There are some champions which are commonly known to "fall off late game", such as Lee Sin. But what is it exactly, what defines if a Champion "falls off" or not? Or to be more precise, what (for example) makes Lee Sin less useful compared to other champs in Lategame?
League-of-legends – What exactly defines a champ who “falls off late”
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Best Answer
I think the best example of someone that falls off late game is AP Sion. Early game he is an absolute terror and can destroy just about anyone; late game he struggles with relevance.
@Mario's answer suggests that this is due to poor scaling, so lets take a look at Sion's abilities and base stats.
Cryptic gaze: 70 / 125 / 180 / 240 / 300 (+ 90% AP)Death's Caress(dmg and shield strength): 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+ 90% AP)A .9 ratio is nothing to scoff at. For comparison, Karthus' Lay Waste (single target) and Requiem have a .6 ratio and his defile is only at .25.
Let's compare sion's base stats to mordekaiser's.
SION
MORDEKAISER
As you can see their level 1 base stats are extremely similar, assuming they're fighting an AP base stats would tend to suggest that Mordekaiser would be stronger early. At 18, Sion has 390 additional base health over Mordekaiser - suggesting that Sion would be stronger than Morde late game. This, however, is clearly not the case.
So then what exactly makes Sion fall off late game? His kit. Sion is extremely good early because he can effectively stun and shield burst to kill most champions. Once late game hits champions will generally (either naturally or build to be) tankier and be able to withstand this combo and peeling becomes much more effective. (ie, the ADC can lifesteal a respectable amount during CC)
Ultimately, the key to any champion falling off towards late game is their inability to no longer burst a target down and their impact in team fights is greatly reduced because of it. This seems to be the case to me with any early game champ (shaco, lee sin, renekton, etc).
(stats taken from league of legends wiki)