Don't Feed Leona -- In-Depth Champion Information (League of Legends)

While I've always been a big fan of Amumu and, to a lesser degree, Galio, whenever Splug has played a tank recently it's usually Leona. I figured she'd be a good next pick for the Don't Feed series (in part so he can stop playing a tank while I play a carry).

I was pleasantly surprised by her. I knew she could be annoying, but I didn't realize how effective she was at locking down targets and disrupting teams. Her short cooldowns (benefited even more with cooldown reduction) let her be extremely annoying while avoiding the huge "let's wait a minute for my ult" problem that Amumu runs into. Among the tanks I've played, Leona may be the best yet for initiation and sustained disruption. She is heavily skill-shot oriented though, so be warned.

The very last clip is a nod to Fortify, the summoner spell on Riot's cutting block. Per the rest, there were only a couple games where I wound up with a disproportionate number of kills to assists (one of them being where I'm solo top and went 10-4 before they conceded). Most of what's in this video is me helping others acquire kills, and me occasionally snagging one for any of a variety of reasons (shield going off, player getting away, or accidentally on my part).

NOTE: The following is personal opinion, based on my own experiences. They aren't included in the video because they are opinion, not the absolute best way to play, so please understand that these aren't a hard recommendation and you should check guides on solomid.net, mobafire, and leaguecraft.

Runes: Magic Pen reds, Dodge (or Armor if you don't have Dodge) Yellows, and Cooldown Reduction (or magic resist) blues, along with Movement Speed quintessences.

Masteries: 9/21/0, with an emphasis on getting CDR and Magic Pen in offensive and also the Dodge run speed in Defensive (only if you've got Dodge runes as well).

Skills: First point in Shield of Daybreak because this can be used not only for initiating but also escaping at low level (whereas Zenith is strictly initiating, not escaping). After this, one point in Zenith Blade, then maxing Eclipse and Zenith Blade, in that order. Ultimate is always priority.

Gear: Philosopher's Stone and Heart of Gold are very early purchases, along with boots. I'll tend to get either merc treads or cooldown reduction boots, though let me emphasize that cooldown reduction boots are nearly always the better choice (you can get tenacity from upgrading Philo Stone later if necessary). Heart of Gold isn't actually necessary as it may be more prudent to just move to another item.

It seems unusual for a tank/support with all magic damage, but Phage/Frozen Mallet are very effective purchases, and I nearly always get them. Leona has a problem staying in range, which is why I get movespeed quints, and why I go w/ Phage/Mallet early. Also, Glacial Shroud for the cooldown reduction was good, and Frozen Heart was a sensible upgrade against AD heavy teams. Force of Nature was another purchase I usually didn't get to but strongly recommend for mid-late game because of the additional movement speed (and the great itemization all around).


Next up for Don't Feed? I'm not sure, maybe an AP caster over the weekend because a lot of you have been requesting them. Fizz will of course be my immediate focus next week, once he's out, but I may get one or two more DFs out before then.

Keep an eye on my website at http://www.ciderhelm.com for some more information on the state of things. I expect to post a big announcement soon!

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Play League of Legends (it's free!):
http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4cf4f5d5a31b5102048398

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Help people learn about this series by sharing your thoughts on the official LoL forum thread:
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1300324

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Don't Feed is a video series that covers champions in greater detail than the Champion Spotlight. This series is descriptive, not prescriptive, meaning that I aim to provide you with solid information without telling you which items, runes, or masteries are best (as these frequently change). With this information, you can better play against these champions, and you may be interested in learning to play them. Even after a thousand games, I am still learning new things about these champions by making these videos, and I'm sure the vast majority of LoL players can learn a lot from these.

My goal is to provide these videos for all champions in League of Legends.

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I've written a book! Want to learn tons about tanking and the math and theory behind it? The concepts apply to both MMORPG and MOBA games. Learn more here:
http://ciderhelm.com/?page_id=913

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[Ciderhelm]

@JFJMJCK "While Leona can solo lane, she is very effective when paired with a high-damage player in a lane." She can solo lane, that's exactly what I said. And I did pretty well when I solo top'd. However, a number of other champions can simply bring more to solo top, and benefit their team more by being there while Leona is helping secure kills in a duo lane. ;-)

[ZomsEcho]

Whenever I play leona I spam my dance next to the brush so it looks like I'm cutting the grass.

[AshdensSweetheart]

@Gearsome Lies. You just have to outsmart your opponent if that's your goal.

[Gearsome]

"Don't feed Leona"

Impossible to feed her, with her lousy damage she can't intentionally kill anyone :p

[Jaminggo101]

Very informative... 2 thumbs up!^_^

[TheLandis18]

Leona is my champion of choice. I usually team up with my friend who plays Yi on fives matches. I focus on getting Yi fed while harassing the enemy. Usually, I'll just walk in with eclipse ready, let Yi Alpha Strike in, and then use Zenith Blade + Shield of Daybreak to stop them long enough for Yi to finish them off. This strategy of course has it's weaknesses. Especially against enemies that can pull, (Volibear, Singed, Nautilus...)

[CountBuffon]

* Leona, having two stuns and a snare, is especially great for helping land skill shots... Leona + Veigar is a lot of Dark Matter sure to land, even if they have Mercury's Treads.

* Stacking health early can help, as Eclipse keeps your MR and armor high enough when needed for the early game.

* Abyssal Scepter is really your only way of increasing Sunlight damage. The AP makes a decent difference too, so I prefer this as my standalone MR item.

[PwNThoSeNooBzzz]

Thumbs up. I love your videos so subscribed to your chanel :D

[Opamigaaa]

Seriously you use the word ''may'' in like 80% of all your sentences

[AsianKatana]

I wasn't listening half the rest of the video, I was watching the gameplay.

[xXSnowyTiitanXx]

@deathwraith1234 Well... It isn't obligatory... So. Yes. It already is mandatory?

[deathwraith1234]

it should be mandatory for every leona player ever to watch this.