Welcome to an in-depth guide to Lee Sin top lane. My elo is around 1400-1500 but I have a pretty good feel on how Lee Sin is played and how effective he is against certain characters.

*******Please post me feedback on matchups you would like or what I should change in my guide************

Lee Sin is an AD bruiser that is a lower ELO and pub stomper. His massive damage early game allows him to free farm and basically kill most opponents with ease. His mobility makes him very hard to predict and gank and his utility in team fights can easily change the tide of the game. Learning his moves and proc his passive properly makes him one of the deadliest champs in the game

*******More matchups will be added**********

scales well with q and easier last hitting
this is an obvious choice
flat magic resist or by level are both viable choices. If you are facing AP heroes like or who start doing massive AP damage by level 3, then get flat AP resist to stay in the lane with him
armor pen and damage both work well here but since Lee Sin does so much damage early game, I feel like damage is more useful for last hitting purposes

21/9/0 is usually the way to go since Lee Sin is a very strong early game character. Items will build up your toughness and your insane sustain keeps you in lane without many defensive masteries

Passive: Flurry

After Lee Sin uses an ability, his next 2 basic attacks gain 50% Attack Speed and return 10 energy each.

Very very strong passive. It basically makes you a great 1 v 1 fighter and useful dps tank in team fights. Make sure to time your abilities to get both procs off. This not only deals extra damage, but it also regenerates your energy so you can continually cast your abilities, which is a great advantage over other energy based heroes who do not have effective ways to regain energy back.

Q:Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike

Sonic Wave: Lee Sin projects a discordant wave of sound to locate his enemies, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+90% of bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to the first enemy it encounters. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike for the next 3 seconds.

Resonating Strike: Lee Sin dashes to the enemy hit by Sonic Wave, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+90% of bonus Attack Damage) physical damage plus 10% of their missing health.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7 seconds

This is why Lee Sin is Chuck Norris. Its early game damage is insane and is a great gap closer in team fights and lane fights. An enemy champion with little armor will take serious damage from this ability. However, it is a skill shot so it takes practice you can nuke to learn its timing and distance. Make sure you are aware of what your opponent is doing once you hit him with this skill. If he flashes and you Q after him and end up in a bad situation, you will pay the consequences.

W:Safeguard / Iron Will Strike

Safeguard: Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both from 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 (+80% per Ability Power) damage. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.

Iron Will: Lee Sin's intense training allows him to thrive in battle. For 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains5/10/15/20/25 lifesteal, spell vamp, and armor.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 8 seconds

Range 700

This gives Lee Sin great mobility. You can jump to friendly creep, heroes, or wards to close distances, save teammates, or escape. Using this in laning phase is important when get constantly harassed because it absorbs damage and when activated again, gives you bonus armor, life steal, and spell vamp to gain your health back. Using this skill to jump to wards defines good Lee Sin players. You should carry an extra ward on you at all times so you can close out on an escaping enemy or run away after stealing a buff, dragon, or baron.

W: Tempest / Cripple

Tempest: Lee Sin smashes the ground sending out a shockwave that deals 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+0.6 per bonus Attack Damage) magic damage and reveals enemy units hit. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast cripple for the next 3 seconds.

Cripple: Lee Sin cripples nearby enemies revealed by Tempest, reducing their Movement and Attack Speed by 30 / 37.5 / 45 / 52.5 / 60 % for 4 seconds. Movement and Attack Speed recover gradually over the duration.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 10 seconds

Range 450


This is a great ability if laning against strong auto attack champions such as Tryndamere, Jax, etc.

In order to slow, you will need to land the initial E, which is a rather short distance. Reactivating the ability has a longer distance. Max this first against champs that depend on pure auto attacks to damage you.

Ultimate: Dragon's Rage

Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick launching his target back, dealing 200 / 400 / 600 (+1.5 per bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to the target and any enemies they collide with. Enemies the target collides with are knocked into the air for a short duration.

Cost 0 energy

Cooldown 90 / 75 / 60 seconds

A true Chuck Norris round house kick. Not only does it do unbelievable damage, it knocks back your target and knocks up any opponent your target collides with.

This move can change a team fight if you get most of their team into this kick. It also can stop channel ultimates such as Karthus' ultimate.

In your lane, a good move to finish an enemy is to land your Q on him, auto attack, ultimate him, and reactivate Q to gap close on him again. Learning how to use your ultimate properly makes Lee Sin a true Chuck Norris.

Against AD melee

-> -> (only cast the first part of this ability)-> ->finish


Against AD range or AP caster
-> -> -> ->

Starting Items:

X 3

OR

X 5
Choose this only against heavy AD bruisers like Renekton, Garen, etc.

Early/Mid Game:

Build in Order:

Against AD lane:

Against AP lane:

Boot selection:

Get this if both your lane and jungle opponent are AD bruisers. If you are facing a Garen, Riven, or other heavy AD bruisers and their jungler does not have hard CC, then buy this still in order to survive in lane. However, you should always sell them for by mid game unless their entire team is AD.



I usually buy this because teams always have CC. If you find no reason to need extra armor early game, then get this.



***It is very possible to skip certain items. For example, if you completely shut down your lane against a Vladamir and the only threat on their team is their AD carry and AD jungler, then by all means do not buy and move straight to and then . It is really important to get the feel of game flow and constantly tab to see who is snowballing, farming extremely well, and builds.***

End Game:

Build in Order:

Possible Offensive Items:

Snowballing big time and want to let everyone know it:
FOR TONS OF DAMAGE

Possible Defensive Items:

Early Game:
Lee Sin is actually strongest early game so you should always try to play aggressively and farm very well. With your great mobility, you can non stop harass your lane opponent and continuously last hit.

Mid Game:
Your ultimate changes team battles. Being able to kick their bruiser/tank through their entire team and forcing him to the back of the fight will give you guys a huge advantage. Don't forget to always carry an extra ward on you so you can use to escape or close in on an enemy. Your abilities allows to close in on their carries easily and protect your carry by shielding and slowing enemy bruisers. Team fights really are about positioning and making quick decisions. If you feel like you do not have an easy path to their AP or AD carry, then just protect your AD carry. Do not make the dumb choice of running through their ENTIRE team to try to get their carries because they can easily kite you and you will melt from the damage of their entire team.

Late Game:
You should be very tanky as this point. Again, your ultimate is a great utility and if you can't focus their carry, peal off enemies focusing your carry and continue kicking everyone to oblivion.

Garen

start:

Garen is also a very strong AD bruiser who dominates early game but unlike Lee Sin, has trouble being effective late game. To successfully lane against him, you should get x5 to start out. You basically have to watch how he plays you very closely. He will usually try to initiate with his followed with . Make sure you self-cast (max this out first) in order to shield some of the damage. If you are not in danger of dying, attack him at will and once his silence wears off, harass him as much as possible and then return to farming. If he is level six, do not underestimate the power of combined with . In later game, he falls off and you will kick him to oblivion.

Difficulty: Medium

Tryndamere

Start

Tryndamere relies on his attack speed and massive damage to hurt you. Don't give him this chance. You want to max out so you can slow him and his attack speed. Attack him at will when he is slowed and then immediately back off after it wears off or else he will return even more damage back to you. Do not let him free farm or get early ganks on you because once he snowballs, your team will stop moaning and crying about how Tryndamere is able to two shot them with his crit. Also, be smart with your jungler when ganking him under his tower because of . This is not the easiest lane but doable.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Gangplank

start:

Gangplank got nerfed pretty hard so he is unlikely to harass you with that often. You can max first if you want to be aggressive with him but the safer way is to put 2 levels in . This is a pretty easy lane in general but never underestimate his passive which can seriously hurt and be effective when his jungler ganks.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Talon

start:

Get your to lvl 2 in order to sustain his constant harass. From there, you can kick him to oblivion and dominate your lane.

Difficulty: Easy

Udyr

start:

Very difficult lane to win. I feel like Udyr does some really nasty damage with and can easily sustain with . It is almost impossible to trade him damage and come out on top. Start to be able to survive but you will be crying and completely zoned out by him.

Difficulty: Scary

Shen

start:

Usually an easy matchup. They nerfed Shen pretty hard so his damage ratios are much lower than before. You can easily outrade him in fights and your sustain is superior to his. Just be careful of ganks because shen has one of the scariest CC's in the game. Basically, that means ward and carry a ward on you so you can jump to it.

Difficult: Easy/Medium

Darius

start:

Most characters play passive against Darius but Lee Sin can destroy him in lane. Make sure you dodge his harass as much as possible, especially the outer radius of it. When Darius goes for a last hit, to the minion and unleash everything you have on him. You actually can outrade him very easily. The only time Darius becomes a huge threat is when he is six and his ignite is up. During the duel, the second you see Darius ignite you and both of you are around half health, immediately escape... ultimate him if necessary to kick him away. Now that his ignite is down, you can destroy him in the next fight but wait for your ultimate to be off CD.

Difficulty: Easy

Vladimir

start:

You are basically Vladamir counter. Put two levels in to sustain against his harass. When he tries to go in for last hits, slow him with and unleash your combo on him. Play very aggressively with him because he has very weak CC so it is pretty easy for you to escape ganks.

Difficulty: Easy