User blog comment:HeresyHorus/Syndra, a tale of a lost potential/@comment-13944607-20131029152808

OKAY, now lets get into one of my top 3 favorite champions:

It's true that her passive doesn't come into effect until level 9, but if you know how to play Syndra that is COMPLETELY OKAY. Syndra is one of the biggest mid game lane bullies in the game, few if any conventional mid lane champions can trade vs you if you play it properly, your kill potential is RIDICULOUSLY HIGH throughout the entire laning phase. Constantly landing WQ combos until they're low enough to kill with a WQE+Ignite can net you a kill extremely easily. Then to top it all off, you have your ult, which at the early stages of the game there is NO COUNTERPLAY for, whatsoever. Noone is going to have a Zhonya's at level 6.

The damage spike you get at level 9 with a maxed Q is insane, it was already chunking people for 20% of their health every time it landed, and now it does 15% MORE damage? Are you kidding me? I agree that the transcendent bonus on her W is a little lackluster, but it's definitely a noticeable improvement. You get 0.5 more seconds to line up your stun, and that could be the deciding point on whether a kill is secured or not. Her E's radius once it hits rank 5 is HUGE, it's less of a little cone in front of her and more like the entire area in the direction she's facing, it's an incredibly big buff to it. That increased radius is extremely powerful in teamfights for 1. Knocking back a lot of targets at once, or 2. Knocking back a lot of spheres at once, hitting a wider area with an AoE stun. Then the increased range on your ult, which just makes it that much safer to reach the carry and kill him with the click of a button.

As for lacking in damage, her ult's damage is INSANE. Get a DFG and you can one shot any of three members of their team (ADC, APC, Support) with a 4 sphere ult+DFG, and you don't even have to land the initial sphere for that to happen. Because it does such a stupid amount of damage, isn't a skillshot, and is unavoidable, if someone blinks away after the balls have already started flying, it doesn't matter, THEY ARE GOING TO HIT. The damage is nearly guaranteed. the counterplay comes into effect with the fact that it doesn't do its damage all at once, so champions such as Fizz or Shaco can avoid it if fast enough, or anyone with a Zhonyas. If this was any different, it would simply be overpowered.

And finally, the reason her passive is what it is: Her kit without her passive already does so much damage while also providing a large amount of utility (Way more than the average burst mage) that a passive on par with one like Brand's, she would be too strong. Her passive buffs her already strong kit, what more could you ask for? She's perfectly fine the way she is, if played properly.