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Spells:
Smite
Flash
Ability Order
Flurry (PASSIVE)
Lee Sin Passive Ability
Disclaimer
For those unfamiliar with Lee Sin, the Blind Monk, he is an AD caster/carry with an emphasis on mobility and burst damage. Lee Sin uses the energy system (like the ninjas Akali, Kennen, and Shen) meaning that Lee Sin has no early game mana issues. The Blind Monk is also one of the strongest and fastest junglers in the game with an innate shield, lifesteal, attack speed boost, and AoE damage spell. Done correctly you will never fall below 1/2 health in the jungle as Lee Sin, no matter where you start or how long you stay in the jungle.
Lee Sin is an extremely rewarding champion that can single-handedly control a game if played right. With nearly twice the number of abilities of most champions, Lee Sin has a high skillcap and requires that his summoner know his abilities inside and out. If you're just starting with Lee Sin, chances are you'll be pretty bad--don't be discouraged! All I can advise is that you practice, practice, practice. Soon you'll be punting that enemy Teemo around with the best of them (mwahahahaha). Remember, force is meaningless without skill.
Lee Sin is an extremely rewarding champion that can single-handedly control a game if played right. With nearly twice the number of abilities of most champions, Lee Sin has a high skillcap and requires that his summoner know his abilities inside and out. If you're just starting with Lee Sin, chances are you'll be pretty bad--don't be discouraged! All I can advise is that you practice, practice, practice. Soon you'll be punting that enemy Teemo around with the best of them (mwahahahaha). Remember, force is meaningless without skill.
There are many that will tell you that the only way to play Lee Sin is solo top. The justification is that Lee Sin needs mountains of gold to be at his best and has a powerful, spammable harass combo due to his use of energy rather than mana. This makes it easy for Lee Sin to win a lane and ideally to get first blood as well.
However, Lee Sin is also one of the most sustainable junglers in the game and literally never has to leave the jungle once he starts. Without being constantly harassed by enemy champions, Jungle Sin is able to spend his early game building more damage than Lane Sin, giving him explosive damage when ganking. With two Tiamats, Lee Sin is an incredible farmer/pusher, capable of decimating entire waves of minions with a Tempest/Cripple combo and one or two autoattacks. With this build I nearly always lead the game in number of CS, outpacing the farm of most solo lanes by the 15 minute mark.
However, Lee Sin is also one of the most sustainable junglers in the game and literally never has to leave the jungle once he starts. Without being constantly harassed by enemy champions, Jungle Sin is able to spend his early game building more damage than Lane Sin, giving him explosive damage when ganking. With two Tiamats, Lee Sin is an incredible farmer/pusher, capable of decimating entire waves of minions with a Tempest/Cripple combo and one or two autoattacks. With this build I nearly always lead the game in number of CS, outpacing the farm of most solo lanes by the 15 minute mark.
Because he is such a strong jungler, the choice of runes, starting items, and starting location for The Blind Monk is almost completely open. I highly recommend Armor Penetration Quitessences and Marks. This gives you more damage both fighting neutral creeps in the jungle and ganking. Flat Armor Seals and flat Magic Resist Glyphs also give you the resistances you need to survive into the mid-game when you start building defensive items. That said, practically any rune set that works with AD champions will work with Lee Sin.
For masteries it's a fairly standard 21/0/9. I take the CDR from Sorcery instead of the AS from Alacrity because Lee Sin already has an AS boost with his passive. Because this build is for Jungle Sin I also take full ranks in Awareness for the bonus experience and one point in Utility Mastery to make the all-important blue and red buffs last longer. If you feel you need more survivability you can go 0/21/9, making sure to max out Evasion and Nimbleness for the increased dodge chance and speed. Just be aware that your damage output will suffer quite a bit.
Best


Good




Don't Even Think About It







Flurry (Passive)
This ability is essential to jungling with Lee Sin. The increased AS is what makes him so quick at clearing neutral camps so you have to remember to time your ability casts to take full advantage of this. Cast a spell, then 2 autoattacks, cast another spell, 2 more attacks, etc. This ability does not stack so if you spam all your abilites you do not get an increased attack speed for your next 12 attacks. This is also good outside of the jungle for boosting your attack speed while pushing down towers.
Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike
This is your main damaging move and the opening to all of the Blind Monk's combos. Your heat-seeking foot, your main damage dealer, and your chasing ability all in one, not to mention being the closest it comes to a counter to Flash. Granting line of sight on the target if it lands also makes it a better brush-checker than most other skillshots. You can also use it on neutral creeps to jump over walls in the jungle, speeding up your jungling time or helping you escape.
Note that it deals bonus damage based on how much health the target is missing. This means that you're usually going to want to use Resonating Strike as the end of your combo. This will 1) maximise the damage you deal and 2) put you in the perfect position (right next to them) to finish off your kill with a few attacks. Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike has a 1:1 scaling ratio for bonus attack damage and because it hits twice, the effective ratio of this skill is 2.1 damage:1 bonus AD. There aren't many things more satisfying than making a flying kick across the screen directly into your target's face for a kill.
Because of the 10% bonus damage and incredible scaling ratios, I save maxing out this skill for last. The percent damage will keep up with any health items your enemies may buy and by building bonus AD you should be more than making up for the base damage you'd gain from leveling it. It's a personal choice though, I just find leaving it for last fits my playstyle the best.
Safeguard/Iron Will
This is the skill that makes Lee Sin the slippery bastard that he is. When you're playing Jungle Sin, you use this skill in every conceivable way. It gives you a shield to reduce the damage you take, lifesteal and spell vamp to give you a little health back, and bonus armor which is helpful for fighting those jungle minions. The spell vamp from Iron Will also effects Smite, so always remember to use Smite when you've activated Iron Will for that bonus health.
Where this skill really shines though is in the dash. When you use it on a target you dash right next to it. This is what gives Lee Sin such mobility within a teamfight. You can use it to initiate by jumping to a minion near their team then dropping your combo on their carry, to escape by jumping to a minion or ally outside the fight, or to help save a team member who's getting focused or has poison or any other DoT on them. Think of it like a miniature version of Shen's ult.
You can also use it to jump to wards. An advanced skill is to carry around a few extra wards, then quickly drop that ward and jump to it using Safeguard. In effect it's a flash that costs 75gp instead of being on a cooldown.
I max this skill third (after Tempest/Cripple and my ult). Unfortunately, leveling it doesn't shorten its cooldown but a larger shield and more lifesteal/spellvamp gives you great survivability in fights and sustainability during pushes.
Tempest/Cripple
Your only AoE spell and boy is it a monster. 1:1 damage scaling, a mid-size area, and a brutal slow to both move speed and attack speed. It also gives you vision on whatever you hit like Kog'Maw's ult or Nidalee/Caitlyn's traps making this The Counter to stealth (well, aside from oracles and vision wards but those cost precious gold).
This is the first of my non-ult skills that I max. Between the slow from Cripple and the red buff, it will almost guarantee all your ganks end in a kill. The AoE damage also helps Lee Sin farm tremendously.
Dragon's Rage (Ultimate)
Your ultimate, the move that turns any champion of your choice into a living (or not so living) bowling ball. With a savage 2:1 scaling ratio with bonus attack damage it's not uncommon for this to be hitting near 1000 damage by late game.
This skill is on a relatively short cooldown and brings a huge amount of utility to a teamfight so feel free to use it in whatever way you can imagine. Here are a few ways to best use it:
- To kick away enemies in a teamfight. Kick away their tank so you can focus their carry or use it to clear enemies away from your own carry.
- To interrupt channels such as Malzahar or Katarina's ult.
- To drive a pusher away from your tower. A nice roundhouse kick to the face will give you the time you need to clear their minion wave with Tempest.
- To open a combo against a single target. Land Sonic Wave, then kick them away and follow up with Resonating Strike. The nuke from Dragon's Rage will make your Resonating Strike hit much, much harder.
- To initiate. Get behind their team (either by Flash, Safeguard, Resonating Strike, or flanking) and kick their carry back into your team.
- To ensure a successful gank. Flash in front, kick them back.
- And my personal favorite: to kill a fleeing champion with one of his own teammates. Line up the shot then send that Alistar flying into that poor Teemo (side effects include feelings of badassery and yelling BYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!)
But please, please, do not use this as a finisher. Every time I see a Lee Sin do that I die on the inside. "Why not?" I hear you ask. Because using it as a finisher will do one of two things:
- It kicks the target away from you so if it's not enough damage to kill them, you've given them a free escape.
- It kills them outright. When you do this, their body does not fly back dealing damage to their team, they just die. No knockups, no bonus damage.
Combos
To harass, go Q>Q>E>W. Use both Sonic Wave and Resonating Strike to get to the enemy, hit them with Tempest and perhaps an autoattack, then jump back to a minion or ally in the back of your line with Safeguard. It is possible to do this combo incredibly fast, making it possible to deal damage to an enemy then escape before they have time to retaliate.
To kill a single target, go Q>E>R>Q>E then autoattacks. This is the perfect ambush combo for champions who like running through the jungle alone. Land Sonic Wave, then deal as much damage as possible before you follow up with Resonating Strike and the slow from Cripple, preventing escape. This will immediately take most non-tanks to 1/2 health or below and will outright kill carries without copious health or resistances.
To gank you should ideally go W>E>E>Q>Q. Jump to a minion or ally near your target with Safeguard, then slow them with Cripple. Use Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike to chase them down and as a finisher.
Early Game

I'd be willing to guess that the majority of people who saw this guide got to the items at the top, saw Tiamat, and then ignored the rest of the guide. If you made it this far, I'm going to take some time to explain why I think Tiamats are actually a good choice for Lee Sin.
Lee Sin is not anywhere near the best farmer in the game or even a good one. Yes, he attacks rather quickly in the early levels and yes, Tempest deals near 1/2 damage to an entire wave of minions but he still must autoattack each minion he intends to kill. This is in contrast to champions with strong AoE damage spells which clear whole waves at a time or more traditional carries that build both damage and attack speed. In the mid to late game Lee Sin finds himself competing with these champions for last-hits and finds his gold supply starting to dry up. Additionally, his relative inability to push lanes locks him into the role of traveling with the team, closing the option of split pushing.
Building two Tiamats solves these issues by turning Lee Sin into an incredibly powerful pusher/farmer. A single Tempest and 3 autoattacks will clear an entire wave from full health. In addition, the bonus attack damage from Tiamats gives all of his abilites a large damage boost and the health regeneration gives him staying power whether in lane or in the jungle. Tiamats also synergize extremely well with Warmog's, getting it charged up incredibly quickly.
Aren't you wasting gold by paying for mana regen that you won't even use?
Yes, you are wasting gold but it's still cost effective even without using the mana regen. To get similar effects to a





Generally the best boots to buy for any melee champion. I occasionally buy Boots of Swiftness if the other team is light on CC. I upgrade my boots after I buy my second Tiamat. This is because Lee Sin's abilities give him mobility in a fight without needing extra move speed. You'll be slow going between the lanes and you'll be the last person to get your boots but it's a strategy I find works for me. As with everything in this guide, do whatever works for you.
Why Don't You Rush Wriggle's Lantern?

Wriggle's Lantern is a great item, it really is. Free wards every 3 1/2 minutes that you can jump to, Madred's Razors effect, a solid amount of early game armor, attack damage, and lifesteal. However, I find it almost entirely redundant on Jungle Sin. Lee Sin has plenty of innate lifesteal and bonus armor from Iron Will, making those stats redundant. The increased attack damage is nice but not cost effective compared to pure attack items and the special effect from Madred's Razors is nice too but mostly unnecessary since Lee Sin is one of the fastest junglers already. Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike because of its bonus damage serves nearly the same function as a second smite or Madred's Razors, especially on the Ancient Golem and Lizard Elder who have far more health.
Still it does bring a lot of utility (as DuffTime mentions below). If you're really attached to it, I would suggest replacing one of the Tiamats with this. It's significantly cheaper than a Tiamat, effectively giving you more gold for the mid game while still giving you a superior farming ability than a Trinity Force Blind Monk. The trade-off is that you'll be doing 27 less damage with all your abilities and auto-attacks against other champions. Like all things in my guide, personal preference.
Mid Game

Pretty standard Lee Sin item here--lots of health and regen. This will make you a good damage soak (not a tank) in the mid game. Once you get it, you will have enough health to jump into the middle of your opponents, cause some chaos with your ult and Tempest, and then jump out and still be alive. Synergizes with Tiamat to get it charged up fast and Atma's Impaler for the damage.

Standard combination with Warmog's; by the time you get this you should have enough health that it gives you about 60 bonus attack damage. The armor adds nicely to your survivability and the crit chance doesn't hurt. Build this before Force of Nature if you're taking more physical damage.

Health regen, move speed, and magic resist. What more could a tanky dps ask for? Once completed you will have around 120 Health regen per 5. Along with the lifesteal from Iron Will, it's possible to completely regain your health within seconds of the end of a fight.
Late Game





In the late game you're going to want to sell your Tiamats for some higher tier items. Since you're finishing your build and your Warmog's is all charged up, more farm isn't going to be as useful for you at this point. Buy an Infinity Edge or a Bloodthirster if you want more damage or a Last Whisper to counter them if they're stacking armor. If they're stacking health buy a Madred's Bloodrazor and if you just want an all around item get a Phantom Dancer for the increased move speed, attack speed, and damage (through the greater crit chance).
Trinity force is an item almost universally recommended for Lee Sin. In my opinion, however, it's a highly overrated item and doesn't deserve a place in his core build. Here's why:
The most common argument against building a Trinity Force is that you're paying for mana and AP in the
Sheen. Being manaless, Lee Sin makes no use of the mana and very little use of the AP which makes his shield block 24 more damage. Wahoo.
That said, the Sheen proc is nice, but what most people do not understand is that it only adds 100% of your base damage, not total damage or bonus damage. It also adds it to your autoattack, shifting the emphasis of Lee Sin's damage from spells (Resonating Strike, Tempest, Dragon's Rage) to autoattacks. To maximise the effect of sheen, you must stand next to your target casting spells consecutively every 2 seconds. The is completely unrealistic on the face of it and lies directly counter to Lee Sin's kit which is built around mobility and yo-yoing in and out of a fight.
Let's take an ideal damage burst from a level 18 Lee Sin with a Trinity Force (4070gp) and two Tiamats (4140gp). This assumes two full two autoattacks between each spell cast.
___________________________________________________________________
Sonic Wave
Trinity Force: 200 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 685.5
Tiamats: 270 + 213*2 + 0 = 696
Resonating Strike after the the above damage
Trinity Force: 200 + 685.5*0.1 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 724.05
Tiamats: 270 + 696*0.1 + 213*2 + 0 = 765.5
Tempest
Trinity Force: 230 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 685.5
Tiamats: 300 + 213*2 + 0 = 765.5
Dragon's Rage
Trinity Force: 660 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 1115.5
Tiamats: 800 + 213*2 + 0 = 1226
Total with 2 Autoattacks after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit@ = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 685.5*0.1 + 143*8 + (113*1.5)*4 + 143*1.2 = 3209.55 on average, 3180.55 if one crit, 3323.55 if two
Tiamats: 1640 + 696*0.1 + 213*8 + 0 + 0 = 3413.6
___________________________________________________________________
The above data show that in an ideal situation, a Lee Sin with two Tiamats deals 204 more damage in a burst than one with a Trinity Force. However, we know that it's nearly impossible to manage your spells that carefully in a fight so let's look at what happens if you only get one autoattack off.
___________________________________________________________________
Total with 1 Autoattack after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit@ = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 542.5*0.1 + 143*4 + (113*1.5)*4 + 143*0.6 = 2680.05 on average, 2737.25 if one crit, 2594.25 if no crits
Tiamats: 1640 + 483*0.1 + 213*4 + 0 + 0 = 2540.3
___________________________________________________________________
Here you see that Trinity Force beats out two Tiamats by 140 damage. Again, it is unlikely that you would get exactly one autoattack off for each spell (for example, you're unlikely to use the Sheen Proc from Sonic Wave because it's rarely used while within melee range of its target). To proc the Sheen effect for all four spells, you'd need to wait 2 seconds between each cast, stretching the combo out to a full 8 seconds. This is highly unrealistic. Since you're almost certain to miss at least one Sheen proc (which represents 169.5 damage, more than the difference between the two) it's doubtful that in an actual match a Lee Sin with Trinity Force would outdamage a dual Tiamat Lee Sin at all. To complete the analysis, here's the base damage from abilities alone with no autoattacks.
___________________________________________________________________
Total with 0 Autoattacks after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 230*0.1 + 143*0 + (113*1.5)*0 + 0 = 1313
Tiamats: 1640 + 270*0.1 + 213*0 + 0 + 0 = 1667
___________________________________________________________________
Unsurprisingly the data show that Tiamats win by a significant margin of 354 damage.
In an ideal situation Trinity Force does slightly more damage than two Tiamats when you are getting off between 1 and 6 hits on the enemy during the course of your combo, double Tiamats does more damage when you autoattack 0 or more than 6 times. This assumes that you are able to land every sheen proc and are timing all your spellcasts 2 seconds or more apart to activate the proc. Realistically we know that a 4 spell combo lasts far shorter than 8 seconds or even 4, meaning that you are unlikely to get even 2 sheen procs out of Trinity Force, significantly reducing your damage output from the theoretical ideal.
If you make more than 7 autoattacks during the course of your burst, you are dealing more damage with Tiamats than you are with Trinity Force even if timed perfectly and with each attack after that the gap widens steadily. Two Tiamats also does superior damage during harassment and the poking before a teamfight. All of this does not include the increased damage to multiple targets due to Tiamat's splash effect, bonus damage to Tempest hitting more than one target, and to Lee Sin's ult colliding with one or more champions other than the target.
There is room for argument that the other, non-damage effects of Trinity Force give it greater utility than two Tiamats. The increased move speed and attack speed from
Zeal for example or the slow effect from
Phage (which is redundant with Cripple and the red buff, both of which you will be using in a fight). Both of these give effects that encourage playing a Lee Sin that focuses on autoattacking rather than a better suited role as a tanky AD caster and, as above, we see that a double Tiamat Lee Sin that focuses on autoattacking deals more damage than a Trinity Force Lee Sin anyways.
tl;dr Two Tiamats give Lee Sin more utility and more consistent damage than Trinity Force throughout a match as well as filling in the gaps in his kit by making him a strong farmer capable of split pushing with health regen to boot. It is idiot-proof and realistic and does not require a careful timing of abilities every 2 seconds to maximise your damage. A Blind Monk with Tiamats farms faster than a Blind Monk with a Trinity Force, charging up Warmog's faster, earning more gold, and keeping him one step ahead of the enemy team when it comes to items.
The most common argument against building a Trinity Force is that you're paying for mana and AP in the

That said, the Sheen proc is nice, but what most people do not understand is that it only adds 100% of your base damage, not total damage or bonus damage. It also adds it to your autoattack, shifting the emphasis of Lee Sin's damage from spells (Resonating Strike, Tempest, Dragon's Rage) to autoattacks. To maximise the effect of sheen, you must stand next to your target casting spells consecutively every 2 seconds. The is completely unrealistic on the face of it and lies directly counter to Lee Sin's kit which is built around mobility and yo-yoing in and out of a fight.
***Warning, mathcraft ahead, skip to The Bottom Line for conclusions***
Let's take an ideal damage burst from a level 18 Lee Sin with a Trinity Force (4070gp) and two Tiamats (4140gp). This assumes two full two autoattacks between each spell cast.
___________________________________________________________________
Sonic Wave
Trinity Force: 200 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 685.5
Tiamats: 270 + 213*2 + 0 = 696
Resonating Strike after the the above damage
Trinity Force: 200 + 685.5*0.1 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 724.05
Tiamats: 270 + 696*0.1 + 213*2 + 0 = 765.5
Tempest
Trinity Force: 230 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 685.5
Tiamats: 300 + 213*2 + 0 = 765.5
Dragon's Rage
Trinity Force: 660 + 143*2 + 113*1.5 = 1115.5
Tiamats: 800 + 213*2 + 0 = 1226
Total with 2 Autoattacks after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit@ = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 685.5*0.1 + 143*8 + (113*1.5)*4 + 143*1.2 = 3209.55 on average, 3180.55 if one crit, 3323.55 if two
Tiamats: 1640 + 696*0.1 + 213*8 + 0 + 0 = 3413.6
___________________________________________________________________
@8 autoattacks times a 15% crit chance yields an average of 1.2 crits during this burst.
The above data show that in an ideal situation, a Lee Sin with two Tiamats deals 204 more damage in a burst than one with a Trinity Force. However, we know that it's nearly impossible to manage your spells that carefully in a fight so let's look at what happens if you only get one autoattack off.
___________________________________________________________________
Total with 1 Autoattack after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit@ = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 542.5*0.1 + 143*4 + (113*1.5)*4 + 143*0.6 = 2680.05 on average, 2737.25 if one crit, 2594.25 if no crits
Tiamats: 1640 + 483*0.1 + 213*4 + 0 + 0 = 2540.3
___________________________________________________________________
@4 autoattacks times a 15% crit chance yields an average of 0.6 crits during this burst.
Here you see that Trinity Force beats out two Tiamats by 140 damage. Again, it is unlikely that you would get exactly one autoattack off for each spell (for example, you're unlikely to use the Sheen Proc from Sonic Wave because it's rarely used while within melee range of its target). To proc the Sheen effect for all four spells, you'd need to wait 2 seconds between each cast, stretching the combo out to a full 8 seconds. This is highly unrealistic. Since you're almost certain to miss at least one Sheen proc (which represents 169.5 damage, more than the difference between the two) it's doubtful that in an actual match a Lee Sin with Trinity Force would outdamage a dual Tiamat Lee Sin at all. To complete the analysis, here's the base damage from abilities alone with no autoattacks.
___________________________________________________________________
Total with 0 Autoattacks after each spell
Spell + Bonus + Attack + Sheen Proc + Crit = Total
Trinity Force: 1290 + 230*0.1 + 143*0 + (113*1.5)*0 + 0 = 1313
Tiamats: 1640 + 270*0.1 + 213*0 + 0 + 0 = 1667
___________________________________________________________________
Unsurprisingly the data show that Tiamats win by a significant margin of 354 damage.
The Bottom Line
In an ideal situation Trinity Force does slightly more damage than two Tiamats when you are getting off between 1 and 6 hits on the enemy during the course of your combo, double Tiamats does more damage when you autoattack 0 or more than 6 times. This assumes that you are able to land every sheen proc and are timing all your spellcasts 2 seconds or more apart to activate the proc. Realistically we know that a 4 spell combo lasts far shorter than 8 seconds or even 4, meaning that you are unlikely to get even 2 sheen procs out of Trinity Force, significantly reducing your damage output from the theoretical ideal.
If you make more than 7 autoattacks during the course of your burst, you are dealing more damage with Tiamats than you are with Trinity Force even if timed perfectly and with each attack after that the gap widens steadily. Two Tiamats also does superior damage during harassment and the poking before a teamfight. All of this does not include the increased damage to multiple targets due to Tiamat's splash effect, bonus damage to Tempest hitting more than one target, and to Lee Sin's ult colliding with one or more champions other than the target.
There is room for argument that the other, non-damage effects of Trinity Force give it greater utility than two Tiamats. The increased move speed and attack speed from


tl;dr Two Tiamats give Lee Sin more utility and more consistent damage than Trinity Force throughout a match as well as filling in the gaps in his kit by making him a strong farmer capable of split pushing with health regen to boot. It is idiot-proof and realistic and does not require a careful timing of abilities every 2 seconds to maximise your damage. A Blind Monk with Tiamats farms faster than a Blind Monk with a Trinity Force, charging up Warmog's faster, earning more gold, and keeping him one step ahead of the enemy team when it comes to items.
You are Lee Sin, the Blind Monk. You are the offtank who's going to put the foot-shaped hurt on the other team. If you so much as glance towards the enemy they will flash away in fear. In the land of the blind, The Blind Monk is king.
At this point you want to start ganking the lanes constantly until the red buff runs out. Remember, a gank doesn't need to end in a kill to be successful. Your job as a jungler is to disrupt the lanes as much as possible. Drive them out of the lane and make them go back so they lose out on experience and gold. Force them to use their summoner spells, removing their escapes and giving your allies in lane a better chance to get a kill of their own. Even ganking a lane that's being pushed hard can help relieve the pressure on a teammate and allow them to go back without the tower being pushed.
Remember your gank combo W>E>E>Q>Q but don't be afraid to mix it up by starting with your Q or throwing an ult in there somewhere. Use your best judgement.
Once the red buff runs out, go back and buy basic boots and as much damage as you can afford (as well as potions and some wards). You only need the blue buff for the first run through or the jungle, remember to hand it off to your mana-using teammates who need it more than you. Repeat until champions start to roam and towers are starting to fall. Welcome to the mid game.
By this point you should be done with your first Tiamat and hopefully near to completing your second. This is the time when this build is the most vulnerable. Up to this point you've spent all your gold building damage without building survivability, making you a fragile glass cannon compared to most other champions. Continue jungling but also clear waves in the lane with Tempest + Tiamats. If you can catch a kill here and there that's great. Finish your boots and try to collect the gold for a Warmog's ASAP.
Once you have your Warmog's you should have a lot more survivability. Use your Tiamats to farm and push towers, charging up your Warmog's. Try to figure out which kind of damage you're taking the most and build an Atma's Impaler or a Force of Nature accordingly. Remember to keep the dragon warded.
In team fights you should be using your ult to force people out of position or as a team nuke. If you can hit 3 or more people with your ult it will go a long way to winning teamfights. Try to focus their carry--your dash abilities make it very difficult to kite you compared to most tanky dps.
And don't forget the shield on Safeguard. While 200 damage may not sound like much it's often the difference between life and death for both you and your allies. Use it the best you can, I guarantee you'll save many lives with it.
The baron should be warded at all times now and both teams are looking for an ace so they can push. If your team can handle a 4v5, push one lane while they keep the pressure on another. The Blind Monk's mobility and strong pushing power with double Tiamats make this a breeze. If they can't handle it, wait until you have a solid victory in a teamfight, then push down an inhibitor or kill the Baron.
Remember to keep the lanes pushed out and to keep farming. Sell your Tiamats for better, situational items that will help you secure a victory--
Banshee's Veil or
Quicksilver Sash if they have CC, Madred's Bloodrazor if they have health, etc. Don't forget to finish your build with elixers.
Early Game: Jungling and Ganking
Lee Sin has no defined jungle route which makes him very difficult to counter jungle. My favorite path is to start at the blue buff. Then I hit every camp, working my way through the jungle to the small golems. By the time I finish there I have both buffs and am at 3/4 to full health.At this point you want to start ganking the lanes constantly until the red buff runs out. Remember, a gank doesn't need to end in a kill to be successful. Your job as a jungler is to disrupt the lanes as much as possible. Drive them out of the lane and make them go back so they lose out on experience and gold. Force them to use their summoner spells, removing their escapes and giving your allies in lane a better chance to get a kill of their own. Even ganking a lane that's being pushed hard can help relieve the pressure on a teammate and allow them to go back without the tower being pushed.
Remember your gank combo W>E>E>Q>Q but don't be afraid to mix it up by starting with your Q or throwing an ult in there somewhere. Use your best judgement.
Once the red buff runs out, go back and buy basic boots and as much damage as you can afford (as well as potions and some wards). You only need the blue buff for the first run through or the jungle, remember to hand it off to your mana-using teammates who need it more than you. Repeat until champions start to roam and towers are starting to fall. Welcome to the mid game.
Mid Game: Roaming, Pushing, and Farming
By this point you should be done with your first Tiamat and hopefully near to completing your second. This is the time when this build is the most vulnerable. Up to this point you've spent all your gold building damage without building survivability, making you a fragile glass cannon compared to most other champions. Continue jungling but also clear waves in the lane with Tempest + Tiamats. If you can catch a kill here and there that's great. Finish your boots and try to collect the gold for a Warmog's ASAP.
Once you have your Warmog's you should have a lot more survivability. Use your Tiamats to farm and push towers, charging up your Warmog's. Try to figure out which kind of damage you're taking the most and build an Atma's Impaler or a Force of Nature accordingly. Remember to keep the dragon warded.
In team fights you should be using your ult to force people out of position or as a team nuke. If you can hit 3 or more people with your ult it will go a long way to winning teamfights. Try to focus their carry--your dash abilities make it very difficult to kite you compared to most tanky dps.
And don't forget the shield on Safeguard. While 200 damage may not sound like much it's often the difference between life and death for both you and your allies. Use it the best you can, I guarantee you'll save many lives with it.
Late Game: Split Pushing, Baron, and Finishing Your Build
The baron should be warded at all times now and both teams are looking for an ace so they can push. If your team can handle a 4v5, push one lane while they keep the pressure on another. The Blind Monk's mobility and strong pushing power with double Tiamats make this a breeze. If they can't handle it, wait until you have a solid victory in a teamfight, then push down an inhibitor or kill the Baron.
Remember to keep the lanes pushed out and to keep farming. Sell your Tiamats for better, situational items that will help you secure a victory--


- Lee Sin functions best when he can jump in and out of a fight quickly. Any champion with a point-and-click or melee hard cc (such as Ryze, Udyr, Leona, Maokai, Taric, and Alistar) tend to lock down Lee sin easily before he can jump out with Safeguard. Be careful when playing against these teams.
- Remember to use the vision you get on enemies with Sonic Wave and Tempest to help your allies. If an enemy jukes through brush or around a corner, the line of sight on them from these abilities will still allow you and your teammates to target them with spells.
- The attack speed and move speed reduction from Cripple can be vital in countering AD carries on the other team. Use it like
Randuin's Omen.
- Remember that you can jump over walls with Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike and that you can jump to wards with Safeguard.
- Learn to smartcast and self-cast your abilities. Shaving even fractions of a second off your reaction time will greatly improve your jungling speed and ganking.
- The blue buff is not as useful for you as it is for your mana using teammates. However, if no one is nearby or you're stealing the opponenet's buff, you should take it. It gives you cooldown reduction and 15 energy regen per 5 (a 33% increase from your base 50EP5). This makes you more spammy and, as an AD caster, more spells translates directly into more damage.
- When pushing towers, spam your abilities to make sure that you always have the attack speed boost from Flurry.
- If you're having trouble ganking, all I can suggest is that you practice Sonic Wave over and over until you can weave it in between minions and make it hit who you want every time. It takes practice, but once you master this skill you're already 75% of the way to mastering Lee Sin.
- Don't forget the shield on Safeguard. Use it on a fleeing teammate to secure their escape or on an initiator to reduce the damage they take from the initial burst and to get you into the fight yourself.
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