Guide · Mid

Syndra Guide

the Dark Sovereign

Mage

Tier A Mid

Syndra, the Dark Sovereign, is a mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1620 analysed ranked games, Syndra is mostly played in Mid (73% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (27%), with a 53.0% win rate in that role: tier A among Mid champions (#7 of 42, ranked by win rate). Syndra's damage is mostly magic (90%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate stays steady whatever the game length (52.3% to 54.4%): a reliable pick in every phase of the game.

Averages measured over 1190 Mid games played with Syndra, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Syndra is a burst mage who plays with her Dark Spheres: they last a few seconds and can be manipulated by her other abilities. Her passive collects Wrath Shards that upgrade her abilities in several tiers. She finishes targets by bombarding them with all her spheres.

The stun combo

Q › E › W

When: An enemy is within range of a Dark Sphere.

Place a sphere, then Scatter the Weak pushes it and the enemies: those hit by spheres are stunned. Force of Will throws a sphere or a minion to add damage and a slow.

The full burst

Q › Q › E › W › R

When: A carry is within range of all your spheres.

Build up Dark Spheres, stun with Scatter the Weak, then Unleashed Power bombards the champion with all your spheres. The more you have, the harder it hits.

The clean-up

R

When: A weakened enemy champion tries to flee.

With your passive tiers unlocked, Unleashed Power executes targets with low health.

Laning phase

Place Dark Spheres to harass from a distance and keep some in reserve for your ultimate: the more you have, the harder it hits. Force of Will can throw a sphere or an enemy minion, and slows whoever it hits.

Common mistakes

• Casting the ultimate with few Dark Spheres: it is much stronger with a full stock.
• Using Scatter the Weak with no sphere to push: that is the core of the stun.
• Neglecting Wrath Shards: they upgrade your abilities in tiers, so play them to your advantage.

Riot's official tips for playing Syndra

• To maximize your ultimate's damage use it when there are many spheres on the battlefield.
• After you hit an enemy champion with Force of Will follow up with Dark Sphere, they'll be slowed and have a hard time avoiding it.
• Get one of your spells to rank 5 as quickly as possible, they gain powerful bonus effects at max rank.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Rabadon's Deathcap, Shadowflame, and Luden's Echo (106 games, 50.0% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (54.1% over 673 games).

Rabadon's Deathcap+Shadowflame+Luden's Echo

106 games · 50.0%

Blackfire Torch+Rabadon's Deathcap+Cosmic Drive

86 games · 55.8%

Zhonya's Hourglass+Shadowflame+Luden's Echo

70 games · 48.6%

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes54.1% · 673 games

Crimson Lucidity50.0% · 316 games

Swiftmarch60.2% · 133 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Teleport53.7% · 1003 games

Flash + Ghost50.5% · 109 games

Flash + Barrier53.6% · 28 games

Flash + Ignite34.8% · 23 games

Most-played runes

Arcane Comet + Inspiration

49.9% · 351 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band96%

Transcendence89%

Scorch96%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Triple Tonic85%

Cosmic Insight75%

Shards

Attack speed90%

Adaptive force84%

Health87%

First Strike + Sorcery

50.7% · 268 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear59%

Triple Tonic57%

Cosmic Insight75%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band91%

Transcendence87%

Shards

Attack speed77%

Adaptive force82%

Health scaling70%

Arcane Comet + Precision

60.1% · 228 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band96%

Transcendence68%

Scorch97%

Secondary tree · Precision

Cut Down98%

Legend: Haste98%

Shards

Attack speed74%

Adaptive force58%

Health85%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Syndra's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team51.9% · 339 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 58.5% ▲

Shadowflame 45.6% ▼

Luden's Echo 43.3% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 54.5%

Stormsurge 56.8%

Hextech Rocketbelt 68.6% ▲

The item that stands out most is Hextech Rocketbelt: 68.6% win rate, +8 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team52.6% · 331 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 50.0% ▼

Luden's Echo 53.8% ▲

Shadowflame 53.5%

Rabadon's Deathcap 50.6% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 60.0% ▲

Stormsurge 62.3% ▲

The item that stands out most is Stormsurge: 62.3% win rate, +6 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team54.0% · 520 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Blackfire Torch 56.9%

Luden's Echo 51.6%

Rabadon's Deathcap 60.4% ▲

Shadowflame 56.7% ▲

Stormsurge 51.7% ▼

Hextech Rocketbelt 60.6%

The item that stands out most is Shadowflame: 56.7% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Syndra in Mid

Akali Syndra: 36.8%19 games

Akali has the edge in 63% of the 19 Mid duels against Syndra. See the Akali guide.

Locke Syndra: 40.0%35 games

Locke has the edge in 60% of the 35 Mid duels against Syndra. See the Locke guide.

Ryze Syndra: 42.1%19 games

Ryze has the edge in 58% of the 19 Mid duels against Syndra. See the Ryze guide.

Twisted Fate Syndra: 50.0%20 games

Twisted Fate has the edge in 50% of the 20 Mid duels against Syndra. See the Twisted Fate guide.

Ekko Syndra: 52.0%25 games

Ekko has the edge in 48% of the 25 Mid duels against Syndra. See the Ekko guide.

Who Syndra is strong against

Galio66.7% · 21 games

Fizz58.8% · 17 games

Cassiopeia57.9% · 19 games

Yasuo57.7% · 26 games

LeBlanc56.5% · 23 games

How to play against Syndra

• Get boots early when playing against Syndra, they'll help you avoid many of her spells.
• Attack Syndra after she's used Scatter the Weak, it has a long cooldown so she'll be vulnerable.
• At max rank Syndra's spells gain bonus effects and change in appearance.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Syndra's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveTranscendent

Syndra collects Splinters of Wrath from gaining levels and damaging enemies which upgrade her abilities.

Dark Sphere: Syndra can hold an additional charge
Force of Will: Bonus true damage.
Scatter the Weak: Increased width and slows all targets
Unleashed Power: Executes low health targets

QDark Sphere

Syndra conjures a Dark Sphere dealing magic damage. The sphere remains and can be manipulated by her other powers.

WForce of Will

Syndra picks up and throws a Dark Sphere or enemy minion dealing magic damage and slowing the Move Speed of enemies.

EScatter the Weak

Syndra knocks enemies and Dark Spheres back dealing magic damage. Enemies hit by Dark Spheres become stunned.

RUnleashed Power

Syndra bombards an enemy Champion with all of her Dark Spheres.

Frequently asked questions

Full Syndra page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides