This is pretty much what I've been trying to say about Lee Sin for a long time now. It's not that he's specifically overpowered, it's that his kit is just too heavily loaded. He can build a Hydra and then two tank items and his scalings are so incredibly high that he can keep up with a fighter who's having to forgo tank and build damage just to keep up with him. His kit just has too damned much for what it gives:
- high scaling single target ranged poke
- high scaling AoE magic damage
- hard CC on his ult
- soft CC on his AoE magic damage
- a shield
- spellvamp/lifesteal
- attack speed steroid
- an execute
- two potential gap closers
Pretty much all of which are on such a short cooldown that missing the odd Q doesn't really hold you back very much.
I get that he can make those flashy LCS plays, but in all honesty he'd be able to do that in the hands of the pros if his damage was reigned in a bit all the same. He is a very high skillcap champion, because the better the player the more use they're getting out of his kit. But that doesn't change that at a basic level he isn't very difficult to do well with, even if you're far from Insec level plays. Riot recently nerfed Sona for being oppressive early, meanwhile Lee Sins are picking up doubles at the bottom lane at level 3 and owning the enemy's jungle like poor Rammus hasn't paid his rent.
If you pull back the utility and wild variety in his kit, his damage becomes much easier to handle. But with out that he isn't Lee Sin, so instead pull back on his damage. Let him keep the potential to make those plays, let him keep his mobility, because that's all he needs to dominate early and mid game which is where he shines.
Last year Riot did the right thing. They kept the majority of his kit intact while reducing his damage, in fact realizing that they had gone maybe a bit too far when they removed his wardhopping and gave it back to him. At that point it was actually fun to play against him, I felt like if that Q came over a wall at me I had a chance. If he was ahead I knew it was because he was a good player, not because he could outdamage anyone he went in on. The only people who were complaining about him at that point were the Lee Sin mains who were only butthurt because they weren't getting fed kill after kill for having to land an easy skillshot. Then Riot gave in and put a bunch of damage back into his kit, and since then for every "nerf" he's gotten he's gotten a compensation buff somewhere else.
Trading where he has power in his kit doesn't change that he has too much overall.
