In light of the Doran's items nerf I've experimented a bit. I've found that my playstyle allows me to still start with a Doran's as a I often don't make use of the potion I start with anyways and still manage to FB and have good staying power. However if you don't feel as confident then I would transition right into Boots and 3x Health potions to further your build.

Again, matter of preference, there are other viable options.

*Note* I have added, a second build to the guide. You can select and look at them both by selecting one of the two Leblanc icons at the top of the guide. Explanations for the itemization of each can be found below.

*Note* I've been busy with school! I'll clean everything up very soon!

2/5/2011 - Re-wrote certain guide sections, added color and icon's to simplify reading. Added the NEW possible alternate build dealing with bulkier enemies - a third build boasting a more sturdy but still bursty LeBlanc is in the works.

2/3/2011 - I appreciate the small things people notice and bring to light that I need to fix. I'm working on a build for people who find LeBlanc squishy. The build will offer significantly more survivability as well as moderate AP.

1/31/2011 - More Deathfire grasp testing, and testing possible replacements for a starting item due to the upcoming Doran's nerfs.

1/30/2011 - Experimenting with adding a Deathfire Grasp to the build, it scales incredibly well with the burst if you use it right before your Q>R though I'd like to experiment more with it before I officially incorporate it. Give it a go.

Hello! This will be my first guide, for what is undoubtedly my favourite LoL champion. I will try to update this guide as is required and provide my insights and experiences with Leblanc to make playing her both easier and more enjoyable for you!

Please keep in mind however, these are just my opinions based on my experience and experimentation playing her, and that your playstyle is more than likely not the same as mine. Thus' you may find things here that do and do not work for you. Take what I say with a grain of salt and adapt it to the way you play!

I have recorded many games as Leblanc and I will continue to build and add to this guide as time permits. I both encourage and appreciate comments and your thoughts!

*Note*
Above I indicated I have recorded many games as Leblanc, as soon as I finish editing the video and adding commentary I will update this guide with video demonstration of various strategies and walls that can be jumped etc.

Every city has its dark side, even one whose reputation is already of a questionable hue. Noxus - though its name is already invoked with a mixture of reverence and revulsion - is no exception to this simple truth. Deep within the winding dungeons that honeycomb the earth beneath its dark, meandering streets lies the real underbelly of this sprawling metropolis, a haven for all manner of malevolence. Amongst the cults, covens, and secret societies that call this labyrinth their home, LeBlanc, the Deceiver, presides over the Black Rose, a remnant from a lost, yet similarly unscrupulous time in Noxian history. Ruthless and seemingly ageless, LeBlanc and her ilk were a mainstay in Noxian political affairs during the era before the militarization of the Noxian government. In those days, this guild of powerful magicians met in secret to further their hidden agenda, and to hone a craft more subtle than that preferred by those currently in power.

While their exact motives have always remained mysterious, it was widely believed that the Black Rose was the true power behind the throne while the aristocracy still reigned in Noxus. When raw martial prowess became the ultimate determination of whose will held sway in the Empire, the Black Rose seemed to vanish overnight. Many believed that perhaps their time had simply passed, and that its members had put aside their quests for social and political dominance. When LeBlanc reemerged at the gates of the Institute of War, however, it became clear that these masters of shadow and flame had simply been bidding their time, waiting for a new global authority to emerge: the League of Legends.

''The world is very different for those who cannot see beyond what is placed before their very eyes.'' -LeBlanc, the Deceiver

Mirror Image
When LeBlanc is brought below 40% health, she instantly becomes stealthed for half a second. When the stealth fades, she creates a Mirror Image that deals no damage and lasts for up to 8 seconds. This can only occur once per minute.

Sigil of SilenceSigil of Silence
CoolDown: 6 seconds
LeBlanc projects an orb towards her target, dealing 110/150/190/230 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage and marking the target for 3.5 seconds. If the target takes damage from one of LeBlanc's abilities, the sigil will trigger, dealing 40/60/80/100 (+30% Ability Power) damage and silencing the target.
Costs 70/75/80/85/90 Mana.

This is your main damage spell. It is the one you should max first and use in combination with your ultimate.


Distortion
CoolDown: (20/18/16/14/12) seconds
LeBlanc rapidly moves to a target location, dealing 85/125/165/205/245 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage to nearby units. In the following 3 seconds, she can activate Distortion again to return to her starting location.
Costs 80/90/100/110/120 Mana.

With enough AP this ability becomes a very effective farming tool.

*Note*
You can move over nearly every wall, so use the chance!


Ethereal Chains
CoolDown: 10 seconds
LeBlanc flings illusionary chains towards a target location. If it hits an enemy unit, it will deal 40/65/90/115/140 (+50% Ability Power) initial magic damage and slow their movement speed by 25%. If the target remains shackled for 2 seconds, the target takes 40/65/90/115/140 (+50% Ability Power) additional magic damage and is unable to move for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds.
Costs 80 Mana.

*Note*
Chains is an incredible ability. Use it to both CC for your team in team fights. x2 if you mimic it. But also, use it to snare an enemy enabling you to flee.


Mimic
LeBlanc can cast a more potent (10%/25%/40%) version of the previous spell she cast.
Costs 100/50/0 Mana.

*Note* Leblanc's bread and butter skill. Her ult is what makes her such an adaptable and versatile champion. It enables her to snare, chase, flee, and burst.

Which spell you choose to mimic will be situational,
For burst mimic Sigil of Silence
For escaping / chasing mimic Distortion
For slowing / stunning one or more enemies mimic ethereal chains

My most recent games using my standard build.

Pros:
-Incredible burst (With enough AP it is possible to insta-gib any squishy and even some beefier champions)
-VERY mobile, with double distortion and ghost or flash Leblanc's range of movement is extremely large
-Moderate CC capability, if need be Mimicing her chain can successfully lock down two enemy champions simultaneously enabling you to DPS one of the two or a third.
-Very strong early-mid game.
-Doesn't need to build mana items.
-Very versatile and unpredictable.

Cons:
-Quite squishy, will go down if focused.
-After ult is used her burst is reduced significantly.
-Requires fast hands for in and out poking.
-Doesn't have significant burst before level 6.
-If your team lacks CC you must pick opportune moments to strike in team fights, making her less effective late game if the enemy team has a large amount of CC or control in team fights.
-If you can't last hit and resort to using spells for last hitting you will be mana starved.

For Leblanc I have always used:
- Flat AP Quints
- Magic Penetration Marks
- Mp5/level Seals
- Ap/Level Glyphs

However, Flat HP quints could be used as an alternative to help your early game if you feel overly squishy, however given Leblanc's mobile nature, poking is relatively easy and the extra 100hp from quints could be better used on Flat AP or more Magic Pen.

For the Marks, Magic pen is pretty standard and can't really be swapped out for anything more effective, given her bursty nature magic pen seems to scale VERY well with Leblanc.

The mp5/level seals are always a safe bet, without them Leblanc can be slightly mana starved which means you NEED blue buff all the time or you'll be forced to b fairly often.

For Glyphs I prefer ap/level because Leblanc's spells scale to a degree that you don't require much AP to do a significant burst even mid game, so ap/level allows you to gain enough to stay effective while building other items, cooldown reduction could be an alternative but Leblanc is already a relatively low CD champ.

Runes come down to playstyle and preference. Run with what suits you best.

Standard Caster masteries, 9/0/21 however I choose to remove a point from the utility tree in order to take Burning Embers, all a matter of preference, though I've found the extra 10ap to be useful in the early game stages.

I've tried using 20/0/9 and though 5% extra damage seems appealing it is in no way worth it, the increase is minimal and the AD oriented skills are in no way useful.

For Leblanc I always use Ghost / Ignite

Flash to me is very situational and is quite necessary given Leblanc has not one, but two built in 'flashes'. Plus more than once even after using flash and 2x Distortion an opponent using ghost is able to eventually catch up with you. Ghost provides far more escape capability in my opinion.

Ignite is always a safe bet for ensuring a kill on that Tryndamere or to shut down that Mundo, plus the extra 10AP and DoT can bolster your early game quite well.

Other Possibilities:
Clarity - Not needed, unless you're using skills to last hit Leblanc does not need this.
Teleport - With well placed wards, or even without this skill can save a turret or set up some excellent ganks, again - a matter of preference.
Heal - Just don't use it.
Fortify - Better taken by a tank.
Rally - Does anyone use this?
Clairvoyance - Let a support take it if you feel your team needs it. If used properly it can provide excellent map awareness and lead to free kills however.
Revive - Don't ever use this.
Exhaust - A great slow, and the damage reduction can save lives, but it's better taken by a physical carry.
Smite - You don't jungle.
Cleanse - Great for shaking those pesky stuns, depending on enemy team comp could be a lifesaver.

Leblanc's skilling order is fairly simple, priority is R>Q>W>E taking one level of Distortion at two and Ethereal Chains at three.

After quite a few games as Leblanc I've found that the optimal combo for DPS is E>Q>R>W, using this combination if the enemy isn't finished by then you can chain them again after about two seconds and either yourself and your team will usually pick up the kill. Moreover, saving Distortion as your final move enables you to poke or tower dive and retreat safely post combo.

If you have difficulty landing your Ethereal Chains you can combo from a distance using W>Q>R>E>W if you are quick enough distortion will put you within range for your combo, then you can press W for a quick retreat, however this is less effective as if your E misses then there is a significant DPS loss as you lose the bonus damage for not having the Mimic, sigil of silencesigil of silence's follow up effect activate.

OR + OR + x3 -> -> -> -> -> (Optional Depending on Preference.) -> OR

Again, a matter of preference. Some people see a Doran's Ring as useless because it can't build into anything. However, 100hp, 15AP and some mana regen at level 1 isn't worth passing up in my eyes.

I always start with a Doran's Ring, though if you see fit, Boots or an Amplifying Tome could be viable alternatives, after the Doran's 'nerf' I still use it as I rarely need my health potion early game anyways, however I think the boots would be the best transition otherwise.

I always follow up my Doran's with Boots and if gold permits Sorcerer's Shoes, Magic Penetration seems to scale well with Leblanc, if the other team is extremely CC heavy Mercury's treads are ALWAYS a good option, but I would skip the CDR boots. Leblanc's skills have a relatively low CD already and the boots are better used for other things.

If you're going to build a Mejai's Soulstealer this is where I would do it, still early game if you've been farming well, so you will likely only have 1-3 kills at this point, a great time to grab this and if things go well the stacks will keep you doing extraordinary burst right into mid and late game.

This is where preference comes into play, my next item is always one of two. If the enemy team has a lot of escape mechanisms and they seem to keep slipping away, or if they are CC or damage heavy I will build a Rylai's Scepter, the slow is always handy and you can't go wrong with the extra HP, OR - I will build my Rabadon's Deathcap, by now you should be ganking and gold shouldn't be difficult to come by, so this should not take long to complete. Either way at your leisure complete both of these items.

*Note* Unless you really NEED the extra hp (More often than not you shouldn't if you're playing a balanced offense/defense playstyle) build your Rabadon's Deathcap and Abyssal Scepter before your Rylai's Crystal Scepter

*Note* Rylai's is always a debatable item for many people as they feel Leblanc is bursty enough that chasing should not be necessary, however, far too many times either the extra 500hp would have saved me from a gank, or the slow would have enabled my team to catch a fleeing enemy. Again, a matter of preference.

By mid-late game the enemy team should start donning some form form of magic resistance. After testing Abyssal Scepter is usually the go to item, the boost in magic resist and the magic resist aura debuff are invaluable. In addition you have to think numerically. Between Abyssal Scepter, Sorcerer's shoe's and runes you're now reducing 48.5 HARD resist. Meaning, unless opponents are running tank runes / masteries you should be reducing their magic resist to a negligible level. Though, in event that multiple people on the opposing team start stacking multiple resist items and are pushing 100+ resist then Void Staff obviously becomes a better purchase.

To finish off my build I select from one of two items, either a Zhonya's Hourglass to survive focus or a Lich Bane to bring down those turrets and expand on Leblanc's already Phenomenal burst and quick auto attacks.

Post build completion Elixers should be purchased to keep CDR, AP and HP as high as possible thus expanding on everything your item build has already laid as foundation.

Though most AP champions tend to follow builds that tend to stack one item ie. Archangels or Rabadon's I don't see this as necessary for Leblanc, from early to late game she has high poke capability and even greater single target burst. Late game even without maximized AP stacking she does significant damage.

-> kage's lucky pick -> -> -> -> -> -> ->

This build is a new one that I've been experimenting with lately, the item order isn't definite yet, but I've had decent success with it so far. By now you've surely been in those games where the enemy team is quite beefy - it's manageable, but with all the hp your damage is a little lackluster in some matchups. To solve this problem I've swapped a few items making room for some more frontloaded DPS.

The order I've been experimenting as listed above is:

After a comment from 'Aegidias' it reminded me that I should explain the differences in play between mid and a sideline.

The play is essentially the same, with fast hands poking is both safe and easy as early as level 2 using Q>W>W for a nice burst if they're within range or, W>Q>W to gain distance then return safely.

The only skilling difference, based on preference and laning partner is taking Ethereal chains at level one for a quick and easy first blood, aside from that order would then go E>Q>Q>W then continue as normal.

Boiling down to playstle Leblanc can bring quite a bit to a team.

During the beginning of the team fight phase I find that teams like to hug their turret waiting for initiation, poking back and forth waiting for the right moment. For Leblanc this is nothing but opportunity. Any relatively squishy champion with less than full health can likely be insta-gibbed.

During team fights I feel the need to chain any champion that would be likely to run ie. Tryndamere or any low health high mobility champion eg. Master Yi. In addition, chaining enemies can keep carries away from your squishier or escaping team members.

Leblanc is a very fun champion to play due to her ability to be completely unpredictable. If built correctly I've found she requires very little in the way of survivability because 1v1 if played well she will usually emerge on the winning side. However if focused she is quite fragile, so in Leblanc's case the best defense is a good offense I've found.

Her ability to tower dive, and insta-gib even beefier champions is immensely fun and no two games with Leblanc play out the same. Her skills bring a lot to the table and if used correctly she is a very capable CC'er as well as an excellent single target burst.