Even though Syndra wins the 1v1 very hard against Ahri, she has great gank setup and you need to be very careful of her jungler.
Akali
In the first 6 levels you will have a pretty big advantage over Akali but post 6 can be quite difficult. Since it's so hard to push her out of lane you should normally just take the first strike scaling page.
Akshan
Akshan is very strong in early game, but you should still win the lane against him and you outscale. Focus on poking him with your Q and hold your E defensively in case he wants to jump on you.
Anivia
The main window to punish Anivia is pre 6, she has long cooldowns and relatively short range so you can look to punish her when she goes for CS. She is also very vulnerable to ganks, so try and get your jungler to come mid. Make sure you are ready to dodge her Q because if you do get hit you’ll take a lot of damage. Post 6 she is a bit harder to punish, but if you built a big lead pre 6 you should be able to keep extending your lead here.
Annie
Annie can depend a lot on what rune page she takes. If she takes a scaling page like dark harvest or first strike, you will normally win pretty hard pre 6 and can try take advantage of her early game. If she has a strong laning page like aery resolve, you should still be slightly favored in lane but it's going to be much more contested. Post 6 she has a lot of threat and will probably just drop her bear for a lot of poke. Once this bear is gone though she’s weak again. Merc treads and refillable can be quite useful to pick up early in this matchup, or if you don’t want the full mercs at least buy a null magic mantle.
Aurelion Sol
You can poke Asol down for free pretty much all lane, but be careful trading too much into him at level 1. After level 2, if you use E aggressively you will need to play safe because he will look to W forward onto you. Normally it will be better just to harass with Q and W while you hold your E defensively.
Azir
For the most part you should win this matchup and get a fairly sizable lead. Post level 6, you do need to be careful of his strong gank setup, especially if you don't have flash.
Cassiopeia
Heavily Syndra favored, you outrange her and have both 100-0 threat and gank threat onto her. If you're experienced you should take comet, but if you're a bit uncomfortable I'd recommend phase rush. Be careful of wasting your E as that's her only window to out trade you.
Corki
Pretty free matchup, you can take ignite if you want but I'd probably still take teleport since otherwise he can recall TP and you may be unable to kill him.
Ekko
Not as hard as people think, you can bully him really hard all throughout lane. Be really careful not to waste stun. The key to this matchup is to just use your ult for poke so that he won't ult the damage. Phase rush is also quite useful for this matchup.
Fizz
Fizz has very defined moments of strength and weakness and playing around these are key. Level 1 and 2 Fizz can be punished very hard but level 3 and level 6 he is very strong. Try and crash either 2 or 3 waves into his tower and then let it bounce back to you. You do not want to be pushed up in the lane level 3 onwards. His main trading tool, his E, is also his main waveclear tool so make sure to keep track of this cooldown and it’s by far the most important. You may want to take a defensive summoner like barrier/exhaust or you can rush a null magic mantle (even if you don't upgrade it) to make the lane easier.
Galio
Galio is weak in the laning phase but he may look to setup ganks onto you. If you want to be greedy, you can go for the first strike page. Otherwise you can take phase rush to make avoiding the ganks easier.
Hwei
Hwei is an extremely strong laner but you should be able to get a slight lead against him and then outscale him. Try position behind creeps so that you can’t get hit by random QQ poke, but far enough away that you have time to dodge the QE + EE combo if he decides to try nuke the wave instead. Hwei is very gankable and can suffer in early skirmishes so if you can ever look for 2v2s or ganks mid it will definitely pay off. Rushing T2 boots in this matchup can be useful in order to help dodge his poke.
Irelia
Irelia is extremely strong in the laning phase and the sidelane, but she needs to snowball in order to perform well in teamfights. For the most part you will be looking to keep the wave on your side and try to setup ganks or just avoid having Irelia chase you down the lane. Be extremely careful of her level 2 and level 6 all in especially. Above all else your goal is not to die, even if you go down CS to Irelia it should be fine unless you give over some kills. Make sure to hold your E defensively to disengage from her trades.
Jayce
Jayce is relatively weak before first base so you should be able to build a strong lead here. If he buys a dirk first base trades will start to become a lot closer but if he buys any form of tear + whatever he will still be much weaker than you. Try poke him down while you hold E defensively so he can't trade on you with melee Q.
Kassadin
Syndra wins the 1v1 extremely hard over Kassadin early but the lane will become difficult at later levels. Try build a big advantage early with comet and TP.
Katarina
Katarina is a weak laner outside of a couple key moments. Make sure you don’t stand on any daggers and respect her level 2 and level 6 all in. For the most part Katarina will just look to spam roam and cheese kills from other lanes so placing good wards and pinging missing or retreat pings on lanes to keep her from getting kills is really important. If you can ever lock her in lane or kill her you will be massively ahead. If you do use your E aggressively make sure to play safer when it's down. Normally it's better to hold it (especially post 6) to disengage trades or cancel her ult.
LeBlanc
Skill matchup overall. You win the 1v1 and trades but she has super strong gank setup. Try use E to cancel her W. Make sure to get mercs when you can to avoid ganks.
Lissandra
Really easy 1v1, you can bully her pretty much all lane. If you take TP you probably want to build mercs fairly early, otherwise you can take cleanse instead and skip mercs.
Lux
You should be able to build a substantial lead pre 6 against Lux, but post 6 she will probably just ulti waves and neutralize. Make sure to rush T2 boots in order to dodge more skillshots.
Malzahar
Extremely easy. You can one shot his voidlings with Q so he can never push. You can bully him all game long, just be careful how far you go up in the lane post 6 if you don't have good wards set up.
Neeko
Neeko is one of the strongest laning champs in the game and also has immense teamfight and skirmishing power. In the lane phase it will all be about how many Qs and Es you can dodge so try and keep your movement very active. If you dodge a lot of skillshots and hit a lot of your own, you should probably come out with a slight lead in this matchup (and you outscale very hard). Merc treads rush can help a lot in this matchup too.
Naafiri
Naafiri is a relatively weak laner but she snowballs extremely well so do your best to bully her in the 1v1 and prevent her from getting any roam opportunities. All her damage in lane comes from getting hit by 2 Qs in a row, so if you can dodge one you will normally win the trade. She can look to W directly onto you if you waste your cooldowns, so you can hold your E defensively. If you do want to use your E aggressively then make sure to play a bit safer afterwards.
Orianna
This used to be a skill matchup that was slightly favored to you, but if Orianna takes comet and puts 3 points W it will be slightly favored to her. Do your best to dodge as many skillshots as possible and make sure you rush tier 2 boots. Orianna is very gankable so try setup the lane for your jungler.
Pantheon
Pantheon has strong gank setup and trading but he lacks waveclear and gets heavily outscaled. Try and neutralize the early game vs Pantheon and consider taking cleanse if you are scared of getting ganked. Make sure to keep eyes on him post 6 and if he ults to another lane you will most likely just want to punish by pushing the wave and hitting the mid tower, unless you think you can roam to the play in time. You can cancel his W with your E if you time it correctly.
Qiyana
You can bully this lane quite hard, but if you waste your E then you will be punished. Be very careful with how you use it pre 6. Consider taking a defensive summoner like exhaust or barrier in this matchup.
Ryze
Syndra is really good against Ryze, you heavily out range him and make teamfighting very difficult for him. You must be careful of his gank setup and roam potential, those are the only things he can do in this matchup.
Seraphine
Seraphine scales and teamfights very well but she is weak in lane and lacks waveclear after the changes. She has long cooldowns so if she uses Q or E to farm or harass look to punish by forcing a trade on her or zoning her off the wave. Once you get some waveclear you should be able to push her in and prevent her from joining any fights. She also can’t really side lane so normally in the mid game you can build up a big CS lead over her. You can take comet and bully this lane or you can go first strike for free scaling if you prefer.
Swain
Swain can depend a lot on the rune page he is running and what he builds. If Swain goes for an aery/scorch/chapter build he will be a lot stronger in lane than normal, but he will lack the scaling he normally has. Against this page you should still win but it might be closer than normal. If you’re against any other setup you should be able to build a pretty big lead in lane by abusing his long cooldowns and the range advantage that you have. Just focus on dodging his E. At level 6 if he ults just stun him and run away.
Sylas
Sylas lane is all about dodging his E2. If you get hit by his chain you will almost certainly lose the trade, but if he misses it you can punish him heavily. Stay close enough to the creeps that he can’t easily E you, but far enough away that he can’t just hit both you and the creeps with his Q. Sylas snowballs extremely hard but if he doesn’t find a lead he won’t be too hard to deal with, and you can usually build a small lead in lane as long as you don’t die solo or to his gank setup. Try keep the wave on your side after the initial couple of waves for extra safety. Hold onto your E to make sure you can disengage trades.
Taliyah
Very easy matchup, just make sure you don't get caught by a random shove into her E and otherwise you should be able to bully her very heavily at all stages of the game.
Talon
Talon in the laning phase is all about his W. W is both Talon’s main trading tool as well as his farming tool so you mustn’t stack with the wave so he has to choose between hitting you or hitting the CS. It’s also extremely important that you do not get hit by both sides of W as that will make it very easy for him to jump on you and proc his passive which almost guarantees a hard losing trade or a death. If he casts W on you immediately move to the side rather than back as that makes it a lot easier to dodge W on the return. Be very careful of his level 2 and level 6 all ins with ignite and consider building HP or a single cloth armor early in the lane. You can also take exhaust/barrier if you prefer the added safety.
Tristana
Syndra is very good against Tristana, just save your E for when she jumps in and she has virtually no options in this matchup.
Twisted Fate
Syndra wins pretty hard vs Twisted Fate but it's hard to kill him since he normally rushes merc treads and he has quite a lot of gank setup. I'd recommend comet TP or phase rush TP and playing to maximize mana and keep the wave pushed in so he can't roam. Be careful of the enemy jungler.
Veigar
Insanely easy matchup, you should be able to abuse his weak trading and lack of waveclear for most of the lane. Just be careful of getting caged and ganked, especially if you've already burned flash.
Vel'Koz
Vel’Koz has a lot of poke and waveclear but if he uses these cooldowns aggressively he will be vulnerable to being traded on. Trying to keep the wave in a gankable position or looking to press forward onto him if he wastes his cooldowns is very important. Positioning in the creep wave can make dodging Qs easier and make sure to not get hit by Es as that’s Vel’Koz’s best way of trading. After level 6 if you get by an E it’s possible Vel’Koz can kill you with ulti, so try hold your E post level 6 to cancel his R unless you're sure you will win the all in regardless.
Vex
Pretty easy matchup, her skills are easily dodgeable and you outrange her significantly. Be careful of her level 6 burst as she can 100-0 you if you get hit by her ult. Merc treads go a long way in this matchup.
Viktor
Skill matchup but slightly favored to Viktor in the 1v1. Mainly a skillshot check so you need to be on point with your movement and hitting your abilities. Viktor is very gankable and you have much better skirmishing, so any 2v2s or 3v3s will normally favor you.
Vladimir
Vladimir is a very unique champion to play against. In the early laning phase Vlad is quite weak, he has fairly long cooldowns and his sustain is not particularly great so try and build a lead in the first 5 levels. After 6 and first base Vlad becomes quite strong, try and trade efficiently and abuse his lack of waveclear. If you get the chance, try look to punish him whenever his Q is down, especially immediately after he uses his empowered Q. Post 6 he will try use his pool to dodge your ultimate, so if you land a stun normally you want to ult immediately so that you get all the damage off.
Xerath
Another skillshot check, make sure to rush tier two boots and look to punish the fact that his cooldowns are much longer than yours.
Yasuo
Yasuo can be quite difficult if they have a strong AP jungler, the most important thing is not to waste mana. If you throw skills you have to be sure they will hit otherwise you will run oom. Recommend phase rush TP.
Yone
Yone is a very good counter to Syndra since he has so much sustain and punishes low mobility. Take phase TP and hold your E to disengage trades. You can deal with him pretty well in teamfights if he doesn't get fed and you don't get caught by a random ultimate.
Zed
Zed can be abused levels 1 and 2, try and make him choose between getting a CS with Q or using it on you. Once Zed hits level 3 you can still be aggressive but make sure you don’t get hit by both shurikens from his WEQ combo otherwise you will take a lot of extra damage. After level 6 be careful how far you position up in the lane as he can chase you down and kill you. It can be a good idea to buy a cloth armor in this matchup and just sit on it since it will negate a lot of his lethality. Make sure to either ult when Zed is stunned or after he's used ult so he can't dodge the damage.
Ziggs
Ziggs can be fairly strong in lane if you can’t dodge his skillshots. If you can avoid the poke though you should have no problems. If he’s using his abilities on you, he won’t have any control of the wave as long as you are standing far enough away to not be splashed by it. Make sure to rush boots in this matchup and try move aggressively into him when his cooldowns are down. If he ever uses his W aggressively you can force an all in or setup a gank.
Zilean
Zilean has very poor early game with low waveclear and only one damage spell. Every time he uses Q you can play really aggressive. He does have good gank setup so be careful of that. Take comet TP or phase rush TP. At 6 get him to ult but don't finish him off so he has to lane on one HP. You can use your ult for poke in this matchup.
Zoe
Skill matchup but slightly favored to you. Try and avoid taking damage from Q or her bubble by keeping the creeps in between you and her. If she wastes her bubble you can look to play very aggressively. Make sure to respect the windows when she picks up summs or items off the ground. Zoe is also very gankable and lacks waveclear, but her all-ins are very powerful. Merc treads can also be a good pick up if you need them.
After level 6 if she ever ults forward, you should immediately walk forward so you can get a free stun on her when she goes back through her portal.
Hey guys I'm Shok, multi Rank 1 Challenger mid laner and content creator! I played league professionally from 2017-2021 and have been rank 1 in multiple seasons, as well as rank 13 on the NA ladder in season 9.
I upload regularly on YouTube, and stream everyday on Twitch so feel free to follow me on either of those platforms :)
Season 10Season 9
Season 9 NA
Combos + Tips
For advanced combos on Syndra I'd recommend checking out the combos section of my Syndra guide.
Laning Phase
Syndra is very strong in lane and also scales incredibly well. You will always want to be looking to bully your opponent and try create some sort of lead. Normally this will just be CS, but you can solokill in a lot of matchups too. Syndra's lane phase is a skillshot check so if you get good at landing your Q you will find it very easy to push people out of lane. The main thing in laning phase is knowing if you can use your E aggressively or not, as many champs will be able to abuse the window of it being down to punish you heavily. Refer to the matchup section for more details on this.
After level 6 you want to line up stuns by putting down 2 balls on the ground and Eing them with it. Refer to the combos video for an example. If you hit a stun with a couple of balls on the ground at level 6 you can almost 100-0 people, so any small chunk you get on them before that can put them in lethal.
Mid Game
Generally in the mid game you want to be able to pick up as much farm as possible. Syndra is fairly strong in the side lane and pushes waves quickly. You can also farm camps pretty quickly on Syndra which can accelerate you ahead of the clock in CS.
Try push side waves as far as you can before grouping, especially if you have Teleport. Don't push too far if you don't have vision since Syndra can be easily caught and killed. You can easily make picks and chunk before dragon fights so make sure you are there before to setup. Syndra has really strong zone control so it will be very hard for the enemy team to walk into the dragon if you are already there.
Make sure to balance this with farming. Don't worry if you can't do this because it does take some practice. Just keep in mind that you want to both have high CS and be at objectives in time to fight them with your team.
Teamfighting and Skirmishing
In teamfights and skirmishes you want to be either killing off a key squishy target with your ult, or using your ult to setup a really big stun (refer to the combos section of my video for an example). You can also save your E to counter key enemy engage as it's really hard for certain champs to engage on your team while you're holding your E. Syndra is very vulnerable to getting engaged on so most of your teamfighting skill will come from your positioning and how well you use your E. If you don't have Flash make sure to play the teamfight much more carefully.
More Syndra Content
Thank you for reading my Syndra guide and I hope you guys learned something from it. If you have any questions you can ask here or message me directly.
I upload regularly on YouTube, and stream occasionally on Twitch so feel free to follow me on either of those platforms :)
If you're interested in individual coaching contact me on discord shokoce.
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