Talk:Syndra/@comment-7940208-20131022021843/@comment-15244341-20131030102743

Syndra's bestest friend evar is DFG. DFG and a well set ultimate (three or four spheres) means huge amounts of damage or instagibbing squishies, which is the same logic applied to Veigar's Ultimate. First item should be mana regen, since Q is highly spammable and deals quite decent damage in an AoE from long range. This makes her sort of a bully in lane, abusing your range and cooldowns while farming is the standard procedure. For mana regen, Athene's or Tear. It honestly is up to you, since each has their pros. Generally, AUG is great for the CDR and MR and gives higher mana regen than tear. Tear is good for the upgrade, which gives quite a bit more damage and a shield which makes you hardier late game, but the obvious drawback is that it is just a mana item until midgame, however, you will get DFG earlier since the tear costs just 700G and should not be upgraded until it has most of the charges. My personal preference is Athene's too, so it is perfectly fine.

Deathcap, Sorceror's, and Zhonya's are must picks, yeah. They give you the damage your ultimate needs.

About MPen: Void is better than Liandry's Torment for just magic pen when the enemy has 100 MR. However, Liandry's is bought for the burn in your poke. Most of the time, however, I'd say Syndra is mostly a burst mage, so AP should be a priority and % Magic Pen something you buy in reaction to the enemy getting something like Negatron in mid game/early game. I don't like Liandry's Torment on her that much, but Haunting Guise is fine as an early pick, since it gives great stats you can use for the price. Late game, if you haven't already, pick a Void. The AP is decent and the MPen will be great.

RoA is iffy. While I do see the point (not being dead if jumped and cost efficient) it is expensive and needs time to get stacked. Syndra is quite long ranged and needs to spam spells from the outskirts of a fight, so she needs damage, CDR and mana regen. RoA is more for champions such as Swain, Annie or Ryze, whose kit forces them to be in the thick of the fight. Syndra is, in my oppinion, better off with other items.

As for teamfights, know your damage potential and hope someone in your team knows how to peel for you, since Syndra is really weak to dunkers and assassins in general. Ask them to do it if they are not working on it already. You should spam Q trying to hit people without getting yourself in range of anything deadly, and when possible target someone you KNOW (100% sure) you can burst with ultimate+DFG and kill them. Ideally, don't try to kill the tank and aim for damage dealers, but don't go for the kill on the backline if that will get you killed. Also, you can actually set really good teamfights with the stun. Try to always hit at least two enemies with it when your guys are around and you'll see much success. And know positioning. This is basically every answer to "how to teamfight" ever, but it is that important. Knowing your and your teammates range while taking enemies range into account and the places they will be during a teamfight is pretty damn hard and basically requires playing a ton of games with as much champions you can. So keep trying. Syndra is quite difficult (I'm pretty mediocre with her, honestly, I just enjoy her playstyle).

BTW: My build normally goes Athene's->DFG->Rabadon's->Zhonya's->Void Staff with Sorcerer's Shoes picked up depending on how the match is going (if the other mid laner goes Merc treads, sorcs are good for countering the MR, for example, while getting me a speed boost). Do note that while DFG should be built as early as possible, against AD casters or assassins you might be better off getting a Zhonya's Hourglass or, at least, picking an early Seeker's Armguard. Though I wouldn't pick her at all against assassins, she has too hard of a time with them.