Irelia Build Guide by masterxiao

Introduction

Hey everyone, I'm masterxiao, and I'm back with another guide. Before I start, I would like to say that I was quite discouraged by the number of trollvotes that my Kog'maw and Gangplank guide received, even after I had asked for people not to randomly downvote them. Not to worry, I am determined to make this Irelia guide the best of them all!

Without further ado, I give you my guide to Irelia, the Will of the Blades.

[edit] After the Irelia nerfs, she is no longer one of the strongest solotops, but she is still perfectly viable.

Pros and Cons

Like anyone, Irelia has both strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, however, her strengths far outnumber her weaknesses, and that's what makes her such a fun champion to use, play, and main.

Behold, the Irelia Champion Spotlight, presented by Phreak. This is definitely the best video guide to playing Irelia out there, and I would highly recommend watching this if you love playing Irelia. Not only does it show some of the pros and cons of Irelia, it also has some neat tips and tricks for playing her.

However, the video demonstrates jungle Irelia, which I feel isn't as viable of a build as it was before. Solo top Irelia, however, is still very good and is often used in professional tournaments!

Pros + can jungle + can solotop + distance closer + reliable CC + built-in tenacity + amazing lane sustain + does true damage + is an assassin

SPACESPACESPACESPACE

Cons - is melee - relatively low hp - relatively squishy - no real escape ability - not a really flashy ultimate - can be countered by other solotops - no good harass ability - low mana pool (not many mana issues though)

Masteries

I take standard 21/9/0 masteries that give me armor pen, early and late game damage, cdr, and a bit of durability in armor and health.

There are many other ways to build your mastery page for Irelia, namely 21/X/X, X/21/X, and X/X/21. The most important masteries for each tree are as follows:

Offense

• Weapon Expertise
• Vampirism
• Sunder
• Executioner

Defense

• Veteran's Scars
• Enlightenment
• Honor Guard
• Juggernaut

Utility

• Swiftness
• Awareness
• Intelligence
• Mastermind

It is also imperative that you take the mastery that improves both of your summoner spells if possible:

Summoner's Wrath , Summoner's Resolve , and Summoner's Insight

Runes

This is my typical rune page for Irelia. It focuses on maximizing my early game and late game damage, lane presence, and making me more durable as the game goes on.

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Marks

Greater Mark of Desolation

Greater Mark of Desolation

This is definitely one of the best if not the best overall mark. The armor pen improves your damage massively from early game harass to late game duels, so I highly recommend these marks for any physical damage or tanky dps/offtank champions. Highly worth it and highly recommended, and just a great overall rune. Cost: 410 IP

Greater Mark of Alacrity

Not a bad mark overall, but it really isn't that useful for laning. This makes jungling massively easier and quicker, and may improve your early game DPS slightly. However, it drastically scales off towards mid and late game. In lane, Irelia should concentrate on lasthitting with Bladesurge and normal attacks, and therefore Greater Mark of Attack Speed isn't that helpful. Sort of useful for junglers and some champions, not the best, not the worst. Recommended. Cost: 410IP

Greater Mark of Strength

Not a bad mark either, as it really helps early game last hitting. This combined with Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage will make you able to last hit minions under a tower at lvl 1. I don't like it as much on Irelia, because I believe most of her damage is from her W active in the early levels and not from her flat AD.

Seriously, don't get any other marks for Irelia other than the three mentioned above.

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Seals

Greater Seal of Resilience

A great seal to have in your rune page. Many people prefer armor over dodge as armor reduces damage 100% of the time while dodge depends mostly on luck. I can understand why people would want to rely on a more consistent defensive stat then a stat based on chance. Another attractive aspect of Greater Seal of Armor is that it is 1/4 the price of the dodge seals. Instead of buying 1 dodge seal, you could buy 4 armor seals! Armor seals are also used in most jungling rune pages, as junglers want consistency and don't want to depend on that lucky dodge to survive killing the jungle creeps. This seal is highly recommended for any melee character and some ranged as well. An amazing overall seal. Cost: 205 IP

Greater Seal of Clarity

Not a bad overall seal, but definitely not as good as the first two. This is for people who like to abuse their abilities to harass/last hit, instead of auto-attacking. The mana regen is nice, but isn't that useful for Irelia, as you have Philosopher's Stone, which gives you a decent enough of mana regen. More information on how to conserve mana will be discussed in the skills section. This seal is the best for casters, but Irelia is not a caster. If you play her as a caster, you have my respect as being a master troll. Not very good, but not the worst. Cost: 205 IP

Again, any other seals besides the three mentioned above just aren't worth it for Irelia.

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Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Shielding

One of the best defensive glyphs out there. This gives outstanding late game durability against that fed and pesky AP carry ( Annie, Brand, LeBlanc, etc) Many people may think health is the most important part to being tanky, but you are wrong. For example, if a 4000 health Cho'gath tries to 1v1 a fed Caitlyn critting for 1200 each attack, Cho'gath will still get 4 shotted because he has no ARMOR. If a similar Cho'gath tries to 1v1 a fed 400 AP Leblanc, he will probably get 3-4 shotted because he has no MAGIC RESIST. Combining Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist and Force of Nature late game, you can ignore Tibbers and Bladesurge right into the enemy's caster, killing him/her immediately from your awesomeness. Just kidding, do not do this. Back to the topic of glyphs. Overall, one of the best glyphs. Highly recommended. Cost: 205 IP

Greater Glyph of Warding

I know some people think this is pretty much the same as the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, but honestly, it's not. MR/lvl is different from flat MR, and you can't really say one of them is better than the other. Flat stats focus more on early game while stats/lvl focus on late game (obviously.) This is where you have to look at the enemy composition during champion selection and decide which runes you are going to use. If you know you will be facing an AP caster or magical damage champion on top, flat MR will be the better choice (agaisnt Akali, Morgana, Gragas, Cho'Gath, etc.) Otherwise, I feel that MR/lvl scales much better into late game and throughout the entire match on average, MR from Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist over takes the MR from Greater Glyph of Magic Resist at lvl 10, which shouldn't take to long if you can farm and stay in lane well (back to the Philosopher's Stone. Overall, another good glyph that is highly recommended. Cost: 205 IP

Greater Glyph of Focus

Oh, good old CDR. Honestly, CDR is probably my favourite stat in the game. 40% (maxed) cooldown reduction is just ridiculous in my opinion. However, this doesn't mean that CDR is viable on all champions. Since I put this last, I obviously do not think too highly of it on Irelia. The thing with CDR is that, the lower the base cooldown of your abilities, the less number of seconds % CDR will decrease the cooldown by, making them less and less worth it. Also, Irelia should only be using her skills to stun, close distance, regain health, and deal true damage, and her primary focus (ahahaha Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction :P) is not to deal damage with her abilities. I will talk more about this in the Skills section. Not a bad glyph, but once again, not the best. It's also very expensive. Cost: 820 IP

Blah, blah, blah, you know what I'm gonna say. Don't get any other glyphs besides these 3. I mean you can, but that would be too troll.

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Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Swiftness

Truthfully, I think that this is the bestquint in the game. Go and rage at me in the comments if you like. This just gives sooooooooooo much utility it's ridiculous. Getting back to lane, getting into teamfights, positioning, harassing, escaping with that 1 hp, ganking, chasing, etc. I could go on all day. When all's said and done, this is the quint for Irelia. Seriously. I can understand that you don't want to buy it since it's too expensive, so there is an alternative below. This quint is good on everyone. I mean everyone. Cost: 2050 IP (ouch)

Greater Quintessence of Desolation

Greater Quintessence of Desolation

Yes, I know, armor pen again. But it's just such a good stat! Besides, Bladesurge and Transcendent Blades both deal physical damage(and your auto-attacks) so why not? This quint gives you freaking MASSIVE AMOUNTS of armor pen its incredible. This is your cheaper alternative to movespeed quints, and honestly, I don't think movespeed quints are worth double armor pen quints. If you're like me, too lazy to save up IP for runes and wanting to just buy more champions (and lacking in RP), then I would just buy these runes since you can use them on pretty much everyone (they help with laning for casters too! not really though...) Highly recommended. Cost: 1025 IP

Greater Quintessence of Vigor

Greater Quintessence of Vigor

I know what you're thinking. Seriously, masterxiao, another 2050 quint? Are you trying to make me waste my IP or something? Well, I made this guide to help the people trying to improve at LoL and trying to learn how to use Irelia, one of my favourite champions. PLease listen to what I have to say about this quint. Health regen is not a very good stat overall, and this is why I am not a fan of this quint. The 3 quints give 8.1 hp/5, which is a bit more than half of what you get from a Regrowth Pendant at the beginning of the game. The only time these quints help alot are during early game. Yes, they help a bit during late game, but Hiten Style's passive can regenerate your health faster... 2050 IP for this really isn't worth it. Not recommended, not the worst, kind of meh. Cost: 2050 IP

Greater Quintessence of Fortitude

Yes, I am going to put these in as well. These are the quints everybody loves and buys but realistically, it's not extremely useful. The flat health makes you a little bit more durable, but really scales off towards late game. I do understand (as I am like this too) that some people like to start with that 1 extra health bar in lane, giving them more confidence in harassing and farming. However, it is another 2050 quint, so think hard before you consider buying this. With that being said, these quints can be used on anyone. Not recommended, but it's your choice in the end. Cost: 2050 IP

Summoner Spells

The Good

- One of the best summoner spells in the game, without a doubt. The massive movespeed you get from this is beneficial to running away, chasing, and even positioning in the teamfight (and if you're Singed this is to run around the entire enemy team and rofl when you get a penta :P) The object collision ignorance is amazing as well. What this basically means is that you can pass through minions, monsters, and champions as if they're not there! (basically you become a ghost....) This is great for Irelia for many of the reasons mentioned above. I believe Ghost > Flash for Irelia because you already have Bladesurge, which is similar to flash (I'm not saying they're the same.) You can initiate with Bladesurge, and similar to Akali's Shadow Dance, you can dash to an enemy minion or neutral monster to escape.


- Ignite is my second choice for summoner spells on Irelia. Ignite is overall a great offensive spell. Never underestimate the damage ignite can do, early game or late game. Remember, this deals true damage, so it can't be stopped by MR or Armor. Basically, if you deal 300 true damage and the enemy has 300 health, he's a dead man. Ignite also makes first blood very easy, as if you see someone below 70 health ( Ignite deals 70 damage at lvl 1), just ignite him/her and boom, first blood. It scales off a bit into late game, but it still deals a considerable amount (410 true damage.) It is a great tool for finishing off champions, and for rendering Health Potion less useful (50% less healing.) This is amazing against pesky healers like Vladimir, Dr. Mundo, and Swain.


- Exhaust is one of the best summoner spells no matter how you look at it. The slow, and massive debuffs are amazing for 1v1 and for making there AD carry useless for most of the teamfight. Key champions to exhaust include Ashe, Caitlyn, Ezreal, Master Yi, Tryndamere, etc. The slow is great for chasing, securing kills, and stopping tower divers in their tracks. Even though I don't take it as my top two spells on Irelia, I still highly recommend this spell for pretty much any champion. It's relatively easy to use, straightforward, and simply amazing.


- The spell that everybody loves and uses. When in doubt, just take Flash, you can't go wrong with it. Flash is used for many things (most of them are self-explanatory.) This is used for escaping, chasing, positioning (the defining feature between good and bad players), securing kills, and even following someone after they flashed. A great spell that you just can't go wrong with. The key with Flash is that it is a smartcast (well sorta), as in you don't need to left-click in order to flash there. Just press the hotkey, and you appear where the cursor is. So don't put your cursor behind you when you are running away (trust me, I did this at lvl 12.) This can be used to get out of a vulnerable position when you see Dazzle or Cryptic Gaze flying towards you. Even though this spell got nerfed a bit in season two masteries, it still is a viable choice for any champion.


- This is probably the last spell worth mentioning on Irelia. Do not worry, however, I will still briefly go over each of the other summoner spells as well. This is a must for many solo tops, and if you feel like you are going to lose your lane hard ( Garen, Cho'Gath are both extremely strong early), you may want to get this. This can help save your turret from dying, help prevent your team from getting backdoored, and help get to a lane quicker to start farming the huge crowd of minions forming. Another very important use of Teleport (don't forget) is when your jungler puts a ward at dragon (which he should), and there is a teamfight going on there, teleporting to the ward will quickly turn the 4v4 into a 5v4, and may let you win the teamfight and take a free dragon. Do not underestimate the global gold that you can get from numerous dragon kills.

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The Bad

- Only for jungling Irelia. As I said before, it's not as viable anymore. (hey that rhymed). Please don't take this for lane unless all you want to see is you one-shotting a minion every minute or so. Waste of a summoner spell space for laners...


- If you honestly think Irelia is a support, be my guest and take clairvoyance, the best support spell there is. Otherwise, no. Just no. You are not like Ezreal or Ashe, having a long-range skillshot ultimate that you can shoot to clean-up kills. Let your support on bot-lane take it, there's really not much point for you to take it.


- OMG THIS SPELL HEALS YOU. THAT SHOULD BE GOOD RIGHT? LOL. A beginner spell that I would recommended for players lvl 10 and below. Seriously, why waste a summoner spell slot on a heal? Just buy a Health Potion? Kind of useless even though Riot did buff it. Don't take this.


- I guess this is viable for some champions, especially extremely mana hungry ones. Other than that, it's similar to heal, a beginner spell.


- I'm sorry, but Revive Teleport Irelia just isn't as good as it is on Karthus. This spell is only for ARAM (all random all mid) and for suicide bomber Karthus.


- Not a bad spell, actually. Dont' just assume it's horrible because it is with Revive. Cleanse is actually very viable on champions like Kassadin, who have good escapes but can just be shut down by CC. Viable, just not on Irelia please.


- For those dumb and crazy towerdivers out there, I swear this is for you. Nuff said.


- Just not really worth it, to be honest. 1 super minion every couple minutes doesn't do that much good, especially during teamfights (which is the major part of the game.)


- Would you get Rally? Then why get Surge?

Skill Sequence

My skill sequence for Irelia:

I max Transcendent Blades first because it's my ultimate. If you disagree, uninstall please. Hiten Style is my second priority, as it gives me amazing lifesteal (sorta) and the true damage (75 at lvl 9!) is ridiculous. Equilibrium Strike is my 3rd priority, as the cc it gives is useful in escaping, diving, chasing, and ksing (kill secured.) I max Bladesurge last for many reasons. 1st of all, it isn't a form of CC (CC should always be one of your priorities.) 2nd, it doesn't deal as much damage as Hiten Style, as Hiten Style is wicked true damage! I get one point early in Bladesurge at lvl 1 for last hitting, and I leave it there. The only things I really use Bladesurge for are last-hitting and closing distance.

Abilities

= Ionian Fervor

(Innate): Reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, snares, and immobilizes for each nearby enemy champion.
1 Champion: 10%
2 Champions: 25%
3 Champions: 40%
Radius: 1200 (sight range)

What more can you ask for other than built-in tenacity for an offtank? Do not underestimate the usefulness of this passive. With 3 champions in your sight range (almost all the time during teamfights), you will basically have mercury's treads for free! As far-fetched as this may seem, her passive is a big part of what makes her an unstoppable killer. Once she gets fed, she is truly unstoppable, as even if you stun her, it will wear off very quickly and she will stun you until you are dead with her E. I actually think that built-in tenacity is pretty ridiculous, especially if you have an ability like Equilibrium Strike in the same champion. No matter how long health, she can still stun and avoid most of the CC from enemy champions, giving her a lot of escape potential. Tip: Ionian Fervor does stack with the tenacity from Mercury's Treads, Moonflair Spellblade, and Cloak and Dagger, but the other 3 items do not stack with each other. Therefore, the total tenacity you can have with max Ionian Fervor and Mercury's Treads is 61%. Calculations: 60% of (65% of 1 sec) = 60% of 0.65sec = 0.39 sec or 61%.

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= Bladesurge (Q)

(Active): Irelia dashes forward to strike her target, dealing physical damage. This applies on-hit effects. If it kills the target, Bladesurge's cooldown refreshes and refunds 35 mana.
Range: 650

Not a bad ability overall, but not a super flashy one or anything. Just an average dash dealing physical damage and applying on-hit effects. Note: If Bladesurge kills the target, the cooldown refreshes and refunds 35 mana. 35 mana is not all of the mana, it is only around half at most levels. Do not abuse Bladesurge for lasthitting thinking it is like Disintegrate. This is one of the easiest ways to have mana problems. With that said, Bladesurge is an excellent last hitting tool, so if you have mana to spare, don't be afraid to use it. Late game, if you have blue buff, you can Bladesurge to 1 minion, jump to another, and another, and another, and another, etc, since you should be able to 1-shot kill the non-siege minions. The mana cost shouldn't be a problem with blue buff and the bits of mana you get from Sheen. I max this ability last not because I don't like it, just because it really isn't as useful as the other abilities. Another neat trick: when there is a low health minion beside the enemy champion in lane, Bladesurge to the minion, Equilibrium Strike the champion, and if it stuns, activate Hiten Style and get a couple attacks off. If it slows only, you can either walk back behind your minions (if you feel safe) or Bladesurge to an enemy minion that is closer to your side of the lane. When initiating fights, always use Bladesurge first in your skill rotation. The skill rotation will be discussed later at the end of this chapter. Bladesurge can also be used for escaping. If you overextend when harassing and you see the jungler come to gank you, Bladesurge to an enemy minion attacking your minions, and then you can either Ghost or casually walk away.

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= Hiten Style (W)

(Passive): Irelia's autoattacks restore health to her.
(Active): Irelia's autoattacks deal additional true damage for 6 seconds.
Cost: 40 mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds

Honestly, one of the best non-ultimate abilities in the game. A passive-active ability, Hiten Style is a great overall skill. Let's talk about the passive first. The passive is pretty much built-in lifesteal, similar to Challenge. Each of her auto-attacks restores health to her. The thing that makes Hiten Style's passive unique is that it returns health even when you're attacking towers! The primary reason I max this first is because of the amazing lane sustain it gives you. Each time you last hit (or auto-attack <-- don't autoattack please), you will regain health. If you're really low and you want to stay in lane, try letting the enemy minions push to the tower and then auto-attacking. You will find that your health bar will return to full quite quickly. The active part of this ability is even better. True damage = the best damage ever. 75 true damage at lvl 9 = honestly overpowered. This is pretty ridiculous because you can probably get around 5 attacks off in the 6 sec. Hiten Style lasts for. 5x75 = 375 true damage! Considering you can do this every 15 seconds, Irelia is a freaking beast with Hiten Style. Great overall spell, definitely one of the best. Can't get much better than this!

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= Equilibrium Strike (E)

(Active): Irelia pierces her target, dealing magic damage and slowing the target by 60% for few seconds. If the target has a higher health % than Irelia, she stuns the target for the duration instead.
Cooldown: 8 seconds
Range: 425

Another great skill. This is a very reliable form of CC that deals nice damage at earlier levels. This is actually the skill that makes Irelia such an unstoppable force. If you think you can kill her when she's at 2 bars of health and you're melee, think again. You flash in, she stuns you, and she kills you with her true damage before you can recover. I actually find the 2 second stun ridiculous. Most stuns have gotten nerfed down to 1.5 seconds now, such as Cryptic Gaze. The stun is far more useful than the slow, so try and save Equilibrium Strike for when you are low on health and in position to stun the carry. This can easily turn the tides of a teamfight. Never underestimate the power of a two second stun. If you are higher health than the opponent, there really isn't much point in killing yourself in order to get the stun. For example, in 1v1s on top lane, Bladesurge in, and use Equilibrium Strike to slow them for your true damage to step in. The 2 second slow is good as well, and it is a pretty massive slow. To put this into scale, Exhaust slows by 40%, and Equilibrium Strike slows by 60%. Exhaust lasts for 2.5 seconds and Equilibrium Strike lasts for 2 seconds. A wicked CC ability.

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= Transcendent Blades (R)

(Active): Irelia summons 4 spirit blades which she can fire individually in a straight line to deal physical damage to enemies they pass through, and she heals for 25% of that damage vs champions and 10% vs minions.
Cost: 100 mana
Range: 1200

This is actually an amazing ultimate. Many people doubt this ultimate, as it isn't super flashy like Requiem or Missile Barrage, but personally, I love it. First of all, let's discuss how to use it. When you press R first, Irelia shouts and her animations sort of change. Next, you should place your cursor (don't click) where you want the blades to shoot to. Then, press R again and you will shoot out a blade towards your cursor. You have 4 blades to shoot, so if you want them to shoot consecutively, press R 4 times in a row. However, the effect will expire after a few seconds, so don't take too long to shoot them. This is basically like a smartcast, but with a projectile. Do not underestimate the lifesteal component of this ability. The cooldown is very little, so don't be afraid to use it to farm up and regain massive amounts of health. For example, if you want to harass your opponent in lane, wait for a new wave of minions, and shoot your 4 blades into your champion and through the wave. You will likely regain massive amounts of health and damage the enemy in the process. You can also use it during teamfights when your blades can pass through the entire team. It is harder to fire these projectiles at close quarters, however, as moving between attacks will completely render Transcendent Blades useless. With that being said, Transcendent Blades is also a great finishing-off tool, as if the enemy is running away, fire them around the fleeing champion and you will most likely hit at least 1 of your blades, getting yourself the kill. The thing that makes this ability so special is that you don't have to turn around to cast it. For example, if you are running away from the enemy towards your turret, right-click beaide the turret and when your character starts running towards that location, use your ultimate and send your blades behind you where the enemy is chasing you. This will not slow you down a bit, and will regain some much needed health, which may help you escape. This can also be used offensively, as you can click beside their turret and use your ult while running as well. A major part of using this ability is being able to use it while running around. This can really make or break an Irelia.

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Skill Rotation (Teamfights)

In General, you should Bladesurge in to an important target, stun or slow them with Equilibrium Strike, then activate Hiten Style and watch the true damage drain their health bar. As you may have noticed, I didn't put Transcendent Blades in the rotation. This should either be used at the beginning to hit their entire team, or at the end to regain health/clean-up kills. It can be used in the middle, but once again, it is hard to hit at close quarters.

Items

Starting Items

3x : One of the most common starting builds for any champion. The Boots of Speed give you great mobility in lane, which is very important for last-hitting, getting back to lane, positioning, and escaping ganks. I typically take boots triple pot against people who rely on skillshot abilities (ex. Karthus's Lay Waste, Cho'Gath's Rupture, Gragas's Barrel Roll, etc.) Boots and triple pot is definitely one of the best starting items in the game and I would recommend it for Irelia as well.

: The Regrowth Pendant gives me amazing health regen and it builds into my early GP10 item Philosopher's Stone anyways. The Health Potion is nice for staying in lane as well, giving me 200 extra health to spare. I use this against most champions. Standard starting items for solo top champions.

: A more defensive start for Irelia. I use this when facing extremely high harass champions in top lane or ranged champions that can zone you from last hitting. The extra health is amazing, the health regen isn't bad, and the armor is pretty good against AD champions in top lane. The major downside with Doran's Shield is that you don't have enough gold for Health Potion. If you think about it, Health Potion gives you 200 health while Doran's Shield gives you 120. Of course, maximum health is not the same as health regen, but the 1st choice is probably better.

: Another Doran's option for Irelia. Doran's Blade is a more aggressive start for Irelia, and is good if you're facing a low harass and generally weaker laner. Not recommended for most cases, but the stats Doran's Blade gives you definitely cannot be ignored. The lifesteal is beneficial for lane sustain, the extra damage helps for early game last-hitting, and the health for more durability (from harass or possible lvl 2 jungle ganks.) Overall, it's not a great starting item for Irelia, as it doesn't build into anything else, gives you a little bit of durability, and a little bit of damage that you don't really need (or want) as an offtank.

5x : A typical start for junglers, but viable for Irelia as well. This is good when facing an AD champion in top lane (ex. Nasus, Ashe, etc.) If you're wondering what the Cloth Armor will build into, I will tell you now. If there are tons of autoattackers on the enemy team (ex. Nasus top, Caitlyn bot, Xin Zhao jungle), then Ninja Tabi are great boots. The Cloth Armor can then just build into your boots. If not, the Cloth Armor can build into either Guardian Angel or Randuin's Omen. Surprisingly, I don't like to build Wriggle's Lantern on Irelia even though it is such a good item. 1st of all, I like to build Irelia tanky first and damage second, so rushing my GP10 items makes me much tankier and lets me withstand more punishment. Second, Irelia has enough lifesteal from Hiten Style already. Third, the minion proc isn't that useful since I normally don't take Teleport. Because I don't take Teleport, it is rare that I join in on dragon fights or actually kill the dragon. Therefore, the only thing Wriggle's is for is the ward (aka not worth it.)

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Core Items

My Typical Core Build:

(optional) or


: Just a great item for solo top champions. The health and mana regen allow you to abuse your skills and harass your opponent, without putting yourself in too much danger. The GP10 is great and just gets better and better as the game goes on. GP10 items allow you to not have to farm alot and still be able to get massive amounts of gold (aka less farm dependent.) Since most games should take longer than 30 mins, GP10 items are normally worth it. This can either be upgraded into a Shurelya's Reverie, an Eleisa's Miracle, or just sold in favor of another item late game.

: The best boots in the game. Also the most expensive. Mercury's Treads are simply amazing for most games. The magic resist makes you much more durable against casters (your primary target) and the tenacity along with your passive makes stuns pretty much useless. Decent movement speed will allow you more mobility as well. Great overall boots and recommended against balanced or magic-heavy teams.

: Decent boots as well, and very cheap. As I mentioned earlier, dodge got hit pretty hard with the removal of Nimbleness , but it is still a viable defensive stat. This is great when facing an auto-attacker in top lane, or when facing a physical damage-heavy team (AD-heavy team.) Not as good as Mercury's Treads overall, and if you get this early game, it is generally better to sell this and get Mercury's Treads instead for late game, as the tenacity is just amazing.

: Another GP10 item. This item is great early game and the GP10 makes it get better as the game goes on. As I explained before, GP10 is very valuable on offtanks. The 250 health it gives is actually very useful in lane, making you more durable and much less squishy. Combined with your mercs, you will be tanky early game! This can be built into a Randuin's Omen late game. If you are facing a very low AD team (as in no AD or only 1, very rare), then you can sell the Heart of Gold and get a Warmog's Armor instead for late game.

: A great item on Irelia. I underestimated it when I first made this guide, but after trying it in a few games, I grew to like it. The attack speed synergizes greatly with your W active, and the magic resist makes you pretty much invincible to casters mid game. It's also not that expensive either? For 2000g, this is a great damage item to have on Irelia. This is why it is now in my core items.

: If you choose not to get Wit's End here, I think Atma's would be a nice pick-up before your Trinity Force. Even though the passive AD from health won't net you much AD, the armor will absolutely shut down your lane opponent, if you're facing a Riven or a Gangplank or something of the sort. They pretty much do no damage to you until they get some armor pen. Another amazing mid game item that often gets overlooked as a late game item. If I choose to get Wit's End early, I normally still get this after I get my Warmog's Armor.

: The all-around best item in the game, but also the most expensive. This item requires a ton of farm, but that's why we get GP10 items right? Each part of Trinity Force benefits Irelia a lot, and this is why Trinity Force is the most important item on her. I tend to build Phage first because it gives me survivability (once again) and the slow makes chasing and running away much easier. Sheen is good too, as your next attack after Bladesurge or Equilibrium Strike will deal double your base attack damage! Last but not least, Zeal's movement speed is beneficial to Irelia for chasing, positioning, and running away. The attack speed increases her Hiten Style passive and active as well. Great overall item, and probably the most important item on Irelia.

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Almost-core Items (Recommended Build)

: I almost always get this after my Trinity Force. The massive amounts of health this gives makes you pretty much a tank, while dealing tons of DPS. This synergizes with both Force of Nature and Atma's Impaler, making it pretty amazing in your core.

: This item has the highest magic resist in the game, and is really a pain for casters, as without magic pen, their damage will be pitiful. The massive amounts of magic resist will help in teamfights, and even if lane if facing an AP champion. The amazing health regen is absolutely insane for staying in lane, even though you shouldn't be laning by this point in the game. Many people often forget the movespeed that Force of Nature gives. Never underestimate the 8 movement speed either. The passive synergizes extremely well with Warmog's Armor, as you will regenerate more health per second. Get this when you choose to get Atma's Impaler early.

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Situational Items (Offensive)

Most of these items are only viable when you're fed, or fooling around, and not when you're playing properly.

: I rarely get this item on Irelia, especially not when I want to win. However, if I'm fooling around, Bloodthirsters are pretty sick on Irelia. If I'm fed, I sometimes even stack them, which makes my DPS skyrocket. This item is pretty ridiculous, with the crazy AD and lifesteal you get. However, it isn't really good for offtanks, as lifesteal isn't really a great form of survivability.

: I've never actually tried this on Irelia, but theoretically, it should improve anyone's DPS right? Not recommended, but if you want to, be my guest. If you're fed, go ahead and take it so it's easier to get a penta. Make sure you grab a Phantom Dancer as well if you're gonna go DPS Irelia.

: Again, I haven't tried this, but theoretically it should work. Only for when you're fed. Not a great item on Irelia, and that should be sort of common sense.

: Do I have to repeat what I said above again? This one actually might be more realistic, as the AD helps your DPS and the AS helps your lifesteal and the true damage from Hiten Style.

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Situational Items (Defensive)

These are actually really viable and can be interchanged with any of the defensive items mentioned in the core build.

: This is one of the best defensive items in the game and it still is great for Irelia. Great against that pesky Requiem, massive damage and stun Summon: Tibbers, etc. Gives quite a bit of health, mana, and magic resist. A great overall defensive item. This can replace Atma's Impaler in magic-heavy teams or even Force of Nature if you feel like Banshee's passive will benefit you more.

: An extremely cheap, extremely underrated item. Gives loads of magic resist for very little price, and the active is amazing for very little cooldown. Great against champions like Malzahar, Warwick, Urgot, and Skarner, and countering their ults. It can render their ults pretty much useless to you. Similar to Banshee's, it can replace Atma's Impaler for magic-heavy teams or even Force of Nature if you feel like the active will benefit you more.

: An item that is similar to Atma's Impaler, except that it gives magic resist instead. This is great for both offensive and defensive stats. The passive is great against Karthus, Annie, or that Veigar one shotting your team.

: A great item against AD champions. The cooldown reduction helps alot, and the mana helps a bit too. The attack speed debuff is great against high DPS champions, and will lower their DPS considerably for most of the teamfight if you are there. One of the best defensive items that gives armor and not bad for Irelia too. You can replace Randuin's Omen with this.

: I'm not really a big fan of this on Irelia, but I have seen it used and recommended. The armor and health makes you much more durable, and the passive is quite a bit of damage even if you don't realize it. Not my favourite, but not bad either.

: One of the worst armor items in the game. The only thing it does is give 100 armor and return magic damage. If there is a Tryndamere 3 shotting your whole team, then get this and win the game. Other than that, there are much better armor items that feature a wide variety of abilities that can shut down an AD champion more than a Thornmail can.



: Honestly, the most underrated item in the game imo. This item isn't just for supports, as people may think. It is an amazing all-around item and I am not trolling. The health, health regen, mana regen, and cooldown reduction make you tankier and help immensely at any stage in the game. The best part of it however, is the active. If you use it in a teamfight, it will often turn the tide, as movement speed is just such a powerful aspect of the game. It makes killing, running away, positioning, juking, and getting to the teamfight that much easier.

: I don't really like this item, as it is just a more expensive Philosopher's Stone with better stats and tenacity. The health and mana regen is not something to be ignored, however, and will even help during late game. The tenacity is amazing when paired with Ionian Fervor. IMPORTANT: Only get this when running Ninja Tabi. If you got Mercury's Treads, there is no point in getting this item because Tenacity does not stack.

Gameplay

I'm going try to make this nice and short, unlike the rest of my guide.

Early Game:

Buy your starting items and go to your lane, preferably a solo lane (top is the best.) If you're facing a melee champion, focus on last-hitting with melee attacks and maybe stun/slow him if he gets too close and get a couple Hiten Style attacks off before retreating. Your main focus early game is to last-hit and to zone your enemy. If you're facing a ranged champion, this will be harder. Focus on last hitting with auto-attacks, and you should be able to regain most of the health lost buy lifestealing back up. If you don't feel comfortably, stay behind your caster minions and Bladesurge to a minion low on health, and then retreat back behind your caster minions.

Mid Game

This is when teamfights should begin to take place. Make sure you are at every teamfight, and don't make your teammates 4v5. In teamfights, you should always wait until the most important character comes into vision (AD or AP carry, or the fed squishy one), and Bladesurge, then use your combo. If you get low, disengage, and maybe use your ult while running away to regain some health. When there aren't teamfights taking place, keep farming. Locate big minion waves in the lanes and use Bladesurge to get massive amounts of gold. Remember to kill the jungle buffs (if your jungler lets you) and take red and blue, both very good for Irelia. Take dragon if you can whenever it's up and ward if your support isn't.

Late Game

This is when things heat up and a mistake could prove critical. By this point, you should be tanky enough to jump into the enemy team and ignore most the damage, but don't be too overconfident. Use the same skill rotation as before. Your goal is to focus down the carries as quickly as possible. Get your team together for a baron run after you have cleared all the wards with an oracles. If you kill 1 or 2 enemies in a teamfight, do baron and then push top or mid. If you don't make any major mistakes, you should be able to carry your team to victory!

Matchups

Warning: this is going to be long.

Please tell me if you disagree with any of my difficulties, and do not downvote because of it. This is my opinion, and my opinion strictly.

= Akali is my main, and I will admit that I still don't really know how to counter a good Akali in lane. Her Q is amazing harass, but she is quite weak until lvl 6. Bladesurge her whenever you get a chance, and Equilibrium Strike her when she dashes to you. Irelia and Akali are similar champions, and good counters too each other.
Difficulty: Hard

= Most likely, Alistar will go support bottom, but he might go top if he's crazy. His Headbutt and Pulverize do quite a bit of damage early game, but other than that he can't do much to you (just lifesteal it back up.) When you see a circle beneath him with rock-like structures on either side, he is using Unbreakable Will. Back off and wait for it to expire, because there's no point wasting your Q and E on his ult. The only thing that is worth it is to activate Hiten Style and let your true damage destroy him. His heal is quite annoying for lane sustain, but he will run out of mana quickly if he doesn't start with a mana regen item.
Difficulty: Easy

= He really shouldn't lane. Amumu is a very strong jungler and ganker, and he probably won't lane. If he does, the key is to avoid his bandage toss and stay outside of his despair. Since Despair does % health damage, he can actually kill you quite quickly even if you have Warmog's Armor. Be careful of his ultimate in teamfights, as it can often turn the tide if he catches your whole team.
Difficulty: Easy

= She will probably go mid, but whatever. It is almost mandatory to start Boots of Speed and triple pot against Anivia. The mobility will allow you to dodge Flash Frost easily, which is the key to winning your lane. If you get caught by the stun, you're gonna be in trouble when she ults and uses Frostbite. If you can avoid her Flash Frost, push into her when it's on cooldown or when she's low on mana and you will win your lane. Her Rebirth can get annoying, just try and make it stay on cooldown.
Difficulty: Medium

= She will go mid as well, but if she does go top, tough luck for you. It will also be impossible to zone her, because she can last-hit from afar with Disintegrate. Once she gets to lvl 6, watch when her stun comes up (you can tell with the laugh Annie makes.) Stay out of her range and if she walks forward, back up a little. You don't have much chance but to get zoned until you get mercury's treads. Annie is a soft carry, so she can do lots of damage without much AP.
Difficulty: Hard

= Ashe should go bot with a support, but in the case she goes top, it shouldn't be too hard. Start cloth armor and 5 health pots and you should be able to shrug off most of the auto-attack damage. Stay behind the ranged minions and if she attacks you, they will switch focus to Ashe. Also, make sure you stay behind any minions so you can avoid Volley. At lvl 6, care for when she shoots her Enchanted Crystal Arrow. If you see her shoot it to another lane, warn your teammates. Ward the brush so that you can't get ult-stunned and then ganked by a jungler.
Difficulty: Easy

= I'm not sure why Blitzcrank would go top, but you must start boots and triple pot. The absolute key to this lane is to avoid Rocket Grab. If you can stay behind minions and avoid Rocket Grab, Blitzcrank is a pretty bad laner and you should be able to harass him a little bit. Don't overextend, or he can knock you up with Power Fist, leaving you vulnerable to ganks.
Difficulty: Medium

= He should go mid but whatever. From now on, we won't talk about where they should go okay? Start boots and triple pot and whenever you see a circle of fire in the ground, walk away from it (common sense.) Another way to see is to look at Brand and see if his hands suddenly move down as if he's dropping something. This is an indication that he is casting Pillar of Flame and therefore you should move away from where it's being casted. If you get ablaze, juke his Sear. It is critical to not get stunned. When you see him jump up and cast Pyroclasm, run away from the wave of minions and into the brush or something, so that the flame can't bounce and do more damage to you. This is the same in teamfights.
Difficulty: Medium

= One of the most annoying laners ever. Her range is the highest base range in the game and her traps are very annoying. Try to last hit as best you can, and theres not much point harassing, as she will just throw her net at you. If you are low when she is lvl 6, just go b and don't risk getting killed by Ace of the Hole. I haven't had good experiences laning agaisnt Caitlyn, so I can't give you many tips.
Difficulty: Hard

= Another very annoying laner. Try and do your best to dodge her skillshot abilities, taking boots and 3 pot for starting items. Get Mercury's Treads as soon as possible, and do not 1v1 her at lvl 6, as her ultimate will be the death of you. Very annoying laner similar to Caitlyn and I can't give much advice other than dodging her skills.
Difficulty: Hard

= One of the best solo tops in the game. If you watch HotshotGG's Cho'gath, you will be scared whenever you face a Cho'gath in lane. Probably boots and 3 pot is the best starting item because it is easier to avoid Rupture. Similar to Brand, when you see Cho'gath's arms move down suddenly, or you see some unstable ground, move away from it. At lvl 6, be careful of Feast. Feast deals 300 true damage at lvl 1, so if you are at 300 health and are within melee range of Cho'Gath, Ghost away please.
Difficulty: Hard

= Corki got buffed a bit in the last few patches, and he isn't bad of a laner. His phosphorus bomb is hard to dodge, and don't try chasing him at early levels, standing in his Valkyrie is painful. If he gets in range for Gatling Gun, stun or slow him, and make sure to always juke Missile Barrage.
Difficulty: Medium

= Seriously, he won't go top. If he does, you're in luck. Just dodge his Infected Cleaver and stun him if he gets close. When you see him use his ult, it is probably a good idea to Ignite him. Other than that, should be a piece of cake.
Difficulty: Easy

= Pretty self-explanatory. Eve is probably the worst champion out there, need I explain why? Get oracle's and she's useless.
Difficulty: Easy

= The key with Ezreal is to juke, juke, juke. You must juke Mystic Shot, Essence Flux, and Trueshot Barrage. If you are able to dodge 3 of these skills, then he can't do much damage. Push in when he's low on mana if he didn't start with a Meki Pendant. This can be tough if you have slow reactions. Again, warn your teammates if there is an Ezreal ultimate heading to another lane.
Difficulty: Medium

= Fiddle has amazing lane sustain with Drain and tons of CC with Terrify and Dark Wind. You should probably start boots and three pot, and ward your bushes so he can't surprise ult-in for the kill. If you can nullify his ult and avoid his CC with Ionian Fervor + Mercury's Treads, it shouldn't be too hard.
Difficulty: Medium

= Since he is newer, I don't really know much about him. When he Urchin Strike, stun him or slow him. His ability to move through units can let him harass easier, but he is melee, so it shouldn't be that bad. Try and avoid Chum the Waters if you can. Playful / Trickster makes him untargetable, so don't shoot Transcendent Blades when he's on his trident.
Difficulty: Medium?

= Galio is actually quite underestimated, but he can be an annoying laner. Start boots and 3 health pots and try to avoid his Resolute Smite. When he shields himself with Bulwark, don't engage him because you will just heal him. Walk away from Righteous Gust when he is chasing you, so he can't get the bonus movement speed buff. Be very careful of his Idol of Durand, and take it into account when turret diving. Do not get caught by this during a teamfight either.
Difficulty: Hard

= He is actually quite an annoying solo-top to lane against. He will just eat oranges to get rid of your stun, making your E pretty useless. He can harass better with Parrrley, so just focus on last-hitting. Cloth Armor is probably your best bet for early game durability against Gangplank. Be careful when he uses Raise Morale, as it might signal that the enemy jungler is coming in to gank. If you see him eat oranges to heal, try and engage while it is on cooldown. This is when you can do some good damage.
Difficulty: Hard

= Another very annoying solo-top champion to lane against. His early combo of Decisive Strike into Judgement can devastate your health bar early game. Try to stay back as much as possible, and if he activates his Q, try and stun him before he can silence you, then run back a little or Bladesurge him if you feel comfortable. His lane sustain is probably better than yours, but you can match his with an early Philosopher's Stone and a Force of Nature later. Pretty annoying, though.
Difficulty: Hard

= I honestly haven't seen many good Gragases except for Shushei's Gragas. Gragas's Barrel Roll is similar to Resolute Smite, so boots will probably be a good start. The durability from Drunken Rage can be very annoying for avoiding harass. Try and stay behind minions to reduce the amount of damage Body Slam will do. Be very careful of Gragas using Explosive Cask to knock you towards their base, setting up a perfect kill for the jungler or for Gragas. Tough champion to lane against.
Difficulty: Hard

= Another newer champion that I don't know that much about. His Buckshot can deal 150% damage at close range, which can be devastating early game. Smoke Screen is perfect for setting up jungle ganks, as you can't see the jungler come in through fog of war. Be careful when he uses it, it could very well mean there is a gank coming. Collateral Damage can do quite a lot of damage, actually, but it the conical damage isn't very useful for 1v1. He isn't a very strong laner, and he has a very low attack range for an AD carry.
Difficulty: Medium

= Not a great laner, but his turrets can be annoying. Try not to harass him, as his turrets do lots of damage when they attack you and he will just health regen it back up with his passive. Start either regrowth or boots and try to avoid CH-1 Concussion Grenade. Stay behind minions to avoid Hextech Micro-Rockets, and he shouldn't be able to damage you too much.
Difficulty: Medium

= If you're playing normal games in blind mode, you might have a mirror match-up. I can't really give much advice to you about this one. The better player will win.
Difficulty: N/A

= A generally strong sustain low damage laner. Start boots to avoid Howling Gale, and don't harass when she uses Eye Of The Storm. Her damage should be pretty low, so you should be able to zone her pretty good. Monsoon can be annoying for turret diving, so be careful.
Difficulty: Easy

= He is actually a pretty strong solo top. His combo of Demacian Standard > Dragon Strike can be quite devastating because of the knock-up and the damage it deals. Golden Aegis gives him good durability throughout the game, and Martial Cadence gives nice burst damage. Cataclysm can really setup nice jungle ganks, so Flash might be a good idea against Jarvan. Pretty tough lane.
Difficulty: Hard

= Once again, if you watch HotshotGG playing Jax, you will give up whenever you face a Jax. Jax's early game damage is quite annoying, and his combo of Empower > Leap Strike can be devastating early game. Sword of the Divine is an effective counter, but it isn't really that great of an item, especially on Irelia. I wouldn't recommend it. Other than that, Jax really isn't that great unless you're HotshotGG. He got indirectly nerfed pretty hard with the nerf to Hextech Gunblade and the removal of Nimbleness . Hotshotgg may argue, but I'm going to leave him at a medium.
Difficulty: Medium

= LOL. Kevin, if you're reading this, ROFLMAO. (sorry, that was directed to my friend.) I have actually seen people play AP Karma, and she actually does quite a lot of damage with Heavenly Wave and Spirit Bond. Don't underestimate her, but don't overestimate her after reading this either. Mostly common sense when facing a support/tank on top. Don't initiate when her shield is on. Her heal can be quite annoying for amazing lane sustain, but she isn't a great farmer, so use that to your advantage.
Difficulty: Easy

= Definitely start Boots and triple pot to dodge his Lay Waste better. Avoid passing through his Wall of Pain, as once you're slowed, hitting his Lay Waste will be a piece of cake. Defile can also be deadly if you're slowed. If you're low and Karthus is at lvl 5, just go b and don't risk giving him a free kill with Requiem. Never stand in his Defile when he is dead. And never underestimate Revive Teleport Karthus.
Difficulty: Medium

= Kassadin can actually be very annoying for Irelia. His burst damage is crazy, his slow is annoying, and his silence can prevent Irelia from doing much. I really wouldn't recommend playing Irelia against a solo top Kass, but definitely get Mercury's Treads if you do. When you see the black orb coming, back up and don't try and 1v1 him while silenced. Another annoying part of fighting Kassadin is that many Kassadin's run Cleanse. This can completely nullify your stun from Equilibrium Strike. An overall very annoying lane.
Difficulty: Hard

= Katarina is a pretty weak champion overall for ranked/higher ELO games. When you have reduced healing, do not use a health potion (obviously). When she shunpo's to you (if she does), quickly stun her or slow her and get some true damage off before she retreats. She will have to play aggressively if she wants to harass you, unless she harasses with Bouncing Blades. Try and stay out of range of her ability for most of the time. Flash may be optimal against Katarina, so you can flash out of her ultimate. An even better solution in teamfights is to save Equilibrium Strike until you are low health and Katarina channels Death Lotus. Stun her ASAP and your teammates will love you for it.
Difficulty: Medium

= I have actually been seeing some decent Kayle's these days. Her Reckoning > Righteous Fury combo gives her some decent harass, which can be devastating to your early game farming. Her heal also gives her good lane sustain, and her ultimate can shrug off your ultimate any day. However, she isn't a very strong champion, and scales off towards late game.
Difficulty: Medium

= This can get very annoying. Try your best to dodge Thundering Shuriken to avoid damage early game. His Lightning Rush makes him a great farmer, chaser, and escaper. When he uses Slicing Maelstrom, try to stun him before he can stun you, and if he does stun you, you are in big trouble. A pretty hard champion to lane against. Tons of CC and hard to counter.
Difficulty: Hard

= One of my favourite champions as well. Get boots and 3 pots and try and juke his Living Artillery and Void Ooze best as possible. Bio-Arcane Barrage range did get nerfed a bit, but he can still harass you from quite far away when activated. Push into him when he's low on mana, and move in between attacks to avoid his ultimate. If you can move between attacks, you should be able to win melee-ranged (autoattack) fights. Be careful of Icathian Surprise, so don't push in for the kill if you're low, as there's no point in trading kills and feeding the carry a free kill.
Difficulty: Medium

= Leblanc's mid game burst is pretty ridiculous, as Sigil of Silence + Mimic can easily deal 1/3 of your health without Mercury's Treads. In this situation, rushing mercs or Heart of Gold is your best option. This lane is going to be very difficult to win , so just try to farm and stay behind your minions. Push in when she's low on mana (she will get low if she harasses you.) The good thing is that LeBlanc is horrible in teamfights and late-game. She can almost burst down one champion with her combo, but she will get absolutely destroyed right after. Pretty useless AP carry late game, so don't worry if you feed her too hard. I've seen a 10-0 LeBlanc end up losing the game (her final score was 10-9).
Difficulty: Hard

= He is actually a pretty strong laner, despite his even greater jungle presence. Resonating Strike can deal lots of damage at lvl 1, so try and out-sustain him with cloth armor or maybe boots. Tempest > Cripple can really set-up nice jungle ganks, and Dragon's Rage can be very annoying for towerdiving. Don't engage when Safeguard's shield is active, and try to chase him away from minions so he can't shield himself and dash to them.
Difficulty: Medium

= It would probably be best to start boots and rush mercs against Leona. Shield of Daybreak can set up nice jungle ganks, and Eclipse can keep her safe from your harass. You must try and juke Zenith Blade and Solar Flare, as getting caught can be an easy kill for the jungler. Besides that, she can't actually do much damage, so it will be hard for her to kill you by herself. Ward the bush as soon as possible to be safe.
Difficulty: Medium

= Starting with boots would be nice against Lux as well. Juke her Light Binding as best as possible, because if you get caught, she can do some nice damage to you and so can her jungler probably. Prismatic Barrier can block your harass, and Lucent Singularity gives her some nice harass. However, she isn't a very strong laner, so try and take advantage of that. Flash might be nice, as right when you see the animation of Finales Funkeln, flash to the side and you will look pro.
Difficulty: Medium

= Malphite is actually quite good at solo top. He has very good harass with Seismic Shard and good sustain with Granite Shield. His shield comes back if he's not damaged for 10 sec, so try and keep harassing him. However, he can last hit from afar with his Q, so this will be difficult. His ult can be amazing for setting up nice jungle ganks, and you can't really avoid it.
Difficulty: Hard

= Malzahar is quite a strong laner in many aspects. Call of the Void is great harass and the silence can be detrimental to your harass ability. Null Zone can do alot of damage to you even if you're tanky. Malefic Visions is good harass as well. Tip: If you see a minion with black clouds around it, don't stand near it, as if it dies than the damage will jump onto you. If you do get tagged with Malefic Visions, his voidling can be quite annoying. Nether Grasp makes jungle ganks a piece of cake, so be sure to have fast reactions and Flash out as soon as you see him come forward. Lots of stuff to remember.
Difficulty: Hard

= He is a relatively weak laner, but he does have some strong abilities. Starting with boots is optimal, so you can run away from his Sapling Toss easier. Twisted Advance can set up nice jungle ganks, so be very careful not to overextend. Other than that, he isn't that big of a threat.
Difficulty: Medium

= Yay, the pubstomping noob champion that everyone's played before. He's a very weak laner, tbh. Be careful for tower-diving, as using Meditate can negate most of your damage early game. Other than that, I think everyone knows how to play against Master Yi.
Difficulty: Easy

= She's not a bad laner, and can be annoying against Irelia. Double Up gives her the power to harass and last hit at the same time, and Bullet Time can do quite a lot of damage. Try and stay out of her attack range when using health pots, to prevent her from lowering their effectiveness with Impure Shots. When she casts Make it Rain, it is quite likely that the jungler is ganking. Be careful.
Difficulty: Medium

= This can be very annoying. Avoid Siphon of Destruction and stay out of his Creeping Death and Mace of Spades. Children of the Grave can do a lot of damage and also heal him for alot, so try and Ignite him when he uses it throughout the game. Quite a tough match-up, as Mordekaiser is a very good laner.
Difficulty: Hard

= Another strong laner. Start with boots and rush mercs to dodge her Dark Binding easier and reduce the damage of her Tormented Soil. Black Shield can pretty much negate all of your decent harass. If she comes too close, Equilibrium Strike her, but only if her Black Shield is on cd, or else it will be wasted. Flash might be a good idea, as Soul Shackles's stun can really be devastating. When she casts it, you can choose to flash out of leash range, or ghost away. Just don't stay and get stunned.
Difficulty: Hard

= Another excellent laner. Wither is incredible CC and great for setting up jungle ganks. His passive will allow him to sustain in lane better than you, so don't try to harass him. However, don't just let him farm freely, as a farmed Nasus is a fed Nasus. Remember, the more he farms, the more Siphon of Destruction deals. Fury of the Sands is actually a very good ultimate, and it is what makes Nasus a great low health fighter. Do not get tricked into thinking you can kill him just because he has two bars of health left. He can lifesteal it back up quickly with his ultimate on.
Difficulty: Hard

= Definitely start boots. Javelin Toss can do a ton of damage throughout the game, so it is imperative that you juke them almost every single time. Primal Surge gives her ridiculous lane sustain, but she will run out of mana. She is also hard to kill after lvl 6, being one of the best escape artists in the game. If you really can't dodge a spear, run towards it, as it will deal less damage.
Difficulty: Medium

= He's actually a pretty bad laner. He needs to be in the jungle. Seriously. His only form of harass is Duskbringer, and it really isn't that great harass. Stay behind minions to avoid Unspeakable Horror, and back off harassing if he casts Shroud of Darkness. Warn your teammates if he's mia and lvl 6, as Paranoia can lead to a devastating gank.
Difficulty: Medium

= Despite what people may say, he's actually a very annoying laner. His sustain is absolutely ******ed with Consume, his harass is pretty good with Ice Blast, and he can buff his jungler with Blood Boil. However, he does run out of mana pretty fast. The key to countering Nunu is stunning him as soon as he casts Absolute Zero (make sure you are lower % health than him.) With his ultimate being useless, the lane shouldn't be that bad.
Difficulty: Medium

= He isn't a very strong laner, but he is pretty good. Undertow is amazing harass if he can hit it, so starting with boots might be a good idea. Vicious Strikes is good for lane sustain early on, but it shouldn't do too much damage (your maximum health is relatively low.) Similar to Unbreakable Will, when he casts Ragnarok, just back off and wait for it to expire. With that being said, he is still a pretty good solo top and you will need skill to beat a good olaf.
Difficulty: Hard

= She used to be the most overpowered champion in the game. I think she's balanced now. They nerfed her laning hard, so she isn't that much of a presence early game. However, she is still an amazing laner, harasser, and farmer, so don't underestimate her just because she's underplayed. Boots and rushing mercs will be optimal, so you can dodge Command: Attack as well as possible. Her shield can be deceiving for tower-diving, giving her more health than it seemed like she had before. Her ult can really destroy your team in a teamfight. Good luck with this one, it's gonna be tough.
Difficulty: Hard

= He is a decent laner, with great harass abilities. Try and push into him in the early levels (1 and 2) because once he can use the combo Spear Shot > Aegis of Zeonia > Heartseeker Strike, you will begin to get devastated. However, he will run out of mana, so watch the blue bar beneath.
Difficulty: Medium

= Poppy is an extremely weak laner, so use this to your advantage. Harass her as much as you can, but still concentrate on last-hitting as well. Don't put yourself between her and a wall, because Heroic Charge can lead to some pretty devastating ganks. If she uses Diplomatic Immunity in a teamfight, switch focus to someone else, as there's no point in attacking her while she's immune to your attacks.
Difficulty: Easy

= He is generally a very weak laner. Try and harass him until he uses Defensive Ball Curl. Do not tower dive him, as Puncturing Taunt will switch turret aggro from minions to you. Powerball can make chasing him extremely difficult, and don't 1v1 him with Tremors active. Other than that, he is quite a weak laner and has no farming capabilities beside his ultimate.
Difficulty: Easy

= Renekton is a relatively strong laner. Slice and Dice can make running away very difficult, and Ruthless Predator can set up some nice jungle ganks. Be careful when his Fury bar is high, and try not to harass him, as his stun will deal significant damage. If he harasses you too much, Equilibrium Strike him to stay out of harm's way. You should be able to out-sustain him with Hiten Style and Transcendent Blades, so you will win eventually.
Difficulty: Medium

= Not a great laner, but not too bad. Stun her if she chases with Broken Wings, and watch for jungler ganks and stuns with Ki Burst. Don't harass with Valor's shield up, and you should be fine.
Difficulty: Easy

= A very good laner and solo top. Flamespitter can deal excellent damage, Electro-Harpoon can secure jungle ganks, and The Equalizer is great for finishing and in teamfights. Push into him when he's silenced by Junkyard Titan, and stun him if he gets close. Other than that, just try and farm.
Difficulty: Hard

= A pretty commonly played mage that scales with mana. Try not to let him farm up his Tear of the Goddess, and he shouldn't be able to damage you that much. Harass him when he gets close, since his attack range is relatively short. Be careful of his snare, as it can set up easy jungle ganks.
Difficulty: Medium

Work In Progress

Summary

Overall, Irelia is a very fun champion to buy and play. She is a very strong solo-top, and she has the ability to be tanky and deal tons of damage at the same time. I would recommend her to any summoner who likes playing tanky dps characters. Try my build! If you like it, please comment and/or upvote. If you don't, please tell me why in the comments below.

Changelog

11/23/11

• Released Guide! Still need to finish up Matchups.

11/30/11

• Removed Greater Seal of Evasion from Recommended Runes in preparation for the removal of dodge.

05/13/12

Finally got around to updating my guide! Sorry for the delay!
Added Wit's End to item build.
Changed the item build and summoner spells.