Lissandra: Good for the League?

Lissandra is an out of the ordinary mage champion who breaks the 'traditional' mold of high burst damage at middle lane. Her abilities have a slightly below average ap scaling, but the abilties as well as her passive allow sustainability and utility in the form of crowd control. I'll jump right in with a breakdown of her abilities, however keep in mind that these abilities are currently in PBE and are subject to change.

Iceborn (Passive): Lissandra's next ability is cost-free after an 18 second cooldown and the use of her Q, W and R help to reduce the cooldown of Iceborn by 1 second each.

Lissandra's passive gives her a great amount of mana sustainability in lane. With a base mana of 210, timing and careful allocation of abilities are a necessity. That being said, if she is patient and wise in her ability use she can stay in lane for a longer period of time than any other mid lane champ. In tandem with Golem Buff, her passive and the extra cooldown reduction, she can keep her harass in lane a nearly constant menace, not to mention the effects mana regeneration items in her build could do to the equation. 

Ice Shard: Lissandra throws an ice spear in a skillshot that damages (75/110/145/180/215 [+.65 AP] magic damage) and slows (16/19/22/25/28% for 1.5 seconds) the first enemy hit as well as equally damaging those behind the struck target. 

Loosely similar to Anivia's Q Flash Frost in look and function, Ice Shard can be used to pick up slightly out of reach farm that would otherwise put Lissandra's low base health of 365 at risk. The slowing effects can also be used in coordination with a gank from a jungler, either ally or enemy. A shot on a fleeing enemy could slow them in their tracks enough to secure a kill, while a hit on an enemy jungler would slow them down enough for an escape. If a wealthier opponent is getting aggresive in lane, it could be shot in their direction as a deterrence to any future harass. The current cost of Ice Shard is 85 mana at all levels, so early on it's vital to make use of Lissandra's passive with this ability. Ice Shard has a cooldown of 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds, seemingly meant to be used often in case there is an opening to strike or defend.

Ring of Frost: Lissandra casts a ring of frost around herself that damages (70/110/150/190/230 [+.6 AP] magic damage) and instantaneously roots enemies (1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5 seconds) caught within its bounds. 

In situations that Lissandra isn't in danger of taking a large amount of poke, her W can be used farm minions that have grouped up in lane. If there is an opening for an offensive move, she can use her E (explained below) to close the gap to an opponent, activate Ring of Frost, and have a much easier rooted target to aim her slowing Ice Shard at. If Lissandra is being attacked by an aggresive mid laner, an AD caster like Zed for example, Ring of Frost could save her life when they get up close and personal. The current cost of Ring of Frost is 70 mana at all levels so it too is an ability not to be used haphazardly. Ring of Frost has a cooldown of 18/16/14/12/10 seconds, making its crowd control become an increasingly frequent threat as the game progresses. 

Glacial Path: Lissandra casts an icy claw in a long skillshot that deals (70/115/160/205/250 [+.6 AP] magic damage) damage to any enemies the cross its path. Recasting her E will teleport her to wherever her claw may be at the time of casting. 

This ability gives Lissandra a range of freedom in lane due to its great escape capabilities. If she's in danger of attack by lane opponent or by gank and reacts quickly enough, she can cast Glacial Path over a barrier or towards a safer direction, make her assailers follow her in the opposite direction, then activate it again. If they double back to the claw to catch her ahead of time, she could just continue running in the fake-out direction. This ability can also be used as a psychological weapon by setting up in the opponent's mind that if she throws her claw out she is going in for harass or a kill. By being aggresive with it earlier on, she can simply cast the claw to intimidate the opponent and deny them farm. Starting at 80 mana cost and increasing at +5 per level until 100, this keeps the price of escape scaled to the level, so that it doesn't become too cheap. Glacial Path has a cooldown of 24/21/18/15/12 seconds, making it another ability that, with a deeper mana pool, can be used often to make plays or escape them.

Frozen Tomb: Cast on enemy- Target champion is stunned for 1.5 seconds, dealt (150/300/450 [+.7 AP] magic damage) damage and a large ring of Dark Ice originates from the target, dealing damage and slowing any enemies (20% for 3 seconds) within its reaches.

Cast on self- Lissandra freezes herself in a Frozen Tomb, becoming untargetable, invincible, unable to take any actions for 1.5 seconds. A large ring of Dark Ice originates from her, dealing (150/300/450 [+.7 AP] magic damage) damage and slowing (20% for 3 seconds) any enemies within its reaches.

Lissandra's ultimate ability is a major advantage to have during teamfights. She can hide behind fog of war or a barrier and send out Glacial Path into the midst of an enemy team, teleport in and throw an Ice Shard before ulting either herself or an enemy, depending on the reaction from their team. If Lissandra casts Frozen Tomb on herself, she basically gets a free portion of  Zhonya's Hourglass, allowing herself to get right into the thick of things during a team fight and disrupt the enemy AD Carry or AP mid. Should she purchase a  Zhonya's Hourglass for herself (which would be hilarious to have both) she could not only use her ult to stun a target enemy, slow most if not all of their team and THEN protect herself from any damage that could come her way by activating Zhonya's. At 100 mana cost at all levels, it'll remain a costly spell for Lissandra until she has a deeper mana pool. Frozen tomb has a cooldown of 130/105/80 seconds, keeping with her abilities' theme of the late game threat when the mana cost is less expensive and the cooldown time is much shorter.

Another fun easter egg that I believe will come with the release of Lissandra is the combined release of the Trundle and Sejuani reworks as well as the new ARAM map Howling Abyss. If you're interested in the lore behind League of Legends, Riot opened to the community's pleasure a series of three journals describing interactions between the capitol city of Demacia and the northern wastelands of Frejlord. All three of the journals and Lissandra's lore intertwine Ashe, Sejuani and Trundle and Lissandra (told by the daring scouts Quinn and Valor) in a conflict that could drastically change the world of Valoran. Here you can find the last of the three journals that contains links to all three. To add icing on top of the Frejlord cake, there are even three new frosty skins on their way out to the public, Runeguard Volibear, Ice Drake Shyvana and Blackfrost Anivia. 

Spring may be turning into summer, but winter is coming!