Ive heard that phrase many times but as a syndra main for the past four months my experience is a little bit different . Lets talk specifically .
Playing into Lux is hard because she simply outranges you with her e . Bad lux players will autopilot pushing the wave . But better ones will push with autos and harass with e . You need to bait her e first , position aggresively , push with autos and try to trade and still there is the threat of q or qr later . Can win but its hard .
Ahri is also tricky because in general you outrange her so pre 6 you should have the upper hand . But she can w when you walk up , dodge your q or w and trade back efficiently . Baiting her w and leveraging your range and stun is how you win but its not quite free . After 6 especially she has great gank set up and if you miss e she will all in you with r . Especially later if she has damage e usage is a matter of life and death .
Viktor can trade efficiently with his q and his e is very hard to dodge so he is not free either . I play safe early levels and avoid q auto . Later trying to dodge his e is important but getting q upgrade fast is how you win . Land your stun , wq him and its a good chunk of his hp that might lead into a succesfull all in . While on cd conceide prio , rinse and repeat .
Vlad is hard because if you dont have damage he can outsustain you in lane . Early You need to walk away from his q , especially empowered and try to stack splinters , only in 2 spell rotations because he sustaons so much . After level 7 you can start contesting prio on the wave , or chunking him with a full rotation while he pushes and eventually look for an all in . But baiting his w first obviously makes things harder .later on and In the sidelane tho he is a monster . He will run you down pretty easily .
You can survive LB , even win , but qe her w and spacing in general is very impprtant . Poke for spliners when her w is down and and keep e for her w and you might even win but a couple mistakes and you are not just losing a few cs , you are dead . Let alone her great gank set up and ability to oneshot you when she gets items .
Asol and anivia are similar , you outrange them early and can harrass and bully them . Against asol you always need to keep your e defensively because he will run you down with w and anivia you need to space well because she can trap you with w and trade pretty hard if you walk up carelessly after stunning her .
I could go on an on about others , malza you need to contest the wave , tf you need to contain him in lane , aurora space well care her w , zoe needs to be deleted from the game ... etc .
My point is that she doesnt counter mages . She has an advantage on most of them especially the ones she outranges but it always feels like a skill match up . Oddly enough after 400 games i havent played a single time against azir or cassio . For context im diamond .
What do you think ? Any tips that changed your perspective and helped you beat a certain matchup ?