Hello fellow league players. I am NorthernRedStar, currently a diamond –ranked player who has mains the support role. I absolutely love playing uncommon champions and testing out different champions for the support role. One of my season 3 favorites, Zyra was originally intended to be a mid laner with a mix of qualities of both burst and sustained DPS. She was pretty popular in season 3 thanks to her fabulous crowd control and vision-granting plant mechanics. Recently, she’s become a lot less common sight but remains one of the best poke supports in both soloQ and premade 5v5.

Pros;

+ Mana cost -efficient skills with Rampant Growth + Lots of CC - AoE lockdown + Good burst and sustained damage + Long-ranged skills and attacks + Seeds and plants are flexible

The main reason to play Zyra is her superb amount of AoE CC and damage, which is very high class for a support. Zyra is also flexible in the aspect that she can function as a peeler or an initiating burst-mage that aims to obliterate and create chaos in the enemy backlines. Zyra also scales extremely well and has notably less problems managing her mana pool than other supports, which opens up more itemization options.

Deadly Bloom

Cons;

- No sustain, no shields - Slow MS and no mobility skills - Skillshot -reliant - One of the squishiest mages in the game - Plants' AI can be annoying sometimes.

On the flipside, Zyra has trouble with extremely mobile champions due to the nature of her kit and lack of innate mobility. She's also extremely unforgiving, so you absolutely have to hit your spells if you want to be effective and keep your allies and yourself alive. Despite having the advantage of being able to spawn multiple pets, their AI can create situations where you end up doing the exact opposite of intended action.

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MARKS		SEALS		GLYPHS		QUINTS
> A large part of Zyra's early poke attributes to her plants' attacks. Pure magic penetration also equips her with better burst. > Stay more relevant throughout the game (you won't be auto-attacking much later in the game).		> Safer early game trading. You will be able to take roughly 2 extra basic attacks or 1 spell. > The longer you're alive, the better peel you provide. Zyra has a base HP pool of 429 health at level 1 without runes or masteries.		> Zyra's plants have a low AP-scaling. You get more damage out of magic penetration than flat ability power. > Scale better for late game, especially in conjunction with items and your ultimate's attack speed steroid.		> Taking two to three armor quints will provide you with much needed protection from the enemy AD carry. Otherwise, it's rather easy to burst you down at early levels. > The one quintessence can be replaced with either AP or magic penetration.

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.xxxIf you're against a shorter-ranged matchup, or don't own pure magic penetration marks.

greater mark of hybrid penetration

If you're not familiar with the champion or just want to survive the lane phase.

More mid laner -oriented, leaves you squishy early on.

Cheesy, risky and can't be used against mobile, heavy burst lanes.

Against another heavy-hitting poke support with dangerous range, as issuch as Vel'Koz.

Alternative to magic penetration, raises your early game's burst damage slightly.

OFFENSE

The offensive tree grants many deadly assets, like extra 6% hybrid penetration and the Arcane Blade and Havoc –masteries. While Zyra is primarily picked for her lockdown potential, she is perfectly capable of duelling people on her own and adding more points into offense can reinforce that. However, you gain less gold and lose 5% CDR and the effects of Wanderer which leaves you with very slow movement speed. You can alternatively take more AD from the Offensive tree, and swap Summoner's Insight for Alchemist and Culinary Master to gain sturdier potions. Phasewalker is also a possible choice for safer recall sessions.

UTILITY

OFFENSE LlOlL

The most common page I run on Zyra. Grants a decent boost to your early game damage while raising your gold income by significant amount. You'll acquire items noticeably faster when you take advantage of Bandit , Greed and Scavenger -masteries. You also start with 10% cooldown reduction and have lower summoner spell cooldowns, which may save your live on some occasion every few games. As always, Wanderer functions as a substitute for the pre-nerf Mobility Boots. As icing on the cake, it can help you get in lane faster and possibly escape tight situations. You could swap Arcane Mastery for Martial Mastery if you're against a low-range bot lane.

UTILITY

OFFENSE/DEFENSE LlOlL LlOlL LlOlL LlOlL LlOlL

4/5/21 is a page I usually use on someone like Lulu, Nami or Janna, but it can also work for Zyra. It grants you both 10% CDR and increased survability, with the added resource sustains from defensive and utility trees. I'd add magic penetration glyphs to accompagny the lack of early AP without sacrificing as much damage. If you want to focus less on damage, and more on utility and CC, this is your page. I'd recommend starters and those you want to take Zyra for a test to try this page out, since it's quite a safe choice. R E K

UTILITY

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Exhaust Exhaust is another spell with a variety of uses, such as escape, chase, protection and setup. One of the 2 spells commonly ran by supports and highly useful all game long. I'd recommend taking it every time the enemy team locks in Yasuo, Talon, Zed or a similar mage / assassin-ish champion with high AoE -burst capabilities - when timed right, it can win you a teamfight.

Ignite Ignite is a purely offensive summoner spell. It is primarily used for its kill potential and early game pressure, as well as cutting off a key target's source of healing. Works as a soft counter against supports who stack resistances, like Braum and Leona to snowball the lane against them. Not as useful as Exhaust later on in the game, but still a strong spell none the less.

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Skill Sequence

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SKILLS/LEVELS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

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Deadly BloomiQ

Deadly Bloom

Deadly Bloom

Deadly Bloom

Deadly Bloom

Deadly Bloom

iW

iE

iR

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E

W

Q

E

E

R

E

Q

E

Q

R

Q

Q

W

W

R

W

W

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Skills explained

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Rise of the Thorns (Passive)

Upon dying, Zyra transforms back into her plant form for up to 8 seconds. After 2 seconds, she gains the ability to shoot a Vengeful Thorn in the direction of the cursor by recasting one of her abilities. Anyone hit by the projectile takes 80 + (20 x Zyra’s level) true damage. Range: 1500

Notes

Passes through units, but can be blocked by Wind Wall, Unbreakable and spell shields. The ability is cast by reactivating any of the skills unlocked thus far. Zyra’s death timer begins once she dies instead of upon the passive ending, but is a minimum of 2 seconds. There’s a slight delay between dying and being able to cast the ability, as well as her casting and actually spitting the projectile.

Deadly Bloom Deadly Bloom (Q)

After a short delay, thorns erupt at target location, dealing magic damage to enemies in a circular area. If a seed is hit, it grows into a Thorn Spitter that deals 23 + (6.5 x Zyra’s level)(20% AP) magic damage per hit. Magic damage: 70/105/140/175/210 (+65% AP) Range: 800 Cost: 75/80/85/90/95 Mana Cooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds

Notes

Your main poking tool on its own, or combined with Rampant Growth. Thorn Spitter has an attack range of 700 and will either attack the nearest enemy, or the enemy most recently targeted by Zyra. Aim slightly behind your target to secure a clean hit. Try to cast between auto-attacks when orb walking for maximum DPS.

Rampant Growth (W)

Passive: Zyra gains an additional 2/4/6/8/10% cooldown reduction. Active: Zyra plants a seed at target location. The seed stays for 30 seconds, granting vision of a small area around it. When Zyra’s basic abilities hit a seed, it will grow into a plant that attacks nearby enemies. Seeds can be destroyed if an enemy steps on it 1.5 seconds from the planting. Zyra can hold up to 2 seeds at the same time, with a total of 4 seeds being planted. Range: 850 Cost: 1 seed Recharge time: 16.7/15.4/14.1/12.9/11.7 seconds

Notes

Plants grown from Rampant Growth proc the passive effect of Spellthief's Edge and its counterparts. You can create plants by planting a seed right on top of the used skill and even slightly afterwards. Has no cast time and does not interrupt any actions. You can create deadly bush-traps by planting all 4 seeds in the same place, then using your full rotation on anyone who walks in carelessly.

Grasping Roots (E)

Zyra sends a wave of vines forward in a line, rooting and dealing magic damage to any enemies hit. Any seeds hit by the vines will grow into a Vine Lasher that deal 23 + (6.5 x Zyra’s level)(20% AP) magic damage per hit, and slows by 30% for 2 seconds. Magic damage: 60/95/130/165/200 (+50% AP) Root duration: 0.75/1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds Range: 1100 Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 Mana Cooldown: 12 seconds

Notes

Vine Lasher has an attack range of 400 and will attack the nearest enemy, or the enemy most recently targeted by Zyra. While the hitbox is not very large, it will affect seeds that are slightly missed by it. Is considered a projectile for projectile-stopping skills. Applies a debuff "Rooted, truly" on enemies hit.

Stranglethorns (R)

A twisted thicket emerges from target location, dealing magic damage as it expands. After 2 seconds, any enemies remaining within the area are knocked up for 1 second. Additionally, all plants that are hit become enraged, gaining 50% increased attack speed. Magic damage: 180/265/350 (+70% AP) Range: 700 Cost: 100/120/140 Mana Cooldown: 130/120/110 seconds

Notes

Plants will receive an attack speed increase as long as they touch the thorns created by the skill, even if they were created after the cast. Enemies will not take damage from the skill if they walk into the are after the thorns have stopped spreading. Use other available CC, like Grasping Roots, Frost Queen's Claim or Rylai's Crystal Scepter to prevent people from escaping the AoE.

	We max Grasping Roots first for the increased root duration, which is pitifully low at skill level 1. This way, we grant both ourselves, our plants, and our ADC more free attacks on the immobile enemy. The base damages of between Deadly Bloom and Grasping Roots have a mere 10-damage difference, making it clear which skill has more impact overall. Second, we're maxing Deadly Bloom to gain more damage instead of the additional cooldown reduction granted by Rampant Growth. The seeds' recharge time does not drop down enough by adding points into the skill, which is affected by cooldown reduction gained from items. In some situations it's possible, or even more effective, to rank Deadly Bloom over Grasping Roots. It makes harassing the enemy under tower easier, but at the cost of your lockdown -power. You're also far more likely to run down your mana pool faster. Last, we max Rampant Growth because it's our utility skill and does not add any damage to our combo on its own. Also, the plants scale with champion levels, not skill points. Take points in Stranglethorns at levels 6, 11 and 16 respectively.

Starting Items

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		A very common start for a poke support. With the Wealth -mastery you're able to buy a Stealth Ward and 2 Health Potions, or replace the ward with 2 Mana Potions. Choose depending on the enemy jungler and his likely jungle route. As long as you're active enough, you should be able to net gold fast enough to be able to grab a Sightstone during the first recall to base.

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Core Items

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		You should rush these items as your core items. They provide you with a flexible, hard slow; enough wards for the time being plus enough magic penetration and ability power to pose a threat on your own. We don't stack more cooldown reduction at this point because Rampant Growth provivides us with over 20% at this point, and it doesn't snowball your game as hard as the primary stats you get from these items. Remember to sell your Stealth Ward for Sweeping Lens when you choose to buy Sightstone. Next, we need to analyze our needs accordingly, and build our next set of big ticket items after finishing Liandry's Torment. Why Liandry's Torment? Because the synergy it has with Zyra's plants is immense, especially with Vine Lashers. The plants hack away an enemy tank's HP pool at an alarming rate, and the effect only gets better when they receive the attack speed bonus from Stranglethorns. Your allies should have easy time cleaning up the victims afterwards.

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Offensive Choices

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	PROS		CONS

+ Cost and slot effective + Passive effect

- Too much cooldown reduction

Morellonomicon is an excellent item for Zyra because she's able to easily apply the passive due to having a good sustained damage output with Deadly Bloom, and her plants applying it as well. The stats it grants are in excellent sync with your kit.

+ Great kit synergy + Offense and defense

- Heavy cost - The slow can be replaced

Very useful if you're able to afford it sometime during the game. However, we don't necessarily need the extra health, and we have to sacrifice other items to be able to buy it. Frost Queen's Claim can be sold later in the game and replaced with Rylai's. Really strong choice if you're fed.

+ Slot effective + Flexible active

- Situational - Active cooldown

Situationally very strong item, I'd recommend it against Thresh and Blitzcrank, for example. Grants a hefty amount of AP and MS. The active part is multi-functional, works for scouting, denying an engage and chasing.

+ Shreads tanks + Relatively cheap

- Offers no utility - Situational

Almost a must-buy against teams with multiple tanks. The one grand flaw with this item is, that it grants nothing but more bang for your buck - but does that well. 70 AP is a bit sub-par compared to aforementioned items, so it's less effective against squishy teams.

+ Destroys squishies + Looks cool

- Heavy cost - Attracts danger

Same flaws and strengths as Void Staff, but vice versa regarding squishies and tanks. The cost makes it a luxury buy of the highest caliber, and hence, a rare sight in your inventory. Deathcap has a bad tendency to attract focus from enemies.

+ Synergises with other items + Effective with low AP

- Heavy cost - Low utility

Zyra can perform much of the same as Annie can with this item, in a similar way: to assassinate someone. Luden's also improves Zyra's sieging capability and applies the passives of other items, such as Liandry's Torment and Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

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Defensive Choices

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	PROS		CONS

+ Good stats + Active fail-safe

- Build Path

Quite niche in the current meta-game, but always useful when built. The build path doesn't suit Zyra as she doesn't need both item parts to gain enough mana regeneration and neither of them grants any raw offensive power. Build this is you have a carry at risky effective range, i.e. Vayne when there's heavy CC in the enemy team.

+ Good stats + Passive effects

- Situational - Self-centered

Highly situational item that is rarely seen on ranged supports, but something that might save your life against an AoE mage, like Xerath late game. However, it offers nowhere near as much utility as Mikael's Blessing.

+ Mix of offense and defense + Active

- Heavy cost

Same as Rabadon's Deathcap, but with a better mixture of stats and a golden passive. Get this if it's late game and you repeatedly find yourself getting focused by the enemy assassins like Ahri and Rengar.

+ Good mixture of stats + Teamwide utility

- Build Path

Despite the season 4 changes, a good utility/tanky item, making it possible to shield people in more ways than one. A good asset for sieging mid-to-late game, when you need protection from enemy AoE-mages and tower shots.

+ Good build path + All-around stats

- Situational

Zeke's has become quite popular amongst hyper-carry bot lanes with AP-scaling supports. While the raw stats are nothing special (yet useful), the active part and the fact you can swap the target once every minute makes this item shine. Having a non-ADC hyper-carry such as Kayle or Jax is sufficient enough to warrant considering this item. Zeke's should be your 5th item to finish.

+ Vision + Vision!

- Almost none

An item that wins games. A powerful pickoff tool. A masterpiece of protection. Potentially one of the most cost effective items in the game. A win condition against stealthy champions. The ultimate teamwork seal. Yes, buy this item whenever possible. Against Vaynes and Akali's, carry two with you. If you expect a Wukong or Rengar engaging at you, slap one down immediately. Congratulations, you just won the fight, and potentially the game.

Tanks / Bruisers Plant power! Maokai provides you with a hard engage and AoE protection, making it possible to not only follow up easily with your own CC, but survive long enough to unleash a second rotation of spells on enemies if you're getting focused. Arcane Smash His Mega form has similar skillset to yourself, making it easy to lock down multiple targets at once while decimating them with allies. Gnar gives you loads of time to prepare your own combo in Mega form. Try to protect him while he's in his Mini form, as he still dishes out respectable amount of single-target damage. A powerful engage combination. Malphite can engage unexpectedly and provide enough time for Zyra to catch up and extend the CC train, or alternatively, make sure no one gets out of Stranglethorns' AoE alive.

Marksmen He can apply pressure on his own might, engage on his own right and poke on his own as well. But what truly makes him terrifying is the ease he can follow up with and unload within short time span. Snowballs har-ddddd. How to lane against? Make sure you're not in 180¤ line with a minion between you to negate his Piercing Light's poke. Try to bait out his dash before using anything crucial, especially your ultimate. One of the most irritating poke lane combinations. Hits hard early and from afar. Piltover Peacemaker and Ace in the Hole should find their marks relatively easy, plus there's great synergy between traps and vines. How to lane against? Don't try to harass her with basic attacks, she'll just return two for one. Use your plants instead. Avoid getting zoned or caught by her traps and you should be relatively safe from Piltover Peacemaker. While it may seem odd at first sight, she has a lot potential with Zyra. First off, Zyra has one of the longest basic attack ranges out of support pool, meaning she can easily proc the passive part of Sentinel. The slows, roots and knockups open up time for Kalista to stack her Rend and keep gnawing down her targets with autos and Pierce. Fate's Call works very similar to laning with Annie: help Zyra reposition or throw her in their face, granting access to an easy full rotation of skills, guaranteed to hit their target. How to lane against? The importance of bush control and denying her vision of your actions is emphasized. She can't consciously dodge what she can't see, but you can predict where she will land after Martial Poise - it always moves Kalista a set distance. When engaging her support, remember that Fate's Call can save her ally at any given time as long as Kalista is in range and free to perform actions. In general, always focus her down first whenever possible.

Mages / Assassins Hitting Charm equals certain death, landing Grasping Roots seals the deal. No matter the rotation order of your skills. Great pickoff combination. AoE knockup and awesome placeholder skills. This is Yasuo's wet dream. You have chance to absolutely make a teamfight. His ultimate's extended knockup duration also gives plants time to stack additional hits.

As soon as you enter the lane, your job is to push the lane alongside your ADC, without disrupting his CSing, for a faster level 2. At the same time, keep an eye out for the enemy bot laners' movement and punish missteps with an auto-attack whenever it's safe. Use bushes to shrug off the minion aggro that you receive while doing so. Whenever you hit level 2 quicker than the opposing teammates, you have a opportunity to apply extra pressure and seek out chances for kills or summoner spell -burns with E + W combination. Against melee supports and short-ranged ADCs, you want to be harassing with your auto-attacks, constantly abusing the 575 AA-range. Against longer range opponents, you need bush control and more careful positioning when harassing like this. Consider placing an early ward in the enemy lane bush if they're not pushing faster than you. While harassing under tower, remember that its aggro swaps to your plants on its next attack - this can be both an asset and a disadvantage. Remember to abuse bush control when catching enemies by surprise combos. Your skills are much harder to dodge if the target has no prior vision.

Zyra performs the best while around the middle of the lane or in front of enemy tower. It's extremely difficult to pull the most out of your plants when you're pushed to the tower yourself, and the easiest when the lane is slightly pushed towards the enemy. You should try to position your plants slightly behind the enemy minions wave and close enough to enemy champions to aggro the right target and prevent unwanted pushing or losing CS and wasting mana. If your lane partner gets caught, by say, Alistar's Pulverize, try to first move into a line where you can root both enemies / as many enemies as possible, and plant a Vine Lasher right at the enemy ADC's feet to prevent further follow up. Should you be the target, you want to use Stranglethorns underneath ASAP, then follow up with the root and plants for maximum counterengage / disengage. Make sure the plants get the attack speed bonus by hitting the spikes. Zyra is a very powerful asset for early dragons, as she can both help clear the monster faster, and peel off any steal attempts. Stranglethorns is enough to cover pretty much all of the pit, creating a deadly trap for anyone who is stuck in their position. Whereas, around Baron Nashor, she has similar advantages, but outside fighting Zyra can keep the monster warded by planting a seed INSIDE Nashor to have undeniable 30 seconds of vision.

Braum

Zyra can swiftly turn around or stop any engage attempts made by Braum himself, since he lacks any real gap closers. So, if you keep an eye out for the enemy minions venturing too close, you should be relatively fine. One option is to take hybrid penetration marks and harass him (and, if possible, his ADC) nonstop during the levels 1-2. You want to keep the lane from pushing too much early, so you’re able to effectively poke and zone him and his ADC with your plants. Consider taking Ignite to bypass his Unbreakable.

Thresh

You can block his hooks with your plants. Whenever you root him with Grasping Roots, place a plant slightly in front of him, as most Threshes try to counter by using Death Sentence on you immediately upon getting caught. Make sure he doesn’t get to freely walk up to your ADC. When your ADC is in trouble, try to aim Grasping Roots in a line that passes through both enemy laners for maximum disengage. If you get comboed and find yourself in The Box, don’t panic and break the walls, just dish out as much damage before going down and then some with your passive.

Morgana

Keep poking her ADC early, try to bait out the Black Shield with your Deadly Bloom before using any CC. Consider maxing your Q first for the higher DPS in all-ins. Avoid getting caught by Dark Bindings - with Zyra's squishiness, it can be fateful very quickly. She’s most likely trying to Flash- Soul Shackles you when she hits 6, so try to make sure you have your own Flash up when that happens, and you should be able to counter-engage as well.

Vel'koz

Simply laid; Vel'koz > Zyra early (approx. Levels 1-5) and Zyra > Vel'koz later (post-6), in terms of 2v2 fighting. Of course, each one can outplay the other (I am used to laning both as both). One rotation is enough to blow up either combatant, so avoid laning at low health due to Life Form Disintegration Ray burning you down quickly. Stand further behind or between minions to avoid Plasma Fission. Their late mid-game damage output is very even, with slight edge going over to Zyra thanks to her plants' synergy with Liandry's Torment.

Leona

Her patterns are very straight-forward and predictable, and expose her to counterengages. As long as you're not the one on the receiving end of the shield and Solar Flare, you should be able to outdamage, outkite and outwit her with your CC and plants peeling her to oblivion. Continuously harass her with basic attacks at level 1 while pushing the lane. Try to position yourself to be able to root both laners if she engages, greatly increasing your chances of succesful retaliation.





As Zyra, you have 2 tasks to uphold in teamfights and mid-late game; peeling and killing people off with your CC and damage. Your ultimate is one of best large-scale peeling / zoning tools in the game, rivalling Braum. You should hold enough damage at all stages to pose a serious threat to any squishies on your own. Even if you’re not able to kill them, you’re still able to provide an admirable initiation for the rest of your team. Through Liandry's Torment, you remain a danger to tanky characters as well.

In terms of positioning, you should either stay close to your backline carries so you can CC any enemies coming through a more straight line of charge, or in a spot where you can both slow down the enemy front line and help your own frontline with damage output and/or crowd control. You have to choose though, how much do want to use to help one party or the other? Which one is more crucial is up to your game reading skills and experience throughout the game.

On paper, your job is simple; if you're getting engaged on:

Peel for your carries and grant them time to reposition Prevent their frontline from blocking their carries

And if you're the ones engaging:

Create space for your frontliners to have free line for enemy carries Hold their carries in place long enough for your team to follow up

Or

Try to pick someone off before his/her team has a chance to react

The main reason you fight is over objectives; to win a game you have to win an objective when it counts. Kills are the biggest aid in getting those, but map awareness and planning can help your team net them as well. If you see the enemy jungler at top lane, for example, and yours is in the bot lane side of the jungle, it's worth considering whether you could be able to take the dragon.

>Nexus >Inhibitors >Baron Nashor >Towers >Dragon >Red and Blue buffs

Zyra's main role of excellence in the late game is SIEGING. Siege is, simply put, 4-5 members of the team pushing the same lane as fast as possible. At the same time, their goal is to poke the enemy team enough to prevent them from defending. The best way to do this is gradually pushing the lanes until 2 of them have reached their respective turrets, BUT you should always immediately push a lane after killing more than one enemy in a fight, and when you have enough HP to do it safely, or when the whole enemy team is dead. Killing Baron Nashor after you just destroyed a turret and an inhibitor is always a great plus, but be careful if the enemy team respawns while you're still retreating, and knows what you're up to, as you might risk losing Baron or multiple towers yourself. Zyra can zone people near the Baron pit effectively by creating a wall of plants near the entrance and using her ultimate to force people back off or potentially get killed.

As mentioned before, you can use plants to soak more tower attacks. This can prove especially useful if you're pushing without minion wave.
Zyra is an excellent sieger after getting Liandry's Torment, her wave clear is fast and the plants really hurt the enemy due to having high base damage and applying the burn-passive on every hit. She's capable of quickly disengaging her team if things go south and delaying the game further with her wave stopping, allowing your teammates to farm up meanwhile. Always protect the most fed carry of your team or help him assassinate someone without dying. Here are a few combinations you can use to defend, aid and carry your team: