Zyra Build Guide by Hafu

Introduction!

Hey everyone, I'm Hafu, and this is my Zyra mid guide!

I've played hundreds upon hundreds of games on Zyra and I'm here to share my insight. Zyra has a ton of crowd control as well as a ton of aoe burst damage. She has ridiculous presence in team fights and can easily change the tide of any fight. This is my first guide so feel free to let me know what I can improve on!

Items

Sustain, damage, and health. What else could you ask for? I almost always get two -- sometimes I'll get one depending on how hard I'm winning / losing my lane. If I'm winning really hard- I might get one Doran's Ring and Sorcerer's Shoes or Blasting Wand. If I'm getting crushed-- I usually will buy one Doran's Ring and Negatron Cloak and build that into an abyssal.



The only time I don't build these is if I'm laning against an AD lane and I need ninja tabi's to survive.



Part of Zyra's core. I almost always build this unless I'm struggling with surviving before I get my combo off. If you're casting everything at least once -- then getting a deathcap is a must.



Personally I dislike this item on Zyra. A lot of people go for this, but I feel like it gimps her damage early too much. By no means am I saying it's bad on Zyra, but it doesn't suit my playstyle.



A lot of people dislike this on Zyra but I actually think it's quite good in the right situation (losing lane, double AP). Building a Negatron Cloak in lane early is actually quite an offensive move. It allows you to trade when you're losing, and makes the enemy underestimate their strength. It's important to build the Negatron Cloak before the Blasting Wand if you're losing because early game, no one really build spell penetration so you get the full effect.



Core. Solid against dives, great to bait ultimates, and makes you a bit beefier. If you combo, then zhonya's -- you can use your deadly bloom again before you die. Dying is actually quite good since Rise of the Thorns is ridiculous in team fights.



I build this if I need to help kite and want a bit more health to stay alive. I build this if they have a lot of melee champions.



Core-- magnifies Zyra's damage.



I don't like it. Double Doran's Rings are enough to sustain in lane. That + blue buffs should be enough.



BUY THESE. I almost always get two and two pots when I back. Wards win games. I cannot emphasize this enough. Do not rely on your team to call MIAs, to track the jungler, to ward. Ward both sides of middle lane so that when you die, you only have yourself to blame.

Runes & Masteries

Not a lot to comment on since I personally just run standard AP for both.

The only variation for me in runes are swapping Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration with Greater Seal of Armor if I'm versing an AD mid.

Again-- there is no "correct" way to play a champion. The way you assign your runes and masteries should align with your own personal playstyle.

Laning Phase

Early Game

The only time Zyra is weak is at level 1 since her base stats are meh and her damage truly scales off her plants.

Starting at level 2 -- every time your opponent goes for a last hit, try to land a Deadly bloom and Rampant Growth on them. This makes them choose between getting the creep and getting harassed, or missing the creep and still taking a bit of harass from your plant.

You should train your Grasping Roots at level 3. At this point, Zyra becomes a true terror. Keep harassing as they try to last hit, while making sure to keep last hitting yourself. They'll be either zoned out or silly enough to stay and try to last hit. If they stay-- land Grasping Roots with two Rampant Growth seeds on them, and cast a deadly bloom and Ignite and they should die.

When you back for items -- BUY WARDS. If you back with 1,000 gold, opt for one Doran's Ring, two sight wards, and two Health Potions over the double Doran's Rings. Wards win games.


Mid Game

When you get Stranglethorns at level 6 -- you should be looking for kills. At this point, you can get a kill after harassing to about 60% or even 70% HP depending on what your opponent has bought.

Keep harassing with just deadly bloom with your Rampant Growth. When they're low enough, save up two Rampant Growth charges and try to land a double plant with Grasping Roots. If you land it, don't hesitate to deadly bloom, Stranglethorns, and Ignite as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, you should always have both sides of your lane warded. Your plants allow you to have lane dominance, but also makes it so that your lane is almost always pushing. You -have- to cover your butt if you want to stay dominant.

In fact, if you see their jungler coming-- you can sometimes even take them 1v2, especially if you can see the attack coming. If you've done a good job harassing your lane partner down-- then it's almost worth it to try to bait the gank. Zyra is all AOE, so if they both charge you and you can land your combo on both, then you'll have an easy double kill.


TLDR;

- Harass with deadly bloom and Rampant Growth when they try to last hit a creep.

- Kill them when they're ~50% hp by landing a double Rampant Growth with Grasping Roots. If you land, then deadly bloom + Ignite.

- Buy sight wards.

Team Fights

Land your abilities and you win. Miss, and everyone will judge and hate you.

Look for guaranteed hits. I talked about harassing when your opponent goes for a last hit. Same thing in team fights. Try to land your abilities when they make a predictable move. Are they charging at your ADC? Are they getting caught by your jungler? Can you land your abilities after one of your teammates stun?

Every team composition and team fight is unique. I'm not sure what to comment on-- but in general, just try to land your abilities when you know you can definitely hit them.

Since your spells are AOE, try to shoot them in a way that will hit the most people.

Dying is not terrible in team fights because your passive, Rise of the Thorns, does ridiculous true damage in a skill shot. If you're in the fight, it's pretty easy to hit when they're still trying to fight off the rest of your team.

Conclusion

Zyra is my favorite champion and I hope that this guide has shed some light on how to utilize her strengths. Playing an all skill-shot champion is extremely difficult, but even more rewarding.

This is my first guide and I hope you enjoyed it.

More of Me:
My Stream
Youtube
Facebook
Twitter

A thank you to jhoijhoi and her Making a Guide guide for help on editing.

Cheers!