Talk:Lissandra/@comment-1695916-20140118160012/@comment-9048637-20140121022257

Whist I personally prefer to play Lissandra as a utility mage, I can certainly see the attractiveness of assassin Lissandra, particularly in a low-team-coördination situation (i.e. solo queue). Since I don't play it myself, I can't speak too authoritatively on the build for it, but DfG would be core, yes, as on any AP champ looking for massive single target burst. I imagine Lich Bane would also work rather well on her, given that to ult an enemy you have to be in AA-range anyway (and more mobility is always nice). Otherwise, just your standard litany of heavy AP items; Zhonya's would probably be necessary since this style of building leaves you rather squishy, and ideally you want to be ulting an enemy, not yourself. Rabadon's of course, Void Staff to counter MR, Liandry's after you've fallen off and are just peeling for your marksman. Or something like that.

If you want to focuse on teamfight presence and utility, however, then I favour a bruisy path. RoA, despite what you've heard, is good here for the massive HP and mana it affords; nor is the AP actually all that bad (80 at full charges). Liandry's is now your core damage item, synergizing well with all your crowd control and the fact that a lot of your time should be spent keeping the enemy front line off your squishies. Beyond that, it's situational. Abyssal should probably be your go-to MR choice, but Athene's can work out quite nicely for the CDR and extra mana regen (it only actually gives 5 less MR than Abyssal, surprising though that may seem). For armour, both Frozen Heart and Iceborn Guantlet can work, though Zhonya's is still a decent choice if you want to go more offensive. Other nice items include Rylai's (more health and AP, and yet more slows) and Morellonomicon (when either you want more CDR or there's a particularly nasty self-healer like Swain or Vladimir on the enemy team). Mix and match as you see fit. Max CDR should be a key goal, as well as a balance of defences depending on where most of the enemy damage is coming from.

I hope all that helps.