Hello and welcome to this guide! TWITTER TWITCH YOUTUBE My name is Rasmus, I'm 20 years old, I'm born and raised in Denmark and I'm a professional League of Legends player/coach I've been playing League of Legends for about 9 years, started back in Season 1 and got to high elo in season 3, peaking challenger for the first time in season 4, and been challenger ever since. In season 8 i peaked Rank 13 on EUW with 922 lp, which is the highest i've went for so far! I'm streaming on twitch.tv/stylleelol where I'm trying to help others by showing my gameplay and explaining why i do things and so on. ( Come by and say hi! :)) In this guide I'm gonna explain how i play Sylas, at the highest level on the soloq ladder (Challenger)

Pros + Unique playstyle + Can surprise enemies in different ways + High outplay potential + High mobility + Gap closor + Poke in lane As Sylas is a new champion it will take a bit of time before people will get to know him really good, but so far i can say that he is really unique in his playstyle. He has a gapcloser, a dash and a chain to hook him towards the target, a bit like Nautilus in some way, if i would compare Sylas to any champion it would probably be Ekko, they are a bit alike in their playstyle i would say. You have good burst potential, escape potential and outplay, as you can outplay them easy with Hijack. Playing him in the jungler he has quite some strong gangs, as he has cc, gapcloser and a dash, which makes it really hard to escape from him, also his dmg output is quite high.

Cons - New champion, takes time to learn - Melee midlaner, makes it hard against poke - You need to go "all in" when you are going for trades - Squishy Sylas can be tough, as i said before he's a bit like Ekko, when you are going to play him on a lane, mid,sup,top or whatever, you kinda need to all in on trades etc. which means you will have nothing left to escape the fight, and can easily get baited. Play him some games before you go in to ranked i would say, learn his strenght and weaknesses personally, as you can find your way of playing him, since he has a unique playstyle cus' of Hijack

SUMMONER SPELLS - Flash: Flash is the most standard summoner you can play with in League of Legends, and changing it wouldn't be any good. Stick with it, as its the best summoner in the game ;) Ignite: Ignite is really good for putting more pressure. Take Ignite on top if you are looking to win alot in the 1v1 situation and get a snowballing theme going on! Teleport : Teleport is the Summoner you want to take in most cases on top, as it makes you a greater teamplayer. You can use it for Splitpush, TP flank, help out other lanes etc.

SUMMONER SPELLS - Flash: Flash is the most standard summoner you can play with in League of Legends, and changing it wouldn't be any good. Stick with it, as its the best summoner in the game ;) Ignite: Ignite is really good for putting more pressure. If you choose ignite you can play more aggresive and punish enemy midlaner more if you are ahead, also makes you have good kill pressure and can get you to snowball. Cleanse: Cleanse can be really good if you are against hard CC team, or a champion such as TF who has a strong early game jungler, you need Cleanse in that matter, else they can just perma gang you and you will die over and over again, that wouldnt be fun right

SUMMONER SPELLS - Flash: Flash is the most standard summoner you can play with in League of Legends, and changing it wouldn't be any good. Stick with it, as its the best summoner in the game ;) Ignite: Ignite is really good for putting more pressure. If you choose ignite you can play more aggresive and punish enemy botlane way more, also gives you more kill pressure in the 1v1 or burst potential in the 2v2, would go for this in 95% of the times. Exhaust: Exhaust would be really good to counter some champions, and could potentially help you win some 2v2s, just because you exhause the ADC, which means he will do way less dmg for some time.

Playing as Sylas jungle you wanna start with your E as you get 2 procs of your passive with it, which is more dmg than if you start with your q.

When you are ganking a lane you can do it in a few different ways, as your kit allows you to do the ganks in a lot of ways. Either you can start out with Dash e - Q max range for max dmg + slow proc, and then follow up by another E and finish of with W, always try to get 1 auto off after you have casted a spell, as you will proc your passive.

Another way is to engang with E,W,E,Q, and remember to autoattack after your have used one of your spells if possible. You can also steal the other guys ultimate, but you have to think of the situation always. You can also steal an ultimate for later use

Getting to mid/late game you are pretty must a follow up champion in general, even though you actually have more than 1 option of playstyle, just cus' of your ultimate, which makes you able to steal enemies ulties, so u can adapt your playstyle to that. Lets say you steal a Neeko ultimate, which makes your enganges really good, as you can AOE CC + DMG + shield, so you are becomming a huge threat to deal with, if u just jump into them.

Pathing is pretty simple, just mirror it if you start on the other side of the map.

Start on blue, go to wolves and then either go for top scuttle or bot scuttle, depending if you have pressure on top/mid or bot/mid, also take in mind who you are fighting against in the enemy team. Will he win 1v1, then try to avoid fighting him, and dont go for same scuttle as him. If After you took scuttle you can either look for a gang as you can use your lvl 2 pressure.
Your lvl 2 is actually quite strong as u have E + Q which means you have a dash, CC and slow+dmg, you can surprise the enemies and might get a early kill. Return to your jungle and take the rest, or go for a gang again after raptors for your lvl 3 spike. If you have done all your camps, look for a reset and go to your gromp and look for a gang top/mid, then after take wolves and head botside and use your pressure down there, remember to get pinks and place them to give your team some vision

The picture is an example on pathing, you have to always make your own pathing in a game, and must always adapt it to how the game is being played. Take what i wrote in mind and what i showed on the picture.

Laning Phase

Sylas Isn't the strongest laner and you will have some hard matchups. Staying under turret early on is the best you can do, and wait for jungle ganks, you are really good for setting up gangs, as u have gap closor + cc!
When you turn 6 you can possible start winning the lane as you can steal your enemies ult, which means you can possible outplay him!
Try to survive laningphase with Grasp of the Undying + Kingslayer for getting your HP back.

Mid Game
When you get out of laningphase you can start doing stuff and become usefull. Steal strong ultimates from enemies and use it against them! Try to look for skirmishes with your jungler if possible or team up with your team and look for teamfights!

Late Game
When you get to lategame you dont really want to split push but rather stay with your team. You should be decently tanky and do a decent amount of damage by now, aswell as having next to no CD on your Hijack which means you can steal ult's all the time, and that's how you are gonna win the game!

Playing as Sylas you have to take in mind, that you are melee and most of your matchups are against ranged champions. That means whenever you go in for poke, fights or whatever you are going to be pushing towards their tower, and that means you will have a long retrieve back towards your own tower. Taking this in mind, you must know when you can go for fights. Always look on your minimap before you go in for a fight. Where is your jungler/team, do you know where enemy jungler is? or their support, as supports can roam towards mid pretty easy in general. If you know where they are you can usually go for fights without no problem, if you dont know where they are, you must take in mind they could be around mid, so you have to make up with yourself, if it's worth going for that fight, or if u just wanna chill abit untill u gather more information about where they are.

When you are playing on lane as Sylas, you want to poke the enemy midlaner as much as possible with your Q, its a medium range attack which deals fair amount of dmg. When they are low enough you can go for All ins engang with your E or W to get into melee range with them, and then use your whole combo, always try to get an auto attack of after each spell if possible to proc your passive.

Going into mid/late game, your playstyle depends on enemy ulties, as you can adapt your playstyle around them. Take in mind what they have, and try to steal some of the good ulties you can use for your unique way of playing, Every ult you steal can work in different cases, so think about it before you just steal a random one, another one might be better!

When you are pushing you need to take in mind that you can get ganged really easy. Always play towards your jungler / where u have vision. If you have topside river warded, play towards that, if you have botside warded, play towards that. If you have no wards, either play safe or play towards your jungler, so he can give some vision + support you if you get ganked.

Take this picture as an example. If you have a ward topside, you need to position yourself topside, same goes for botside etc.

Playing as Sylas Support is a bit different from other supports. You are a bit of a mix between champions such as Ekko, Pyke, Nautilus etc. Which means you have a different playstyle from pretty much all supports.

What you wan't to do is poke with your Q, but u have to take in mind that you will also get poked by enemy support/adc most likely, and you can't get too low hp, cus if u do, then you can't use your pressure of all in at any point really, so you need to stay healthy and try to poke as much as you can, so u should try to go for a poke when either enemy ADC is going for a CC ( try to time it, that when he goes for the auto u use q at same time ) or when support is trying to poke you, you use counter poke in return, can even all in on squishy supports.
Just gotta take in mind, that you can't really get low, cus' then you arent really usefull in fights

That being said Sylas is a really great roaming champion just like Pyke, so you should really use that to your advantage. Look for roams whenever possible such as when you have just reset and got to get back to lane, but instead of heading straight down you head into your bot jungle and look if there is anything to do around midlane, or maybe follow your jungler a bit around if your ADC is safe on botlane, or if enemy botlane isn't there.
I would say that Sylas support is mainly great for roaming in the early game, and then later on you can become a decent dmg source being annoying to deal with because of Hijack

Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes is a Core JNG item, must go for this, could go for the 1 with red smite, but wont be that usefull, as you arent really fighting 1v1, more bursting.

Sorcerer's Shoes Sorcerer's Shoes is really good to get a bit more damage

Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 is really good for another gapcloser + dmg, which synergies perfect with Sylas, must pick up this item early

Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass is really good as you put more pressure up as you engange into the fights, cus' you are holding out for a couple more secs, can also save your life and make great outplay potential

Morellonomicon Morellonomicon is a really good item right now, gives dmg, ap pen, health and Grievous Wounds, pretty much the perfect item for any AP caster. Either build straight into this after your JNG item, or only get the first part of it (Oblivion Orb)

Lich Bane Lich Bane is really great for Sylas as he wants to auto attack after each of his spell if possible, which makes Lich Bane's DMG output really high!

Sorcerer's Shoes Sorcerer's Shoes is really good to get a bit more damage

Mercury's Treads Mercury's Treads can save you in some situations, build this if enemy team is CC heavy, and you wouldnt be able to do a thing, cus you would be sitting still all game in a CC lock

Ninja Tabi If enemy team is AD heavy get this! ( also works good if enemy toplaner is ranged and auto attacking you alot )

Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 is really good for another gapcloser + dmg, which synergies perfect with Sylas

Lich Bane Lich Bane is really great for Sylas as he wants to auto attack after each of his spell if possible, which makes Lich Bane's DMG output really high!

Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass is really good as you put more pressure up as you engange into the fights, cus' you are holding out for a couple more secs, can also save your life and make great outplay potential

Morellonomicon Morellonomicon is a really good item right now, gives dmg, ap pen, health and Grievous Wounds, pretty much the perfect item for any AP caster.

Rod of Ages Rod of Ages is a pretty good item for toplane as you get HP, Mana and AP which is great when you are building a bit tanky.

Iceborn Gauntlet Iceborn Gauntlet is perfect for Sylas as you slow down the enemeis perma with your abilities, and on top with your cc you are annoying as f*ck aswell as you are really tanky.

Spirit Visage Spirit Visage can be really good cus' of the extra healing your W will get, if enemy team is AP heavy or you are against an AP toplaner you might pick this item up, or Abyssal Mask.

Abyssal mask Abyssal mask is really good as you will never run oom when using this, either build this or Spirit Visage or even both if enemy team has a lot of AP.

Randuin's Omen Randuin's Omen is really good if enemy team is AD and/or Crit heavy, also gives you are bit more slow as it's active is an AOE slow for nearby targets.

Dead Man's Plate Dead Man's Plate could also be an option if enemy team is AD heavy, but in most cases Randuin's Omen is better i would say!

Sorcerer's Shoes Sorcerer's Shoes is really good to get a bit more damage

Mercury's Treads Mercury's Treads can save you in some situations, build this if enemy team is CC heavy, and you wouldnt be able to do a thing, cus you would be sitting still all game in a CC lock

Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 is really good for another gapcloser + dmg, which synergies perfect with Sylas, must pick up this item early

Lich Bane Lich Bane is really great for Sylas as he wants to auto attack after each of his spell if possible, which makes Lich Bane's DMG output really high!

Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass is really good as you put more pressure up as you engange into the fights, cus' you are holding out for a couple more secs, can also save your life and make great outplay potential

Morellonomicon Morellonomicon is a really good item right now, gives dmg, ap pen, health and Grievous Wounds, pretty much the perfect item for any AP caster. Build this either after Ludens or after Hourglass

Luden's Echo Luden's Echo is a MUST have item, it gives you burst, ap, mana and 20% cdr which is really one of the best early items you can get in this game, also building towards it you gain great stats!

Sorcerer's Shoes Sorcerer's Shoes is really good to get a bit more damage

Boots of Mobility Boots of Mobility is good if you are aiming to roam a lot, or just in general getting around the map faster

Remnant of the Watchers Remnant of the Watchers is a CORE support item, gotta get them wards!

Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 Hextech Protobelt-01 is really good for another gapcloser + dmg, which synergies perfect with Sylas, must pick up this item early

Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass is really good as you put more pressure up as you engange into the fights, cus' you are holding out for a couple more secs, can also save your life and make great outplay potential

Lich Bane Lich Bane is really great for Sylas as he wants to auto attack after each of his spell if possible, which makes Lich Bane's DMG output really high!

Rabadon's Deathcap Rabadon's Deathcap is a possible item to get if you are 40+ min ingame and you just need to change towards dmg instead of support items.

Petricite Burst (Passive): After casting a spell, Sylas’ next basic attack whirls his chains around him, damaging nearby enemies. Play Video

Chain Lash
(Q): Sylas lashes out with his chains, damaging and slightly slowing enemies. After a brief delay, the intersection of the chains detonates, applying an increased slow and damaging enemies again. Play Video
Kingslayer (W): Sylas lunges at a target with a powerful strike, damaging them and healing himself. If the enemy is at low health, the damage is increased; if Sylas is at low health, the heal is increased. Play Video

Abscond / Abduct (E):Sylas dashes a short distance and shields himself.

For a short time, he can recast the ability to whip out his chains, stunning, damaging, and pulling himself to the first enemy hit. Play Video
Hijack (R): Sylas hijacks an enemy’s ultimate for his own use.

Enemies can still use their ultimates if Sylas takes them. Sylas can take an enemy’s ultimate whenever Hijack is off cooldown, but can’t hijack the same enemy for a while after. Play Video

Play Video
Crush your foes in combat by weaving in basic attacks after each spellcast for maximum damage. The perfect sequence includes a Petricite Burst after every ability, leaving enemies bruised and broken—if not dead.

Consider all your options when Hijacking ultimates. What do you need most right now? What might be critical a little later? Seizing a brutal finishing move could clinch your current skirmish, but taking a powerful crowd control spell might win you the next teamfight.

You can’t Hijack the same enemy for a while after you take their ability, so plot out the full revolt before you start stealing ults. There’s no rush to use what you have, but hesitate too long and you’ll miss opportunities to unleash even more ultimates. Triumph over your opponents by picking the right time—and power—to turn against them.

You can watch all Sylas Hijack interactions in this video Play Video

Thx alot for reading through my guide and getting down here!

Sylas is a new champion which means we don't know too much about him. I will update this guide throughout S9 and try to keep it up to date.

I would appreciate if you would drop a like if you enjoyed this guide, as it would help me a lot, and you can always check out my stream if you want to see some high elo gameplay or if you got any questions about anything ( i can answer most of the league related ones ;) )

Overall i think Sylas is a unique fun champion who offers something new, and i can't wait for him to get played in the pro scene, and he would really make some cool stuff happen. I think he's gonna be popular as his kit is pretty good and he has high dmg output aswell as mobility, which makes him a meta champion in pretty much any meta