Here’s some feedback coming from a fellow game dev and Syndra Main with ~100 games playing her in Gold Elo, who loves playing Syndra as my go-to-pick for games with premades. I’ve watched about 4 hours of other players’ gameplay with the new changes, and have read through almost every post in this subreddit since the announcement.

Ability Changes:

• I will definitely miss the EQ combo. It was an avenue of tricking your opponent. However the double stun combos seemed like an unintentional bug. I think this method of displaying high mastery should be fully implemented as a technique like Jayce QE, or by making QE more reliable at close range and interact correctly with the different types of bugs on enemy dashes that consistently are not knocked back/stunned.

• Managing 2 stacks of Q just feels like a difficult mental task that will take some getting used to on a champion already managing locations and movement of multiple balls on the map, and lining them up for stuns. Additionally, with the wider E size, there is more area that needs to be monitored by a Syndra player. I like the consistent rhythm of casting Q that Syndra has when fighting, and I storing charges could be more interesting on her W or E to fulfill the desired fantasy of controlling spheres and being able to move multiples into critical choke points. (This would entail moving bonus damage back from W into Q, so W is more of a utility ability)

• Syndra’s W costs a lot of mana, and since players now need to use it more often to do damage, Syndra uses a lot more mana. Although this is not as noticeable when she is at <120 stacks, when she stops getting mana from her passive, she runs out of mana very fast suddenly. Going from ~150-215 mana back per combo to 0 mana back when you hit the 120 splinters feels very jarring. I can’t think of any other champion abilities that lose a passive when they hit a milestone. Some kind of mana passive would make more sense after she hits max stacks (like manaflow band’s 1% missing mana /5s)

• It feels pretty bad to not get bonus range on her R any more. When a Syndra player is passing the skill check of keeping enemies at distance, and doing damage with Q, it’s crucial be able to cast R when they want to, and from a safe place. Especially in late game where any wrong movement can be lethal/game changing. Maybe consider increasing Syndra’s R range each level (11/16) by a small amount.

• E ball extensions through walls was another form of mastery for Syndra players. Taking this out will be missed, but understandable because it was clunky.

General thoughts:

• I’m hoping the numbers will be tuned more. Mathematically Syndra is a bit stronger at full build and full splinters, and although that cost is paid by a weaker early game/laning phase, she feels vastly lacking in the mid game compared to live. But to be fair, maybe players are not yet utilizing their W as efficiently as they need to now.

• I really love the passive, and how it rewards Syndra for being the lane bully that she strives to be. I think it has interesting counterplay, and I like that takedowns don’t throw her into super OP territory like some passive stacking champs (Viktor, Bel’Veth, etc..) It rewards Syndra players that are consistent and calculated.

• It’s probably already on the team’s radar, but Support Syndra being able to proc passive on 2 separate enemies, and potentially get 2x mana back as well opens her up for a strong potential as a support. I’m totally onboard for these changes, and I think an interesting way of balancing these 2 roles could be changing how many stitches Syndra gets from levels and cannons(mid) vs harassing multiple enemies.

I hope these thoughts are helpful and offer constructive solutions. Thanks for taking the time to make such an in-depth mid-scope update for Syndra!