Sylas was a game-changer for Riot Games and for the League of Legends ecosystem overall. After the release of Zoe, who steals summoners’ spells, Sylas became a popular champion for his ability to steal ultimates from enemies.
Since his release, pros and high-rank solo queue players have spent hours and hours mastering him. While his kit is not complicated, the tough is knowing when his power spikes exactly and at which points of the game he’s strongest, as it can change depending on what ultimates he can steal.
Sylas has been popping up a lot more often as a jungler in the latest preseason, and he’s currently one of the most-picked champions in the role. With most magic damage junglers underperforming, he stands out as a strong pick with great carry potential (Not only that, but he’s still played as a mid laner too, making him a valuable flex pick.). Here are the best jungle builds for Sylas in League.
Runes
Dark Harvest Sylas
Domination
Dark Harvest: Playing Sylas in the jungle is quite different from the version played in the mid-lane. While the latter relies on stacking the Conqueror to gain increasing adaptive force, Sylas as a jungler is more of a burst assassin mage. Therefore, Dark Harvest is a much better choice. It’s easier to proc since you always aim to punish low-health enemies during ganks or skirmishes. Not only that, but this keystone rune will almost guarantee you kill a squishy target with one rotation of spells. It’s simply the best rune for him.
Sudden Impact: With its two dashes on his E, activating Sudden Impact becomes a piece of cake. The extra armor and magic penetration are going to make your ganks even stronger, and this rune will stay relevant throughout thegame. Never go for the other two options since Taste of Blood is useless and Cheap Shot doesn’t offer the same damage output you get with Sudden Impact.
Eyeball collection: We mentioned how Sylas is a champion that wants kills or takedowns to start snowballing. Eyeball collection further accelerates that, rewarding him with even more ability power the more kills he gets. That said, Ghost Poro and Zombie Ward can be also great to have some extra vision on the map, especially against roaming supports.
Treasure Hunter: Sylas has a subpar jungle clear compared to other meta junglers, so the main way to farm gold is through kills. Just like the Eyeball collection rune, Treasure Hunter will ensure that he gets additional gold that can be turned into items—and stronger stats. Remember that getting all five stacks will net you a total of 550 gold, which is great for reaching the mid-game spike earlier.
Inspiration
Magical Footwear: We mentioned earlier that Sylas wants to reach his mid-game spike as soon as possible so Magical Footwear will allow you to bypass the purchase of the boots and give you an extra ten movement speed bonus. Since you will prioritize ganking over farming in the early game, often you will end up having various takedowns, thus reducing the time needed to get them. By the time you close your Mythic item, you will have the boots ready to pick up the tier-two version.
Cosmic Insight: Aside from Magical Footwear, this is the only other viable rune in the Inspiration tree. That said, Cosmic Insight is one of the best Sylas can get: it lowers the cooldown of his Summoners’ spells (remember that Smite still gets a 15-second cooldown but the rune decreases the time needed to get a charge) as well as the passive and active effects from his items.
Bonuses: +9 adaptive force, +9 adaptive force, +6 Armor (never go for magic resistance since you won’t be able to survive the first clear)
Items
Riot introduced a new jungle system in the latest preseason, adding companions that come with a distinctive effect each. Sylas has two strong starting items: Scorchclaw and Mosstomper. The first is the standard start, which can add more damage to his combos, while the latter makes Sylas more durable and less vulnerable to crowd control.
Sylas’s main weakness is his early game clearing: it’s much worse than other meta junglers’, and he’s one of the few champions that doesn’t finish his clear with lots of health. For this reason, we recommend getting the potion as well if you’re not able to consistently kite the camps. Once you master his jungle clear, you can try doing it without healing.
The extra 50 gold saved can be used later to rush the recipe items for the Mythic. Sylas’s damage scales a lot with ability power so getting lots of it is essential for him to be useful. This is the reason why getting Blasting Wand can be a stronger item in the early game compared to Hextech Alternator: it costs less gold, and it gives you more ability power. If you have more than 1200 gold, you can add a Dark Seal with the Blasting Wand to initiate a snowball.
While mid lane Sylas prefers having Everfrost, jungle Sylas works better with Night Harvester. The W and E combo, paired with the item’s passive extra damage, as well as the Dark Harvest stack, will guarantee a kill most of the time. If you’re snowballing hard, you will be shocked at the amount of damage you deal. Get Sorcerer’s Shoes to gain extra magic penetration and opt for Shadowflame as the second item.
After closing these three items, you have to decide which one to go for next: Rabadon’s Deathcap for additional ability power or go for a defensive item like Zhonya’s Hourglass to boost the resistances. Sylas doesn’t have an escape tool after he commits to the fight, so Zhonya’s Hourglass can buy enough time for him to get his spells up again. On the other hand, Rabadon’s Deathcap will give you a greater spike in terms of damage, so choose based on the game state. Generally speaking, building Zhonya is the safer choice, so build that first and get Rabadon as your fifth item.
To close out your build, take one between Void Staff and Banshee’s Veil. The latter is more effective if the enemies have a fed mage or multiple sources of magic damage, and it grants a shield that blocks an incoming ability. Whether that is a strong damage spell or a game-deciding crowd control, it will protect you from danger. Conversely, Void Staff is the offensive option, granting a 40 percent magic penetration that, paired with the flat amount from other items, will shred through any target with less than 100 magic resistance.
You can find an example of a full Sylas jungle build below:
