Is Lee Sin cursed?

A curious trend that has developed in the League Champions Korea (LCK) has prompted a very important question in the League of Legends community as of late: is Lee Sin cursed? The high-flying, blindfolded ninja has seen thirteen consecutive losses, with an unimpressive win rate throughout the region, yet teams continue to feel comfortable rounding out their team compositions with him. Inven Global reached out to Jungler-turned-analyst Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo and Schalke 04 Esports Jungler Lukas “Lurox” Thoma to assess the situation.

According to LirA, Lee Sin is picked by LCK teams because players are confident piloting him. In his opinion “the champion itself isn’t as good because the player is obligated to make ‘super plays,' so we see a losing streak”.

Lurox explains that it comes down to making “super plays” when the player is not using the champion in the early game correctly, on top of having CC set up incorrectly with your team. “That will make him less useful than the enemy’s jungler and he will not hold up in team fights after the mark of 20 minutes”, explains the rookie Jungler.

In professional circuits on the other side of the world, such as the League of Legends European Championship or the League of Legends Championship Series, Lee Sin is still a viable pick. LirA explains that in these cases, the games have more skirmishes around the map that are unrelated to the main objectives, suggesting he personally thinks the champion is still a good choice for skirmishes.

Lurox, an avid Lee Sin player himself, says the champion is a good pick if the team needs a strong early game jungler. Agreeing the champion is good at skirmishes, he adds that Lee Sin sets his mid lane and support up well with his built-in CC.

When it comes to the low success rate of the champion, he adds:

“Lee Sin is not seeing a high success rate in the LCK because right now the teams are playing very passively with this champion and it seems like they are too scared for any skirmishes at all outside of major objectives. The teams need to approach the aggressive playstyle of the LEC and the LPL. If the champion is used improperly, it will always see a low success rate.”

When it comes to the ideal conditions to pick the champion, LirA believes that when we start seeing a “gank meta”, where laners feel more pressured by Lee Sin's engage potential, he would become a more viable pick and see a greater success rate.

For more updates on the LCK, LEC and the LCS, visit our LoL Esports page.