I am Lonestar_LoL and I peaked Masters 156LP Season 11 on the NA server one-tricking Syndra. I have been playing on and off since Season 3 and mostly play mid lane. I am a mentor on the r/SummonerSchool Discord and I love giving back to the League community. I know how to play all roles to at least a Diamond level and can play most champions. Syndra is one of my favorite champions of all time since almost every lane is a skill lane (since all your abilites are skill shots) and she has a high skill ceiling. I decided to create a Syndra guide because I did not completely agree with the builds and matchups that other people posted, and because the matchups were not very detailed. Feel free to message me if you have any questions or comments about Syndra or mid lane in general.


Feel free to check out my Youtube channel for some more educational content and follow me on Twitch. You can also join my Discord Server and message me there if you have any questions.

I have compiled a matchup spreadsheet with how to play many of Syndra's matchups and some other tips. A matchup spreadsheet is much easier for you to use to see matchups than this Mobafire guide, but both of them have all the same information.

NOTE: I have not updated the matchup spreadsheet since Syndra's rework. A lot of the tips will be similar, but you will need to play a bit different than described (& some of the matchups are now harder).

You can either watch the following video description for Syndra's best rune pages or read the text below it:

Note: The video is a bit outdated with Syndra's mini rework changed her main rune page, but the info about each individual rune is mostly unchanged. Your best bet is now First Strike.


Syndra's main rune page is now First Strike after her mini rework, but she can also go for Summon Aery and Phase Rush in certain matchups. All three of them are very good and you can pick any in every matchup depending how you want to play the lane/game. I usually take First Strike unless I need survivability/damage or if the enemy jungler me going Phase Rush. First Strike is almost always best in lower elos (since players make so many mistakes & games last so long), but Summon Aery and Phase Rush are still situationally better in higher elos since priority matters more and you're more likely to need the extra damage or mobility. Below is a short Pros/Cons list of her main Rune pages followed by a detailed explanation of each rune page.

First Strike

Summon Aery

PHASE RUSH

*Best general option *Great late game damage *Hit power spikes faster *Always best in low elo *Hard to solokill early *Lacks early lane pressure

*More early poke damage *Mainly a high elo option *Does not scale well (bad burst damage) *Best lane pressure (with poke) *Easier to solokill early, but still hard *Hard get full value from

*More survivability *Better in high elo *Mainly vs certain champs *Better for tempo resets *Good scaling *Better sidelaning

Syndra can also take a few other rune pages, but I would recommend people stick with First Strike until you've played many games of her & reach Diamond+. Summon Aery is a very popular option in High Elo and Proplay after the nerfs to Phase Rush because it offers lane domination while still giving easy access to Time Warp Tonic. Arcane Comet can also be a good option on Syndra in certain matchups, but you generally only ever see it into artillery mages and on Syndra Bot. Electrocute is not nearly as good since you have such a weak laning phase now and lost most kill threat early. Predator has also seen some play after Showmaker ran it in Worlds 2021, but I do not think it sounds good unless you really just want to play for roams or are vs champs with lots of map pressure like Galio and Twisted Fate.



First Strike
First Strike is Syndra's best rune page since her mini rework. The rune makes you hit your key item spikes a bit faster and deal a bit more damage, but you lose out on a lot of early game damage and survivability. Since Syndra is no longer a lane bully, First Strike is her best option since it lets her scale much faster.

You don't get much gold or damage from First Strike early game, so you will need to be able to win lane without much help from your primary rune. Your goal in most matchups will be to go even and then outscale the enemy mid. Do not play too aggressive in early lane with this setup since you will lack kill damage, but you can still go for short, burst trades for priority. Remember, you generally just want to get a nice CS lead and maybe get some plates, solokilling is hard until you get multiple abilities upgraded. You should still consider Summon Aery into assassins where you need to play for lane since it will help you survive the 1v1.

Primary: Secondary: Shards:

First Strike Gives you great scaling since you hit your power spikes earlier with the gold & you deal a bit more damage. As a burst mage, Syndra can proc First Strike often and gets high value from the rune. Magical Footwear can be swapped for Perfect Timing if you want early boots or need stopwatch early (especially vs champions like Zed. Minion Dematerializer is incredibly strong for wave control and helping you oneshot caster/ranged minions earlier, but you can take Future's Market or Biscuit Delivery if you feel like you won't get much use from Minion Dematerializer. Cosmic Insight is the standard after the nerfs to Corrupting Potion, but Time Warp Tonic is still a decent option if you need a lot of early game pressure. Transcendence is necesarry for your 6 ball ult pre Q upgrade & the haste means your E will be up more often. Gathering Storm is great since you will scale even harder, but Scorch is a decent option into lanes where you need extra early game pressure to help you scale. Manaflow Band is not necesarry anymore. Nullifying Orb is a decent option vs AP heavy teams. Absolute Focus is nice for some more oneshot potential. Attack Speed first shard makes last hitting and trading autos in lane much smoother, but Adaptive Force gives you more damage with abilities. Either is viable, take what you prefer. Adaptive Force second shard is mandatory Tenacity and Slow Resist or Shield depending on lane opponent.

You can also go take a different secondary tree with First Strike since you are playing for scale. You can take Precision secondary with Presence of Mind and Coup de Grace for more late game combos since you get more mana regen. You could take Domination secondary with Taste of Blood/ Cheap Shot and Relentless Hunter/ Ultimate Hunter/ Treasure Hunter for a bit more damage/healing and better laning/roaming, but Sorcery secondary will almost always be better.

Game Plan:
First Strike is a scaling rune above anything else. You generally want to go for quick burst trades in lane to get splinters & get some value from First Strike when it's up. The laning phase will not be as easy as it used to be, but you should be able to farm up well for the mid and late game. Once you get to your power spikes (mainly splinter upgrades over item spikes]], that is when you will be strong. Generally play passive until you get to this point, but you can still punish enemies if they overstep.


Summon Aery
Summon Aery is an offensive laning rune that tends to be best when you can frequently & reliably hit the enemy with spells and autoattacks. I tend to take it when I really need some extra early lane pressure to help me get to the point where Syndra scales. Summon Aery tends to be better vs melee champions since you can proc it every 4 seconds or so, but it also works well vs ranged champions you outrange like Ryze and Annie. You don't get much use out of Summon Aery against champions who outrange you like Xerath or Vel'Koz and Arcane Comet is likely better vs them, but you can still run Summon Aery and get some use out of it. This rune page does not scale as well as the other pages, but it allows you to really dominate lane and snowball to the point that the lack of rune impact isn't important. You generally take this setup instead of First Strike because you will need more lane prio early or need extra poke damage and kill threat during lane.

Primary: Secondary: Shards:

Summon Aery gives you great early game poke at the cost of worse scaling. TWT and C-Pot in addition to the poke from Aery allows you to get priority whenever you want in most matchups. Manaflow Band is great for the extra mana, but no longer mandatory. Transcendence is standard since the other options aren't as good for Syndra. Scorch is really nice it gives you a bit of the laning damage you lack without Electrocute. It synergizes well with your sustain and burn from Corrupting Potion but falls off hard. Gathering Storm is better when you don't really need the extra damage, you know the game will last a long time, or you are lower elo. Time Warp Tonic is mandatory for this setup because the extra hp/mana and the damage burn on autos are insanely good for the early game. It also gives you more power to take aggressive trades. Biscuit Delivery gives you a bit more mana and health in case you make a bad trade or run oom. It is probably the best option, but Magical Footwear is also viable if you don't think you'll need the mana and health. Perfect Timing is also viable in some matchups. Attack Speed first shard makes last hitting and trading autos in lane much smoother, but Adaptive Force gives you more damage with abilities. Either is viable, take what you prefer. Adaptive Force second shard is mandatory Tenacity and Slow Resist or Shield depending on lane opponent.

Game Plan:
Summon Aery is the rune that makes you an absolute menace to lane against in the early game. Summon Aery is much better utilized in high elo since players have much better laning and you will make fewer mistakes, while First Strike is much easier to pull off in lower elos. Summon Aery gives insane poke, the ability to always get prio, and higher early kill potential. You want to use this rune to get an early lead that you can then snowball into an item advantage by the midgame when the rune falls off. You can take aggressive early trades with Corrupting Potion & Time Warp Tonic, but make sure you get as much farm as possible and don't die to ganks. You should try to play for early solokills if possible and to help your jungler get ahead, but a cs lead is always good too. Since Summon Aery scales very poorly, you want to make sure to get yourself a big lead and get your team ahead. You will play the mid-late game similar to how you would with First Strike, but you will just have less gold and less damage. You will likely try to play around your team and only go to the sidelane to pick up extra farm/exp.


Phase Rush
Phase Rush is the best survivability rune on Syndra since it helps you sidelane in mid/late-game, reposition in teamfights, and avoid dying to ganks. You usually determine whether or not you take Phase Rush by looking at the enemy junglers and team comp instead of the lane matchup. Phase Rush is great against champions who want to run you down (like Olaf and Tryndamere) and supports that dive onto you. There are certain matchups where Phase Rush is extremely useful during laning since it allows you to take quick burst trades and use the movement speed to escape before the enemy can damage you back. For example, if you use a Q-E-Auto trade onto Lucian, he is able to E forward and trade back after the stun duration ends if you have First Strike. With Phase Rush, you are able to run away quickly without him having the chance to trade back. Any trade where you damage them while taking no return is amazing.

I often go Phase Rush if I need movement speed to survive teamfights, do not need the extra damage from First Strike, Summon Aery, or Electrocute, or want to play for scale. It is not as good anymore after the nerfs (especially in lower elos), but it is still situationally very good if you know how to use it.

Primary: Secondary: Shards:

Phase Rush gives you better scaling power since you will have more mobility at the cost of a bit less burst damage. You can go for a lot of tempo resets and get lane priority whenever you want in almost any matchups due to Corrupting Potion. Manaflow Band is great for extra mana but not mandatory anymore. Transcendence is standard since the other options generally aren't as good for Syndra. Scorch is really nice it gives you a bit of the laning damage you lack without First Strike. It synergizes well with your sustain and burn from Corrupting Potion but falls off hard. Gathering Storm is better when you don't really need the extra damage, you know the game will last a long time, or you are lower elo. Magical Footwear is great so you can hit your power spikes a lot sooner, but Future's Market is a good alternative. Cosmic Insight is an amazing rune that you should take most games. Minion Dematerializer is also great for some extra wave control. Time Warp Tonic is decent since it helps you get a bit more power into your weak early game. Perfect Timing is also viable in some matchups. Attack Speed first shard makes last hitting and trading autos in lane much smoother, but Adaptive Force gives you more damage with abilities. Either is viable, take what you prefer. Adaptive Force second shard is mandatory Tenacity and Slow Resist or Shield depending on lane opponent.

Game Plan:
Phase Rush is almost mandatory when you are vs champions with high mobility who like to run you down (like Tryndamere, Udyr, & Olaf) and games where need help escaping ganks. I usually take Phase Rush for the enemy team comp and not based on my lane opponent. This rune pages is good when your goal is to scale or you don't have the ability to easily solokill the enemy mid. You still have kill pressure with Phase Rush against most mid laners if they make a mistake; just plan to play a fast early game where you get a lead by outfarming and getting priority for your jungle. Corrupting Potion and Time Warp Tonic synergize really well together, so you always want to go for this item and rune when you go Phase Rush. They allow you to take a lot more aggressive trades with the instant sustain/damage, get priority of the wave whenever you need it, and get more value from tempo resets. This becomes much more valuable in higher ranks where early prio is more important. You are more likely to get away with skipping an early defensive item with phase rush since the mobility will save you most of the time, but there are still some games where you will need an early Zhonya's Hourglass or Banshee's Veil. Phase Rush allows you to sidelane in the midgame better than Electrocute, but your main goal (most of the time) should still be to collect side waves and then group up with your team for teamfights/objectives.





Electrocute
Electrocute used to be the standard rune page since the extra damage & oneshot potential was synergizes great with Syndra's kit. Now that Syndra's early game is weaker, I recommend people stay away from this page since First Strike just scales so much better. Electrocute is still good when you play against very aggressive champions (like LeBlanc and Zed) and squishy scaling champs (like Seraphine when you think you can actually solokill them. Electrocute is still good into mage matchups because they tend to be very squishy and you can easily capitalize on their mistakes, but I just think other options are better now.

Primary: Secondary: Shards:

Electrocute Gives you a lot more laning power and midgame oneshot potential at the cost of having less mobility. Cheap Shot is good for better trades and more oneshot potential. I prefer this. Taste of Blood is good for sustain and good in certain lanes and preference. Eyeball Collection is standard, but you can use any of them. Relentless Hunter is really nice if you go ignite so you aren't so slow to rotate. Treasure Hunter doesn't seem great so far, but it is good for snowballing. Ultimate Hunter is nice so you can use R more often. Manaflow Band is great for extra mana, but not necesarry any more. Transcendence gives you ability haste which is extremely helpful. There isn't really a better option here. Absolute Focus is a decent option instead of Transcendence for a bit more damage. Inspiration secondary is also an option since Syndra is no longer gated by high mana costs. Attack Speed first shard makes last hitting and trading autos in lane much smoother, but Adaptive Force gives you more damage with abilities. Either is viable, take what you prefer. Adaptive Force second shard is mandatory Tenacity and Slow Resist or Shield depending on lane opponent.

Game Plan:
You are playing for lane domination with Electrocute and want to solokill the enemy mid if possible. You generally want to play the first few levels slow since Doran's Ring doesn't give much sustain and you don't get a lot of value from tempo resets. Poke the enemy mid when it's free and make sure you farm well. At level 6, you can kill most mids from 70-80% HP with a 6 ball ultimate (assuming you have some damage built). Once you hit your level 9 power spike and buy Luden's Tempest and Sorcerer's Shoes, you should be able to solokill any squishies 100-0 with a 6-7 ball ult. You will likely need to build Zhonya's Hourglass or Banshee's Veil second or third item since you will have no mobility without Phase Rush. Cosmic Drive will help cover some of your weaknesses in midgame so you may not need to rush a defensive item. Electrocute makes it a lot harder to collect sidelane waves in mid/late game since you have less mobility and are much easier to pick off. You will ideally be ahead when going these runes, but you still shouldn't play too aggressive in the sidelane unless you know where the enemies are and have good vision. Try to just collect the side waves at your Tier 1 or Tier 2 tower and group with your team to create picks & force objectives with a numbers advantage.



Arcane Comet
Arcane Comet is a very situational rune for Syndra. It is good when you want a damage rune to play for lane but are against a champ that outranges you (like Xerath or Vel'Koz) or a mage you outrange (like Annie). It is hard to proc Electrocute on certain campions since you can't reliably get 3 attacks on the enemy and Arcane Comet makes up for that weakness. I want to reiterate that between Electrocute & Phase Rush, you are able to play all matchups. Arcane Comet CAN be good in certain matchups or if you plan to play the lane more like an artillery mage who pokes rather than short bursty trades. This setup also allows you to take Time Warp Tonic. I do not recommend this to people new to Syndra, but it can be good in certain lanes. You might want to try it out after you've played Syndra for awhile. This setup is often good on Syndra Bot.

If you are new to Syndra, I would recommend that you take Flash Ignite when running Electrocute, and take Flash Teleport when you go Phase Rush. Similar to your rune choice, your summoner spells depend on your playstyle and what you want to accomplish in a specific lane/game. You can take Ignite when you want to play Syndra more like an assassin for more kill threat, and you can take Teleport to play her more like a control mage. You can also go Electrocute and Teleport on Syndra when you want the kill threat from Electrocute while still being able to impact the map and sidelane better with Teleport. Cleanse can also be a really good option when you are against an enemy with a lot of CC like Zoe.

Additionally, there are a few other options for runes that you can go, but they are only useful in a handful of matchups and are generally sub-optimal. Barrier is useful when you are against an assassin with a lot of initial burst like Fizz. Exhaust is similar to Barrier and you can go it into matchups that you stuggle playing against. Heal is generally only good when you play Syndra in a duo lane but can be good in a close 2v2 river skirmish.

At the end of the day, your summs really come down to your personal preference in each matchup. I personally take Teleport when in doubt because it let's me impact the map earlier in the game or get away with taking a bad reset early on. Teleport tends to be better the higher the elo you are playing in.

Primary: Other:

Flash is always necessary. Syndra has no mobility so you absolutely need to take Flash every single game. Ignite Helps you win lanes where you have a lot of kill threat. It is good vs champions with lots of healing like Vladimir and good vs assassins if you play the lane fast and want to solokill. You have worse sidelaning in the mid/late game, makes lane much harder if you die or need to take an early reset when wave is in a bad spot. I only go Ignite when I am running the Electrocute rune page and make sure to run Relentless Hunter as well to make sure I can still rotate somewhat quickly. Teleport is honestly one of the best spells in the game. You should always take if you do not think you have kill threat on enemy midlaner and want to play for a cs/xp lead. It is good vs enemies with global ults ( Galio) to follow their roams. Always take Teleport when you go Phase Rush since it synergizes well with Corrupting Potion and Time Warp Tonic. You can take Teleport with Electrocute as well if you are playing aggressive in lane but still want to be able to impact the map (like vs Twisted Fate. Cleanse Good vs midlaners whose kit revolves around a specific CC spell, but it still up to preference and depends on enemy team comp. Ignite and Teleport are usually still good into these matchups. I generally only go cleanse when I'm vs an enemy midlaner with CC AND the enemy team has a large amount of CC, like a teamcomp with Zoe mid, Morgana or Leona support, and Lillia jungle. Barrier is good vs assassins. I almost always run Barrier into Fizz. Exhaust is also good into assassins like Zed whose engage is fairly one dimensional. I usually don't go Exhaust but you can take it if you usually struggle into a certain assassin. Heal is almost only ever taken when you play Syndra botlane. Barrier and Exhaust are almost always better options when playing in a sololane.

P Transcendent: Syndra's passive makes it so your abilities are stronger when you level them up completely, so you have extra large power spikes at level 9, 13, 16 & 18.

Q Dark Sphere: Your Q is your main source of damage/poke so you want to max this first. Maxing the spell gives you more damage against champions, so level 9 plus mythic/boots is usually enough to oneshot the enemy carries. Your spheres will last 6 seconds before they disappear. Maxing Dark Sphere makes it do 25% increased damage to champions. You generally want to spam Q before a fight to make sure you have as many balls on the ground as possible (for your ultimate and to set up a wide E stun). I will often spam Q off cooldown if I am death bushing so I have more oneshot potential.

W Force of Will: is usually just used to set up the rest of your kit and do a bit of extra damage. The true damage when you max it is nice, but not as important as the CDR from leveling up your E. You can hold onto a ball that is going to expire soon to prolong how long it stays out and get more balls for your ultimate. Your W resets the duration of a ball when you pick it up (not when you throw it). If you are holding onto a ball while you press R, the ult will not use that ball so it is important to throw the ball again before pressing R. Maxing Force of Will gives it an additional 20% true damage.

E Scatter the Weak: This is your main setup/peel ability, so you want to max this second. It is always worth maxing E second over maxing W second since the cooldown reduction on her only peel is better than extra damage to tanks. Maxing Scatter the Weak increases the hitbox of the spell.

R Unleashed Power: Syndra's Ultimate does a large amount of damage and allows you to get a very large stun off if you R -> E. Your R does more damage based off the number of balls you have on the ground (from your Q), so you generally want to have as many balls on the ground as possible before pressing R if you can. You should always have at least 2 Dark Spheres out before ulting for a minimum of a 5 ball ult. Maxing Unleashed Power increases its cast range.




Syndra has limitless combos that you will need to use in laning for trades and for setting up picks in the midgame. Most of her abilities are fairly interchangeable in a combo and revolve mostly around how many and where spheres are placed. You generally want to position your spheres between you and the enemy to create threat and capitalize on enemy positioning.


Basic Trade Combo 1
Syndra's most simple combo is her basic Q -> E. You can then follow up with other abilities and autoattacks after depending if you are trying to all in or just do a short burst trade. This combo is great because it allows you to proc Electrocute fairly easily for a lot of free damage. You generally want to do this combo when the enemy is already CC'ed or you know you will for sure land the stun. The combo looks like:


It is important to note that the length of your E stun will always be the same regardless how close to the Dark Sphere you stand. The big problem with this combo is that it can be fairly easy for skilled players to sidestep the stun from Scatter the Weak and then be able to punish you.

Example: There is nothing special about this play, but I chose to Q-E the Zac because the Rell had already stunned him. I was guaranteed to land the stun on him.


Basic Trade Combo 2
One of Syndra's best trading combos in lane is centered around your ability to always position a sphere between yourself and the opponent. If you use Dark Sphere somewhere in the lane (generally in the minion wave), you can wait a couple of seconds for your Q cooldown to refresh and then E Scatter the Weak the ball to stun the enemy. You can then follow that up with another Dark Sphere, Force of Will, and potentially an auto attack. Syndra gets a lot of pressure in lane by positioning near her spheres and threatening an aggressive trade. The combo looks like:


Be careful autoattacking the enemy (especially if you have Electrocute) because walking close to them may allow them to trade back onto you after the stun wears off. You should be thinking about using this combo any time you have a Q Dark Sphere on the ground and position in the lane to make the enemy fear your stun. You shuold not need to use your E every single time it is off cooldown since it leaves you vulnerable to ganks, but you can get a lot of pressure onto the enemy mid laner by positioning around a Dark Sphere while Scatter the Weak is up. This combo is especially great if you are in lane before the enemy comes. The enemy mid often isn't thinking about the your spheres already on the ground so you can very often catch them off guard (like I do below in example 3).

Example 1: This wasn't the best trade in the world, but notice how I'm constantly positioning the ball between myself and the Ryze. This video shows the basics of how to get a quick electrocute proc off with this combo. I do not go for an auto after the trade because it would allow him to trade back onto me.

Example 2: Note how by walking back and forth around the sphere that is on the ground, I exerted a lot of pressure onto the Twisted Fate. He either has to play far back and give up farm or risk getting stunned. I was patient and used my E only when I knew that it would land, but even just positioning aggressively around a sphere is great. Don't waste your E. Wait til you know it will land and you will get a lot of good trades and potentially kills.

Example 3: As soon as Rumble returns to lane, I catch him off guard with an E from a sphere that was already on the ground. I would have solokilled him if I managed to do a 6 ball ultimate.



Split Stun
Your stun is fairly narrow and easy for good players to dodge, so one way to make it easier ot land is to "split stun" combo. This is where you hit multiple spheres with your E. You can either Q->E next to a sphere already placed, or by using W and Q at the same time to make a larger stun cone. You can do this to stun multiple enemies in a teamfight or to guarantee a stun on a single target with a larger stun area. One example of the combo is as follows:


You lose out on a bit of damage with this combo since you are using your Q and W to set up a stun, but this allows you to almost guarantee a stun. This combo is very good when the enemy is alreday low, you need to peel for your team, or you are trying to set up your teammates to land their damage. You should recast your W fairly close to your Q if you want to stun one target (Example 1 and 3) and you should recast your W and Q in line with multiple enemies if you want to split your stun that way (Example 2).

Example 1: Notice that my Q-E landed on the Ahri so it did not end up mattering that I had a split stun set up, but having the second Q out made it so I still stun her even if she ulted down. Also note that I would have killed her 100-0 if I used Force of Will on the first Dark Sphere for a 6 ball ultimate (instead of 5 ball), or if I had Electrocute.

Example 2: Note that as long as you place your orbs inside of your E cone you are able to split the stun onto different targets. This type of split stun can be extremely difficult to pull off in a real game, but is very rewarding when you are able to pull it off. You can use Q twice instead of W if you are able to, but you're generally going to need to use W.

Example 3: I split the stun on the Zac with an instantaneous W-Q followed by E. I do this because I do not need to prep a 6 ball ultimate for damage and just want to guarantee my stun.


Ult Into Stun
During laning you will often use your ultimate after stunning the enemy, but it is often best to use Unleashed Power before you Scatter the Weak. This combo guarantees a large, undodgeable AOE (Area of Effect) stun onto that can land on multiple enemies because you will have a lot more Dark Spheres to use Scatter the Weak on. This combo works really well against champions with high mobility, enemies who try to dodge a lot, and in teamfights. The combo is as follows:


It is great to use multiple Dark Spheres before doing this combo and I recommend using a 6-7 ball ultimate before using Unleashed Power when possible. You almost always want to use this in front to back team fights so you can ult their front-line and then stun 2-3 enemies.

Example 1: In this clip I use the R-E combo onto the Rakan because I knew I had enough damage to kill him but just needed to make sure I landed the stun. Using R placed many spheres near him so I was guaranteed to hit him.

Example 2: Since Lee Sin is such a mobile champ, I opted to use the R-E combo. I knew my Volibear and I had enough damage to kill him, but only if I landed my stun on him. A split stun would have worked here too, but I didn't want to risk missing.

Syndra is a champ with a relatively high skill ceiling and there are many advanced combos that really separate a good and a great Syndra. Using these advanced combos will make you do a lot more damage to your enemies and make it much harder to dodge your spells.


6 Ball Ult
Syndra's 6 ball ult is exactly what it sounds like: you use Unleashed Power with 6 spheres. Your R will always hit the enemy with a minimum of 3 spheres, but it will also use all additional spheres you have placed using your Q Dark Sphere. You will use your ultimate after you have 3 spheres out. In order to maximize the damage from your ultimate, you will need to use Force of Will to extend the duration of the first Dark Sphere you used. The combo is as follows:


You must recast your W Force of Will before pressing R Unleashed Power or else the ultimate will not use that sphere since you will still be holding it. 6 ball ultimate is extremely important to learn when trying to master Syndra as you have kill pressure in almost every lane at level 6 with this combo. You can 6 ball ult as soon as you get level 6.


Example 1 This is an example of a good 6 ball ultimate taken from my stream. Notice how I pick up my first dark sphere with W to refresh the timer and throw it before pressing R. I also wait use the R-E combo to make sure I do not miss my stun since the Ziggs was dodging a lot.

Example 2 This is another example of a great 6 ball ultimate. Notice how patiend I was with using my W-E combo and how I was able to kill the Camille even though she was almost full HP at the start of the clip. I also waited to use my last Q-Auto until her passive shield expired. She probably could have lived if she used her E defensively, but I would still be able to zone her from farm and grab plates if she did.

Example 3 I solokill the enemy Brand 100-0 in this clip with a 6 ball ult. Notice how I was patient with my W to make sure I landed it. I am pretty sure I would have killed him with a 5 ball ult, but it's nice to make sure he dies by using a 6 ball ult.



7 Ball Ult
Your 7 ball ult combo is very similar to a 6 ball ult, only you use one more Q Dark Sphere before pressing R Unleashed Power. It is important to note you can only use a 7 ball ultimate if you have at least 40 ability haste because your spheres 7th sphere will disappear otherwise. 7 ball ult combo is:


It does not really matter when in the combo you use your W Force of Will as long as you refresh the timer less than 6 seconds before using your R Unleashed Power. Realistically you will not be able to actually use a 7 ball ult until lategame, but it is extremely strong when you do.

Example This video shows how to set up a 6 ball ultimate and then a 7 ball ultimate in practice tool.


E->Q Combo
Unfortunately Riot removed your ability to E-Q. This combo was great for peeling yourself or stopping a dashing champion. You generally just want to W-Q instead in the situations you would have used E-Q.


W For Wave Manipulation
While not necessarily a combo, you can do some really interesting stuff with your W to put you into a more favorable position. It is fairly "easy" to pull this off mechanically, but I have put this in the advanced section because there can be a bit of a learning curve to knowing when you should actually do this.

You are able to pick up a (generally full HP) minion that's under tower and use it to set up a freeze even though a wave has already crashed (See Example 1). You can then throw the minion behind the enemy wave. You can also walk up, turn around (so the W goes behind you), let the W expire by turning around so you don't damage the minion. You generally only want to do this when you want to:
Be smart about when you do this because you won't have prio. You don't want to do this if you are better off rotating to help your jungler or making a play on the map. Again, you generally will only do this prior to 10 minutes into the game.

Example 1: Note how I pick up the minion and use it to make a freeze and deny the enemy Twisted Fate a wave. By turning around at 7 seconds in, the minion gets placed inside of the wave without taking damage from throwing the minion. Using Force of Will allows me to set up a freeze further from my tower and makes it so I don't have to take damage from the minion. I decide to go for this freeze because I don't want to push for plates because I might die to Twisted Fate ultimate and a Kayn gank since I had no topside vision. I don't push for roam because I don't see a play on the map and have Teleport if I am needed bot lane. You could also argue that I should push the next wave and dive bot since my Graves is finishing his botside clear.

Example 2: I just Teleported back to lane in this clip and decide to use my W to create a wave that slowpushes back into me. Ideally I would have dropped the minion closer to the enemy tower instead of inside of my minion wave, but it still got the desired outcome. I create a freeze because the enemy Vladimir is currently roaming and this allows me to deny him 2-3 waves of farm and exp. I decide to do this instead of pushing for plates because I was worried the Lee Sin jungle on the other team would gank me and because it was only 5 minutes into the game (so plates are kind of hard to get). Pushing for plates would have been a valid option here if I am careful not to die to a gank, but rotating to the play would have been bad because the fight was over already.

Note: I will need more time to figure out what the best items are after the mini-rework and what the best builds are. I will continue to update this guide as I figure out what is best and see what many other high elo players build on her.


Starting Items 1:

2X

Doran's Ring is good when you want to farm and reset infrequently. It gives you more damage and long term mana sustain. You should start these items when you think you will be able to solokill the enemy early in the game. It can be a great idea to stay in lane until you can afford to buy lost chapter. You generally pair this start with Electrocute for the extra damage and kill threat. I recommend lower elo players start this as they get the most use out of the extra AP. It can be hard to make full use of starting Corrupting Potion, so Doran's Ring is generally the better start.

Starting Items 2:

Corrupting Potion is best when you play for a fast early game where you trade with the enemy frequently and reset often. It synergizes extremely well with Time Warp Tonic, however you can take it with Electrocute into certain matchups, mainly LeBlanc. The burn damage on your auto attacks is also really nice and helps make up for the missing AP without Doran's Ring. You generally want to start Corrupting Potion when you know the enemy mid will also start it so you can match their sustain and tempo. It is great vs aggressive early game champions like Lucian. I recommend low elo players only start this if they are going Phase Rush. It can be hard to make full use of starting Corrupting Potion, so Doran's Ring is generally the better start. In high elo this is usually the best start since the prio from Corrupting Potion is extremely beneficial to helping your team and you don't get solokills often.

Tear of the Goddess was fantastic on Syndra in season 11, but awful in season 12. It will take some time to know how good the reworked Seraph's Embrace is for her, however I think it will be a viable option most games (but not necesarily the best). While the extra mana is nice, you should rarely run out of mana if you're smart about using your spells mid-late game. The shield is insanely nice into champs with high burst or who like to dive though. I'd recommend only building Tear of the Goddess if you think you won't be fighting often in the early game since it delays your powerspike. I will update this section later on once we see how the item holds up (& if they nerf/change Seraph's Embrace again).

Sorcerer's Shoes are generally the best option for Syndra. The +18 magic penetration helps you oneshot enemy squishies, especially with Luden's Tempest, and allow for a very large two item power spike.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity are an option in games where the enemy team has a lot of tanks and you need to be able to get more spell rotations in. These boots are generally for when you need to peel yourself or your fed ADC.

Mercury's Treads is almost never better than Sorcerer's Shoes and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. The only reason you would ever go merc's is because the enemy team is very magic damage heavy and has a lot of crowd control (and you forgot to take cleanse).

Luden's Tempest was the standard mythic for Syndra and you want to build this into squishy teams or if you are snowballing. Syndra has a very bursty kit and the extra damage for kill threat feels amazing against enemy squishies. The Magic Penetration and Active damage allow you to oneshot most mids and adcs come midgame. Now that Syndra doesn't have as much early game kill threat, you will not build this every game anymore.

To be honest, Liandry's Torment may be the better standard option on Syndra since you probably won't be able to solokill the enemy with your Luden's Tempest & Sorcerer's Shoes power spike any more. Liandry's Torment is generally best into really tanky enemy teams where your job is to fight front-to-back teamfights and kill the tanks. You sometimes want to go Luden's Tempest into tanky teams if you think someone else on your team can handle the tanks (like a Vayne or Camille) and your job is to kill a squishy hypercarry (like Jinx or Kog'Maw.

Crown of the Shattered Queen is a great defensive option for Syndra. It is currently a bit overtuned (as of patch 11.23) so you should build this item very frequently until it gets nerfed. It is great vs assassins who have to commit to fights with no reliable way to proc the shield (like Rengar) and against hard engage team comps (like Rakan). It is weaker vs champions who can get rid of the passive before starting a fight due to long range or mobility (like LeBlanc or Ziggs). Overall, I expect this item to get nerfed in the near future due to its low cost, high stats, and great passive. I recommend abusing this item most games until it is nerfed.

Everfrost is generally a sub-optimal purchase for Syndra. It is hard to layer the active from Everfrost with your stun from Scatter the Weak since the enemy will be knocked back. Everfrost does not give as much damage as the other 2 mythics and the active is generally not going to be the difference between getting a kill or surviving a dive. The item is situationally good into enemies you need to CC like Master Yi, but even then the other mythics are arguably better. You can build Everfrost into assassins you really struggle against, but it is generally not the best option because you will have fairly low damage and no real kill threat on them. You can build Cosmic Drive after Everfrost for more CDR and survivability since you would be building for utility instead of damage anyways.

Shadowflame is a great offensive item that you will generally want to build early in the game (2nd-4th item). The item offers a lot of flat magic pen which is great vs squishy champs and not as good against tanky enemies. I will need to build this item more to get a better idea of how good it is, but it seems like it will be great buy early game, especially if you are snowballing. You generally do not build it because the enemy team has shields, but because you want the flat pen, it has a great build path, and the enemy team is squishy. Shadowflame seems like a budget Rabadon's Deathcap with the damage it offers, which is great for the early game. You can skip Shadowflame in favor of Void Staff when the enemy team builds or will build magic resist. You should not build Shadowflame every game, but it seems like a great option most games.

Rabadon's Deathcap is a fantastic item on any mage because it gives you so much raw damage. You will generally build this item 4th-6th because it is so expensive, but you can build it earlier if you can get away with the greedy build path. Rabadon's Deathcap offers an insane power spike as soon as you build it (even second item), but it has an awkward build path since you need 1250 gold for each of its components and another 1100 gold to complete it. Building it early requires you to be very greedy with resets and delay powerspikes which could cause you to lose early teamfights.

Void Staff is a great item when the enemy team is tanky and buys magic resist. You will want to build this item 3rd-6th item most games depending on how much magic resist the enemy team has. If you're against carries who build magic resist like Akshan and Ashe, you usually want to build Void Staff before they complete their magic resist items (e.g. Wit's End). Void Staff is also great when multiple enemies have Mercury's Treads built. It is okay to skip Void Staff if the other team has no tanks or minimal magic resist and you think they won't build any.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a great defensive item that you will build anywhere from 2nd to 6th item, depending on the game. You generally want to skip a defensive item entirely when you can get away with itso you can have as much damage as possible. You should skip defensive items if you need to be the sole carry and the enemy team does not have too much dive. You must build Zhonya's Hourglass early into certain champions like Zed unless you are extremely far ahead. You can also decide to go for a Banshee's Veil into AP heavy comps. Always build a defensive item if you are new to mages, don't have great positioning, or get caught out a lot.

Banshee's Veil is a great defensive alternative to Zhonya's Hourglass into teams with a key CC abilitiy like Blitzcrank and against heavy AP teams.

Cosmic Drive was a great item on Syndra after the Preseason 12 changes, but the nerf in Patch 11.24 gutted the item for Syndra and most other mages. The new passive acts as a mini Phase Rush and is great for survivability, especially with Electrocute and Summon Aery. It is also great if you are able to proc the passive before ulting for the extra AP. Cosmic Drive also gives a lot of well rounded stats with AP, health, haste, and move speed. I recommend skipping this item most games unless you need the movespeed for survivability because there are just better options for Syndra.

Heal reduction is very important when the other team has a lot of healing. You want to get Oblivion Orb in a matchup vs champions like Sylas and Irelia, or when the enemy team has a lot of healing in the other lanes. You want to sit on Oblivion Orb when possible because finishing Morellonomicon delays your powerspikes. You still may need to upgrade into Morellonomicon if the enemy team has an absurd amount of healing.

I discuss the pros and cons of Seraph's Embrace in detail above. Seraph's Embrace is not good on Syndra anymore after the changes in Preseason 12 and I recommend not building it. Seraph's Embrace can be okay against very tanky enemies because of the haste it offers and the ability to spam spells in a longer teamfight.

Dark Seal is a great item to get on one of your first few backs if you think you will have decent kill participation and not die much. It is very cost efficient (even after the nerfs) and helps you snowball. If you are at 10 stacks on your Dark Seal and think you won't die much, you can consider upgrading to Mejai's Soulstealer. Be careful building this if you have no defensive item and run Electrocute because the enemy team will be much more likely to focus you to make you lose your stacks.

Horizon Focus is generally a suboptimal item on Syndra because it doesn't give the stats that Syndra needs. The item itself isn't too bad, but Syndra does not lack damage by the time you would build this item and other Haste items are generally better. Horizon Focus gives you a lot of damage and some Haste (as of Patch 11.23), but the other options listed above are usually a better option to round out Syndra's main weaknesses (squishy and no mobility). You can build it last if you have nothing else to build or want to experiment with new items, but I would usually recommend the other items over Horizon Focus.

Syndra is an early game lane bully who also scales reasonably well. How you play the laane depends on your personal preference, matchup, starting items, and your Rune selection. You can get priority early into most matchups since your Q is low mana, low cooldown, and high ranged. You will need to give early prio into certain matchups like Lucian, and sometimes against level ganking junglers like Shaco and Jarvan IV. Your biggest weaknesses are mobility and getting ganked, so make sure you always ward, lean to the safe side, and respect when the enemy jungler/support could be roaming. You need to play extra safe any time your E Scatter the Weak and Flash are on cooldown since this is the window for the enemies to kill you. There are generally two ways to play the early lane: Slow and Fast.

Option 1: Slow
If you start with Doran's Ring and Electrocute, you will generally play the first few levels pretty slow. You will most likely have priority on the wave, meaning you can slowpush early. You want to focus on landing Q on the enemy whenever Manaflow Band is up for a little bit of poke, but generally just want to focus on getting all farm. After the first few levels you will be able to do a lot more damage to the enemy and not worry about running out of mana (OOM). I phrase this as playing the lane "slow" because you will just be going for a few short trades here and there and focusing on farming until you reset or are level 6. You are able to play aggressive, but you will tend to wait til after your first reset for heavy trades.


Option 2: Fast
If you start with Corrupting Potion and Time Warp Tonic, you have the ability to heavy trade early game and get priority for your jungler whenever he invades or there is a skirmish. You will reset fairly often to make use of the refillable potions. These trades may not be "optimal" since you will often lose a lot of health and mana, but it allows you to get more priority on the wave and rotate more. This playstyle is better in high elo since players tend to be much more proactive. You should try to avoid the all in since you have less health and more sustain with this play style.


Around level 6 is where you start to have a lot of 1v1 kill threat on the enemy mid. You generally want to complete Lost Chapter early so you can stay in lane for a long time and not have any issues with mana. You get prio in most matchups due to your range and damage threat, so you should be able to rotate to most skirmishes first, get turret plates, and solokill the enemy.

You should try to consider when you will have kill threat on the enemy, and then work toward it. For Example, vs Orianna you have kill threat with a 6 ball ult if you poke her to around 70-80% HP before the all in, but you will never be in range to solokill a good Vel'Koz mid without Flash or a gank. Some lanes like Zed and LeBlanc are kill lanes where both of you have kill threat on the other. You also may need to recognize when you won't have kill threat the entire laning phase and will need to avoid 1v1 fights with the enemy. This could be due to the enemy jungler/support frequently coming mid, you being behind, or just the nature of the matchup. Often times you will be able to kill them at 2-3 items or play the mid-late game better than them.

If you already have a sizeable lead or don't have kill threat on the enemy mid laner, you can decide to instead play around your jungler (invade or gank bot/top with them, coordinate a gank/dive mid, etc) since you have a lot of damage and CC to offer your team. The reason mid lane is strong is because you can easily impact every other lane. Syndra is not a 1v9 hard carry champ, so the best way to win is by getting a lead mid lane (through kills, xp, cs, and/or plates), and then roaming/rotating to make sure your team is also ahead. You can help ensure your jungler secures objectives, gank the enemy top/bot, shutdown the enemy jungler, etc.


If you ever have trouble with a certain matchup, I suggest going to the DomisumReplay or the DomisumReplay: Syndra Youtube channels and finding high elo matchups and seeing how they play the lane. They will also make mistakes, but try to compare their playstyle to yours since they will likely play it pretty well. When do they use their spells, do they freeze often, do they play the matchup just to farm/scale, when and why do they reset, do they fight for early prio, etc? You can also go to subreddits or discords and ask high elo Syndra players for tips on a specific matchup. I've also found that practicing some 1v1s against other similarly ranked players will really help you level up your game and learn how to play certain matchups better. You can try adding people you played against in ranked, finding LFG (Looking for Game) communities, or going to the specific champion's subreddit/Discord and asking if anyone wants to practice 1v1s.

I will continue to upload videos to my Youtube channel of how I approach certain matchups as well as some general tips for the early game.

As a control mage, you generally want to play fairly safe in the mid to late game. Unless you are already high Diamond or better, I would recommend forcusing most of your effort on improving your early game since it is the most replicable aspect of your game that you can improve. Every game has a laning phase. The way the lane plays out will change every game, but you will play it every game no matter what so try to master it. IBeing better at teamfights and having good macro helps you climb, but improving your laning phase and early roaming will give you better results. If you still want to improve your mid to late game, I will summarize some key points you should take away. You generally want to play around 2 things as Syndra in the mid-late game: Objectives and Vision.

Objectives You need to make sure you are at all objectives before they spawn (like a dragon fight) since you have great team fighting potential. You are great at zoning the enemy, but remember that they can easily kill you if they do get onto you. Try to keep a teammate near you if you do try to zone the enemy from objectives.

You want to catch side waves and then group with your team around objectives. Mages will lose the 1v1 in the side lane vs most champs even if they are ahead, so you don't really want to split push unless you know where all 5 enemies are, there aren't objectives up, and are confident your team will get a lot on the other side of the map if the enemies come to you. Syndra has a better chance of winning these 1v1s since she has such high single target burst and CC, but you still get countered by mobility and lose to most side laning champions.

You need to play teamfights like a control mage and not like an assassin. You don't want to flank the enemies in a teamfight since you have no mobility. You generally play team fights front to back. You will often need to ult the champ who dives you and then E them to peel yourself rather than ulting the enemy carry. You need to decide if your job is to kill the enemies or to peel for your teammates (generally ADC) to make sure they can kill the enemies. Remember that you are useless dead, so you're better off using your spells on the enemy tanks/divers to make sure you live than saving your ult for the enemy ADC and not being able to use it.

Vision & Picks Creating picks on the enemy is one of the best ways to win in the mid to late game as Syndra due to your high damage and AOE stun. You need to make sure the area you are in is not warded and ensure that you do not miss your stun. Getting a pick is often enough to get baron, an inhibitor, or even end the game.

You want to buy pink wards whenever you can and play around your jungler/team when trying to create picks. You generally need to surprise the enemy by being somewhere they don't expect in order to create a pick, so you want to make sure the enemy does not have wards on the map. You also want to make sure that you are able to do something after getting the pick and that you are not forcing a play for no reason. Forcing plays can be risky and there's no point risking a play unless you know you can get Dragon, Baron, towers, or inhibs after killing the enemy.

I played Syndra from Gold in Season 10 to Masters in Season 11 and have compiled a list of some of the mistakes I made most often and how I worked on fixing them. There is not a simple trick to instantly solve these issues and you will have other problems. Being aware of these problems will not make you climb or any better iether. You will need to put a lot of effort into figuring out how you can stop making these mistakes in your own games. Everything boils down to consistently playing as well as possible. You will have bad days and make mistakes every game, but you will eventually climb and improve if you can consistently play a bit better every game.

1. Dying too much. As a mid lane mage player, you should die less than 5 times in every game you want to win, preferably 0-3 times. Make sure you don't die to ganks and don't overextend. Assume that the enemy jungler/support are roaming mid if they are missing. It is okay for you to miss farm and exp if the enemy is putting pressure mid, your top/jungle/bot should be getting an advantage since they are putting their resources mid. Try to stay alive in teamfights at all costs and avoid getting caught out. You want to play behind your team most of the time and not go for flanks. You need to play extra safe if your flash and E are on cooldown. Make sure you play extra safe if you are worth a bounty.

2. Playing Weakside. My biggest problem was trying to position and trade too aggressively when I should have just been farming and playing safe. Even if you have the ability to solokill the enemy, push for plates, or deny them farm with aggressive positioning in the isolated 1v1, you need to play safe if their jungler/support could come mid. Some games you will get camped and your jungler will ignore you. Remember that you are expected to lose lane in these games, but try to LOSE GRACEFULLY. If you are able to soak pressure from the enemy jungler and support without dying or giving too much up, your top/bot and jungler should be able to make plays elsewhere on the map. Sometimes your teammates will lose anyways and those games are usually just a guaranteed a loss, so don't get tilted and remember that game is not your fault (though you can still find ways to improve from that game). You may not agree with the decision to make you weakside, but learning to soak pressure from the enemy team without dying will instantly make you a better laner. You can't change the way your teammates play, but you can change the way you do.

3. Bad Farm. You need to farm well in lane, time your resets to not miss waves, and collect side waves in the mid/late game. If you have the choice between poking the enemy or getting a minion, you should almost always go for the minion (unless that poke will directly result in a kill or force the enemy to reset). Farm is your best and most consistent form of gold, so make sure to get as much as possible while still helping your team. You can also take jungle camps if you have nothing else to do on the map (and your jungler isn't pathing to it), but Syndra does not have great jungle clear without wasting a lot of mana. Farming well will make you perform much more consistently since you will be able to reach your item power spikes around the same time every game regardless of your score.

4. Poor E usage. Syndra's main play making ability is her E and you need to use it well. Your ability to solokill, win trades, win teamfights, and peel yourself depends on your ability to stun the enemy. You will not be able to peel yourself and cannot get in range of the enemy if you miss your stun or use it at the wrong time. If you position far up and go for an aggresive trade/fight but miss your E, you are almost guaranteed to take a horrible trade or even die. You need to make sure you are patient with your E and use it when you know for a fact you will land it. It is okay to miss a Q-E when going for a surprise trade in lane or if you are looking for a pick, but know that you give the enemy a long window where they can play aggressive without punishment. You are almost always better off holding your E for the perfect moment than using it off cooldown and missing. Try to hold stun until they can no longer dodge, you have a split stun, or until after you ult. The THREAT of your stun is why enemies must respect you, but you are often a free kill as soon as they know it is on cooldown. Patience is a virtue, don't rush.

5. Grouping and Splitting Incorrectly. This is a very complex topic that I can't cover in a few paragraphs, so take this with a grain of salt. You need to sidelane to farm in the mid/late game and need to know when you can effectively do so. If all enemies are showing on the map, it is safe for you to push far up, but also remember you need to be at a team fight if one occurs. Try to push waves before objectives spawn but also. I was often way too greedy with farming side waves and pushing them before fights, to the point where I often miss the fight. You need to learn to balance grouping and sidelaning.

Nov. 26 2021 - Patch 11.23
Released

Dec. 22 2021 - Patch 11.24b
Updated Runes (First Strike) and Items (Cosmic Drive, Shadowflame, and Horizon Focus)

Jan. 07 2022 - Patch 12.1
Updated Runes (make Aery a more prominent pick for high elo players)

Mar. 31 2022 - Patch 12.6
Removed Ravenous Hunter and replaced with Treasure Hunter.
Updated Defensive builds. Add my S12 runes video to the Rune section.

Oct. 16 2022 - Patch 12.19
Updated for Syndra's mini rework. Updated: items, runes, & abilities/combos.
First Strike is now main rune page, and Electrocute is suboptimal/situational.
Liandry's Torment is now a much better Mythic.
Removed E-Q Combo (have not updated the rest of combos/descriptions or her matchups).
Max W second now instead of E.

Jan. 13 2023 - Patch 13.1
Tear of the Goddess and Seraph's Embrace are viable again.
Minor changes to the rest of the guide.