Off-Meta Bot Lane: How To Master Sylas & Taric
Are you getting bored because there aren't many ADCs in the Bot Lane? Are you looking for a great combo to make climbing in Ranked easier? Don't worry, I'll tell you about a unique Bot Lane choice that works really well – it's not what most people use, but it's one of the best options you can try right now.
Some of you may remember the Garen / Yuumi or Sona / Taric bot lanes that performed well in professional play. In this article, I will show you a relatively new bot lane combo that allows you to easily climb in your SoloQ.
I am talking about Sylas in combination with Taric. This duo has a 61% win rate in across all ranks, which is pretty decent.
At first glance, this pair might not seem to complement each other, but I will tell you everything about the synergy between them, your item builds, and your power spikes.
Having practiced this lane extensively in Diamond - Master, I can provide you with solid insights.
Off-Meta Bot: Sylas & Taric: Synergies & How To Play
Sylas and Taric are initially quite different. While Sylas is a strong Early Game Champ, Taric prefers to fight in the later stages of the game.
But why do these two work so well together? To understand that, we need to consider each of their winning conditions. Sylas wins when he can land his full combo on an opponent. Taric wins when he stuns an opponent with his E. Taric's E usually has a high skill ceiling, as both bot laners need to work together for this spell.
Now, Sylas has a dash. That means he can apply Taric's E at a longer range and almost 100% last second. This, in turn, means that Sylas can hit his Q1 and Q2 as well as his E on the stunned target during this time. So, two birds are killed with one stone, and both champions can easily fulfill the win condition for the lane.
And trust me, guys, the one-shot potential is incredible.
You can already fight against weaker lanes at Level 1. For this, both Sylas and Taric need their E. As soon as Taric's E connects, you can follow up with Sylas and consistently out-trade your opponents.
Once you hit Level 2, you can execute your bread and butter combo. Taric gets his W, and Sylas gets his Q or W. Now, you can always hit Taric's E 100% of the time.
From Level 3 onwards, Sylas has all his abilities and an incredibly powerful all-in. From this level onwards, you can one-shot the enemies straight up.
Taric's ult is an incredible tool for tower diving and fighting in general. As for Sylas, you need to see what useful ultimates are available for you. But most of the time, support ultimate abilities are very good for you, such as Leona's or Alistar's. Some ADC ultimates, like Ashe's, are also very potent on Sylas.
At this stage, even jungle ganks are no problem. Most of the time, you can defeat all three.
You just need to make sure to snowball your early game lead, as you won't be able to one-shot the ADC as easily later in the game.
Off-Meta Bot: Sylas & Taric: Item Builds & Runes
Sylas
For Sylas, you definitely want to use Electrocute with Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, and Treasure Hunter. Also, go for Presence of Mind and Legend: Tenacity.
As your starting item, you want to choose Doran's Ring. Your item build should always include Hextech Rocketbelt into Rabadon's Deathcap.
Taric
You'll want to select Glacial Augment on Taric to reduce damage from the enemy bot lane. The green secondary tree is also suitable for better dealing with harass or all-ins.
On your first back, you should definitely pick up a Tear to manage your mana better. After that, get Evenshroud or Radiant Virtue to give your Sylas even more fighting power.
Off-Meta Bot: Sylas & Taric: Spikes & Counters
With Sylas and Taric, you are really strong in the laning phase. You want to make sure to get the best out of your setup, so work together with your jungler to secure objectives and dive the opponents.
You need to make sure to finish the game because ADCs will outscale you in the later stages of the game.
If you're considering bans, Morgana is a strong counter to you, so you should always ban her. Also, some champions like Draven or Kog'Maw can out-damage you if you can't one shot them, so be cautious. If these champions get a lead, it becomes extremely difficult to do anything during the laning phase.
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