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Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Ability Order
Double Strike (PASSIVE)
Master Yi Passive Ability
Introduction

I've been around MOBAFIRE for a while, and during all that time, I've noticed plenty of new Master Yi builds run through here. A majority of them claimed they possessed some sort of "hidden knowledge" to remove all of Yi's issues while still embracing his raw damage. So I played plenty of these builds, following the skill tree and sticking to the Core item build, and I have found all of them still have the problems they claimed to be rid of. I came to realize that there is no fix to them without sacrifice. Playing well is the best thing you can do.
So I played around to see what could be done. And I found that as Yi, you don't want to rely on running so much faster than your opponent that you can actually get off the unnecessary amount of attackspeed you have efficiently, only to be ganked by your enemies at the point you finally do kill the hero you were chasing. No, you want to Pop in, Pop your ult, Kill your target, and get out. And hopefully, thats just what this build will help you accomplish.
But first, lets take a look at the different ways someone could play Yi.
Pros:
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Pros:
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Why these masteries?
I want Yi to be successful early game. That means if his lane gets dominated by a pair of ranged carries, he will need Mana Regen and CDR to try and proc minions from
Alpha Strike to make some gold and harass, which is what this mastery setup provides. We could also take 21/0/9, for a more offensive Yi, but I feel it is safer to utilize his farming capabilities than to gamble for kills. Regardless of how you play Yi, he needs a good early game farm to be successful.

Greater Mark of desolation These are a must for Yi. They provide a great early game advantage, and a secret late game bonus. Again, a must.
Greater Seal of replenishment These can be substituted for things like Dodge and Flat Armor runes, but I find them much more useful throughout the game than its companions. Feel free to mix and match, too.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction These are the only primary Glyph's I find useful on Yi. You could also get Flat CDR, but Yi's early game cooldowns are huge, and the Glyph's still can't be of use till later levels.
Greater Quintessence of Health Flat HP for early game. People only generally attack you when they see you have taken some damage. Hopefully, the extra bar on your HP will intimidate opponents away, and it does. Its all about the mindgames, man.
Greater Seal of replenishment These can be substituted for things like Dodge and Flat Armor runes, but I find them much more useful throughout the game than its companions. Feel free to mix and match, too.



Why this? You need to kill your targets, not chase them all over hell just to be killed by one of their buddies. The slower they are, the more damage you do.

Why this? Flash is an amazing summoner spell. Any hero can take it to have an initiator OR an escape mechanism OR a chaser. While it is still available in LoL, there really isn't a reason not to utilize it.
Other Choices:










Not to get






Why max
Wuju Style first? Because maxing Meditate would make your mid-game terrible, and spamming Alpha Strike all the time is going to drain your mana very fast. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't use Alpha Strike, but just remember you need 150 mana to utilize your Ultimate. And then Wuju Style at level 4 gives the same damage increase as
Black Cleaver. Whats not to love?
Why invest in
Meditate early? Here's a little scenario for you:
While you are roaming the jungle on your side of the river, you spot a wild
Udyr! He has been stealing your teams jungle! He runs to you with
Blazing Stampede, and you promptly
Alpha Strike him. Hes already at low health, and in two more hits your
Double Strike will proc. But oh no! He
Exhausted you and is tearing through your health faster than you can say banana! And your summoner spells are on CD! What will you do? Thats right. Pop your
Meditate, take no damage while you wait for
Exhaust to wear off, and double strike him for the kill.
Everything else here is pretty self explanatory. (I hope!) Keep in mind these aren't set in stone; If you are being harassed early an extra point or two in meditate would make perfect sense.


Why invest in

While you are roaming the jungle on your side of the river, you spot a wild







Everything else here is pretty self explanatory. (I hope!) Keep in mind these aren't set in stone; If you are being harassed early an extra point or two in meditate would make perfect sense.
Item Sequence






Mercury's Treads
1250

Bilgewater Cutlass
1600

Black Cleaver
3000
Doran's Blade Why this? Health, damage, and lifesteal. I believe that fits the description of what kinds of items Yi craves.
Bilgewater CutlassWhy this? This item is what inspired me to make this guide. Most people I have seen look at it and say "Why would a Yi get a
Bilgewater Cutlass? He doesn't need a Gunblade." First off, rarely does the game to continue to the point where I need to upgrade this into the Gunblade. Second, Cutlass is amazing. 50% slow, 35 damage, and 15% lifesteal? Its like a dream in a sword! You will be amazed about how easy killing your prey becomes, even when they stun you. Just Alpha Strike to them, apply the Cutlasses ability, Shoot up your ult, and let the right mouse button handle the rest.
Mercury's Treads Why this? Tenacity. That's why. Yi' becomes very fragile when he is stunned. So obviously minimizing the stun time makes sense. Plus, the only other boots that you might want to get would have been the
Berserker's Greaves, but with the items included in this build the tenacity and magic resistance far exceed the usefulness of the Berserker's Greaves.
Black Cleaver Why this? So you can tear down tanks and destroy the little armor squishy hero's have. At 30 armor, people still block about 20-25% of incoming damage. With 2 hits from The Black Cleaver, that 25% of damage reduction just became 0%, allowing you to literally dismember the hero into his grave.
Banshee's Veil Why this? There are so many scenarios that this is useful on Yi, I'll leave it up to my readers to visualize and acknowledge how awesome this item is on Yi. Use your imagination.
Item Sequence






Youmuu's Ghostblade
2800

Quicksilver Sash
1300

Hexdrinker
1300

Wit's End
2800

Frozen Heart
2500
Zeke's Harbinger Why this? This item offers a load of attack speed, great lifesteal, and some health regeneration, with most of it being in an aura! I would only get this if you have other DPS champions on your team. (I.E.
Tryndamere,
Trundle,
Xin Zhao) I strongly encourage you to ask your teammate(s) to buy it rather than yourself, but if they refuse don't feel as if you cannot penny up and pay for it yourself. Just make sure it's use will be used by your team before buying.
Youmuu's Ghostblade Why this? If for some reason you aren't moving fast enough, or aren't chopping down your opponents health bar quick enough, this item is a great addition to Yi's playstyle. Just keep in mind that it is not needed for success.
Quicksilver Sash OR
Hexdrinker OR
Wit's End Which one should I get? All of these are viable alternatives for
Banshee's Veil, although I do feel that most of the time, the order of importance goes as such:
Banshee's Veil>
Quicksilver Sash>
Hexdrinker>
Wit's End
Note that this is not always the case---if you are facing a team where everyone hasMadred's Bloodrazor,
Wit's End is superior for obvious reasons.
Frozen Heart Why this? If you are facing a team of AD DPS champions, this item will very noticeably increase your survivability.
Frozen Mallet Why this? This item enables your backdooring capabilities. If there is a stalemate in mid lane that is dragging on, feel free to pick this up and split up their team by taking a side tower. It also gives you a redbuff whenever you need it, so this is a worthy item to be considered on any Yi's lineup.
Last Whisper Why this? Further increases your backdoor capabilities, and also tears through enemy tank armor. If they are hardcore stacking armor, this item can be prioritized over
Black Cleaver
Sword of the Divine Why this? The only event I get this is in 3v3 to counter that Jax-hole. Plus, the 30 armor pen from its active is nice.
Why wouldn't I get critical strike? Its great on Yi!
Look, I know its a hard habit to break, but Critical Strike is not a good thing to build on Yi. It is too expensive to be viable early game, too random to ensure victory mid game, and leaves you squish after you finish Infinity Edge late game.
Expensive? Your supposed to farm your *** off anyways, just buy that instead.
Berserker's Greaves (920) +
Phantom Dancer x2 (5690) +
Infinity Edge (3830) = 10440g
Mercury's Treads (1200) +
Bilgewater Cutlass (1850) +
Black Cleaver (2865) = 5915g
The difference is HUGE. It takes you nearly twice as long to get to a sustained Critical Strike Yi build than it does to get to my build endgame, which still offers an outstanding amount of damage output. Plus, my build utilizes Lifesteal, Slow, Tenacity, and Armor Penetration, while the Critical Strike Yi builds to run faster than necessary and keep Critical Strikes happening always. To me, Critical Strike (Such as from

Early Game
In 5v5: Lane top or bottom with a partner. You are an easy champ to zone if you are alone, so having a tank/ranged partner should keep you within the EXP zone. Remember to last hit as much as you can and use

In 3v3: Take the top lane by yourself. You should be able to dance with whoever you are put up against, but if your opponent is obviously stronger than you (I.E.



Mid Game
You want to get Red Buff ASAP. It is Yi's greatest asset when in his possession. Until you get (If you get)


Late Game/Team Fights
In 5v5: Its time to push. This is the point where both teams fight it out to see who emerges glorious. Your job is to push side lanes and mop of enemy champions left after team fights. Don't get too courageous (Tower Dive), but try to stop that 380 HP


In 3v3: I play Yi like an initiator in 3v3. I walk in next to my Bulky friend, wait for everyone to throw their Stuns, fears, and launches at me (Beware of


DO NOT EXPECT THIS TO WORK IN HIGH ELO 3v3 MATCHES. PEOPLE ARE SMARTER AND CATCH ON TO YOUR TRICKS.
If you want a simple version of what to do, here it is:
- Grab a
Doran's Blade
- Grab a
Bilgewater Cutlass
- Grab a pair of
Mercury's Treads
- Grab Red Buff whenever possible
- Grab
Black Cleaver
- Be smart, and realize what Yi can take. I've seen too many Yi's go in and
Alpha Strike the entire enemy team, and then be surprised they died.
- Acknowledge what your team can do. If you don't have a tank, build more on the tanky side so your other members can have some more time to get their spells off.
- Don't use your ult to travel around. Its for chasing, and if you don't have it in a chase, you will more than likely lose the kill altogether.
- If you wait for 2-3 minions to be left in an enemy creep wave and
Alpha Strike them, your Alpha Strike will also extend to the enemy champions you are laning with. This is how you harass with
Alpha Strike
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