What are strong counter picks to LeBlanc or similar AP nuke mid?

So, I usually don't play AP mid but a few times I've been forced into playing AP. I have a lot of trouble with AP champions with high burst. I know you can stack health but it is very difficult in early game stages.

For example I have problems against

• Level 6 LeBlanc 1.5k burst
• Level 6 Veigar stun gate + spell combo

Should I stack MR runes?

Solution 1:

It's very good to remember that LeBlanc's silence takes a bit of time to set up; she has to hit her Q, wait for the projectile to hit (which isn't very long, but she can't just QW, there's a pause), and then use a second spell to actually get the silence.

Note that she can use her Q and then wait a couple of seconds to start the combo, but the silence proc is only six seconds, so she must be fast.

Your average LeBlanc character is very predictable, and does things the exact same way every time. Keep that in mind and try to predict her movement. Prediction is a huge part of the game, and all the good players can tell when another has made a mistake.

Those two reasons are why she is unlikely to be picked in high elo except as a "counter" to APs who do not have CC.

That being said, some good counters:

• Fiddlesticks counters LeBlanc all day. Instant fear beats half-second (one third if you're good) silences.
• Morgana does well against LeBlanc, as she can survive the burst, and outfarm LeBlanc to no end. LeBlanc needs lane control.
• LB's range is actually a bit underwhelming, slightly compensated by her W. That being said, Ezreal and Kog Maw (if the meta ever returns to them being AP) do well against LB.
• Kassadin > LB (one skill silence)
• Mordekaiser wins due to tankiness and lane control

Point being, LeBlanc actually loses to quite a lot, which is why she isn't picked as the first AP. She's picked against people she can go 12-0 with in the laning phase.

Solution 2:

LeBlanc can do a ton of damage to a single target but she has no effective AoE clear for minion waves until she gets a ton of AP, that means any champion that can push her to the tower can effectively shut down her farm.

Other champions that work are champions that can

• Block one or more of her skills
  LeBlanc needs to get her full combo out to kill someone, blocking one of her early skills makes her combo not even half as effective.
• Silence her
  Kassadin or later in teamfights Soraka and Cho'Gath can interrupt her combo easily with silence, potentially trapping her in a bad position after LeBlanc used her W.
• Shut down her mobility
  LeBlanc thrives on getting her combo out without the opponent having time to shoot back since she is quite squishy. After she used her combo she can't do anything for several seconds, so if you manage to stun her before she gets out with her W (if i remember correctly, root/snare works, too, but i might be wrong there) you can return a lot of damage... that is if your own champion is tanky enough to survive the initial burst. Note that LeBlanc silences, so you need to get your stun out very fast.