Hello and welcome to my first build. This guide hopefully gives you an idea on how to play Irelia. Irelia is a very diverse champ and can play multiple roles. In my opinion, I think she is utilized best as a tank/squish killer. Ive played Irelia for awhile and tried multiple item builds, skill sequences, and playing different roles. What I have put forth is what I consider to be a very solid guide on how to utilize her skills for the best interests of the team.

(Pros)
-Irelia can soak up huge amounts of damage
-Can burst down enemy carries easily
-Lunge, passive heal with an active true damage, stun/slow and an ult that farms very well and heals, what more can you ask for.
-Very good at farming and harassing opponents.
-Very hard to get cc locked.

(Cons)
-Requires a good deal of micro skill

I run a tanky rune preference,

9

Greater Seal of Armor
9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
9 greater mark of Desolation
3 quintessence of Vigor


Reasoning: Armor Pen marks are really the only viable option for marks and it does help bursting down carries. I go with flat armor seals because in the early game, most damage is ad, so having a high flat armor seal vs. a per level seal better suits your farming and harassing. I do however go with per level glyphs with magic resist because casters don't generally have high fire power early game.

This is pretty straight forward, 9 in defense for extra armor and magic resist while focusing on utility for regeneration.

Flash and Teleport ensure good survivability, good mobility in the map, and very fast farming potential.

But in fairness, ill explain why I don't use the other spells.

Ghost It's alright, but I think useless in this case, you end up with 430 movement speed end game so ghost isn't really needed.
Heal Let's be honest, our HP per 5 is sufficient enough.
Exhaust Phage, red, and our stun makes exhaust not needed.
Revive ...
Smite Irelia can jungle, but that isn't the focus of this guide.
Cleanse Mercury's Treads and our passive make this not needed.
Fortify There's nothing wrong with this one, it just doesn't provide a useful benefit to Irelia.
Clarity Good if you like to spam spells every 3 secs and waste them.
Ignite A good choice if you like to play aggressive and if they have a champ with high health regen, but still not the best choice in my mind.

Ok now this is the part in which you would want to read carefully. This build emphasizes Health Regen per 5 A LOT.It allows you to stay in lane very long, and give you the capability to harass and starve your laning opponent.

Early game (1-20 mins)
The goal here is to first get a solo lane, solo mid or solo top if both teams have junglers. Do not 1v2, mid is a much better choice if that's the situation. The goal is not to kill the enemy champ for uber amounts of gold and get super fed. Cmon, realize you are level 30 in ranked and focus on out farming. At level 1, focus on Bladesurge weak creeps and last hit only. Keep that up until level 3 where you get a point in Q,W,E. Just continue farming, but if you notice you are being poked. Take some damage, always stay around Half HP. Now you can have fun, Activate your W Hiten Style, and use Bladesurge into the enemy champ, AA(auto-attack), and follow that up with E Equilibrium Strike. The reason this works so well for Irelia is because now you have a big advantage over your opponent. Most likely they have a dorans item vs. your Regrowth Pendant. You will regen hp must faster then they will thanks to Hiten Style passive and your runes/item. Keep the enemy champ pushed back and deny him farm while you last hit your way into a lead. Max W Hiten Style first to amplify this strategy, and the active is very nice too. If you do this correctly, you will be ahead in CS. Recall when you have enough to finish Philosopher's stone, Boots, and a Ruby Crystal. Report back to start farming and starving their enemy champ again. Now everything becomes situational. When Teleport comes up again, recall to buy more items. Your next item to build is either Heart of Gold or Phage. If you are coming close to bursting down your opponent, go with Phage for the slow. Phage should be bought when facing a champ with no escape tactic or a melee fighter. Other wise, go with Heart of Gold. So you either go Phage then Heart of Gold or vis versa. Remember, always try and keep them from killing creeps, a starved carry is always better then being super aggressive and possibly giving them kills. Your ult Transcendent Blades in this stage is a better farming/healing tool then it is as a killer. It farms well, has a low CD, and heals well meaning you can lane very long before recalling. That's not saying your ult cant be used to kill if they are very weak.

Mid Game(20-35 mins)

Thanks to your superb job at farming and starving their carry in the process, its time to really harass and play aggressively smart. What that means is, don't think you are invincible, but know that you are pretty beefy and you are a threat to all lanes. The goal is to still farm and bring in the gold while ganking the outside lanes. Always be aware of the map and always save flash for those desperate ganks on you. The items to focus on here are finishing Mercury's Treads and rushing Warmog's Armor. Now, before you think, Warmog's Armor are you serious? Just think, Tons of HP, but we want that Hp regen. Getting it really gets you two items. Your regen is very good now, making your survivability amazing. After Warmog's Armor, you have a decision to make. Your next item is chain mail, but you can build that into either a Guardian Angel, or an Atma's Impaler. It all depends on the team comp. if they are squishy and damage output is weak, Atma's Impaler works. I usually go with Guardian Angel, just to show the other team that it truly will take 5 of them to bring you down. Regardless you get both items next, the order you do it in is up to you. You can sell Heart of Gold at anytime after Warmog's Armor to help buy other items.

Late game (35+ mins)
At this point, if you haven't won, its either a good game or they refuse to surrender. You want to finally build that Trinity Force you started 30 minutes ago. Your final item all depends on what they have for a composition. If they are HP Beefy, Madred's Bloodrazor is your best option. Banshee's Veil is good if you need more survivability. I usually go with Bloodthirster. It's mostly for a good laugh as you tear the enemy team apart. Generally you wont reach this far in the game, but if you max your build out, keep getting the elixirs for extra hurt.

Just a summary:

Regrowth Pendant+ 1 Health Potion
Philosopher's Stone, Boots, Ruby Crystal
Phage then Heart of Gold or Heart of Gold then Phage
Mercury's Treads and start Warmog's Armor
Guardian Angel and Atma's Impaler or like stated before, Atma's Impaler then Guardian Angel]]
Trinity Force
Madred's Bloodrazor, Banshee's Veil, or Bloodthirster+ All elixirs.

I max W Hiten Style first to help keep my hp up for longer laning and farming while getting 1 point in the 3 skills. Grabbing your Ult Transcendent Blades when you can, you max E Equilibrium Strike next to increase the duration of your stun and make it on a low CD. Bladesurge is maxed last.

If you have made it this far, you should have a good grasp on how to utilize Irelia. A few things to remember:

It's always better to play defensively then aggressively
Focus Carries and burst them down always
Play smart and be aware of you're surroundings
Know when to harass and always prioritize farming.