Some notes I put together on countering Lee Sin's early game

This is less of a guide from a Jungle authority figure on how to counter Lee Sin and more so of the musings of a relatively casual Jungler writing out a thought process on Lee Sin's gimmicks and how to play around them. If you know more about Lee Sin than anything I touch on in my writing or if there's anything important I'm missing, be sure to tell me so I can learn about that.

Going by Pick Rate, Lee Sin is almost perpetually the most likely Jungler you will ever run into. In the right hands, he is a premier early game Lv3 Jungler with some of the most flexible ganks in the game and the ability to shove enemy Junglers off entire quadrants of the map. Luckily, his early game is rather strict and predictable, which means it's easy to understand his game plan and even better, make a game plan to counter that.

As a Level 3 Control Jungler who can't (or at least probably shouldn't) be clearing Krugs and Raptors in his first clear, this means that his primary clear will have to be a 4 camp clear from buff to buff (Red>Wolves>Blue>Gromp or Blue>Gromp>Wolves>Red). This leaves him with a short gank timing around just before the 3 minute mark before he takes control of one (if not both) of the Scuttle Crabs. The vast majority of the time, Lee Sin will start near his Bot side for the 2 person leash, however he may choose to start Top Side if Bot Lane is particularly volatile and/or if Support's playing Yuumi.

Champ Select Early Game Wards Pathing and Counter Jungling Lee Sin’s Lv2 Cheese Summary

Champ Select

• In general, safer scaling picks are probably the best bet to bring against Lee Sin. Volatile picks will garner a lot of attention, something you don't really want against a strong ganker/counter jungler like Lee Sin. If you know how to take advantage of lane priority or early game counter jungling, picking a strong early game champion could be a fun way of tripping Lee Sin early on so he never gets an opportunity to show off his strengths. With that said, with Pantheon getting reworked, Lee Sin is the poster child of falling off like a brick past the 20 minute mark. There isn't a strong need to take control of the early game if you draft to simply outscale Lee Sin safely.
• Supports, it's probably not the best idea to play Yuumi into Lee Sin. Even if your ADC Duo is good at the whole not dying thing, you give up way too much presence early and really threaten your own Jungler's game plan if Lee Sin thinks of invading. Also, don't play Braum, apparently.
• Bot Lane has more freedom to choose what they want, since most Lee Sins will path away from them for their first clear, giving about a 4 minute window of absolute free time in the early game. I would recommend against a highly volatile lane, especially if the enemy Bot Laners are also highly volatile, as this may attract Lee Sin's attention. It may be smart to pick something that can set up ganks for your Jungler, however this of course relies on your Jungler.
• Top Lane is the opposite in this regard. They should probably consider champions with some sort of escape or disengage mechanism by Lv2, with full expectation of Lee Sin's presence right before the 3 minute mark.
• Most Junglers are going to path the opposite direction of Lee Sin. Most of the time, this means using Junglers who are comfortable with getting a one man leash from their Top Laner, if they get a leash at all. This is because Lee Sin simply outfights most Junglers at Lv3. With rare exceptions like Elise, most Lv3 Junglers will simply get pushed out of that side of the map by Lee Sin, and most farming Junglers are at incredible danger of getting counter Jungled and caught at their second buff/last camp if they move in the same direction as Lee Sin. It may also be best to run Junglers who are capable of clearing Raptors and Krugs in their first clear, especially if you’re on Red Side. This is mostly to rub it in Lee Sin's face, and it also allows you to utilize the 3 camp Krugs route. More on that later. You should only pick Lv2 aggro Junglers if you're on Red Side and the enemy Top is weak or if you're on Blue side and the enemy Mid is weak.

Early Game Wards

• Because Lee Sin's route is so predictable, you don't need to invest in very deep wards to scout out what Route Lee is taking, however it's still very important to try to find out which direction Lee is going in. While moving towards Top Lane is a safe and reliable assumption, it's still an assumption. This could be done with some scouting or watching mana bars to tell who leashed.
• Once you've located Lee Sin's starting position, Junglers should start on the same buff as him (Blue Buff to Blue Buff, Red to Red) if they can, and save their ward.
• Assuming Lee Sin started near bot side, this means Top Lane and Mid should ward the top side of the map hopefully around the 2:30 mark. Obviously, switch directions if Lee Sin starts Top. While ideally you should have these wards out, in practice it's actually a fair bit more difficult to even establish these wards due to the fact most champions can't reset lane in time for Lee Sin's gank window. In other words, you will want to play passive and let the lane push in a little for the first 3 or so waves. If you do find yourself getting lv1 priority, then ward up. Luckily there are other ways to defend against ganks.
• While Lee Sin's route is predictable, his ganks aren't. Thanks to a simple ward hop, he can get around most conventional defensive wards and surprise you despite virtually any single ward you place. For this reason, rather than warding to defend yourself, it may be more productive to ward the river and keep an eye on what he plans to do after Crab. Mid Laners should hover opposite of Lee Sin, if he starts Bot, stay in the Top Side of the Lane until 2:30, then stay on the Bottom Side of the Lane until the coast is clear (typically 3:30 if Lee Sin backs immediately after Crab). Top Lane (again assuming Lee starts Botside) should very strictly not do anything except last hit. Unless the enemy is shoving really hard and you want to establish a freeze or match their Lv2, there is little point to trying to establish lane dominance for the first 3-4 or so waves since Lee Sin is literally coming at you and will be sitting on that side of the map until then.
• As mentioned before, Bot Lane (assuming Lee starts Bot Side) has a free ~4 minute window. They should establish a ward around the 3:45 mark, and assume they're not safe until about 4:45. This is when Lee Sin's camps start to respawn, and most likely you'll get some breathing room again while he takes a little less than a minute to clear them. Since Lee may only clear 2 camps however, this means he's on the board right away, and approaching the 5:30 mark is when Lee Sin's flexibility finally comes out and it's harder to plan around him.
• If Lee Sin decides to, let's say gank Top, clear Crab, leave, and immediately come back Top...there's not much to do at that point. I'm starting to see why Top Lane complains so much about Jungle presence. While Lee Sin is an extreme example, he has every incentive to bully Top Laners, Top Laners don't have many defenses to Lee Sin's flexibility after the 4ish minute mark, and he can just push most enemy Junglers away meaning Top Lane is almost entirely controlled by him. (Side note, this is why I call Lee Sin (and other Lv3 Junglers) "Control" Junglers).

Pathing and Counter Jungling

• Lv3 single target Junglers: Think the likes of Kha'Zix or Warwick. Unless you're specifically playing something like Elise or Nidalee and are absolutely confident you can get the jump on Lee, you are gonna run the opposite direction of Lee Sin. This means you’ll probably take control of the Bottom Scuttle Crab, you can’t really Counter Jungle in that position, and Bot’s your best gank. As mentioned before, Lee Sin has a lot of incentive to hyper focus on Top Lane, opening up Dragon opportunities for your team or even for you to solo. It’s harder to justify ganking Mid because Lee Sin’s Jungle pathing is on the exact same timing as yours; you deciding to gank mid is Lee’s opportunity to countergank you. This works both ways however, so while I wouldn’t initiate a Mid Gank early on in this matchup, I would keep a very close eye on my Mid Lane.
• Lv3 AOE Junglers: Think Hecarim, Evelynn, or Sejuani. Lee Sin’s inability to do Raptors and Krugs efficiently really opens up opportunities for simply counter jungling him. If Lee Sin starts Red, you can also start Red, do a 4 camp clear, and walk right across into his Red Side to take his Raptors and Krugs while he’s on the opposite side of the map. The ability to take the Krugs/Predator route can also be a huge advantage. If both of you start Red, you have the option of transition ganking Mid after 3 camps while Lee Sin should still be finishing up his Gromp. This will get you on opposite sides of the map where Lee Sin’s only real option is ganking the side lane while you have the options of getting your own Blue, ganking the side lane, and counter jungling Lee Sin’s Raptors and Krugs. On the other hand, if Lee Sin starts Blue you don’t have as many options to capitalize on that. For this reason, AOE Junglers are better suited for matching against Lee Sin if you’re on Red Side, since Lee Sin will be far more likely to start on his Red Buff and these options open up for you.
• Lv6 Farming Junglers: See Yi, Karthus, most of the time Jax. Perhaps to everyone’s surprise, path opposite of Lee Sin. Path in the same direction and Lee Sin should have enough time to catch you at your last camp or even second to last camp and kill you right there. If you path opposite however, Lee Sin’s time on the opposite side of the map is so reliable that you can safely clear your last Krugs/Gromp camp before you head out to clear Scuttle, meaning all the more efficient of a clear path when you go around the second time. *Lv2 Aggro Junglers: Jarvan and Xin Zhao are the best in this category, as well as cheesier picks like Shaco and Twitch. These Junglers have 3 options to kick off the game. After starting at Red Buff, they can decide to gank the sidelane, gank Mid Lane, or steal the Enemy’s Blue. If you are on Blue Side and Lee Sin starts at his Blue, you will only have one option: Gank Mid. Gank Bot Lane and Lee Sin will steal your Blue, and you can’t answer for that. And Lee will typically start at his own Blue, so stealing it is out of the question. Ganking Mid has the advantage of putting you on opposite sides of the map, but at that point, a Lv3 Jungler may be the better investment if crossing the map was your end goal. It’s for that reason, if you’re on Blue Side, you should only take a Lv2 Aggro Jungler if you’re certain you can get a gank off a Lv1 Mid Lane.

If you’re on Red Side, it’s far more likely that the other two options open up for you as Lee Sin starts at his Red. By the time you gank the Side Lane, Lee will be at his Wolves, and it’ll be harder for him to turn and steal your Blue. And, even if he does, a successful Side Lane gank often means you can steal his Blue, meaning that you’re just trading buffs while he has to walk there and back. More likely, it may devolve into a fight at Lee Sin’s Blue Buff, a fight in your favor since you’re the stronger Lv2 Jungler, and your Top Laner is more likely to help you than the enemy’s dead one. Alternatively, you can skip the measure altogether and just steal his Buff. The timing should be such that you can swipe it just as he finishes Wolves, assuming your Jungler clears fast enough. Ganking Mid will also still be an option if your own Top Lane manages to crumple the moment they walk into lane.

While it is a little more difficult for Aggro Junglers to find their foothold if Lee starts Blue, there is a simple cheese strat on the table to hit Lee. After you finish your Red, immediately cross the River into Lee Sin’s Jungle. If you can hop the Dragon Pit with a champion like Kindred, run up to his Gromp. If you can’t, run through the dot bush and use the Blast Cone to get into Lee Sin’s Wolves. Most of the time, you’ll catch Lee with his pants down and you may be able to get first blood off of him.

Lee Sin’s Lv2 Cheese

While Lee Sin is better known for his superior Lv3, his Lv2 isn’t all that bad, and you should still be careful of it. If Lee Sin’s on Blue Side and he starts Red, you can probably ignore it the vast majority of the time. If he’s on Red Side and starts Red however, that could be a Red Flag for some upcoming cheese. Your own Top Laner should back up, your Mid Laner should get in position opposite of the lane, your team should try to get wards up on the Tribush, Raptor Ramp, and/or the mouth of the Dragon Pit, and the Jungler should go and plan a contingency if Lee Sin moves to steal his Blue. Often this means vertical Jungling or setting an ambush at Blue Buff.

Summary

Lee Sin has a rather predictable 4 camp clear, usually from Bot Side to Top Side. He’s best countered by safe scaling picks in general. Top Lane should expect to get camped all game where Bot Lane has much more freedom to do what they want. Mid should keep track of what side of the map he’s on, as it’s rather obvious once you know his path, and hover on the opposite side of Mid Lane from him. Single Target Lv3 Junglers and Farming Junglers should be the staple pick against a Lee Sin, however if Lee is starting on his Red Buff (typically if he’s on Blue Side), this opens up opportunities for AOE Lv3 Junglers and Lv2 Aggro Junglers to steal his unprotected Raptors or cheese him off his Blue. After the 5 minute mark, Lee Sin’s flexibility makes him a little too unpredictable to make a detailed plan. However, given safe scaling picks, it will simply be a matter of waiting him out before Lee Sin drops off like a brick.