Hi everyone! This is my first build guide, so bear with me. Irelia was my first champion that I saved up for about a year ago. I've only see her be free to play once and she might be one of the most underplayed champs for that reason. I played her before she got nerfed, but let me tell you something: She's still OP as hell. If you like stuns, built in life steal that even works on turrets, true damage, built in tenacity, one of the best last hitting tools ever, and being one of the best DPS tanks in the game, you should definitely learn to play irelia, and that's what this guide is for :D

PROS:

• Her ability to fulfill the role of tank while doing tons of damage is wonderful
• True damage
• Her sustain with her passive w allows her to stay in lane
• Passive tenacity is just great
• True damage
• One of the best farming tools in game thanks to her Q
• Her stun is deceptive and can change the outcome of almost any battle
• Don't forget true damage
  
  

CONS:
[*] Can somewhat easily be denied farm, especially in 2v1 situations
[*] Without careful budgeting, mana can be a problem early on
[*] The other team might likely rage at how OP you are

Should be pretty straightforward. Armor and magic resist to start with for defense, plus the percentage health which will just accumulate later. If you have them, attack speed marks could also work because with Irelias W, which deals true damage and heals you per hit, more hits especially early on could only help.

Tanky is more important in the masteries side for irelia because her items will take care of the damage part. Staying alive with irelia is what makes her more powerful, not how much damage she does while doing it.

Alright this will take a while. To quickly explain, there are three phases of the game, early game (or lane phase), mid game (or turn phase), and late game (destroy turret and nexus phase). As a solo top, which is irelia's strongest role, the lane phase and turn phase kind of meld together (the turn phase is when laning kind of stops and people run around ganking those who still lane) but I will explain the build order for each phase regardless.

Start/Early game

The regrowth pendant is one of the best starting items for solo tops. An extra three health a second is perfect for playing the sustain game up top. Remember, the primary goal of a solo top is not kills, but to stay alive. Now, if your opponent is awful and getting the kill is a simple matter, dont run away because i told you so. Kills are luxuries, not goals. This is why the pendant is perfect for staying alive as long as possible. The mana pot is nice for when you get a little too ability hungry.

Another viable option are classic boots and pots. The mobility is great in a 1v1 situation up top because it allows easier farming and better maneuvering in and out of skirmishes. However, sometimes people are silly and don't have a jungler, leaving two up top for irelia to face. In this scenario, bots may or may not be superior to turret hugging with the regrowth pendant OR

A Doran's Shield. Health, armor, and health regen are beautiful things for a 2v1 situation. Just remember to hug and use your q for farm, KILLS ARE NOT YOUR GOAL.

Once you've reached a cooldown up top, perhaps your enemy fled in terror or you might have even killed him, its time to go back. Gold per five is beautiful on irelia and try not to go back until you can at least afford the philo and boots. Continue to lane and farm farm farm farm! Staying alive is the primary goal, farming is the next, and with the mana regen from your philo and the refund from your q it should not be difficult. If you have more downtime later grab that heart of gold.