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Syndra MYMU - Could have been so much more...

Isc4riot·5/6/2016, 6:56:18 PM·10 votes·1,676 views

I think Riot has completly ruined the very idea of Syndra in this Mid Year Mage update. They turned her from a somewhat micro intensive champion with an interesting twist to a braindead ulti bot.

There was one thing that made Syndra really stand out before the current update (which was ironically supposed to give every mage an unique identity) and that was her Dark Sphere management. The idea was to manage your Dark Spheres using the reset that happens on using Force of Will that resets the duration of a ball to deliver a perfect 7 ball ulti for maximum damage. Of course you didn't HAVE TO do this. But if you wanted to get MORE POWER, you had to know how to manage your Dark Spheres even in the midst of combat. This rewarded and separated great Syndra players from the rest.

Now? All you need to do is get max CDR and spam your Dark Spheres 4 times. Actually you don't even need max CDR because Force of Will will reset all 3 spheres that already last forever thanks to passive change. Literally anyone can do it. You completly removed any and all mastery of the champion and her very identity so that EVERYONE can use her to her fullest potential. I find this treatment utterly disgusting and an insult to all the Syndra mains and enthusiasts out there who got reduced to ulti bots.

Obviously there are only two solutions to this. Either revert the changes so that there is again mastery in stacking 7 Spheres or remove the Sphere cap from the ultimate. You can keep it for modes like One for All and URF obviously.

An elegant solution that would also fit the Transcendent theme is to uncap it at reaching rank 3 ultimate but ideally there shouldn't be a cap at all. It was obviously only introduced because of the above mentioned modes and since you couldn't have gotten more than 7 spheres total anyway it worked out well. Until the change that allowed her to get more than 7 spheres total and the problem it created was clearly overlooked.

Now you will probably argue that by uncapping it she becomes incredibly overpowered since she can now have up to 10-11 balls total including the ones circling around her by having max CDR and using the Force of Will reset. That can be easily fixed simply by reducing the number of spheres Force of Will can grab or just reducing the ultimate damage somewhat since it is much easier to stack spheres now and players will once more be rewarded for the mastery of managing them. But even without these changes it takes like 20 seconds and half her mana pool just to pull such a strong combo off which the enemy will see coming so it already has plenty of outplay potential.

I want to point out to a certain double standard that this has created as well. Riven. She has a high amount of mastery that separates and rewards great Riven players from the rest which is the knowledge of combos and animation cancelling. A player who knows and masters these things will perfrom much better on Riven than your average Joe. Just like Syndra player that can manage the Dark Spheres properly. Why is Riven allowed to have such a high skill ceiling when Syndra's was lowered by several floors, if not removed completly? You know what will be a response to this? Riven players crying that they don't want their high skill ceiling removed and Riven turned into a braindead button masher. The best solution obviously would be to fix Syndra in these aspects and return her high skill ceiling.

Now for something somewhat unrelated to this, her Scatter the Weak transcendece feels pretty damn lackluster. My idea is to turn it into an AoE centered around her. I think it is pretty fitting and would help her with the pesky assassins since she is an immobile mage. Fits with her "I am untouchable" quote as well. If you feel it is too overpowered like this just ignore this suggestion.

I am almost certain that this will completly be ignored by Riot and Syndra will remain a braindead low skill floor and even lower skill ceiling disappointment but I just had to try and point it out. If you people agree with what I have said, please upvote so Riot at least reads this and if you do not agree feel free to leave a comment. Sorry for the wall of text too.

13 Comments

Leblancs Boob5/7/2016, 2:31:41 AM7 votes

IDK why this is being downvoted you're 100% right. Syndra is not satisfying to play at all in this state with or against her. Now she literally has the power to miss every single ability but as long as she can point at people and hit R she can stack up kills. Syndra players were always drawn to her difficult kit to master and now she's easier to play than Annie.

Isc4riot5/6/2016, 8:06:05 PM3 votes

Well I don't want her to be weak or anything. I just want her skill ceiling back. The best way is through the Dark Sphere management which was a part of her identity since the very creation. There are other ways than simply increasing the damage the balls deal.

What about this? Every additional Dark Sphere used in ultimate reduces the ultimate cooldown by 10% for a total of 70% with perfect ball management and prep time. Obviously her innate 3 balls aren't counted in this so you need to hit with 10 spheres for a 70% cdr. Or just make it count after the usual 7 sphere ulti for a 30-40% cdr.

EcchiOtakuTM5/6/2016, 7:56:10 PM2 votes

I'm not gonna say it's wrong to want your champ to be harder to get into/higher skill floor but syndra did need a buff. I feel them retaining her old power while giving her a synergy and flow buff was a good move to make.

She's nothing really to complain about unlike some mages who actually have issues.

Blossom Crown5/12/2016, 11:23:03 PM2 votes

The damage on Syndra's 7 ball ult was heavily gated by the sheer amount of set up however, since this has all been removed and it is downright brain dead to pull it off, her damage is way too accessible. I've already had numerous complaints from the enemy and shock from people on my own team as I throw three spheres, hit Q and then R without hitting any spell other than R.

Also, throwing three spheres into E and having a huge aoe stun is downright unhealthy. Especially when sieging and starting team fights. The power spike at 9 is no longer there. The power spike at 13 is ridiculous.

I would much rather give Syndra her higher skill cap back than open the gates even more by uncapping her ult. I feel that would be just be overkill on Syndra's reliance to her ult. The E change you mentioned is very interesting and I can almost see it in my head, how it would look and work but not sure how healthy it would be for the game and her play style.

For any proficient Syndra player, these changes have done absolutely nothing. For the novice, less experienced Syndra, she got a whole lot easier.

I would've been content with few number changes and a massive bug fix and QoL buffs. Every spell in her kit, walking animation and even her recall are bugged. Syndra needs fixing as it impacts her performance and can ruin the player's experience of Syndra.

Isc4riot5/12/2016, 10:00:29 PM1 votes

Seriously though I see no reason why her ulti shouldnt be uncapped in normal modes. People will say that it is overpowered to be able to cast 10 sphere ulti?

With 800 ability power which is a pretty healthy amount of ability power I'd say, your ulti with 10 spheres will do about 3400 damage. This damage is conditional, takes time to set up (12-14 sec minimum I believe), costs a lot of mana to set up and the ability to set it up depends on your mastery over the champion. Also if you uncapped her ultimate only at rank 3 it would take quite some time to get to that level of power although I believe it should be uncapped always.

Now compare it with another mage that got his rework. http://i.imgur.com/iIK7Qj2.jpg]

Again, I don't really think Syndra needs any buffs or anything. However she needs her identity back. And her identity is dark sphere management and high skill cap. I could think of a few ways of doing that without having to increase her burst or damage but what's the point when you clearly don't give a damn.

DarkSunSovereign5/13/2016, 5:30:01 PM1 votes

The thing is, if you needed say 10 balls ult to deal the dmg a 7 ball ult used to do, you won't have time to stack ballz before the teamfight is over. Imagine that, you would need like 20 seconds for it lol, and you can't move far away from your other ballz cuz u need to reset with W.