How reworked LeBlanc works after the update

Ed. note: League of Legends champions evolve over time, and so this post will too. This post was last updated on August 30, 2017.

Of all of the assassin champion changes in the Season 7 pre-season, LeBlanc made it out with the coolest kit. Riot has always struggled to make LeBlanc fit her deceiver identity. It was really only her passive that made her confuse opponents (aside from the occasionally sick distortion juke). While most of her abilities are at least reminiscent of her old ones, LB had some minor changes that make a world of difference.

Turns out this incredible LeBlanc update is not necessarily long for this world. In fact, a rework has already been planned and scheduled by Riot. Currently, LB is sitting at a 48 percent win rate, which is not too bad at all considering how complex she is. If you love this update (like I do) cherish the time you spend with it now, she will be fairly different a year from now.

The build

(Item and ability suggestions taken from Champion.gg)

Start:

Corrupting Potion

Boots:

Sorcerer's Shoes

Build:

Hextech Gunblade

Morellonomicon

Void Staff

Zhonya’s Hourglass

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter

Ability Maxing:

1. Mimic (R)
2. Shatter Orb (Q)
3. Distortion (W)
4. Ethereal Chains (E)

Runes and Masteries.

For runes we want to grab Magic Pen Marks, a mix of MR and CDR Glyphs, Scaling Health Seals and AP Quints.

Champion.gg

For Masteries, we will be taking 18 in cunning with Thunderlord’s as our Keystone Mastery. The remaining 12 points will go into Ferocity.

Champion.gg

For her new kit, click here.

LeBlanc’s new passive is actually just her old Q.

Now when LeBlanc hits a target with any of her abilities they will be marked with a Sigil of Malice. After a few seconds, the sigil will become activated. If LeBlanc hits a target with a activated Sigil of Malice, the sigil will pop and the target will take massive damage. Her Q, Shatter Orb, got a fancy new name and a few fancy effects. LB just shoots an orb our of her staff that deals damage to stuff it hits. If it hits a target that is already under the effect of Sigil of Malice, Shatter Orb will bounce between all nearby Sigil of Malice effected targets.

Where LB gets interesting now is with her Ultimate, Mimic.

Now instead of just copying the last ability that LeBlanc cast, it will spawn a clone of LeBlanc and allow for either Q, W, or E to be cast with additional damage. Now that Mimic always spawns a clone, it makes playing against LeBlanc much scarier, because you never know which one is the correct one. Mimic also has the ability to be double cast. Casting the Mimic version of Mimic will spawn a clone of LB wherever the player chooses (anywhere on the map). The clone will run to the nearest enemy and cast one of LBs spells (does no damage). This can be used to really confuse enemies in a team fight or to scare a aggressive side lane opponent, making them think that they are being roamed on.

New LB is a little hard to describe, and it is difficult to see her power through the players eyes. Instead, you really have to play against a LeBlanc now to understand her deceptive abilities. The key to her new kit is remembering that your opponent doesn’t know which one you are. Maybe they will go for your clone while you slip away or jump to grab another kill. While the other assassin’s try their best to hide in the shadows, LeBlanc hides in plain sight. That is what makes her so damn cool.

The goal.

Place Sigil of Malice on your target with a quick Shatter Orb, wait for it to charge, and then hop on top of them with Distortion. Now that they are hurting and you are close, slap a chain on them to slow and stun them before dropping a Mimic’d Distortion or Shatter Orb for the kill.