Abilities

Yasuo has a very strong kit and all of his abilities are very strong in lane and in 1v1's.

Yasuo's passive is Way of the Wanderer

Yasuo's critical strike chance is doubled, but the damage dealt by his critical strikes is reduced by 10% (25% on Steel Tempest ).

This passive is very useful as it can be used in two ways. The first part of Yasuo's passive, where he gains double crit chance, is one of the main reasons why I build Infinity Edge on Yasuo. Because he does so well when he has critical chance. Yasuo's other passive, gives him a damage absorbing shield when he has maximum flow. This is really good for all-ins and can save you from death. You gain flow from moving around so if you are about to all-in your enemy, it is a good idea to stack up your flow before you engage.

The first ability that Yasuo has is his Q, Steel Tempest

This ability is one of Yasuo's most important ones, which is why I max it first. It is great for farming in lane and harassing your enemies, and the cool-down isn't that high, especially when leveled up. You should use your Steel Tempest all the time to farm because it can go through multiple minions, and the third Steel Tempest is a tornado, which is great for harassing, farming, and using your Last Breath.

The second ability Yasuo has is his W, Wind Wall

This ability is also one of the most useful abilities in the game. Wind Wall blocks all enemy projectiles, including tons of ultimate abilities like, Super Mega Death Rocket!, Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Trueshot Barrage, and much more. A Great way to put your enemies behind in farm is cast Wind Wall right in-front of your minions under their turret to prevent them from farming. Remember when escaping that Wind Wall casts a little bit in-front of you so don't turn around and Wind Wall, I recommend casting Wind Wall in-front of yourself and then running into it as this saves time and will definitely block your enemies projectile ability. When roaming bot lane to try to kill the ADC, always cast Wind Wall in-front of you in order to take out all of there damage and avoid kiting.

Yasuo's 3rd ability is his E, Sweeping Blade

This is such a versatile and useful ability, and can be used in many ways, gap closing as shown below, farming, harass, escapes, and so much more. The one thing I used to always forget about when playing Yasuo is his empowered Sweeping Blade that does an extra 25% more damage. This is very, very important. For killing, farming and initiating. This ability is also useful when harassing. A good pattern is to Sweeping Blade through there minions, Steel Tempest AA, and then Sweeping Blade safely back. This is very hard to play against and is very annoying to the enemy laner. When catching or chasing an enemy, Sweeping Blade through an incoming wave to catch up to them. Rarely, I have seen some Yasuo's not know the Sweeping Blade Steel Tempest combo. When cast at the same time, Steel Tempest goes into a circle. This is very good for wave clearing and harassing. It also gives you a higher chance of getting a Steel Tempest stack.

Yasuo's Last Breath is his Ultimate Ability

This ability is very hard to land and can completely change the whole game. The most important thing about this ability is that after Yasuo lands, he gains 50% armor penetration for 15 seconds. This is very good in team fights and great for killing multiple people. When an enemy is knocked up, there will be white lines as shown below. When the white lines appear that means the target is airborne and you can ult of this. You need to know when to ult and when not to ult, because once you press R, there is no canceling, and you could have just ulted yourself into a terrible situation. You also have to remember that even though you see the white lines in the air, sometimes you are not in range to Last Breath. In a 1v1, if you are close to the enemy and you have your third Steel Tempest you can Sweeping Blade onto them while pressing q to knock them up no matter what. This ensures that you can ult and is very good if you are close to the enemy. Whenever you Steel Tempest tornado into multiple people, make sure you wait to ult until every person is knocked up, because if you press r too soon, you will only Last Breath one person. Keep in mind that Last Breath can be cast off of another team mate's knock-up, and there are many champions who have this ability. One very important thing to know is when you knock up someone with Steel Tempest you can do one auto attack while they are still in the air, and then Last Breath. This maximizes your damage output and can be the difference between killing them and not killing them. A trick I like to do when trying to kill someone is I ignite them while I'm in the air for Last Breath to ensure I get the kill.

Items

Yasuo overall has great core items that help him a lot all through out the game. There are some items you can swap out with others depending on the enemy team comp.

Statikk Shiv

is the first item you should buy on Yasuo. It has a great bonus with the critical chance, and is very good for farming and doing AoE damage. Statikk Shiv is definitely a must have for Yasuo, as it works so well with him. Especially since his Steel Tempest counts as an AA, so it will apply to Statikk Shiv

Infinity Edge

is another great item on Yasuo that you can buy after Statikk Shiv. It gives a lot of crit chance especially with your passive, that doubles it. You can either buy IE after Statikk Shiv, or after Blade of the Ruined King. Only go for IE if you are doing very well in lane and you know you will be able to get more gold. I normally get Blade of the Ruined King second because the life steal is really nice in lane and it also helps you chase, escape, 1v1, and just gives you good damage.

Berserker's Greaves

is the boots I recommend on Yasuo because the attack speed is very nice and helps you with farming and killing enemies. You can also build Mobility Boots or Mercury's Treads on Yasuo, but it all depends on your preference.

Ravenous Hydra

is a really good item on Yasuo. Rush Tiamat and then get Vamp Septer and then you will have great life steal and wave clear. If you combine this with Statikk Shiv you will have insane wave clear and AoE damage. You can activate your Hydra's passive while using your e and q and you will get great wave clear.


Guardian Angel should be your last or second to last item. This helps a lot if you die in team fights to poke, or in a close 1v1. Guardian Angel also gives you some armor to make you less squishy. Always remember if you are very late in the game and have a lot of money, whenever your GA is on cooldown, sell it and buy something else while it is on cooldown.


Bloodthirster is a really good sustain item for Yasuo. This gives a lot of life steal plus some attack damage. This item is useful if you want to sustain a little more in lane, and have even more 1v5 potential. Blood thirster combined with Ravenous Hydra gives you ridiculous life steal.

Optional

Banshee's Veil is good on Yasuo especially if there team comp has very high burst or poke, like Katarina or LeBlanc. This should be one of your last items on your build.



Phantom Dancer is a fine item on Yasuo. It gives a lot of crit chance and its passive that lets you move through units is nice. It also gives you good attack speed. This can be replaced with Infinity Edge.


Last Whisper is a good item for Yasuo especially if the enemy team has lots of armor, and you are having trouble killing the tanks.


Randuin's Omen is a really good choice for Yasuo if you are against a very AD heavy and crit comp, and you also want to be able to stick to your enemies more. The active on Randuin's is great for chasing and escaping.


Sunfire Aegis can be used against an AD heavy comp, and you also want more wave control, as the passive is very good for wave clearing and over all lane domination.


Blade of the Ruined King is a very strong item on Yasuo in my opinion. It gives good lifesteal and the attack speed is good with Berserker's Greaves. The one thing you have to remember is to actually USE Blade of the Ruined King on your enemy. I used to forget this a lot but it helps in a 1v1 and you should always do it in damage trades.


Trinity Force is a great item on Yasuo. I recommend building Trinity Force if you are doing very well. It is a good item to buy after Blade of the Ruined King and Statikk Shiv. The Phage combined with the enchantment Furor on your boots is really good, and sheen makes your auto attacks do even more damage.