LeBlanc is probably the best nuke in the game, and is definitely the best anti-mage nuke. I will show you how to win with her. She takes a lot of practice, and is difficult to play. This build is for serious LeBlanc playing, and it requires that you have skill in order to play her. Map awareness, frugality with spellcasts, prioritizing and such. But it pays off. I win a lot.

Sigil of Silence- single target select nuke, deals damage and marks them for 3.5 seconds. If another spell of LB's hits them within that time, that spell does extra damage and silences them for 2 seconds. This is your main harass/damage spell. Short CD, good AP scaling, good damage. This spell's marking function is crucial to LB's combo.

Distortion- LB flashes to a location, dealing AOE damage upon arrival. For the next 3 seconds, she can use it again to return to the starting point. This is an epic spell for many uses, which are described later in the guide. This is great for running and chasing, positioning, diving, it's just awesome. Be careful when using while running. Many times I have used W to escape a gank, only to accidentally or thoughtlessly hit W again to return to where the gankers are waiting. Sad face.

Ethereal Chains- Skill shot leashing spell. If it hits an enemy, it does damage on impact and leashes them for 2 seconds. During the leash, their movement speed is slowed. If the enemy stays in range for the whole 2 seconds, they take more damage and are snared. This spell is great for escaping and chasing. Since it's a skill shot you can cast it into bushes and fog of war, to check for enemies and to catch ones that are barely escaping. This doesn't do a ton of damage and is used mostly for utility.

Mimic- LB's signature move. LB can cast the previous spell that she cast, with increased damage. Trying to do damage? Sigil of Silence, then Mimic for an additional Sigil. Good damage. Being chased? Distortion away, then Mimic that distortion for a double blink. Mimic is super versatile. You just have to watch out for what your last spell cast was. Sometimes you'll plan on Mimicking a certain spell, only to accidentally cast a different spell and have a useless Mimic on your hands.

Max Sigil of Silence first. A targeted silence and crazy damage spell? Of course. Put points in Mimic at 6, 11, and 16.

You want to max Distortion second. You are usually going to hit with this more than Ethereal Chains, so it's a better use of skill points to level it up. This also does more damage than Ethereal Chains. It is just better early game to nuke with. Distortion also has better AP scaling than chains.

Put a few points in Ethereal Chains here and there, starting at level 4. Early game, you aren't using chains for damage anyway. You'll be using it for the utility, which does not increase with level. It slows for the same amount and snares for the same amount of time.

Get Mimic whenever possible.

Marks- Magic pen, typical caster marks. Mpen is better than AP runes because it gives you an excellent early game start, and mpen is harder to find in items than AP.

Seals- Greater Seal of Replenishment Flat mana regen per five. Early game LeBlanc is super mana hungry, and building mad ap does not leave room for getting mana items. So runes are the only way around that. And i choose flat because late game she does not have mana problems, as you have Morello's Tome and you should get blue frequently.

Glyphs- Every caster needs CDR. LeBlanc's ulti has a bit of a long CD, and you need it to be up and running for nuking, silencing, snaring, and escaping. CDR is crucial to her gameplay.

Quints- Standard caster.

Typical caster runes, 9/0/21. The only way my masteries differ from any other caster build is my summoner spells. If you take Teleport then take the mastery. Take what masteries go with your summoner spells. People know what masteries to take, stop reading this section.

I like to take Ignite and Clairvoyance. Ignite is just an extra mad damage spell, great against Dr. Mundo or Taric or Warwick and good for getting first blood. I don't put a mastery in it because you cant spare the extra point in offense. I take Clairvoyance for 2 reasons. 1. Nobody else hardly ever takes it. It is an amazing summoner spell, and vastly underrated. A skilled clairvoyer can prevent 9/10 ganks, and spot countless ganking opportunities on the enemy team. Learn to use Clairvoyance. Learn to love it. and 2. I play LeBlanc as mad damage. This doesnt leave a lot of room for defensive items. So you need Clairvoyance to protect yourself from ganks. This is a great team summoner spell, but it's a great spell to use selfishly, too. I mid, so I use it to watch for gankers. I could write a novel about how epic Clairvoyance is. Love it

Oh, the beloved item section. Keep in mind, this is primarily damage. Not much survivability. Your goal is to get Morello's Evil Tome early. This item is underrated, and totally badass, especially for LB. Mana regen, ap, and CDR, all for super cheap price. This item is basically OP. So I usually start with an Amplifying Tome and one Health Potion. This is because I'm a boss with LB, but for those less experienced start with a Meki Pendant and 2 Healh Potion. If you don't have mana regen runes, also go with the meki pendant.

Build that into Fiendish Codex pretty quickly, get Boots and finish Morello's Evil Tome with the Blasting Wand, then get Sorcerer's Shoes. I almost always get Sorcerer's Shoes with LeBlanc, because I'm usually able to stay out of the way of danger. If you are getting focused and can't survive, then by all means get Mercury's Treads. She doesn't need the extra movement speed from Boots of Swiftness and with runes and Morellos, you should have more than enough CDR so that you don't need Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Having mpen runes, sorc shoes, and masteries, will give you 34 flat and 15% mpen early game. That will tear through most people's mr and have your spell combo killin em. So to recap;
Amplifying Tome Health Potion Meki Pendant Fiendish Codex Sorcerer's Shoes Morello's Evil Tome. It is vital that you get morellos early. it gives you so much straight up power.

If you are doing well and don't need to get any defensive items, it works to rush Rabadon's Deathcap. A standard for mages, best AP in game. IF you are doing well and can get this with haste, I would get it right after Morello's. But if you aren't farming like a boss, then Void Staff is a quicker and still uber useful item.

Will of the Ancients is also pretty good, AP and spell vamp. I would only recommend this if you're having trouble staying alive and need the healing, and also if you have other mages on your team who would benefit from the aura. It doesnt give straight damage like other items that LeBlanc needs, so only get it if your team needs it/you need the spell vamp.

Abyssal Mask is the only defensive item I usually get. AP, Mpen, and MR are exactly what you need for mage on mage combat. This is also good if you are not doing so well, as it gives you a bit of survivability.

Void Staff for tanky teams, or if you do not have any Mpen runes. This is a darn cost efficient item for all the damage it produces.

Zhonya's Hourglass is good for late game if you are good at using active items. I blow at using the active, so it's kinda wasted on me. Though 100 armor is nice. You should get this earlier if you are having trouble with their AD carries.

Archangel's Staff is not for LeBlanc. Even though she's casting spells with frequency, she doesn't need the mana. It gives you 45 base ap. Gives you mana regen, which you don't need because you have Morello's and blue buff. If AA is fully used, it gives 1400 mana. This equates to an extra 45ish ap. so 90 ap and a bunch of mana for 2855? No thank you. You need more ap than that, or something that benefits you more. It also takes too long to get working.

I don't suggest Mejai's Soulstealer, simply because you need to depend on having a good team to back you up if you're going to get it. If you play premades, then by all means get it. But if you're solo queueing and you're expecting your tank or support to do something to keep you alive, you could find yourself SOL. It never ceases to amaze me how bad some people are at supporting their nukes.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is not for LB either. She has a blink, a slow/snare, and another one of either of those. You absolutely do not need help chasing people. They should die from your initial combo anyway. If you need the HP, get Haunting Guise for way cheaper. And the ap isn't that great for over 3k. It's just an expensive item.
Rod of Ages nope, garbage for LB. Don't need hp or mana

Deathfire Grasp this item is very situational. I don't think LB needs another nuke, leave this for your Veigar.

Sometimes get Banshee's Veil, gives you a bit of MR, HP and mana. If you are getting focused too hard this will save you from some stuns.

I wouldn't recommend getting Guardian Angel, it costs too much. GA is better for ADs, as they can usually survive in rezzing in the middle of their team better than LB.

Haunting Guise is actually pretty good. A good early game item if you can spare the dough.

Some people like to get Lich Bane. This can work on LB, since her spell range is so short that she's usually in range for an auto attack. But she is so squishy that usually the goal is to kill them before they can even retaliate. But if you are taking the time out of your combo to auto attack, they may get a chance to jump on you. This is also pretty darn expensive. But everything that it gives you is good. It is worth a try. Not until late game though, because early game Sheen is worthless because you have no ad.

So you've heard, the spell order is of vital importance to LB. Truer words were never spoken. Being able to cast spells in the correct order will break your opponents face, or leave you vulnerable and asking for a good butt raping.

LB is terrible at getting level 1 first blood, because she can't do any fancy combo stuff. She's worthless. Sigil does decent dmg, but its not anything at level 1. So DO NOT TRY to get level 1 FB.

I usually begin to harass at level 3. And I go mid. Always go mid. It's temping to cast Distortion(W) to get in range, then Sigil of Silence(Q) for a nuke and W out. but this doesnt do enough dmg, and wastes mana. To be in range for your combo, you have to be up close to the enemy. So just make a habit of standing up close by your melee minions.

When you hit level 3, and have Q rank 2 and W rank 1, hit em with your q, then W into their face. People don't like nor expect a squishy mage to jump in their face at level 3. But it'll silence them and do like 1/3 of their hp easily, and they won't know what to do. Get one auto-attack off, and W back to your minions. Easy as that. They will be scared of you after that. If you can do it again, they probably will have to blue pill back. If they don't pill back, at 4, you get your E.

Q em, W in their face, Ethereal Chains(E) them so they can't run, and hit em with ignite. Then hit em with Q again. They'll run, cause they don't know how long the CD is on your W and E. If they aren't dead, you're doing something wrong. This is the early game combo.

Mimic is... glorious. It makes you impossible to catch, and do mad crazy mind-blowing damage. Mimic is also extremely versatile. You can mimic Sigil of Silence for damage, and for the silence. Mimic Distortion to travel fast for escape, or for catching up to someone. Those are the two most common uses. If you're really pro, you can mimic Ethereal Chains to slow and snare TWO people at once. That is really f-ing hard to do, since it's a skill shot. But it's great if you're being chased. That plus your W makes you super hard to catch. But I digress.

At level six, you get Mimic. For harassing in lane, just Q->R. If you're too low to risk full on going for the kill and engaging, this is good. It does substantial damage. If you want to get fancy, W up in range, then Q->R->E, and you can W out. This eats mana without maximizing your damage.

What you really want to do once you reach six is this. Harass them with Q, so that your Q is active on Mimic. Get in range, and hit them with your Mimicked Q. Don't hit em with Q. Begin your combo with R, Mimicking Q. This leaves your Q wide open. Then W up into their face, so it silences them and puts you in range to not miss your E. Auto- attack, and Ignite. Let them suffer while they are silenced. Then when the silence is about to run out, hit them with Q and E, silencing then and slowing/snaring. This should kill pretty much anyone at level 6.

So to recap;
R->W->Q->E. This gives you maximum damage, as you activate Sigil of Silence's extra ability twice, the one that silences and does extra damage on a spellcast. and 2 full length silences with a stun. It is epic. it will make you win.

As you know, you can use mimic to double jump. This is pretty sweet, but it's not the whole story. Let's say somebody comes and ganks you, one man. You want to start with Q to silence them. Silencing always f's up somebody's gank. Anyway, hit them with Q, then E then so they get slowed and snared. then W away, and R away again. They will be back in the lane, silenced and snared, while you are 2 flash distances away. perfect.

if 2 people gank you, id still recommend leading with a Q. E one of them, and then mimic E and hit the other one. wait for the E's to snare before jumping away with mimic. you wont be as far away, since you only have one jump, but a snare is worth the less jump distance.

mimic is also epic for diving. you can w up to someone low hugging a tower, q-r-e, and w back out. Its very important that they do not stun you. You only have 3 seconds to use W to get out again, so if you get stunned through that duration, you are f'd. but they usually don't do that, as you silence them.

You can also W through some walls. like the wall to someone's base. during an extended team fight right outside of their base, somebody like lux is low and sticking around to keep throwing in nukes. go over to the wall, W in, hit her with q-r-e, and w back out.

You can also just throw E over walls and stuff. it is a skillshot, and has quite epic range, if somebody is running around a corner, itll bring them in range to hit with it. then it'll slow/snare them, so you can catch up or make your escape.

you can also use W to facecheck. w in, then gtfo and w out fast before they stun you. Not recommended. That's why you have clairvoy.

your main 1v1 nuking order is leading with R in Sigil form, then Distorting in to activate the mark. Then Sigil, and ethereal chains to activate the second mark. R-W-Q-E does maximum damage.

LB's attack animation is boss, so she's great at last hitting. You can use W-R to farm, and it does pretty good damage, but it has such a long CD. I recommend this only when you know you are safe, and you know there won't be a team fight soon. nothing worse than not having your ulti in a team fight, or worse, getting ganked and not being able to escape cause you just blew your W and your R. You get most of your gold from champion kills anyway, not minion kills.

LB rapes everybody. Especially mages. In most mage battles, it's about who hits who first. Well with LB, that is even more true. As she has a double silence. Other mages can't compete with that. With her jump and clairvoy, she can quickly get up in other mages faces and silence them without them knowing what's up. silence is often underrated. but it f's up kat's ult, and does many other things. they cant flash away. oh learn to use silence like a boss. That is all. Let me know what you think of my rather in depth guide. It's 3:23 am as I write this. Appreciate all the time it took me! Thanks for reading. -Professorwp88