(Probably the Last One of the Year) Syndra Rune and Item Build Guide

2024 is almost over. I thought Syndra would fade out too, but after Viktor's rework, she seems to have carved out a niche as a counter to him, so that's a relief.

But honestly, even before or after the rework, she's not a hard counter, which is a bit sad... Viktor's current power level is just insane ;;

Anyway, today I'm going to write what might be the last Syndra guide of the year. Recently, the Liandry's + Cosmic Drive build has been studied and its win rate has gone up a lot. (Not my preferred build, though.) I'll go into detail on that too when explaining the builds.

I originally planned to write matchups for each champion, but writing them all out is a chore, so I'll skip that. I'll just outline the general approach to counters and matchups.

At the end of the post, I'll organize rune + item builds for each champion separately, so that'll be easier to glance at.

I. Runes

0. Rune Shards Against mages: Attack Speed + AP + Flat HP Against assassins or tanks: Attack Speed + AP + Scaling HP

If you're going the Liandry's + Cosmic Drive build: You can take Skill Haste instead of Attack Speed (But this makes early wave management a bit more awkward)

1. Summon Aery

Good matchups for Summon Aery

1. Melee champions (except tanks and high sustain champs) For example, Sylas, Yone, Fizz, etc.
2. Mage champions with similar or shorter range than Syndra overall Viktor, Orianna, Aurora, Vex, etc. belong here.

Summon Aery is a rune that empowers the early laning phase. If you take Aery, you should be thinking about maximizing its efficiency early on, and whenever the enemy steps into your Q or auto-attack range, you should be looking to proc it. Otherwise, as the game goes later, you're essentially wasting a rune. This is the standard Aery page. I take Presence of Mind as a secondary rune because I usually go Storm Surge + Shadowflame build, but if I need a mana item, I take different runes. (Sometimes I don't go Precision at all.)

Against assassins, switch secondary runes to Bone Plating + Overgrowth. Bone Plating or Second Wind is also a good choice against some mages. If the trade pattern is both sides hitting each other, the idea is to use Bone Plating / Second Wind to offset damage or create a sustain gap, gaining a health advantage.

Also, if you take Summon Aery, you should never take Gathering Storm instead of Scorch. If you think about the reasoning for taking Aery that I mentioned earlier, you'll know why.

Another secondary tree worth considering is Inspiration. (Inspiration, not First Strike? lol) Corrupting Potion or Biscuit Delivery + Cosmic Insight or Jack of All Trades. Inspiration is also a solid choice. Jack of All Trades is also an early-game rune, so it synergizes well with Aery.

2. Arcane Comet Good matchups for Arcane Comet: Xerath, Lux, Viktor, and other champions with longer range poke than Syndra. This is the standard Comet page. Unlike Aery, with Comet you can take Gathering Storm instead of Scorch. However, Scorch is more efficient before 20 minutes.

You'll notice the secondary runes are Font of Life + Second Wind. These are sustain runes. Because this is for matchups where the enemy harass is heavy.

There are quite a few champions with significantly longer range and better poke than Syndra. The prime examples are Xerath and Lux. Syndra has a lot of shortcomings in her laning phase before Q evolves, so the mindset is to endure the heavy poke during that period for as long as possible.

Why take Comet? -> Their range is too long for you to get consistent Aery procs, and Electrocute or Phase Rush require 3 hits, which is obviously not happening, and First Strike is also inefficient.

But another weakness of Xerath and Lux is that their gank setup is poor regardless of pre- or post-6. -> You can use your Scatter the Weak more freely.

So, this rune page is designed to trade with Q+E + Comet + Scorch early, survive the poke with Font of Life + Second Wind, and safely reach Q evolution.

3. Electrocute Good matchups for Electrocute: LeBlanc, AD ranged (Tristana, Corki, etc.) Also a solid rune against other mages (especially Hwei) This used to be my most frequent rune, but recently I feel other runes are better than Electrocute, so I don't take it as often. (That's due to the nature of meta champions, not because the rune itself is bad.)

I used to take it almost always against LeBlanc, but lately Aery + Bone Plating seems better...

Against AD ranged champions, it's a great rune. Usually, ADCs that come mid are either structurally designed to go in, or they can't hit Syndra if they don't go in, so just having Electrocute allows you to threaten kill pressure.

No matter who you take it against, it's the GOAT rune for securing kills. In the last row of the Domination tree, you can take any of Ultimate Hunter, Relentless Hunter, or Treasure Hunter, but I usually recommend Ultimate Hunter. Since this is a rune for chasing kills, Ultimate Hunter is efficient.

4. Phase Rush, First Strike These are runes I don't take often, so I'll keep the explanation short.

Phase Rush is only for when the enemy team is very good at diving onto you, and even considering your team comp, you think you'll have a hard time surviving. Like, the team is all squishy and not a counter-engage comp, but the enemy has Ambessa, Zac, Yone, etc.

I only take it in very rare games.

First Strike I used to never take, but it seems to have good synergy with the Liandry's + Cosmic Drive build (explained later in the item section). So I take it against champions I can easily proc First Strike on in lane (Galio, Sylas, etc.).

I used to take it in a