League of Legends - Leona Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Leona

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Sunlight INNATE : Damaging spells afflict enemies with Sunlight for 3.5 seconds. When allied Champions deal damage to those targets, they consume the Sunlight to deal additional magic damage.
	Shield of Daybreak (Cost: 45/50/55/60/65 Mana, Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5)ACTIVE:Next basic attack deals 30/55/80/105/130 (+30% Ability Power) bonus magic damage and stuns for 1 second.
	Eclipse (Effect Radius: 275, Cost: 60 Mana, Cooldown: 14)ACTIVE: Grants 20/30/40/50/60 (+20% of bonus Armor) bonus Armor and 20/30/40/50/60 (+20% of bonus Magic Resistance) Magic Resist for 3 seconds. When the effect ends, nearby enemies struck take 60/100/140/180/220 (+40% Ability Power) magic damage and Leona retains her bonus Armor and Magic Resist for 3 seconds.
	Zenith Blade (Target Range: 875, Collision Radius: 35, Speed: 2000, Cost: 60 Mana, Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9)ACTIVE: Strikes all enemies in a line dealing 60/100/140/180/220 (+40% Ability Power) magic damage. The last enemy Champion struck will be rooted for 0.5 seconds and Leona will dash to them.
	Solar Flare (Target Range: 1200, Effect Radius: 250, Inner Radius: 100, Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 90/75/60)ACTIVE: Calls down a radiant beam of solar energy dealing 100/175/250 (+80% Ability Power) magic damage and slowing enemies by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the flare are stunned instead of slowed.Leona’s sword remains charged with Incandescence, causing her next 3/4/5 basic attacks to gain 100 range and deal 30/40/50 (+15% Ability Power) bonus magic damage on hit.

Strategy

• Her (Q) Shield of Daybreak can be used offensively and defensively. If you’re planning to engage, always try to empower your auto attack with this skills before you auto attack high priority targets such as the enemy carries. Defensively, you can help your lane partner escape a lane gank with a well-timed (Q) Shield of Daybreak to the enemy champion who’s wailing at your lane partner.
• (Q) Shield of Daybreak can also be activated to quickly dispatch of enemy wards.
• (E) Zenith Blade can go through the enemy back line during the laning phase and clashes. Use this as an advantage if your team needs to shut down a snowballing enemy carry.
• (R) Solar Flare is an excellent engagement skill, as it stuns enemy champions who are caught in its center and it can be casted at a certain range. It is best to target high-priority champions such as the enemy carries to lessen their effectiveness in clashes and possibly eliminate them during team fights.
• Remember to cast (W) Eclipse whenever you begin to initiate. It provides Leona with armor and magic resistance bonuses which helps her tank enemy damage while she disables the damage-dealers of the opposing team.
• Try to hit as many enemies with your (R) Solar Flare, (E) Zenith Blade and (W) Eclipse, as these skills inflict Sunlight (passive) on them. Your teammates, in turn, can deal significant damage to enemy champions who have incurred your Sunlight (passive).

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Support (Standard)
Flash	Exhaust

or

Support (Offensive)
Flash	Ignite

Item builds

Support

Starter Items
Relic Shield	Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation x3	Warding Totem

Core Items
Sightstone	Face of the Mountain	Locket of the Iron Solari

Face of the Mountain – Face of the Mountain provides shielding for Leona’s allied carries, which is essential especially during clashes or when your allied carries are being targeted by the enemy team.

Sightstone – Sightstone provides wards that can help your team thwart any gank attempts by the enemy team. Good Support players always prioritize this item as it also provides vital information at various points of a match (i.e placing a ward on a highly-contested objective like Baron or Dragon, etc.).

Locket of the Iron Solari – This item provides armor and magic resistance for Leona and scales with her (W) Eclipse. Additionally, this enables Leona to shield her allies during team fights, essentially keeping them alive during clashes.

Full Item Build
Face of the Mountain	Sightstone	Locket of the Iron Solari
Mercury’s Treads	Knight’s Vow	Redemption

Mercury Treads – Leona shines when she hits all her skills against the enemy team. This often means she is always going to be in the middle of the enemy team, taking the brunt of the damage. Mercury Treads helps her shake off any crowd control spells she might have received earlier from enemies, and allows her to return and protect her team’s carries.

Knight’s Vow – Another item that is useful to Leona and her team, Knight’s Vow provides added protection to allied carries, as this item’s active spell lets Leona receive a portion of the damage incurred by her partnered ally.

Redemption – This item gives Leona the ability to heal her team. Redemption is essential when it comes team fights, as Leona’s role in a team apart from initiating clashes is to ensure her allied carries are alive after each team fight.

Situational Items
Randuin’s Omen	Frozen Heart	Dead Man’s Plate
Gargoyle Stoneplate	Zz’Rot Portal	Zeke’s Convergence

Randuin’s Omen – This item gives Leona health and armor bonus which are essential during team fights. Its active spell also enables Leona to slow enemy champions so that her team can catch up and lock down high-priority targets such as enemy carries.

Frozen Heart – This item gives bonus mana and health, as well as cooldown reduction. Leona’s spells will benefit from Frozen Heart as it enables her to cast her skills frequently.

Dead Man’s Plate – This item gives health and armor bonuses, as well as the ability to slow enemies if you hit them with a charged up auto attack. This benefits Leona as she can stick to high priority targets and disable them for her team to deliver the killing blow.

Gargoyle Stoneplate – This item makes Leona extremely hard to take down. It gives her additional armor and magic resistance as long as she is close to enemy champions, as well as an active spell that grants her bonus current and maximum health. She can activate Gargoyle Stoneplate after she has casted all her skills and is waiting for them to cooldown.

Zz’Rot Portal – If you feel your team needs lane pressure, purchase Zz’Rot Portal. This item provides good armor and magic resistance bonuses, and once you place the portal in a lane, it summons Void creeps that target enemy turrets until it gets destroyed, provided it is in range.

Zeke’s Convergence – This item provides more crowd control whenever Leona initiates a team fight. Its active spell enhances the potency of Leona’s allies by slowing enemies too close to her and amplifying allied skills against them.

Playing Against

• Do your best to avoid Leona’s skills. If you manage to juke her skills, you can engage and punish her.
• Do not clump together in-lane or during team fights. Leona’s (E) Zenith Blade and (R) Solar Flare can disable multiple targets and allow her to reach your team’s carries if you are not careful with your positions.
• Leona is susceptible to poke damage such as your auto attacks and/or skills during the laning phase, as she lacks health regeneration.
• Coordinate with your team to displace Leona if she manages to get into your team’s back line or your carries.

Hard Counter

Morgana – Her Black Shield can negate all of Leona’s crowd control, as long as the shield persists. Her Dark Binding can also root Leona in place and leave her susceptible to damage.

Alistar – Alistar can punish Leona with his crowd control skills – if Leona decides to initiate, Alistar can knock her up with Pulverize, fend her off or into their turret with Headbutt and keep her their with Trample.

Janna – Janna specializes in keeping enemies away from her team’s carries. She can thwart Leona’s (E) Zenith Blade with a well-timed Howling Gale. She can protect her carries with her Eye of the Storm and subsequently punish Leona by hitting her with Zephyr, slowing her down and leaving her open to pokes and harass from Janna’s lane partner. During clashes, she can use her Monsoon to push away all enemy champions and heal her team at the same time, rendering the enemy team’s initiate pointless.

Zyra – Zyra can harass Leona in-lane with Deadly Spines and root her and her lane partner with Grasping Roots. She can also provide free vision for brushes with Rampant Growth, limiting the chances of ganks from enemy junglers. During clashes, Zyra can cast Stranglethorns to knock up the enemy team and leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks by her team.

Karma – She can harass Leona with Inner Flame or Soul Flare during the laning phase. She can also punish Leona with Focused Resolve or Renewal if she tries to initiate Karma’s lane partner with (E) Zenith Blade. Consequently, Karma can shield her allies with Inspire or Defiance should Leona decide to engage and start a team fight with her (R) Solar Flare.

Lulu – Lulu can harass Leona in-lane with her Glitterlance, slowing her and leaving her open for Lulu’s lane partner to punish Leona. Consequently, Lulu can buff her lane partner with Whimsy, which provides bonus movement speed to allied champions, as well as provide a shield with Help, Pix! should Leona decide to lead with (E) Zenith Blade; she can also provide further punishment to Leona by casting Whimsy on her, rendering her in a hexed state which silences her, and slowing her more by casting Wild Growth to her ally or herself.

Strategy video

COMING SOON

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