So I've played a few games with Leona this week...

[quote=Urscythe]And I was expecting her to perform a lot worse given how much flak people seem to give her. She actually plays like a tankier, less killy Blitzcrank in a lot of ways (I love her damn ult.) But that's part of the problem I've had with her. I main Blitzcrank. I love him to death. And specifically [i]because[/i] Leona plays so much like him (skillshot gap-closer, autoswing stun, hero-based AOE magic attack) I'm finding it difficult to see why anyone would take Leona over Blitzcrank, and it's even funnier because they're the same price (6300 IP.) See, while Blitzcrank is a bit less tanky (his passive provides less survivability than Leona's W, especially before items come into play), he does much more damage, he disrupts even better than Leona (he has the best displacer in the game, period), and with decent CDR he essentially has a permanent Ghost. More, while Leona is definitely fatter in the earlier stages of the game, once Blitzcrank gets some defensive items and some additional MP, he's difficult to kill (by time I have Hexdrinker, Merc Treads, and Frozen Heart I'm extremely difficult to bring down), still does more damage than Leona can with similar items, and baits even better than Mordekaiser does. I like Leona. She's honestly fun to play, but in her current state I just don't see any reason to pick her over Blitzcrank for filling any of the roles she fills, since Blitzcrank can fill them better than she can. Am I missing something, or is the paladin wannabe just going to have to be content with playing second fiddle?[/quote]

[quote=Jvstm]They are botch viable and neither is really a lot better than the other.[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard]I find Leona a lot more scary if she's played well. After Blitz' initial combo, there's really not much to fear from him, while Leona has that incredibly tanky shield that makes her hard to focus. I'd rather lane against Leona, but I'd rather gank a Blitzcrank. Also something to note is that Leona's dash can be used through creeps, while Blitz' grab is a lot easier to avoid.[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]I think Blitz is a lot more passive option because, like Psi said, his gap closer hits creeps. It's also on a bit longer CD. Leona is a strong pick but relies on teammates to do a ton of damage. A really good Leona player can disrupt just as much as a good Blitz player and still stick around to deal damage. It's difficult but doable.[/quote]

[quote=theBMB]at the same time, leona's range-closer is much shorter range and much harder to hit with. I can't tell you the number of times people have basically outrun the projectile because of the channeling time, short range, and somewhat slow travel speed, you have to be much closer to the enemy than it seems when chasing with it.[/quote]

[quote=Urscythe][quote=theBMB] at the same time, leona's range-closer is much shorter range and much harder to hit with. I can't tell you the number of times people have basically outrun the projectile because of the channeling time, short range, and somewhat slow travel speed, you have to be much closer to the enemy than it seems when chasing with it. [/quote] And because Leona doesn't get what's essentially a permanent Ghost, she doesn't have nearly the map presence of Blitzcrank without taking Teleport (which means no Exhaust for the enemy carry, or no Fortify) and can't escape much of anything. Hitting with Zenith Blade is extremely difficult, even compared to Rocket Grab (you eventually learn how to sneak your fist between creeps.) It seems like it's both slower and shorter ranged, and it can already be difficult to get a good hook in without using Flash against enemies with wards. It's also worth noting that Leona basically can't do anything on her own due to pitiful damage output. Even built tanky, Blitzcrank still does significantly more damage, possessing a steroid and exceptional AP modifiers. I'd also say Blitzcrank is tankier by the end of the game due to the fact that Mana basically gets a 1:1 conversion to health due to his passive (though you won't be running around at max mana all the time, of course.) Armor and MR suffer diminishing returns on the mitigation provided, which means Eclipse becomes less useful the higher your armor and MR get, while Mana Barrier never stops getting better.[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]I thought it was a 2:1 ratio on mana barrier... Ah well. Eclipse is still a very strong tank skill. It should do something like slow attack speed or blind to make it a bit better but, I digress.[/quote]

[quote=Urscythe][quote=Lugignaf] I thought it was a 2:1 ratio on mana barrier... Ah well. Eclipse is still a very strong tank skill. It should do something like slow attack speed or blind to make it a bit better but, I digress. [/quote] Might be a good idea, but Blind would be hilariously overpowered. AOE Blind... jesus. Leona's almost there, she just needs some selective buffs here and there. Zenith Blade needs to be faster or have a longer range, she needs more damage or lower cooldowns (compare her Q to Power Fist and weep), and her ult most definitely needs more damage. 150 damage for an ult is ridiculous, even if it gets a good modifier (Blitzcrank's gets 100%!) I'd really like to see her ult do an extra 100 damage to targets caught in the stun radius - so it'd do 250-150, 350-250, 450-350. It's still less damage than a lot of similar ults, but it DOES have a pretty huge range.[/quote]

[quote=Nighthawk]Q just needs to scale off AD. :3 Or her ratios need to be buffed. Atm it's either tank and do shit damage or build carry and still do shit damage.[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard]Trinity Tank is the best option atm if you ask me. Atmog's might work too, but I've never tried it.[/quote]