I didn’t know Zoe could set up a teamwide stun, or had as much Zone control as Syndra. Nor did I know that she’s able to use her abilities through units. Zoe’s teamfight potential is much lower than Syndra’s due to that. A good tank will do a good tank’s job: soak the damage. Zoe prefers skirmishes and picks. Something Syndra is also able to do.
... “there’s a reason she’s played in pro play”. Are you referring to Syndra? Or Zoe? Since Zoe’s release Syndra has seen more play in pro play than Zoe... Zoe was a priority ban in NA for some reason (her “unpredictable” nature) but was rarely ever considered ban worthy in EU and Elsewhere... most of her play was seen in EU and Syndra was played against her in some. Her relevancy was largely due to the W buffs that were then nerfed. Your argument only points to like.... what... 5? Patches ago... if not more (I’ll check after I send this cuz I’m typing without internet rn). If we’re talking about recently.... her winrate globally is terrible, her pickrate has started to decrease more, allowing for the true mains to balance the winrate out. But by no means is she revered as a better pick than Syndra across the board... the people that are able to consistently do well on her are the mains. Something that is standard for EVERY champion.
You act like Zoe using summoner spells is a given. You can dissuade her from popping the balloons (laning 101, threaten damage to an enemy when they try to go in for a last hit) you can dissuade her from picking up the shard (it’s a very small radius in which she has to be in... almost has to be literally on top of it) so Zone her away from it... failing that, stay away from her if the summoner she picked up is extremely offensive (ignite, exhaust or the hextechs) similarly to how you would with an Annie... she’s extremely vulnerable to all ins especially after she uses E. And deals less damage if you are closer to her. Her abilities can’t pass through units and all of them are extremely telegraphed (barring when she second casts Q and presses E at the same time... but at that point uve already seen the entire Q animation so u know **something ** is coming, just the Bubble CCis just another thing to take into account rather than just flat damage. Zoe is always within 800 units of the Q... so in a sense she does have less range than Syndra... Zoe being able to displace herself grants her the extra range (only 575).