I've been looking to expand my mid lane champ pool lately, and I find that I'm lacking a strong ap burst mage. I'm looking for someone who can consistently remove a squishy from a fight in most stages of the game. I also want someone who isn't banned often in ranked, so no LeBlanc etc. I'm unranked right now, since I have no runes, but I'd guess I'm bronze-silver right now. My top consideration as of now is Malzahar, but any feedback would help.
Skia Asteri3 votes
JmanXD1 votesI thought about that, but she seems too simple of a champion for me to have any fun with her.
ShakySurgeon3 votesMay I suggest Viktor? I think you'll fall in love.
Lao Fu the Tiger2 votes
<-- She's pretty awesome as a poke mage, IMO. At least, I enjoy her.
JmanXD1 votesI think syndra might be what I'm looking for. Could you perhaps describe her playstyle a bit, as I'm not familiar with her. And how does she fare against mid lane assassins?
Lao Fu the Tiger1 votesI think syndra might be what I'm looking for. Could you perhaps describe her playstyle a bit, as I'm not familiar with her. And how does she fare against mid lane assassins?
Syndra's playstyle is a poke style play. Her main spam ability is her Q, which just creates this black ball she can use. It has a really short cooldown and relatively good scaling.
Her W can pick up minions and balls and basically throw them wherever she wants. It has a long range and is great for poking.
E is a cone that knocks things back. However, if it hits a ball of hers, it launches the ball even further. If the ball collides with an enemy champion, that champion is stunned.
Her R takes all the balls she's made (3 minimum) and hurls them all at a target enemy, dealing huge damage to a single target. It has a fairly short cooldown.
As far as dealing with assassins, if she stays far far away, she has a chance to just poke them down. However, if any of them actually get close to her, she's pretty much toast. She has no mobility and is squishy throughout the game.
Her early game is a bit difficult due to mana management, but her mid game is very strong. She falls off late game because her teamfighting is weaker than other choices. However, one good stun can completely turn fights around.
Another poster suggested Viktor. He's also an amazing pick and you may love him ;)
JmanXD1 votesI've played Viktor before on a friend's account, and he seems like a lot of fun, might try him out. Any advice on how to play him?
Lao Fu the Tiger1 votesI've played Viktor before on a friend's account, and he seems like a lot of fun, might try him out. Any advice on how to play him?
No idea. xD
I know what he does, but I'm no expert on Viktor.
PapaGreg211 votes[deleted]
Lao Fu the Tiger1 votesSyndra is in kind of a bad spot right now.
In the superproLCScompetitivebigplays scene? Sure. In unranked solo queue? No way.
Is she a pro-pick at the moment? Maybe not. But neither was Urgot a week ago. She's not really in a terrible spot. The Chalice changes seriously helped her mana problems and she still has one of the highest level 6 bursts.
AzureInTheDark2 votes
How has nobody recommended THE Burst Mage?
Crett1 votes[{quoted}](name=Azure KayZ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=vdq1zGHu,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-04-10T02:53:08.276+0000)
He stinks now If you land his full combo, though, he is indeed the burst mage
WalkingInACircle1 votes
DrCyanide1 votesAP 
. Basically a poke mage with great burst if you can land his combo. Notably lacking in CC, so only go it if you have enough CC from the rest of the team.
... Also, isn't it a little sad that none of us can recommend the champion that's suppose to represent 100-0 burst mages, ? Riot, please fix him...
JmanXD1 votesHow exactly would ap Ezreal work? Not really familiar with him, so if you could describe his gameplay that would be a big help. Yea, it's pretty sad that the burst mage isn't really a burst mage anymore
Lost R1 votesEzreal is all about slinging out skill shots and being difficult to pin down. Mind you, he crumbles like a house of cards in a stiff breeze in the event that he does get pinned.
Other burst mages include Lux (crowd control, illuminating stealthed units, and pinning them in place for her death beam.), Malzahar (Primarily damage over time), Vel'koz (crowd control, following up one spell with many more for bonus damage, and a DOT death beam), Orianna (a complex ball manipulator with plenty of utility that forces the enemy to keep moving), Brand (all about DOT and area of effect spells), Ahri (Spells make it dangerous for others to get close to her), Karthus (throwing down a micronuke spell almost constantly, and a global ult to finish off survivors), and Viktor (Lots of AOE and crowd control).
JmanXD1 votesMalzahar was one of my primary options, it seems that if he manages to ult a squishy over his pool, it's always a kill (assuming it doesn't get canceled). He does seem a bit boring tho, just pressing e during lane phase. Do you have any thoughts on Lissandra? Great catch potential, good cc, and mobility, as well as a free zhonya's. Not sure if she can 100-0 the same way some others can.
Lost R1 votesI don't know, because I haven't much experience with Lissandra, either playing as, with or against her. She's good for chasing and immobilizing enemies, but I don't know how good she is in practice because, again, very little face time with her.
DrCyanide1 votesI rush Lich Bane on him in most matchups, which brings his Q up to a 90% AP ratio (plus your AD). This gives him a nice long range poke when he has a clear shot. His W has a similarly high 80% scaling, but has a higher mana cost and cooldown with lower range. Still, the W lets you poke enemy's through the minion wave. As you can probably guess, early game involves a lot of poking. You use your ult for wave clear early on, hitting the enemy with it if you can.
At some point in mid game or so you get enough AP to start transitioning from poke mage to burst mage. If you find a squishy out of position, you E-W-Q them and they die. If it's too risky to get closer, you use Q and W to wear then down and finish them with your Ult.
Cross map snipes are wonderful.
Recap of ratios: Q: 40% to 90% depending on Lich Bane W: 80% E: 75% R: 90% if first target Max brust: 335% AP, plus base damages
Pros:
Con's:
JmanXD1 votesSeems legit, I can't find any videos of anyone doing it, but I already own ezreal, so I figure it's worth a shot.
Crett1 votesSeems legit, I can't find any videos of anyone doing it, but I already own ezreal, so I figure it's worth a shot.
if you get a nashor's too, it will have a 105% ap ratio, and with arcane blade (a mastery) it's 110% i got really into ap ezreal a while back because he just scales better with ap than ad and with nashor's his passive doesn't feel wasted
Crett1 votes
JmanXD1 votesI've been hearing a lot of viktor, might consider picking him up, but isn't he mostly dot, with his ult and death ray?
KrazyIvanUSA1 votesYorick is a burst. I love hitting all my skills, including Ult when that rogue jungler thinks he can best me. Melts them pretty quick.
JmanXD1 votesYea... I think I'll pass
Chaotic Reks1 votes snipes for days
Rico Nasty1 voteskarma all the way, dude.
she is viable in any role except adc (yes, i have taken karma to jungle before and believe it or not, i got a penta)
her ult+q does stupidly high amounts of damage.
great shield.
her only downside is her w because it's so easy to break.
but yeah. buy her, she is challenging but it really pays off to learn her.
Fevre1 votes
play lux she has everything, cc, dmg, poke, waveclear and a FUCKING LAZER BEAM.
Zeruda1 votesIt may sound wierd but I think Twisted Fate might be a good choice, really underrated and if you play him right you can burst down everything in your path
NukedDuke1 votes free everything