Hi everyone, and welcome back to the newest edition of Weird Pick Wednesday. This week we will be revisiting a long forgotten mid laner, the legendary mobility lord, Lee Sin!After the nerf on other keystone masteries and the buff to Thunderlord's Decree on AD based champions, it seems like Lee Sin may rise again to the mid lane. Let us check out what this entails:
Introduction
Hi everyone, and welcome back to the newest edition of Weird Pick Wednesday. This week we will be revisiting a long forgotten mid laner, the legendary mobility lord, Lee Sin!
After the nerf on other keystone masteries and the buff to Thunderlord's Decree on AD based champions, it seems like Lee Sin may rise again to the mid lane. Let us check out what this entails:
After the nerf on other keystone masteries and the buff to Thunderlord's Decree on AD based champions, it seems like Lee Sin may rise again to the mid lane. Let us check out what this entails:
How to Play
Runes: Attack Damage Quints, Attack Damage Reds, Flat Armor Yellows, 6 Flat Cooldown Reduction, 3 Flat Magic Resist Blues
Masteries: 12-18-0, Thunderlord Masteries
Abilities: Q, W, E, Q then prioritize R > Q > W > E
Core Items: Maw of Malmortius, Ionian Boots, Sightstone, Black Cleaver, Dead Man's Plate, Banshee's Veil
Alternate Core Items: Ravenous/Titanic Hydra, Bloodthirster, Last Whisper, Yomuu's Ghostblade
Masteries: 12-18-0, Thunderlord Masteries
Abilities: Q, W, E, Q then prioritize R > Q > W > E
Core Items: Maw of Malmortius, Ionian Boots, Sightstone, Black Cleaver, Dead Man's Plate, Banshee's Veil
Alternate Core Items: Ravenous/Titanic Hydra, Bloodthirster, Last Whisper, Yomuu's Ghostblade
Why It Works
Excellent AD RatiosRunning at 90% AD for each part of his Resonating Strike (Q), 100% on Tempest (E), and a whopping 200% single target on his Dragon's Rage (R), Lee Sin packs a ton of burst damage and can easily eliminate a squishy if he's building damage. Even if he puts on a few tank items, he's still very potent with Thunderlord's Decree to supplement his burst.
Meanwhile, if he manages to kick an enemy champion into any others, each of those champions gets the honor of getting hit by that 200% bonus AD as well.
Difficult to Gank
Although Lee Sin is a melee champion, he offers more in the way of escape patterns compared to other melee laners, especially early game. He only needs to buy a pink ward, and then he can use his yellow trinket as an escape or engage mechanism. This means that even if he doesn't have his flash up, it's still difficult to catch him.
Good Trading Potential
As a result of the free shield and sustain that Lee's W provides, many mid laners will find it difficult to trade with him, especially if he lands his Resonating Strike (Q). Generally, he does better against melee based mid laners like Yasuo or Kassadin, but can also trade well with ranged laners if players time their W shields correctly.
Bonus Armor and Magic Resist
Unlike a lot of other mid laners, as a melee champion Lee Sin gains both armor and magic resist per level. This allows him scale defensively to a certain extent, even if he's not building any tank items.
Although Lee Sin is a melee champion, he offers more in the way of escape patterns compared to other melee laners, especially early game. He only needs to buy a pink ward, and then he can use his yellow trinket as an escape or engage mechanism. This means that even if he doesn't have his flash up, it's still difficult to catch him.
Good Trading Potential
As a result of the free shield and sustain that Lee's W provides, many mid laners will find it difficult to trade with him, especially if he lands his Resonating Strike (Q). Generally, he does better against melee based mid laners like Yasuo or Kassadin, but can also trade well with ranged laners if players time their W shields correctly.
Bonus Armor and Magic Resist
Unlike a lot of other mid laners, as a melee champion Lee Sin gains both armor and magic resist per level. This allows him scale defensively to a certain extent, even if he's not building any tank items.
Potential Pitfalls
Highly Skill Based
A naturally difficult champion to use, playing Lee Sin as a mid laner simply compounds the difficulty. In order to engage and deal damage to the enemy laner, a Lee Sin needs to either hit his Resonating Strike (Q) consistently, and/or ward jump to the enemy laner. Without doing so, ranged champions can steadily whittle him down.
Low Late Game Poke Damage/Waveclear
Late game, Lee Sin has relatively little in the way of poke damage compared to the majority of other laners. This means that in a waveclear and poke battle, Lee Sin is not going to add much value. On the other hand, if he can all-in and Insec one player through the other four players on the enemy team, amazing things may happen.
No AP Damage
With regards to a solo queue setting, the general consensus is that if you do not pick an AP mid laner, do not expect anyone else on your team to compensate for this. What that means is that your team will likely end up running four AD based champions and be left completely vulnerable to any armor stacking late game champions the enemy team happens to pick. Select with caution!
A naturally difficult champion to use, playing Lee Sin as a mid laner simply compounds the difficulty. In order to engage and deal damage to the enemy laner, a Lee Sin needs to either hit his Resonating Strike (Q) consistently, and/or ward jump to the enemy laner. Without doing so, ranged champions can steadily whittle him down.
Low Late Game Poke Damage/Waveclear
Late game, Lee Sin has relatively little in the way of poke damage compared to the majority of other laners. This means that in a waveclear and poke battle, Lee Sin is not going to add much value. On the other hand, if he can all-in and Insec one player through the other four players on the enemy team, amazing things may happen.
No AP Damage
With regards to a solo queue setting, the general consensus is that if you do not pick an AP mid laner, do not expect anyone else on your team to compensate for this. What that means is that your team will likely end up running four AD based champions and be left completely vulnerable to any armor stacking late game champions the enemy team happens to pick. Select with caution!
Conclusions
Lee Sin is a champion that when played at the highest level, is indeed one of the strongest champions when mastered. Although he's clearly superior as a jungler or a top laner, mid lane is also viable depending on individual skill level.
Played as an assassin, Lee Sin can work very well. However, if you build too much damage it may be better to use your Dragon's Rage (R) on the enemy tank since you will not get any bonus damage from hitting other enemies if your original target dies instantly.
Played as an assassin, Lee Sin can work very well. However, if you build too much damage it may be better to use your Dragon's Rage (R) on the enemy tank since you will not get any bonus damage from hitting other enemies if your original target dies instantly.
Suggested Rating: Tier 3
What do you think about Lee Sin Mid? Comment below!
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