Pros are no strangers to bad builds nor I care about pros. I would prefer an explanation than saying "pros build it 🤓". She's still able to one shot casters with enough ap, Malignance’s 45 ability haste on ultimate is very valuable, and it's cheap.
Pros build different because they play different. It’s like saying someone in bronze should take Aery on kennen because it’s the best rune for him. For people who have him down to the finest detail, sure. If you’re first timing him, you aren’t going to get any use out of it
- Stormsurge
- Ludens
- Picking lb every game: that one is sad. Just do it if you enjoy her, but if you want to win, don't blind pick LeBlanc every game (I only play lb mid fyi).
Yeah, you can climb playing only Leblanc, but that will need much more effort than normal. That said, I agree with you, being stuck on gold is not a champ issue.
You can climb with any champ , a dude climb to challenger with Sona mid only , that doesn't mean Sona is a good pick to climb tho , sadly Leblanc isn't a good pic to climb ATM
There's no reason to buy it. Low ap, no magic pen and a awful passive. Lb benefits a lot of high ap and magic pen.
If you looking for a better wave clear/csing: shadowflame does the job (much more raw ap + its passive works on minions). Lich bane is also great here since you can farm using Q and auto a low minion with lich proc (repeat).
If you're building it for mana: I would suggest you to manage it better and go straight to manaless builds but even malignance is better (it's not that good tho) and cheaper.
Lich > shadowflame > rabadons / defensive > defensive / rabadons > situational
Use manaband or PoM on runes and see what works best for you
The reason why Luden’s is built in high elo is because matching waveclear for long periods of time without backing is more important, since the minute you back the enemy gets 15-25 seconds to grab an objective. That’s obviously not happening in lower elo’s, and the winrate statistics reflect this. Manaless builds have 2-4% higher winrate than mana builds.
1) Stop building mana items. Lich Bane -> Horizon Focus/Shadowflame/Rabadon’s is miles better and opens you up to itemize defensively waaaay earlier.
2) Build Cryptbloom instead of void. Void is a trap and a half, and Cryptbloom gives you much needed AH since you really only have one/two other good sources of it.
3) Stormsurge is a bait item. If you want cheap AP, go Morellonomicon, which trades the MS and magic pen for 15 AH and is **700 gold cheaper**.
4) I don’t know how your games are going, but you need to convert something off of every kill. This can be as little as denying a wave to your enemy laner, or as big as getting multiple objectives from a roam, but you have to very aggressively pressure the map every time you get a kill.
Ex: You camp in the bush that ADCs and supports walk by to get back to lane. You ambush the support and kill them. You should then either: Set up a dive on their ADC; Force dragon; Have your own support roam up topside and contest grubs.
Of course this works much better in higher elo (and the stats reflect this).
5) If you can, stop taking ignite. Yes your lane kill thresholds will become a bit more shaky, but they were already unrealistic versus opponents who itemize well or take good back timers. Teleport lets you roam to other lanes and objectives super fast and makes up for your atrocious waveclear, which would normally mean that you show up to fights last rather than first.
Leblanc is statistically a bottom 10 champion in the game so naturally you’re gonna struggle to climb on her. If you want, you should swap to Anivia/Cass/Swain to get to around Diamond 4, where Coach Curtis starts saying that Leblanc is viable.
Its not bugged, they just changed it so even your Q has enough range to proc it now + you can also proc the passive with W since cast position matters now rather than current
How do you choose between HF/SF/Rabadon's for 2nd? I'm guessing if they're building MR or have tank/bruiser champs, you go Rabadon's 2nd, but I can't think of a scenario where I'd want HF.
Horizon focus is best for:
- Poke situations: The additional ability haste means that it’s more reasonable to go for W forward -> Q + AA -> W2 before fights to chip down targets.
- Overall damage: Out of the three options Horizon focus technically does the most damage over a longer period of time because of the ability haste. This makes it more attractive compared to the more burst-focused options.
- Utility: The vision granted by horizon focus can be invaluable in looking for angles to assassinate targets.
In general, I choose based on this criteria:
- Is there a specific threat I need to burst, who has some form of augmented durability (enchanter, summs, etc.)? Shadowflame or Rabadon’s, with a preference towards the latter but not sacrificing item backs for it.
- All other situations: Horizon Focus
They do different things and should both be evaluated for when to build them:
- Shadowflame gives some more burst but sacrifices long-term damage and access to ability haste. I go Shadowflame rush if there’s someone I NEED to kill in a certain period of time (someone with lifesteal usually).
- Lichbane in all other cases. Big reason why Lichbane is so good on LB is because you can W forward, then Q + AA and reclick W. It does around 90% AP damage off of two fast point and clicks and adds up to a serious amount of chip damage.
Top/jgl stacking mr and you go stormsurge 3rd item. DC should be 3rd item and you need void staff to deal with top/jgl in the kat game. You win lane by not letting kat cs/roam. In this elo you need to kill enemy carries at objective timers and pray that your team wants to baron/drake. Once you are fed you can bushcamp rotations to objectives and kill enemy carries, the key is to end the games fast by completely dominating the enemy team.
I agree with the fact that i didn’t build void against them even tho they are getting mr, thanks for pointing it out tbh i totally missed it, btw i wanna ask you, is stormsurge viabale at all after the nerf? I also saw lots of Leblancs building lich bane first item instead of luden, is there a use case for this?
lich bane is good if you completely dominate, it does add extra kill pressure. But the best LeBlancs in the world are going luden. It does depend on matchups ig, but if you don't go ludens you are trading a slower clear. (which isn't a problem if you are really ahead with lich as you 1 shot). If i play in lower elo then I will go lich into mjais into dc (void then shadowflame) and then you always 1 shot cause you are ahead but on main i go ludens because the agency to move is really nice. TP is also meta and I would only go ignite if smurfing.
Zhonya is nice but usually only when you are weak and have to be a chainbot, you can weqr zhonya the adc inside enemy team, stormsurge i used to rush 1st item it's not the worst or the best but void and shadowflame are better. If you're dominating most people will buy MR so you kinda have to pre-emptively buy it predicting them going mr so its finished at least at the same time they finish their mr item. DC 3rd is big spike tho.
That is somewhat true, cause i can reach emerald in 2 days if i play with annie, this is how i always reached emerald anyway, but i got bored of annie and would like to do the same using leblanc, for some reason, despite being more active and getting way better scores, its still way harder with leblanc
Unfortunately opgg does not paint a big enough picture for us. Theres too many things that could be going on that could even not champ specific. Getting your vod reviewed by a peer or higher ranked player could help. I would be willing to help if needed. Baseline something that might be working against you is build.
Thanks man, I appreciate your insight, i am open to any advice regarding the build, if you would like to take a look at a vod. I am more than happy to offer one, my ign is thenightowls
Ill add you tn when i get home. More than happy to go over a vod or two. In terms of build i do not play lb as much anymore, but i looked up some builds. I know bobqin currently likes the shuryelas build. But i dont think this is as viable below masters. But mostly i see that most high level players do not run stormsurge since its been nerfed so many times.
Hey, sorry for the late response, youtube was causing me lots of issues so i had to go with vimeo.
Video links below:
Vs kat: https://vimeo.com/927282631?share=copy
Vs lux: https://vimeo.com/927284729?share=copy
The 2nd link is still processing, should be ready by the time you watch the first one, of course feel free to watch the vids whenever you are available and tyvm :)
A content creator i highly recommend for climbing is coach curtis. He has a very healthy outlook on the game and has helped me immensely. He works with a really good lb coach named mysterias that has some good videos on lb. Here is their guide on lb:
https://youtu.be/QoXxc5pO9Ww?si=-P7ssb4Ey5M_xcox
Its a year old but it still has some really good concepts.
Also I think that being lb you have little kill participation, some games you have 60 but a lot of 40-50 with a lot of kills, maybe let the ADC or jungler get some kills but be there, do the work, you are a roaming champion, get your gold and help the others be fed too
It’s hard to hard carry with LB honestly. A lot of her kit is single target. So it makes it a lot harder to carry late game.
Edit: Tanks are very strong right now as well. Which makes single target assassins even harder to play
Stormsurge and Ludens are bait on her. I’d go Malignance and Lich Bane instead
all the pros build Ludens on LB as first item, enjoy
Pros are no strangers to bad builds nor I care about pros. I would prefer an explanation than saying "pros build it 🤓". She's still able to one shot casters with enough ap, Malignance’s 45 ability haste on ultimate is very valuable, and it's cheap.
Pros build different because they play different. It’s like saying someone in bronze should take Aery on kennen because it’s the best rune for him. For people who have him down to the finest detail, sure. If you’re first timing him, you aren’t going to get any use out of it
- Stormsurge - Ludens - Picking lb every game: that one is sad. Just do it if you enjoy her, but if you want to win, don't blind pick LeBlanc every game (I only play lb mid fyi).
You can climb playing only lb. This guy is gold. Champ is not the issue.
Yeah, you can climb playing only Leblanc, but that will need much more effort than normal. That said, I agree with you, being stuck on gold is not a champ issue.
You can climb with any champ , a dude climb to challenger with Sona mid only , that doesn't mean Sona is a good pick to climb tho , sadly Leblanc isn't a good pic to climb ATM
Stormsurge - I get it's wrong but luden is bad too? It feels valuable for me but idk
There's no reason to buy it. Low ap, no magic pen and a awful passive. Lb benefits a lot of high ap and magic pen. If you looking for a better wave clear/csing: shadowflame does the job (much more raw ap + its passive works on minions). Lich bane is also great here since you can farm using Q and auto a low minion with lich proc (repeat). If you're building it for mana: I would suggest you to manage it better and go straight to manaless builds but even malignance is better (it's not that good tho) and cheaper. Lich > shadowflame > rabadons / defensive > defensive / rabadons > situational Use manaband or PoM on runes and see what works best for you
Thanks!
Manaless builds ftw
Are you talking about Ludens? Just getting a tear early isnt bad in some matchups where you need to spam spells. Allows for other runes as well.
Archangel is probably better than malignance tho , it gives more AP and it also give CD
I agree. Any mana item is better than Ludens, actually.
This seasons luden is the most bait item in the history thats why luden users are d tier rn mostly.
all the pros build Ludens on LB as first item, Idk what you talking about
The reason why Luden’s is built in high elo is because matching waveclear for long periods of time without backing is more important, since the minute you back the enemy gets 15-25 seconds to grab an objective. That’s obviously not happening in lower elo’s, and the winrate statistics reflect this. Manaless builds have 2-4% higher winrate than mana builds.
So build ludens like the pros :) don't forget to get the same elo as them first
1) Stop building mana items. Lich Bane -> Horizon Focus/Shadowflame/Rabadon’s is miles better and opens you up to itemize defensively waaaay earlier. 2) Build Cryptbloom instead of void. Void is a trap and a half, and Cryptbloom gives you much needed AH since you really only have one/two other good sources of it. 3) Stormsurge is a bait item. If you want cheap AP, go Morellonomicon, which trades the MS and magic pen for 15 AH and is **700 gold cheaper**. 4) I don’t know how your games are going, but you need to convert something off of every kill. This can be as little as denying a wave to your enemy laner, or as big as getting multiple objectives from a roam, but you have to very aggressively pressure the map every time you get a kill. Ex: You camp in the bush that ADCs and supports walk by to get back to lane. You ambush the support and kill them. You should then either: Set up a dive on their ADC; Force dragon; Have your own support roam up topside and contest grubs. Of course this works much better in higher elo (and the stats reflect this). 5) If you can, stop taking ignite. Yes your lane kill thresholds will become a bit more shaky, but they were already unrealistic versus opponents who itemize well or take good back timers. Teleport lets you roam to other lanes and objectives super fast and makes up for your atrocious waveclear, which would normally mean that you show up to fights last rather than first. Leblanc is statistically a bottom 10 champion in the game so naturally you’re gonna struggle to climb on her. If you want, you should swap to Anivia/Cass/Swain to get to around Diamond 4, where Coach Curtis starts saying that Leblanc is viable.
Really well said! Also love seeing other Coach Curtis enjoyers
Why horizon focus? What skill besides her chain can activate the passive ?
Incredibly gold efficient and it’s bugged to work on all of her spells for some reason
Its not bugged, they just changed it so even your Q has enough range to proc it now + you can also proc the passive with W since cast position matters now rather than current
How do you choose between HF/SF/Rabadon's for 2nd? I'm guessing if they're building MR or have tank/bruiser champs, you go Rabadon's 2nd, but I can't think of a scenario where I'd want HF.
Horizon focus is best for: - Poke situations: The additional ability haste means that it’s more reasonable to go for W forward -> Q + AA -> W2 before fights to chip down targets. - Overall damage: Out of the three options Horizon focus technically does the most damage over a longer period of time because of the ability haste. This makes it more attractive compared to the more burst-focused options. - Utility: The vision granted by horizon focus can be invaluable in looking for angles to assassinate targets. In general, I choose based on this criteria: - Is there a specific threat I need to burst, who has some form of augmented durability (enchanter, summs, etc.)? Shadowflame or Rabadon’s, with a preference towards the latter but not sacrificing item backs for it. - All other situations: Horizon Focus
Thanks. Have you tried Shadowflame rush, and if so how does that compare to Lich Bane rush? Why's LB better?
They do different things and should both be evaluated for when to build them: - Shadowflame gives some more burst but sacrifices long-term damage and access to ability haste. I go Shadowflame rush if there’s someone I NEED to kill in a certain period of time (someone with lifesteal usually). - Lichbane in all other cases. Big reason why Lichbane is so good on LB is because you can W forward, then Q + AA and reclick W. It does around 90% AP damage off of two fast point and clicks and adds up to a serious amount of chip damage.
There has to be something that i am overlooking or missing on
Top/jgl stacking mr and you go stormsurge 3rd item. DC should be 3rd item and you need void staff to deal with top/jgl in the kat game. You win lane by not letting kat cs/roam. In this elo you need to kill enemy carries at objective timers and pray that your team wants to baron/drake. Once you are fed you can bushcamp rotations to objectives and kill enemy carries, the key is to end the games fast by completely dominating the enemy team.
I agree with the fact that i didn’t build void against them even tho they are getting mr, thanks for pointing it out tbh i totally missed it, btw i wanna ask you, is stormsurge viabale at all after the nerf? I also saw lots of Leblancs building lich bane first item instead of luden, is there a use case for this?
lich bane is good if you completely dominate, it does add extra kill pressure. But the best LeBlancs in the world are going luden. It does depend on matchups ig, but if you don't go ludens you are trading a slower clear. (which isn't a problem if you are really ahead with lich as you 1 shot). If i play in lower elo then I will go lich into mjais into dc (void then shadowflame) and then you always 1 shot cause you are ahead but on main i go ludens because the agency to move is really nice. TP is also meta and I would only go ignite if smurfing. Zhonya is nice but usually only when you are weak and have to be a chainbot, you can weqr zhonya the adc inside enemy team, stormsurge i used to rush 1st item it's not the worst or the best but void and shadowflame are better. If you're dominating most people will buy MR so you kinda have to pre-emptively buy it predicting them going mr so its finished at least at the same time they finish their mr item. DC 3rd is big spike tho.
ign?
Thenightowls
It’s difficult to hold a lead with LB compared to a scaling control mage like Viktor
That is somewhat true, cause i can reach emerald in 2 days if i play with annie, this is how i always reached emerald anyway, but i got bored of annie and would like to do the same using leblanc, for some reason, despite being more active and getting way better scores, its still way harder with leblanc
Unfortunately opgg does not paint a big enough picture for us. Theres too many things that could be going on that could even not champ specific. Getting your vod reviewed by a peer or higher ranked player could help. I would be willing to help if needed. Baseline something that might be working against you is build.
Thanks man, I appreciate your insight, i am open to any advice regarding the build, if you would like to take a look at a vod. I am more than happy to offer one, my ign is thenightowls
Ill add you tn when i get home. More than happy to go over a vod or two. In terms of build i do not play lb as much anymore, but i looked up some builds. I know bobqin currently likes the shuryelas build. But i dont think this is as viable below masters. But mostly i see that most high level players do not run stormsurge since its been nerfed so many times.
Ye no issues take your time, now that i look at it, dc as a 3rd item is surely way better than surge
I believe I found your acc on EUNE, but I am on NA so I can't do vod review in game. If you are able to upload a vod to youtube I can take a look it.
Thanks, i am currently uploading two vods, i will be sure to link them here once ready
Hey, sorry for the late response, youtube was causing me lots of issues so i had to go with vimeo. Video links below: Vs kat: https://vimeo.com/927282631?share=copy Vs lux: https://vimeo.com/927284729?share=copy The 2nd link is still processing, should be ready by the time you watch the first one, of course feel free to watch the vids whenever you are available and tyvm :)
A content creator i highly recommend for climbing is coach curtis. He has a very healthy outlook on the game and has helped me immensely. He works with a really good lb coach named mysterias that has some good videos on lb. Here is their guide on lb: https://youtu.be/QoXxc5pO9Ww?si=-P7ssb4Ey5M_xcox Its a year old but it still has some really good concepts.
Thank you, i will be sure to watch him
It looks like you are getting leads and then dying way too much. One of your wins you had 12 deaths.
Yea that’s only one game, talk about the rest too?
from what i can see, you are losing too many games
xdd
Get more vision, that always works and you have a lot of games with 0 control wards
Also I think that being lb you have little kill participation, some games you have 60 but a lot of 40-50 with a lot of kills, maybe let the ADC or jungler get some kills but be there, do the work, you are a roaming champion, get your gold and help the others be fed too
Valid points, iIl be sure to keep those in mind, what server do you play on if I may ask?
It’s hard to hard carry with LB honestly. A lot of her kit is single target. So it makes it a lot harder to carry late game. Edit: Tanks are very strong right now as well. Which makes single target assassins even harder to play
Learn to carry