Hello and welcome to my first ever guide! Today I will be aiding you in your adventure to learn how to kick *** with Syndra. Syndra gets a pretty bad reputation but don't let that discourage you! If played correctly, Syndra can be a real powerhouse that will have your enemies quaking in fear.

Syndra is quite the tricky champion to learn. She has a very high skill cap and I think that that is why she gets such a bad rep. If you follow my instructions however, you will be able to prove all of those Syndra haters wrong! First things first. Sydra's Dark Sphere. When cast, Syndra's Dark Sphere places a sphere on the ground that does damage to anyone that gets hit when it is placed. Dark Sphere has a slight delay when it is cast, which is a very important thing to remember. One of the biggest misconceptions about Syndra is that her Dark Sphere is an instant cast. Sometimes I wish this were the case, but it adds to the challenge of being a good Syndra player! Her Dark Sphere has a pretty decent size, so there is a little bit of wiggle room if you mess up your placement. My suggestion is to either get them smack dab in the middle if they are stationary or if they are running, hit them with the front of the circle, and if they are approaching, hit them with the back of the circle. Syndra's W, Force of Will is very similar in concept to her Dark Sphere. Syndra's W will pick up any enemy minion, pet, or neutral monster for 5 seconds. This is Syndra's most fun ability by far. I can't even tell you how many times iv'e made an Annie rage by throwing her precious Tibbers right back at her. Anyways, her Force of Will, if cast again within the five seconds, allows you to throw that enemy minion, pet, or neutral monster to a spot on the ground. upon contact, that enemy minion, pet, or neutral monster will do damage and slow in an AoE radius. The catch here is that Syndra's Force of Will has a very slow missile speed so it takes time before one can master it completely. NOTE: when picking up the Red and Blue buff monsters you get additional effects when they are thrown. When the blue buff monster is thrown you gain 10% of your mana back instantly, when the red buff monster is thrown, everyone who gets hit by him also gets the debuff that normally affects your auto attacks. Next is Syndra's E, Scatter the Weak. This ability has a pretty high mana cost and does not do a lot of damage. Scatter the Weak should only be used in three situations. SITUATION #1: A Dark Sphere is on the ground and you need to sun a champion. SITUATION #2: An enemy champion is getting close to you while chasing and you need to get him off. SITUATION #3: You get lazy and start using it for CS and the end of the game (NOTE: This is not recommended). Last but not least we have Syndra's ultimate ability Unleashed Power. This ability is pretty tricky. Unleashed Power does more damage based upon how many Dark Spheres are on the ground. This means if you have 2 Dark Spheres on the ground, it will do more damage if you were to have one. (NOTE: If there are no Dark Spheres on the ground Syndra will use the three orbs floating around her to attack) Unleashed Power is a massive burst of damage and should be used to finish an enemy off. NEVER use it to engage a battle.

Syndra's lane phase is pretty similar to most AP carries. Start things off by helping the jungler attack the wolves and blue buff. Don't kill anything unless the jungler tells you it is okay though! After this is done return to lane and start last hitting the minions. At this point your lane opponent will either already be there or arrive shortly. Don't let this deter you though! Think of it this way, now you have something to toy with in lane so you don't get bored farming minions. :) Until level six I suggest ONLY last hitting minions. After that, or if you get blue buff (which ever comes first) then you may use the Dark Sphere Force of Will combo which I will explain later on. Wait until your Dark Sphere reaches level two to start harassing your enemy (this happens at level 3). At this point you are going to want to poke your enemy with your Dark Sphere whenever you can. BE AWARE OF YOUR MANA THOUGH. If you find yourself burning through your mana then take a step back, chill out, and keep farming those minions. You will have plenty of chances to kill enemies later on! Once you have about 1,200 gold recall back to base and grab your doran's rings maybe a health pot or two and two wards. When you get back to lane stick those wards behind the two bushes on either side of you so no nasty junglers can gank you. At this point you should be at least level six if not higher. Syndra's full rotation is absolutely devastating. If your enemy is a full health, whittle them down with your Q until they drop to about half. At this point collect yourself together, take a deep breath and get ready to get a kill. Lead with your Dark Sphere followed by a Scatter the Weak so that your opponent is stunned. At this point either grab the nearest enemy minion or dark sphere and hurl it down your enemy's throat with Force of Will. If they aren't dead at this point top it all of with a booming Unleashed Power. Feels good getting that kill doesn't it? If you did not manage to get a kill, that is perfectly okay! It takes time to get good as Syndra but when you do, the rewards are unbelievable.

Now i'll explain some advanced tactics. When farming, if you have blue buff or feel you are doing well at managing your mana, you can Dark Sphere the mage minions in the back row, then pick one up with Force of Will and hurl it back at the other two for a guaranteed 3 CS. if you can pick up a melee minion at half health instead of a mage minion, that is even better. Syndra is a pretty decent escape artist. However this does not give you a license to play the whole game right up at your opponent's tower. If someone comes in to gank you, try your best to set up a Dark Sphere Scatter the Weak combo to stun them. If you don't have time though, just a quick Scatter the Weak is fine as long as you high tail it the hell out of there afterward. Don't forget that Syndra's Force of Will is also a slow! This may help you get away in some circumstances. You don't necessarily always have to be the one being ganked however, Syndra can also do some ganking herself! If you find that your lane is pushed up really hard, then pay your other lanes a visit to help them out. My suggestion is to lead in with Dark Sphere Force of Will combo to lock your poor victims up. Then let your ally go to town on the poor sucker you hit. Later on in the game you are going to get into team fights, this is a given. If played correctly, Syndra can turn the tide of a team fight instantly. In team fights, you are going to want to position yourself in the back of your team and bomb the enemy champions with Dark Spheres and Force of Will shots. Now im going to share with you my absolute favorite thing about Syndra. NOTE: This is incredibly hard to do so don't fret if you fail your first ten or so times. Always use Unleashed Power on the AD carry or AP carry. You will notice that there are now six Dark Spheres laying on the field after you use it. This is Syndra's secret weapon. Try to position yourself so you are facing the enemy team. Use your Scatter the Weak ability and then stun orbs will shoot in all different directions stunning the whole enemy team and leaving them speechless. SO BAD ***.

PROS

- Very underestimated
- Take enemies by surprise
- Massive Burst
- Great CC
- Can turn a team fight easily
- Great lane phase

CONS

- Very hard to learn
- Takes skill
- Falls off late game
- Blue Buff dependent

I start out with Dark Sphere first because it's the easiest to harass and farm with. However, it is much more mana cost effective to wait until level 3 when Dark Sphere is maxed put twice to start harassing. Never use Scatter the Weak for damage or farming because it has a high mana cost and doesn't do a whole lot of damage. Use Force of Will if you need to finish off a group of minions who you hit with Dark Sphere or when you are trying to chase an enemy down/keep them in place. Put points into Unleashed Power whenever you can and use it as your finishing move. You don't ever want to engage with Unleashed Power because it does more damage the more orbs you have out on the field. NOTE: Unleashed Power will still follow through if you cast it as you die! The optimal rotation when engaging in a fight is, Dark Sphere followed up by Scatter the Weak to stun them, then Force of Will and then a thunderous Unleashed Power. If this sequence is done properly you will leave your enemy asking themselves what happened to their health bar.

RYLAI'S CRYSTAL SCEPTER

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is my favorite item in the game. It is great on Syndra because it adds on to her already incredible cc. If you are having trouble landing your abilities, Rylai's Crystal Scepter makes it that much easier because your opponent won't be able to move around as effectively.

ROD OF AGES

Rod of ages couples nicely with Rylai's because of the health that it gives. Personally, I prefer getting Rylai's before Rod of Ages but many people get Rod of Agesfirst so that the passive starts off earlier, regardless it is a must have item for almost any AP carry.

LIANDRY'S TORMENT

Liandry's Torment couples SO well with both Rod of Ages and Rylai's. Rylai's doubles the amount of damage that the passive on Liandry's Torment does, and Rod of ages, Rylai's, and Liandry's Torment all stack health. These three item's alone will give you a decent amount of AP and over 3000 health (That's the equivalent of three Warmog's Armor people)!

RABADON'S DEATH CAP

+120 ability power and +25% more. Thats a no brainer.

The masteries that I use are relatively common. I go 9 into the defense tree however for that little magic resist and health boost. Playing any character is a lot easier if you have a lot of health, or more cushion for the pushing if you will. Mana is never that big of a problem for me, but if you find that you are struggling to manage your mana levels I suggest going into the Utility tree and maxing out Meditation and Expanded Mind . Also, Wanderer isn't bad to get either because it is either to set up Syndra's abilities when she has more movement.

PREFFERED

Ignite is just too good. It is a very powerful damage over time spell that can easily finish off a running enemy. If you are finding that you need just a bit more damage to tip the scale then ignite is perfect. Not to mention you look pretty bad *** when you walk away as a champion dies from your ignite.

PREFERRED

There is no other summoner spell like flash. It can get you away from your enemy in literally the blink of an eye. Flash has saved my life countless times and is by far the best escape summoner spell in the game.


SITUATIONAL

If you find yourself dying a lot and/or having trouble sustaining yourself in lane then heal is a pretty good option.

SITUATIONAL

If you find that you [recall] back to base a lot and need to get back in a hurry then teleport is a great option. Teleport can also be useful in saving other towers that are about to go down.

SITUATIONAL

Ghost is great for chasing your enemy down and gaining that extra burst of speed when running. If you are having trouble mastering the use of flash then ghost is your next best option.

SITUATIONAL

Barrier is a pretty decent defensive spell. If you are in a tight spot barrier will come to the rescue every time. However, the long cooldown makes barrier less viable than heal.

SITUATIONAL

Find yourself being bogged down by CC? Cleanse is the spell for you!

DO NOT USE

Ew.

DO NOT USE

You are not a support.

Green = Easy
Yellow = Medium
Red = Hard
Purple = You're ****ed

DIANA

Diana....is scary as **** what can I say? Personally, I have a really strong early game as Syndra so I tend to shut her down before she gets that insane jump. Watch out for her Crescent Strike if you can dodge that you're golden. If you can't good luck!

LEBLANC

I HATE LeBlanc. She has such an amazing lane phase and snowballs HARDCORE. My suggestion against Leblanc is to stay passive as possible and do not feed her kills. Just remain calm and keep your composure and you will be okay.

BRAND

Brand can be a pretty tough lane opponent. He has monster harass with his Conflagration. If you can manage to dodge his Pillar of Flame and make sure Sear doesn't hit you when you have conflagration on you you should be able to manage against him. Once Brand's burst is gone and his abilities are on cooldown he is a major push over. Use this to your advantage!

FIZZ

Fizz is a pain in the ***. He is called the "Tidal Trickster" for a reason. His Chum the Waters will leave your health bar non existent. He has a great gap closer and one of the best escapes in the game. He is one mobile champ so try your best to keep your distance.

KATARINA

Katarina can easily be countered by Syndra. The reason why I put her as medium is because she can be hard for new players to play against. The biggest advantage that Syndra has over Kat is her stun. As soon as Katarnia uses her ult, Death Lotus STUN HER IMMEDIATELY and she will be renedered useless. Poke her unmerciful with Dark Sphere to keep her in check.

RYZE

Syndra makes Ryze her *****. Syndra out ranges Ryze hardcore so just keep on poking. He will be helpless in lane if you play your cards right!

VEIGAR

My advice against Veigar is this; try to not let him farm by poking him and if he stuns you just do all that you can to run the hell away.