Champion Guide

Lissandra Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Lissandra is a mid-lane control mage whose whole kit is crowd control. Ice Shard slows in a line and passes through its target, Ring of Frost roots the enemies around her, Glacial Path sends out a claw she can teleport to, and Frozen Tomb either stuns an enemy or encases her in ice so she heals and becomes untargetable, slowing nearby enemies either way. Iceborn Subjugation turns enemies who die near her into Frozen Thralls that slow and then shatter. She plays as an aggressive burst mage who looks for early kills, roams with Glacial Path and decides teamfights with Frozen Tomb.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Lissandra build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Ring with Health Potions, and buy Lost Chapter, a Refillable Potion and a Control Ward on your first back. Luden's Echo is the first item: its mana, ability haste and proc let you clear waves and poke safely. Follow with Sorcerer's Shoes, then Zhonya's Hourglass, which pairs with self-cast Frozen Tomb to survive dives, then Stormsurge, Shadowflame and finally Rabadon's Deathcap. Take Mercury's Treads instead of Sorcerer's Shoes against heavy crowd control or magic damage, Rylai's Crystal Scepter for a tankier utility style, Morellonomicon against healing, Void Staff against magic resist, and Liandry's Torment against tanky teams. Run Electrocute with Taste of Blood, Deep Ward and Ultimate Hunter, plus Manaflow Band and Gathering Storm; Scorch is a good alternative for early poke, and Arcane Comet or Aftershock suit Lissandra in top lane against melee champions. Take Flash with Ignite for early kill pressure, or Teleport. Max Q, then W, then E.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Very strong crowd control and teamfight impact with Frozen Tomb and Ring of Frost.
Hard to lock down thanks to Glacial Path, her slows and self-cast Frozen Tomb.
Melee champions have a very hard time against her, and Glacial Path lets her roam.

Weaknesses

Low health early and short range for a mage.
A failed combo is easy to punish.
Doesn't scale into the late game as well as other mages and relies on her team to follow up.

Laning Phase

Lissandra wants to play aggressively in lane. From level 3, the Glacial Path, Ring of Frost, Ice Shard combo with Electrocute deals a lot of damage, so look for early trades and kills, especially against melee mid laners. Ignite adds kill pressure before level 6 and even lets you fight back against early two-versus-one ganks. Use Ice Shard, and Luden's Echo once you have it, to clear waves and poke from a distance, while Taste of Blood keeps you in lane longer. Aggressive Lissandra often overextends, so use Deep Ward: your wards in the enemy jungle last longer and show the enemy jungler coming.

Mid & Late Game

Use Glacial Path to roam and help other lanes and objectives. In teamfights, engage with Glacial Path, Ring of Frost and Flash, then use Frozen Tomb on the key target, or on yourself to survive a dive. Zhonya's Hourglass after a self-cast Frozen Tomb buys even more time for your team to peel. Ultimate Hunter keeps Frozen Tomb available more often; because all of her damage comes with crowd control, fight alongside your team rather than alone.

Key Tips

Self-cast Frozen Tomb heals you and makes you untargetable, then slows nearby enemies.
Enemies who die near you become Frozen Thralls that slow and then shatter for damage.
Ice Shard passes through its target and damages enemies behind it.
Mercury's Treads plus Glacial Path and Flash make you very hard to catch.