Lissandra is very powerful burst damage mage, rarely seen in low Elos. This makes her a good pick, one because very few know how she works, and very few know how to counter her. Lissandra can be built many ways, and she is extremely versatile in any battle situation. I have good success with her in the mid lane and top lane. I've experimented with her as support but so far it seems it wastes a lot of her potential.

Lissandra's kit includes; A poke/slow, or minion wave clear [Q]Ice Shard; A stun that scales AP damage well [W]Ring of Frost; Either an escape or initiation [E]Glacial Path; and a very strong root/stun AP damage(When casted on enemies) or invulnerability/heal with AP damage/slow AOE (when casted on self) [R]Frozen Tomb

One of the largest parts of champion success is understanding the numbers behind your champion, here I will do my best to do that in each part of this guide.

PROS
-Her kit offers a little bit of everything
-Can be built for INSANE burst damage
-Can be the decider of team fights
-Very rare pick in low elos

CONS
-Tricky to master her E
-Somewhat weak against other ranged mid and top laners
-Can be the decider of team fights
-Some counters absolutely Shut. Lissandra. Down.

(3)Greater Quint of AP = +14.85 AP
(9)Greater Mark of MPen = +7.8 Mpen
(9)Greater Seal of Health Regen +9.54 HP/5Sec (at level 6)
(9)Greater Glyph of AP = +10.71 SP

You want the 26 AP to start from the Quits and the Glyphs to ensure you do good burst damage early in case you need to trade early. Lissandra is entirely AP based and if you do not use some of your runes for AP you will likely suffer mid and top lane.

The added magic penetration from the marks ensure your attacks do meaningful damage even if someone runes Magic Resist.

Considering the build choice, scaling health regen runes allow Lissandra to stay in lane longer. Late game these runes scale your total health regen to 40 health/5 seconds.

I chose to go 18 Cunning 12 Ferocity with this build because it seems the perks are better aligned to her play style.

Sorcery will help you to get an early AP boost which along side your runes makes you fairly strong early game.

Double Edged Sword has been adjusted recently so even ranged champions gain 3% damage with only 1.5 additional damage taken making it a very good trade off for her with this build considering the amount of Armor and Magic resist options available.

Vampirism gives Lissandra extra sustain which she lacks early game.

Oppressor is a must have with Lissandra considering two of her four abilities include CC.

Savagery allows you to CS much better as Lissandra's basic attack is rather lacking. Which makes last hitting CS much more difficult.

Assassin because early game you will be fighting alone, and the increased damage is what were looking for with this build.

Meditation will serve you will as Liss is very mana hungry early game.

Dangerous Game is a very nice mastery because generally Lissandra's kills leave her in a minion wave or under a turret. The 5% boost can be the difference between life and death in the case of an ignite or DOT.

Precision is very nice because early game a smart opponent will build MR against you, so having the extra scaling Magic Penetration can prevent having to back 200 gold too early.

Thunderlord's Decree is one of the strongest masteries in the game right now. Lissandra can proc this easily with basic, poke, basic. Dealing a very fast powerful extra hit that scales with her AP which scales with this build.

Your summoner spells with Lissandra will vary depending on who she goes up against. If you go against a melee dependent enemy champion, ignite is ideal. However, going against a ranged enemy like Vel Koz, you may be safer to take heal.

I always take flash because even though Lissandra has an escape in her kit, the cooldown early game can be unreliable. The added escape can prevent an enemy from snowballing early on because your only escape is on cooldown. Also, flash can be used after Lissandra uses her E to initiate or turret dive. Or even to close the gap when an E teleport doesn't quiet get you in range of your Q and you need to finish off a kill.

When you go Lissandra top, it is up to you to take Teleport or leave it. As most Top laners are Melee you should be able to harass and keep lane pushed enough to not need it.
Keep in mind, Lissandra can also make big plays with Teleport bot lane, but she can roam with ease once she has Swifties(boots of swiftness.)

Follow the leveling guide above in most cases, Lissandra's [Q]Ice Shard is a powerful poke, and late game you can clear most minion waves with (Q/Q) without missing any CS if your aim is good.

[Q]Ice Shard; Learning how Lissandra's Q behaves is imperative to her success in lane. Early game her Q is very expensive in mana cost so use it mainly for poke, using your basic attacks to last hit. Her Ice Shard will only slow the first target hit so make sure you hit your opponent with it dead on if you can.

[W]Ring of Frost is a nightmare for melee champions favored in Low Elos as it is an AOE stun that deals considerable damage. This is valuable both for escapes, and initiations. Champions that rely 75% on melee attacks like Master Yi, and Katarina, are nearly useless against Liss with her kit, partially because of this ability.

[E]Glacial Path; Probably the number one reason I love Lissandra is [E]Glacial Path. This ability makes Lissandra very hard to play as, and against. [E]Glacial Path will fire a claw (considerably far) in any direction damaging anything in its path. Liss can reactivate [E]Glacial Path up to .3 seconds of it disappearing to teleport to the claws location. Casting glacial path can mislead an opponent, help you initiate, or help you escape. Use it wisely. [E]Glacial Path can be casted through walls so be creative with initiations and use it for ambushes.

[R]Frozen Tomb... what is there to say about [R]Frozen Tomb? Possibly one of the most versatile ultimates I've ever used. You can cast Lissandra's ult on yourself to;
-Go invincible for 2.5 seconds
-Regen considerable health while invincible
-Slow enemies around you

Or you can cast Lissandra's ult on an enemy and;
-stun them for 2.5 seconds
-create and AOE stun around them for the 2.5 seconds its active
-Regen health while inside the AOE of Glacial Frost

This ult is what makes or breaks a Lissandra player. This ult coupled with Wooglet's Witchcap can create a permanent CC in a team fight.

But how do you combo her?
Play Video
Lissandra has a variety of combinations, the video above is a compilation of Lissandra plays. I've found by watching videos of other players with a champion I can improve my own game play.

Ive found that in lane, if I can hit 4-5 Ice Shard attacks[Q] then I can all in and burst them down. When ready to all in, try to land a Q for the slow effect then cast E through them for added damage.
Q them down
Q to slow, E (teleport just a bit past them), W, Q again.

When trading with a melee
Q, W, Q, E out.

When initiating a team fight
Q, E, W, Alt-R, Q, (good time to use Wooglet's Active), Q, W

Alright, so many people just build Lissandra with AP and maybe CDR or Tank, this build gives us a little bit of everything.

The bully build above gives you,
-Around 480 Bonus AP(Rabadon's Passive grants +35% AP)
-1950 Bonus Mana(+3% gained as AP)
-800 Health
-20% CDR.

The Defensive build gives you,
-Around 390 bonus AP(Wooglet's Passive grants +25% AP)
-1400 Bonus Mana (+3% gained as AP)
-500 Health
-135 Bonus Magic Resist
-95 Bonus Armor

Situationally of course your defensive build will change. but the goal here is to keep Lissandra alive while maintaining some level of threat with her burst damage. If you spend too much time on making her tanky she will only be a utility in mid lane and in team fights, meaning you will get A LOT of assists.

The CORE of this build is what makes it great, The Rod of Ages and Archangel's Staff both offer immediate stats and scale beautifully. This prevents the late game falloff some people experience with Lissandra. Archangel alone, once upgraded to Seraph's Embrace will give you 1000 Mana, and 110 AP. It also refunds 25% of your spent mana giving you sustain.

Boots are rather simple with Lissandra, she is PAINFULLY slow so if at all possible, build Boots of Swiftness.

The reason we take Wooglet's Witchcap over Zhonya's Hourglass is due to the higher AP. Instead of 10% CDR, we gain 30 AP and the passive of Wooglet's grants 25% bonus AP. We still get the same active of 2.5 seconds invulnerability with the inability to cast move or basic attack.

All in all, if you follow the build above and follow the tips below, you will see why Lissandra is hidden beast waiting to be deployed.

DO NOT use Lissandra's Ice Shard[Q] for farming pre level 5. When farming CS try to last hit and save your Q for pokes when your opponent attempts to last hit. Against melee champions this is extremely effective.

Once you get your [Q]Ice Shard to level 3 or 4, you can start basic attacking each minion down evenly and using [Q]Ice Shard to clear all at once. If mana is no issue, you may be able to clear each wave with (Q/Q)

If you're facing a melee champion, [ex: Akali, Zed, Katarina, Garen], force the CS wave under the enemy turret by pressuring with your [Q]Ice Shard. If they engage you, combo them with [Q]Ice Shard, [W]Ring of Frost, Basic, [Q]Ice Shard and basic as they run off for easy damage.

If you're facing a ranged champion, the ideal situation is counter trading. Keep the wave trained, last hit minions so you do not make yourself vulnerable to early ganks by pushing to far to turret. Poke your opponent with [Q]Ice Shard when they come in to harass and use [W]Ring of Frost, [E]Glacial Path as an escape.

Lissandra is a game changer in team fights having a built in Zhonya's and massive burst damage with a 1.5 second maxed CC.

I've found Lissandra does exceptional when her initiation is unexpected. So look for walls near team fights to E over for the element of surprise.

When coming into an active team fight always pick the most valuable target. The damage dealers should be the primary goal. Use Q to poke if you can, as your cooldown allows you to spam it for good damage.

Possibly the best video for Lissandra's capabilities. Play Video

Even if your Q doesn't connect, you can initiate with Glacial Path[E].

You want to predict your E to land where the damage dealers will be, then teleport in. As soon as you teleport in, you can self Ult dealing pretty good damage to everyone else in the AOE, healing yourself, and slowing all enemies inside the AOE as well. This will allow your team to follow up on the damaged and slowed enemies that dish out the most damage.

Now in 2.5 seconds you will be surrounded by angry enemy champions. (this is where you just have to laugh). They are all ready to melt you. Hopefully you have a Wooglet's here. Right after you come out of your ult, Q them again and use Wooglet's Active.

This means you've initiated with a stun, dealt massive burst damage, and slowed all enemies. Also while doing so, many teams will attempt to focus you down immediately after your ult, so casting Wooglet's will give you another 2.5 seconds of invulnerability. Making 5 seconds of time your enemy focused you without doing damage. We all know, 5 seconds in a team fight changes everything.

Roaming with Lissandra can be extremely rewarding because at level 3 she can stun, slow, and cut off an enemy champion early in lane, securing easy kills for the team or herself.

When you have lane pushed under turret and you have no need to base, you can roam to Top or Bottom Lane. After lvl 6 Lissandra is very powerful. Roam top or bot lane if they are over extended or the laner is in trouble. Going to bot lane can be the most rewarding as there are more potential kills/assists. Just make sure you make a decision based on logic not on greed. If top lane is low health and bot lane is full health, go gank top.

Initiating a roam attack is simple even if it has been pinged that you are missing due to Lissandra's Glacial Path. hide behind a wall and use E to teleport through it to land a surprise Ring of Frost[W] . After they are stunned cut them off and use [Q]Ice Shard to slow them. (I wouldn't use [R]Frozen Tomb for a roam attack unless it is for bot lane.)

To sum Lissandra up, she is all around one of the most versatile champions in League of Legends today. Since I purchased her I've fallen in love with her team battle impact and her burst damage 1v1 that makes her a force to be reckoned with. Lissandra does have key weaknesses that make her tricky like anyone else, but her strengths easily make up for it.

Low Elo players rarely see her and many times in /ALL chat people say they have no clue how to play her. This gives you a slight advantage when climbing Elo.

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