Sylas Counters: Who Beats Sylas

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Sylas counters are champions who punish his 175 attack range, stop his dash, outheal Kingslayer, or hand Hijack a weak ultimate to copy. Sylas is a melee mage-assassin who heals when he lunges at champions, pulls himself to you with Abduct, and casts your own R back at you, so the best picks take one of those tools away.

Everything below is our own call, worked out from what the official ability text says each kit does to Sylas’s abilities. No win rates, no pick rates. I’m explaining why a lane goes the way it does, not quoting a stat sheet.

Why is Sylas hard to counter?

• Petricite Burst (passive): after casting a spell he stores a charge. His next basic attack spends it, whirls his chains for bonus magic damage to everyone around him, and he gains attack speed while a charge is stored.
• Chain Lash (Q): two chains intersect at a point, damaging and slowing, then after a delay the intersection explodes for a second hit. Cooldown 10/9/8/7/6 seconds.
• Kingslayer (W): a lunge that damages and heals him against enemy champions. Cooldown 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds, so at rank 5 it comes back every six seconds.
• Abscond / Abduct (E): a dash to a location, then a recast that throws his chains and pulls him to the enemy he hits. Cooldown 13/12/11/10/9 seconds.
• Hijack (R): he steals your ultimate and casts it freely. Cooldown 80/55/30 seconds.

Thing is, Sylas has no ultimate of his own (yes, his R is literally your R). So how strong is he? That depends on what you locked in. Lock in a healing or suppression ult and Hijack lets him cast it freely against you. Something with a one-second blink, on the other hand, leaves Hijack as not much more than a wasted keybind.

Which champions are the best Sylas counters?

Vex

Doom ‘n Gloom (passive) is built for this matchup. When Vex is empowered, her next basic ability fears enemies and interrupts dashes, and whenever a nearby enemy dashes she applies a mark that she can consume for bonus damage. Abscond is a dash. Every time Sylas uses it near her, he feeds her a mark and risks getting feared mid-engage, and Personal Space (W) shields her and damages nearby enemies, which is exactly where a 175-range champion has to stand.

Cassiopeia

Miasma (W) slows, grounds and lightly damages enemies that pass through it, and grounded enemies cannot use Movement abilities. Put a cloud between you and Sylas and his E has nowhere to go (the dash simply cannot be cast). Twin Fang (E) deals increased damage to poisoned targets and heals her for a percentage of the damage dealt, so she has sustain of her own to set against Kingslayer. The catch is Petrifying Gaze (R): the stolen version stuns anyone facing him, so turn your back when he holds it.

Kassadin

Kassadin’s Void Stone (passive) cuts the magic damage he takes, while Null Sphere (Q) interrupts channels and also hands him a shield that soaks up magic damage. Sylas is a Mage whose passive deals bonus magic damage, so a big part of his trade lands on a shield designed for it. Force Pulse (E) charges from spells cast nearby, and Sylas casts constantly once his cooldowns drop to the 6 to 9 second range, so in practice he is charging the ability that will slow him.

Anivia

Crystallize (W) raises an impassable wall of ice that blocks all movement. That kills his dash path. Flash Frost (Q) stuns everyone in its explosion radius, and Frostbite (E) deals double damage to a target recently hit by Flash Frost. Rebirth (passive) is the quiet part: on fatal damage she returns as an egg and is reborn with full health, so an assassin has to kill her twice. What does Hijack actually get off her? Glacial Storm, a driving rain of ice and hail that damages enemies and slows their advance, nothing more. Not a lot to be scared of.

Zoe

Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E) makes the target drowsy, then puts them to sleep with reduced Magic Resist, and the first damage that breaks the sleep is doubled up to a cap. Sylas has a 175 attack range, so he has to come close to Zoe to trade. Honestly, the real reason she’s here is Portal Jump (R): a one-second blink there and back, and that’s the whole prize for Hijack. Her own damage keeps coming from Paddle Star (Q), which deals more the longer it flies in a straight line.

How do you play the lane against Sylas?

• Count his cooldowns early. At rank 1, Chain Lash is 10 seconds, Kingslayer 12 and Abscond 13. Trade right after he misses an E, since Abscond will not be back for 13 seconds at rank 1.
• The Q explosion comes second. The chains slow you first, then the intersection point explodes after a delay, so walk off that point instead of standing in the slow.
• No champion, no heal. Kingslayer heals him only against enemy champions. If he can’t reach you with the lunge, his main sustain does nothing.
• Stay out of Abduct lines. His E recast pulls him to the enemy he hits, so do not stand in the line of the chains once they are out. Stand to the side.
• Know what your R does in his hands. Hijack is on an 80 second cooldown at rank 1 and 30 seconds at rank 3. Read your own ultimate text and assume he’ll use it the same way.

Which items counter Sylas?

Sure, Magic Resist is the obvious buy. What the item actually does matters more than the stat line. Grievous Wounds is the natural first buy (Oblivion Orb is only 800 gold), because Kingslayer heals him against enemy champions.

AD mid laners get the same Wounds effect from Executioner’s Calling (800 gold, 15 Attack Damage, 40% Wounds for 3 seconds on physical damage). Every one of these has its own page in our items database with the current numbers, if you want to double-check before you buy.

Does Hijack change which Sylas counters you should pick?

It does. Normally you ask who beats his kit. Against Sylas you also have to ask what he’s pulling out of yours. Vladimir’s Hemoplague heals Vladimir for each enemy champion hit, Malzahar’s Nether Grasp suppresses a champion, and Lissandra can cast Frozen Tomb on herself to become untargetable and heal. All three are nasty in his hands, so none of them made the list, even though Sanguine Pool and Ring of Frost would otherwise do a fine job on his engage.

Put simply, the Sylas counter you actually want has a boring R and some way of making a 175-range dasher regret coming in. Zoe and Anivia are the cleanest version of that. Vex’s passive can interrupt the dash and Cassiopeia’s Miasma grounds him so he cannot use it, and Kassadin takes reduced magic damage. Not sure mid is even your lane yet? Our guide to LoL roles goes through what each one expects of you, and the rest of our champion guides are written the same way, abilities first. If you’re the one playing Sylas and it’s on Howling Abyss, the Sylas ARAM guide is the one you want, and his skins are over on the Sylas skins page.

If I had to boil Sylas counters down for someone picking up a fresh account this patch: ground him, outheal him, or make sure your R is garbage in his hands.

FAQ

Who counters Sylas the most?

Champions who stop his dash or give Hijack a weak ultimate. Vex’s passive interrupts dashes and fears, Cassiopeia’s W grounds him so Abscond cannot be cast, and Zoe’s R gives him only a one-second blink.

Does magic resist work against Sylas?

Yes. Sylas is a Mage whose passive deals bonus magic damage. Kaenic Rookern gives 80 Magic Resist and a magic shield, and Kassadin’s passive reduces magic damage taken.

How do you stop Sylas’s E?

Abscond is a dash and Abduct is a recast that pulls him to the enemy hit. Grounding from Cassiopeia’s Miasma prevents the dash, Anivia’s wall blocks movement, and a Banshee’s Veil spell shield blocks the pull.

Which ultimates should you not give Sylas?

Healing and suppression ultimates. Vladimir’s Hemoplague heals per champion hit, Malzahar’s Nether Grasp suppresses, and Lissandra’s Frozen Tomb cast on himself makes him untargetable and heals him.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. What you’re reading is an editorial list built from how abilities interact in patch 26.21. We don’t use win-rate data.