Master Yi Build Guide by Jessterr

Introduction

This build is for Jungling with Master Yi. Master Yi is roughly the same whether he starts on lane or in the jungle. The exception is mostly in the order of items taken.
This build focuses on

• Armor penetration
• Attack Damage
• Critical hit chance
• Very little defensive options

Runes

Runes
Greater Mark of Armor Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Armor Penetration 3

• High amount of armor penetration at the start of the game
• Will help you deal much higher damage against enemies with low armor.
• Results in much higher damage dealt than taking flat attack damage runes.

Greater Seal of Armor

• Will help you survive early game threats
• No better options available

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

• Will help against spells a minor amount throughout the game.
• No better options available (even cooldown reduction is bad for Master Yi
• Very little impact at the start of the game.
• It can become useless since most AP based champions build Magic Penetration items

Masteries

Offensive Masteries

Masteries
1/1	3/4	4/4	4/3	1/1	1/2	3/3	3/1	1/4

Summoner's Wrath

Brute Force

Alacrity

Deadliness

Weapon Expertise

Lethality

Vampirism

Sunder

Executioner

Defense Masteries

Masteries
1/3	3/4	4/3	1/2

Hardiness

Resistance

Durability

Veteran's Scars

Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Double Strike

• A very good passive. This will happen very often with Master Yi's high attack speed.
• Attack minions until double strike is ready before you attack an enemy champion.

Alpha Strike

• Great for harassing (bringing enemy health down without directly engaging them).
• Amazing for farming gold (by killing either lane or jungle minions).
• Can rarely be used to escape.
• Max this skill second (other than taking Meditate at level 4).

Wuju Style

• Amazing damage boost throughout the whole game.
• Great when used in combination with Double Strike.
• Max this skill out as soon as possible.

Meditate

• Grants a high amount of armor and magic resistance.
• Can be used to reduce the damage from a single spell or to weather enemy attacks for a couple seconds. Also great against abilities that you can't dodge (example: Karthus' Requiem.)
• Great when fighting with teammates when the enemy targets you first. Use this to make them waste abilities on you. If they change targets because of Meditate just end it and attack.
• Useful, but not as much as your other abilities. Take a rank at level 4 and then Max this skill last.

Highlander

• Great escaping and chasing tool. It grants increased movement speed and you are unable to be slowed. Watch out for being rooted in place (example: Varus' Chain of Corruption.)
• Cooldowns will reset after killing an enemy or be reduced by half after earning an assist.
• IN rare situations can allow you to have Wuju Style's active and passive abilities affecting you at the same time.
• Max this before all other abilities (levels 6, 11, 16)

Items

Infinity Edge

• Purchased early in the game to maximize damage output.
• The damage output of Highlander is useless unless you also have high attack damage.

Berserker's Greaves

• Taken next because it is a cheap attack speed boost.
• Purchase this before Infinity Edge if you need the extra movement speed to escape harassment.

Wriggle's Lantern

• Provides attack damage, armor, and lifesteal. Good offensive and defensive.
• Use it to place wards at key locations. This item can help deter enemy ganks by placing this in the bushes by the river and it can detect when the enemy is going for a Dragon or Baron kill. I suggest placing it at baron a little early if you are losing.

Phantom Dancer

• At this point the bonus movement speed and attack speed will mean more to Master Yi now that he has some real damage output.

Frozen Mallet

• Purchase this next for extra health and to slow enemies on every melee attack. Great for chasing.
• Until this item is purchased you should focus on getting the red buff (as long as no one else needs it more) before team fights so that your attacks will slow enemies.

Last Whisper

• This will help you against high armored tanks.

Quicksilver Sash

• Buy this when being targeted heavily by crowd controls. Make sure you are able to quickly use this item once affected by a CC that you want to cleanse. If you can't do this then I suggest Banshee's veil instead.

Banshee's Veil

• This will be the most help when the enemy has one person with a single targeted cc, stun, or high damage spell. I would only rely on it if there are only 1 or 2 CCers on the enemy team.

Jungling Guide

For a more in-depth guide on how to jungle with Yi I use Zoki's Yi, The Master of Disaster.

I start taking on the Blue Buff Golem. After getting blue I move down and get Wolves, Wraiths, Golems, and then Red buff. The main job of a jungler is to gank early and often. The enemy isn't always aware of your position. Watch for enemies that stay on lane at low health, or are pushing too far away from their tower. Make sure you co-ordinate with your team. I usually start ganking at level 4, but sometimes as early as 3.