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This lane shouldn't be too bad. It is rare to NOT see Aatrox nowadays in lane or banned. If he is just save your W until he uses his jump and you can escape him or catch him out. Honestly this is a matchup you should rush Executioner's Calling.
Camille
Camille can be very difficult if she gets ahead, however you have a trap anytime she tries to engage and stun you, just plop down a W where she will land.
Cho'Gath
The new Cho'Gath is really stong and this lane will suck. Just do your best to farm and try to get some jungler assistance before he becomes too tanky to fight.
Darius
From my experience there are some ways to stop the dunkmaster. Darius will almost always play aggressive early, you can take advantage of this by having a strong early jungler presence, or playing passive until you get enough Ghouls to poke him with. If he manages to get all of his stacks onto you do not fight anymore otherwise you will die and not have a fun time. The new thornmail is a wonderful pickup against him as well.
Dr. Mundo
Really easy lane in my opinion. Dr. Mundo is hard to kill but he can't kill you either.
Fiora
This matchup is very difficult I will not lie. Fiora at the moment is very strong and almost always banned so don't worry about it too much. If she is picked up vs you just play really passive and try to get help. If you can, grab a Bramble Vest as soon as you can to counter some of her healing and if you have to fight her make sure you have ult.
Galio
Galio can deal a lot of unexpected damage if you're not careful. Respect his health and damage and ability to taunt if you get ganked and you should be fine. Once you get your ult you should be able to 1v1 him easily.
Gangplank
Gangplank is not very hard to lane against since you can auto then immediately Q to destroy barrels easily. Just make sure to focus the barrels and whenever you trap him he doesn't have much of an escape. He also does not build much health or resistances at all so you'll be getting max damage off almost all game. His new rune set up is pretty cheesy but it shouldn't effect you too much.
Garen
Garen can be a little bit frustrating depending on how he builds. When you trap him in your W it can be difficult to engage because he simply spins around and can run away from your slow. However if he builds tanky and picks up a black cleaver first (like most Garens) you should be able to 1v1 at anytime in the game.
Fizz
If the Fizz is laning agasint you top, his base armor is very very low. This allows you to apply a lot of pressure and damage before you even get your ultimate as Fizz must go in to damage you, and you will win most any trades.
Gnar
This is honestly one of my least favorite match-ups. I recommend that you start Doran's shield and play passive as his early levels he will beat you. If you see him use his jump you have about 20 seconds to attempt to trap him or get some ghoul poke damage on him. Pay attention to his rage bar so when he turns mega he doesn't get a free kill.
Illaoi
Since you can destroy her tentacles easily with auto resetting your Q all you have to do is dodge her pull and attack the tentacles and she is pretty useless. If she ults onto you try your best to get out ASAP as no matter how behind you are that thing does so much damage.
Irelia
Irelia usually isn't a very big issue unless she gets ahead. If you or your team manages to give her any sort of advantage she will take over the lane and you will have to play very passively and safe. If you manage to get behind early on, pick up a bramble vest to counter her healing when she goes in on you.
Swain
Swain isn't seen too often top but when he is I recommend you get a Executioner's Calling as early as you can (Trust me I've played Swain many times and this really sucks when they get it first item) Swain is also very slow and easy to trap or hit your E on so he shouldn't be too much of an issue to you when his ult heals 40% less. If he begins to ult, trap him in your W and run away, you will avoid all of his damage.
Quinn
Quinn can be quite annoying. She can escape your entire kit, she can blind you when you're trying to farm, and with lethality can deal an unneccesary amount of damage to you. Luckily, Quinn is very rare to see nowadays and my best advice is to play very safe until you get your ult. Then make sure to pick up a Randuin's Omen to slow her attack speed and if she goes in on you use the active to slow her escape followed up by your e. If you see her use her jump attack, that's your opportunity to trap her and kill her as she will be vulnerable to your full potential.
Heimerdinger
Heimer isn't really played very much but if he is all you have to do is q the turrets and they die. Without his turrets he lacks any damage to kill you throughout the game.
Jax
Jax can block your Q and ghoul damage with his E, and kill them as well if they're close enough to him. If you see Jax use his counter, that's when you want to E him as soon as you can. He can also jump out of your trap, so this may turn into a passive lane. Do not try to 1v1 him after level 11 when he gets a second point into his ult. Take thornmail in this matchup.
Jarvan IV
Jarvan is difficult, he has escapes, armor shred, and can trap you and deal massive damage while still being very tanky. Only try to fight him if you have your ult otherwise you will most likely lose. Pre 6 you should be fine but after that just make sure you go in at the right time. Take Sterak's this game to avoid his burst.
Jayce
Jayce is a farily difficult lane. He can poke you down can kill your ghouls easily. Whenever he switches to melee form that's when you want to go in with your ghouls as he will have a tough time dealing enough damage to you. Just play safe and make sure you have graves piled up.
Urgot
The new Urgot is pretty strong top lane and can kill all of your ghouls really easily with his shotgun knees. The lane is difficult pre 6. However post level 6, if you can trap him in your wall he is dead as you out damage him then.
Maokai
Maokai isn't too difficult to lane against. He has to get close to you to attack and his saplings got nerfed so don't do nearly as much damage. He will eventually become extremely tanky and have an unreasonable amount of cc so if you get ahead don't get cocky.
Nautilus
Very easy lane, he lacks any damage to fight you and can get tanky but will still take massive hits from you. He cant kill you post 6 without jungle help. You can block his Q with your wall so he gets stuck to that too.
Riven
Riven can do a lot of damage to you at all levels and can escape a lot of your damage. Just be smart and attack her after she uses he Q when you have your ultimate up and you should be able to kill her. Play very safe and smart and try not to give her an early lead.
Pantheon
This is not a fun lane, Pantheon does a lot of damage, has great roam, and can dive you without taking damage. If you are forced into this, play very safe, build Ninja Tabi early, and make sure to auto him once before you use your Q so he doesn't block the bulk of the damage. If he takes ignite and uses his ult to roam, that is your opportunity to farm up and regain what you lost in the laning phase, maybe even get first tower or rift herald.
Kayle
Kayle is an interesting matchup, she is very easy to kill until she gets 2 or 3 items finished. Harass her as much as you can to slow down her itemization, and try to bait out or utilize when he ult is down. If she is ahead of you I recommend building an Adaptive helm.
Malphite
Malphite is similar to Nautilus, he gets very tanky but with your ult dealing a percentage max health you shouldn't have a big problem fighting him.
Yasuo
Yasuo's in any division are either very good, or very bad. A thing I've noticed when playing against or with Yasuo mains is they always like to go in no matter how behind or ahead they are. This game you want to build a Randuin's Omen after Sheen to counter his crit and attack speed. Anytime he uses his ult on you or a teammate, throw whatever ghouls you have at him.
Rumble
Spirit Visage + Adaptive Helm = Win.
Start with Doran's Shield as he will spam fire all lane.
Shen
I haven't ever really had trouble with Shen, however I can advise never try to tower dive him at medium or below health as you will get taunted and die. If he ults to save a teammate either teleport and follow up for team fight, or stay and push out lane. The most optimal thing to do is to ult in lane and then teleport but if it isn't up don't worry about it.
Vayne
She can't kill you and you do so much damage to her. You will get ahead. Take Ninja Tabi and run her down all game.
Talon
Talon is tough; great roam, strong damage and pushing ability, and has excellent escape. However he isn't played nearly as much as he used to be and can die fairly easily if you hit him with your E and get the speed boost to chase him down.
Vladimir
Executioners Calling first item. Literally he wont be able to do anything.
Renekton
Renekton is a fairly hard match up in my opinion. He deals a lot of damage, has a lot of lifesteal, can escape your trap and is naturally tanky with no mana costs. The best way to beat him here is to just build as much armor as you can and be sure to rush Thornmail. Wait for him to use ultimate before attacking him otherwise you will lose.
Nasus
Nasus is the same as Renekton, however slightly easier. Nasus will most likely stay in lane the whole game until late, providing you with the opportunity to push out other lanes and take team objectives. IF you decide to fight him, make sure you wait until his ultimate goes down and save your wall until he slows you so you can escape.
Mordekaiser
If they pick Mord, DONT PICK YORICK. He will beat you in nearly every way all game long. Unless he doesn't know what hes doing, this will be very difficult. You ghouls give him so much healing and he can 1 shot them as well. Just don't do it!!
Kled
Kled can be difficult, he can also be very easy as well. Kled players are very aggressive and are always trying to fight. Wait for him to use his dash before you trap him and be careful about his skaarl bar. He can outplay you very easily if you do not pay attention. Try to grab a bramble vest or Ninja Tabi as early as you can.
Sion
Sion is one of the tankiest champions in the whole game and can go in and escape with his ultimate if things so south. If he builds full AD he will be able to kill you very easily; especially when dead. This should be a pushing game as you want to end before he becomes unkillable.
Kennen
While Kennen can do a lot of damage and should be respected early on. You will be able to tear him a new one as the game progresses as he will be very squishy. When he ults, just put up your wall and trap him in there!
Malzahar
This champion is broken and you will have a bad time. However, if you get picked this against you must rush magic defense if you even want to have a thought of surviving.
Teemo
Teemo is fairly strong in Season 8 with the new runes and such. Please build an MR item first and he shouldn't be a problem at all and will lack the damage or health to fight you the rest of the game.
Ornn
Ornn is a fairly tough matchup, he is tanky, deals a lot of damage and is a CC machine. Play safe in this matchup, whoever is more ahead will win and do not fight him without your ultimate.
Trundle
Trundle can be a bit difficult due to his healing ability and damage output. Since his heals are almost permanent and his ult ads even more I recommend taking Executioners calling early on as it cuts all of his healing by 40% for 3 whole seconds and every time you or a ghoul hits him it refreshes. You should take spirit visage this game as well to stay alive longer or grab death's dance to have safer duels vs him.
Tahm Kench
This matchup is not very hard as much as it is frustrating. A good Tahm Kench is nearly unkillable and his tankiness only grows as the game progresses. This will be a split pushing game for you so I recommend you take that route and keep his supporting abilities and escape away from teamfights by forcing him to come to you.
Wukong
Wukong, if ahead, is a ferocious champion who can pentakill by pressing R. However, in order for him to get ahead he must kill you early which he has a hard time of doing if you play safer and don't go in for anything unless you know you can win. He doesn't traditionally build any tanky items so you won't have trouble killing him when you pick up Sheen or Triforce.
Poppy
Poppy can get difficult as the game progresses as she gets very tanky throughout the game. However there are some good ways to kill her early and some stuff to watch out for. Whenever she runs towards her shield, you can trap her. She can reflect away your ghouls with her w so wait until she uses it before you try to use your e. Against hi would recommend the black cleaver build, as your damage will be nonexistent later in the game.
Tryndamere
Tryndamere is tough to play against from my experience. He can match your splitpush ability and dueling with his ultimate. If he takes ignite do not attempt to fight him without jungle help or you will more than likely die. However, if you get an early lead, make sure to rush tabi or bramble vest and you'll do fine until he gets a lot of items. This will be a pushing game for sure.
Singed
Playing against singed is a skill, at higher elos, a singed main can cheese just about anyone all game. My advice when against him is NEVER chase him, you'll be playing his game. If he takes aftershock, wait until his buff goes away or is on cooldown before you do anything. This will be a game that you get or rush adaptive helm. With adaptive and maybe boots he should not be much of a problem. Also singed likes to cheese level 1 so try to get your jungle with you for an easy first blood to get a super early damage boost or MR.
I have been playing Yorick since the beginning of season 5 (When I started playing the game) and after his rework I fell in love with the champ and played him exclusively; taking me to Gold in Season 6, Plat in Season 7 & 9, and Diamond in Season 8. I play here and there casually now as well with anyone who wants to play! I wanted to make a guide for anyone out there new to the champ or simply wanting to get better, as there is a very limited amount of Yorick guides around as his play rate is quite low and a lot of people do not understand him. This guide is a work in progress as I am in-between graduate school and working full time so I'll to work on it as much as I can for you guys and keep it updated!
Why Yorick?
Yorick is a very fun champion to play and learn. He is still very underrated at the moment and many don't respect his damage output or split-push potential. If your team is very behind, games can still be won simply through his split-pushing ability alone. His kit is focused around controlling your ghouls and Maiden to push your lane and do serious damage to anyone (or anything) standing in your way.
Yorick is a strong champion throughout all lengths of games as he is able to become very tanky while still dealing massive amounts of damage to champions and objectives. With his ultimate up, many people often underestimate it's damage and at many points in the game; the Maiden and Yorick can take dragons, rift herald, or even baron with ease.
While playing Yorick you will often see enemy players disregard the maiden and focus on attacking you while the maiden damages them over time and gives you a percentage max health damage buff on them. This results in you killing multiple enemies while often times at very low health due to your Q healing more at low health and your sheer damage output.
Pros / Cons
Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Very Strong Laner
+ Very effective Split Pusher
+ High Damage Output
+ Showballs very hard
+ Capable of winning most 1v3 fights with ease
+ High clear speed
+ Can 1v1 any monster or objective including Baron
+ Has ability to chase down most anyone with his e
+ Has a very easy last hit with his Q (Builds up graves also)
+ Can now take first tower consistently with Demolish
+ Super easy Rift Herald kill
Cons
- Cannot Peel very well
- Doesn't have the best CC to add when team-fighting
- When he is CC'd your only damage for the time being is your ghouls or maiden
- Massive power spike at level 6, must be careful until then.
- Ranged top laners are no fun
Runes
Runes
Demolish works fantastic on Yorick with his split pushing ability.
I believe Conqueror is now the best main rune on Yorick, and the remaining choices in this path are personal preference. If the enemy team has a lot of CC I feel he benefits much more with permanent Tenacity from Legend: Tenacity, as it is easier to track down and secure kills. However, if not stick to Legend: Alacrity. Triumph is also great for fights if the enemy player has ignite or has a way to kill you after death. You should take Last Stand as the final rune as well.
I believe that taking Demolish and Bone Plating as you two secondary runes is the way to go. If you would prefer health over resistance in the later side of the same, exchange Bone Plating for Overgrowth. Revitalize isn't bad, but Overgrowth is usually what I would go with if I knew I'd be top lane pushing all game.
Items
Items
Triforce -
25 Attack Damage, 40% Attack Speed, 20% Cooldown Reduction, 250 Health, 250 Mana, 5% Movement Speed. UNIQUE Passive: Rage: basic attacks grant 20 movement speed for 2 seconds on hit. Minion, monster, and champion kills grant 60 (half for ranged champions) movement speed for 2 second.
This is a fantastic item on Yorick as you utilize every stat provided. The sheen proc is amazing with his Q and you can melt towers, objectives and your foes at all points in the game. The health and attack damage allow your ultimate and ghouls to be stronger as well and the passive helps you lock down enemies. You want to grab this item every game you play.
Sterak's Gage -
400 Health. Passive: +25% Base Attack Damage. UNIQUE Passive: Lifeline: Taking at least 400-1800 (based on level) damage within 5 seconds grants Primal Rage for 8 seconds. (45 second cooldown). Primal Rage causes your champion to gain increased size, +25% additional Base Attack Damage, and a rapidly decaying shield for 30% of your maximum Health.
Sterak's Gage is a great item that I try to pick up every game. Not only does it provide AD and Health (Both of which scale well with Ghouls and Maiden) but it also strengthens your sheen proc on Trinity Force. This item is also a strong pick up as it provides you with a very strong shield when you take a significant amount of damage that scales with all the health you'll be building. This item was also recently changed to have a massive boost of Tenacity with your shield, allowing you to engage or disengage much more efficiently.
Dead Man's Plate -
60 Armor
425 Health
UNIQUE Passive: Dreadnought: You build Momentum stacks while moving, increasing movement speed by up to 60 at 100 stacks. Momentum quickly decays while under the effects of a stun, taunt, fear, silence, blind, polymorph, or immobilize effect, and slowly decays while slowed.
UNIQUE Passive: Crushing Blow: Basic attacks discharge 15 momentum. If at maximum momentum, the next basic attack deals 100 bonus physical damage and slows the target by 50% for 1 second (melee only).
Dead Man's Plate is a recommended every game item for Yorick. Not only does it provide needed health and armor, but gives you stronger movement speed to have a greater map presence. You can get to and from lanes quicker and this cuts down time to tower or objectives giving you the advantage. The passive "Crushing Blow" works even better as the movement speed you have accumulated can be released upon reaching your destination and deal extra damage to a target and THEN slow them, so you essentially get a guaranteed trap or kill.
Ranked Play
Ranked Play
So I know what you're thinking; How can I carry with Yorick?
Winning with Yorick is actually quite simple and can be done in a few ways.
Split-pushing Strategy
The split-pushing strategy is highly effective as a motto I play by is objectives win games. Your goal is to essentially take as many objectives as possible while constantly applying pressure in whatever lanes you can. With your ultimate cooldown recently decreased and it being up more often don't be so hesitant on when to use it anymore. I recommend you get Demolish now in every game you play as your ability to take towers with it is absurd. I will not lie with the split-pushing strategy you will most likely die a bit but it will allow the rest of your team to catch up or take needed objectives like dragons or baron or even towers from lost lanes. Do not tilt! Tilting is the number one cause of losing, just keep cool and if you find you can't do much, just keep pressuring the lane someone will have to stop you.
The split-push build path I traditionally take is Trinity Force, followed up by Ninja Tabi then, Sterak's Gage, then the last two items are really up to you. If you need some more damage grab a Titanic Hydra or Death's Dance (this item is great because you heal from your ghoul and maiden damage) then if needed a Spirit Visage to heal a bit more when pushing. If you seem to keep dying or they have a lot of fed ADs, just pick up a Bramble Vest or Thornmail to stop their carnage.
A very optimal way to utilize Yorick's pushing power is to use your ultimate in one lane, then teleport or walk to another lane and push it out. Your maiden will spawn more Ghouls in her lane and will force the enemy team to send someone to take care of it.
Also a very strong tip when pushing or taking objectives that makes it go even faster is to alternate between using your abilities every 1.5 seconds (since they're on such short cooldowns anyways) while damaging the objective to get off your Sheen proc. This actually deals a very high amount of damage especially when you have a Sterak's Gage or other AD items in your arsenal as well. Remember your Q resets your auto attack and now applies to towers! Try it in your next game if you didn't know about this it'll save you a lot of time! :)
Fighter Strategy
The fighter strategy is highly effective and can even be used with split-pushing as well as you will be dealing more damage and be able to fight 1v3 with your ultimate at almost any part of the game. I recommend you take this route if you are ahead in lane and your team isn't too far behind. Your goal with this build is to help any lane you can by roaming or just walking into their lane and taking objectives with or for them while destroying their laner(s). For this build I traditionally go Trinity Force, Mercury's Treads followed up with a Death's Dance and Sterak's Gage then for resistances and extra hp to make the hydra even stonger I grab a Dead Man's Plate and finish the build with a Spirit Visage. Your Maiden and Ghouls scale off your AD and HP so they'll both be very strong as well.
So what works best for me?
In all honesty, Yorick is a very diverse champion and due to his scaling and abilities, most items are very strong on him and he can be played very differently depending on the person or situation. Traditionally speaking whenever I play, I change my build up almost every game to have some fun and keep it refreshing. The only thing I must remind you is that you need to have Trinity Force every game, if you think you can play without it, I've seen some people go Black Cleaver into Iceborn Gauntlet, however I personally do not like it. I'd only really recommend it if they have multiple tanks and lack Magic damage.
If you're in Bronze, Silver, or Gold picking Yorick is an excellent option top lane almsot every time as a vast majority of players do not even own the champion, let alone know what he does. Why this is good is because you really don't even have to be that strong of a player as many are extremely unfamiliar with the match-up and lower elo players tend to struggle dealing with split-pushing champions.
Lastly if you still find you self struggling and can't seem to lane well, you can solo rift herald with your ultimate and that alone can save a broken lane or dominate an already successful one.
TL;DR
Yorick is a great pick in most elos as many people are unfamiliar with his abilities and power.
Yorick can easily carry games and can be built in a vast majority of ways. If you wanna try a different mastery or different items play around with it and see how you do! :)
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