the spell that you don't have a point in yet. Then start maxing deadly bloom, because this adds much damage to your combo and is good for harrassing]]. Then max Rampant Growth for the cooldown reduction and for the lower seed recharge rate. Max Grasping Roots last.
In some situations you might want to take Grasping Roots first (invading), then you take deadly bloom 2nd and Rampant Growth 3rd.

Your skill sequence is really important. When 1v1 you will you the exact combo as in teamfights, only in teamfights try to hit the Ad/Ap carry. I will say the combo and then explain why and what everything does. It's also really important to use your Stranglethorns on the plants, because this will add a lot of damage.

Lead up with Grasping Roots, when this misses it'sprobably lost for you. Just before you hit Grasping Roots you place one Rampant Growth in the path of the Grasping Roots. Then use your deadly bloom and place a Rampant Growth in it. And follow up with your Stranglethorns and Ignite.
So shortly: E-W-Q-W-R/ Grasping Roots- Rampant Growth- deadly bloom- Rampant Growth- Stranglethorns

Warding is really important, no matter what position you're in. Wards win games, seriously!
There are two types of wards: Stealth Wards and Vision Wards. When warding it is really important on wich place you ward. I will now show you some nice warding spots.

Vision Wards are pink!
Stealth Wards are green!
This when you are playing on blue side. When playing on purple side, you want to do the same, but then from the other side. The brushed by the buffs of the enemy team are really nice to ward. Because usually people pass trough there, and so you can see them coming.
The bruses next to your lane are also usefull, because they tell you if someone is trying to gank you.
The pink wards are so that your lane stays warded for a long time, because not many people pass trough there.
You arent supposed to ward everything at the same time. And you have your trinket too!

Farming with Zyra is fairly easy. You just last hit the creeps. She has a pretty fast auto-attack for a mid-laner. But there is also a way to shut down your mid-lane opponent: by growing 2 Thorn Spitters inside their minion wave, they will likely be pushed back, because they don't want to take damage from your Thorn Spitters. By doing this, the lane will go push, and when you are up against some sort of champion that have a hard time farming under tower ( Nidalee, LeBlanc), this is an easy way to shut them down. Also when you have the time, and you have bought your Chalice of Harmony you can get farm really easily. Just push a wave with Deadly Bloom and Grasping Roots, and then use deadly bloom+ Rampant Growth on the Wraiths. After that farm another wave, and do the other Wraiths.

Zyra is one awesome champion. Many people see her as a support, although this is fairly strong,I don't think she was ment to be one. That's why I show you how to play Zyra as a proper mid laner. When thinking of Zyra's playstyle, think about Lux, but with better split-pushing abilities and more teamfight CC.
That's why you should play Zyra mid.
Go ahead, who is going to stop you? At least it isn't me!

22/4/2014

~The guide was created!

23/4/2014

~Added and fixed some things!