Sylas has always been a frustrating champion in the solo lane due to his ability to deal continuous damage and his highly disruptive ultimate. Moreover, this champion is also incredibly strong against Mages and Fighters in the meta, as they possess skills that either lack burst damage or provide good crowd control.
However, unlike the usual playstyles like Conqueror or Electrocute, Faker has recently been using a very unusual rune, Fleet Footwork. In fact, Faker’s item build is also quite different from the norm, as he frequently skips Hextech Rocketbelt, opting instead for Hextech Pistol.
One thing that few League of Legends players know about the Fleet Footwork rune is that the healing amount interacts with AP, and moreover, melee champions like Sylas will receive the full effect from this rune instead of just 20% compared to ranged champions. With this healing, Faker can save on buying a Corrupting Potion and build AP items to increase damage in direct confrontations.
However, sacrificing damage from the rune will lead Faker to use Hextech Pistol to compensate for the damage. Remember that this item is equivalent in value to Luden’s Tempest, not to mention the annoying wide area slow ability of this item, enhancing Faker’s effectiveness when diving in.
By placing emphasis on lane holding, farming, and mid-game team fights, Faker’s skill leveling is also completely different from the usual playstyle. Instead of maxing W – Kingslayer, Faker goes back to the initial style of maxing Q – Chain Lash to enhance his wave-clearing and lane control. The second skill to max should be W – Kingslayer, followed by E – Abduct/Grasp.
Basically, the playstyle of Sylas Fleet Footwork makes the champion’s lane holding ability extremely strong, even when facing champions that poke or deal heavy damage, you still won’t suffer too much. As long as you get through the rough early laning phase, Sylas can shine in team fights with strong burst damage and the dangerous ultimates of the opponents.