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Before I start this, I hereby say that this idea is NOT mine. It is idea from Riot Staff. More link at here. I thank them for the idea. This is just my interpretation of Burning Bush Zyra.

Greeting, fellow Summoners, and welcome to my Burning Bush Zyra Guide! Whether you have just started League of Legends, just reached Level 30, gotten placed into Bronze or Silver, or have been in Diamond for a while, Zyra On-Hit Build is probably new to you. Who builds Spirit of the Elder Lizard on Zyra? It's AD item, and Zyra scales off AP! Also, why is Rylai here? Doesn't her Plant already slow them down? Shouldn't it be in 'Core' section? However, what I am trying to build is not traditional AP Zyra. Traditional AP Zyra can be found in other Zyra guides. What I am trying to build is: Burning Bush. Basically, Zyra On-Hit Build focuses on maximizing Zyra's plant's damage and utility. You may notice that Zyra's Plant has 0.2 AP Ratio, so it does not scale off AP that much. Zyra's Plants, however, has on-hit effect, and are treated as "Allied Minions". This build tries to maximize the Damage Per Second (DPS) of the Plants. That is why item like Spirit of the Elder Lizard is viable here. Thus: Zyra v.3.0: Burning Bush Zyra. Spoiler: Click to view Why is it Zyra v.3.0 anyway? Zyra v.1.0: Mid Lane Zyra. Before Zyra got nerfed, she was a very strong mid laner. Zyra v.2.0: Support Zyra. Still used by various professional teams, such as Cloud 9. Very strong utility, and decent damage as support. Zyra v.3.0: Burning Bush Zyra. It tries to maximize damage with Plants. Thus, it is called "Burning Bush".

Deadly Bloom

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Pros Maximized Plant Damage Ridiculous DPS with Liandry's Anguish, Banner of Command, and Spirit of the Elder Lizard High-utility with Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Zyra's inherent CC. Strong early game trading potential if you started Long Sword

Cons Lower burst compared to your normal Zyra Little flexibility of the items. " "

Masteries

Offense

• 1 Point in Summoner's Wrath gives 5 AP and AD if you decide to go Ignite and it's on cooldown, which isn't bad at all (Especially if you are going Glyph of Attack Speed and Long Sword to make your Early Game trading pretty decent). It's also good when you are planning to go Exhaust (10 Magic Resistance Reduction is huge.)
• 1 Point in Arcane Knowledge . Combine that with Sorcerer's Shoes and Liandry's Anguish, and your rune, and that is decent amount of Magic Penetration.
• Spellsword is really good during early game trades. It lets you last-hit easier too.
• Executioner is huge in all-out trades.
• Other viable mastery is Fury instead of Sorcery, although I don't know how much 3% Attack Speed will help.

Utility

• If you are against harder matchup, go 21-9-0.
• Summoner's Insight helps you with that long Flash cooldown.
• Go max Artificer if you are leaning toward active items, but I do prefer shorter cooldown of summoner spells.
• Runic Affinity gives longer duration of Buffs. What's not to like?

Runes

• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power allows pretty huge damage at beginning of the game.
• Greater Seal of Armor helps you later in the game, or earlier in the game if you are against AD Mid. However, if you want to be more aggressive auto-attacker with trades early game (say your opponent is Melee), you can go Greater Seal of Attack Speed. Or, if it is harder matchup (that runs AP, of course) like Fizz, you can go Greater Seal of Magic Resist.
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration adds to your already-huge Magic Penetration amount.
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist gives you better trading potential. However, you can also run Greater Glyph of Ability Power.
  

Summoner Spells

Flash is a must. Zyra does not have inherent escape method, so this gives Zyra a get-out-of-the-jail-free card. Also, an amazing gap closer for combos. Ignite gives Zyra more early game potential than Exhaust, but in later level, Exhaust makes opponent slower to get out of the Plants' zone. So it's a trade-off. For lower-leveled summoners, I recommend Ghost and Heal. Barrier is also viable against all-in champions like Katarina or Zed. Make sure if you are taking it, you remove a point in Summoner's Wrath for Sorcery.

Rise of the Thorns is Zyra's passive. When Zyra dies, she turns back to her plant form. After 2 seconds, she can fire a thorn out by pressing any ability (that she learned).

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• Where you die matters. Don't waste your Flash in a teamfight, only to be too far from the range of your passive and die.
• Be patient when you use this passive. Patience is the key to this passive.
• Remember, it's true damage. So no matter how much Magic Resist the opponent has, it hits with flat damage.

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Deadly Bloom

Zyra's Q, Deadly Bloom, is an area-of-effect (AOE), circular skillshot. When you activate this ability on top of your seed, it creates a plant that attacks any mobile units that are within 700 Attack Range.

• Deadly Bloom creates the long-ranged plants, contrary to Grasping Roots, which creates short, but slow-effect plants. Know the difference!
• After you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you should almost always use Deadly Bloom to create plants. Using Grasping Roots to create plants after Rylai's Crystal Scepter is redundant AND shorter-ranged.
• Use this to harass the enemy. It has 800 range, which is certainly not too long, but enough to beat down champions like Ryze and Mordekaiser.

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" " Zyra's W, Rampant Growth, creates a seed in a small, circular area that lasts like 30 seconds. If placed in the bush, it grants small visions around the area. If opposing champion steps on it, it grants vision of that champion for 2 seconds. And if you activate your abilities above it, your seed turns into a plant that attacks nearby units. Also, Rampant Growth gives passive cooldown reduction. When maxed, it gives 20% cooldown reduction.

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• You can store up to 2 seeds, and there can be maximum of 4 seeds at a time.
• Remember, the seed grants vision of few hundred units around it. This means, you can use Rampant Growth as your mini-wards. If you want more guaranteed vision, put a seed, and use a skill above it. Also, for the first second of you placing seed, it grants vision of about Sight Ward's range.
• Rampant Growth has larger range than Sight Ward. If you are not sure of warding because opposing team is missing in action (MIA), use your seed as your way to scout the enemy.
• Your seed is affected by cooldown reduction. So yes, this means Rampant Growth's passive cooldown reduction affects your seed too.
• Your plant is the majority of your damage. Position your plants well so that you maximize the damage.

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Grasping Roots is a linear AOE skillshot that snares opposing mobile units if they are above it. If you use Grasping Roots above a seed, you create a short-ranged plant that attacks the opponent and slow them down for 2 seconds.

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• Do not recklessly use your Grasping Roots. If opponent knows you don't have Grasping Roots, they will go all-in on you.
• If your Grasping Roots is on cooldown, play even more carefully for jungler ganks, opponent's combo, etc.
• Once you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter, do not use your Grasping Roots to form the plants. (That is, unless, Rylai's slow is not enough for your teammates to catch up.)

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" " Zyra's ultimate, Stranglethorns, is a huge AOE skill. When used, it initially damages all the enemy within it, and 2 seconds later, it knocks every opposing unit up in the air. Plants within the Stranglethorns range also get boosted, and they gain 50% Attack Speed. No doubt, it is possibly one of the best ultimates in the game.

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• Try to hit everyone with the ultimate. Not only it is huge AOE skill, it also knocks people up.
• Make sure your Plants are within Stranglethorns's range!
• Zyra's ultimate is arguably most useful in choke points (narrow areas where people cannot easily escape, such as entrance of Baron Pit and narrow road right above Ancient Golem .)

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I recommend R>Q>W>E as ability sequence.

I max Deadly Bloom first out of the three. Although Burning Bush Zyra relies on Plant damage, Plants are relatively weak early game. Plants start doing significant damage once you are higher in level and you have some items. And Grasping Roots is for utility; although snare duration increases in each ability level raised (0.75 Seconds in Level 1; 1.75 Seconds in Level 5), you can still land your combo with 0.75 seconds of snare. Also, raising the level of Deadly Bloom lowers the cooldown of it, while raising the level of Grasping Roots does not. Thus, it can help you push the lane if you really want to, and it can help the overall damage trade in the long run.

Then I max Rampant Growth. By the time you max Deadly Bloom, you should have some items in your slots that will help your plants to do damage. Also, its passive will help you use more Grasping Roots and Deadly Bloom in teamfight, thus increasing your damage output. Also, faster seed regeneration helps. Then I max Grasping Roots.

Always raise Stranglethorns's level if possible.

Starting Items

A weird start. Long Sword + 2x Health Potion? Why? Spoiler: Click to view Zyra has 575 Attack Range. Higher than your usual 550/525 Range Champion. This build has Spirit of the Elder Lizard as its core. Judging you don't play too recklessly, you have your Rampant Growth and Grasping Roots to counter the gank. This build uses Spellsword , thus adding more autoattack damage. With this start, you are looking forward to abuse your 575 Autoattack Range. This start is good against those melee champions (like Kassadin, Diana). If you are running this start, consider running Seal of Attack Speed for extra synergy.

Zyra has inherent 325 Movement Speed. Thus, against skillshot champions like Lux, Boots helps to avoid skillshot. Or, if you are against aggressive jungler, Boots and Sight Ward can help you avoid the gank. If you are winning your lane with this start, you can also roam (something that Zyra cannot usually do effectively because of lower movement speed).

You are against your counters, and you need to start with a lot of sustain. What do you do? Start with this. The safest start of the three, it has adequate sustain with huge amount of Potions to refill your HP and Faerie Charm to refill your mana. Alternative to this is Crystalline Flask+ 1 Health Potion + 1 Sight Ward.

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Early Game

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Doran's Ring is no doubt good at early game. After it got its cost reduced to 400, it became even better to buy Doran's Ring once you are behind. To catch up a bit to opponent, buy this, and sell it later at the game.

" " Haunting Guise is only 1400 Gold for all the stats it gives: 25 AP, 200 HP, and most of all, 15 Magic Penetration. This is very nice item to have early game. You will eventually upgrade it to Liandry's Anguish, so why not build this?

" " Zyra is slow. Although it does not increase your AP or health, for 325 Gold, you can roam a bit easier. You can also upgrade it to Tier 2 Boot if you are primarily looking to help other lanes.

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Core

" " Tier 2 Boot is generally good to build at some point around here. However, you can delay it till later (generally, when you start roaming hard), and build other items. Mercury's Treads is generally recommended against high-CC team. Other than that, build Sorcerer's Shoes.

" " Spirit of the Elder Lizard (SOtEL) is a wonderful item with Zyra. Wait, SOtEL does not give Ability... It does not give any Ability Power, I know. However, SOtEL has unique passive of inflicting true damage when basic attack or on-hit damage applies. And also, 10% Cooldown Reduction helps when you don't have Blue Buff. Tl;dr Buy SOtEL.

" " Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the equivalent of Iceborn Gauntlet of Blue Ezreal. It slows the opponent down. However, Rylai's Crystal Scepter has more purpose than slowing the opponent. Rylai makes opponent hard to go out of the Plant's range. Because Plants suddenly slow them, getting out of them gets hard, letting the Plants do tons of damage. It also has decent AP and huge amount of Health.

" " After you build Rylai's Crystal Scepter, it is time to reap the benefit by buying Liandry's Anguish. Not only it gives decent amount of stat (AP, HP, and M.Pen), its passive simply kills the tank who stack Health. However, you can choose to build Rylai first OR Liandry first, depending on situation. To tell which one should be built first: Spoiler: Click to view On theory, not building Liandry till you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter is usually right. Although you do have movement-impairing skills with Grasping Roots and its Plants, building Rylai suddenly makes Liandry's Anguish more effective. Also, opponents tend to stack Health later in the game. However, if opponents start stacking Health, by all means, go for Liandry's Anguish. Also, if your team is composed of many crowd controls, Liandry's Anguish is better than Rylai's Crystal Scepter. .

" " Rabadon is just a solid staple on AP Carries, and Zyra is no exception. However, there was argument about whether to build BoC ( Banner of Command) or Rabadon's Deathcap. I decided to go with Rabadon for reason below. Spoiler: Click to view With Banner of Command, Zyra's endgame AP is 304.85. With Rabadon's Deathcap, Zyra's AP is 500.3. Deadly Bloom Damage: Rabadon wins about 117 Damage. Grasping Roots Damage: Rabadon wins about 98 Damage. Stranglethorns Damage: Rabadon wins about 137 Damage. Plant Damage: Rabadon wins about 10 Damage. Although Banner of Command is 1000 Gold cheaper, this is going to be middle-late game, where one teamfight can decide the outcome. However, if you cannot afford Rabadon, or you are pushing the lanes with Super Minion (remember, 15% Extra Minion Power!) BoC is an alternative item to go for.

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The 6th Item

All items above are situational.

Banner of Command is the weakest of all four in terms of AP, but 15% Power Increase of the Minion is nothing to laugh at when Super Minion is pushing. It also increases the DPS of the Plants.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a must-built item against dive composition. You can even rush this item against assasins like Zed and Kha'Zix.

Void Staff is when your opponent stacks up tons of Magic Resist.

Abyssal Mask is a very situation-based item. If opposing team is AP-heavy, Abyssal is a decent option.

When it gets to super-late game, you can actually sell your SOtEL for one of those four items above. 40 True Damage is laughable against... full-item builds.

Easy Matchup

Short-ranged champions

Zyra tends to do well against Champions that are shorter-ranged without gap closer. Except for Orianna and Anivia, their range is low. Remember, their burst is usually high, so watch your positioning.

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Orianna and Anivia

As for case of Orianna and Anivia, you outdamage them till Level 6, and then you get sort of equal. Try to pursue your advantage early game.

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Medium Matchup

As matchup like this, either you are against long-ranged, you are against Gragas, or you are against sustain champion.

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Long-ranged champion

Against long ranged champions, it is a skill matchup. Whoever dodges the skillshot better wins the lane. Try to farm as best as possible, and harass them when they try to farm.

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Gragas

As for Gragas, watch out the fact that he can dodge your Grasping Roots with his Body Slam. Try to harass him with autoattacks.

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High-sustain champion

Against Vladimir, Swain, and Morgana you have advantage at Level 2~3 (and in Swain's case, Level 6), so take advantage of that. Later, don't think about killing them- they will outsustain you. Just take the farm and help other lanes.

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Easy/Medium Pre-6, hard Post-6

Watch out for this matchup. You may win against them pre-6, but post-6, it gets nasty.

Easy Pre-6

Akali, Diana, and Kassadin are weak without their Ultimates. You can harass them, poke them, and pre-6, the lane is yours. However, post-6, they get their gap-closer ultimate. From there, you have to watch out. They can just burst you down. Post-6, respect their ultimate, and back off. Don't recklessly use your Grasping Roots, or else, you will have nothing left when they all-in.

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Katarina

Katarina is an entirely different story. It is true that Katarina can dodge your snare with Shunpo, but you can poke her around, and when she tries to all-in on you, she won't kill you, and you can kite her down. But post-6, she gets her Death Lotus, which has lower cooldown than your Stranglethorns. So she can all in and out-damage you when your ult is on cooldown. Again, don't recklessly use your Grasping Roots against Katarina. Play really carefully when your Stranglethorns is in cooldown because that is the only ability you can stop Death Lotus with. You can even take Barrier here.

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Ahri

As for Ahri, it's an even matchup till level 6. Pre-6, avoid her Orb of Deception and Charm, and play like you do against other long-ranged champions. However, post-6, Ahri can just burst you down with her ultimate. Zyra does not do well against gap closer because she can completely miss her Grasping Roots, and opponent can take advantage of that. So save your root against Ahri, and play it safe.

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Hard Matchup

This lane is hard because all of them have either speed boost or gap closer.

Kennen and Jayce

Against Kennen and Jayce, they can burst you down post 6, and they can out-trade you pre-6, but it's not hopeless. They don't have the gap closer like other champions on the list, so play calmly. Again, don't waste your roots.

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Gap-closing champion

Rest of the champions are hard. Try to not choose into them, but if you do have to play against them, playing it safe is important. Do not waste all of your seed, even if you think you can kill them. They will just avoid it with their gap closer, and combo you out.

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Against AD Mid

Against Jayce, Zed, and Kha'Zix, watch out for Elixir of Fortitude, and take Armor Seal for sure. Against Zed, Barrier is also possible option.

I won't go full details into Support Burning Bush Zyra, but I will cover important details.

Support Burning Bush Zyra relies on mix of utility and DPS (Damage Per Second). To make her able to have utility and DPS WHILE having low fund is a bit hard though. So it is important to know we can't afford Rabadon's Deathcap or Zhonya's Hourglass. Even Liandry's Anguish and Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a luxury for support, although Liandry is pretty much requirement for Burning Bush Zyra.

Here is Support Burning Bush Zyra's Strength/Weakness:





With mastery, I recommend:

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With runes, I recommend:





Mix of GP10, tanking ability, and Magic Penetration (M.Pen is usually better than AP Rune because people tend to go Magic Resist Runes anyway against Zyra Support]]. If you really feel like you can dominate the lane, get Greater Glyph of Ability Power instead of Greater Glyph of Magic Resist.

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With abilities:





Unlike Mid Burning Bush Zyra, it is important to have utility instead of damage at here, so max Grasping Roots first. Then, for cooldown reduction and more seeds, you max Rampant Growth second. Max Deadly Bloom last; it does nothing much other than a little bit of poke damage and getting a long-ranged plant. Always raise Stranglethorns if possible.



With items:

4 Health Potion, 1 Mana Potion, 1 Vision Ward, and 3 Sight Ward. This is a lane to go if you are against poke lane. It provides huge amount of sustain and decent brush control.

OR

2 Health Potion, 1 Mana Potion, 2 Vision Ward, and 2 Sight Ward. This is an aggressive start. While you have less sustain, you have more brush control. You want to go like this if you want to push the lane (say, against Tristana, who has hard time CSing under tower because she has no decent ability to last hit, or you are pushing aggressive push comp.)

OR

Rejuvenation Bead, 2 Health Potion, 1 Vision Ward. and 2 Sight Ward. This has been standard start (except I replaced Faerie Charm with Bead). Build this only if you are planning to upgrade this to Philosopher's Stone or early Locket of the Iron Solari.

Kage's Lucky Pick

Kage's Lucky Pick is the choice of GP10 over Philosopher's Stone if you want Shard of True Ice or Twin Shadows. 45 AP is not whole lot later in the game (resulting in 9 Extra Damage per plant damage, about 25 Damage in Deadly Bloom and Grasping Roots), but in early game, it is pretty respectable damage. So build it early if you want to pressure your early advantage to the opponent.

Sightstone gives you early tankiness and free wards. It should be bought against lanes that relies on all-in ( Leona, Graves, etc) or if you need more visions (Junglers like Jarvan IV and Supports like Blitzcrank).

Philosopher's Stone

Philosopher's Stone rush is usually good if you need the sustain. It is also a good source of GP10. However, don't buy this if you are not going to upgrade this to other items. You may ask "Why?" Well... Spoiler: Click to view GP10 is not necessarily "Free money"; you paid 700 for Philosopher's Stone, and GP10 is just a slow interest you get back after investing your money. (Think stock market)

Unlike most supports, who go for Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Sorcerer's Shoes is the way to go with Support Burning Bush Zyra. This is because Zyra has passive Cooldown Reduction with her Rampant Growth (20% when maxed), so you can actually build other boots. Besides, you want to have as much Magic Penetration as possible for your Plants to do maximizing damage. If you find Sorcerer's Shoes lackluster though, you can opt for Mobility Boots. Less damage, but it has more utilities.

OR OR

This is the tricky part. Which item out of these three are you building? Or are you building any of these at all? It is unfortunate that Support Burning Bush Zyra doesn't have as much flexibility for aura and utility. It is indeed a trade-off. How to determine the items though? Spoiler: Click to view Are you leaning toward damage more than utility? Sometimes, your carries are someone like Kha'Zix or Tristana, and what they need is reset on their Rocket Jump and Leap. But there are times where your team does not have enough damage to even let them get the resets. Or other times, your team just lacks damage. This is where you decide to forgo the utility items and go for AP. Are you lacking hard initiation? Sometimes, your top and jungler are Volibear and Nunu & Willump. They don't have that much ability to engage hard (well, unless Volibear is near the opponent.) Then go Shurelya's Battlesong. Combine with Twin Shadows for maximum effect. Is your team against AOE Comp? Then Locket of the Iron Solari is your choice. Providing defensive auras for your team, it can tank up decent amount of AOE damage. Are you against high-CC team? Build Mikael's Blessing, and save your carries. Unfortunately, this does not stop suppression and knock-up/back, but it stops most of the CC.

• Liandry's Anguish is pretty much a requirement. Build it after you are done with aura item, or rush it (unless you resort to push hard with Super Minion waves; then go for Banner of Command)
• Banner of Command does the most damage out of all these items (even more than Rylai or Liandry, and they are 500~ Gold more expensive). However, resolve to build it later unless you are winning hard. This is because Banner of Command gets more effective as you get more AP.
• Liandry's Anguish and Rylai's Crystal Scepter combo was already mentioned previously. But Liandry's Anguish and Shard of True Ice works too, albeit less efficient and lower AP. But Shard of True Ice is way cheaper than Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and remember, Plants have 0.2 AP Ratio, so 35 AP difference actually isn't that high when you consider the Plant's DPS.
• If you lack hard initiation, build Twin Shadows, Shurelya's Battlesong, and Mobility Boots.

This is my version of Burning Bush Zyra. I will format it a bit more tomorrow; I have to go to sleep!

Thanks to Riot for the build :) And original author is Rhaqen.

Also, this is my first guide, so if anyone can help with guide format :)