Click to open network menu
Join or Log In
Mobafire logo

Join the leading League of Legends community. Create and share Champion Guides and Builds.

Create an MFN Account






Or

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

x
Lee Sin Build Guide by Fruity28

AD Offtank Find your center - Top lane Lee Sin *Fully Updated*

AD Offtank Find your center - Top lane Lee Sin *Fully Updated*

Updated on February 15, 2014
8.6
324
Votes
34
Vote Vote
League of Legends Build Guide Author Fruity28 Build Guide By Fruity28 324 34 3,847,112 Views 108 Comments
324 34 3,847,112 Views 108 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Fruity28 Lee Sin Build Guide By Fruity28 Updated on February 15, 2014
x
Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment. You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment

You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.

I liked this Guide
I didn't like this Guide
Commenting is required to vote!
Would you like to add a comment to your vote?

Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.

Changelog

9/22 - Updated Rengars difficulty and lane matchup.
9/26 - Added Swain to the lane match up section.
9/28 - Added Kha'Zix to the lane match up section.
10/8 - Updated Riven's match up.
10/22 - Updated Fiora's match up.
10/23 - Revamped the item section.
10/29 - Updated Singed's match up.
11/4 - Updated Kha'Zix's match up.
11/4 - Updated Diana's match up.
11/8 - Completely revamped Fiora's lane section. I was wrong on a lot of things.
11/28 - Added Zed to lane match up section.
12/4 - Update: I am going to be doing a mega update on the items and masteries but it is going to take me some time to figure everything out to make Lee the best he can be. Excuse me if this is not updated for a while.
12/11 - Update complete on items and masterys. Will keep making changes as i discover new combinations and such. Overall: update complete.
12/22 - Added Vi to the match up section.
Thinking about revamping this guide for season three with a whole new items list andchampion match up section.
This guide has been completely redone for S3!
Photo bucket is trolling me.
Computer broke. Its Fixed. Updates for all!
Figured out my password and username. Gonna work on guide when i get an opportunity too.
Back to Top

Introduction

This is my first guide so i don't know how to do all that fancy stuff that people know how to do. What i do know however is Lee sin. Lee Sin is a melee bruiser who has an extremely strong early game. He is also a incredibly fun champion to play whom pretty much never gets old no matter how many times you play him. He has no hard counters, is viable in high level play, and has incredible mobility. Lets get started shall we?
Back to Top

Why top lane over jungle?

Lee Sin has a super strong early game and a weak late game. It would be dumb not to abuse that. Top lane gives him more gold and more of a chance to abuse this early game. The reason i don't like him in the jungle is because if Lee Sin fails at a gank or two he will generaly fall behind, and when Lee Sin falls behind he doesn't exactly catch back up. Pretty much wasting his strong early game. Not only that but Lee Sin can beat pretty much any champion on top when you get good at him.
Back to Top

Pro's/Con's To Lee Sin

Pros
Extremely fun to play
High Skill Cap
Just an overall cool Character
Viable at high level play
Countered by none
High Mobility
Just unbeatable when mastered


Cons
High Skill Cap
Q is Unreliable
Weak late game
Transitions into a peeler late game (Peeling is the act of removing a enemy off a teammate with slows, stun, and knock backs.)
Gets banned in ranked or picked first quite a bit.
Back to Top

Runes

3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage You want the strongest early game possible and these runes will boost that significantly.

9 Greater Mark of Attack Damage To raise your early game damage as well.

9 Greater Seal of Armor When you top lane your most likely going to fight and AD champion. Taking armor seals will improve your survivability against these champions significantly.

9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist If your not fighting an AP top these are the better choice as they scale into late game better.

OR

9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist If you know your going up against an AP top lane champ (Ie: Kennen) it is better to take these as they offer more early game Magic Resist.
Back to Top

Masterys

Lee Sin can go either very defensively or very offensively. It comes down to play style when choosing as more aggressive laners and players go for a more offensive build. I recommend new players to Lee use the defensive tree until they are used to him then make the switch. Note that the reason i don't explain certain masteries is because they are usually self explainable.

Defense


Personally this is my favorite way to play Lee Sin. The meta has since shifted away from offensive Lee Sin and is now in favor of defense.

- What makes this so great is because of how effective it is. Not only that but its in the first line of the defensive tree which makes it a must own basically.

- I know what you're thinking. "Why only one point in these??". Well, its not efficient to put more than 1 point into these masteries. Putting more points into these give you 2 armor/magic res which just isn't worth it.

- This is a given. When your building defensively its to take less damage. Since this reduces damage its a must grab.

- The main reason for taking this is because tenacity can't stop the effectiveness of slows. It only makes them dissipate quicker, and with champions like Nasus in the current meta, you need slows to not completely stop you.

- This is a weird one. Its what i like to call a one point wonder. Overall its not the most effective mastery in the tree, however it can really come in handy early on, and like i said, its only one point for quite a decent effect.

- Basically the same as Durability just more effective.

- I get questioned on this one all the time. Its another one point wonder. I mean its just one point and you get 5 more armor/MR in a team fight which is more than Resistance and Hardiness . Basically theirs no reason not to get it.

- Have you ever been playing a really long game and just lost a teamfight but one of your teammates survived and for 60 seconds you have to watch as he tries to defend the entire base himself or prevent baron by himself? Well that's what this is for. It won't stop you from watching that but you will be able to assist him quicker.


Offense


I don't like doing this on Lee Sin, however its still viable by all means and you can still use these masteries to deny a lane then build defensively anyways.

- A one point wonder. Plus when there's no real good options in the offense tree this can be used to get to the next line. Its pretty descent, however be careful when using this because if a smart opponent realizes you have 5 AP for no reason he'll deduce that your ignite is down.

- Lee Sin is not a champion who builds for crit. So he needs anything that will beef up his damage, even if its just a little bit.

- This will help your lane phase a lot. It will make last hitting and killing your lane opponent much easier. The difference is actually notable when you don't have it and when you do. You'll like the extra lane power that this offers.

- Armor pen is one of the most useful stats in the game, however its not the greatest to rune for it because you lose out on a stronger early game. That is why its important to take it anywhere else you can.
Back to Top

Summoner Spells

Highly Recommended



I find flash to be the most helpful out of all the summoner spells. It helps you get away from ganks better when you don't have wards to jump too. You can also use it to flash behind the enemy team and kick there AD carry into your team. Very Useful Summoner.


Ignite is very helpful in lane. It's great for people who heal way to much since it reduces healing. Whether finishing a enemy under turret or just add damage to a fight its helpful to secure kills.

This is one of the best summoners in the game because of the amount of utility is offers. If you are more about your team than your laning phase then by all means take this over Ignite. You'll be much more useful out of lane with it. Not to mention you can turn arounds ganks and make other lanes easier with it as well.


OK Summoner's



If you don't want to take flash this is your second best option. I really don't find this better though, it limits your Dragon's Rage pretty badly but you can use it to chase an enemy and feed them more auto attacks.

Normally you're support will be carrying this making it not as useful to take. If you know that you're lane opponent is using Barrier it would be better to take this over Ignite

I honestly don't find this very viable anymore since the nerf. I guess its good for baiting people for tower dives but Lee Sin will barely lose lane to that extent anyways.


Summoner's you should not touch



Lee Sin does not use mana

Lee Sin Is not a support

Lee Sin Not even a spell anymore.
Back to Top

Skill Breakdown

One thing to know about Lee Sin is that, you will never max the same skill. In order to prevail against all enemies you will max different skills based on what the match up is and what your enemy is building.

(Innate): After Lee Sin uses an ability, his next 2 auto attacks within 3 seconds gain 40% attack speed and return 15 energy each.

This passive is absolutely amazing. It will increase Lee Sins damage output by practically double. With this passive you should never really spam your abilities unless you absolutely have to for the situation your in. If you space your abilities out you will see a higher damage output


(Active): Lee Sin shoots a wave of sound in a line, dealing physical damage to the first enemy it encounters and revealing it for 3 seconds. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike within the next 3 seconds.
Cost: 50 energy
Range: 975
When Q is pressed again. (Active): Lee Sin dashes to the enemy revealed by Sonic Wave, dealing a base amount of damage plus 8% of their missing health as physical damage. Monsters take a maximum of 400 damage.
Cost: 30 energy
Range: 1100

This is Lee Sin's trademark ability. This is what hes known for. It is possibly the strongest early game ability there is, although it can be unreliable and experienced players will know how to dodge it. Max this first in lane when your fighting someone relatively squishy. (Ie: Fiora)


(Active): Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both from damage for the next 5 seconds. If the shield is broken, half of the cast energy will return to Lee Sin. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.
Cost: 50 energy
Cooldown: 9 seconds
Range: 700
When W is pressed again.(Active): For the next 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains bonus lifesteal, spell vamp, and armor.
Cost: 30 energy

This ability when maxed will make you impossible to move in lane. This ability synergizes well with life steal items like a Vampiric Scepter and Bloodthirster Max this first when the enemy your facing has high amounts of harass. (Ie: Yorick) Not only that but this ability can also be used to jump to near wards or even friendly Noxious Traps.


(Active): Lee Sin smashes the ground dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies and revealing them for 4 seconds. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast Cripple within the next 3 seconds.
Cost: 50 energy
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Diameter of AoE: 350
When E is pressed again. (Active): Lee Sin cripples all enemies revealed by Tempest reducing their movement and attack speed. The movement and attack speed recover over 4 seconds.
Range: 500
Cost: 30 energy

I honestly love maxing this in lane first. Its great harass and pretty hard to dodge since its not a skill shot. Since it does magic damage but scales with AD its great to max agaisnt high armor laners. The only problem to maxing this first is that you push the lane with it pretty hard. Max this first against armor stackers. (Ie: Malphite)


(Active): Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick, dealing physical damage to the target and knocking them back. Enemies the target collides with take the same amount of physical damage and are briefly knocked into the air.
No cost
Range: 375
Knockback distance: 1200

A great ultimate. It combines very nicely with his Resonating Strike. You Resonating Strike then Dragon's Rage to do some heavy burst damage, then use the second part of Resonating Strike to close the gap. Its very strong. This combo is effective against burst prone champions. (Ie: Sion) One note: When fighting Olaf save this combo for when he is almost dead because when Olaf reaches low health he enters what i like to call "Man Mode" with his passive Berserker Rage and becomes hard to kill. Using this combo will finish him off without him life stealing all his health back.

Back to Top

Knowing Your Mechanic's

Lee Sin Is great at many things. He is an excellent team player. He can Peel enemy champions off his ally's and can also start fights if needed as well.


Using this you can slow enemy's off your team mates. This will let your carries live longer, position better, and do more damage in team fights. This is also works with the active of Randuin's Omen and Frozen Mallet


This is a better form of peel then Tempest. Instead of a slow, your completely pushing someone away which can be followed by your Tempest

Thanks to
MachoBoracho
Ifeedeverylane
Dynoridingjihad
Tai
Back to Top

Escaping

Your abilities can be used just as defensively as they are used offensively. For example lets pretend your playing Lee Sin and your being chased through your jungle by an enemy team. You can run behind the golem spawn, Q the golem, then run away.
/league-of-legends/ability/iron-will-582
Back to Top

Items

Lee Sin Should never follow a item build because he should always be building situational for what hes facing and what is on his team. If your jungler and support are tanky (ie: Malphite and Alistar) You can go with a more damage build, but if your jungle is say Xin Zhao and your support is Janna you may want to build more tanky as these champs are generally squishy.

Reccomended



These are very situational now. If you need more offense but don't have enough for a The Brutalizer then it would be in your best interest to take one or two of these.

Build these if your facing an AD champion. (ie: Fiora, Renekton) They will help significantly reduce the amount of damage your taking. In fact, in my opinion, these are insanely overpowered for the cost and effectiveness they provide. You generaly will want to trade these for Mercury's Treads later on in the game though.

Build these if you are against an AP champion. (Ie: Kennen, Swain). These are also the best late game boots due to the tenacity buff which will help a lot in team fights. Unless the enemy team has no CC or is comprised of five AD champions you will 99.9% of time be getting these for late game.

- Health is very important in the new meta. This item got a lot better in season 3 and the fact that it gives a set amount of health and doesn't require a charge up makes it even better.

This is another item that i would only build if i needed help in lane. Its low cost makes it better to pick up when laning then Mercurial Scimitar but all in all its not very good outside of lane so when your done laning i would suggest selling right away for a better item, unless you plan on getting a Maw of Malmortius later on.

Another situational item but its still pretty good overall. If you're team really lacks slows and you need more health (which is a great stat in season 3) bye all means buy this item.

If your ahead or just laning well then this item should be your first buy. It offers a lot of damage and great sustain in lane. It also makes Lee Sin very hard to 1v1 making trading easier.

If you want to do damage late game, this item is a must have. You don't really need it mid game and early game as Lee Sin doesn't make his transition till about 16 if your doing well. 14 if your not doing so well. I would not buy this if your jungler is building like a carry. You'll need more defense so only build this when you have a tankier jungle.

This is probaly one of, if not the best armor item in the game. It adds health, armor, and a great active ability. If your team is in need of a tank, then absolutely consider this. Not to mention, this makes initiating with Lee Sin all that much easier.

This is another item i would pretty much consider core on Lee Sin. If pretty much makes him tankier and gives him a second chance. Late game when you become a peeler you have to protect your AD carry. If you die then you won't be able to protect him anymore. With a second chance you can come back and peel more champs off him, or just flat out kill people if your going for more of a damage threat.

This item is just amazing. It gives you the quicksilver sash effect while still giving more magic resist and AD then Maw of Malmortius. This an item I consider core on damage Lee Sin.

This item is good if your maxing your Resonating Strike first. The armor pen will help increase your damage to its full potential. If your maxing your Tempest though, don't get this because your tempest is magic damage. This item is good for snowballing quickly. If you're not super ahead when you back then this should be considered as your first item.

It gives one of the best stat combinations in the game at a pretty low cost. If you need to be tankier for lane phase this should be considered for you're first item.

Has since been nerfed to the ground but is still pretty good in general. The passive will make you do alright damage even if you're a hardcore tank. Also Bilgewater Cutlass is an insanely awesome lane item.

With the recipe change to this item its a great pick up for laning and during mid and late game you can build it into Randuin's Omen which is a very powerful item.

This item has also been nerfed into the ground like Blade of the Ruined King but is still useful. One of its primary use's is its passive. You can go full tank and shred the armor of people for your main damage dealers to kill which is a great tactic to use it for. Not to mention it gives health so it also makes you tankier however i would not consider this for a offensive build.

- This item is overshadowed by its counterpart Mercurial Scimitar, however it has its own little niche. When you're building full tank this item is a better grab then Mercurial Scimitar because you'll last a lot longer and will gain more AD eventually, and since you won't die to quick you'll actually get to utilize it.

- I have been seeing this item a lot lately and at first i thought it was pretty silly on Lee Sin but then i decided to try it. Its really excellent as a first item. It gives the most base AD in the game and allows you to farm and split push better early on. Its also great for skirmishing, and with the lifesteal its very hard to force you out of lane with this item.

Items I don't recommend



It only gives one stat and that's armor. Randuin's Omen will give you enough armor plus a bunch of other stats that are great on Lee Sin. This item is really meant for a main tank like Malphite

This is not a bad item. It is a bad item however, for Lee Sin. Magic resist from Maw of Malmortius works just fine and you have no need for mana.

Another item that isn't bad, but it is bad on Lee Sin. Randuin's Omen is a much better choice because of all the mana on this item. You do want some one on your team, however, to pick this item up as the aura is incredible.

This item was reworked to be used only for the jungle basically. It used to be one of top Lee Sin's main items but is basically done with laning. Don't use it.

When they nerfed this it kinda got destroyed. You really don't see this on any champ anymore. It used to be a pretty darn decent item but the nerf killed it really.

This item is not bad at all, but Lee Sin should not ever build for crit. If he has it then its a luxary but Lee needs to be more of a bruiser and there aren't enough viable bruiser crit items for him to be building. That AND a Half stacked Bloodthirster gives equal AD with a full one giving 20 more AD.

Overpriced. Overnerfed. Done.

I put this item here for a few reasons. The first reason is with all the new AD items this seems pretty inviable too Lee Sin now. Reason number two is that Mercurial Scimitar just seems to be a completely better item than this.

Wait.....they removed this....didn't they...well it was a good item while it lasted but Riot likes to take away every good item we like. R.I.P. Runic Bulwark (( Heart of Gold R.I.P. as well)
Back to Top

Early Game

You should star Cloth Armor and five Health Potion's because there's no other good starts other than that anymore. If you are on the blue team side, help your jungle with blue (if he starts blue). Get it down to just a little above half health and then run away so you don't steal exp away from your jungle. If you are on purple team side, guard your jungle's red so the other team doesn't try to steal it. Once in lane focus more on farming then harassing. If you see an opening where you can run up to your enemy and Tempest or Resonating Strike go for it, but remember farming is priority number 1. Sight ward are extremely important, not only do they help you with ganks but they also allow Lee Sin to jump over walls by placing a Sight ward over it then Iron Willing to it. You really always want a spare sight ward. If your having trouble with your lane match up call for a jungle gank. Your next B you should pick up either Giant's Belt or Warden's Mail for defense, or Bilgewater Cutlass or The Brutalizer for offense.
Back to Top

Last Hitting

If you know what last hitting is then feel free to skip over this segment. Last hitting is when you wait for a minion to get low health and once it does you run up to it and hit it for the last hit of its health pool. This is the best way to farm as auto attacking minions will sometimes have them killed by your own minions and this is not good. The more minion kills, the more gold you get and the more gold you get, the more items and sight wards you can get.
Back to Top

Mid Game

You haven't hit your transition yet so you'll still be doing pretty good damage at this point especially if you got a few kills during your lane phase. You also should have a few power items bye now as well.( Bloodthirster or Warmog's Armor depending on how your building.) If your doing great in lane with something around 4 kills and beating your whole team in CS then feel free to give your jungle top lane for a bit. Jungles with often fall behind with only jungle CS so it really helps them catch back up. If you do, do this go out and help the lanes if they're in need for ganks. Dragon's Rage is an extremely strong gank ultimate if you are able to knock the enemy away from his turret. If your not doing to well in your lane then keep farming it and call for jungle ganks so you can get some kills to bring up your gold a bit. This is also the time when your team will start going for objectives like Dragon. If you B and your team wants to kill dragon, instead of going top, go to mid and help them with it. If you are top and they decide to get dragon, don't bother going down, you'll never get there in time. If a teamfight erupts at dragon and your not there for it, push your lane and try as hard as you can to get a tower. That way if something horrible happens and your team gets destroyed at dragon you still got a turret and hopefully the dragon as well making it semi-worth it.
Back to Top

Late game

By now you have probably hit your transition. Your damage is now a bit lacking. This is when teamfights start happening. Do not stay top when your level 16 or higher. Instead follow your team and be there with them. If you stay top the other team will most likely come and gang up on you and kill you pretty easily. Now in teamfights in late game, you should not be the one initiating them unless you are the tankiest member on your team. Instead during a teamfight stay by your AD carry and peel (remove targets off of) him. Use Tempest and Dragon's Rage to do this. If you have acquired Randuin's Omen you should also use this to help peel threats off your AD carry. Frozen Mallet will also help with this quite a bit. The longer your carry stays alive for, the better your chances of winning the teamfight are. This is also the point in the game where Baron Nashor is the most important factor. Always have Baron warded. Its not just the supports job to ward, its a team effort and your part of the team. instead of a sight ward you may want to grab a Vision Ward so you can clear the enemy teams wards at baron. Now if your team is ahead you may want to force a fight at Baron and try to wipe the enemy out then secure Baron for your team, or you can try to catch one member of the enemy team out of position, kill him, then go for Baron when its 4v5. If you get Baron use it to siege down the enemies base and try to win with it. It won't always happen like this, but this is generally how a game will go.
Back to Top

Lane Matchups and Strategies

Some lane match ups Vs common enemies. EVEN THOUGH I SAY TO MAX A CERTAIN ABILITY, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE TAKING Dragon's Rage AT 6, 11, and 16!!!!!

I'll be adding videos as i face them and fraps them. (I sadly do not own a mic. Hopefully by watching them you guys can get an idea of what to do when versing an enemy you are unfamiliar with.)


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Resonating Strike Vs this lane.

Whenever she Twilight Shrouds run into the middle of the shroud and Tempest. This will reveal her. Another alternative to this is to buy a pink ward and place it in the shroud when you're all-inning her.

Buying Hexdrinker when facing Akali will help significantly.

Not really much else to say, Lee Sin pretty much counters Akali.


*Actual strategy coming soon*
Well Here's my best guess but keep in mind this is theorizing. I have not ever faced this match up. He seems to have a weak early game. Do you best to zone him as much as possible so he can't benefit from his sustain. If he chooses to fight you, you should win because in order to do more significant damage he needs to kill himself, which should give you the edge. I would max Q first, build Bilgewater Cutlass if doing well, or Warmog's Armor if I'm not doing so well.


Difficulty 0.5/5

Max your Tempest/ Resonating Strike depending on preference or what hes building.

This lane is honestly extremely boring. You won't ever really kill him because he's pretty much just a farmer. He won't ever engage on to you unless there jungle is nearby.

Careful of being Feast baited if/when you get him to low health on his turret. It hurts.


Difficulty 2.5/5

Max your Iron Will Against this guy.

Darius will use Decimate as his main form of harass. Try to dodge one and punish him for it but be careful as it does more damage if the blade hits you.

Early Vampiric Scepter will help sustain vs Darius.

A Warden's Mail and a Giant's Belt Will help keep his damage in line and he won't be as bursty.


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Sonic Wave Vs's her.

An early Hexdrinker/ Giant's Belt Will take a toll on her damage.

Be careful for Crescent Strike Harass. It's dodgeable by going straight to the left or straight to the right depending on what side Diana is on.

If she tries to fight you in your minions two things will happen. A jungler will fly out of nowhere, or your going to beat the living hell out of her in a 1v1.

If she is spamming Crescent Strike she will run out of mana very quickly. Once she does take full advantage of this.


Difficulty 2/5

Max your Iron Will vs him. (if your confident on your abilities to dodge cleavers then feel free to max Tempest.)

This guy really isn't a top laner and he's extremely easy to gank so if you having problems with him, call your jungle over.

You beat him early game with damage, and with a maxed Iron Will you can just regen all of the damage his Infected Bonesaw's are doing.

Giant's Belt will help significantly to take all the damage he's doing.


Difficulty 2/5

A lot of people seem to have trouble with this one. If you feel confident enough max Q. If you don't feel confident enough max W.

Early Hexdrinker/ Giant's Belt works wonders against her if you having a tough time.

Her early damage is pretty pathetic and she is also quite squishy so try to take advantage of that.

Try your hardest to hit level 2 before her and all in with Q and E if you started Q, however if you started W, try to hit level 3 before her then all in.

Try to Eat her Neurotoxin's with your Safeguard.


Difficulty 3.5/5

I was completely wrong about this match up so I'm re writing it. Fiora is actually not an easy lane at all for Lee Sin

Max your Resonating Strike vs her.

Fiora will play very passivly against you. She will farm on her turret because its incredibly easy for her. She will also wait for jungle ganks before engaging you. A good fiora knows that she will out scale you eventually which is the sad truth. The true key to winning this fight is not doing anything stupid, not pushing the lane uncontrollably, and not letting her farm on her turret. DO NOT use your Tempest unless she engages you as it will push lane and give Fiora exactly what she wants.

When she uses Burst of Speed quickly double tap Tempest and you will completely cripple her damage. (literally)

She has no escapes. If you need help with this lane, ask your jungle to camp top and she'll be easy enough to kill a few times.

If she uses Blade Waltz try to Iron Will to the minion closet to your turret.

Be very careful, if shes farming on her turret and not making any attempts to mess with you at all, a jungler may just be on his way.


Difficulty 3/5

Max your Iron Will against him.

You can really abuse the fact that he's melee by bullying him around until he calls for a jungle gank.

By no means can Fizz 1v1 you unless you fight him in his minions so don't be afraid to skirmish with him.

An early Hexdrinker will help significantly.

Wait until he's out of your character model to Sonic Wave him if he Q's into you.


Difficulty 1/5

With the recent buffs Gangplank received to his Parrrley I've started seeing him more and more but he Isn't a problem.

Now there's two kinds of Gangplanks. One will shoot you with Parrrley everytime its up, and the other will just farm away and completely ignore you. If your dealing with the first one (figure it out by level 3) then max Iron Will. If your dealing with the second one, max either Resonating Strike or Tempest

If hes being very aggressive against you then he's pretty much giving you the lane. Gangplank early game is pretty terrible and you'll be able to beat the hell out of him.

If he uses Remove Scurvy for your Tempest and your level six, try to flash infront of him and kick him away from his turret.

Don't even worry about Parrrley harass. Your Iron Will sustain will keep you at full health or close and Gangplank will run out of mana sooner or later.


Difficulty 3.5/5

I hate this guy so much, but with the recent early game nerf and the late game buff he's now a lot easier to deal with. Never underestimate him though. Max your Iron Will/ Tempest first based on preference and play style. (Ie: if your being more of a team player max Iron Will so you have health to teleport gank with.)

Armor completely shuts down Garen. An early Warden's Mail will be hell for him.

Once you get Giant's Belt/ Warden's Mail or both the lane gets very easy for you. Just farm and when ever he tries to harass you with Decisive Strike try to double tap Iron Will before it to block a good portion of his damage. (if you press Alt-W it will instantly activate Iron Will on yourself. You then just have to press W again.)


difficulty 4/5
Max your Tempest vs her.

Shes very powerful and has a lot of sustain, but early game (I mean levels 1, 2, and 3) you completely crush her in damage. Try to abuse that.

When ever she uses Hiten Style double tap Tempest to slow her down. Then proceed to combo her as normal. You should never really fight her 1v1, just go through your full combo then Iron Will to a minion.

If you're having trouble with her an early Warmog's Armor will dissolve her damage.


Difficulty 2.5/5

Max your Iron Will for this guy.

Be very careful of his Demacian Standard, Dragon Strike, and Auto attack passive combo. It does a lot of damage early game.

If he's using Dragon Strike to harass you can just sustain through it.

Be very careful of jungle ganks with Jarvan IV and always keep a sight ward on you at level 6. His Cataclysm will make you an easy target for a 2v1 if you aren't able to put a ward out of his ult then Iron Will to it.


Difficulty 4/5

Max your Tempest.

When Jax uses Counter Strike you can double tap Tempest to reduce the amount of damage he will do during stun.

A normal jax will build Phage rather quickly so be careful for jungle ganks.

You should not have a problem with him Pre-level 8, but then he starts getting a lot stronger so try to shut him down early.

Bilgewater Cutlass will help kill this guy easily because of his high mobility.


difficulty 2/5

Max your Resonating Strike first, or if you're not comfortable in your ability then max Iron Will instead.

Try your hardest to farm through his auto attacks using Iron Will to block some of the damage.

Be careful about his To The Skies! / Shock Blast and Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate (cannon) combo. When he gets 2 Doran's Blade's it starts hurting a lot.

Also be careful of his Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate, it hurts the most out of all his skills, and he can harass with it. If he does try to harass with it, try to Resonating Strike him then follow him after the knock back and punish him for it.

If you manage to kill him once, getting a Giant's Belt will make his damage non-existent.


Difficulty 1.5/5

Max your Resonating Strike vs this guy.

If he tries to Thundering Shuriken you, that leaves him open for your Resonating Strike so pay close attention to his movements.

If you land your Resonating Strike on him, he will most likely Lightning Rush away unless he has a death wish. So when you get to him double tap Tempest as quickly as you can. And yes this will leave you out of energy so just auto him twice and walk away. When walking away juke back and forth to dodge his Thundering Shuriken that he will most likely throw.

Hexdrinkeris nice vs Kennen if you are having trouble with him. Bilgewater Cutlass is a great option to kill him with because hes hard to catch with his E and this will slow him down to a reasonable amount.


Difficulty 2.5/5

Max your Resonating Strike first.

If he uses his Leap to engage on you, punish him with combos.

Try to fight him in your minions as Taste Their Fear will do less damage.

Careful if he goes stealth, a jungle gank may be approaching.

Warden's Mail will help with this lane.

If your going to gank him, do it early. If and once he takes the evolve on his Leap its almost impossible to get this guy.


Difficulty 1/5

People say this guy counters every AD champ on top. Well they are quite mis-informed. Max your Tempest against the rock.

He has an extremely weak early game. His Seismic Shard's will do very little to you even if he max's it and even less if you can Iron Will it. You will outsustain him unless hes fed.

Malphite stacks armor to do more damage, which is why its a good thing that Tempest does magic damage. You will be able to a lot of damage to him early on but as the fight goes on, you will see an enormous damage drop. When this happens just Tempest him constantly to try and widdle him down.

There is one problem to what i said above this. Tempesting Malphite over and over will push your lane pretty damn hard. This will leave you open to ganks. His Unstoppable Force is one of the strongest ultimates in the game. So becareful when he randomly does that and a jungler comes out of nowhere. Map awareness vs this lane will help significantly.


Difficulty 3/5

I actually find this guy quite tough. He has annoying harass and with that shield he's very tanky. Max Iron Will against him.

Most Mordekaiser will purchase a Doran's Shield at some point throughout the match up. If he does that and buy's Ninja Tabi max your Tempest second.

Early game you will out sustain his Siphon of Destruction pretty easily and he'll wind up killing himself too. Abuse his terrible early game as much as you can and aim to all him bye level 2 or 3.

If he uses his ultimate, Children of the Grave, Do NOT fight him unless he's at 20% health and your at 100%.


Difficulty 0.1/5

This is the most boring lane in the game. You will never die to him, but with the way most Nasus play, you'll never kill him either. This will be a lot like the earlier Cho'Gath match up.

Max your Resonating Strike vs this guy.

You out sustain him heavily so he will be pushed onto his turret most of the time. If he suddenly starts running at you, a jungler is nearby and his Wither is one of the strongest slows in this game.

If he's stacking a lot of armor which he might do to farm the lane better, max your Tempest.

Try to deny his farm as much as you can. He's a late game monster and will dominate every thing with a farmed up Siphoning Strike.


Difficulty 2.5/5

Max your Sonic Wave
In this new meta, every Nidalee ever is ap now. Try to all in her bye level 1 or 2 and you will win lane easily. This is a match up where its ok to start Doran's Blade

An early Bilgewater Cutlass/ The Brutalizer will help kill her easily.

If you're having trouble sustaining against her autos then put and extra point in Iron Will at some point.

Be very careful of her Aspect Of The Cougar form. It's burst is very deceiving.


Difficulty 1.5/5

He's a very annoying champ. Max your Iron Will, but if your more confident in your abilities then max Resonating Strike first.

If he Reckless Swing's you, punish him for it by comboing him.

If he uses Ragnarok do not try and fight him. Do your best to kite it out.

Your Tempest will shut down his passive Berserker Rage for the most part but if hes life stealing it all back, refer to the QRQ combo video under the skill Dragon's Rage in skill breakdown. It will burst him before he can life steal anything.

You can use Iron Will to dodge Undertow but if your maxing it, its better to just try and dodge them yourself.

Try to built some health at some point so his E does not one shot you.


Difficulty 1.5/5

I use to think Pantheon was a counter to Lee Sin. Hes not. Max your Iron Will first.

This lane is incredibly easy. You out sustain his spears pretty easily. If you see him running up to you Iron Will yourself or a minion and negate a good chunk of its damage. Though if you do this a lot a smart Pantheon will start baiting your Iron Will before throwing a Spear Shot

Warn your team when he is level 6. He can use his ultimate Grand Skyfall to gank other lanes.

Do not stay in lane if your health is 15% or lower. He gets automatic critical's on you from his Heartseeker Strike passive.

Sunfire Aegis completely shuts his damage down.


Difficulty 1/5

Never EVER under estimate this champion. Max your Resonating Strike vs this tiny thing.

Do not stand next to walls. Heroic Charge will stun you if you do. Otherwise it just push's you away from her. (If she charges you and does not hit a wall, punish her for it.)

Be an overall bully against her.

I would recommend saving your gold to buy Bloodthirster instead of Hexdrinker. She's not really an early game threat so there is no need for it.

Do not stay in lane with low health. Her ultimate, Diplomatic Immunity is possibly the strongest diveing ult there is.


Difficulty 4/5

Max your Iron Will first against this angry croc.

His early game damage is very high. Don't start anything with him until you have a few points in your Iron Will.

Always try to double tap Iron Will when he charges into you.

Be careful of diving him with his ultimate, Dominus, it makes him hella strong.

Getting an early Sunfire Aegis will cripple his damage.


Difficulty 3/5

With the new buff that this guy didn't need, i finally have enough info to put a difficulty on this guy.

Max your Iron Will first.

If he pounces on you from a bush, double tap Iron Will and try to fight him.

If he uses his ultimate, Thrill of the Hunt, right in front of you, try to catch him with a Tempest to reveal him.

Warden's Mail will make him do next to nothing. Always try to fight him when he has 3 ferocity or less.


Difficulty 3/5

Max Iron Will against the exile.

Riven will normaly build Bloodthirster's but before that she will have no sustain. Abuse that.

Try to double tap Iron Will if shes about to burst you, after burst give her a taste of your own abilities then lifesteal all your health back.

Sunfire Aegis will help this lane a lot.

If she dash's toward you, she's going to try and stun and combo you. To avoid this try to Iron Will to a minion to get away from the stun. If you do this successfully try to combo her since her stun is down.


Difficulty 2/5

The nerfs to rumble only made this lane easier. He never beat Lee Sin to begin with. Lee Sin has a far stronger early game. Max your Resonating Strike.

If he tries to bully you with Flamespitter, wait till he pass's your minions then hit him with a Resonating Strike and burst him. If he does not pass your minions which a good Rumble won't then iron will to the one closest to him and combo him.

Hexdrinker and an early Phage work nicely.

If he randomly uses his ultimate, The Equalizer Know that a gank is a coming from the jungler.

Never sit in Rumbles ultimate The Equalizer, it can turn the tide of a fight easily.


Difficulty 3/5

Max your Iron Will/ Tempest depending on what you feel more comfortable with.

He's very hard to kill in lane later on but hes weak pre-level 7. Starting Doran's Blade is definitely an option.

Warn your team when he reaches level 6. He will start looking for people to use his ultimate, Stand United on. If he does use his ultimate in lane try to help your team by Dragon's Rageing it to stop him from teleporting. It will not stop the shield however though. If he does teleport try to push as much as you can.

Be careful of his taunt, Shadow Dash, its extremely strong for when a jungle is ganking you.

The Brutalizer and Bilgewater Cutlass will help more than anything else in this lane. Mercury's Treads will also help.


Difficulty 4/5

Max your tempest first.

Do not let Singed just run around you with Poison Trail if he gets close to you, burst him but do not chase him.

Shut him down as quickly as you can. He will get VERY tanky!

If you know your fighting a singed try to get a very disruptive jungle like Maokai or Nunu & Willump.

Starting Doran's Blade is the best option in my opinion as if he tries to run around you to farm early you will basically kill him for it.


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Resonating Strike against Swain.

You should be able to destroy him with double Doran's Blades. Hes fairly weak before he gets his ultimate and you can really abuse that.

If he goes for a Nevermove try to Iron Will to the minion closest to him and punish/kill him.

His ultimate, Ravenous Flock, is very strong, BUT you can still easily burst him down pre-level 9. Thats when it starts to get stronger.

If Swain Uses his ultimate to sustain in lane, try to abuse him the second it ends.

Doran's Blade is definitely the best option against this guy. Note that if you don't kill him early on this lane will not be easy.


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Sonic Wave.

Armor shuts down Talon pretty hard. Sunfire Aegis will work perfectly.

If you don't feel confident fighting talon, rush Chain Vest. It will make laning vs him much easier.

If your beating Talon in a fight he will most likely use his ultimate, Shadow Assault to run away. Try to Tempest him the second he does it.


Difficulty 2/5

Max your Iron Will first. Its just way to hard to hit this guy with Resonating Strike.

You generally out sustain him. If he tries blinding you with his Blinding Dart when your last hitting then use Tempest or Sonic Wave to get it. If you use Tempest and hit HIM with it, jump on him and try to get an early advantage.

If your gonna call your jungle over to gank him, try to do he before he receives his ultimate Noxious Trap. It makes him annoyingly hard to gank.

Warmog's Armor will work well vs him.


Difficulty 1/5

This lane match up is quite like Fioras except its MUCH easier. Max your Resonating Strike unless hes stacking armor. If hes stacking armor max Tempest

Try to bully him so he has to use his rage to heal with Bloodlust.

If he has full rage it may not be wise to engage on him.

If you engage on him double tap Tempest and you will most likely win the fight.

Sunfire Aegis is overkill against him.


Difficulty 5/5

This is probaly the hardest lane for Lee Sin to deal with. Max your Iron Will against him.

Udyrs Wilding Claw does magic damage, so if you know your vs'ing him, use flat Magic Resist runes instead of per level ones.

Mercury's Treads are a must have against him.

Try to beat him early. If you get an edge on him then this lane will be A LOT easier.

I've found that having Hexdrinker can work vs him to reduce his Wilding Claw initial damage, but this leave you open to his auto's after it. Also Vampiric Scepter will help you a lot as well.

Udyr is pretty easy to gank early on.


Difficulty 1/5

This lane is not hard but can be tricky. Max Sonic Wave first.

Her early game is pretty weak from what I've seen so far. Lee Sin just absolutely stomps her.

Try not to stand in front or behind your minions. Her Relentless Force can hit you for basically free damage.

If she Vault Breaker's toward you, combo her with Sonic Wave and Tempest and you'll just about always out damage her. If she tries to stand there and fight you, bring her into your minions and kill her. Honestly you don't even need the minions.

Blade of the Ruined King is great for this lane if your having a tough time with it.


Difficulty 2.5/5

Normally Vladimir won't stack armor so you can max your Resonating Strike. If he is stacking armor max Tempest. If you feel hes poking you for way to much damage feel free to max Iron Will.

Vladimir has a pretty weak early game. Try to abuse that.

If he's using his Tides of Blood to harass you (its the one that hurts him to use) try to land your Resonating Strike on him and go for a kill.

Hexdrinker works nicely.


Difficulty 3/5

Your Tempest is a must for this lane. Max it first.

Hes an auto attack champ. If he tries to fight you, double tap Tempest so it takes a while for him to build up his Frenzy .

Careful for jungle ganks. Volibear will use his Thundering Smash and throw you back making it much easier to kill you.

Don't fight him when his passive, The Relentless Storm, is up or your Ignite is down.


Difficulty 2/5

Max Sonic Wave first.

He's weak from levels 1, 2, and 3 so starting Doran's Blade can really mess with him.

Don't let him use his Hungering Strike on you to much. It does significant damage early game.

If you fight him straight up, double tap Tempest to negate a good portion of his damage and sustain.

Careful for when he hits level 6. His ultimate, Infinite Duress, combined with a jungler is almost a guaranteed kill on you.


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Iron Will against him.

Warden's Mail and 3 points in Iron Will and this monkey won't be able to do anything to you.

If he use's Nimbus Strike to harass you, Tempest the second he does it so he can't stealth out.

Careful for his ultimate, Cyclone its very strong and can set up ganks well.

If you see him stand in one place for a few seconds he might of just used his Warrior Trickster and is trying to set you up for something.


Difficulty 1/5

The new buffs for Xin Zhao has made him a very viable champion now, but that doesn't mean hes strong in top lane. Max your Resonating Strike against him.

If he trys to engage on you, double tap your Tempest and you will pretty much win the fight. The only form of harass he has is a all-in ability Audacious Charge. If he uses it, combo him.

Sunfire Aegis works very nicely against him.


Difficulty 4.5/5

A hard lane for pretty much all top laners. Max your Iron Will against him.

Use your Iron Will to heal off his ghouls.

This will be a hard match up early on but if your confident try purchasing a Doran's Blade first and go for a kill early.

Call for jungle ganks early.

If you kill him early you will pretty much keep killing him.


Difficulty 1/5

Max you're Sonic Wave first.

Zac is a pretty annoying champion to deal with simply because of all his regen, however he is EXTREMELY weak levels 1, 2, 3,and 4. Apply as much pressure as you possibly can.

If you're confident try starting Doran's Blade against him.

If you see him starting his Elastic Slingshot try to Safeguard to a minion the second he launches to get away from it. Elastic Slingshot does a ton of damage if it hits.

Try to not use any summoner's popping his passive Cell Division. Its pretty much a waste.

If you pop Cell Division and do not have much health after the engagement, don't try to force killing him, just leave unless you absolutely know you can finish it.


Difficulty 1/5

Max your Sonic Wave first.

This guys Razor Shuriken is a rather strong form of harass, although it is weak if he has not used Living Shadow to boost it. You can generally ignore it if he just throws 1 at you early game but it starts getting strong at level 4 so be careful.

Try to all in Zed before he gets his Living Shadow. Most Zeds will get it at level 3. He is very vulnerable until then.

If you are having trouble in this lane, a early Warden's Mail and Vampiric Scepter will absolutely help.

When Zed uses Death Mark try your best to get away from him until his delayed explosion effect happens. This will limit his ultimate VERY much and make his damage very low.
Back to Top

Summary

Well...that's about it.

If you feel i have made a mistake somewhere feel free to point it out and ill give it another look.

Thanks for reading my guide on Lee Sin.

If anyone notices spelling mistakes or broken coding please tell me. I typed this extremely late at night so its bound to be wrong in places.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS MADE THIS GUIDE NUMERO UNO!! i honestly didn't think it would become as popular as it has thanks a lot.
Back to Top

About the Author

Ever wondered what my lee sin looks like? Well i sometimes stream for fun randomly if you want to check it out the link is Here!

I'm just some random silver 5 (capable of Gold but i don't want to put in the effort) top laner who trolls around a lot. My preferences are assassin type top laners even though they have kind of went out of style. My favorite champs in the Top lane are Fiora, Riven, And of course Lee Sin.

Why should you follow a word this guide says? Try it for yourself and hopefully that will answer that question ^.^.
Download the Porofessor App for Windows

League of Legends Champions:

Teamfight Tactics Guide