By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG League Reporter
Lissandra is a close range mage with an abundance of crowd control. Her kit grants her a lot of versatility, switching from ganker to kiter to initiator in the blink of an eye. While her damage output is on the low side, she can do an incredible amount of burst if she commits wholly to an engagement. She’ll mostly be found in mid, but can be placed in top if your team composition really needs it. Players with a knowledge of other close range mages, like Ahri or Swain, will likely take to her the easiest.
Pros:
Strong passive
Her gap closer is nuts
Scary initiation
Oodles of crowd control
Decent wave clear
Versatile ultimate
Good auto attack animation
Cons:
High mana costs force her into a passive early game
Her gap closer is predictable when used in the open
Unreliable escape
Has to be near point blank range to use her full potential
Squishy
Slowest movespeed in the game (She’s encased in ice after all)
Ability Summary
Iceborn [Passive]: Applies a buff that makes her next spell cost no mana. The cooldown is longer than all of her non ultimate spells, but is reduced every time she hits a champion with a movement impairing effect. This cannot be shortened by cooldown reduction items.
Ice Shard [Q]: Short range, fast moving skillshot that deals damage and slows the first target it hits before dealing damage in a cone behind the target. Incredible ranged harass on a low cooldown. Very useful in the laning phase, where you can use the minion waves to extend its range. Due to its high mana cost, though, you need to be careful with how often you use it when her passive isn’t up.
Ring of Frost [W]: AoE that deals damage and snares all enemies around Lissandra.
Glacial path [E]: Long range, slow moving skillshot that damages and slow all enemies it hits. If it is triggered again, Lissandra will teleport to the current location of the projectile. Great for farming, escape and ganking.
Frozen Tomb [R]: When cast on an enemy, it will stun them, then slow and deal damage to all enemies within a radius of the original target. When cast on Lissandra, it will immobilise her, while also making her untargetable and invulnerable, while also dealing damage and slowing all enemies in a radius around her. While in this state she cannot cast spells, in the same way as a Zhonya’s Hourglass. As a rule of thumb, the stun is better used for duels or small fights, while the self-cast is better used in larger team fights.
Combos & Shenanigans
Lissandra’s game plan will change over the course of the game. She’ll start out very passive, poking away at the enemy with auto attacks and Ice Shard, rarely casting when her passive isn’t up. When she starts looking for kills, and begins roaming about the map, she transforms into a different beast entirely.
Glacial Path is her primary ganking tool, but it can be extremely obvious when thrown out into the open. When fired, it leaves a glowing claw marker on the ground, so an enemy will always know exactly where you’re heading. However, if the ability is aimed into a place the enemy can’t see (past a wall, into brush, outside vision range), the marker won’t appear. The best option though is to always aim for a wall, where it will cover the claw marker and have its range extended by the positioning auto-correct. When abusing the auto correct, she can get around many common ward spots by jumping over two walls at once, or by using very thick walls to jump almost the length of a screen. By doing this though you are sacrificing a multi target slow, and a good part of Lissandra’s damage potential. Weighing up the benefits of surprise against its other benefits should be factored into any assault. If you’re ganking into a lane where an ally already has some crowd control, it is often better to follow up rather than to start fights by yourself.
Once the fight is joined, Lissandra is very straightforward. Use your Ring of Frost to hold enemies in place before you hit them with Ice Shard (and Glacial Path if necessary). If you fear retaliation, use Frozen Tomb on Lissandra. Otherwise, use it on the enemy and proceed to blasting them to bits. Bear in mind that in order for Lissandra to go for her full kill combo, she needs to be close enough to taste the enemy, so her target either needs to die or she’s going to be in for a world of hurt. In a team fight, it is often best to use Lissandra as a follow-up initiator before she gets her Zhonya’s Hourglass, as the short duration on her ultimate’s invulnerability gives her team a very small window to follow up on before she’s smashed into the floor. This is, unsurprisingly, much worse in solo queue than in organised play.
Thankfully, Lissandra doesn’t always need to act like a mad dive bomber, and can instead use her numerous crowd control abilities to keep an enemy at arm’s length. While she ties for the slowest base move speed in the game, a single hit from any of her abilities immediately means she’s moving faster than her foe. This often means that against melee enemies, Lissandra can keep herself close enough to use her snare, but continue to position herself just barely outside of their melee auto attacks.
Conclusions
While her voice work is very similar to Syndra’s, her aesthetics are certainly distinctive. Her spell effects are impressive without being cluttered, and her walking animation is eye catching. I’m not entirely sure why her design removed her eyes but still kept in a low cut top, especially since she’s not exactly a sexy looking woman. Her launch skin isn’t too impressive, just a red tint on a normally blue character.
I’ve really enjoyed the character, and think she’s got a lot of potential. As is well known by now, crowd control is king in LoL, and Lissandra is eyeballing that crown, if not wearing it on weekends. If she gets ahead, she starts doing terrifying amounts of damage, and even if she falls behind, her team can make use of her incredible amount of control. Her only real downsides are her passive early game and her nonexistent durability. Even the former isn’t too bad, since her early game is safe, she’s just not going to be getting many kills in the laning phase. I don’t think she’s going to be a ban/ first pick, but I do think she’s a strong addition to the roster that will have a dramatic impact on any game she’s in.
Final Verdict
She looks like a strong pick that’s both versatile and fun. If you usually go for these sorts of characters, she’s a great addition to your roster.
To discuss Lissandra yourselves, post in the massive League of Legends thread in the free to play MMOs section, or post in the comments section below. If you haven’t tried League of Legends yet, you’re missing out.
