Champion Guide

Syndra Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Syndra is a burst mage who fights with dark spheres. Transcendent lets her collect Splinters from damaging champions and leveling up, evolving her abilities at 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 Splinters. Dark Sphere places a sphere that damages enemies, Force of Will grabs a sphere or minion and throws it to damage and slow, Scatter the Weak pushes enemies and spheres away and stuns enemies hit by a sphere, and Unleashed Power fires every sphere at a single target. She pokes from afar, bullies lanes once she has items and can burst a target from full health.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Syndra build

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

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Ring, a Health Potion and a Stealth Ward. The standard build is Luden's Echo, Sorcerer's Shoes, Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff and Zhonya's Hourglass: it is the safest and is extremely good against squishy targets. Against tankier teams, replace Luden's Echo with Blackfire Torch and add Cosmic Drive for ability haste and speed. Seeker's Armguard into Zhonya's Hourglass is a must against AD assassins such as Zed, Talon or Yone, Banshee's Veil protects against AP assassins and burst mages, and Mejai's Soulstealer is a gamble when you are ahead. Run First Strike with Cash Back, Triple Tonic and Jack of all Trades, plus Manaflow Band and Transcendence, to play for economy and fast item spikes; Electrocute only for easy lanes, Arcane Comet into ranged matchups such as Orianna, or Summon Aery as a niche option. Take Flash with Teleport, or Ignite in easy lanes or against healing. Max Q, then W, then E.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Long-range poke and very high burst.
Area crowd control with Scatter the Weak.
A classic lane bully with a strong late game, and easy to pick up.

Weaknesses

Skillshot reliant, squishy and immobile.
Weak early, bad without items and bad when behind.
Positioning is key, since she has no escape.

Laning Phase

Take Dark Sphere at level 1 for a stable lane. Syndra's early game is her weakest point, so let the wave push toward you without crashing into your tower: it keeps you safe from ganks while you have no Splinter upgrades and sets up ganks for your jungler. Never let the enemy farm for free: use the trading stance, poking with attacks and Dark Sphere when they walk up for minions so they must choose between the trade and the last hit. Against melee laners, abuse your early range and level 3 spike, freeze the wave and punish them, but respect champions like Yasuo who counter your kit after level 3. Track enemy escapes, ultimates and summoner spells to find all-in windows.

Mid & Late Game

In the mid game, take the first mid tower, roam to both sides and help your team take dragons. When there is no objective or fight, side lane with your wave clear to farm Splinters and gold. In teamfights, Scatter the Weak keeps frontliners and divers away from your team, and Unleashed Power gives you a chance to delete a priority target; Zhonya's Hourglass covers you when divers reach you. Prioritize dragon soul, Baron and Elder Dragon as the game goes on.

Key Tips

Do not try to stack Splinters too aggressively; you gain many simply from leveling.
A simple Dark Sphere and Scatter the Weak combo is the base of all your combos.
There is no limit to how many spheres can be on the ground, and Unleashed Power fires them all.
Force of Will can grab a minion if you have no sphere available.

Matchups