14.19 Item Overhaul Patch and Syndra

Patch 14.19 brought changes to most items. What affected Syndra are the Luden's ability haste nerf, the overall Stormsurge nerf, and changes to Zhonya's, Banshee's, and Rabadon's.

Instead, this patch saw a significant drop in the performance of assassins and mid lane ADCs. Syndra's win rate has also increased compared to previous patch versions, and with the mage meta arriving, it's a good environment to play her.

Matchup specifics are too annoying to write, so I'll just cover runes and build paths and wrap up.

1. Runes

1) Summon Aery Take this against most champions except LeBlanc, Xerath, Yasuo, and Irelia. This includes assassins, and by most champions I mean every mid lane champion except those rarely picked as pocket picks (like tank mids). For rune shards, I go flat HP to strengthen the early lane, but you can take scaling HP instead. The rest are fixed.

Secondary runes can be Bone Plating + Overgrowth (Font of Life). Actually, I discovered Font of Life by looking at a rune page from someone on the Syndra OTP leaderboard — turns out its activation condition changed. It heals you when you land CC on an enemy. (Think of it as Taste of Blood with stricter conditions.) It works on both slows and stuns, so landing W or E procs it.

Bone Plating is good against assassins who have trouble popping it and some mages (Zoe, Anivia). Against assassins who can easily pop Bone Plating like Zed or Diana, Overgrowth is better. I feel Bone Plating is most effective against Fizz, Akali, and Ekko. (Ekko's Q is slowed by minions, Akali needs two abilities to pop Syndra's Bone Plating.)

Taste of Blood + Ultimate Hunter or Relentless Hunter or Ingenious Hunter are also worth considering. I used to prefer that side, but this patch reduced ability haste on Luden's and Ionian Boots, so I'm going Precision secondary to compensate for the lost haste.

Currently, I think the rune page in the picture has the highest value — there's no rune that can pressure the early lane harder than Aery + Scorch + Overgrowth. Syndra isn't really a hyper-scaling mage with huge late-game expectations, and considering that her Q is a moving cast AoE (not blocked by other targets), her early lane is actually quite strong.

No matter who I face, I use this to apply heavy pressure before level 6, and if they don't back and keep being greedy, I look for a kill angle at 6. Even if not, I make them miss three or four CS. Also, the biggest advantage of Aery is that unlike Electrocute, it can be procced with a single ability or auto attack. If you use this to hold back your E deliberately, harass with just Q, freeze the lane, and then walk up aggressively, you can create a huge gap early.

2) Electrocute Up to the previous patch version, this was my most used rune, but lately Aery feels better so I don't take it as much. Actually, even before, it wasn't significantly higher value than Aery — just a different playstyle. And now that item ability haste has been cut, having to give up a rune granting ability haste feels iffy.

If you like big damage numbers, it's still a good rune, and I take it against LeBlanc and Xerath. Against LeBlanc it's my default; against Xerath I also want to try Comet + Font of Life + Celerity but Xerath isn't picked much. For now, let's settle on Electrocute against Xerath.

For secondary runes, Manaflow Band + Transcendence looks best. If you go Stormsurge first, mana management might be tough before Luden's without Manaflow stacks, and Transcendence's ability haste kicks in faster than the Precision rune Legend: Haste.

Rune shards: only flat HP / scaling HP, rest are fixed.

3) First Strike Take this exclusively against Irelia and Yasuo. Don't take it against other champions. I used to take First Strike against Fizz too, but now Aery + Bone Plating seems better.

Honestly, I'm not sure if it's a good rune, but it's a fine rune. I never preferred it, and that hasn't changed. The advantage? The flexibility of Inspiration secondary? You can swap Future's Market for Magical Footwear, Triple Tonic for Biscuits (Triple Tonic accelerates mid-game tempo, Biscuits give early laning sustain ++), and Cosmic Insight for Jack of All Trades (for early ability haste).

For secondary runes, besides Manaflow Band + Transcendence, you can also take Resolve, Precision, or Domination. The picture shows flat HP, but since First Strike is about giving up lane pressure for safe scaling, you can take scaling HP.

4) Arcane Comet, Phase Rush Arcane Comet: Against Lux, Xerath (champions with longer range than Syndra), I take secondary Font of Life + Celerity, and before Q evolution, I just do Q+E Comet trades (hard to land Q so usually only E+Comet damage), then look for kills after Q evolution.

Might work against Vel'Koz and Ziggs?

Phase Rush is more of a teamfight rune than a laning rune; I usually take it against enemy dive comps when our team lacks frontliners. The idea is: use R+E+Q to make a play, proc Phase Rush, quickly dip out, wait for cooldowns, then layer the next abilities.

Phase Rush is also good against Viktor and Anivia. Their thing is: if Syndra wants to full combo them, they can full combo Syndra back. And in a straight full combo fight at equal gold, Viktor and Anivia win.

Anivia has shorter range than Syndra, so I could just take Aery and manage her. But Viktor's laser is almost instant-cast with long range, and at equal gold, Viktor always feels good. So Syndra needs to build a lead in lane (even though she loses side later). But Viktor's Gravity Field means that past level 6, if I try to extend the trade, I get stunned and eat his full ult. If I try short trades, Viktor has a shield and his short trades are stronger.

So I take Phase Rush, hit E on Viktor's disruption, then W+Q+proc Phase Rush and escape — this selfish trade pattern lets me accumulate health advantage. But if the Viktor is low skill, I just take Electrocute and destroy him anyway, so I'm always conflicted.

In summary: 1) Against Viktor, you need to establish a lead in lane. 2) If you only do short trades and farm, Syndra loses out. 3) You have to trade with at least one full rotation, which exposes you to Gravity Field + ult combo -> Solved by Phase Rush.

2. Item Builds

Patch 14.20 nerfed Stormsurge's base AP, active damage, and ratios. Even Luden's damage was nerfed. I calculated: at the 2-item timing, full combo loses over 100 damage.

This is just telling us not to play Syndra... I expect her to drop to Tier 5 or bottom of Tier 4. Might be the worst she's ever been lol.

It's complicated.

There are two main build paths: rushing Stormsurge first, or going Tear -> Stormsurge -> Archangel's.

The latter is usually for assassins (Zed, Fizz, etc. - LeBlanc is excluded), but you don't have to. Until Archangel's stacks to 360, it's a DPS loss compared to other items whether you look at its components or the finished item.

Post-14.20, I build Luden's first. Stormsurge got hit hard (base AP, base damage, and ratios all nerfed). Luden's is almost a buff for lane (only single-target damage was nerfed, and you rarely get full Luden's procs in lane anyway), plus mana management is much easier with Luden's.

I still build Stormsurge second. Syndra has no self-movement speed buff, and since I don't take Phase Rush, I absolutely need to fill that gap with items. Shadowflame is more expensive, and its passive is less efficient early on..

Even in the Mythic era, I always went one movement speed item (Luden's or Cosmic Drive) because Syndra has no self-speed buff and her ult range is short. Without MS from items, teamfight positioning is difficult. As long as Stormsurge doesn't get nerfed further, I'll likely keep using it.

Third item: 1) When your team is ahead and you want to close out, or when the game is even but you have enough other damage dealers

If the enemy team doesn't have engage, grab skills, or long-range CC like Leona, Ashe? Then even when closing out, you don't need Zhonya's or Banshee's — just go Shadowflame or Rabadon's.

Building both Zhonya's and Banshee's is pretty rare (unless you have two other fed carries and Syndra is easy to catch) — big DPS loss.

2) When your comp makes it easy to survive, or when you're behind. Or when you're so fed you have gold to spare. After 2 items, if I have money for a Needlessly Large Rod, I buy it and build from there. If not, I buy a Blasting Wand and go Shadowflame.

If the enemy stacked MR, go Liandry's. But if they're all tanks and their carries are all squishy, Shadowflame is better. Shadowflame now applies below 40% HP, so in teamfights you can melt tanks if you target them together with your team, and Shadowflame means squishy carries get one-shot.. so I go that.

"Survival is easy because of comp" usually means Syndra isn't in danger of being caught often — when the enemy team lacks dive champs or long-range CC from Leona, Ashe, or grab champs. Or when your front line is solid, or you have Jarvan, Camille who can counter-engage and lock down the formation.

You can build Shadowflame, Rabadon's, and Liandry's together. Great damage. I tend to pick up Cosmic Drive around 4th item if I didn't take ability haste runes, for the ability haste. Syndra tends to become a one-trick pony with Scatter the Weak in the late game, so being able to get that ability off even one second faster often determines her value.

Boots are always Ionian Boots. Patch 14.19 reduced their ability haste by 5 but brought them back to 900 gold, and patch 14.18 buffed magic pen stats on pen items, so Sorcerer's Shoes no longer seem necessary.

It's like: save the 200 gold you'd spend on Sorc Shoes to get a core item faster, plus in a meta where ability haste is scarce, getting a 900-gold item that even reduces summoner spell cooldown is a steal.

Mercury's Treads now cost 1300 gold, so I don't think you can build them even if mid+jungle are both AP.

Well, runes and builds are all flexible and preference-based anyway; when I say something is fixed or nearly fixed, that's just my personal take. The most important thing is in-game play. As long as you aren't taking Grasp and rushing Zhonya's first then Banshee's second, everything is more or less the same, so just keep the general framework.

3. Laning Play

Just remember 3 things: 1) Against melee assassins, use Aery to apply max pressure before level 6. 2) Against mages with longer range, play safe before Q evolution, then be aggressive after Q evolution. 3) When Scatter the Weak is down, absolutely play safe. Especially against assassins / champions with good gank setup.

A tricky case for 2) is Orianna — it's better to play safe before Q evolution. Ranges are similar, but Orianna has an easier time landing her skills, so Syndra usually loses trades. Plus, Orianna can trade while pushing the wave.

4. Counters

Ban recommended (or dodge recommended) Absolutely cannot win. The counter of counters. Other champions can be covered if there's a skill gap, but Fizz isn't a mechanically difficult champion and there's no kill angle for Syndra — hopeless. But fortunately he's not a common pick.

I hate taking summoner spells other than Teleport, but against him, not taking Exhaust gives too much pressure. Really unmatched.

Very Hard 1. If the enemy player has high skill (vague term, but on a scale of 1-10, 7+), it's Fizz-level. Even at 5, it's hard enough.

But if they have low skill or a big gap in fundamentals, you can dominate them. And the scary thing is these champs have better skirmishing and roaming than Syndra.

For Xerath, if he can't land his E (stun), you can just beat him up, so I debated where to place him, but hoping for a bad Xerath is kind of mean, so I put him here. But putting him in the "Hard" tier wouldn't feel out of place either. Actually, Lux can be harder often. At the opponent's peak, Xerath > Lux, otherwise Lux >= Xerath.

Very Hard 2. (Hard in a 1v1, but hard to actually carry the game with them) First off, they aren't great roamers, so farming in lane isn't too stressful. (Yasuo is less stressful than Irelia if he has no airborne.) But their skirmishing is still stronger than Syndra's: Irelia has crazy sustain, Yasuo counters Syndra completely with Wind Wall.

The assassins above give Syndra some lane priority before 6, but these two can pressure Syndra even before 6, making laning trickier. In side lanes, they have conditional no-cooldown dashes, so it's tough.

Against Irelia, just keep the mindset of "don't get hit by her E." Against Yasuo, when he has his third Q charged, keep distance and farm safely — you rarely die. The problem is skirmish potential..

And the deciding factor: Irelia can dive you at full HP once she gets Blade of the Ruined King.. lol

Hard 1 (from a 1v1 perspective) Ekko has poor ranged harass (his Q slows on first hit so it's easy to dodge behind minions), and spacing isn't too hard compared to other assassins. Still, getting a solo kill is very difficult.

One thing to be sure of against Ekko: don't use Scatter the Weak within Ekko's E range. Ekko's E2 counts as a blink, so it can dodge Scatter the Weak. Learn that precisely. Ekko's E1 dash range is 325, E2 range is 425. You can avoid it by spacing at the tip of Syndra's Q range (Q range = 800).

LeBlanc has great gank setup, gank avoidance, roaming, and is also hard in 1v1. If you can react to LeBlanc's W with your E, do it. Stand behind minions to avoid her chain. (But don't stay behind minions that die to one W.) The key is to not get hit by the chain. Remember her chain throwing patterns, and if she adapts to your movement, change your pattern frequently. Considering not just the 1v1 but enemy jungler + LeBlanc's roaming, this is Very Hard.

Against LeBlanc, one mistake is game over. If the jungler gives her a kill, game over. Against Lissandra and Ahri, you get multiple chances, but not against LeBlanc. That's why it's both my favorite and most dreaded matchup.

Lux is hard because her range is superior like Xerath, and similarly if she can't land her E (snare), you destroy her. But her poke with E + cheap shot + Comet hits harder than Xerath, and her E is harder to dodge at certain ranges, making her sometimes more difficult than Xerath. Above all, mid Lux players have no middle ground. They're either OTPs or boosted fillers. First case you get wrecked, second you wreck them. The player variance is huge, but on average laning-wise, Lux seems trickier than Xerath. But her game-winning ability is lower than Xerath, so I put her in Hard.

Hard 2 (1v1 isn't that hard, but their gank setup is too good)

Lissandra and Ahri are tough because they have good gank setup and roam a lot, not because 1v1 is hard. Cleanse vs Teleport is preference.. but if the enemy jungler is something like Jarvan or Elise who love immobile targets, taking Cleanse makes you feel more comfortable.

???

Anivia and Zoe vary by opponent skill, but assuming equal skill, Anivia has the advantage. I can't figure out which tier to put them in so they're separate.

Anivia after 6: Syndra can never match her waveclear (Anivia just needs to toggle ult and wave is cleared effortlessly), and if you walk up, you get hit by her ult-wall combo, and even if you trade back, you can't kill her due to her egg, while she slowly melts you. You need your jungler's help to make it easy, but if both sides grow without jungle intervention, Anivia becomes increasingly advantageous.

Zoe difficulty is like Zoe skill (+ skill) minus Syndra skill (+ skill). The higher skill player wins (or the one with more jungle help). Zoe just needs to avoid Scatter the Weak, Syndra just needs to avoid sleep. The one who lands their skillshots better wins.

Yone is a matchup where one mistake sends you to gray screen. The saying "Yone kills count as two kills, three kills" exists for a reason.. After 6, you must conserve Scatter the Weak as much as possible. His shield offsets Syndra's damage well, and once he gets Blade, he feels like Irelia. He tries to win even losing matchups. Well... mistakes happen... just because I'm good doesn't mean my teammates won't make them.. sometimes it's tough, but I don't think he's a counter. Still, I win about 7 out of 10 games against Yone.

There are a few nearly extinct picks that are hard for Syndra, but I won't include them. Let's just look at the more common faces.

??? 2 Galio has good skirmishing/roaming, is designed to be strong against mages, has fast waveclear, can farm from range, has gank setup, and even has a magic shield as a passive. Not easy. If it's a pure 1v1 lane with no skirmish or jungle interference, Syndra has a say, but that's rare. Even with damage runes like Aery, Electrocute, Comet, poke isn't very effective, so First Strike to generate gold is the best choice. Since he's melee, First Strike gives good income.

For Sylas, take Bone Plating and only play safe when Bone Plating is down. If he tries to mindlessly trade at level 1 with E, just trade back – Bone Plating + ranged minions means Syndra always benefits. However, if Sylas also has Bone Plating, the dynamic changes. If you get hit by his E2 without Bone Plating, you lose more than half HP, so be careful.

And if you use Q+Scatter the Weak just before his E2 hits, it stops his dash. (Scatter alone won't work due to range.) Good Sylas players will hold E2 until the distance is short enough, so when he uses E1, don't immediately Q+E – also back up and time your Q+E when he actually uses E2.

E2 has a hitbox that comes from Sylas's body, so sometimes if your force push clips him the wrong way and shoves him sideways, you might actually get hit by E2 despite the knockback. So only use Q+Scatter when you're sure E2 will hit.

1. Play safe when Bone Plating or Scatter the Weak is down.
2. (Maintain max distance by default) When Sylas engages, back up and if it looks like his E2 will hit you, Q+E.

Just follow these two. Rule 1 applies to all dive champions anyway.

4. Wrap-up + Bans and Jungler Synergy

This guide ends here. If you have questions about more detailed (or at least general) matchups or other things, leave a comment and I'll reply.

Bans: one of LeBlanc, Yasuo, or Irelia. Fizz is rare, so it's a waste of a ban. The difficulty of those three varies depending on our jungler and enemy jungler, so I can't say which is hardest.

But just considering laning and skirmishing, Yasuo is the hardest because Wind Wall can completely erase Syndra's presence.

LeBlanc is hard in various ways,

Irelia surpasses the other two from the moment she gets Blade of the Ruined King (excluding roaming).

• Jungler Synergy Viego, Jarvan, Vi – champions that provide CC chain and can act as frontliners – have good synergy. With Viego, they're almost partners from Syndra's perspective.

Among AP junglers, Elise (who can help quickly blow up one target) or tank line champions like Zac are good.

Among AD junglers, champions like Master Yi who have no CC and only scale are a terrible match. No early mutual benefit — not viable in the current meta. Similarly, Graves and Kindred have mediocre synergy.

• 2 AP / 3 AP comps These days, with Mercury's Treads nerfed, mid+JG 2 AP is okay, but Syndra is particularly weak against Mercury's Treads builders, so when the enemy builds them, it's a bad feeling for Syndra. When you have 3 AP on the topside, Syndra is the weakest among mages, so if top and jungle lock in AP first, just dodge or play something else.