About the Author

Hello and welcome to my Zyra guide! I am a diamond 5 rated player on the EUW server. I peaked at platinum 1 in season 5 and in season 6 I finally reached diamond and better yet, I am still climbing. I've been playing League of Legends for three years and in the last year I have mained Zyra. The reason why I main Zyra is because in season 4 and pre-season 5 I was a mid lane main who exclusively played AOE mages. I eventually got bored of playing mid and decided to switch to support. Because of my previous experience playing mages and also AP supports I turned to Zyra as my go to pick. Ever since her rework, she has been an absolutely insane laner with oppressive poke which made me fall in love with her even more. I've always liked Zyra because she has never been weak and until recently, she has always been underestimated by enemy teams. She fits my niche playstyle perfectly and she deals the most damage of any support, her damage only being rivaled by Vel'Koz and Brand. Zyra is currently one of the strongest supports in the game due to the mage update, and as a result I recommend you read the entire guide if you want to start playing her in ranked.

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'About the Champion=============================Back to Top

Zyra is a mage support who has great area of effect lockdown, burst and damage per second (DPS) through her snare, nuke, area of effect knockup and plants. She has incredible in-lane poke and very strong all-in potential. Her base damage on abilities are decent so she's a threat in lane and her scalings are high enough to make her transition into a strong AP damage dealer in the mid game.

Pros

+ Area Of Effect Waveclear + Magical Burst / Sustained DPS + Area of Effect Lockdown + Long Range Harass

Zyra has a lot of damage both inside and outside of the lane and doesn't need early game damage items to be able to solo kill the enemy ADC. She can usually hold her own in lane against the enemy bot lane when played correctly. She has really good base damage and area of effect damage. She has long range poke and pick potential through Deadly Spines and Grasping Roots. She can be the person to initiate fights, or she can play defensively and peel for her carries and counter-engage. This makes her a very flexible champion who can fulfil many roles. This also means she is very diverse when it comes to itemisation. Lastly, her Rampant Growth seeds briefly grant vision of the area where they're placed, meaning she can scout for enemies in fog of war from range.

Cons

- Lack of Mobility - Incredibly Squishy by Nature - Skillshot Centric Kit - Long Cast Times + Delays

Zyra has a lack of shields or heals. By having no sustain, she and her ADC are vulnerable to poke. Zyra has a lot of trouble against champions with high mobility since it makes it hard for her to land her slow grasping root projectile on them. She is also very unforgiving so if you get caught out or miss any of your abilities you're going to be useless. She also tends to have a very expensive build unless you put a lot of emphasis on utility based items rather than damage items. Also, Zyra is very prone to early game all-ins against champions like Leona, Thresh or Alistar who can easily punish her for being in a bad position in lane. In addition to all these points, Zyra's plant AI can be inconsistent and very unreliable. She also has long delays on all of her spells.

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'Runes===============================================Back to Top

In order to utilize our early game damage, we need to pick up a set of runes which will help us deal more damage with abilities. I'm going to list some possible rune options and combinations and explain why I think these runes are the most optimal for Zyra

Why take this page?

Sorcery:

Arcane Comet's cooldown is lowered by your plants auto attacks. Plants also proc Arcane Comet. Alternative keystone is Aery for guaranteed poke damage. Paired with Scorch, Aery does a really strong amount of damage.

Your ultimate is on a really long cooldown so The Ultimate Hat helps you have it low enough to have it for most essential fights. Alternative is Mana Flow Band but since we take Biscuit Delivery we do not need Manaflow Band in most matchups unless we cannot afford to scale and need more early pressure.

Transcendence and The Ultimate Hat lower your cooldowns by the time the mid game comes around. Having your abilities up more often makes you a constant threat and the enemy have to deal with. Alternative is Celerity which gives you increased movement speed and a small bonus of Ability Power.

Scorch gives you really strong early damage in lane. Although it doesn't scale very well, it aids your damage in lane and really adds up as the lane goes on. There is no alternative to Scorch when playing Zyra support. You need it for the early pressure.

Scorch can also secure unexpected kills at times when people forget the delay before it procs, even when they could have survived by using a defensive summoner spell (heal).

Inspiration:

Cosmic Insight gives you cooldown reduction which is invaluable.

Biscuit Delivery allows you to sustain through trades and heal back up if you're on the receiving end of a bad fight. If you're taking mana flow band, the alternatives to take is Magical Footwear or Perfect Timing.




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'Summoner Spells=================================Back to Top

In order to utilize our kill, peel and pick potential we need to pick summoner spells which have synergy with Zyra. We need to pick the best possible summoner spells so we can fulfill the role of a support. I'll list the best combinations of summoner spells for you to pick so you can utilize her kit with them.

Make sure to pick up Flash every game, especially on immobile carries like Zyra. It's a mandatory spell for just about every champion, as having Flash can make the difference between getting a kill or not, and escaping or dying. Flash allows you to make plays by either gaining distance and surprising enemies. It also allows you to dodge vital skillshot which can CC you such as Morgana's Dark Binding.

Gives you more early/mid game kill pressure and more damage in all-ins. Casting Ignite on a target who has a lot of lifesteal/spellvamp will significantly reduce the amount of healing they receive. The true damage is also strong against tanks. Bot lane can snowball out of control very quickly, just like top lane, and having Ignite instead of Exhaust can help you deal with champions such as Soraka or Janna who can heal their allies.

Exhaust reduces the damage a single enemy deals for two and a half seconds. It's also a strong spell against assassins or divers ( Zed/ Vayne) because it reduces movement speed. It can also help you land your root on immobile targets because of the movement speed slow.

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'Abilities=============================================Back to Top

By maxing a certain skill in a certain order, we're able to utilise our strengths and minimise our weaknesses. Here is the order that I use in a large majority of my games.

Garden of Thorns (Passive) Seeds spawn around Zyra periodically, lasting for 30 seconds. If an enemy champion steps on a seed, it dies. If Zyra is hiding in brush, seeds will not spawn until she reveals herself.

The seeds spawn randomly. You cannot control their placement. If you are lucky, you might get a few seeds to spawn in a desirable location which will allow you to zone the enemy botlane. Sometimes, two seeds will grow (usually in different locations). Try to use this to your advantage whenever possible.

Deadly Spines (Q) Thick vines spread through the ground and after a brief delay explode into spines, dealing 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to enemies within the area.

Don't spam this. Try and place it in the middle of somebody so they can't run out of it, or place it slightly ahead so they are forced to get hit by it if they continue running. The rectangle is rather large, and it can be used on multiple seeds in order to zone enemies.

Rampant Growth (W) Zyra plants a seed, lasting 60 seconds. Seeds spawned by Rampant Growth grant vision in a small area. If an enemy Champion steps on a seed, the seed dies but grants vision of the enemy champion for 2 seconds.

Zyra stores a seed every 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds and can hold up to a maximum of 2. Zyra can have a maximum of 8 seeds at a time. Other spells cast on seeds will turn them into plants who fight for Zyra. When Zyra kills an enemy, Rampant Growth's recharge time is reduced by 20%, or 100% for champion takedowns, large minion kills, and large monster kills.

If Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots is cast near a seed, a plant grows which deals 19-127 (based on level) (+15% of ability power) magic damage per attack. Plants last for 5 - 7.5 seconds depending on Zyra's level. Each plant attacking the same target does 50% reduced damage. Using Deadly Spines on a seed grows a thorn spitter, and using Grasping Roots grows a vine lasher.

Thorn Spitter A plant that attacks enemies by firing projectiles from a range of 750.

Vine Lasher A short ranged plant that lowers the movement speed of enemies they hit.

Grasping Roots (E) Zyra sends forth vines through the ground to ensnare her target, dealing 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+50% of ability power) magic damage and rooting enemies they come across for 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 seconds.

Use this ability when you see a kill opportunity present. If someone jumps one of your teams carries, you can use this ability to peel for your team and keep the enemy at bay. It's vital that you do not waste this ability, as it has quite a long cooldown. Patience is needed for good grasping roots.

Stranglethorns (R) Zyra summons a twisted thicket at a target location, dealing 180 / 265 / 350 (+75% of ability power) magic damage to enemies as it expands and knocking them airborne as it contracts for 1 second. Plants in the area are enraged, increasing their damage dealt by 50% and gaining 50% current and max health.

Use Stranglethorns when the enemy is grouped up. If the enemy tanks engage and miss their spells and want to fight you regardless of wasting spells, use this ability to counter engage, and follow up with your grasping root to keep the enemy team in place for a pretty long time. If you don't prevent people from escaping the AOE, this ability loses a lot of its power.

'Building Items

Zyra is a very flexible champion and can build many different items, and fulfil different roles. She can buff her ADC and keep them safe, or she can be a heavy magic damage nuker who plays from the back lines, patiently anticipating the enemies position before wrecking havoc upon those who are unfortunate enough to get hit by her area of effect burst.

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(Trinket - Pre 6) This trinket helps you have control of brushes, and have vision of the river/tribrush incase of the enemy jungler or mid laner roaming bot lane. It also helps you to attack someone if you lose vision (e.g. they walk into a brush) during a duel, trade or all-in.

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(Support Item) This gold generation item really helps you in the early game. You deal a flat amount of extra damage against champions or structures when it's up, which isn't significant but early game it can matter when trading. The gold generation is really nice and helps us get our core items quicker. The small amount mana regeneration means that we can continue to poke and peel in the laning phase without worrying about going out of mana.

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(Lane Sustain) If you do not have the Culinary Master mastery then you'll only have health potions instead of biscuits. Health potions are really important for surviving the lane, and being able to sustain your health after trading with the enemy duo is something that you require for the early game. Biscuits are really important for surviving the lane, and being able to sustain your health after trading with the enemy duo means you can establish dominance over the enemy early game. If you're ignited, use a biscuit as it will immediately restore a small amount of health.

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(Early Core) Sightstone is a very important item on support. You need vision control and by having stealth wards you can have vision of fog of war, which allows you to react to enemy movement. By having a ward placed down, it not only tells you if an enemy is there, but also if an enemy isn't there. Being told this information is vital for you and your team so you can force or prevent engagements.

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(Trinket - Post 6) Having the ability to deny vision is incredibly important. By getting rid of enemy wards they don't have vision of that area meaning you can take objectives or your team can rotate/gank another lane and force a kill.

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(After Sightstone) Zyra builds a lot of items that grant a little bit of ability power, regardless if she builds them for utility, damage or tankiness. Also, a lot of items that she builds usually contain many components, and Amplifying Tome is usually one of them.

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(Damage Core) Zyra doesn't sport any abilities with shields or heals, and her ability power scalings aren't incredibly high. By building magic pen, we increase our damage significantly against both squishy and tanky targets.

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(Damage Core) Zyra needs magic penetration to deal damage. It compliments her kit a lot. By building magic pen, we increase our damage significantly against both squishy and tanky targets. We need boots because we have a very low base movement speed.

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(Cooldown Reduction - Damage) Morellonomicon is a great item when you want cooldown reduction, but if you buy another CDR item you'll overcap due to masteries, Rampant Growth, Morellonomicon and another 10% cooldown reduction will go over 40%. This item is cheap and it's great against lifesteal reliant champions since it applies grievous wounds.

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(Sightstone Upgrade) If you don't want Ruby Sightstone then you can upgrade into Eye of the Watchers sightstone, which gives gold income but lacks the health and passive %cdr on items that Ruby Sightstone has.

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(Pick Potential) Frost Queen's Claim has a great active. The slow allows you to set up a good Grasping Roots or Stranglethorns CC and if your carries are being jumped on, you can slow the pursuer down with the active. The AP and mana regen it grants is great too!

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(Kiting) Rylai's Crystal Scepter grants you a huge amount of burst damage. When snowballing, it can be a good late game option. This item can easily allow you to 100-0 their carries. Rylai's is also a great item for peeling and locking down enemies. The health also makes you tankier. The utility (slow) -usually- outshines most other items.

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(Tank Bursting) When the enemy has a lot of tanks and you really need magic penetration you can build this item. It also grants a nice amount of ability power.

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(Engage) You can walk into the enemy team once your team has grouped for a 5v5, use Stranglethorns and then use the zhonya's active. Once you've got a 5 man knockup you can snare everyone in place, murder everyone and Flash away whilst spamming your laugh.

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(Damage) Luden's Tempest grants you a huge amount of burst damage. When snowballing, it can be a good late game option. This item can easily allow you to 100-0 their carries. I usually prefer Rylai's, but this item can work if you want the movement speed and the passive proc.

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(Snowballing) Really risky pick-up but it can work if you're going to be playing pretty aggressive all game and want AP. I do not recommend it, but if you're feeling like you have the guts to, I won't stop you.

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(Snowballing) Really risky pick-up and incredibly expensive item. You've got to be incredibly ahead, since this item is a luxory and you're lucky if you can ever buy it in your game as a support.

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(Siege) When against a composition that deals a large amount of area of effect magic damage, this item is really strong. By giving your entire team magic resist, it means the enemies poke isn't as potent and when engaging/disengaging/sieging. Also, you can buff a minion in a side lane so the lane will automatically push whilst your team groups mid to siege down a tower.

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(Supportive Core) When against a composition that deals a large amount of area of effect magic damage, this item is really strong. By giving your entire team magic resist, it means the enemies poke isn't as potent and when engaging/disengaging/sieging you can use the shield to mitigate damage, or save your teammates from burst damage.

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(Supportive Core) When against enemies who have a lot of CC and can lockdown one of your carries, or the enemy has a lot of magic damage, this item comes in handy. The cleanse effect is great against pick/catch comps and the heal can save your ADC. It also makes you less susceptible to a mage's burst since it gives you magic resist.

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(Supportive Core) This item gives armor, making you tankier. Also, the active heavily buffs your ADC or AD assassin (if they rely on crit chance such as Master Yi). It also grants a small amount of AP, CDR and Mana so none of the stats are wasted. It is also a pretty cheap item so you can get it quite early into the game if you need to.

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(Roam Heavy) Having Mobility Boots means you can roam a lot more. You'll have a lot more presence and pressure and you'll be able to go and ward with Sightstone and get back into lane pretty quickly. It also means you can rotate from lane to lane and arrive on time for teamfights when your team is preparing to take an objective or waiting for an engage.

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(Elixir) This Elixir buffs your damage and makes it so you don't run out of mana as quickly. Also, you can take down towers quickly with the true damage you deal to it with auto's.

Damage

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When snowballing, this build helps you deal huge amounts of area of effect magic damage and making your abilities deal &burn (Liandry's) and slow (Rylai's) which is difficult to counter. Zhonya's or Morellonomicon is optional and can be replaced, but are usually good items to build.

Utility

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Decent build when you're behind, or you have many carries on your team that lack utility but are a real threat late game. If you want a utility champion, you're probably better off picking Janna so this build is not recommended because it is very situational and the damage build 90% of the time is more optimal.

Map Control

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When you really need to roam around the map and get vision of objectives, in order to catch out enemies in their own jungle to gain an advantage for you and your team. This build is not recommended because it is very situational and the damage build 90% of the time is more optimal.

'Synergies and Matchups

Ashe

Synergy: 7/10 Ashe has a lot of synergy with Zyra. She has a long auto attack range, good poke with Volley and great CC with the slow from her passive and Enchanted Crystal Arrow's stun. Ashe doesn't have a very strong early game so it's difficult to take advantage of Zyra's aggressive early game playstyle and zone the enemy botlane when against lane bullies. However, her Volley and Zyra's Deadly Spines can very easily wittle down the opposing botlane's health.. A huge drawback is that Ashe has no mobility whatsoever, and is very susceptible to ganks, despite her huge arsenal of CC.

Difficulty: 6/10 Ashe can trade back when you go in to poke her. Don't poke her with auto attacks, she'll trade back 2 for 1 since she has a slow meaning you'll still be in range of her auto range whilst you're running away. Her slows keep you from running away from a full blown fight, and if her stun hits either you or your adc, it can usually secure a kill. She's also got really good follow up CC, so if her jungler ganks you it will usually spell death for you. She hasn't got sustain though unless she takes the warrior's bloodlust keystone mastery, which causes her to lose a lot of DPS.

Caitlyn

Synergy: 8/10 Caitlyn has incredible range. Her great poke, decent burst with Piltover Peacemaker and Ace in the Hole plus her great zone control make her great with Zyra. This is a very aggressive and oppressive lane, especially at the very early levels, mainly pre level 6. You want to poke and poke the enemy so that they can never fight you, even if someone roams down and ganks you. From there, you'll easily be able to snowball a lead from zoning the enemy ADC off farming minions and gaining a huge gold lead through farming.

Difficulty: 8/10 Caitlyn heavily outranges you, and she is a bit more reliable than Ashe. Don't poke her with auto attacks, even from brush. Use spells and plants instead. Maxing Grasping Roots is beneficial so you can keep her in place for longer if that will allow your ADC to 100-0 her. Make sure she wastes her net or is out of mana before you try and snare her in place so she doesn't dodge it. Caitlyn has a deceptive amount of burst damage so don't try and tank all of her damage. It will be very difficult to pressure her unless she has a melee support who can't engage very easily such as Braum.

Corki

Synergy: 5/10 Corki has a brilliant early and mid game, and can bully pretty hard due to his burst in lane. The only problem is he doesn't scale well compared to the popular AD carries, and it's very easy to fall behind if you don't get a lead in the early game. Also, since he has no crowd control aside from his package, it's up to you whether you hit or miss and lock the enemy down in place. In my opinion, there are better ADCs than Corki when paired with Zyra.

Difficulty: 7/10 By taking too many missteps, you're bound to get punished. You're incredibly squishy and he can easily Valkyrie in and secure a kill if you decide to trade with him and miss a spell. Don't let him auto attack you, they really hurt early due to his passive. Make sure he can't jump onto your ADC. He's not too bad on following up on ganks due to the dash and his ultimate having a very long range.

Draven

Synergy: 7/10 Draven can hold his own. He's incredibly strong at all stages of the game. The only issue is he doesn't have mobility. You have decent peel and good pick potential, which Draven loves. He's incredibly strong with aggressive supports such as yourself, and can easily solo the enemy duo once he gets ahead, meaning you can roam and apply pressure to other lanes across the map.

Difficulty: 6/10 You don't need to 100-0 Draven. Steadily poke him down (place Deadly Spines at the location of where his Spinning Axe will land) and he won't be able to fight you. Make sure you don't trade with him very often in the early game, since he'll chunk you down and you only have a few health potions for sustain. Make it your priority that you don't let him all-in you early on in the game either or you'll forfeit the early game and your lane will be lost since his passive, adoration gives himextra gold on champion kill. Your vine lasher plants slow his movement speed, making his Blood Rush less effective.

Ezreal

Synergy: 6/10 Ezreal has a little bit of everything. Burst, damage, poke, AD steroids, mobility and a cross map ultimate. The only thing he lacks is lockdown, and that's your speciality. He's weaker than other ADC's in lane unless he lands his Mystic Shot but he's got a very strong mid game like yourself. Let Ezreal poke down the enemy duo, and then use Grasping Roots to secure a kill.

Difficulty: 5/10 Ezreal sucks against Zyra because he's got short ranged auto attacks, and if he tries to farm with his Mystic Shot then he won't be poking you. If he tries to poke you just hide behind minions, wait for him to last hit one and then use Deadly Spines. He can't snowball unless he's got a very heavy kill support with him such as Leona.

Graves

Synergy: 5/10 Graves used to have one of the most oppressive early games if he got the right matchup and an early lead, but he is now considerably weaker both as an ADC and a champion in general after his rework. He becomes very tanky with his True Grit from Quickdraw but it doesn't make up for his lack of sustained damage or low range. He can work with Zyra due to his high burst but he's considerably weaker than what he used to be.

Difficulty: 6/10 You can poke him in lane quite a lot and he tends to run out of mana if he spams his End of the Line too much. Once he's ran out of mana, he shouldn't be a threat to you, meaning you can all-in him or force him to play safe under his tower, denying him farm. His low range of 425 and your range of 575 should make trading go in your favor for a large portion of the laning phase. Be careful of him in teamfights, since he can easily one shot you with a point blank to the face auto attack.

Jhin

Synergy: 5/10 Jhin in my opinion is quite a weak ADC. He's strong in lane and as a result can be very deadly in lane with a support such as yourself, but he needs to snowball to stay relevant, otherwise other ADCs just outscale him and become a lot more useful. His ultimate doesn't really synergise with yours and he can't combine it with yours to all in the enemy botlane in the same way an Ashe or Graves could.

Difficulty: 6/10 You can poke him but be aware of his burst. He has little DPS for an ADC but can easily oneshot you with an auto attack, Q into 4th auto attack crit combo. Make sure you zone him and deny him farm and push him under tower, poking him and making him unable to fight you. Otherwise, he'll be able to kill you and snowball off how squishy you are.

Jinx

Synergy: 7/10 Jinx is a very strong ADC late game, and with just Infinity Edge and an attack speed/crit item she can destroy teams provided that you protect her. She's also got a lot of range with her rockets. Her zap provides decent poke and can be used as a catch tool. Also, she can keep enemies in place with her flame chompers once you've used your Grasping Roots and secure a kill, before speeding off with get excited and wrecking havoc on the rift.

Difficulty: 5/10 She has no mobility what so ever, and she is really prone to getting caught out. She has no way to escape from you and her CC has a cast/setup time meaning that you can easily root her in place before she slows or snares you.

Kalista

Synergy: 10/10 Kalista in my opinion is the best ADC to have as Zyra. Great DPS, burst damage with Rend, mobility through her passive and an ultimate that helps set up your Stranglethorns. Maxing Grasping Roots allows you to keep enemies in place long enough for her Rend to get enough stacks to deal good damage.

Difficulty: 10/10 She might have great synergy with you, but her entire kit counters yours. Mobility. She is pretty unpredictable and easily snowballs, and she's really strong against squishy mage supports.

Koggles

Synergy: 6/10 Kog'Maw is a really strong mid to late game hyper carry who has decent harass in lane due to his range, and good poke once he hits level 6. His %resistance shred can help you burst down the target he's used his Q on, and you can peel for him in teamfights. He doesn't have as much burst though, and he's an ADC who's better at taking down tanks instead of squishies.

Difficulty: 6/10 He has no mobility, and only one form of CC which is a slow. He's really easily to catch out and his early game is pretty weak unless he's in a very favourable matchup. He's also very vulnerable to ganks and your crowd control can easily allow your jungler to follow up and secure a kill onto Kog'Maw, setting him behind.

Lucian

Synergy: 9/10 Lucian is really strong with Zyra because they both have good burst, and he also has really good mobility. He can easily duel the enemy ADC come mid game and his laning phase is very strong. You should almost never lose a trade in lane unless Lucian falls behind by a considerable amount.

Difficulty: 7/10 If you get into a bad position, he can jump on you and easily burst you from full to half health. He's a good lane bully and it's very difficult to snare him in place due to the Relentless Pursuit dash.

Miss Fortune

Synergy: 6/10 Miss Fortune is an okay but not the strongest ADC with Zyra. She's not awful, but Zyra prefers someone who has a gimmick such as Kalista who can get away with getting caught, or tower diving. Miss Fortune needs to snowball to be very effective.

Difficulty: 9/10 Before her rework, I had her a 3/10 difficulty. She has no mobility, but now she has both crazy burst & DPS, and not only is she now one of the strongest lane bullies in the game, but she synergises really well with some of the popular supports ( Thresh) and once she starts snowballing she is impossible to shut down.

Sivir

Synergy: 7/10 Sivir is a decent ADC with Zyra because she has good waveclear, and is a decent laner. She can bully provided she gets the right matchup and she is a pretty reliable champion provided she is allowed to farm.

Difficulty: 8/10 She can spell-shield your poke, lockdown and trade back with her boomerang. She hasn't got mobility but she's hard to lock down due to her E. She's pretty immobile but she has decent team utility due to the speedboost from her ultimate. As a result, she can easily catch you out at level 6 with her support or jungler if you step too far into the lane and overextend.

Tristana

Synergy: 7/10 Tristana has decent in lane burst, and has follow up so once you've snared people, she can Rocket Jump and secure the kill. Her long range and very strong late game make her a force to be reckoned with.

Difficulty: 7/10 Try and be aggressive early. Poke her as much as you possibly can early, so she doesn't freely farm or manage to trade with you. Her Explosive Charge when used on towers have considerably larger explosion radius's. Stay away from your tower when she uses it or punish her if she over-extends.

Twitch

Synergy: 6/10 Twitch is highly auto attack dependent for his damage, and lock down helps him auto attack without being punished or jumped on by enemies. He's rather weak in lane, so by Zyra being a strong lane bully, she can zone the enemy ADC by herself whilst Twitch scales for mid game. Also, Twitch can snowball pretty hard and start dueling the enemy ADC or bot lane by himself once you've got him fed.

Difficulty: 6/10 Twitch doesn't have as much burst as other ADCs, so he's not a threat unless you let him be. He needs to auto attack you to use his Contaminate. He's also pretty immobile (no dashes) but he does have a movement speed boost so he's reasonably sticky to a target. His Ambush can prove to be a small problem, but a Vision Ward will fix that.

Varus

Synergy: 9/10 Varus is really unpopular in ADC, and pretty unpopular in midlane aswell. He has great synergy with Zyra since he's a strong early game laner who can play the lane of a bully or all-in heavy ADC. His poke with Piercing Arrow is crazy and he has a slow/snare through Hail of Arrows/ Chain of Corruption which helps you easily set up your spells.

Difficulty: 7/10 His long auto attack range and scary early game damage means that you can't poke him without taking damage back. His skillshots are quite fast moving but if you get an early Boots you should be fine against him. Make sure that you don't let him poke you or your ADC in lane, and don't give him the chance to push you under tower so he can use Piercing Arrow to zone your ADC off CS.

Vayne

Synergy: 5/10 Vayne sucks with Zyra in my opinion. She's way too weak early game to take advantage of the poke and lockdown that Zyra provides. She's got low range, and is really vulnerable to early all-in's from aggressive supports like Thresh. And Zyra likewise.

Difficulty: 8/10 Vayne cannot follow up with you, but she can easily avoid your lockdown and poke with Tumble before using Final Hour to charge towards you, stun you against a wall with Condemn and kill you. She's really strong against low mobility supports like yourself and you have to be really careful against her, since she can just dodge all your skillshots and win the trade. Every single time...

Simply put, once you've entered the lane at level one your job is to simply push the lane. You do this so you hit level 2 before your enemies. You can do this with auto attacks, Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots depending on which ability you ranked up first. Make sure you do not last hit or disrupt the CS, since your ADC will fall behind in farm. When possible, punish your enemy laners when they are in a bad position and you're safe to do so. You have a very long auto attack and ability cast range, so as long as you don't get locked down by CC (for example, Taric's Dazzle) you should be fine. Make sure that if you auto attack an enemy champion that you enter a brush to get rid of minion aggro. Once you've hit level two, you can either use your Grasping Roots into Rampant Growth plant combo to get a kill, burn summoner spells or just establish early dominance in the lane through having a health advantage. When you're against melee ranged supports or short ranged AD Carries such as Lucian, make sure you're constantly abusing your 575 auto attack range as much as possible to gain an advantage in the lane. Try and zone the enemy ADC off farm when you know you won't get punished for it (like when the support has went to ward dragon). When you get the opportunity to (if your lane pushes) try to attack the enemy with auto attacks, Deadly Spines and Thorn Spitter plants from Rampant Growth + Q combo. If the tower targets your plants, you have a small window of opportunity to auto attack a champion before it selects a new target and fires a tower shot. This can both be a benefit and a drawback. If you want to harass enemies with plants, and they get targeted by towers, you're going to lose out on damage if you're not using auto attacks when they're being focused.

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Zyra is an incredibly strong champion when the minion wave is positioned by the enemy tower or in the middle of the lane. This is because it gives her freedom to move around the lane whilst the enemy are confined to a compact space which gives them less room to dodge your skillshots. Make sure you're placing plants behind the enemy ADC or support so it doesn't target minions, resulting in pushing the wave too hard. Zyra is quite a mana hungry champion, so try manage your spell usage by balancing it between pushing, harassing and zoning and not overusing it so you run out of mana and have no pressure at all. If you get engaged upon and you know you won't win the fight, try and disengage with Grasping Roots. If you want to counter engage to turn the fight around, or your jungler is nearby turn around with a Deadly Spines, Rampant Growth, Stranglethorns, Grasping Roots combo to burst the enemy down and lock them in place lock enough for your ADC to follow up. Make sure that you only use Stranglethorns aggressively when you know you'll gain something out of it. Don't use it just for the damage. Use it as a zoning tool, or to burn summoner spells/secure a kill. You can use it to peel if necessary but you have your Grasping Roots + Vine Lasher plants for that. If your jungler ganks for you, make sure you don't randomly turn aggressive since that might give information away. Wait for your jungler to come closer to the lane. Sweep the brush if you can. Then, once they're there, use Grasping Roots + Stranglethorns on the enemy ADC or Support (whoever is more susceptible to burst) and use Exhaust/ Ignite for the extra lockdown/damage. You'll at the very least burn a summoner spell and most likely get a kill, meaning a gold, experience and pressure advantage for your team.

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You have one of two options. You either engage, trying to look for a pick which can start a teamfight with grasping root, which you quickly follow with Stranglethorns and two thorn spitter plants to do as much damage to the target(s) or you try and peel for your priority targets. When you engage, you want to make sure you deal as much damage as possible, zone the damage dealers of the team away from your damage dealers, keep bruisers and heavy CC tanks away from your team and also create pressure. If you engage, and your team is there, you're forcing the enemy team to react. By taking a proactive approach and being the first person to do something, you're gaining an advantage since you already have a plan. If the enemy team doesn't react to you accordingly, they're finished. Zyra is very capable of going in on her own and being able to oneshot. Even though it is risky, when it works it is incredibly worth it. Being able to make 90% of their mid laners health vanish, whilst knocking up their tanks and letting your team clean up the rest of the fight is extremely satisfying, but it can go horribly wrong so you have to be confident and make sure that the odds are with you, not against you. If you decide to play a more defensive and cautious style, you really want Exhaust. Keeping assassin's such as Zed away from your ADC as Zyra is easy provided you have more than your Grasping Roots and Stranglethorns. Make sure that when peeling, if you can't land a good root that you atleast place your plants in a position that forces the enemy to either run through and take damage, or go around and not be able to reach their target. Try and force enemies next to walls or lead them into chokepoints so that you can CC them. By doing this, they won't be able to reach your ADC. Keeping enemies at bay is crucial if you want to win a teamfight, because your carries need to be able to attack the enemy with auto attacks or spells without feeling threatened. If they are allowed to freely attack the opposing team without getting punished on numerous occasions you're most likely going to win a majority of your team fights.

P.S. [05/05/16] - I will update the guide throughout the month. Expect the guide to be fully updated by the start of June!

24/04/2018 - In the process of updating this guide. I cannot give an expectation for when it will be updated but I will say it may take a long time. I cannot promise it will be fully updated at all but I will try my best. Hopefully we can fully update it for season 8.

Thank you so much for reading. (>^-^)>[/center]