Morgana vs Sylas Counter Pick

Sylas plays the support role as a 175-range melee mage, and the 450 units of reach on the other side is the central fact of the matchup. The recorded split across 258 games on patch 16.13.1 is 57.0% in Morgana’s favor.

Hijack is what makes the pairing look dangerous on paper, since it steals an enemy ultimate outright and Soul Shackles is a strong theft. The catch is that using it well means standing inside a crowd of enemies on 600 base health and 29 armor. Kingslayer heals him when it lunges at a champion, and Petricite Burst adds damage to his attacks after each cast, so recovery through a long fight is real — reaching that fight against an opponent who binds him at 450 units is the difficult part. Soul Siphon quietly refunds part of what he does land, because every point of damage Morgana deals to a champion returns health.

Black Shield covers most of what he brings: Chain Lash is magic damage with a slow, and the delayed explosion that follows is magic as well. Abscond / Abduct is his only way to close without walking, and spending it leaves nothing for the retreat. Sylas does scale into the heavier body, reaching 2,674 health and 117.4 armor at level 18, and he moves at 340 against 335. Rated 5 on difficulty against 1, he also has many more ways to misplay the fight he has to start.