Hello all, this is my second guide - How to dumpster kids with LeBlanc. A little bit about me before we start... My ign is TheViruxX, my Twitch is ToxicTerry and I am 24 years of age residing in Calgary, AB, Canada. I am currently Diamond 5 and climbing to my goal of MASTERS on the NA servers. I started this game about 2 years ago, and have naturally adapted to the mid lane. Why? Well simply put, Katarina was one of the free champs and she just happened to be the first one I ever played. I also played Malzahar a lot in the beginning, but I gave up on him when I realized he just couldn't carry as hard. Katarina, LeBlanc, and Annie are what I would call my top 3 champs.

I have very impressive stats with LeBlanc. In Season 3, I was 170 W - 118 L (59.0%) with an average KDA of 8.7/5.4/6.3 (140 creeps). In season 4, I was 86-74 (54.7%) with an average KDA of 10.0/5.8/6.1(144 creeps)... season 5... not so good ;P And these are just ranked stats.

I'm going to be quite honest here, I don't know much about the League of Legends or all the story-line mumbo jumbo. But what I do know is how to carry games (and how to throw them). Thus, with the help of this guide, I am hoping that I can spread my wealth of knowledge and help you guys get better with this beautiful champ. I put a lot of time and effort into this guide, so please feel free to comment and let me know what you think should be added/changed. Also, if you enjoyed reading it, please let me know by giving it a thumbs up so I am motivated to make more "How to Dummy Kids" guides. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the toxicity.

Oh, and if you would like some free skins and what not, feel free to check out my Twitch, as I regularly give out mystery skins, etc. when reaching follower milestones... ToxicTerry

18-0 LeBlanc Game (w/ Quadra Kill @27:00) Play Video

LeBlanc is an Ability Power (AP) Assassin. She is mainly used in the Mid lane, but can also be used (carefully) in the Top lane or as Support. She's good at bursting most Attack Damage Carries (ADC's), and excels at one-on-ones due to her passive Mirror Image and short cooldowns. This is what makes her a great carry, especially early game.

There are a lot of reasons to play LeBlanc. The best reason (as noted above) is because of her awesome lane phase advantages. The second best reason is because of her awesome escape and nuke potential. The hardest part about playing LeBlanc is knowing when to gank and how to use your abilities, especially her ult, Mimic.

Pros / Cons

PROS

+ Extremely strong lane phase + Huge nuke potential + Amazing ganker + Great gap closing and/or escaping + Low ult cool down !!

So the main advantage of playing LeBlanc is that she has AMAZING 1v1 lane advantage. This means that you should be able to win your lane and get fed early game. Another advantage is that Distortion makes LeBlanc an absolute BEAST when it comes to lane ganking and escaping. Finally, her ult Mimic is extremely overpowered during lane phase.

CONS

- Not great at farming early levels - Squishy as all hell - Not the greatest team fighter - If you lose in lane... then you lose the game (usually)

Pretty basic stuff here. The biggest disadvantage to LeBlanc is that if you don't get fed or win your lane, you will be USELESS for the rest of the game. Another disadvantage is that she doesn't have much AOE damage during team fights, which is why she excels at the early/mid game.

MIRROR IMAGE
Whenever LeBlanc is below 40% health, she creates a controllable clone of herself for 8 seconds. She and her clone become stealthed for 1 second.
The description says it all. Basically, if your health drops below 40%, a clone will be created, making it hard for the enemy to distinguish between fake and real LB. You and the clone are immediately invisible for 1 second

• This can be a huge advantage for winning fights... it gives you a chance to either escape when low or to deceive the enemy player to win a fight.
• The most efficient method of escaping is to switch up your strategy when your clone appears. Sometimes I will stop the REAL character and pretend the clone is me (by alt+right clicking) and sometimes i will stop the clone and try and escape. Or do a combination of both.
• CAUTION: If you use a pot, have a buff, or the enemy ignites you BEFORE the clone appears, the buff will stay on the real LeBlanc which will make it easy for the enemy to know which one is really you

SIGIL OF MALICE
LeBlanc projects an orb towards her target, dealing magic damage and marking the target. If the target takes damage from one of LeBlanc's abilities, the mark will trigger, dealing bonus magic damage.
A basic magic damage ability that marks the target for a few seconds. If you hit the enemy (champion or monster) with another ability, you will deal bonus magic damage to that target.

• Every time you even think about fighting (unless its a guaranteed kill) you should start with Sigil of Malice.
• Extremely low cool down and low mana cost. This makes spamming Q's the best source of harass early game .
• Good nuke potential when combined with Mimic.

DISTORTION
LeBlanc rapidly dashes to a target location, damaging enemies within a small area and leaving behind a return pad. LeBlanc can activate Distortion again in the following 4 seconds to blink to the return pad.

• This is good for trying to get away from those pesky junglers or gap closing. CAN BE USED THROUGH THICK WALLS (exactly like flash).
• Best source of damage early game when combined with Sigil of Malice.
• Gives LeBlanc amazing roam potential so you can keep pressure on other lanes.
• This ability gets really good for farming at later levels. Clear waves fast and PUSH the enemy towers if you notice your lane opponent is missing.

ETHEREAL CHAINS
Flings a chain that deals magic damage and slows the target. If the target stays in range after 1.5s, it is rooted for 1.5s and does additional magic damage LeBlanc can slow and then root a target for 1.5 seconds each, dealing a decent amount of magic damage.

• Since this is a skill shot, I usually don't like to start a fight with this ability unless I am sure that I will land the chain/root.
• When combined with Distortion... it is super easy to get a kill early game with a simple jungle gank.
• I also use this as a means of escape if Distortion is on cooldown.

MIMIC
LeBlanc will re-cast the spell she previously cast. The mimicked spell's effects are the same, but the damage is increased.
I love this ultimate because it can be used in so many different ways depending on the situation. You can essentially have 2 Distortions for high mobility/damage, 2 Ethereal Chains for more crowd control, or 2 Sigil of Malice for decent nuke potential

• I usually use Mimic after Sigil of Malice as this will give you the most damage. It will mark the target twice,BOOSTING your damage output.
• I will use Mimic after Distortion if I need to close a really large gap (on a low enemy) or create a really large gap (when you need to escape). Just remember, if you mimic distortion you will now have 2 pads to blink back to !! This is huge for the JUKES
• I usually never use Mimic after Ethereal Chains as there really is no point to it other than rooting an enemy for 3 seconds.

You know what, I don't even think I'm going to talk much about masteries. They are pretty straight forward, and there are thousands of combinations that you can use to set up a specific play style. Everyone is going to have their own opinions on what exactly to set up. That being said, you can see the ones that I use with LeBlanc at the top of this guide. For LB I will rep 12/18/0.. either getting the extra mana/offense or straight offense/defense. Really depends on what you want.

Specific ones of interest are:


If you DO decide to go the 'Cunning' route, I would definitely put 5 points into this. The extra speed will make ganking and getting back to lane super quick.


Pretty straight forward for the mana hungry champs like LeBlanc. I'm having trouble deciding between this and Merciless ... they are both great.


Turns your health pots into cookies which boost health regen AND ALSO add some mana regen. This is huge early game.

Same thing for runes. There are a variety of good combinations. To see what I am using, please scroll back up to the top of this guide. Basically all you want is ability power, magic penetration, and sometimes I will throw some health runes in there.

> > >

WHY START Sigil of Malice and Distortion FIRST? The main reason is for early game harass. Trust me when I say that LeBlanc has one of the best level 2/3 harass, simply because of her Distortion which allows you to dodge a lot of damage, while still putting out a lot of poke. MAXING Sigil of Malice vs. Distortion FIRST? I've seen a lot of good guides that explain the benefits of maxing Distortion first. In the end it all depends on your play style, and somewhat on the enemy mid laner. If you want a passive laning phase with good wave management, then I would recommend maxing Distortion first. But for myself, I almost always max Sigil of Malice first for a couple reasons. A: it consumes less mana (50 as opposed to 80), and B: it has a shorter cool down timer (almost 3 times as less). Also if you max Sigil of Malice first, then your bonus damage is significantly increased, which means you can put out more damage than Distortion would.

There are only two summoners that any LeBlanc player should EVER have... they are Flash and Ignite.

- Flash is literally the best skill in the game. You can use it in so many different ways to create an advantageous setting for you and your team. You can use it as a last resort for escaping those pesky jungle ganks. You can use it to get closer to the back line of the team (preferably the ADC). Especially when combined with Distortion and Mimic, LeBlanc pretty much has 3 flashes.

- Another given for most mid laners. Your job is to get kills. So why would you take anything other than ignite? It's practically free damage, and the cooldown is fairly short too.

Finally, the most important part of the guide... the item build (is it really though?). Honestly, just like runes and masteries, you can build any way you want. What matters most in the end will be HOW YOU USE YOUR SKILLS and HOW WELL YOUR TEAM IS. Remember this.


First Buy

Doran's Ring is the classic and easy start for any AP assassin that requires mana. It gives you AP, health, and mana regen... what more could you ask for?

x2

Basic 2 pots with the Doran's Ring start. No further explanation needed here.

Definitely grab the totem so that you can place in the river to know when the jungle might be coming to gank you.

First Back (SAFE BUY)

First back buys ALWAYS depend on who you're laning against and how you're doing. A safe pick for LeBlanc to get that early mana regen and cool down reduction. I usually get this when I am up a kill in lane or up in CS... so that I can build into Morellonomicon quicker.

AND

I'll go with codex if I'm doing good, usually against a more squishy mid laner (or someone with sustain) building towards a Frost Queen's Claim. Starting with codex will give you the AP and cool down reduction so you can harass quicker.. hopefully 7 minutes will be approaching so you can get a blue buff with this.

OR

Great safe buy for LeBlanc against AP mid laners (and maybe an AP jungle/top as well). I'll usually only buy this if I'm falling behind (which is rare ;)) so that I can boost the magic resist as well as mana regen.

First Back (AGGRESSIVE BUY)

If it's a matchup against a mage such as Ziggs who usually rush Chalice of Harmony, and if I am doing fairly well, then Haunting Guise is the perfect go to item. If on the other hand you are playing someone like Zed and are a little behind on CS or kills, go with Seeker's Armguard.

Core Build

Includes a nice passive of inflicting grievous wounds, which is nice to have against AD mids or a champion like Swain. Mana regen and cool down reduction. This combination will allow you to harass and gank a lot more.

Easily the best item for an AP champ like LeBlanc. +35% ability power? Are you kidding me? Rito's pretty much handing you a free win with this thing. I usually get this item 3rd or 4th.

Another MUST HAVE item for LeBlanc, especially with her extremely low cool downs. Zhonya's Hourglass is great because of two reasons: it gives you a way to block ults/abilities, and it gives your own abilities a chance to reset so you can escape or get a kill if needed. I am usually done this item 4th or 5th.

Here's another item that increases (+35%) magic penetration. This is my 'go to' item usually when I'm fed, and the enemy team starts stacking MR. Combine this with Sorcerer's Shoes, Abyssal Mask, or Liandry's Torment, and there will literally be no amount of MR that could stop you. They did however nerf it a little bit in patch 5.13, increasing the cost to 2500 gold.

Defensive Items

Now we get into more game specific items. The next few are all determined by how well the game is going and who is/isn't fed.

So let's say the other team has a full house of AD characters (ie. Pantheon, Zed, Udyr, Vayne, Leona). In this example, I probably wouldn't buy an Abyssal Mask. Now as a different scenario, let's say the teams Ap/Ad ratio is fairly even, but the AP jungler or even the mid laner got fed. At this point I would almost always buy an Abyssal Mask. OR better yet, the enemy team is stacked with AP champs (ie. Kennen, Fiddlesticks, Orianna, Nami, Corki). In this scenario I am 100% buying an Abyssal Mask, maybe even as a 2nd item.

Did someone say stack brothers?

Like I mentioned earlier for Chalice of Harmony, I won't build these items unless I am pretty far behind vs. an AP mid laner. Since this rarely happens, you will barely see me build into it.

Exact same thing as what i mentioned for Zhonya's Hourglass... combine these two and you should always have a chance to get out of uneven fight or use more abilities to win a fight. Although this is usually what I buy last, I wouldn't say that it is a CORE ITEM for LeBlanc

Great item for early game LeBlanc as it gives mana regen and cool down reduction at a reasonable cost. This combination will allow you to harass and gank a lot more, meaning you can snowball harder and control the map more (VERY IMPORTANT). It also includes an AMAZING active ICY GHOSTS which will be HUGE for slowing enemies down and one shotting them... ganking is way too easy with this thing ;)

Offensive Items

BUFFED FOR 5.13 I usually end up selling Haunting Guise if things are going well to buy something with more ability power, such as Void Staff. I've really never bought this item for LeBlanc. That being said, it is still a decent option if you want some extra health and magic penetration.

Beauty of an item and a great GO TO for LeBlanc players if they are fairly fed. It kinda works like Statikk Shiv but for AP abilities. Movement speed is great too. NERFED for patch 5.13... only has 100 AP now :(

Buffs on this item in patch 5.13 (increased to 80 AP from 60). Also give you a ton of mana which will help with the spamming of abilities. I will be testing this out more often and will report back to you guys.

Laning Phase

Laning phase is probably the easiest and funnest part of playing LeBlanc. This is because of her strong burst and short cooldowns. I usually try to save mana until I am level 2/3 before I start harassing. Since her Q will put out extra damage when the mark is consumed, she can put out a lot more damage than most champs at level 3. Abuse the fact that a quick Q-W-W combo can basically keep you unharmed while damaging the opponent significantly. Another great thing about her Distortion is that it can close a gap fairly quickly should your jungle decide to help out. If you successfully land a Ethereal Chains, then it usually results in a flash or kill. This is how you get fed as a LeBlanc. As with any laner, if you have an idea where their jungle is, then it's a good time to think about attacking.

Just remember: It is fairly crucial to get a kill and snowball early for LeBlanc to be effective mid to late game.


Ganking

Ganking (in my opinion) is the MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of being a mid laner. You are in the middle of the map therefore you have the ability to roam anywhere you want (top or bottom lanes) within a matter of seconds. Especially for a mobile champ like LeBlanc, it is important that you help other lanes whenever possible. I think my timing and positioning during ganks is what sets me above most mid laners. I could be behind a few kills or cs in my lane and one simple gank will get the team back to even.

I usually don't attempt to gank another lane until I have Mimic available. If it is ready to go, I will let the other lane know if I'm coming. That being said, if I see one of the opposing lanes pushed up, I will head my way there. Telling them to try and get their lane opponent low really sets you up for an easy kill. This is the best when trying to gank the bottom lane. Before you leave, ensure you push your own lane hard so you don't miss as much CS.

If both opponents in the bot lane are extremely low, I'll even tell them I'm willing to dive a turret (especially if I have flash). You're probably thinking "Anyone who wants to turret dive is stupid." Well with LeBlanc's Distortion and Mimic that statement isn't entirely true. You can zip in and out of turret range easily. The combo W-R-W will get you in and out of kill range in a matter of seconds (4 to be precise).

Another helpful tip I have when ganking is to NOT use your Distortion quickly if you have the option. If you have the opportunity, run in and attack with Sigil of Malice to Mimic to get the most damage. Then follow up with Distortion and Ethereal Chains to root the target for a guaranteed kill. This will ensure you save Distortion in case they flash away.


Mid to Late Game (Team Fighting)

Last and definitely least, we have the mid to late game teamfights. Being an assassin, you want to try and catch the more squishy champs (ADC, mid, support) out of position. At higher ELO's this is usually hard to do, so sticking with your team is the best bet. You always want to make sure that you are within Distortion range should a team fight arise. LeBlanc's positioning is very important during team fights. You will need to get close to the squishy's (within Q range) so that you can nuke them with the most damage. I will usually never use Mimic after Distortion unless all 5 champs are within the small radius that the Distortion damage has.


Ability Combos

The only real combo that I ever use is Q-R-W-E. A simple Q-R-W will one shot most champs if you are fed (depending on their build).

If I am hiding in a bush, and an enemy is unknowingly walking towards me, I will start with E to ensure that they will be stunned. Then I will quickly follow with the regular Q-R-W.

As I have said above, the only time I will Mimic Distortion is if an enemy is really low and I need a gap closer, or to escape a nasty situation.

Thanks for your time and interest in reading this guide. I realize there aren't many graphics included so if you're willing to provide me with some, i'd be more than happy to put some in.

If you ever feel like you have any more in depth questions, please feel free to message me or leave a comment.

My most recent games as LeBlanc:

Rev 1.0 - Initial Publish [Season 5.5]
Rev 1.1 - Added Luden's Echo to Offensive Items
Rev 1.2 - LB nerfs (not much changed)
Rev 1.3 - Added the Quadra Kill Video + updated masteries
Rev 1.4 - Major LB nerfs yet again (she still plays the same)
Rev 1.5 - Major AP item changes... added Seraph's to Offensive Items list
Rev 1.6 - Emphasized more on the importance of early game ganking.
Rev 1.7 - Got dat diamond
Rev 2.0 - Season 6 (mastery updates)
Rev 2.1 - Added frostqueens as defensive item