Irelia Build Guide by lXBurningIceXl

~.Introduction.~

Notice that I am still working on this build.

Hello, welcome to my Mid Irelia guide. Before I explain about this position, let me announce that this is my very first guide. Meaning, it will not be fancy, I will be updating it a lot, and it just might not be that great. I only began this the other day when I was forced middle, and surprisingly, it worked well. As I continued to play, I realized that it is as good as top lane. For me, at least.
This guide focuses more on the bruiser side of Irelia. Early magic resist, damage, and defense.

I will be updating this guide as I learn more about playing Irelia in the middle, and I will hopefully make it better.
If you have any suggestions, then please do share. ^^

~.Pros / Cons.~

Pros:

Great farmer
Great poker
Dominates early game
Good late game
CC never stops her
Tanky late game
Has true damage
Very mobile

Cons:

Mid game is her weakest
Runs out of mana early game
Needs early kills or assists
Commonly focused
Harder to learn
Must farm well

~.Summoner Spells.~

Flash and Ignite are the two main spells I use for Irelia. Of course, the Flash allows you to be a bit more mobile, catch up to and Bladesurge to an escaping enemy, or even escape yourself.
Ignite, because those APs in the middle are fairly weak on defense. Great for finalizing your kills. Also, Vlad or Swain may be your challenger. Insta-shut down!

Others I Would Recommend

Obvious choice. You can catch them easier, escape, or use it just to reduce their damage. Whatever you find it useful for.
Want to escape? Catch others? Simple as that.
A lot of people will think, "Oh, that Irelia is at her tower, so low! Let's dive them!" stun them, ignite, and heal. GG
I like my teleports on occasions. I think that every team should have at least one.

~.Runes.~

I am fairly cheap with my runes, so I used my solo top runes for mid.
I used the Greater Mark of Desolation to simply break through those annoying, tanky enemies.

The Greater Seal of Armor is to support her tanky side. Simple as that. Gives her early game defense. However, since this is mid, I would rather go for the Greater Seal of Magic Resist, since mid is where the AP carries reside. Again, I am just too cheap to get them. :P

The Greater Glyph of Scaling Attack Damage is to help make her late game stronger, as she tends to get worse late game.

The Greater Quintessence of Scaling Attack Damage serves the same purpose. However, I would also recommend the Greater Quintessence of Magic Resist for more early game magic resist, or the Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage if you are feeling greedy early game.

~.Masteries.~

So yes. I did this for my masteries simply for the damage. I like my early game with Irelia to be more aggressive than my late game, even though my runes are mostly late game. Late game is important too.

~.Items.~

Starting Items

When I start a match, I quickly decide if I will be the one winning in poke, or they will be dominating me.
Almost always, I simply start with the Boots of Speed, two health potions, and one mana potion. I get the mana potion because Irelia's Bladesurge is so mana hungry early game.
If I know I will not do well, I will get the Regrowth Pendant to build into a Force of Nature later.

First Time Back

Before you go back for the first time, you should be able to kill the enemy once. You should have well over 1,000 gg also. When I go back, I either get speed, or magic resist. If not both.

Also, one or two of each potion. Just in case.

Which Boots I Prefer

Since you are going middle, odds are that you will be going again an AP champion. It will help protect you from their damage output, and that nasty cc. With these boots, cc is nothing to Irelia.


Did you destroy middle? Or maybe they are nothing to you? No cc to get in your way? Well, maybe that AD carry at the bottom seems a little scary.. May as well get the Tabi for extra defense. ;D


Now, I myself have not used these on Irelia in the middle, but if you feel like chasing low enemies down, these seem like they would work great!


These would be okay, but not the greatest in my opinion. If you are keen on spamming your Equilibrium Strike, or whatever, then I guess these can work. I just recommend no.

Any other boots would be a big no.

Second Time Back

This is when you get the boots of your choice, and finalize Wit's End. Normally by this time, I can also start building into the Trinity Force. I normally get these:

If you could build more, then start working on that Sheen.

Mid Game

By now, you should have your Trinity Force completed.

To me, this is every Irelia's key item. It does so much for her, and I noticed the huge difference when I was, and was not using it.

I always make sure to get a Guardian's angel, because as Irelia, your job is to Bladesurge into the fray, and take out those glass cannons. In team fights, I will almost always die because of this, so I make sure to have a back-up plan.
The Bloodthirster, I am still iffy on. So far, it has worked well with the life steal, and damage output. I just feel like I should change it some time. For now though, it works well then you need to kill off those squishies.

End Game

This is the part of the build that I am not far into. I have never completed a mid Irelia's build before, so I will name off what I believe may help.

This is for that nasty AD carry. It gives extra defense, and gives ADs a taste of their own medicine. I do not recommend this, however, unless it is completely necessary.

The Sunfire Cape will work great when you need to Bladesurge into the middle of the enemies to take out the carry. It also provides great defense! I have yet to get this, however, but I am only assuming it may work out. I will try it some time to see.

This one I am recommending most of all. But since I have yet to experience any late game items with Irelia, I can't say anything else. I will end here, since I need to test it out more.

I still have yet to get to late game with this Irelia, but I assume that Randuin's Omen would work really well. I will update this more when I test it out.


I will stop posting what I think may work, until I get to try it out myself.

~.Farming.~

Irelia should farm better than her lane enemy. With her Bladesurge, and a mana potion, all the early game farm should be hers. It is fine to miss some, but most of it should be easy to acquire. At level 6, Transcendent Blades can either be used for last hitting enemies, or for farming big waves of minions. The cooldown is rather short, so it can be used for the latter quite often.

~.Champion Counters/Strategies.~

I have gone against several different champions in the middle, and most of them I have played a few games against. As I play more, I will discover who counters Irelia, and who she shuts down. I will list off the common middle laners, and everything I know.

I will rate the difficulty from 1 to 5.













































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~.Your Role In Team Fights.~

This section is very, very simple. It is most likely that you have tankier initiators on your team, whether they are top, jungle, or even Leona support (Amazing ♥). Therefore, you will not need to be the initiator. But you will still jump in, don't worry about that. After the enemies freak out, and use all their cc on the tank, it's time to Bladesurge into the back where the carries are, and nuke down the ad carry, or ap carry. One of them should die before you do, at the very least, and if you have a Guardian's Angel, you should be back in no time to finish off the other carry.

Another thing Irelia is good for is to keep the tanks off of your carries. With her Hiten Style true damage, she should be able to eat away at their health like no problem.

~.Updates.~

11/22/12

Updated the "Your Role In Team Fights" section.
Updates the champions in the "Champion Counter" list.

6/13/12:

Changed the masteries.
Added Randuin's Omen to items.
Updated :Summoner Spells".
Made "Champion Counter" list.
Added "Farming" section.
Added "Your Role In Team Fights" section.