Master Yi Build Guide by Pyrza

Introduction

Hi, This is my second guide here and I made it for Master Yi. I decided to publish my dominion build because I want to make it better and share to others :)

Change Log

• 25.09.2011: Guide Released
• 29.09.2011: Changed masteries and put Frozen Mallet to "first pick" instead of Odyn's Veil. Entropy also added to optional items
• 03.10.2011 Edited some typos
• 01.11.2011 Reworked masteries, again
• 16.12.2011 Now with new masteries!

Pros / Cons

Lets look at to pros / cons first:

Pros + + +

• Great 1v1 Champion right at the start
• Fast with champion Highlander
• Good defender with Meditate
• Great Lategame damage

Cons - - -

• CC Kills him
• He doesn't have any CC/disables on his own
• Squishy without any defending items
• Exhaust, Blind etc. shuts him down

And what comes to Cons, you must try to counter opponents abilities mostly with items. We come back to this topic in later sections.

Masteries

For Masteries i go for basic offensive 21-0-9 masteries.

I get more attack speed with Alacrity , get great damage bonus with Havoc . And last 9 points I put in usual utility masteries.

I always take 21 points to offence tree, but im not sure where to put last 9. Comment your suggestions!

Runes

My Rune build is like this:

For Marks i get Greater Mark of Desolation just for more damege.

And for Glyphs and Seals I pick defensive runes, Greater seal of defence and Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for more survivability, Yi is useless without any defence.

And finally Quints. Here I have chosen Greater Quintessence of Desolation. And again just to boost my damage.

With this setup u get about 40% ArPen in Dominion, and thats alot.

Summoner Spells

For Spells I usually choose these:

Exhaust

Good spell to Yi because he doesn't have disables or CC. And with this you surely win all 1v1 fights.

Flash

Spell that fits to every champion. Helps escaping, help chases, helps ganks. All-around good spell.

Alternative Spells:

Ghost

Movement speed rocks in dominion.

Garrison

Great spell for its both sides, but maybe someone else should take this.

Ignite

Surely not bad spell to Yi, but I think the other spells just fits better. Good Master Yi player shouldn't let his opponents to escape in low health (You should catch them with Highlander, Alpha Strike, Ghost or Flash)

Cleanse

Also a great Spell to Yi, but if you have really problems with enemies CC just buy Quicksilver Sash or Mercury's Treads

Spell I don't take:

Even Yi can push quickly if neccesary I still find this spell useless to him

And the rest of the spells belong to this category, I think I don't need to explain them all seperately :)

Skill Sequence

My Skill Sequence goes like this:

I think Meditate is more useful to max than Alpha Strike because Meditates armor and magic resistance and heal gives great lane sustainability and help defending points.

Items

Master Yi has lots of different item choises. Heres what I have chosen

Starting items:

, and
These are my starting items witch I usually use but sometimes I also start with these:

,

Both starting items work well, try both and test witch suits to you better.

Core Items:

Great item on many AD champions, includin Yi. More Attack speed --> more Double Strike, Movement speed for chases, and pretty nice 30% crit change.


Amazing item to Yi because its passive. Now no one can run away from you. Also 700hp gives huge survivability boost.


This is also a great item on AD champions, gives you some AD and attack speed. But mostly because its passive it very great item to get on Yi.


Dominions The Bloodthirster, useful item on Yi and all other AD champs too.

Optional Items:

Great choise if enemy has lot of CC and magic damage. I get these boots once per 5 matches in average.


Great item to counter magic damage. Active is also useful if used right. Take this instead of Frozen Mallet if Magic damage is bothering you too much.


Sort of "opposite" Frozen Mallet in dominion. Good choise if you are doing very well and nukes/burst are not bothering you.


Here's Cleanse if u needed it.


This item also great on YI. +20ArPen gives good boost damage and active gives attackspeed and movement you need. Replace Phantom Dancer with this.

With this item build you will get good all-around Yi wich is good in every section, especially in lategame.

Last Words