PSA: How to counter Leblanc.

I've seen so much LB rage on the boards recently, that she lacks counterplay, that she's unfun, that she's impossible to kill... most people (thankfully) acknowledge that she's not overpowered, but they seem to think there's no viable way to play against her. Truth be told, as an LB player, she's mostly reliant on the enemy to mess up, and exploits mistakes. People just don't realize what they've done wrong. So here's some general advice on how to play V.S. LB.

In lane One very, very important thing to realize is that good LBs level her W first (primarily because it's her only waveclear and because the cooldown at 18 seconds for the level 1 is way too oppressive). Her W has a 600 range, with a 250 aoe, netting about 750 range. But it's actually not that fast (1400 travel speed) so the actual threat range of the ability lies at about 600. Don't stand in that range. The same way that you don't ever want to be in range of anivia's ult/E, you never want to be in Leblanc's distortion range. Period.

If you do find yourself in range, dodge by moving forward. This sounds counter-intuitive, but chances are good you won't be fast enough to move to the sides, and if you dodge her W, her burst pattern loses all of its teeth. Moving forward not only gives you the best chance of dodging the W, it also will sometimes make her miss her E too. Remember, her Q is longer ranged than her W as well, so if she pops a Q on you, back away, she won't be able to follow up.

Beyond that, poke her. LB is extremely vulnerable to poke. She has no sustian, and if she uses her W to dodge, she misses out on all her damage and she will run oom very quickly. Champs like Lux can beat the living tar out of her by just poking her down in lane and forcing her to leave.

And waveclear. Lb's waveclear, even with W, is weak at best. Clear out your waves, and then back away. She'll be forced to farm under the tower and she'll miss CS. And she'll deplete her mana pool if she has to use her W on minions.

The goal with LB is not to kill her in lane, and it's not even to survive her in lane. She's actually not terribly strong until she hits 6, as long as you're not a moron. The goal is to poke her down and whittle away at her health until she either is forced to back or is afraid, and is missing CS. Jungler ganks can still be very useful; even if you don't kill her, you can drain summs and drain some of her HP, giving you the lane advantage.

Examples of champs that do very well: Annie, Anivia, Kassadin, Malzahar, Swain, Vladimir, Ahri, Viegar, Lux, etc. Anyone with good sustain, waveclear, hard cc, damage over time or poke will wipe the floor with her in lane.

TL:DR for laning: Stay out of W range and she won't be able to kill you without it. Poke her, she's extremely vulnerable to it. Clear out waves, her waveclear is weaker than yours.

Teamfighting LB is actually weaker in teamfights than in lane. She thrives in an environment where people are isolated; once they start grouping, ghings get a little more tricky.

The first thing to note is that while her Q and Q-R are extremely reliable, the rest of her kit is not, and you won't get the full damage unless you actually proc the Q. Her E requires a straight shot between her target and her, which SHOULD NOT happen. Team mates should stand around the squishies, keeping them protected from her chains. Her W requires a 600 range, which also shouldn't happen; zone her away, she's squishy and if she drains her mobility to escape, it gives you windows of safety.

If LB mimics her ult and uses the double dash, unless she's fed, she will not be able to kill you, because she missed the damage from the first W and because the damage from mimicked W is not as high as the damage from her Q. Once LB has drained her burst pattern, she's vulnerable, and less able to contribute.

The way LB generally gets around her weaknesses is by flanking. She'll wander through the jungle and come up on the other end of the teamfight, slamming into the back line. The biggest way to combat LB in teamfights is thus to WARD. If you ward effectively, LB will be screwed in teamfight, forced to just poke away at heavier targets because unless your team makes a mistake in positioning, she cannot get to the important targets. REmember that her W, while fast, requires her to get into melee range with you for a second. So if you see LB approaching, activate whatever peel you have and click on her. That way, when she gets in range, she will automatically be hit by it (EXE: If you were annie, Cast Q on her while you're out of range, when she gets in range, you will instantly cast it). Again, you don't have to kill her, just burst her down. If she runs away, that's fine, she's useless for the rest of the fight.

In teamfights, as a squishy, you need to stay behind your teammates and never leave your back to an unwarded area. LB will almost certainly find you through it. Don't even leave your back to a wall: she can jump over the wall and wreck you. If you die to LB in a teamfight, it means either you made a mistake, or your team didn't peel well enough. Her burst pattern puts her at extreme risk, not of death, but of burst so heavy that she won't be able to come back into the teamfight, and if she pulls off the burst pattern without intervention,it means you did something wrong: she shouldn't land a W or an E on you if you play around her correctly.

For squishies, building a Banshee's viel is enough to ensure that you don't get bursted down, unless someone else pops it or she's extremely fed. Keep her at range and don't wander off without your teammates, you'll be good to go.

TL:DR for teamfights Wards to cover your flank are pivitol. She should never be allowed in W range of a squishy, and her E should be intercepted. Grouping counters her hard. Queue up skills on her while she's out of range so that they go in instantly once she Ws in. The goal is not to kill, it's to pok/burst/cc down enough that she can't rejoin the fight. Spirit visage pulls the teeth out of her burst, and unless she's uber fed, she won't be able to kill you with just mimicked R => Q => E.

Conclusion. LB requires you to change your playstyle. While she's an assassin, she has a specific threat range. Play around that threat range, don't go inside it iunless her W is on cooldown. She will win fights, but can't start them unless you make a mistake. If you both never get in a fight in lane, she'll have lost the lane. The goal isn't to kill her, it's to reduce her HP enough that she either has to back or can't rejoin a teamfight. Dots are your best friend, because they persist through her passive and her W. Waveclear a lot, because LB's waveclear isn't that great and is tied to her only escape, as well as comes with her biggest mana cost. LB must flank in order to be effective in teamfights, ward up and don't let her. Don't wander off alone. Play all of these things right, and the LB will no longer feel like she's lacking in counterplay.

Hope this helps out some of the people that are frustrated by LB.