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Master Yi Build Guide by Wavering Reflection

Other Jungle Yi - Monster Carry

Other Jungle Yi - Monster Carry

Updated on December 12, 2014
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Wavering Reflection Build Guide By Wavering Reflection 32 3 2,313,089 Views 38 Comments
32 3 2,313,089 Views 38 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Wavering Reflection Master Yi Build Guide By Wavering Reflection Updated on December 12, 2014
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Introduction

Introducion



Hello and welcome to my Jungle Master Yi guide. After the last patch (4.5), Master Yi got indirectly buffed due to the introduction of Feral Flare. It made the power of auto-attack reliant junglers simply skyrocket making champs like Master Yi and Xin Zhao ban worthy.

I made this guide since I want to show how to play Master Yi with the new item Feral Flare(now Skirmisher's Sabre - Devourer. His late game has gotten even scarier than before due to the infinite scaling on this item. I also made this guide because I see so many Master Yi players building pure glass cannon. No defensive item. That makes him killable. With this guide, Yi will be nigh unstoppable.

Now that I got your attention, shall we move on?
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Pros / Cons



+ Insane scaling
+ Great at splitpushing/tower killing/dueling
+ Cleans up fights well
+ Has damage reduction, heal, and invulnerability
+ True damage, attack speed steroid, and movement speed steroid
+ Good clear times


- Squishy
- Weak ganks/no CC
- Long cooldowns
- Not a great teamfighter
- Requires good judgement
- Buff reliant
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Runes


Nine of these are standard on most champions right now even after the nerf. They improve your time in the jungle as well as your time in fights. Another option would be 9 scaling health seals to scale even better into late game.


These will greatly improve your damage output early on. The extra AD will also help last hit minions when covering lanes. The only other option I could see to these are 9 attack speed marks.


Getting six of these gives 5% cooldown reduction which is a valuable stat on Master Yi. The small amount of cooldown reduction given can make the difference between living or dying.


Only three of these are needed. The cooldown reduction from the other six glyphs is far too valuable. The reason we get scaling magic resist is since jungle monsters only deal physical damage. The flat magic resist would be almost a complete waste.


With the recent buffs, these are amazing on Master Yi. They greatly help with early clear times while also scaling well into mid and late game. Far, far better than AD quints or Lifesteal quints. These are must haves.
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Masteries



First, start out with by putting one point into Double-Edged Sword for increased damage. Then put 3 points into Fury for that early attack speed to help clear the jungle camps. Next, we put 4 points into Sorcery to get the 5% CDR, a stat Yi loves. It will increase the uptime on his Wuju Style which is needed due to the long cooldown. We finish the first tier of the Offensive tree with Butcher for better clears and faster pushing. Moving on to the second tier, we grab the point in Feast for better sustain and then the 3 points in Brute Force for that scaling AD. In the third tier, get the point in Martial Mastery for a minuscule increase in AD. Then put 3 points in Executioner since Yi does a ton of damage and wants do do even more to that low health squishy. We then skip tier four and move to the fifth where we put 3 points into Devastating Strikes which gives 6% armor and magic penetration. Finally, we put the 21st point into Havoc for a 3% increase in damage.

For the remaining 9 mastery points, we go into the Defense tree and we put 2 in Block to slightly reduce auto-attack damage done by champions to Yi, and 2 points in Tough Skin to slightly reduce auto-attack damage done by monsters. In the second tier, we put the point in Unyielding to further reduce the damage done to us. Next get all 3 points in Veteran's Scars for a little bit of health, and finish your masteries with Juggernaut which will give a nice 3% increase of your maximum health.
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Summoner Spells

Primary Options



Flash: Widely considered to be the best summoner spell in the game. It has numerous ways it can be used. To dodge spells, escape, get in range for that last Alpha Strike, surprise enemies and lots more. Since Master Yi has no real escape this is the recommended non- Smite summoner spell.

Smite: Take this. You are jungling. This is 100% mandatory. NO exceptions. It is needed for early clearing, securing buffs, taking out pets, and more. If you don't take this, you will get counter jungled. You will suffer. You will lose...

Alternatives




Teleport: This can replace Flash if wanted since Master Yi is known for being an excellent splitpusher. This can also be used to escape in situations where the enemy you are escaping from doesn't have something to interrupt the channel with (ex: Infuse). Also note that if you get snared (ex: Grasping Roots), slowed ( Time Warp), debuffed (ex: Mocking Shout), or blinded (ex: Blinding Dart) during the channel, these will still be on you at your new location. Same goes for buffs by allies (ex: Whimsy).

Exhaust: This is a nice option that helps make Master Yi's ganks frightening during the early game. It also allows him to participate better in teamfights by shutting a target down or deal with that pesky Jax that was sent to stop your splitpush. A very good alternative. Replace Flash with this.
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Abilities and Ability Sequence



Double Strike
// Master Yi strikes twice every 4th consecutive attack. The second attack deals 50% of your attack damage, applies all on hit effects and can critically strike.
// This is a very plain passive but it serves its purpose either way. It grants more DPS that really helps early on and even later in the game. Note that the stacks fall off very quickly and all at once so you can't run out of the jungle to go Double Strike someone.

Alpha Strike
// Master Yi becomes untargetable and jumps to up to 4 nearby enemies dealing 25 / 60 / 95 / 130 / 165(+100% of attack damage) physical damage to each unit hit as well as 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 bonus damage to minions and monsters.
This skill can critically strike dealing (+60% of attack damage) bonus physical damage. Basic attacks lower alpha strike's cooldown by 1 second.

// This is your only damaging skill. It is also your gapcloser and ability used to dodge spells/attacks due to the invulnerability built in. This also has a very long base cooldown which is one of the reasons why attack speed is so key on Master Yi. Max this first.

Meditate
// Master Yi channels for 4 seconds, restoring 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+30% of ability power) health per second. This amount is increased by 1% per 1% of health that Master Yi is missing. While channeling, Master Yi gains 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70% damage reduction. This amount is halved against turrets.
// This is your savior. Are you about to die from that last turret shot, minions, or those Hemorrhage stacks? This will give you a second chance. Not only does it heal (very weak until leveled fully and at low health), but it also grants scaling % damage reduction. However, note that the damage reduction is halved vs turrets. Max this second.

Wuju Style
// Passive: Increases Master Yi's bonus attack damage by 10 %.

Active: Master Yi can activate this ability deal 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (+10/12.5/15/17.5/20% of attack damage) true damage per hit. Master Yi loses the passive effect of this skill while it's on cooldown.

// As you can see, there are two parts to this ability. A passive and an active. This is also what makes Master Yi able to shred tanks. True damage. This ability should be maxed last since it doesn't scale extremely well and people get tankier later on in the game. Not early. Note that the active does NOT affect towers so don't waste it. You will lose AD.

Highlander
// Passive: Champion kills and assists reduce the cooldowns of Master Yi's other abilities by 70 %.

Active: For 10 seconds, Master Yi gains 25 / 35 / 45% movement speed and 30 / 55 / 80% attack speed and becomes immune to any slows. While active, kills and assists extend the duration by 4 seconds.

// This ultimate also has 2 parts. The passive gives Yi reduced cooldowns which is awesome for cleaning up. The active, makes his splitpushing, dueling, and chasing/escaping godlike. Don't be afraid to pop this when you think you're in danger. It has a shortish cooldown.
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Primary Items

Primary Item Choices


Also stated earlier in the Introduction, this item is the reason why junglers like Master Yi and Xin Zhao are strong right now. To get this item upgraded from Wriggle's Lantern, you need to farm the jungle like crazy. Once you get Feral Flare, start participating more with the team but find time to farm the jungle as well to get those precious stacks. The damage like Nasus's Siphoning Strike, will add up. This item is too good not to get. It will make you hit like a truck late game.

These are my preferred and in my opinion, the best option. In fights, you will be getting hit by auto-attacks from AD carries constantly while getting to them or fighting others. The armor also helps solo baron easier and towers easier as well. The enchantment, should be chosen to fit the situation. If you need to be fast constantly, go with Ninja Tabi - Alacrity. If you need the Flash or Teleport cooldown to be lower, get Ninja Tabi - Distortion. Get Ninja Tabi - Furor if the enemies are slippery, and get Ninja Tabi - Homeguard if your team is losing and your base needs to be defended.

This is a great item on Master Yi. Since it is cheap, and has so many stats that we love on him, we rush it. Use the active when getting towers, 1v1'ing, solo'ig drag/baron, to run away, or pretty much anything else you can think of. Youmuu's Ghostblade gives anything Yi would want. AD? Check. Crit? Check. CDR? Check. Armor pen? Movement speed? Attack speed? All check. This item, like Feral Flare, is a must get.

Getting this amazing item will improve how long you survive drastically. It makes kiting you impossible. Mixed with the passive, active, Youmuu's Ghostblade, and Highlander, not a single champ can kite you. Well, except maybe a 40% CDR Kassadin but how often do you see those? Never. The only time you should not get this item is if they have all magic damage or if they have all magic damage excluding a very shut down ADC.

Want to shred both squishies and tanks? Get this item now! No seriously. This item is way to OP not to get. The active has so many uses and the passive allows you to rip through tanks like they're paper. Don't skip getting this item. You'll regret it.

Maw of Malmortius is the standard magic resist option for Master Yi. It gives you more effective health vs magic damage as well as increasing AD and of course, a large amount of magic resist. Basically, this item makes you tanky-ish and do a lot of damage at the same time!
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Other Item Choices

Other Options


Replace Ninja Tabi with these if they have a lot more magic damage than AD. Or if they have too much CC for poor old Master Yi to handle. Ninja Tabi is recommended in all other situations.
Replace Maw of Malmortius with this if there is a certain spell or two that absolutely has to be dodged (ex: Unstoppable Force) or they have a combo reliant caster such as LeBlanc. The health and magic resist also helps increase Yi's ability to survive a ton.
This is yet another item to replace Maw of Malmortius with however, you shouldn't buy it in most situations as Master Yi. I would only get this if I had 2-3 heals or healers on my team (ex: Soraka), or if you feel like you need the CDR. Other than that, it gives 50 less health than Banshee's Veil and includes 20 health regeneration. Again, very situational item.
Does the enemy team have everyone stacking armor? Including the ADC? (ex: Randuin's Omen or Guardian Angel). This is the perfect item to get if you don't really need the magic resist from Maw of Malmortius or the in some weird world, the armor from Randuin's Omen. This item will further increase your tank shredding ability. Never a bad item to get.
This can be used to replace boots if it is possible to do so. If they have a lot of scary skillshots that need to be dodged (ex: Rocket Grab or Javelin Toss), you don't want to sell your boots. Just get this if you are absolutely sure the movement speed from boots won't be missed. Anyways, this item provides a heap of useful stats on Yi. Crit chance, AD, attack speed, MS (less than boots obviously), AP, Mana, and health are all of the stats it offers, all of which excluding AP (only affects Meditate) and Mana, are great on him. This item also offers two fabulous passives. One that gives sticking power, and one that gives instant burst to anything (champs, monsters, towers, you name it). This item seems amazing! you might say. Well, burst passive isn't utilized to it's full potential on Master Yi due to his long cooldowns. Otherwise, great replacement to boots.
This just screams 'I'm gonna kill yur ADC' and that's great but what happens when you come to a tank with 350 armor? THAT would be a problem. This item should be bought if snowballing extremely hard, so hard that the enemy armor tanks cry in fear when you appear.
Frozen Mallet will solve the problem of not being able to stick to that irritating Ezreal or Ashe when your Highlander is on cooldown. However, Randuin's Omen should already solve that problem most of the time so Frozen Mallet is very situational. On the plus side, it does also help defend against mixed damage and it gives a small amount of AD.
This is a godsend when the enemy has that fed Katarina or they are just dead set on killing you. When the passive is on cooldown, sell it if you have enough money and buy a different item for 5 minutes. This only happens in the very late game where everybody has 10k+ gold in their pockets.
This is the other alternative to boots. This gives more DPS, CDR, and much loved Tenacity. Zephyr is in most situations an inferior choice to your boots or Trinity Force. I only get it as a replacement for boots when I am not going to miss the extra MS a lot and I'm in need of Tenacity due to lots of CC (ex: Lulu).
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Things to Remember

Dodging with Alpha Strike



One very important part to Yi's Alpha Strike is that he becomes invulerable. To get better with him, you must time your Alpha Strikes to dodge certain spells. For example, Jax is hard to deal with as Yi due to Counter Strike. If you time Alpha Strike correctly, you will dodge the stun and continue to destroy him. This can be done even for Karthus' Requiem or Caitlyn's Ace in the Hole or baron's autos. Any spell.

Reducing Damage using Meditate



The most important part (as stated earlier) to Master Yi's Meditate is the % damage reduction he gains for the duration. Using Meditate while getting hit by something can be used to reduce the damage tremendously. If the enemy Karthus is channeling Requiem and you have only have 400 health, pop Meditate and thank Riot for including such a broken element on Yi. Remember that the damage reduction is halved vs turret shots but that doesn't mean its a bad idea to reduce the damage!
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Splitpushing



Mid-late game is where Master Yi tends to start splitpushing since he doesn't have great teamfighting. And he is GOOD at it. He destroys towers in seconds, can push waves quickly, can escape from teams chasing him, and even 1v1 pretty much anyone that's sent to stop him. If you are taking Teleport, you need to splitpush. That's the point of the summoner spell on Yi.
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Conclusion

Again, THANK YOU jhoihjoi for your amazing Making a Guide guide. It took hours making this guide so I'd appreciate any tips, feedback, and votes. Thank you!
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