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Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Exhaust
Items
Ability Order
Garden of Thorns (PASSIVE)
Zyra Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Sona
The hardest counter to Zyra in the current meta due to her high sustainability in lane plus decent damage. Almost impossible to beat a W-Maxing Sona in lane unless your ADC is significantly better/stronger in laning phase. Sona's Q is also very easy to use, which makes her hard to deal with as Zyra is squishy. That doesn't mean Sona is unbeatable with Zyra, as Sona is also squishy herself. Focus on landing your E, and try to be passive aggressive.
Introduction
....I’ve been playing on the North American server since Season 2. My main summoner name is lTYTl (with Ls), and my second is Haijengi. I’ve reached Diamond a couple times since season 3 but due to my interest in other games I have almost always elo decayed to Platinum. However, I intend on only playing League of Legends this year to see how high I can climb. As of now, Haijengi is Diamond 2 and lTYTl is Diamond 4. I chose Zyra due to my opinion that Zyra is the strongest support at this moment that I'm writing the guide (theoretically, and yes, even ahead of Lulu). I felt my overall experience of the game and competence would lead to a good guide.
This is also my first content in a series of other League of Legends contents I plan on creating for the next few weeks, so it will be much appreciated if you guys could show some love. If there is something you don't like (or like!) please let me know in the comments section.
I just wanted to add my Patreon page because I plan on making as much League of Legends content for the next month or so. Any of you who are interested can visit freely. As for more guides, I will only be doing them if there are enough requests. This Zyra guide took a good 50+ hours to make, and so I don't really want to spend so much time again if my guide isn't interesting enough. Also, if you donate with a request, I would have no choice but to respond in the quickest and best manners possible.
Patch 7.9 Changes!!
Nothing really changes through this patch for Zyra, and in fact, I could argue she got slightly buffed from several things. First is the introduction to a new magic resist item that works well versus continuous spells, which Zyra isn't about (goodbye Cassiopeia). Armor items generally got buffed, and armor reduction items got nerfed meaning magic damage is that much more important. The update of support items makes Ancient Coin sound nice, but movement speed you get from Frostfang is better. I even emphasized the need for movement speed as Zyra support in my guide, and the change to Spellthief's Edge item lines only helps Zyra. But since the mana regen part got nerfed, Meditation is now a must. The new item changes need some testing and I'll be back to that as soon as possible.
Pros:[+]Numerous Crowd Control [+]Magnificent Auto Attack Motion and Range [+]Harassing Ability with Plants |
Cons:[-]Squishy [-]High Skill Cap [-]Lack of Direct Support Skills for ADC |
.... Zyra is a mage support who has strong damage throughout the entirety of the game (assuming the game is relatively even). Almost all mage supports tend to scale down as the game goes on (because supports can't keep up in gold intake with other roles), except for Zyra, making her the strongest mage support in the game. The only mage support that can scale on par with her is Brand, who is basically a downgraded version of her. Good use of Zyra’s seeds and plants can result in immense pressure in laning phase, and also great peel once you buy Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Her smooth auto attack motion and long range allows for even more harassment during laning phases, and even more damage during team fights. ....The downside of Zyra is that her skill set leaves the door open for eventual feeding. Her lack of mobility skills makes it hard to dodge skill shots as you have to rely on your mechanical skills. On top of that she is squishy, meaning once you get hit by a crowd control skill (i.e. slows, stuns, knock ups, pulls, etc), it’s likely that it will result in you seeing a grey screen. This vulnerability also raises the difficulty of her roaming capabilities as she can easily be caught out of position, and thus easily punished. Due to these downsides, she is very limited in terms of her itemization and the role she can have in the game. There’s really only two things Zyra can do, which is damage and crowd control, but her peels are somewhat lacking due to her lack of direct support skills (such as heals, shields, tanking with your body, etc). This also means that she cannot maximize some of the best support items like Redemption or Locket of the Iron Solari. As a result, it requires some proficiency of the champion to play Zyra support. |
....The reason I consider Zyra the best support right now is strictly because her pros are irreplaceable, and she can overcome her cons somewhat with itemization and play. For example, Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives her immense peeling abilities, while landing her Grasping Roots and Stranglethorns on multiple opponents also provide great peel (the difficulty is that you have to hit your skill shots). As a result, the more skilled you become with Zyra, the better support she becomes. But if she was that good she would be considered broken by conventional wisdom, and she isn’t by most people below master tier (yes, I know I haven’t reached Master, but I had a huge winning streak going from D5 to D2 on Haijengi, and thus had high MMR and faced multiple Challengers and Masters). It also wouldn’t be ban priority #1 from some pro teams for a support in LCK (the best league in the world) if it wasn’t considered one of the best supports in the current meta. However, I want to emphasize that this is all IN THEORY, and will require much skill as a Zyra player to actually carry it out. This guide is to help you reach that level of competence.
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Seeds spawn around Zyra periodically, becoming faster with level and lasting 45 seconds. If an enemy Champion steps on a seed, it dies. Zyra can cast spells near seeds to grow plants. Extra plants striking the same target deal reduced damage. Opinion: This passive is sometimes viewed as a bonus to her skill sets, but is actually very crucial throughout the entire game. The seeds spawn randomly in a circle with Zyra being the center (basically it will spawn around you, sometimes two). Because it is random, it helps to be aware of where and when your seeds will be spawning. Remember that seeds don’t spawn when you sit in a bush. |
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Thick vines spread through the ground and explode into spines, dealing 60/95/130/165/200 (+60% AP) magic damage to enemies within the area. Opinion: The main damaging skill for Zyra throughout the game. Most of Zyra’s damage will come from her Deadly Spines and plants raised by her Deadly Spines. It’s a relatively large rectangle that allows you to hit opponents when they don’t expect to be hit, and summon plants from a relatively far range. |
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Plants a seed, lasting 60 seconds. If an enemy Champion steps on a seed, it dies. Seeds spawned by Rampant Growth grant vision in a small area, and if stepped on they grant True Sight of the enemy champion for 2 seconds. Zyra stores a seed every 20/18/16/14/12 seconds (Max: 8 seeds planted, 2 seeds held) Passive: Zyra’s plants gain 10/20/30/40/50% extra maximum health Garden of Thorns: If Deadly Spines is cast near a seed, a Thorn Spitter grows, dealing 19-127 depending on Zyra’s level (+15% AP) magic damage. A Thorn Spitter has 750 range and lasts for 5-7.5 seconds scaling with Zyra’s level. If Grasping Roots is cast near a seed, it will summon a Vine Lasher that does the same damage as a Thorn Splitter, except with 400 range and a slow effect of 30% for 2 seconds. Opinion: An all-around skill that can help in multiple ways including vision control (either from the seed itself, or the plant you choose to summon), damage, and slows. Personally, I find the level 5 stats (shorter storing time of seed + more health for plants) for Rampant Growth to be much more appealing than level 5 stats for Grasping Roots, hence my preference for Rampant Growth max after Deadly Spines max and 3 levels of Grasping Roots. |
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Sends forward vines dealing 60/95/130/165/200 (+50% AP) magic damage and rooting enemies for 0.75/1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds. Opinion: This is probably the most important skill of all Zyra skills. It doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a leveling priority for Deadly Spines, but rather, how you use this skill, and how many you land will most likely determine your usefulness in the game. It’s critical that you don’t spam or waste this skill due to its long cooldown, which doesn’t go down by leveling the skill (hence my preference in maxing Grasping Roots last). |
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Summons the fury of nature, growing a twisted thicket at target location which deals 180/265/350 (+70% AP) 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. Garden of Thorns: Plants within the thicket are enraged, attacking in a flurry for 150% total damage. Opinion: The skill that turns Zyra from a lane bully to a team-fighting beast. The skill has a large radius, allowing for easy multiple targeting and zoning. In addition, it has decent base damage with great AP ratio, while also buffing the plants significantly, resulting in great damage output. |
Ability Sequence
There are a couple viable ability sequences, and I will be discussing a few. Before I get started though, I want to emphasize three points:
- Always max Deadly Spines (Q) first
- DO NOT max Grasping Roots (E) second and
- Always level one point in each skill by level 3 (the order may differ, explanation below)
Here's why:
- It is in Zyra's interest to max Deadly Spines (Q) in order to maximize damage, because that's essentially why you play Zyra
- It is true that the increase in snare duration as you level Grasping Roots (E) is crucial as level 1 Grasping Roots only snares for 0.75 seconds, which is extremely short. That being said, 1.25 seconds is enough time for your teammates to react, and considering the usefulness of Zyra's seeds, it is crucial that you begin leveling Rampant Growth (W) as soon as you can. In fact, I sometimes don't even raise, after level 1, Grasping Roots (E) until maxing Deadly Spines (Q) AND Rampant Growth (W).
Let's look at the skill sequence for the first three levels through the chart below:
From here, you could take 3 different approaches to leveling your skills:
Approach 1 (Standard Build)
This would be the most standard skill sequence, and is the one I mentioned in the shorter version above. By now you should know my guide revolves around maxing Deadly Spines. By putting 3 levels into Grasping Roots, you have decent snare time, and quickly focus on leveling Rampant Growth which becomes more and more important as the game goes on.
Approach 2 (Alternating Build)
This is the alternating build, in which you raise Rampant Growth and Grasping Roots alternatively after prioritizing Stranglethorns and Deadly Spines. This is a good build for those who can't give up increasing the snare duration of Grasping Roots.
Approach 3 (Damage Build)
Only go this approach when you have enough crowd control abilities in your team, or if you feel you need more damage/vision control compared to crowd control.
.... Zyra is relatively flexible in the types of runes she can use because practically every support rune is useful on her. From those, I believe there are four best builds and differ depending on what type of player you are.
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First Build (Precision with AP)
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Runes
OR
Runes
....This is my go-to build, and really reflects how I believe Zyra should be played. Zyra’s auto attack motion and range is top tier among supports, so why not utilize that? Due to her relatively longer cooldown for her skills, Zyra quite often finds herself frequent opportunities to auto attack opposing champions. This Rune Page empowers her frequently used auto attacks. If you want more early pressure for laning phase, go with 3x Ability Power Quints. If you are worried about the lack of magic pen for mid to late game, go with 2x Ability Power Quints and 1 Magic Pen Quint.
....Since this page maximizes Zyra's auto attacks, it is for more advanced Zyra players who can efficiently mix in auto attacks in between her skills. On the other hand, if you feel that you are a very skilled Zyra player, and like to gamble, then adding one crit mark runes is also nice. There’s no better feeling than critically striking the opposing adc as you first meet them at level 1.
Second Build (Defensive Precision)
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Runes
....This is a similar rune set up to the page above, emphasizing auto attacks once again. You might want to use this page when the opposing team has a few squishy but high damage dealers. I tend to use this page when the enemy support is someone like Brand, Miss Fortune, Vel'Koz, or some troll high damage champion.
Third Build (Full AP Magic Pen)
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Runes
....This is the standard Zyra rune page, which really focuses on strengthening all her damage outputs except auto attacks. If you aren’t very experienced with Zyra, and find auto attacking efficiently difficult, then this is the superior rune page for you.
Fourth Build (Defensive Magic Pen)
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Runes
....Similar to the second rune page, this is just a defensive version of the third. This is the safest build of all four rune pages as it allows you to be able to survive certain mistakes you normally wouldn’t have, plus really maximizes poking from behind compared to the second build.
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In short...
Just take Flash Exhaust, unless you feel healing reduction is necessary from you as a support role either because A. enemy team has a lot of healing or B. there's no one on your team that can get healing reduction during the early-mid game.
Taking Ignite for its damage is quite unnecessary because Zyra can often cast skills to target opponents outside of the Ignite range. Plus you have to remember that you are a support, not a damage dealer, and Exhaust provides Zyra another way to protect the adc.
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Itemization is always going to be somewhat flexible as League of Legends probably has more than million different possible situations as you begin your champion selection. Zyra’s build is thus flexible, yet relatively inflexible compared to other champions (i.e. Sona can, even if less than ideal, make use of Seraph's Embrace/ Lich Bane/ Spirit Visage and other items). Traditional supports can utilize Redemption and Locket of the Iron Solari very efficiently and still be able to choose from ap items. Meanwhile, tank supports have many defensive items to choose from, including Locket of the Iron Solari and Knight's Vow. On the contrary, Zyra should rush the same 3 core items in almost all games, just in different order. There’s only one (well two if you count smurfing and stomping) other situation that would change the itemization sequence and that’s when there is a Soraka on the opposing team ( Morellonomicon for first 3 core). Hence in this section, I will be discussing the different situations for Zyra’s build orders. |
Starting Items
First Back Priorities
Example First Back Buys When Your Gold is
<300g: Health Potions + Control Ward
>300g: Boots + Health Potions / Control Ward OR Ruby Crystal + Health Potions / Control Ward
>500g: Frostfang + Health Potions / Control Ward
>800g: Frostfang + Boots + Health Potions / Control Ward OR Frostfang + Ruby Crystal + Health Potions / Control Ward
~1200g: Frostfang + Ruby Crystal + Boots
>1300g: Frostfang + Sightstone + Health Potions / Control Ward
>1700g: Frostfang + Sightstone + Boots + Health Potions / Control Ward
>2250g: Eye of the Watchers + Boots + Health Potions / Control Ward OR Frostfang + Sightstone + Upgraded Boots + Health Potions / Control Ward
- Notice how I skipped 1850g area, in which you can buy Eye of the Watchers without Boots. If you have that much gold on your first back, then you most likely don’t need Eye of the Watchers yet, and the extra movement speed from Boots is more likely to help you not only survive, but even land more skill shots.
Boots Choice in Order of Preference
This is definitely a rough estimate, but it helps make my point. Most people who play League of Legends aren't constantly aware of these specific safe zones. As a result, simply having more movement speed can increase Zyra's survivability through increasing the area of these safe zones. Furthermore, by becoming capable of more safely deep warding, it increases your team's vision control, leading to more information for your team, and thus more opportunity for better plays. Mobility Boots is also helpful in chasing for initiation, stronger fakes (described below in nuances), and helping your teammates outside of bot lane. Lastly, it's one of the cheapest boots options as the total cost is only 900, and for us supports who beg for gold, that's a very important aspect.
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Hence in most games, I get Mobility Boots and later change to one of the items below, most of the time Sorcerer's Shoes. I usually change Mobility Boots when laning phase is over all across the map, AND it seems like team-fighting will determine the game. |
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Ionian Boots of Lucidity is another great option if you don't prefer to roam. It gives a rare cool down reduction that is lacking from most of Zyra's core items. Plus, the cool down reduction on summoner spells are nice. |
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You can also opt to go with Ninja Tabi if the enemy team has heavy AD OR two (or more) ADCs. |
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I would probably prefer Mobility Boots over Sorcerer's Shoes in almost all situations (to start the game), but if you don't like to roam, and don't need cool down reduction, then Sorcerer's Shoes is for you. |
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If the enemy team has a tons of slow that is bothering you, AND your play emphasizes movement speed, this is the boots to get. |
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In some rare situations, you will face a team with heavy magic damage AND much crowd control. That's when you get Mercury's Treads as Zyra. |
When to Upgrade Your Boots
Ideally, you want to upgrade your Boots before Eye of the Watchers, and after Sightstone and Frostfang. But certain situations require you to mix up the orders, and I'll try to list a few.
- Laning phase ended- meaning Eye of the Watchers gets priority for the extra ward
- You crushed your lane, or in some sort of way have enough gold to upgrade your Boots AND get Frostfang in the first few minutes of the game (i.e. successful invade)- upgrade Boots before getting Sightstone for even more snowball
- Your team is getting crushed, buy Mobility Boots and rush fountain. FOR DEMACIAAA!!!!
Your Third Item
The above lists the three possible items you should target after boots upgrade and Eye of the Watchers in the order of priority.
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Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the BEST core item that a Zyra support can get. There are various reasons:
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Hence You Should Rush Rylai's Crystal Scepter unless...
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If your team has enough Crowd Control abilities, then you don't necessarily have to rush Rylai's Crystal Scepter. You should still eventually get it, as its just too good for Zyra not to get. In this case go for Haunting Guise, and then get Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Try not to finish Liandry's Torment before getting Rylai's Crystal Scepter unless your team is winning hard. |
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The other time you shouldn't rush Rylai's Crystal Scepter is when you have to get Morellonomicon. These situations include, but are not limited to:
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Your Fourth Item
Your Fifth and Sixth Items/Situational Items
(Stars indicate recommendation level)
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This would be your typical fifth item, and should always get it unless the enemy team has almost no magic resist items. |
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Get this item when the enemy team is heavy in AD, such as a Riven top, Lee Sin jungle, Zed mid, or if one or more of the opposing team's AD damage dealer is fed. It's also good in trying to ignore certain burst skills like Syndra's Unleashed Power, Vladimir's Hemoplague, Fizz's Chum the Waters, or other abilities. |
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I only consider Luden's Tempest as my final item in most games, due to the extra damage and movement speed, along with the proc through plants. You could get this as your 5th item if the game is going very well, but it's not good to get when you're losing because it's expensive to combine. |
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I feel like I've almost never gotten Rabadon's Deathcap as a Zyra support, but you could get it to make a statement that you are better than your opponent, by miles. |
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Similar to Rabadon's Deathcap, this is a very snowbally item, and I don't remember actually getting it before. But it's always an option in the early game for any AP champions who plan on dominating. Hence, it's not really a fifth or sixth item, but I didn't really have anywhere else to discuss it. |
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One of my favorite last items to get with Zyra support. I usually get this near the end of games, in which Zyra does tons of damage but also squishy as hell. By getting Guardian Angel, it mitigates Zyra's squishiness, while also granting you a revive. Hence it allows you to be more aggressive, and throw your body for your teammates. |
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Great item to get if you need magic resist. Zyra doesn't have many good options when she needs magic resist. You should never get Banshee's Veil as mage supports, it's better to get other items and try to position better, and Zyra has no use for Spirit Visage. Abyssal Mask isn't that good for Zyra either since she does a lot of damage outside of Abyssal Mask's radius. Thus it leaves Locket of the Iron Solari as Zyra's go to magic resist item, when she needs it. The shield is sort of like a bonus. |
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Only go Randuin's Omen if the enemy teams damage dealers consists of substantial amount of AD while also having two or more critical damage dependent champions. This would include, most famously, Yasuo all adcs, and any other champions that are building critical items. |
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I have never gone Banner of Command on Zyra but I guess you could get this item for some extra defensive stats, AND if enemy top laner can't really clear waves too well with auto attacks. |
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Relatively troll item if you don't know how to wave control around the map... and even then it's quite troll for support... but you could go this item if you feel like your team needs extra pressure on lanes. |
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This is an okay item to get when the enemy team is heavy in AD, and you know that your adc is very good. |
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Get this item if enemy team has several dangerous crowd control abilities AND if you know that one of your carries are very good. |
Importance of Rylai's Crystal Scepter Examples!
Video 1
This is an example that exemplifies why I argue that Rylai's Crystal Scepter is OP on Zyra. Not many people calculate the slow from Zyra's plants, and it leads to mistakes (like this Irelia's death).
Video 2
This video shows how frustrating a Zyra with Rylai's Crystal Scepter could be. The enemy team is trying to make a push, but is forced to stop because of a support poking from the side.
If you are a support player in League of Legends, and you are serious about climbing, then you HAVE to know that you should almost always be carrying at least one Control Ward any time you can after the first few minutes of the game. One of the most essential, and perhaps the most important, job of a support is vision control. Yet a lot of people play the support role like carry roles, trying to rush their core items as soon as possible, even if it is at the expense of Control Wards. If that's you, rushing core items over vision items, then the support role ain't for you. I'm sorry if that's harsh, and I'm not going to act like my words are law, this is just my opinion.
As an example, try to search the leaderboards on op.gg or lolking.net, and look at the past games of the top support players in the world. You will see that they buy, in most situations, at least 4 to 5 Control Wards a game. That may not seem like much, but sometimes, they buy over 10, and rarely, even over 15!.
Here's my match history as an example:
(Yes, that's two support Ezreal games in Diamond :P)
Q: But isn't 16 Control Wards in one game too much?
Okay, let's do a little bit of math. If you buy 16 Control Wards, that's 16x75, which is 1200g. For this practice, I'm going to just compare 16 Control Wards to Needlessly Large Rod. Let's say that you didn't buy Control Wards, saved your gold, and instead just straight up bought Needlessly Large Rod. What this means is that, in the time you were saving gold, you missed 16 opportunities to place a ward for your team, AND 16 opportunities to get RID of enemy team's vision.
Vision control is almost half the game in League of Legends. It's the one aspect that keeps giving your team information about the other team, and that allows you to either plan ahead or react faster compared to your opponent. Support's job is to fight for this vision control (obviously, not alone, but it's mainly the support's job) to give your team's carries a better chance to, actually carrying. It's really not the support's job to carry games through fighting, and again, if that's what you like to do, you should probably play another role.
This doesn't mean that you spend your Control Wards mindlessly. But what this does mean is that sometimes, even if you have a Control Ward placed somewhere around the map, you still need to use one from your inventory. These situations usually are, but not limited to:
- When your team is trying to obtain an objective (such as Baron), but there are certain spots that you and your team missed using Oracle Lens on. Don't wait for cooldown, rather, use your Control Ward.
- When your team is fighting around an objective and your opponent is erasing your Eye of the Watchers wards. Yet you realize you spent all four charges, and now the map is blind, or somewhat blind. Just use your Control Ward like a ward if your team is in good conditions and wants to keep pushing/fighting.
Basic Combinations
W Rampant Growth + Q Deadly Spines
W Rampant Growth + E Grasping Roots
Q Deadly Spines + W Rampant Growth
E Grasping Roots + W Rampant Growth
These are the basic combinations that Zyra uses. You're placing her seed while casting either Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots. The difference between the first two and the last two is when you are casting W Rampant Growth. You should get used to placing your seeds after casting either Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots in order to react to opposing champion movements, and thus for better placements for plants.
Advanced Combinations
E Grasping Roots + Q Deadly Spines + W Rampant Growth
E Grasping Roots + W Rampant Growth + Q Deadly Spines + W Rampant Growth
E Grasping Roots + Q Deadly Spines + 2W Rampant Growth
These are basically different compositions of the combos above. You won't always have two seeds stored, unlike practice mode, so the first combination is probably the most used one of the three. E Grasping Roots + Q Deadly Spines + W Rampant Growth maximizes damage when the opposing champion has an escape ability due to Q plants' superior range. It's also the easiest to use, and also much superior than EWQ once you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter. EWQW is all around useful during team fights when you have two seeds stored to raise both plants, and EQWW is the best damaging combo once you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter.
Ult Combinations
There are several ways you could incorporate Zyra's Stranglethorns into her combos. One thing you should ALWAYS be aware of is that you should try to raise at least one plant (ideally two or more) when using Stranglethorns. Try not to use Stranglethorns by itself, as you'll notice that without Zyra's enraged plants, it doesn't do as much damage as you would like. Incorporate Stranglethorns into the advanced combos above by using your ultimate once the plants are set up. The following are couple other ways you could use Stranglethorns.
E Grasping Roots + R Stranglethorns + Q Deadly Spines + 2W Rampant Growth
The idea behind this combination is to snare enemy team, use your Stranglethorns for crowd control, and maximize damage through Deadly Spines and enraged plants. You could mix up when to raise plants, for instance E + W + R + Q + W is practically the same concept except having a slowing plant. The decision is up to you.
R Stranglethorns + Q Deadly Spines + 2W Rampant Growth +
E Grasping Roots
This combination is what you use when you don't have to use Grasping Roots for crowd control before using Stranglethorns. For instance, your team could have landed area crowd control, such as Galio's Shield of Durand, or Amumu's Curse of the Sad Mummy. In such cases, you can just go ahead and use Stranglethorns first, use Deadly Spines for damage and Rampant Growth for plants, then use Grasping Roots when enemy team comes down for extra crowd control.
As some of you may have noticed, Zyra has a lot of possible combinations due to her flexible use of Rampant Growth. Hence what I listed isn't everything, but contains most of the concepts behind how you should use Zyra's skills. Even though this may seem a little complicating, with enough practice, you guys should have no problem using Zyra's combos.
Level 1 Passive Use
Zyra is capable of immediately applying pressure on lane from level 1 by using her passive. Ask your jungler if you don't have to leash, or if the jungler can start from top side. If the jungler says yes, go to bot lane early to plant your seeds. Some of it will disappear but it's okay.
If you wait, and land your Deadly Spines...
As you can see, it's not broken to give you an automatic win, but it is still substantial damage to give your lane a slight lead (which you can snowball).
Even if you don't land Deadly Spines...
You can miss Deadly Spines, and still cause pressure early on by pushing the wave, allowing you and your ADC to hit level 2 first.
The Importance of Auto Attacks in Lane
I've already mentioned a couple times on how good Zyra's auto attack motion and range is. It makes harassing certain ADCs, like Lucian or Vayne, fairly easy. For instance...
In addition, even if you meet a long range ADC like Caitlyn, you can still use Zyra's auto attacks by attacking minions, or the support (in this case Janna), to control wave (in this case shove for faster level 2).
“Fakes”
"Fakes" are what I call certain randomized movements that you can give out in order to more easily dodge, and thus also burn, opponent skill shots. This is maximized when you mix it up with your real intended movements, such as using Deadly Spines + Rampant Growth, or simply, just auto attacking. It's another reason why I put so much emphasis on Zyra's auto attacks, because unlike skills with cool downs, "faking" an auto attack can be used at any moment. For example...
Even though it looks like Thresh is targeting Twitch, this Death Sentence was baited through Zyra's auto attack pressure, and repeated movements (fakes) for roughly 2 seconds, tempting Thresh to throw his Death Sentence at that spot.
This might look like I reacted to Brand's Pillar of Flame, but it's actually a result of utilizing fakes. Well, I did react in a way from the sound and motion of Brand but I decided to move upward even before seeing the skill animation of Pillar of Flame because it was a spot that I haven't been to yet. If I break down the sequence, it's rather simple. Zyra auto attacks Caitlyn-> Zyra fakes auto attacking Caitlyn -> Zyra fakes auto attacking Brand -> Brand misses Pillar of Flame.
In summary, "fakes" are quite advanced skill sets that require you to understand the opponent's skills in order to bait them out. It's not for everyone to use, and probably is more for higher elo players.
Using Zyra Plants to Block Skills
It's also important to remember that Zyra's plants can block skill shots (not just in early game, but throughout the game). For example, it could block Rocket Grab, Sear, Winter's Bite, Volley, 90 Caliber Net, Missile Barrage, Mystic Shot, Inner Flame, Death Sentence, and so on.
Death Sentence block...
90 Caliber Net block, saving Lucian...
Sear block...
When to Watch for Ganks and Roams
Typically, you want to be especially careful for ganks around 3:00~to 3:30 area, and the 4 minute marks. If you know that the enemy jungler started bot side, it's highly unlikely you'll get ganked until the 4 minute mark. But you want to be careful around 3:30 just in case the enemy team jungler is doing full clear bot side, and then ganking. If you know the enemy jungler started top, you want to be careful around the 3:30 to 4 minute mark, and you'll be safe around 3 to 3:30.
This video actually shows a situation in which Evelynn counter-jungelled Ivern's red because he was caught at top side. She got caught in our vision though, which made us slightly more careful. In these kind of situations, fight your lane assuming it's going to be a 2v3, especially against Evelynn since she's invisible. That's why I save Exhaust until the very end, because I'm scared Evelynn might show up any time. She shows up rather late (I feel like she might have been waiting for me to use Exhaust since the enemy team bot lane goes aggressive all of the sudden), and it ends up in huge victory for us.
This is immediately after the first video. Any time you happen to kill the enemy team jungler and take a buff, you always have to becareful of a re-gank, especially double buffs, because the jungler is going to want the buffs back. Despite being aware of that, I stay around because I know that with my Flash, there is a potential outplay even 2v3 since enemy team bot and Evelynn just burned all their summoners. [[Evelynn] does come back, but since we are aware of that, we get free kills again.
In this game, we knew that Nidalee started top side because their bot lane came straight to lane and began pushing. So I try to stay alert from 3:30ish, and ward as soon as my trinket comes back up. What do you know, I run into Nidalee (in hindsight I should have just killed the crab, but I got hungry for those buffs).
If you haven't seen the jungler gank yet, you always have to be careful around the 4 minute mark, especially if the enemy jungler can lane gank well, like Nautilus.
Deep Warding
Generally, this concerns warding the enemy jungle as far out as you can. There are couple sweet control ward spots that people don't regularly check early on, but I'll start with an Evelynn special.
When the enemy team has Evelynn, you want to ward either one of the opposing team's jungle camp, or a jungle route of Evelynn so that she gets caught soon after killing a camp.
This video shows me going deep to place a Control Ward. There are certain pre-conditions in order for you to deep ward. First is whether your adc is safe or not, and in this video, I can tell she is safe because there's a huge wave going towards enemy bot lane. Second is whether you know it's safe to go in there, and knowing I can only run into their jungler, I go in, place the Control Ward, pop the seeds and get out. That's a win folks.
If you don't have the time or safety to go that deep, then just ward somewhere around mid. It's still relatively a deep ward considering how early you do it, it's just the safest deep ward possible early on. For instance...
When to Roam
There are two conditions that you HAVE to meet before actually roaming. First, your adc must have some sort of safety when you leave to roam, whether that be knowing the enemy team isn't around bot through vision, or successful kills at bot. Second, you must have team backup ready to wherever you are planning on roaming to. It's pointless for support to roam when there is no team backup.
The video above shows a situation in which both conditions are met. We kill both Jinx and Leona, giving us an easy roam opportunity towards mid. Clearly the back is there as I go with Lee Sin, and Kennen is ready to help.
Again, I go to roam because both conditions are met. Since Jinx dies, our adc is relatively safe, especially once we see Nidalee around mid. I also notice she hasn't done red buff yet, which is why I go wait there. When you go roam, remember that it doesn't HAVE to be mid.
Protecting Mid Lane
Once one of the bot turrets go down, it's in your team's best interest to start grouping mid either to defend your mid turret, or attack the opponent's (assuming one or both are up). Mid turrets are essential because it's like a person's spine. Mid lane is the most used lane when moving around the map, so having your turrets up helps controlling vision massively. So don't be afraid to use Stranglethorns if it's needed in order to protect your turret. For example:
So if you see your mid laner trying to go back home (like Annie in this next video), try to help defend the turret until they get back.
You also don't have to just purely defend. Any time you see an opportunity to harass the opposing mid laner, like Viktor here, go for it. It's only helping your own team.
Pressing on your Advantages
By the time the game goes to mid game, you should have at least one role winning (or even). If you are all losing then it's going to call for a "trap" situation (explained below) or just a surrender. You always want to work around your strengths, even split pushing, in which you want to make it easier for your split pusher by warding for him or her. Here are some easily recognizable situations:
Draven and I start moving towards top side because dragon and bot first turret is down. Accordingly, Fizz goes to bot, and the rest of our team wants to get the top first turret. While I try to ward around the top jungle, I run into Evelynn trying to clear wraiths. When you are clearly ahead, make sure you don't make it easy for the enemy jungler to farm. Try to take away any gold you can, even 10g is enough to frustrate the opponent (which is an intangible that works towards your teams favor).
This is shortly after the previous video. We end up moving towards topside, and knowing that the enemy team's bot is trying to push the bot turret, we make moves aggressively at top (since worst case scenario is 4v3, still in our team's favor). Every single one of the enemy team makes small mistakes, which snowballs for our team immensely. We eventually take out an inhibitor, and the enemy team should have grouped to defend top.
There are a couple noteworthy events going on in this video. For some reason, our team Annie and Twitch was fighting. I'm sure many of you experienced something similar, and my advice is, just don't chat. Even if you're trying to alleviate the situation, 3rd party input rarely has any impact in what's going on. You could say a phrase or two, like "could you please ignore each other and just play for win? TT" But anymore isn't really going to help.
Anyway, back to explaining what's going on. When your team is winning and there's dragon spawning, you could always set up traps by controlling vision. Most times, at least one champion will try and come ward, and sometimes, they will move as a team. If your team is positioned in the right way, it could lead to huge team fight victories (if we had Annie in this video, it most likely would have been an ace leading to baron/inhibitor). This is what I would call a "trap" play as well, which leads me to...
“Traps”
Traps refer to setting up a certain situation in which you throw something unexpected at the opponent. There are many ways to do this, so let's focus on some of the major concepts.
Using Yourself as Bait
Let me explain my thought process here. A dangerous team fight breaks out for our team, since Twitch is coming from base. So I use Stranglethorns to zone out the enemy, while placing a ward to get vision on the opposing team. Once I place the ward down, I only see Nautilus and Thresh, meaning Xerath and Lucian must be somewhere near their second mid turret. Knowing that Twitch is invisible and nearby, along with the fact that my health is rather low (and the enemy team is hungry for gold), I use myself as bait to see whether Xerath or Lucian will run down mid. Both of them do, and so both of them die, and it leads to our team fight victory.
Playing Around Vision
I actually came alive shortly before this video starts, making the enemy unaware of where I could be. So I run down mid, and knowing that I couldn't possibly have been spotted by the opposing team, I use Oracle Lens to see how deep I can go. I also choose to go top side because 3 of the opposing team shows at bot side of the jungle, while shortly after Caitlyn shows up mid and Darius comes from bot side as well. Initially, I moved towards top side of the jungle to clear vision, and place our own vision wards, but it turns out there is no vision at all by the enemy team; leading to a "trap" play. I actually died previously to Lissandra Flash Frozen Tomb play, so I didn't expect her Frozen Tomb to be back up again. Luckily, my Stranglethorns goes through before I die, and it leads to our team's ace.
Using Your Team as Bait
As the video starts, you can see Warwick moving towards dragon from bot side of the jungle, except dragon isn't up yet. Since Lucian is alone, I figured Warwick and others might make a move at Lucian. Fortunately, Warwick comes alone and is easily picked off. It might seem that simple, but there's another reason this happened rather easily, and that's vision control. The enemy team has no idea where Gangplank and Zyra is, making them indecisive. So even though initially Warwick had Janna and Lissandra around him, they choose to go towards Fizz and Gangplank once they get spotted out. On the other hand... we know what Warwick chose to do, and what happened to him. This is why vision control is so crucial in this game, especially in solo que in which communication is bound to be rough.
The most important thing to remember as Zyra support during team fights is to stay near, or next to your carries. Although Zyra's Grasping Roots is a decent initiation tool, you don't want to be caught out of position and deleted (easily). Instead, focus on peeling for your carries with all your skills, while doing the most damage you can (hence mixing auto attacks whenever you can).
As you can see, I'm constantly staying near by Orianna at first, then use Stranglethorns and Grasping Roots to save Lee Sin. It's also very important to be aware of who in your team is in danger of dying. In this case, I'm aware that Jayce is in a dangerous position, and so I'm ready to peel for him if needed, which is how my Grasping Roots is eventually used efficiently. Another important thing to remember: you don't have to throw your body to peel for your carries (it's really not that efficient considering how fast Zyra can die, although, sometimes it is necessary- but that's very rare). When Talon comes down, I know there's really nothing I can do as some of my skill shots are on cool down, and thus try to get out of range of Talon's ultimate. Remember that as a Zyra player, you don't want to take unnecessary damage as it is especially punishing for her.
General Stranglethorns Usage
You want to use Stranglethorns not really as a damaging skill (although you could), but more of a crowd control ability. Ideally, you want to place it in an area of pathing that the enemy has to go through in order to reach your carries. In other words, it should be between your carries and the enemy team's carries (or assasins).
Most of the time, you don't want to use Stranglethorns on just one enemy champion. But there are definitely situations in which you could, like the video above. I'm aware that our team is grouped up around the top side of enemy team's red, while the enemy team is split up. Thus I focus on peeling off Caitlyn, and even use Stranglethorns. This effectively takes Caitlyn out of the fight ( Janna as well as she becomes confused in what to do), and without their adc, the enemy team loses the team fight lopsidedly.
BONUS: Zyra Stranglethorns Damage Use
This is an example of how strong Zyra's damage could be in the late game.
Zyra's Wave Clear and Defense Abilities
Other than team fighting, there is one more aspect Zyra excels at during the late game, and that's defending through exceptional wave clear and poke for a support. Combined with Rylai's Crystal Scepter and other core items, Zyra can hold off enemy team pushes fairly well. This gives your team advantage in the sense that they can leave Zyra to hold off more than one person to use number advantage somewhere else on the map. For example:
Zyra can really frustrate the enemy team once she has some core items. Those plants become very annoying once Zyra has Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Liandry's Torment. This allows Zyra to hold off the enemy team, which is precisely how our team defends successfully versus the enemy team with baron buff.
This game was very unfortunate, Fizz was being toxic for some reason, and I wasn't in the mood to take it in order to win (although in my defense, I was just arguing we weren't losing the game because of me, which was true, but in hindsight I should have just not responded to this toxicness at all). I guess I'm not 100% mentally stable, and need to work on that. But the video still does show a good example of Zyra's defensive potential in the late game.
This is color coded to represent warding spots relative to time and team side.
Blue team warding spots go from light blue (early game), to blue (mid game) to black (~end game).
Purple team warding spots go from yellow (early game), to orange (mid game) to red (~end game).
The warding spots with white lines next to them indicate early game Teleport wards for your team.
These aren't the only nor are they the absolute warding spots through out the game. These are generally good spots to have vision around. Ideally, you want to place wards in pathways that the opposing team frequently uses. If you are new to League of Legends, or new to the Support role, you can use this map as a general guide. If you are an experienced support player, use this map to understand the general important areas, and know that ward placements can always change. Also, try not to place wards close to each other, and use smart ward placements to cover a wide area of the map.
Example
This is an example of a quite advanced ward placement to avoid the enemy team Sweeping Lens/ Control Warding your ward and getting rid of it.and Stranglethorns as a counter-engagement tool rather than engaging/offensive tool.
Hence baits through "traps" and "fakes" are essential for Zyra.
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