Last week, Riot Games debuted their first "real" female tank in Leona, the Radiant Dawn. Will this sparkly diva become your new frontliner?

In terms of execution, Leona is a bit of an odd champion because she possesses some fantastic tools but lacks the full ability to perform in any traditional role. If played as a bruiser, like Jarvan IV, Leona packs some fantastic defensive abilities and great initiation, but she lacks the damage and endgame scaling to be a threat in the long run. Seeing this, most summoners have tried playing Leona in the more "pure tank" method, like Amumu, but the longer cooldowns on Leona's abilities, combined with the short durations of her stuns makes her a less than ideal candidate for taking on the role of team protector.

Leona's final problem comes in the form of her rather unwieldy passive, Sunlight, where all magic damage she deals places a debuff on enemy champions. If Leona's teammates can deal damage to the debuffed champion within 3.5 seconds, Sunlight will proc, dealing additional magic damage. Unfortunately, because Leona can't proc her own passive's damage, much of her potential is lost without a teammate nearby to trigger the debuffs. To me, Leona would be a much more enticing choice for players if she traded passives with Lux, whose Illumination passive has a similar effect, but the bonus damage can only be triggered by Lux's own attacks.

Regardless, Leona is definitely a tank for players who want to try something different. If you can surround her with strong, mobile champions who can fight without heavy babysitting, like Anivia, Corki, Lux, Kassadin or Orianna, expect Leona to really shine with her balanced offensive and defensive capabilities. If, however, you're looking for a champion that excels in one or the other, don't think of Leona as being capable of carrying a team on her shoulders. Instead, use her as a foundation to build around and you'll definitely be happy to be playing the one female tank in League of Legends.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom, Senior Staff Writer