Carrying Low Elo With Lee Sin

Introduction

Have you watched a professional game of League recently? If your answer is yes, you have likely seen some top tier Lee Sin play. In solo queue, Lee Sin is an effective champ in respect to his utility and damage output, and can win game after game when played correctly. When examining champion pick rates, one can notice that Lee Sin’s pick rate grows exponentially when climbing up the ladder.

In Bronze, the blind monk is picked in about 20% of games, while in Diamond, the rate jumps to 40%. What exactly causes this increase? Diamond players have the mechanical abilities and knowledge to be able to use Lee Sin effectively, skills that Bronze and Silver players lack. By practicing Lee Sin extensively, and examining the matchups, it will become easier and easier to win games. Although Lee is typically used as a jungler, this guide will focus on top lane play, because the limited gold output in the jungle cripples Lee Sin’s early-mid game potential.

The Five Problems of Low Elo

By analyzing games from all divisions, one can compile a list of key differences that separate the Bronze players from Diamond. I will address these problems that can specifically be fixed by a knowledgeable Lee Sin.

 

-Freezing and Pushing Lanes
• Often, players in Bronze and Silver do not know how and when to push lanes. They will either push the lane too far and be susceptible to ganks, or not push at all and miss creeps under turret.

-Harassing/Trading in Lane
• Many players focus primarily on CSing and don’t take opportunities to trade. Forcing your opponent out of lane early game and having them blow a summoner spell or two can lead to a huge advantage, even without getting a kill.

-Warding
• In low elo, you will be lucky to find players other than the support that ward. In some cases, you’ll even be lucky to find supports that ward (Lux supports that start Doran’s Ring + 2 pots, I’m talking to you). Even just one strategically placed ward can change the entire pace of a match.

-Objective Control
• There are some games where I feel that players completely forget about objectives such as Baron and Dragon. It is important to control these to boost a lead and secure victory.

-Closing out the game
• Bronze and Silver teams tend to let games drag on because they fail to group up and take advantage.

After explaining how to build Lee Sin, and how to play him against common matchups, I will list the ways in which Lee Sin can alleviate the negative effects of the five problems of low elo.

 

Building Lee Sin

There are three main items that Lee Sin players should consider rushing.

Ravenous Hydra
• +75 attack damage, + 15 health regeneration, +12% life steal. Passive: Damage dealt by this item benefits from life steal. Unique Passive –Cleave: Your attacks deal up to 60% of your Attack Damage to units around your target as physical damage (185 range) decaying down to 20% near the edge (385 range). Unique Active – Crescent: Deals up to 100% of your Attack Damage to units around you as physical damage, decaying down to 60% near the edge. -10 second cooldown (400 range)

Ravenous Hydra is insanely strong, and most of the time, is the first item rushed. It gives all of the stats Lee Sin needs, and the active has an absurdly low cooldown which allows you to easily clear large minion waves and split push.

Ruby Sightstone
• +360 health, Unique Passive: Ward Refresh – Starts with 5 charges and refills each time you visit the shop. Unique Active: Ghost Ward – Consumes a charge to place an invisible Ghost Ward that reveals the surrounding area for 3 minutes. You may have a maximum of 3 wards placed from this item at once. 1 second cooldown.

Sightstone/Ruby Sightstone is strong on Lee Sin as it allows him three free wards that can be placed anywhere at will, and can be refreshed at any time. The wards allow not only for vision, but for easy escapes as well. Even when not rushing Sightstone, it is vital to keep at least one sight ward in your inventory at all times.

Last Whisper
• +40 attack damage. Unique: +35% armor penetration

The Last Whisper is a must get item for Lee, as Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike scale extremely well with AD and Armor Penetration. The last whisper theory also demonstrates that the best players in the game typically build Last Whisper.

 

Matchups

Instead of listing all matchups in the top lane, I’m going to list a few common enemies that you might encounter when starting to play Lee Sin, as well as some tips to win the lane.

Teemo
Max W first, try to stay out of his range and last hit with Q. Try to ask for ganks before level 6. Warmog’s Armor works well against him.

Singed
Max E first, do not chase Poison trail. In order to harass, you must Q and then W out. Starting Doran’s Blade should be taken into consideration. Shut him down with ganks, as he gets tanky late game.

Shen
Start Doran’s Blade or Shield, I would max E against Shen personally. Try to stop his ultimate with your ultimate, Dragon’s Rage. If you see him taunt, then W away. The tenacity of Mercury’s Treads will help keep you from getting chunked down. Your wave clear is stronger than his, so try to take advantage of this fact.

Renekton
Max W, try to stay back and safely CS/Harass with your Q. Do not try to fight Renekton when he uses his ultimate Dominus, as he will be MUCH stronger than you.

Jax
Jax is a tricky matchup, and the buffs to Trinity Force certainly don’t help. When Jax tries to use Counter Strike, just W away. Keep the lane on your side to prevent enemy ganks. It is easy to harass Jax with a Q + W combo early levels.

Garen
Garen is naturally tanky, and his passive allows him to regenerate health when out of combat, so make sure to keep harass up. It is very obvious when he tries to go in for harass, so just use W to block much of the damage. I max W versus Garen.

 

The Five Problems of Low Elo Revisited

After explaining Lee Sin’s strengths in terms of harass, vision control, and split pushing, it is time to revisit the five problems of low elo, this time, with an explanation of how to remedy the issues.

-Freezing and Pushing Lanes
• Lee Sin’s kit aids him especially in the ability to control lane. With a built in single target spell and multi-target wave clear, it is possible to keep the lane at any place you like. Ravenous Hydra boosts Lee Sin’s wave clear to an insane degree, which allows for even more beneficial play.

-Harassing/Trading in Lane
• Lee Sin is a melee champion with a ranged attack, which means that he can safely harass, and go in for kills when necessary. If Lee goes into a regrettable situation by means of Resonating Strike, he can easily get out with Safeguard. This is a very lethal combination.

-Warding
• Because Lee Sin is one of the only non-support champions that can viably build Sightstone, it is important to use vision control to your advantage. Having more vision than the enemy can lead to a swift victory if utilized correctly.

-Objective Control
• Is your team not willing to get out of lane to do dragon? This is no problem. Lee Sin can safely solo dragon as early as levels 10-11. The extra gold boost can mean a great deal in most games.

-Closing out the game
• Lee Sin can quickly push lanes with his Ravenous Hydra in mid-late game. If your team groups mid while the other team is unaware, you could potentially push down an inhibitor.

 

Using these tips and tricks, you too can learn to be a master of Lee Sin. I hope my guide has helped you. If you have any comments or questions, please write in the comment area below.