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Syndra Counters: Who Beats Syndra

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

Syndra counters are mid laners who get onto her or simply take less from her magic burst: assassins with gap closers, champions with magic damage reduction, and anyone who can dodge the Scatter the Weak stun. Syndra is a 550 range mage whose combo is Dark Sphere, then Scatter the Weak to stun, then her ultimate. Break that chain and she’s exposed.

Five mid laners follow, picked by comparing kits. Win-rate numbers had no part in the list, honestly, since a kit comparison tells you why a matchup works and a percentage doesn’t.

Syndra counters: Syndra, the Dark Sovereign, splash art

Why is Syndra hard to counter?

  • Transcendent (passive): Splinters of Wrath from levels and damage upgrade her abilities: an extra sphere charge, bonus true damage on Force of Will, a wider and slowing Scatter the Weak, and an execute on her ultimate.
  • Dark Sphere (Q): a sphere that deals magic damage and stays on the ground for her other spells to use. Cooldown 7.
  • Force of Will (W): she picks up a sphere or an enemy minion and throws it for magic damage and a slow. Cooldown 13/12/11/10/9.
  • Scatter the Weak (E): knocks enemies and spheres back; enemies hit by a sphere are stunned. Cooldown 15.
  • R, her ultimate: every Dark Sphere she has fires at one enemy champion. Cooldown 120/100/80.

Syndra’s lane is all about spheres. Each Dark Sphere stays on the ground, Force of Will picks one up for a slowing throw, and Scatter the Weak launches the rest into a stun. Once she has several spheres out, her ultimate fires all of them at one champion, which is where her kill pressure comes from. Transcendent keeps upgrading those abilities as she levels and deals damage. Can you play around that? Yes, because every piece of it is magic damage, most of it is a skillshot, and the stun needs a sphere to actually hit you.

Which champions are the best Syndra counters?

Kassadin

Void Stone (passive) lowers the magic damage Kassadin takes, and every one of Syndra’s abilities deals magic damage. Null Sphere (Q) adds a shield that absorbs magic damage, timed right as her spheres come in. His E cone charges off nearby spellcasting. Syndra never stops casting, so it’s almost always ready to slow her. Riftwalk (R) teleports him onto her, again and again late. His W makes his autos hurt too. The early levels are hers, though, and a Kassadin who loses too much farm before Riftwalk may never get to the part where he takes over the game.

Galio

Galio is a mage killer by design. Shield of Durand (W) is a defensive stance he charges while moving slowly, and releasing it taunts and damages nearby enemies, which pulls Syndra out of position. His E is a short wind-up dash that launches whichever champion he meets first. Winds of War (Q) chips her from range with a tornado. Hero’s Entrance (R) gives allies a magic shield as he lands on them (handy when she ganks with her ultimate). Colossal Smash (passive) adds area magic damage every few seconds.

Fizz

Playful / Trickster (E) lets Fizz hop onto his spear and become untargetable, and an untargetable Fizz can’t be hit by her ultimate, at least not while he’s up there. Urchin Strike (Q) dashes through her, and Seastone Trident (W) bleeds magic damage over several seconds. Nimble Fighter (passive) cuts a flat amount off every hit, which adds up against several small sphere hits. Fish, then shark. Thing is, Syndra’s stun can still catch him if he jumps in too early, so the order matters.

Yasuo

The wind wall (W) stops enemy projectiles for 4 seconds. Riot doesn’t list which of Syndra’s spells count as projectiles, so don’t build your whole lane on blocking the spheres (test it in a practice game first). What does work: Sweeping Blade (E) dashes through minions to reach her, and Steel Tempest (Q) at two stacks knocks her Airborne for Last Breath (R). Walking around the lane also charges his passive shield, a small buffer against her poke. In practice, Yasuo wins if he gets in once and loses if he gets stunned on the way.

Zed

Death Mark (R) makes Zed untargetable as he dashes onto an enemy champion, and three seconds later the mark repeats part of all the damage he dealt. Syndra has no dash to escape that. Living Shadow (W) sends a shadow forward to swap with, which dodges a sphere throw or opens a new angle. Shurikens fly from every shadow at once, and a shadow’s slash slows. Low health targets take extra magic damage from his passive, which finishes off a Syndra who spent her Flash. Does Syndra survive a full combo? Rarely, once Zed has his items.

How do you play the lane against Syndra?

  • Count the spheres on the ground. Scatter the Weak needs a sphere to stun you, and her ultimate fires every sphere she has.
  • Stand away from minions she can grab; Force of Will throws a minion too.
  • Dodge sideways from Scatter the Weak. The knock-back carries spheres in a line, and the stun only lands if a sphere hits you.
  • Play around her E. At 15 seconds, it’s her only stun, and without it she can’t hold you in place.
  • Stay healthy late. Transcendent’s upgrade lets her ultimate execute low health targets.

Which items counter Syndra?

All magic damage, so Magic Resist is the main answer. Banshee’s Veil blocks the next enemy ability with Annul, which can eat her ultimate if it’s the next thing to hit you. Maw of Malmortius gives AD champions a magic damage shield at low health through Lifeline, and Mercury’s Treads add 30% Tenacity against the stun. Mages can stand in Zhonya’s Hourglass for 2.5 seconds of Stasis while her ultimate fires. Quicksilver Sash is worth it only if the stun keeps killing you. The full stat lists are in our LoL items database, and Banshee’s Veil has a page of its own.

When is Syndra at her weakest?

Right after Scatter the Weak. It’s a 15 second cooldown, her only stun, and once it’s used she has slows and damage but no way to stop an assassin walking up. That’s the moment to go in.

Another window: when she’s out of spheres. Her ultimate fires every sphere she has, so a Syndra who just used it has fewer on the ground and less follow-up. She has no dash, either, and at 550 range she can’t kite forever (well, not against a Kassadin with Riftwalk).

New to mid? To be fair, mid asks a lot, and the guide to LoL roles explains roaming, waves and why mid matters. Outfits? See the Syndra skins page. The single-lane version of her is in the Syndra ARAM guide. Long story short, Syndra counters dodge the stun, build Magic Resist, and punish her in the gap after Scatter the Weak.

FAQ

Who counters Syndra the most?

Kassadin and Galio, who resist or shield her magic damage; Fizz and Zed, who can become untargetable; and Yasuo, who dashes through minions to reach her.

How does Syndra’s stun work?

Scatter the Weak knocks enemies and Dark Spheres back. Enemies hit by a Dark Sphere during the knock-back are stunned. Its cooldown is 15 seconds.

What does Syndra’s ultimate do?

It fires all of Syndra’s Dark Spheres at one enemy champion. With enough Splinters of Wrath, it can execute low health targets.

Does Banshee’s Veil block her ultimate?

Annul blocks the next enemy ability that hits you, so it can block her ultimate if that’s the next ability to reach you.

How did we choose these Syndra counters?

By reading her patch 26.21 abilities against each mid laner’s kit. Win rates were not considered.