Best Sylas counters in League of Legends: How to shackle the spell thief

Sylas is one of the more unique champions in League of Legends, as he can steal the ultimate of an enemy champion. Sylas is coming back into the meta in League of Legends, both as a jungler and a mid lane terror. If you’re looking for an AP champion who is on the tankier side, then perhaps Sylas is for you. But what if someone locks in Sylas on the enemy team? Well, you pick one of the best Sylas counters of course! Check them out below:

Best Sylas counters: Dealing with a copycat

Before we go over the five best champions to handle Sylas in the mid lane, you first have to understand what his kit is about and the methods you should use to make your experience versus Sylas that much easier. Sylas is an AP bruiser, and what bruisers do best is fighting. This is no different with Sylas, who has multiple abilities that can be used as a dash. On top of that, his W allows him to heal.

Positioning is key when playing against Sylas; you don’t want to be in range of his engages, as once he has you hit with his E, you’re likely dead. If Sylas ends up on the opposing team, it’s probably best not to have many champions that have devastating ultimates, such as a Lux, Rumble, or Ornn. Even if you have those champions on your team, Sylas’s ultimate scales, so it will hit twice as hard.

Now, let’s look at the five best Sylas counters in League of Legends.

Morgana

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Morgana is an amazing counter to Sylas, both in Mid and Jungle. Starting with the Jungle, her clear is much faster than his, so she can get out onto the map at a much quicker pace than Sylas. On top of that, she is an amazing counter-ganker due to her Black Shield, which negates incoming CC, meaning when Sylas goes in, he probably won’t come out unscathed. Even if Sylas steals Morgana’s ultimate, Morgana will be able to lock him up with her Q.

And in the Mid lane, she is equally annoying for Sylas players. Her W will be able to shove in the wave quicker in the early game, meaning Sylas won’t be able to impact the map as effectively due to having no priority over the early-game objectives. Also, she can use Black Shield to stop any incoming engages from Sylas.

• Read More: How to counter Jhin in League of Legends?

Vel’Koz

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Like Morgana, Vel’Koz obliterates Sylas in the Mid lane. Vel’Koz has a long-range poke that will make any Sylas player think twice before farming the wave. On top of that, he has a knock-up ability that will stop Sylas from continuing his combo. Although Sylas can heal with his W, he won’t have the opportunity to effectively use it as Vel’Koz can consistently chip away at his health with his long-range poke and passive.

This works the same in the teamfights too; whenever Sylas wants to engage with a teammate, Vel’Koz can keep him at arm’s length with either his knock-up or ultimate. If you want to deal with Sylas comfortably, then you’re going to need a lot of poke.

Qiyana

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If you’ve been catching the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, you would see that Qiyana has been played a few times in the Jungle by some of the best players in the world. It’s also worth knowing that she is a pretty big counter to Sylas.

At Worlds, Qiyana has been a menace in the early game; her ability to clear quickly and get across the map has been one of her biggest strengths. On top of that, she can deal a lot of damage fast, something that Sylas is not known for in the early game, especially in the Jungle. The best Qiyana’s have dominated this match-up by pressing their early game strength and forcing Sylas back without much retaliation. Additionally, her ultimate is a game-changer that can one-shot squishy targets, which is crucial during huge Atakhan fights.

Naafiri

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The key to countering Sylas in the Jungle in League of Legends is by bullying him early. This is when he is at his weakest. Sylas needs time to scale because he relies on quick bursts to get him out of a jam.

Hence why Naafiri is one of the best Sylas counters. Naafiri is excellent in the early game and can apply a lot of pressure around the first couple of Skuttle Crabs. This is where Sylas will be around level 3 or 4, which isn’t enough to deal with Naafiri at that stage of the game.

On top of that, Naafiri can easily dodge his E engage with her own abilities. So if you’re looking at the specific isolated Jungle one-versus-one, Naafiri has this in the bag. She has better early game pressure, more achievable damage, and can equally one-shot champions in teamfights.

Also Read: The best Annie counters in LoL: How to dominate mid lane

Cassiopeia

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If you’re looking for a champion in the Mid lane that can out-sustain Sylas, then Cassiopeia is the champion for you. Cassio has the range advantage over him with Twing Fangs, which will allow her to go for extended fights without much resistance from Sylas. Also, Miasma is one of the biggest counters to Sylas because it grounds him, preventing him from utilising his full combo.

And finally, her ultimate, Petrifying Gaze, stuns champions for a certain amount of time. Even if Sylas can turn around in time, he will still be slowed, and Cassiopeia will be able to mow him down.

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