League of Legends: League of Lessons

Now that we've gone a little deeper into the whole concept of the AP carry, you probably want to try them out yourself. That's great: here are some champions I would recommend that have great potential in the right hands. Practice with them; that's the only way to make a good mage great.

Brand, the Burning Vengeance

He melts the opponents in every sense of the word. I'm always impressed by his damage, especially his innate passive ability Blaze. As long as you are able to land a spell on the opponent, you're going to leave a painful 8 percent HP damage over time effect (DoT) on the enemy for 4 seconds. That's additional damage mind you; talk about a fiery death.

During the lane phase, poking with Pillar of Flame and Conflagration won't allow your opponents to stay near the creep wave. Constantly refreshing that Blaze debuff on your opponent keeps them well at bay.

His difficulty in playing mainly comes from the fact he has two skill-shots, Sear and Pillar of Flame. Once you get good though, he really does massive amounts of area of effect (AOE) damage. My tip: Practice his tempo. Casting his skills in succession in the right skill order can really change the outcome of a fight. Don't be too hasty when casting Sear for the secondary stun effect (which triggers if the opponent already has the Blaze debuff). Wait for the right moment. Blaze lasts 4 seconds, so that's a pretty long time.

LeBlanc, the Deceiver

She is simply a beast to play against 1v1. Like Brand, she needs to cast her skills with a certain tempo to be really effective. However, her single target burst and disables make her a really huge threat. Most players like to trigger the silence effect from Sigil of Silence with Distortion. One way to improve is to try using Ethereal Chains instead to proc it.

I like saving up Distortion as a gap closer and an escape mechanism. It's just more effective that way and allows you to mess with the opponents more. Juking is one of LeBlanc's strong points, but most players do not capitalize on it.

LeBlanc is very much an early-to-mid game champion. Win your lane quickly and then start roaming. Your damage does start to stagnate during the team fights, and you can't really AoE down your opponents. You need to assassinate your targets (i.e. the other carries) once the battle starts. Surviving allows you to help crowd control (CC) out the other opponents with Sigil of Silence and Ethreal Chains. Distortion's fairly long cooldown means you'll have to use it wisely. Don't worry, her Sigil and Chain have short cooldowns. This is your utility to the team after the initial burst from the Sigil and Mimic combo; try it out.

Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox

Everything about Ahri's spell kit is just so…alluring. Her Orb of Deception is great for farming and harassing the opponents, not to mention the true damage component of it. Great AoE team fight damage as well. Her Fox-Fire is strong, especially mixed in with Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Each charge of Fox-Fire gives the full 35 percent slow from Scepter so tagging down opponents is really easy. Charm, one of the coolest skill-shots in the game, not only deals damage but also taunts the opponent, making him harmlessly walk towards you. It's a really powerful CC which does moderate amounts of damage.

The signature spell of Ahri though has to be her ultimate, Spirit Rush. It is just so versatile. I recommend you try doing more than just damage to your opponents. Don't be in a rush to use consume all 3 charges. Take it slow. You have 10 seconds to do so. Juking and kiting becomes just so easy with her ultimate. What's more, you can line up a perfect Charm and Orb combo for some devastating damage. In short, she's a highly recommended champion for you to up your game.