User blog comment:Jadenvalor/Zyra's viability in season 5/@comment-24606304-20150320031339

Random note before I start my comment: Changes to machete on the PBE make it so that you now regenerate heath as you DEAL damage as well, so this means Zyra jungle is possible again!!! I'd highly reccomend it (as soon as the patch ships, ofc)

Zyra. Zyra zyra zyra. We have a lot in common, my friend. Zyra was the first 6300 champ i bough (2nd overall) and wildfire zyra was the first skin i bought too. I've loved zyra forever and ever, but I kinda have to disagree on some things.

I used to play zyra mid every chance I got. If i got mid, it would be zyra. And im not entirely sure if it was the fact that I started to enjoy other champs or th fact that other champs just outclass her currently that I stopped playing her mid. Probably a bit of both, tbh. The problem with zyra is that she just does not have the damage for mid that is required of immobile mages right now. If you look at mages like syndra, or xerath, or others like them, you'll see one hard cc spell, and then just a bunch of damage (with a slow tossed in there). Zyra's problem is that her CC is so good that she can be a viable support, and her damage is really high, which helps. This means that she is a really strong support in lane, and in order to fix that, Riot had to bring down her damage a bit, which meant she became less of a mage and more of a support.

It's a bit like the DFG problem- assassins like fizz and ahri were very very strong with dfg, so riot nerfed them, which made them even more reliant on dfg. Its cyclical, and the only way to fix it (and make her a mage, that is) is to change zyra's kit- if they simply increase her damage, she'll be an even stronger support because of how strong her cc is.

TL;DR- Zyra mage=eh (unfortunately)

Now Zyra support. This will be shorter I promise. I love zyra support right now. Yes, she's not the best. Yes, she is outclassed by some ap supports (namely morg), but the reason I love zyra support so much is just her ability to carry games as a support. Rush FQC, sightstone, sorcs, and haunting guise, and your damage is so high its cray. I can't even count the number of soloq games I've carried from support with zyra- i love her. And i'm not sure why exactly she isnt seen much in the pro scene- probably something to do with how they want their team comps and strats to be or seomthing, but I think she is very strong right now, especially if you know how to build her optimized for damage.

TL;DR- Zyra mage=eh, Zyra supp= bomb.com