If you have been following the major League of Legends tournaments lately, you will notice a significant change in playstyle compared to the spring season. Basically, teams want to play slowly and steadily in the early game and aim for the late-game period. Even in the Jungle position, champions with good scaling are much more favored than those that apply early-game pressure like Lee Sin.
The star Jungler of T1, Oner, also admits this, stating that Lee Sin is only strong if he can threaten the opponent’s carry. Moreover, this guy is quite confident in his ability to use Lee Sin, claiming he is the best Lee Sin player in the LCK right now. However, Oner also shared that the playstyles of players vary, so the standards for judging who is better are also different.
Question: Which playstyle do you think Lee Sin fits best in the current meta?
T1 Oner: It is true that Lee Sin has appeared less lately, but he is still a champion worth playing. I think Lee Sin fits best in a position where he can threaten the opponent’s carry.
Question: How would you compare your Lee Sin skills to other players?
T1 Oner: I would say I am currently the best Lee Sin player in the LCK. However, depending on the style, each person has a different way of evaluating.
T1 has experienced quite a few ups and downs in this third week of competition as they were surprised by a name no one expected, KDF, ending their unbeaten streak from the spring season. T1 even copied KDF’s lineup consisting of Swain, Senna, Seraphine to defeat DRX yesterday, as this is a very irritating teamfight setup. Clearly, in a situation that requires tight play like this, Oner could not use Lee Sin even though he is very confident in his skills.
Perhaps Oner’s situation of not being able to play Lee Sin despite wanting to will continue, as the general playstyle of the current patch does not suit Lee Sin. If Riot wants professional League of Legends to focus on early-game teamfights, Lee Sin may make a comeback. However, this is very unlikely due to the significant impacts of patch 12.10, and the prolonged playstyle is still very favored.