Effect of Syndra's ultimate on Nocturne/Sivir's spellshield?

Question

Considering that Syndra has 4-5 spheres in the field then she casts ult on Sivir.

Unleashed Power has a brief cast time before it activates, but Syndra does not have to remain in place while the spheres apply their damage.

To quote another from http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Syndra#Unleashed_Power

Spell shields will only block the damage of a single sphere.

I want to know the difference if Sivir managed to cast the spellshield before Syndra casts her ultimate and after.

• Before: Will the damage of the entire ultimate get blocked? Or just the first sphere?

• After: Will it still block a single sphere when it was already casted (since Zed/Zilean's time-delayed damage procs even after the spellshield was casted)?

Answer 1

For spellshields a Syndra ultimate is basically just a bunch of spells fired in rapid succession. This means that a single orb will be blocked while the other ones just pass through.

As an example: You are Sivir and you use the shield before Syndra uses her ult on you. 4 of the 5 orbs will pass while the first orb gets blocked.

If you use your shield after Syndra has already started casting her ultimate, 2 of the orbs will damage you, one is blocked and the other 2 will damage you again. So basically there is always only One blocked orb.

The same rules apply for banshees and Nocture spellshield.

To prevent burst it's still better to use the shield on one of her other abilities (or best: her stun) since these deal more damage than a single blocked ultimate orb.