My name is Andrew, I play LoL casually with my friends as well as stream on Twitch, https://twitch.tv/ayeja3
I am relatively new to LoL as I started last December, but I have spent a lot of time in these short months improving my game and mechanics for multiple champs like Shyvana, Darius, Lux, Morgana, Kayle, Udyr, and my new personal favorite, Fiora. I have played around 60 games with her so far in the past 2.5 to 3 weeks of playing her and I have enjoyed every single minute of it...except when my junglers suck, but we all experience those issues from time to time.

Fiora is one of the best top laners that come to mind right now, and has been for quite some time. Obviously she was nerfed in season 11 for good reason, but she is still EXTREMELY strong despite these nerfs. Her abilities and skills are extremely fun and challenging to master which really brings her skill cap to a very high level.


Her best ability has to be her Reposte due to it's ability to parry heavy attacks and CC, as well as redirect that CC back to the enemy champ if you are close enough. This can and has led to many outplays by myself and other Fiora mains. It is very useful for team fights as well as 1v1 fights as well.


Her early and mid game is quite strong depending on the matchup and your ability to hit vitals with her Lunge paired with CC and Damage parries with her Riposte. However the main issue with her early and mid game is her mana consumption. You have to keep a close eye on your mana when you are thinking about trading or all inning an enemy champion. But after you get through those stages of the game and get some items in your inventory, you become a force to reckon with.


The most effective strategy to take with Fiora is to split push and to lead enemy champions into your lane while your team takes objectives. She is extremely good at split pushing, especially if you decide to take Demolish on your Resolve Runes. She can easily wipe out enemy minion waves once she gets Ravenous Hydra and push straight to towers with ease.

Pros:


High Mobility: Boots are not necessary for Fiora until later in the game because of her gap closing from her Q Lunge that has a low cooldown after level 9, paired with her Duelist's Dance passive that grants a speed boost for vitals hit, the movement speed from Grand Challenge (her ultimate) and Phage as well.


High Damage: Your starting damage is quite high from level 1, paired with your true damage vital hits as well as your E Bladework, you can shred enemy champs with Fiora. This damage output is further increased with your core items like Essence Reaver, Ravenous Hydra, and Death's Dance.


Playmaking: Her playmaking ability is arguably unmatched by any champion in the game, she can push side lanes, drawing enemy reinforcements, causing a distraction to give your allies the chance to take Drake, Baron, Elder, etc. Not to mention her ability to outplay opponents and make them waste their ultimate with her Riposte, to later proc her Grand Challenge and take them out with ease.




Cons:


Difficult to Master: Fiora has great strengths and capabilities, but if you do not use her strengths accordingly, you will be punished for it by the enemy team. You have to have a lot of knowledge of your matchups, their abilities, passives, ultimate, etc. All of this knowledge is very necessary to learn how to play around your matchup as Fiora. One key factor that makes her hard to master is her Riposte, you need to time her Riposte correctly in order to counter the enemy attacks and CC. You also need to make sure not to get your W baited out as a Fiora without W, is a Fiora that can be killed.


Wave Clear Pre Tiamat/ Ravenous Hydra Before you get these items, Fiora does not have the best wave clear, arguably one of the worst wave clears in the game based on my experience. You want to ensure that you rush to at least Tiamat before you start getting ahead of yourself with other items.

Runes: Refer to the Runes at the top of the page for more insight on what to pick based off the matchup.


Summoner Spells: You will almost always want to take Flash and Teleport with Fiora to ensure that you have constant map pressure as well as to have a fast way to assist your teammates at objectives if your split push distraction did not draw the attention of the enemy team.


Abilities:


Passive: Duelist's Dance Upon hitting a vital you deal % max health damage based on your opponent's health, which also scales with your ad exceeding 100 attack damage. You also gain a burst of movement speed once hitting a vital, which combined with your Lunge can help you chase down your enemy, and reposition yourself to hit the next vital.


Q: (AUTO ATTACK RESET) Lunge is what gives Fiora her mobility to chase down enemies and hit her vitals. As the game progresses, the cooldown will be exponentially lowered to about 4 seconds if you hit your target, as hitting a target lowers the cooldown by 60%. Your Lunge can be used to hop over walls and jump from minion to minion to chase down enemies.


W: Riposte gives Fiora the ability to outplay her opponents as it negates all damage (except for turrets) and can be used to stun your target if timed with blocking an incoming immobilizing effect.


E: (AUTO ATTACK RESET) Bladework This ability is extremely strong as it applies a slow, with increased attack speed as well as a crit on the second auto.


My Personal Favorite: Grand Challenge A VERY powerful ultimate that brings out all 4 vitals, grants increased movement speed for escape or to chase and hit all 4 vitals quickly. After all 4 vitals are hit, the ring around the enemy will turn green and become stationary, allowing yourself and your teammates to heal inside of the ring.

Poke: Q + Tiamat/ Ravenous Hydra


High Damage Combo: Q + AA + E + Tiamat/ Ravenous Hydra + AA


Moving Parry: Q + W (takes practice)


Flash Vital AA + Flash

Split Pushing is almost always a better option for Fiora in comparison to team fights, but she still can pull her weight in those as well. Here's a few tips and tricks I have learned when fighting in a team fight with Fiora.
Try to avoid picking one single target in team fights as it will lead to you and maybe even your team's demise. Try to bounce around the group of enemies, hitting vitals as you bob and weave through the crowd, this provides better sustain for you as your vitals can help restore health, even when you ult, your ult will only help you move between targets around the champion you have your Grand Challenge on, once your team has started taking out targets, hit the 4 vitals on your Grand Challenge victim, secure the kill, and get your health back.

Think of Fiora's Vital locations like a compass. They will always be on one of the four locations, North, South, East, or West.
Fiora's vitals will always start on the opposite side of you.So if you are starting on blue side, then the vitals will either start on N or E. If you are on red side, the vitals will start on W or S. Knowing this can help you to predict where to position yourself for the next vital. There is also a way of "forcing" vitals. This can be done by hitting a vital on a corner. For example, say there is a vital on E. If you were to hit that vital closer to the N side, then the next vital will appear on S. The vital goes towards the opposite side of where you hit, so the farther on the side of the vital, the farther the next vital will appear.