Malphite is a melee champ with weak damage before level 5, so Lucian keeps chipping him with Piercing Light (Q) double-shot poke, and with no threat outside Unstoppable Force (R) he dominates the lane.

Before Nasus stacks Siphoning Strike (Q), Lucian harasses with Piercing Light (Q) and Ardent Blaze (W) plus double-shot to dry up his CS and health, shutting down his snowball.

Before level 5 Kassadin has no way to harass, so Lucian completely dominates the early game with Piercing Light (Q) double-shot poke and all-ins.

Lucian uses Relentless Pursuit (E) to dodge the Event Horizon (E) stun cage and bursts Veigar down with Piercing Light (Q) double-shot before he can scale.

Ryze is weak early, so Lucian wins trades, dodges the Rune Prison (W) root with Relentless Pursuit (E), and kills him before his items come online.

Wind Wall (W) blocks Piercing Light (Q), the Lightslinger (P) extra shots, and The Culling (R) projectiles entirely, nullifying Lucian's damage.

Fizz becomes untargetable with Playful / Trickster (E), slipping Lucian's all-in burst and cutting him down in return.

Zed uses Living Shadow (W) and Death Mark (R) to slip Lucian's short combo and make himself hard to pin down, winning the trades.

With the Light Binding (Q) root and long-range poke, Lux keeps punishing Lucian's need to walk into range.