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I want to understand, from a design perspective, how Leblanc creates fun and engaging gameplay?

coppinslinger·1/21/2015, 1:15:04 AM·15 votes·2,095 views

Honestly, I just hate the champion, but I'll try to keep myself from just fuming.

Leblanc has all the things that are a recipe for frustration in her kit:

  1. Extremely high burst and great AP scaling. Deals huge damage with her simple combos (press every button while holding mouse over enemy character). Most damage is unavoidable, and is often unnecessary to kill the target (Often Leblanc can double-cast W and just use Q-E to burst a target for huge damage anyways). This damage is tied to short CDs and is mostly non-ult reliant (which is also a short CD).

  2. Extreme mobility. Can travel the map fast and re-position herself easily. TnT on wheels

  3. Extreme safety. Leblanc's safety is entirely determined by her OWN decision to pop-in and pop-out. At best the enemy has a 0.5 second window to hit Leblanc with melee attacks, skill-shots, CC, etc.

  4. CC. That can be cast twice in a short-window (seriously why?)

I understand that her design to be this mobile, assassin, but she literally contributes nothing except running-around and being annoying to the enemy team, picking off isolated targets, or even targets near their allies with her huge burst. She doesn't really add much to a team-composition, and doesn't have much in objective control. Her whole design only seems fun for the person playing her, and doesn't encourage counter-play or team-play.

Either she goes 10/2/0 (cuz lets be real, Leblanc don't need no assists) and just stomps the enemy team with frustrating solo-kills or she goes 0/10/0 and contributes nothing to her team and gets nuked every time she W's in.

I literally never want to see this champion on my team or on the enemy team. She is just too snowbally, frustrating to play against, and frustrating to play with. I don't think she is OP, just horribly frustrating and toxic for casual play. If you lose to her, you literally feel like you could do nothing against her instant burst and mobility. If you lose as her, you literally feel like you could do nothing against the enemy CC, tanks, teamfight, whatever. The interactions are too tilted, either Leblanc kills you, or you kill Leblanc - and it continues that way for the entire game in short, rapid, split-second windows.

Honestly, do you guys find your games enriched by this champion? Does she really add anything to the game? Other than making me scared to walk through any bush in the game because I'm worried I'll be 100-0'd in 0.5 seconds. I'd say this champion (amongst other Assasins in the game Katarina Akali ) definitely needs a rework.

Edit: Riot nerfed Sona because "There was limited counterplay outside of champion select." Leblanc seems to be an extremely similar case.

33 Comments

killd0zer1/21/2015, 1:28:09 AM6 votes

She does have counterplay though especially post silence. Anytime she uses that monstrous mobility she loses her burst combo.

SexyTaylorSwift1/21/2015, 1:30:02 AM5 votes

I would agree with this post pre-nerf. After losing her silence, I find her much easier to play against.

Craft Zeppelin1/21/2015, 11:21:54 AM3 votes

"She doesn't really add much to a team-composition, and doesn't have much in objective control. Her whole design only seems fun for the person playing her, and doesn't encourage counter-play or team-play."

Whoa whoa whoa....what did I hear? Although you are true that she can't win the game alone, sorry but Lb does contribute in teamfights and even in a long-term will do good for her team in this season. Most people don't simply know how to win with this champ. Firstly she is extremelly strong when getting objectives such as baron or dragon if she decides to target the ADC or jungler. Since the dragon buff stacks and grants various powers and is mostly taken when Lb is at her strongest this is simply OP. Secondly she is the highest burst damage champ which can shut down anybody...almost. This power simply to makes her so lethal. But as you noticed, a fed Lb can't win herself like katarina or Akali. This is why you shut down the enemy carry to INVEST in your TEAMMATES .Not yourself. Get you teammates assists and break those towers as fast as you can while they are..."gone",

Above from these points you can see most of what makes a good Lb win is to cooparate with your team, expecially your jungler. If you're selfish and make the "BIG LCS PLAYZ" and just flee when your teammates are doing hard. You are gonna lose by your onw mechanics. But again if youre talking about solo-Q, which teammates don't synch. You might be right about that. Actually I believe she has a more better winrate in team ranked

Rebonack1/21/2015, 5:39:25 PM3 votes

I'll agree with the OP here.

LeB is actually pretty under-tuned for the vast majority of Summoner's Rift games right now. But that doesn't make her any less broken. As in, her kit is almost wholly non-interactive. Not as bad as when she had Silence, but still pretty bad. Because short of being able to burst LeB dead in the span of one hard-CC you just aren't even going to kill her since she'll just WR away. She can grind more durable targets down with QE and flat out remove softer folks from the game in under a second with her combo.

ArbiterOfTruth1/21/2015, 5:26:19 PM3 votes

I have to agree. I had played a game as Quinn a while ago and while I was shielded by the mid's inner tower I was nuked in less than a second and there was no counterplay. I had full health and the shield plus BT shield and was just flatout destroyed.

Drunk Rummate1/21/2015, 4:37:54 PM2 votes

Leblanc represents a very specific choice and she carries out her niche to the exclusion of many other roles.

Yes, she is mobile. Yes, she has high single target burst. However that's all she has. Leblanc cannot split push a lane effectively - not only is her waveclear pathetic outside of burning her ult (and all her mobility CDs), but she does no damage to towers either. Furthermore, her teamfight damage is extremely lackluster. Outside of killing her first target, Leblanc is essentially out of the fight for a good 10 seconds or more as she waits for her E cooldown and/or ultimate to come back.

She isn't necessarily a poorly designed champion because of these extremely clear drawbacks. She has strategic counters, and her full burst combo is well countered by a single item (banshees veil) which forces her to rely on her team even more as the game goes on.

ofart1/21/2015, 1:26:03 AM2 votes

Her damage is mostly single target and she's squishy. That's about all holding her back.

PenguinChocobo1/21/2015, 1:47:29 AM2 votes

She is an assassin, same as all other. she is supposed to nuke someone. but easily countered. MR, CC, good mobility, knowing when she is about to all in to move away. As all assassins in game, she is good at her job but still easily beat

Long Dong Wukong1/21/2015, 1:38:35 AM2 votes

Bursts you, disappears back to where she started. You don't get to do anything back to her.

It's fun to deal with, totally. So fun. Not cancerous at all.

Captain Aishi1/21/2015, 8:42:31 PM1 votes

leblanc is a great champ design because this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uklqnTGyD0

Yakas1/21/2015, 5:36:52 PM1 votes

Dfg is getting removed. So losing to her now means you have to outplay, not just bs every game you go against her in.

DrCyanide1/21/2015, 6:27:11 PM1 votes

I had fun playing against LeBlanc the other day.

Veigar (me) *Uses R on LeBlanc*

An enemy has been slain

Leblanc - What was that! I was full health!

Veigar - My ult. It deals damage based on your AP as well as mine.

*Proceeds to nuke LeBlanc to death from range 3 more times before her team surrenders*

Ah.... fun times...

I also enjoy dueling LeBlanc as AP Ezreal. It's a battle of mobility and planning.

7ha7guy7771/21/2015, 6:40:24 PM1 votes

Leblanc support is quite annoying to play against. i forgot which champions could do this, but certain champions can hit her twice with the same skill shot if she times her return pad well (poorly?).

Dingding1231/21/2015, 6:45:36 PM1 votes

Handy reminder:

female champions have the most BS in their kits

hence why Rek'Sai is a female

Konidias1/21/2015, 7:10:29 PM1 votes

Lets get real... if you want the least fun champ for not only the opposition but the person playing it... look no further than Nasus.

You literally do nothing for the first 15-20 minutes of the game aside from mindlessly farm and build stacks... If anyone hits you, just sustain the damage and keep farming stacks. You are a potato for the next 20 minutes.

Then with your stacks high enough, you now get to power walk all over the map and destroy everything you touch. It takes no less than 3 people to take you down, and nobody is really having any fun.

The joy of laning against Nasus... you get to sit up in top lane pretty much the entire game, trying to deny him from farming stacks... that's it. What great fun!

SmokingPuffin1/21/2015, 7:14:13 PM1 votes

Deals huge damage with her simple combos (press every button while holding mouse over enemy character). Most damage is unavoidable, and is often unnecessary to kill the target (Often Leblanc can double-cast W and just use Q-E to burst a target for huge damage anyways).

E is a pretty tricky skillshot to land. Dodge it and the classic WQRE combo is a fraction of its usual strength.

The WRQE combo will simply stop working when DFG goes away. Much of the problem with LeBlanc feeling unhealthy is about DFG amplifying burst windows to unacceptable levels.

I understand that her design to be this mobile, assassin, but she literally contributes nothing except running-around and being annoying to the enemy team, picking off isolated targets, or even targets near their allies with her huge burst.

It sounds like you don't like assassins. Picking off squishy targets and escaping is totally the thing the class is supposed to do.

  1. Extreme safety. The interactions are too tilted, either Leblanc kills you, or you kill Leblanc

I don't understand how LeBlanc can be extremely safe on the one hand, and kill or be killed on the other hand.

Honestly, do you guys find your games enriched by this champion?

I think she's super fun to play as and against. In particular, I like playing Ahri, Syndra, Orianna against LeBlanc, very skill testing lane.