Hey League! Just wanted to share a few ideas for Leblanc with you.
Hi League! I'm Cardi. I've done a few reworks in the past for various champions, mainly because it's a fun hobby to design champion kits and ideate on improving them (because who doesn't love thinking about their favorite champion?). This time I have a rework of my favorite champion, Leblanc. Hope you'll enjoy these ideas, and remember damage and numbers can always be tuned by Riot. The main goal of this rework is to re-imagine her potential as a deceptive magician/assassin.
Leblanc, the Deceiver
Magnificent Finale (Passive): Leblanc gains the Illusion buff when she kills a unit for half a second. If she drops below 40% of her maximum health (60 second static cooldown) or kills a champion, she gains an Illusion buff that lasts three times longer instead. If Leblanc takes damage while under the effects of Illusion, she becomes invisible for 1.5 seconds.
If Leblanc takes fatal damage, she vanishes from the map for 1.5 seconds (360 static second cooldown) and re-appears in a location nearby with 1% of her maximum health (will prioritize going over walls when near thin ones).
> -When I think of Leblanc, I think of a fantastic magician who can seemingly disappear and escape from impossible situations. I'm hoping the vanish on death will help the greatest of Leblancs (think Faker level) pull off stunningly amazing plays when he (or she) does make that one mistake. The illusion on kill works to Leblanc's favor if she plays well, allowing her a method of escaping once she's killed an enemy champion if she so chooses to use distortion's return offensively.
Sigil of Illusion (Q): Leblanc damages an enemy and marks it. Her spells can activate the mark to deal bonus damage. When cast while invisible or from fog of war, Leblanc summons a clone from a random location within range of the target that casts the sigil in her stead before disappearing in a puff of smoke after a few seconds. She can control the clone with alt-click, and it has no leash range.
> -Her clone is moved to her sigil so she can trick her opponents into wasting crucial abilities on her if she's good. More manual execution on the part of Leblanc, but a greater reward if done well.
**Distortion (W): **Leblanc dashes at a speed that increases with this ability’s level until 0.75 seconds have passed, she exceeds a maximum range from her starting location, or until Distortion is re-activated. The dash follows the cursor and can change direction steadily. When the dash ends, Leblanc deals damage in a small area around herself and summons a return point at her starting location. She can blink back to her starting location within six seconds once it’s summoned if she does not go further than a certain range from it. If Leblanc ends this spell while she’s within impassable terrain, she automatically blinks back to her return point.
> -This one's a little complex, so bear with me. Basically, Leblanc can dash straight slightly further than what she can do now, but at decreased speed until later levels. However, the main difference is that she can move almost freely with the dash, not unlike Sion's ultimate. This lets her do really weird maneuvers through walls or dodge straight line projectiles while damaging her enemies by moving in an arc. The second part where she has a maximum range on the return is to prevent Leblanc from escaping for free if she chooses to all-in too far from her return point, but gives her more time to complete a series of spells and vanish into thin air (if she's close to fog of war or brush and distorts from there for example). The end goal is to make Leblanc much more manageable for her enemies in lane with a reduced dash speed that scales better into the lategame while giving the deceiver more interesting ways to use her most in-depth ability.
Ethereal Chains (E): Leblanc throws out a chain that damages and latches onto the first target it hits. The chain then shackles the target, slowing it perpetually by 10%. If the target leaves the chain’s maximum range (1200), the slow ends. Additional chains will slow already chained targets by an additional flat bonus of 5%. Doesn't reveal Leblanc from invisibility or fog of war.
> -Root removed in favor of a perpetual slow. Reasoning here is so that Leblanc can use her distortions and chains to confuse her enemies into going one way when she's prepared to break the chain and return to one of her return points in fog of war. Of course, the ability will be doing much less damage without the second damage and root portion, but Leblanc will be able to summon a clone, make it double cast Sigil of illusion for her, and throw a chain out for the finish, all from the fog of war without being seen. A little bit of sustained damage decrease is absolutely no problem for an assassin like her, since her goal isn't to deal the most damage anyway, but rather to assassinate priority targets with her confusing movements, smoke, mirrors, and all.
Mimic (R): Leblanc mimics her last spell with no cost and separate damage.
-Unchanged, because it's pretty useful and balanced already.
Hope you enjoyed reading. If you have any questions on what the re-designed ability is supposed to do or how it's supposed to function in lane, in the mid-game, or in the late-game, please do ask away.
