Leblanc Rework

Hello there! Cardi here. I've been a Leblanc main ever since I started this game back in Season Two. I've been with her through all of her changes, for the better or worse. In this post, I'll be suggesting my ideas for a Leblanc rework and my reasoning behind them. Enjoy.

...........................................................................................................................................

Mirror Image (Passive): If Leblanc becomes invisible while below 50% health, she’ll spawn an invisible clone at her location for eight seconds (both Leblanc and her clone reveal each other if either one is revealed). This effect has a 75 second cooldown that scales with cooldown reduction.

Firstly, Leblanc's passive has been given a slight tweak. Whenever Leblanc renders herself invisible through her abilities, she'll pop a clone out if she's below half. However, she will always spawn a clone (and therefore put her passive on cooldown) if she becomes invisible while below half, so the passive is still a passive, not an active. This'll help separate the good Leblancs from the great, as misuse of invisibility will leave her clone-less when she needs it. Also, if Leblanc itemizes for cooldown reduction, she'll be rewarded for doing so.

Sigil of Malice (Q): Leblanc casts a sigil in a direction that damages enemies it passes through, stopping when it hits an enemy champion. She can also cast sigil into a mirror to bounce it off a mirror (deals damage again after being reflected). The sigil scales better with ability power the longer it travels (the mirror makes it travel an even longer distance).

Next up is Leblanc's new sigil. Its singe target burst has been significantly lowered in favor of a poke-oriented waveclear skillshot. Leblanc's always had issues with waveclear, and this ability evens her out against other push-heavy mid matchups. In return, some of her burst potential has been moved to different areas. Leblanc's always been a ranged, burst-mage assassin, so keeping her distance should reward her. Having her Q function as a skillshot ensures that even if Leblanc's ahead, her opponents still have the opportunity to avoid certain death with proper movement and positioning.

Distortion (W): Leblanc dashes 400 units and summons a mirror from where she dashed that she can instantaneously teleport back to within the next six seconds. The mirror shatters and disappears after six seconds or after being hit by three basic attacks (abilities count as two). If Leblanc touches or dashes through a mirror she becomes invisible for a short duration. Leblanc can only turn invisible from and return to any unique mirror once. Passively, grants Leblanc’s attacks bonus magic damage every four seconds (static cooldown).

Cooldown: 21/19/17/15/13 seconds Stealth duration: 0.9/1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3 seconds

Distortion has been changed significantly. Its damage has been removed and ranged has been nerfed. And instead of pads, mirrors are summoned when Leblanc dashes. The mirrors add an extra layer of deceptiveness and depth to Leblanc. After all, she is the deceiver. Shatter Leblanc's mirrors to prevent her escape and invisibility. Fail to do so and she can blink back and become invisible, almost like she's vanished into thin air. In addition to adding more of the "deceiver" element into her, it doubles as her new method of bursting down single targets. Casting spells onto the mirror will bounce the spell off the mirror, increasing both its travel distance and air time. Bouncing Sigil of Malice off the mirror at maximum range instantly rewards Leblanc when she hits her opponent by making a huge chunk of their life bar disappear. It's not all fun and games for Leblanc though. The range and cooldown nerf means enemies will have an opportunity to punish her squishiness if she positions poorly, and shattering her mirrors before locking her down can really mess up her day.

Ethereal Spike (E): Leblanc flings an ethereal spike that becomes chains upon striking a target, rooting and marking them. The root lasts for one second an the mark lasts for 4 seconds. Leblanc’s other damaging abilities can activate the mark to deal magic damage that greatly increases based on the target’s missing health. She can also cast the spike to bounce it off a mirror.

Leblanc's chains have become a spike that becomes chains that bind the first unit struck. This accomplishes two things. The first is that it removes some rare but weird interactions and visual/gameplay bugs where opponents clearly touch the chain, but are not struck because they were not hit by the tip of the chain. The second is that it gives the ever-squishy Leblanc a form of instant disable. Ahri is a very good example of a powerful burst-mage assassin who can function effectively because of an instant disable. Land ethereal spike on a low-health target before casting a Sigil of Malice or bouncing a spell off a mirror to activate the mark and finish off low-health targets.

Mimic (R): Leblanc shifts to her secondary ability set, allowing her to mimic her spells. Higher ranks increase the number of spells Leblanc can mimic at a given time.

Cooldown: 30 seconds Maximum number of spells mimicked: 1/2/3

(Ex: Level one mimic disables the other two spells after one is cast, level two disables the remaining spell once two are cast, level three enables all three spells to be mimicked on individual 30 second cooldowns).

Leblanc should remain and has always been a difficult champion to master, and her ultimate should make her feel that way. Similar in some ways to other transforming champions, mimic will allow Leblanc to mimic any of her abilities without a specific order to them. This creates room for whole new combos that never before existed previous because of the old mimic's limitations. The cooldown has been stabilized and therefore increased at later ranks, but the number of abilities that she can mimic has been increased. With the limitations out of the way, Leblanc can perform her deceptive maneuvers to outwit and outplay her opponents in the late game without sacrificing her burst potential. Successfully landing Leblanc's various skillshots while simultaneously keeping track of Leblanc's mirrors, passive, and shifting ability sets are only a few of the many new tasks Leblanc masters will have to face when playing the master of deceit.

*** "It's all smoke and mirrors." ***

Cheers, Cardi