Syndra/Zoe and Vertical Arcanists is a composition that has a much higher ceiling on the 14.9 patch due to consistent buffs and increased understanding in builds. Your primary carry is Syndra, and your main tank is either Amumu or Illaoi. Secondary 3-star carries can elevate the composition further such as Zoe and Lux. This is a B+ tier composition that can feel surprisingly strong once the +1 Arcanist augment is secured. A word of caution: there are better AP lines to play if you do not find the emblem, namely the Fated Arcanist line or just AP legendaries.

Why Play Vertical Arcanists?

Vertical Arcanists have been buffed for 3 consecutive patches, and feels like a breeze to play when given the correct spots. On 14.9 alone:

14.9 buffed 6 Arcanist AP to 90(+5), and gave an additional 10 teamwide AP.
Syndra Ability +1 Starting butterfly.
Zoe damage buffs.
Rolling odds for 4-costs on 8 were reduced making 4-costs comps spike much less consistent, and allowing you to slow roll further by comparison.

When you find an Arcanist emblem or are simply given lots of Zoes, consider playing Vertical Arcanist. The composition is a slow-starting, front-to-back comp as both Syndra and Zoe have ramping mechanics: Syndra building her damage with each cast done, and Zoe through kills giving her additional ricochet bounces. Your most important 3-star is Amumu, or Illaoi, and for backline carries, you will hold on to Zoe to 3-star, and only look for Lux 3-star when copies are given or you find Horizon Focus.

The win condition of the composition is to hit 8 arcanists(only possible with emblem) with a 3-star frontliner, this is a setup that is almost locked in for positive LP. To go 1st however requires Sett on 9 and a good secondary carry in 3-star Zoe/early Lissandra. Sett allows much needed lifesteal for Syndra in the late game, can make use of attack items, and is therefore preferable over 4 Porcelain.

Macro

The key understanding of playing Arcanists is that it’s best played as level 8 slow-roll comp. This allows you to fit 8 Arcanists if you can find Lissandra, massively improving the ceiling of the composition, and stabilizing you to slow roll for Zoe. Slow-rolling on 8 can oftentimes give you free Syndra 2-star, as the unit is often not contested. You want to roll a bit on level 7 to get most units 2-star. This comp has many high quality 3-costs and can allow you to hang with other 4-cost centric comps that haven’t hit full upgrades. Once you hit level 8, it is necessary to stabilize off of Syndra 2-star and continue to roll for your 3-star 3-costs to complete the composition.

As with all compositions that are heavily reliant on hitting emblems, you should tailor your board on 3-2 and 4-2 before rerolling augments to increase your chances of hitting a +1 emblem. Do this by leaving only arcanist units on your board.

Itemization

In general, Deathcap is still going to be the best damage item for any carry, as you need 415 AP before the Jeweled Gauntlet overtakes it. However, in terms of item economy, Jeweled Gauntlet is a fine slam since you only lose about 6% damage on 6 Arcanist, but can much more easily make two AP focused items by splitting your rods. This is why Jeweled Gauntlet is shown on the boards, not because it's BIS, but because in practice it's acceptable.

With mana items, all backliners besides Syndra prefer Shojin for the +15 mana per auto-attack. Syndra recently has been discovered to work best with double mana generation items in either 2x Adaptive Helm or Adaptive Helm+Blue Buff. Best for 3rd item is Deathcap. If you do not have double mana generation, remember Nashor’s has anti-synergy with Adaptive Helm as it doesn’t benefit from increased attack speed, and only build it when you’re going for Blue Buff.

Shiv is the preferred shred item as many of your units such as Lux and Zoe can hit enemy backlines. As Spark itself is not a strong tank item, Shiv also makes more sense in the composition by preserving your shred even if the frontline goes down.

Emblems

The best emblems for this comp are Arcanist, Porcelain, and Fated, and in that order. If you already have +1 Arcanist, then +1 Porcelain is definitely the best case scenario, spiking Amumu/Lissandra/Lux. +1 Warden off the carousel is also pretty good as it gives you 8 Arcanist 4 Warden.

The best user for Arcanist is Amumu. Amumu has a 600% total AP ratio on his ability and is your best option for the main tank regardless of what version of Vertical Arcanist you’re playing. The emblem allows you to roll on 7 in some circumstances(not generally recommended, but can be done if you’re close to 3* main tank + Zoe).

Level 7 board with Arcanist Spat. Ahri+Syndra Fated Pairing.

Finished Arcanist board on 9. Syndra+Sett pairing.

If you find a Porcelain spat this allows you to play 4 Porcelain without Ashe (dead unit). The best spat user is Syndra, as she has the lowest mana to cast and can access the attack speed sooner. The build shifts towards Blue Buff and Deathcap, and does not synergize with Adaptive Helm. Lux 3-star is also much better in the set up, and I would consider holding her. Porcelain Sett is good if items are committed to Syndra already.

If you find a Fated spat, look to pivot towards 7 Fated with Syndra as your main carry. The key in pivoting towards this position is being willing to drop your Amumu as the main tank and instead going for Fated Ornn and potentially Thresh 3*Star. It’s hard to say goodbye sometimes, but the Fated line is much stronger going level 9, and using Thresh who innately has Fated bonuses as a tank. The best fated pairings are Ahri+Thresh and Sett+Thresh when you find him. If you’re wondering, yes, this is basically a different comp.

If you have no emblem but still find yourself deep in the line, then 4 Warden 6 Arcanist is the standard out. I wouldn’t worry too much about getting 3-stars, as this line simply will not cap as high and your goal should be to tempo the lobby and collect your top 4. Leveling to 9 and finding Sett would be a better goal to achieve this.

Positioning

It’s important to have Zoe focus an unitemized frontline, once she gets a kill her ability gains an additional ricochet that allows her to snipe off backline targets. Each kill she gets increases her base ability DPS by 24%.

Due to the lack of frontline units in this composition, be aware of compositions that can wrap around your sides by clustering extra units. Do not always place your three frontliners in the middle, offsetting them towards the side of your main carry can prevent by passes. You’ll often see Lissandra on the 3rd row with your carry side, as this means she will target units that try to wrap around your tank line.

Weakness

The main issue with the comp, as with all 3-cost centric comps, is that it's not always easy to get your 3-star 3-costs online. In the frontline, it's best to stay open to using Illaoi, even if Amumu is the better performer. Scouting the lobby for Ashe Invokers and Vertical Storyweavers and adjusting your carry choice or pivoting to other AP lines is necessary.

Despite the amount of buffs, Zoe remains an inconsistent carry, and because of Storyweaver + Fortune, can sometimes be incredibly hard to find copies. This is a large reason why the composition is still tied to emblems, as with the 8 Arcanist Zoe/Syndra 2-stars have a much better chance of dealing with opposing 4-cost frontliners.

In terms of matchups, Trickshot Kai’Sa comps tend to give you the hardest time, as their composition has front-loaded damage and can target your backline directly. When facing them to not have your Tank/Syndra forming a line with their Kai’Sa.

Augments

Arcanist Emblem: Auto-take. Free LP with this guide.

Jeweled Lotus: Any comp that deals mostly ability damage is a great user.

Ba-Boom: Best augment with Syndra.

Boiling Point: This augment does tie you down more into playing for 3-star Lux/3-star Amumu, I would recommend scouting the lobby to see if this is possible as Ashe Invokers is still the top composition in the meta. Remember to skip building wound if you do take this augment.

Long Distance Pals: Great pairing for both your carries.

Artifacts

As of patch 14.9, new artifacts tend to be a bit over-tuned for those that know what they’re doing. Each of these will give the Vertical Arcanist composition alternate win conditions so keep an eye out!

Blighted Jewel

If you have Blighted Jewel all you care about is stacking as many Syndra spheres as possible as you will enter infinite cast mode. Forgo mana generation items on her and build raw AP/damage. Each of Syndra’s butterflies will reduce MR, and then generate mana when her target hits 0 MR. Building Shred is a must, and having Spark and Shiv is fine.

Horizon Focus

This item is very good on Lux, as she can apply stun on the first two targets hit, dealing 30% max HP magic damage to each. If you do find this, cast frequency is the only thing that really matters and her BIS shifts towards Guinsoo’s and Shojins. This can actually be played towards as a win condition in itself, and getting 4 Porcelain with Lux 3-stars is encouraged if you find the artifact. Horizon Focus is also bugged with Lissandra to give multiple cash-outs per kill, but expect this to be fixed soon.

Luden’s Tempest

This item has great snowballing potential on Zoe 3-star. The first part of her ability is a single target nuke that can easily overkill, and then each additional kill Luden’s Tempest gives to Zoe allows her ability to ricochet, creating a vicious cycle for the opponent. Word of caution: Luden’s Tempest is very bad on Syndra, as her damage is done in small doses with each butterfly.

Summary

While not truly a main line in the current meta, mastering Vertical Arcanists will allow you to pick up easy top-2s when the spot arises, and consistent top 4s when the line is uncontested through Syndra.

Vertical Arcanists: Syndra/Zoe Carry by Clement Chu