So I love playing Zyra, and am very good at her in support role. I took her mid today and absolutely wrecked a Zed, but of course he wasn't a very good one, I've played against better. So I'm asking Zyra mains, what match ups do you like to take her mid against? I know she's exceptionally squishy so going against mobile champions is not good, but if I know which ones you like to do then I can make a better decision on whether to take her or someone else. Thanks for your help :)
As a lower tier but frequent Zyra player, I might be able to help you.
Just being cautious will go a long way. As Lulu already said, Zyra's an excellent teamfighter, so if you're not winning lane, there's no rush. Her AOE damage and CC are just incredible.
Try using seeds sparingly until you go all in. I only use one seed when I'm just poking, and save the 2nd and recharges. If you have a second plant attacking the same target, the second plant's damage is reduced, so keep that in mind.
Your seeds give vision. Use them. They may not be wards, but they'll help. And if someone stamps them out you still have vision of them for a bit.
Don't underestimate your damage, especially as time goes on! If you're fighting another squishy, you can take them out! Pretty damn quickly if you chain the combo right, to. Even some squishier melees can melt against your AOE and plant damage later in the game.
Lastly, use your plants to max affect when pushing. If you're going B, throw out 2 plants at the minon wave and let them clear it for you while you return to base. You can also snag some jungle camps pretty quick, if your jungler is fine with it, of course.
That's all at the top of my head. But Zyra's really underrated IMO. She's worth to learn.
I think Lulu already covered ideal match ups pretty well. Shorter range, less bursty mages. Orianna, Cassiopeia, etc. are a few other good ones.
Good luck!
has been my main champ for quite a long while. She's my main mid along with others such as LIss, Syn, & Azir. But I play Zyra much much more. To have really successful games with her there are certain champs you should play passively against during the landing phase. Some opponents/champions are easier to harass in lane than others.
In terms of champions that dash around, Yasuo actually gets wrecked by a good Zyra. I pretty much get fed every time i face a Yas mid lane. Zyra's plants are likely to not be blocked by wind wall and her root and slow make it easier to land her Q and gives her time to land both her and her plant's autos. When Yas closes in all she has to do is counter engage and unload her burst. She can also poke him with q's and a single plant until he's low enough to catch him with a root to finish him.
Keep in mind that throughout the game a lot of Zyra's damage comes from her plants too and not just her spells. Knowing this will help you get a lot more damage out of her kit.
She's squishy and has 0 escapes so do not overextend in lane during early, mid, or late game unless you're sure you're going to get a kill. When playing as Zyra also be aware that she's squishy and pretty darn slow! She needs a movement speed buff!
You're most likely to have more impact late game either following up or counter engaging. Her root is not easy to land so unless you're really confident with engaging a team fight then she NEEDS to stay on the back lines and harass and unload from an effective position. Always have zhonyas ready to use too! The active really comes in handy once you've used your whole combo on an enemy team.
I played around with Zyra mid in pre season and made her my main once S5 started. I also got a pentakill with her a few months back.
She has such great poke early and VERY high burst mid-late. With the right positioning and spell combos, she can 100-0 any squishy inside her ultimate.
Main build I use for her is to maximize her burst potential for teamfights. Her aoe, cc, and burst/dot damage make her teamfights top-tier.
or 
are your best purchases for boots.
is the first item I rush. It helps her burst potential significantly for mid game.
is the second item I grab. Sometimes if you need a little more mana, this item can be finished before Luden's (make sure to grab a 
first though). If you need more MR, pick up Athene's instead of this.
is the 3rd item. I know most people would go for a deathcap, but I have found in the tank meta especially that Void is better to get earlier than later.
obvious great pick on Zyra
or 
are great options for defensive items. Any of these can be built early depending on when you need them. If you are against a 
or 
, I suggest swapping Morello's for Athene's in the build.
I play her against most champions. I find that it's pretty easy for her not to feed her lane if she plays safe. If you overextend, she is VERY easily ganked by mobile and CC junglers which are very common currently. She is more often countered by jungle and top picks than her midlane opponents.
Champions that make her lane a living hell:
If you play it safe though, you shouldn't have much trouble. Any jungler that thinks they can dive you with your ult up will most likely end up giving you a double-kill. These tanks aren't hefty enough early so you can still easily burst them down.
I love to play Zyra myself as well. She is kind of tricky in the mid lane as she has rather poor AP scaling (compared to say Annie) and is very immobile. Also, she is unlike Lux or Xerath and doesn't have the longest ranges. Burst assassins like Fizz, Katarina, and Akali have no problem 100-0ing you in the mid-lane. Mages with long ranges can wreck you too. However, Zyra is probably one of the best teamfighters in the game. She will get destroyed by lane bullies, but Zyra brings WAY more to a teamfight than a Syndra or Fizz can. Play passive during the laning phase against lane bullies and keep your farm up so you don't fall too behind.
Picking Zyra against other mages without long ranges is where you will do best. Zyra is a good choice against Morderkaiser, Ryze, Swain, Ahri, Annie, and Karma (others too which I don't remember).
I mean, there are a lot of champions she does too well against. I havent played an Azir, but I really feel like he would be an issue. Mordekaiser, LeBlanc, Zed, Ahri are all pretty easy lanes. I just WQ poke. If I have ult and ignite up and I hit a QW with 2 seeds charged, I will go in 99% of the time. WQ -> ER -> another WQ and maybe igite if needed but usually by then they're super dead. Lol
I was thinking about playing zyra mid, or practicing her at least. Any tips would be great. matchup advises are also helpful, thanks :)
