Lissandra

Overview

A great team fighter, Lissandra is a champion that excels at diving enemy backlines and just being in the thick of it in general. She thrives in chaos and will be a great pick to supplement any AoE damage your team brings, and she’ll bring a big dose of her own to whittle down enemies for your team to then mow down. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more. 

Keys to Remember About Lissandra

1. You have to go in to get real damage done, but that doesn't mean you have to go in just because you pressed E. It's all about timing with Lissandra, and throwing in feints will help catch enemies off guard.

2. You have extremely good wave clear thanks to Ice Shard [Q], which means your greatest strength early is to push the wave in and then use your mobility to look for picks on roams with your ultimate.

Strengths

Lissandra is extremely deadly when approaching from flanks or from fog of war, as she’s then able to easily jump on enemy carries and hit them with her Frozen Tomb [R], which when comboed with the rest of her kit is often enough to secure a kill. This will then proc her Iceborn Subjugation [P], which can help snowball fights out of control for you as the AoE damage continues to pile atop itself. This kill pressure exists throughout the game as she is one of the best champions in mid lane at both jumping on opponents and at locking them down. 

Weaknesses

Without Zhonya’s, you’ll often be forced to use Frozen Tomb [R] on yourself, which will lower your damage threat and also lock yourself into place. Her kit in general can be difficult to master as Glacial Path [E] gives you some mobility, but is another layer of decision making on when or where to use it. You’ll need the ability to instantly decide on what the best options are once a fight begins, and proper target prioritization can be difficult in the midst of chaos. In general your kit doesn’t have as much damage as other mid laners, and a lot of it can be frontloaded (especially without the passive), so if you are unable to secure kills off the bat, an extended fight can be very bad for you. 

Game Plan 

1. Early Game: You will have good wave clear and potential for roaming, so look to shove your wave so you can be ready to support your jungler early. Once you hit level 6, you can either set up kills with your jungler’s help or roam to fish for kills in side lanes. 

2. Mid Game: Your wave clear will allow you to instantly shove a wave in and then rotate around the map to look for kills. You should keep tabs on where squishy enemies are and be ready to jump on them from behind whenever possible. 

3. Late Game: With Zhonya’s Hourglass, you can look to be the playmaker by jumping onto enemies whenever they step too far forward. A good engage from you with proper follow up from your teammates can instantly win you the game.