**This is primarily a playstyle guide. LB's item build changes a lot each game so scroll down and read the "killin ****" chapter.**

I have played a ton of games with Leblanc, She is without a doubt my favorite champion to play in both ranked and regular games. Most ranked players will tell you Leblanc is an amazing early game champion but that she falls off around 30 minutes into most games; that is to say, as your enemy teams carries start building health/ magic resist, leblancs' usefulness decreases. I am making this guide to prove that, if built and played correctly, Leblanc does not fall off, plays a valuable role throughout regular/ranked games, and is a perfectly viable pick against most, if not all, meta team comps.

The reason I choose flat AP glyphs, seals, and quints, is that it gives LB the starting AP she needs to burst down the enemies carries early game. I choose magic pen marks to help with late game sustainability. My masteries are the basic mid AP carry masteries with one exception. I chose scout(utility tree) because it allows Lb to place wards(from behind the ledge) in the top/bottom river bushes that give complete sight of said bushes. without this point you have to walk into the bush to place the ward in order to have complete sight of it.

I have given a lot of thought to why Leblanc typically falls off late game, and how to build her in a way that prevents this from happening. When I started playing LB I experimented with soulstealer, zhonyas, and a few other common AP carry items. I found that soulstealer, in ranked games, forces LB to be focused too hard. Zhonyas is semi-viable but I feel the CDR you get from this guides skill sequence, Lucidity boots, and morrelo's tome makes leblancs' teleport and chains constantly usable and viable escape/gap creation mechanics. However, I will suggest a couple variations in my build.
1) When facing sustain based mid picks(morde,sion,etc.) buy a dorans ring to start, then back and buy another and boots 1 when you have farmed the gold. Play defensively if they have 35%+ MR, and aggressively w/wards if they build health regen items.
2)when facing a team with 3+ AD champions(ranged AD/ melee bruiser/ AD jungle) buy Ryleis before WoTA.

I get Q to start for its relativly low cost if your jungler wants a leash/help on more than one camp. I max Q first for the obvious reason that it maximizes her damage output. I get distort at 2 because it's easier to land than her chains and a quick Q,W with 45-60 AP basically ***** on your enemies confidence early game. In more specific terms; It can set up/follow up a lvl 2 gank from your jungler, and it can force your enemies mid to build defensivly early game( this has its own compounding laundry list of benefits). I get chains at 3 because distort is better for avoiding ganks and you probably wont be able to safely go in for a kill(assuming neither team invades) until level 4.

If your not furiously raging about some small change you would make to this guide, and if your anything like me; your sick of the thousands of guides that only tell you half of what you need to know to play a champion well. That is to say; if you still find yourself(in games against enemy Leblancs) saying "how the...the **** did she...dude LB is so overpowered...", then sit down and grab a pen and paper cause Im about to tell you exactly "how the **** she...", and how the **** you, can play Leblanc like a pro.

DON'T FOCUS THE ****ING TANKS! now that we've gotten that outa the way...
-these tips and move combos take lots and lots of practice to master. Fortunately, practice is a hell of alot of fun.

Early game(6-15) killin: open with Q then R.(most LB's think this is her only nuke capability)FOLLOWED by an immediate distort. This is key because it procs her ultimates secondary effect(read her Q's description if your confused). After a bit of practice with this combo you should be able to use all three spells in quick succession. This combo is leblancs bread and butter of her nuke capability.

However, what seperates the good Leblancs from the ****ing pro as **** ones, is the use of her less known spell combinations:

- double distort(distort+ult version) is a great escape mechanism, especially with flash as a summoner spell. It can also be useful in the unlikely chance that the entire enemy team is waiting in a small bush.

-double chains is...tricky and for new LB players, I dont recommend even thinking about it. more experienced players looking to perfect their LB playstyle might consider using it in the following ways:
1) if 2 enemies are chasing you and your distort is on cooldown
2) if your ambushed(1v1) by a melee bruiser like olaf early game. Q him and distort away. the damage of these 2 spells should tell an experienced LB who will win the fight. If you decide that you outmatch the enemy you will then chain him and distort back to your starting point. Q,R if it will kill him. if not, chains(ult version) then Q him. rinse and repeat as necessary. PS: the CDR items you should have(if you follow this guide) gives leblanc the "rinse and repeat" capability. without it she is an early game nuker who falls off late game. period.

-distort away from an enemy then throw your chains at him. if he runs away then your safe. If he follows you and gets hit by your chains then you wait for him to either get snared by the chains, or turn to break them. If they get snared, great, nuke there ***. If they turn, distort back then nuke.

-lunges are my absolute favorite thing to do as Leblanc. Ill add a montage later to show the many uses of lunging(working on getting a recording addon. "Lunging" is the term I use for distorting at max range, quickly nuking(q,r,e), then distorting back. I do this kind of move combo when the enemy team, or my team, is pushing a tower/lane but not really getting anywhere. If/when you lunge and successfully kill their AP/AD carry or support; the enemy team will be caught off gaurd and down a man. If your team is pushing, this gives you the opportunity to take the tower(s) and or engage. If the enemy team is pushing, they will most likely fall back or split into the jungle to go farm cs/push other lanes. So, you ask yourself, what happens if they catch you before you distort back? put simply, they dont. DO NOT attempt this **** if your not fast enough with her moves to do it safely. All the good **** that happens when you pull it off correctly gets reversed if you dont...not to mention the fact all your team sees is you distorting in and getting laid the **** out.

Id love to hear any comments/additions/videos/critiques/raging. Please intelligently justify any changes you would make to this guide.