Champion Guide

Sylas Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Sylas has amazing combo damage and high outplay potential, and Hijack lets him use the enemy's best ultimate against them. He's mana-hungry early and depends on landing Abduct, so our guide stresses practising combos and learning other champions' kits before taking him into ranked.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Sylas build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The main page is Electrocute with Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos and Relentless Hunter, plus Manaflow Band and Transcendence. Conqueror (with Presence of Mind, Legend: Haste and Last Stand), First Strike, and a Dark Harvest page for low-elo snowballing are alternatives; Second Wind with Unflinching is a defensive secondary. Take Flash with Ignite for kill pressure, or Teleport for a calmer lane, or Cleanse into hard CC. Start Doran's Ring, Doran's Shield into poke, or Dark Seal only if you're sure you'll win lane. A normal build is Stormsurge, Sorcerer's Shoes, Shadowflame, Zhonya's Hourglass, Rabadon's Deathcap and Cryptbloom. Against AD, go Rod of Ages, Plated Steelcaps, Cosmic Drive and Lich Bane; against AP, Mercury's Treads with Abyssal Mask and Void Staff. Banshee's Veil, Mejai's Soulstealer and Morellonomicon are situational. Max W, then E, then Q.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Amazing combo damage that can one-shot squishy targets.
Hijack steals enemy ultimates, often the best one in the game.
Short cooldowns and strong ability scaling from mid game on.

Weaknesses

Melee and reliant on landing Chain Lash and Abduct.
Mana-hungry in the early game.
Needs knowledge of every champion's ultimate and lots of practice; struggles into Cassiopeia, Kassadin, Neeko or Pantheon.

Laning Phase

Sylas is a strong level 1 invader with Abduct, but only join winnable invades. Your lane plan depends heavily on the matchup: last-hit with Chain Lash when you can't auto safely, avoid poke, and don't overspend mana on farming. Level 3 is a big spike, and you can bully easier lanes from level 1 with an E start. Trade when the enemy's key abilities are on cooldown, and at 6 steal ultimates that help you secure kills.

Mid & Late Game

Your first item and level 9 (W maxed) are big spikes. Play around objectives, roam and split-push while keeping your farm up. Late game, group with your team, focus close-range frontliners rather than tanks, and steal the best ultimate available to deal as much damage as possible. After a won fight, push a lane as far as you safely can.