Arcane Comet is a viable rune for toplane or support along with Aftershock. This is due to the nature of the champions you will be against - Yone, Fiora, Camille, Tahm Kench, Malphite, Irelia etc...These champions are mostly melee and having Arcane Comet allows you to consistently punish them and poke them for trying to CS or trade any kind of damage! Aftershock allows you to play a lot more utility based focusing on slows and stuns with a more tanky low risk playstyle. Sadly both of these runes fall off late game unless you have a solid team around you to support and help along the way.
Luden's CompanionIs the recommended start for Lissandra. It gives her mana, haste, a great amount of AP and allows her abilities to burst down waves with the proc. It is a good item for Lissandra, and will be very beneficial in team fights/early trades in lane. Being able to poke from afar and constantly proc this allows you to play safely yet still poke down your enemy laner.
Sorcerer's Shoes give you extra pen and movement speed. Penetration is so important on Mages including Lissandra. It is also very good versus tanky team comps, especially combined with Liandry's Torment. If the enemy has lots of CC or lots of AP champions, Mercury's Treads is preferred, this is fantastic with Lissandra and her escape mechanism. It's great being able to have reduced stun duration along with her E/R + Flash for enhanced mobility.
For your next item, you’ll need to go Zhonya's Hourglass. It offers you extra protection against high burst champions like assassins and will help save your life in team fights. It also has good synergy with your Ultimate Frozen Tomb which can prolong your life enough in teamfights to allow peel and disengage. This item is an integral buy for Lissandra due to its extreme synergy.
Stormsurge is a fantastic additional in Season 14 for mages like Lissandra, the burst is easy to proc and comboed with her Ult and Passive..it brings destruction to teamfights. It is good on Lissandra because of the synergy with her kit and general playstyle. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is an option also as Lissandra has high mobility in her kit if you want to play more utility or tankier. It synergises well and allows her to heavily slow the enemies. If you need to, you can also go for a Morellonomicon to reduce the enemies healing depending on the matchup.
The new changes to Shadowflame make it a must have on nearly every AP champion. Once you've gained enough burst or base AP you can watch the chaos unfold with your abilities criting on low life enemies. If needed this can be swapped out for Void Staff OR you can have both if you want to choose damage over survivability.
For your final item, you should go Rabadon's Deathcap. It will heavily increase your AP thanks to the raw and Passive stats it provides, buying this late allows you to have your highest potential Ability Power. In the late game, it will also heavily increase your damage output and make you a huge threat.
Every champion has some pros and cons, and Lissandra is no exception.
Pros
★ Can be played multiple lanes with a variety of runes. She can be built full damage or off-tank.
★ Although this guide only focused on Lissandra in 1 role, she can be played in multiple positions - support, midlane, toplane and even APC.
★ Very strong CC and impact in teamfights due to her Frozen Tomb.
★ Hard to lock down due to her hyper mobility and slows.
★ Very good engage pick with strong burst damage when built correctly.
★ Can roam and help with objectives/other lanes due to her E.
★ Melee champs have a very difficult time against her .
Cons
★ Low health early and can be punished for it.
★ Low range compared to that of other mages.
★ A failed combo can easily be abused.
★ Low damage if not built correctly.
★ Doesn't scale into late game as effectively as other mages.
★ Very team reliant as all of her abilities are CC focused.
★ Conclusion and Final thoughts!★
Lissandra is an excellent mage that excels in teamfights, she can do wonders to set up her team and herself up for success. While she does have certain limitations with her early low damage, short range and her low carry potential, she more than makes up for it with her tremendous CC/lockdown and her ability to be useful to the team even if she falls behind. Lissandra is a champion that a team can rely on for strong engages and picks to help setup teamfights. Take control of the Ice Queen of Death, learn to harness her frosty touch and send enemies straight to the Frost Tomb while laughing in LP gains.
