Welcome to our second League of Legends champions guide, this time featuring LeBlanc (LB). We take a look at how SuNo likes to play her, explain her abilities, and give some flavour as to why you should pick up LeBlanc in the mid-lane.



LeBlanc's Basic info:


Let's now take a look at LB's abilities, and see where she gets her main kill potential from.

Abilities

Passive: Mirror Image


Mainly used as a defensive tool, this passive can be used to get out of tricky situations by duping people into following your clone.

Q - Sigil of Malice


Your main trading tool, Sigil of Malice provides harassment and also works as a combo starter. Leading with the Q and following up with another ability will proc the mark, dealing extra damage and creating favourable trades.

W - Distortion


This is LeBlanc's signature ability, giving you extreme mobility and the potential to outplay enemies. Playing around you returning to your pad, you can often leave enemies bewildered as to your direction. An engage and disengage tool, your W can be used as wave clear and also harass whilst in lane.

E - Ethereal Chains


Your only Crowd Control ability, your E is mainly used to snare opponents and also proc your Q. Mimicing your Chains can result in a double snare and a potential 2 kills for your team. The E requires practice as the chains can sometimes be a bit tricky to land, as they won't go through minions.

R - Mimic


Choosing which ability to Mimic is critical to understanding LeBlanc, as different spells can be Mimiced for different situations. Bear in mind the burst potential of your R, as the abilities deal extra damage so they can be used to quickly take down a squishy enemy.


Masteries and Summoner spells


Thunderlords is almost essential these days, as the lane power it gives is extremely valuable and you will be at a disadvantage without it. As for summoner spells, Flash is always essential as its plain escape value is very high. Ignite is almost always preferable but for extreme match-ups Cleanse could be useful to remain safe. Teleport is always viable but you must be confident in pulling the trigger.

Runes


A standard mage rune page, the cooldown is very helpful for early laning, whist you still get all the damage and penetration you need. For some matchups flat Magic Resist blues can be used and also Flat armour seals for opponents such as Zed or Talon.

SuNo's Spell order

Take W first as it helps for an early lane trade, forcing your opponent onto the defensive. Take Q next as it is very needed for lane phase farm and harass.
Max Q if you want to heavily trade but you can also max W for mobility and quick wave clear.
E should be maxed last as it is the least helpful in lane.

R>Q/W>E

What to build

- Start Doran's ring and some pots for early laning
- Build into First item Frost Queen's Claim, this helps to chase down enemies and scout around
- Build Ionian boots for the cooldown, Sorc Shoes can also be bought but is not preferable
- If very far ahead ahead then get Mejai's Soulstealer, but normally this is not worth it
- Against AP opponents get Abyssal Scepter as it will also help with your damage
- Next build into Deathcap and finally Void Staff, as this is where your main damage will come from

SuNo on the laning phase:

- You always need to ward at level 2 to avoid a gank or counter gank at 1:40.

- Try to be 1 minion ahead of the enemy to get level 2 faster and zone them from cs.

- Versus almost every opponent, W into them hitting both the champion and the minions and auto attack once, then use W again to return instantly to drop creep aggro. After that keep autoattacking the wave to push fast and hit level 2 faster than the enemy champion.

- Having a strong early lane is important for LeBlanc as you really struggle to have any impact when behind.

- First 2 levels Q + W the enemy champion off cooldown if possible. When you need only 1 creep for level 2 you can act as if you don't want to trade to bait him into safety and when you hit level 2 instantly Q + W him.

- If you can't reach with Q before using W then you can still W close to him, Q and 1 auto attack then W back to safety for a decent trade. When you push the minions under the tower try to time when the tower is hitting them so you can Q + W + W the enemy champion really fast without taking a tower hit.

- On level 3 if your jungler wants to gank the lane, skill E, if the enemy jungler may gank, skill E. Otherwise put a second level on Q for stronger poke and more pressure. If enemy gives you the opportunity by coming into Q range then Q + W him for harass. Sometimes you can wait with choosing the skill on level 3 and see which one you need more.

- When you hit level 3 if the enemy pushes the lane, be careful and do not overdo it with the trades, because the minions might help him outtrade you. If that's the case, just take cs.

- On level 4 you get many different ways to trade using your skills in different combination so make sure to use them to trade, this is your strongest powerspike before level 6.

- If you are at a disadvantage and trading is dangerous, you can avoid it thanks to W. Because of your mobility you are the one who chooses when you want to fight in lane and when you don't.

- Tip: Try to bait enemy skillshots by pretending that you are going for a trade, dodge them and then go in. For example if you play vs Ahri you can move forward and Q her, she will think that you will use W next so she will use charm, use that to sidestep it and then W on her to win the trade.

SuNo on playing out the late game:

- In late game when both teams are grouped and facing each other you can poke the carries by using either W + R + Q + E or W + Q + R + E depending on how far you are from your target.

- If you are in the teamfight and the enemy front line is not too tanky you can focus them first too.

- It is important that you don't die late game, so do not commit for kills and just do as much safe DPS as you can.

- For example if enemies have a Lissandra and they see you, when you go in she will just ultimate and kill you. You need to have pink wards to make sure they don't see you when you are going for poke and be careful to not come too close to champions with hard CC.

Thanks for reading this LeBlanc guide, hopefully you learned something about the Deceiver, so look out for our next upcoming instalment!