Why LeBlanc?

As you all know, LeBlanc is a champion who isn't picked very often anymore. A shame in my opinion, since she's absolutely awesome. Her combination of high burst damage and excellent escape abilities makes her an incredibly strong mid champion.
Most people find LeBlanc too squishy and useless late game. My build is to prove that it isn't entirely true.
Here's my build and explanation. First build ever made, I hope you enjoy and sorry for any flaws!

Every champion has his pros and cons. No difference in LeBlanc.

SPACESPACE

Pros + Extremely high burst damage + Doesn't need high AP items + Excellent escape ability + Fun to annoy enemies with Distortion + Not often picked + Good sustain in lane

SPACESPACE

Cons - Despite the sustain, still very squishy - Good CC like stuns will prevent her from using Distortion - Hard to farm - Bursts sometimes hard to hit - Takes a good amount of practice to master her

The runes are very self explaining.

Marks

I've chosen for 9 times Magic Penetration here. Flat AP is wonderful and all, but it has no use if the enemy champion(s) build magic resist against you! That's where the magic penetration runes come in handy. Of course, You'll be laning most of the time vs the mid champion who will not really build any magic resist items unless you're very fed, but for later on in the game it's very useful since LeBlanc is considered useless late game.

Seals

For the seals I put in Mana Regen. As an AP burst champion, you need mana for your abilities. Without your mana, you can't deal any real damage. The combination of Mana Regen seals and rushing for Rod of Ages early game makes this very sustainable. If you have patience and don't harass every 10 seconds, you will have enough mana regen to stay on your lane.

Glyphs

Glyphs I've put on flat AP. Flat AP runes are very useful early and mid game. And since you have the famous but also incredibly strong Sigil of Silence + Distortion combo, flat AP runes will give you extra power in this move.

Quintessences

Quintessences. The most powerful runes, but only 3 slots available. For these slots I choose AP as well. Since I have a lot of Magic Penetration from my mark runes already I don't need extra, and I have Mana Regen from my seals. This leaves extra room for some extra AP.

This is the skill sequence I like to use for LeBlanc. A lot of people prefer to max out Distortion first, since that is the actual damage dealing ability. I prefer maxing out Sigil of Silence for the higher damage output of the mark.


Let's take a look at the skills individually.


Sigil of SilenceSigil of Silence
You will use this ability first to start your burst, or maybe use it to farm. This isn't your main damage ability!


Distortion
In my opinion one of the best and most fun abilities of the entire game. Distortion is not only your escape ability, but also your main damage dealing ability. You are able to jump over walls and do some beautiful jukes to dodge anything ranging from a Javelin Toss to a Rocket Grab.


Ethereal Chains
Ethereal Chains is your CC ability. You mostly use this ability if you engage for a gank, or to stop enemies from chasing you when your Distortion is on cooldown. Make sure you don't wander off too far because Ethereal Chains needs to channel for 1.5 seconds.


Mimic
Not your Sigil of Silence, nor Distortion and not Ethereal Chains are your highest damage dealing abilities. Mimic is. Mimic deals roughly 150% extra damage than the original ability you casted. Mimic will copy the previous ability used, and when used it will do the same ability but with another damage ratio.


[Mirror Image
Mirror Image works a little bit like Omen of Death, Hallucinate and Children of the Grave. You can control your image by holding left Alt and clicking on the map. When Mirror Image is triggered, the mirror image will walk a separate way automatically.

This is my complete build with how I play LeBlanc, time to explain it.

Rod of Ages
This is my key item to success. I can't talk about it enough. Health, Mana and AP! That's like a gift from God! Rod of Ages is the most important item in my build, way more important than the very famous Rabadon's Deathcap. Everybody knows LeBlanc is very squishy. She can be taken out quite easily if you place some good CC on her to prevent her doing Distortion. Health and Mana will make her more sustainable in teamfights as well as laning. The AP is, pretty obvious, useful for her abilities.
By rushing Catalyst the Protector, you can gain the upperhand for getting the passive which replenishes 150 HP and 200 mana upon leveling. This way you are very sustainable in the lane.
After Catalyst the Protector, go straight to building Rod of Ages. Skip the 'What about the Sorcerer's Shoes?'. You have your Distortion to escape, Rod of Ages is priority.


Sorcerer's Shoes
Sorcerer's Shoes. Standard AP carry item. Some people go for Ionian Boots of Lucidity, very understandable. You want to get max cooldown reduction, so you can spam your abilities. But wait, I have cooldown reduction items already! That's why Deathfire Grasp and Morellonomicon are in this build as well. But not only for the cooldown of course, but we'll talk about that in a second.
Sorcerer's Shoes are useful for the extra Magic Penetration, and the movement speed of course. You can add Enchantment: Alacrity to them, but I don't really find that necessary because you have the best escape ability, Distortion. The Magic Penetration will help you dealing just that extra little bit of damage you need to kill that tanky, for example, Jax or Riven, who, if fed, are incredibly hard to duel 1v1.


Morellonomicon
The hard-to-pronounce-item. I'm more to Morello's Evil Tomb, but alright. Morellonomicon is a much used item on Lux and Nidalee for the AP, Cooldown and Mana Regen it provides. No different explanation for LeBlanc. Mana Regen to prevent recalling in the middle of the teamfight because you are out of mana, AP for the necessary damage and Cooldown for spamming the lovely abilities.


Deathfire Grasp
Deathfire Grasp is a good item with high amounts of AP and cooldown reduction. Very commonly used on champs like Veigar. But what makes it even more attractive is the unique active.

Deals 15% of target's maximum health in magic damage and increases all subsequent magic damage taken by the target by 20% for 4 seconds.

The active will make your burst complete, or sometimes could take out enemies who manage to get away with the least amount of HP.

Zhonya's Hourglass
This item must be one of the biggest troll items/life saver items in the game. Of course I'm not talking about the +120 AP and +50 armor it gives (which is very nice by the way). I'm talking about the active, named Statis. I think you all know what Statis is, but for those I'll explain what it does.

Champion becomes invulnerable and untargetable for 2.5 seconds, but is unable to move, attack, cast spells or use items during this time.

This mean you can escape any Requiem, Trueshot Barrage, Enchanted Crystal Arrow,, Javelin Toss, Ignite or any other ability/spell/auto attack/item that threatens to kill you.


Rabadon's Deathcap
Very powerful item, and used on almost any AP carry. Rabadon's Deathcap gives you a magnificent +120 AP, and the passive increases all your AP by 30%. This, for example, gives Nidalee the power to kill people easily with her Javelin Toss.
As I mentioned before, LeBlanc doesn't need high AP items to deal a lot of damage. But since this will be the last item to build, why the heck not? Extra AP means extra damage. This damage can mean the difference between an Ace for your team or the enemy team!

Very clear, and very simple:


Ignite
Ignite is your combo finisher. You use this to secure kills when they are low. Ignite is a must on AP carries, LeBlanc as well. In order to complete your burst you need to throw in Ignite to make sure you secure the kill.
A short video to show how I secure a kill with ignite.




Flash
Why Flash I hear you ask. You already have Distortion and Mimic to get away! Very well seen, but Flash could come in handy when those abilities are on cooldown. With 30% cooldown the time on Distortion will be roughly 7 seconds, but those 7 seconds could be crucial. You could just have used your burst (including Distortion of course!) on an enemy, but he turns on you and threatens to kill you. Flash will be the best way to escape, always remember that. If you do feel quite confident about your playstyle, you can leave out Flash and consider getting Heal for extra survival.
Here a video to show that Flash could be very useful, even on a LeBlanc.




Optional Summoner Spells?



Clarity
Meh, maybe to have more sustain in your lane. You won't be running out on mana that quickly since you have the passive of Catalyst the Protector and Morellonomicon later on. You also have the mana regen masteries and seals, so I'd say no.


Ghost
You could consider to take Ghost. Since you already have Distortion to get away, this could be a nice alternative. Be aware though, Ghost doesn't make you CC proof, so you could still be stunned, snared, binded, rooted etc. while running away!


Heal
Could do. You will often be targeted as LeBlanc since you are pretty squishy and the AP carry. Heal could be a nice add-on to Zhonya's Hourglass as well, to pop Heal first and then the passive, eventually using Distortion to get away.


Smite
Since this isn't a jungling build, I don't recommend using it. Enough said.


Cleanse
You might have Distortion to get away, but you are still very vulnerable to CC. One Depth Charge could mess up your beautiful burst plan to get that fed Ezreal. Cleanse might be good to prevent that from happening, still being able to burst that foe or getting away.


Teleport
I don't see why you should pick it, and I don't see why you shouldn't.
Why do get it? You can Teleport on wards for a nice kill or even a gank on the team. You can also Teleport to a turret which threatens to be destroyed and save it by scaring off the enemies with your notorious bursts.
Why not getting it? Because you can't really do a backdoor push as an AP carry or Teleport to top lane to get some good farm, since you aren't a good farmer. It also takes up the slot for a (in my opinion) better summoner spell like Flash or Ignite.


Barrier
Barrier is often used lately by especially AD carries to prevent getting killed that easily. In comparison to Heal, Barrier also works quite offensive to dive a turret. Barrier could be used on LeBlanc, but I advice something more aggressive since Barrier is quite passive compared to Ignite, and you don't need the defence because you have your Distortion.


Revive
Lol nope.


Exhaust
As I mentioned before, as the AP carry you need aggressive summoner spells. Exhaust isn't aggressive. Exhaust will slow down the champ and reduce its damage, but it will not do to finish a kill with Ignite. You also have your Ethereal Chains to get CC on them.


Clairvoyance
Since you don't really need visual on anything other than what you're focusing, I wouldn't get this. If you're Nidalee, maybe to throw Javelin Toss into the distance. But you aren't support, so don't get it.

LeBlanc's most common used, also most powerful burst combo is:

sigil of silence

Now why not Mimic Distortion, because Distortion is the most powerful ability!
Good question. But as you may know, sigil of silence applies a mark on the target. If you Mimic sigil of silence, the Mimic will also place a mark on the target. This mark is a Mimic, so it will deal more damage when another ability is used on the same target.

So basicly it goes like this:

sigil of silence You throw your sigil of silence, which deals damage and leaves a mark.
You throw your Mimic, which will deal damage + bonus damage because of the mark of sigil of silence, + it places a new mark on the target.
You jump on the target with Distortion, dealing damage + bonus damage because of the mark of Mimic, and it deals more damage because the Mimic increases the damage ratio.
To finish off you can throw your Ethereal Chains on the target to prevent it from running away, probably dealing the final blow and killing the target.
If you don't manage to finish off the target with Ethereal Chains, throw Ignite on it to secure the kill.

In this video you see a bit of footage on me killing a fed Vladimir with the tactic I described.



This is the most commonly used burst of LeBlanc. There are many combinations, but this one is the most secure of them all. You can sigil of silence Mimic, but that won't give you a kill unless the target is already on low HP.


An easy way to catch up with enemies who are running away quickly, is using this method:



Distortion to get closer, and then throw your Ethereal Chains on them to root them.

Over the past few weeks playing LeBlanc intensively, I've developed my own playstyle.
Of course, everybody can juke and burst with LeBlanc. But some prefer to do it a little different than others.
Personally, I think LeBlanc is one of the biggest troll champions of the game. You can very easily juke attacks and trick people.
A famous fellow Dutchman named SivHD has posted a video on youtube where he jukes and tricks with LeBlanc. For the people who don't know what 'Juking' means, it basicly means dodging attacks. For example, if Blitzcrank uses his Rocket Grab on me and I dodge it by walking to the left or right, that's called a juke.





As you can see in the video, SivHD uses the brushes to jump around with Distortion and Mimic to trick his foes. LeBlanc is extremely agile in the jungle with these kinds of escapes and can jump walls very easily.

LeBlanc is the champion I've ever had the most fun with. I've played quite some games and I'm in LoL for 2-3 years now. But I'm pretty positive LeBlanc is my all-time favorite. The burst damage she provides and the escape abilities make her my ideal champion.
People often say that LeBlanc is useless late game. I've been playing her for a month now and I can tell you, I've never been useless late game. In fact, I've been very helpful with my Ethereal Chains and my burst power.

Here is a screenshot of my score the last few days with LeBlanc. Don't mind that random Blitzcrank win.



Is LeBlanc squishy?
Yes she is, no point in denying it. But aren't almost all the AP carries squishy? Fiddlesticks, Lux, Ahri, Kassadin, Veigar, you name then. All squishy champions. It depends on how you build them. That's why I have Rod of Ages as my core item.

Is LeBlanc hard to play?
Depends on how well you master the game. If you are familiar with skillshots, her Ethereal Chains wouldn't be much of a problem. The thing I found the most difficult was doing the follow-up bursts. To do a successful burst (as we have discussed), you need to Throw your sigil of silence, Mimic, Distortion, Ethereal Chains and Ignite within a matter of seconds. This can be quite hard if your enemy can already see you coming. But practice takes time. Some people only need 1 round to fully understand the champion, others need a couple of 'em.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed my build. I hope it will be much use to you. I've tried to upload a couple more videos, but LOLreplay and Fraps don't work that well together. Let me know if you want more videos, and I'll do my best to put them in.