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Lissandra Build Guide by

Do the Iceborn dream of frozen sheep?-AP Mid Lissandra guide

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Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Safe, sustained start.

Vs Weak mid laners/ Vs AD laners

If ahead/Problems vs bursty mage

Hard time vs AD?

Ideal mid game

Example late game

Replace guardian angel with;

Don't forget these!

Enchantments;

Ability Order

Lissandra Passive Ability

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This guide will be archived 3 days after the preseason starts and will be up when fully updated. IT IS NOT UP TO DATE WITH SEASON 4
I'm XeresAce, a Silver III player on the Europe west server. This is my way of playing

Table of Contents
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1.Introduction to Lissandra
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2.Strengths & Weaknesses
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3.Runes
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4.Masteries
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5.Items
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6.Spells & abilities
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7.Gameplay
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8.Summary

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is a tanky initiate mage who offers incredible lockdown potential.
Lissandra has moderate damage, both sustained () and burst damage. That being said, she is a utility mage. Do not expect to burst people down instantly. If you wish to play an AoE mage that dives in to the backline of the enemy team and causes immense disruption then you should play . When playing patience and understanding is key.

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Affinity

Is a mage who excels at team fights. She has a terrifying presence at all stages of the game, most notably mid game. When given even a small advantage can start snowballing her team towards victory. allows for initiations and escapes, giving much more freedom In lane and immense freedom of movement in teamfights. She has a kit that can capitalize on enemy mistakes to the point where she applies constant, psychological pressure.

Misconceptions

When behind, has diminished presence. While still effective in teamfights, much of her psychological pressure disappears. Slippery burst mages that can disengage at will after uses , or long ranged mages can give a very hard time. has horribly long early game cool downs and is forced to commit everything she has in early game engagements. Her kit isn't forgiving enough to warrant improper use.

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These marks provide you with increased early game trading potential, stacking nicely with & / to help scale you in to late game. Magic penetration marks are the best when it comes to AP mid laners. Hybrid penetration is an option if you rely on using auto attacks to harass, but you already have a low cooldown Q that should be the primary source of your damage when you poke. The extra damage from auto attacks definitely isn't something to laugh at though. It's especially useful if you're facing a melee mid laner. (the armor pen loses its effectiveness later on in the game but you don't really lose that much magic pen, so this is either personal preference or something to consider when you have two or more rune pages dedicated to ap mids)

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These seals might not make much sense for a mage, but think about it this way: You're going to eat a lot of auto attack harass if the enemy mage has equal / superior autoattack range. This lowers the damage you take when doing wraiths & also lowers the damage from the enemy jungler. Obviously these seals are a no brainier vs ad mid laners. In other words they increase your trading potential while letting you remain durable during skirmishes and team fights. The alternatives would be scaling health seals, which can be decent vs non AD mid laners. The advantage of the armor seals is that they're good in every scenario. If you use scaling health seals you'll probably need two rune pages as armor seals are nessecary if your enemy picks an AD mid laner.

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Increase your trading potential in lane since you'll usually be laning vs other mages. Magic resist is fairly hard to itemize for so they'll help soak some damage from ability power based champions. They stack nicely with , however when you choose not to get having some extra mr helps out a lot. These are the best out of the glyphs, well for a mage anyway. Extra MR helps with trading so much that the alternatives just get blown out of the water. You may use ap glyphs to increase your trading potential early game, but they fall short when compared to M.res glyphs.

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Increased ability power equals increased trading potential in lane. The extra ability power gets further increased to 20 by and .
I wouldn't get any other runes except maybe move speed quints. Up to preference, really. If you know your team and your matchup well and you think you'll be roaming a LOT feel free to take two of these.

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Generally, for you'd want to go 21/0/9. The defense tree doesn't provide much for as she doesn't need as much early game durability. Going deep in the utility tree grants supportive stats that doesn't really make the best use of.
gives you 5 ap while ignite is on cooldown. Fairly decent mastery that helps you make up for the lack of presence while ignite is on cooldown.
gives you cd reduction which is amazing on . and are aimed at increasing your damage and scaling you in to late game. is a filler mastery and can be exchanged for to help with last hitting/auto attack poke. , & are all aimed at increasing your damage while is a small damage boost and mostly a filler mastery.

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is a nice little mastery that knocks off 15 seconds off our flash cd. Since flash is such a valuable spell this is definitely worth it.
helps out with coming back to lane or roaming. is basically a second for free. reduces the CD of flash and ignite by 4% which is really nice. If you feel like you don't have mana problems and are fine at managing your mana you may choose to allocate more points in rather than in . is a great mastery due to longer blue buffs.It also works on baron buff.

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The 9 points from the utility tree can be re allocated in the defensive tree. This is a good choice when you need extra sturdiness and survivability. and are interchangeable depending on whether you're vsing an AP or AD mid.
in to is what you're here for. An extra 30 health can be a lot early game and as you don't get nearly any health items they help out with your overall survivability.

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provides you with early mp/5. It keeps your mp bar healthy and helps with trades. You have less sustain in health pots so only get it vs laners you can bully. The lack of a ward means you should watch out for ganks.

4x & 2x give you enough sustain in lane do survive vs most early threats. The sight ward is infinitely useful for preventing ganks. Sell the charm at some point later on in the game~.

and 4x & 1x gives you some nice sustain to help you out in lane while providing extra armor early game. Best start vs AD mids like , , , etc.

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If you didn't start with it get two now. Good stats and only 800 gold. Proceed with your main build with almost no delay while retaining your presence early game. Don't buy more than two or they start delaying your build for what they offer.

Get this after double dorans or first if VS an AD mid laner. Helps out a lot and builds in to one of the most amazing items for liss. Remember to farm it up quickly!

Your friendly neighborhood magic resist item. Great vs bursty mages if you just feel like you can't deal with them for now. Build it in to abyssal asap in that scenario.

Got a little ahead? Enemy is a burst mage but you're still doing well enough that you don't need to get tanky asap? Get this and turn it in to an abyssal.

is an armor item you usually buy vs ad mids so they don't destroy you. Builds in to later on in the game and helps out a lot vs that pesky fed ad carry/ ad caster.

A second is a good buy after abyssal if you're just seriously getting demolished by a fed mage. Builds in to later. You usually shouldn't buy both and .

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Rush if ahead to the point where you don't need zhonya's active yet or just vs a strong burst mage. Good item which increases your damage by a lot and makes you deal true damage to carries because most of them have no mr at this point~

Get after double dorans if enemy mid is no threat or you just aren't that far ahead. Amazing item with an amazing active. Synergies perfectly with 's kit and should never ever be left out of the main build.

With this, you get a HUGE damage boost which is appropriate for this stage of the game. You're already tanky and you just need the damage at this point. You're going to be melting people while causing havoc in teamfights.

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I would not leave GA out. Together with zhonyas it frees up your ultimate usage and instead of using it on yourself you can use it to lock someone up and not have to worry about your own safety. If you feel like you don't need additional survivability you may replace it.

Void staff is a core item. I previously considered it unnecessary if the enemy isn't stacking magic resist, but even without them stacking it it's still an amazing item. Together with your runes, void staff and boots you can even deal true damage to your enemies.

Do NOT forget to buy these before major teamfights. These are what let you not itemize for cdr and get away with it. Together with blue buff this is more than enough CDR. Remember, if you aren't sure whether a teamfight is going to happen or not, have one in your inventory just in case.

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Time to pick!

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If you feel like you don't need the extra survivability from feel free to replace it with one of the following items;

is a good pick up, especailly when the enemy team is stacking health. focuses primarily on burst damage though, so don't get it unless the main people giving you trouble have a lot of health (bruisers, most likely)
is a nice little item that can immensely help you catch out of positioned targets. The active, however has a long cooldown so be sure to only get it when you believe that catching someone out of position can actually win you the game.
is a pretty good item if you just really need to burst someone down. 20% increased damage to a target is huge when you take in to account all of your spells. Definitely the strongest item when it comes to increasing your single target damage.
is an item I'd recommend getting a little earlier in the game if you're being denied your blue hard and by hard, I mean you haven't gotten more than 1 in the entire game and the enemies have your jungle warded and steal it whenever it's up. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with this item.

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Build synergy & explanation

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Space c:As you already know, is a tanky initiate mage. With this build you have a minimum of two defensive abilities('s passive & the stasis from ) for later team fights. This lets you use your ultimate more freely as you already have enough sources of defense. The extra durability from , and lets you cast your ultimate and maybe before you're forced in to using the stasis active.
Space c:The extra ability power & magic penetration/magic resist reduction turns you in to a huge damage threat alongside being a huge cc threat. This forces people to focus you in teamfights. This works in your favor because you have a lot of defensive options.
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tl;dr : This build lets preform the role of an AP carry, an initiator and a disruptor at the same time. Being able to easily survive focus fire while ccing and damaging everything.
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Summoner spells

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is a very useful summoner spell and should be taken every game.
It provides you with an additional, instant gap closer. Can be used to suprise enemies with a > or just help escape a gank or reposition in a teamfight.

is a spell that increases your kill potential in lane while countering any form of health recovery in skirmishes and teamfights. Generally, you should take ignite to further increases your lane dominance over laners that you can bully.

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helps out a lot vs high burst mages. It's an extra, instant cast shield that can easily save your life vs certain mages. It only blocks two ticks of ignite, but sometimes that just might be enough to save you. Replace with vs burst mages, eg & .

You should take when you feel like you need the extra global presence. If you are vsing , or any other champ that likes to roam a lot, replacing with is a must. Try and to pink wards if you can, ensuring the enemies don't see you coming!

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Abilities

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's passive is very useful in all stages of the game. A free spell once every 18 seconds may sound weak, but it isn't. This passive lets you spam in teamfights without depleting your mana. Helps out a lot in lane and solves a lot of your own mana issues.

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's Q ability, is her main form of harass, wave clear and source of sustained damage in teamfights. Very useful for poking in lane & farming. It doesn't get blocked by anything so it can reach to the carries in teamfights. Provides a slow which can help with chasing & kiting.

BONUS TIPS

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is a short ranged, AoE snare. It helps lock targets down and cause disruption. Generally useful for stopping jungle ganks or setting up ganks of your own in combination with .

BONUS TIPS

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is a very versatile skill that can be used to gank, chase, escape or initiate along with . Though mostly used for it's gap closer component, do not forget that this is a waveclear + poke skill. usually + is enough to clear an entire wave.

BONUS TIPS

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is an on demand stun or a self protection spell. When used on an enemy it stuns them while dealing aoe damage around them. When used on yourself, it stuns you but makes you immune to all damage, dealing aoe damage to enemies around you.

bonus tips

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R>Q>
E/W>E/W

When it comes to skilling order, always level up your ultimate when you can. Max Q first as it is your main harass and wave clear tool, followed by for safer wave clear and general safety or for increased CC duration and stronger ganks.

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Early game

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Space c: As the game starts, analyze your potential opponent in mid and choose your starting item accordingly. Head on over to help your jungler with their first buff or follow your team if they decide to invade. Take Q first unless your team decides to invade, in which case you should take W. Taking W first provides you with hard cc which is invaluable in lvl 1 team fights, especially because it can potentially hit all 5 enemies.
Space c:Play safely in the laning phase, farming and occasionally poking with Q. Keeping your lane warded is essential. Apart from the following spoiler please visit the wiki page about .

click here for places to ward in mid lane

Think twice before you try to engage on someone because the CD on your skills is really long early on. If you're finding you can easily bully your enemy mid laner, feel free to shove the lane and deny them CS. Be wary of jungle ganks and make sure you have off cool down before over extending.
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Mid game

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Space c:When you hit lvl 7 or the first tower falls, mid game usually starts. With boots & some items you should be strong enough to contribute to the other lanes via ganking while holding your own mid lane. Unless the enemy mid laner is a very strong pusher OR you're losing lane, shove the lane up to the enemy tower and look for ganks. has a very easy time ganking compared to most other champs due to having an enormous range.
Space c:If you kill the enemy bot lane group up with your team and do a dragon.
Ask your jungler, support to ward the enemy blue/red. Or just do it yourself. At this point a low hp jungler doing blue/red is an easy kill for . Always be on the lookout for out of position characters, as your kit can easily lock them down long enough for your team to follow and help kill them.
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Late game

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Space c: This is the point where you start grouping up and doing teamfights. Stay with your team at all costs. At this point catching someone out of position basically means you won the next teamfight, and you already know what is good at.
Space c:Come to a conclusion on which target to focus with your team. In teamfights, you should be diving straight to the enemy team and locking down one of their carries. This should give the bruisers in your team a window of opportunity to jump them. You have CC and you have good mobility, don't forget that you can also peel for your carry.
Space c:Don't forget about your 5 seconds of invulnerability( + ). If you get caught out of position and isn't enough to escape, just stall. Constant slows from Q, to snare them once they start catching up, to get away.. and even if they DO catch up, you can just Zhonya's + R. It might be just enough time for your team to get there, and the enemies will be slowed and possibly snared for when they do. Don't underestimate your ability to survive.
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matchups

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space c:Some of my last words if you want to play : Be patient, Look for opportunities, Think of creative ways to gank, abuse your psychological pressure.

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space c:As a conclusion to this guide, I'd like to thank the following people;
Laggermeister, JhoiJhoi, Astrolia, IceCreamy, LullabyGaming, PokeL.

Special thanks to Embracing!

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Thanks to everyone for reading & good luck with your future games :)

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XeresAce Lissandra Guide

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Do the Iceborn dream of frozen sheep?-AP Mid Lissandra guide

Do the Iceborn dream of frozen sheep?-AP Mid Lissandra guide

Recommended Items

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Ability Order

Iceborn Subjugation (PASSIVE)

Ice Shard (Q)

Ring of Frost (W)

Glacial Path (E)

Frozen Tomb (R)

League of Legends Champions: