Bot Lane/Support Sylas | Weird Pick #157 | Runes Items Build Guide

A Support who can steal your own ultimate right back at you, and he is climbing the support win rates while nobody is banning him for it.

Sylas has quietly climbed to a 1.64% pick rate as support in Ranked Solo/Duo on Patch 26.14, putting him on par with lower-pick supports like Taric and Galio. While this might just be an influx of autofilled mid laners, he actually works quite well as an all-in support or as a farmer alongside either an all-in support like Leona or a poke champion like Xerath.

So how does this work anyway?

Weird Pick #157

Bot Lane/Support Sylas

Patch 26.14

A Support who can steal your own ultimate right back at you, and he is climbing the support win rates while nobody is banning him for it.

Sylas has quietly climbed to a 1.64% pick rate as support in Ranked Solo/Duo on Patch 26.14, putting him on par with lower-pick supports like Taric and Galio. While this might just be an influx of autofilled mid laners, he actually works quite well as an all-in support or as a farmer alongside either an all-in support like Leona or a poke champion like Xerath.

So how does this work anyway?

How to Play Bot Lane/Support Sylas

Abilities

E, W, Q at levels 1-3, then max Q before W and E, taking R whenever it is available

Summoner Spells

Flash

Ignite

Starting Items (Support)

World Atlas

Health Potion

Health Potion

Starting Items (Farmer)

Doran's Ring

Health Potion

Health Potion

Strategy

Force all-in trades whenever Electrocute and your combo are up, using Hextech Rocketbelt's dash to close the gap and Zhonya's Hourglass to survive the follow-up before resetting for the next window

Core Items

Zaz'Zak's Realmspike

Hextech Rocketbelt

Sorcerer's Shoes

Zhonya's Hourglass

Shadowflame

Stormsurge

Rabadon's Deathcap

Bot Lane/Support Sylas Runes Setup

Primary: Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos, Relentless Hunter

Secondary: Transcendence, Scorch

Bot Lane Synergies

Draven

Draven wants a support who can force early all-ins to snowball his catch axes, and Sylas's burst and crowd control hand him exactly the kind of aggressive lane he needs to get ahead.

Kai'Sa

Kai'Sa's own dive potential pairs naturally with a support who can already delete backline threats alone. Once Sylas has stolen a strong enemy ultimate, the two of them can double dive a target that would normally be safe.

Samira

Samira needs a lane partner willing to chain crowd control into her combo, and Sylas's slow and knockup give her exactly the setup she needs to start racking up style points.

When to Pick This

Support Sylas is at his best against enemy bot lane duos that expect a normal engage or poke support and get an all-in burst mage instead, especially before level six when most supports have no real answer to an E into W into Q chunking half their health bar. He also wants a lane opponent who overextends for CS or trades carelessly, since Hextech Rocketbelt's dash closes distance faster than most supports can react to.

He is a much weaker pick into disengage-heavy lanes, like a Lulu or Janna who can peel every all-in before it lands, or into supports with hard engage of their own, like Leona or Nautilus, who can turn his own dive back around on him before Zhonya's Hourglass comes online.

How It Works

Powerful All-In Trades

As a high damage champion with low cooldowns and excellent crowd control, Sylas excels at killing enemy marksmen before they get strong enough to scale. By continuously pressuring what should be an easy lane for the enemy to win, Sylas throws their rhythm off before it ever gets going.

Insane Sustain

One of Sylas's trademark moves is Kingslayer [W], which heals for enough that even mid lane players who see it constantly still get caught off guard by it. Bot lane opponents who have not learned to respect the heal are even easier to punish, especially since it scales for more the lower Sylas's own health drops.

High Outplay and Dive Potential

Sylas's mobility and dive power make it easy for him to delete enemy marksmen even under turret. With how much enemy supports roam in the current meta, that same dive threat travels to any lane, not just his own.

Potential Pitfalls

Snowball Reliant

As a support, Sylas tends to be more snowball reliant since he can only effectively lock down one target at a time. If he cannot burst his initial target down and get out safely to wait on his cooldowns, he becomes a sitting duck. He needs to lean on being an off meta pick that catches enemies unaware.

Missing Marksman Damage When Farming

When Sylas plays the farmer role instead of support, your team is missing a real ranged marksman and can end up short on steady ranged DPS depending on what the mid laner picked. If the team already has that damage covered, like a Tristana mid or a Vayne top, this stops being a problem.

Bot Lane/Support Sylas Conclusions

Bot Lane/Support Sylas is a strong pick in the right hands with the right team composition. He is manageable early and can snowball into a real mid to late game threat, but a slow game with little action leaves him feeling lackluster, especially next to a lane partner who wants to play passive.

Suggested Tier: Tier 3 (check out the full tier list)

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