this is my first guide i would like to state first and foremost. Irelia is one of the first champs i picked up and have continued to play and enjoy her as my play style developed. there are a lot of good guides for her but none that really match my play style and wanted to throw my ideas out here in case there are more that play like me. Irelia is a strong solo top lane against most other champs with a few that can be troublesome. with this build i have been able to solo top against two and still come out on top with kills with little to no jungle help.

i know ive gone against the grain with my skill sequence but it has proven quite useful for me. i go with her q first not only because it is by far her greatest harass tool but also allows her to effectively last hit minions when on your turret in a 2v1 situation. Irelia's e is also a great tool for 2v1 on your turret. even after getting her w and 3 health pots a 2v1 can wear your health down but with her e you can almost guarantee a kill. waiting to get her w till last is where my build differs from most others I've seen and while it is a great tool for lane sustain it also requires you to be right on top of your target for a longer period of time than you will get to be in the early lane phase. Irelia can be built to do massive amounts of burst damage so my combo is w-q-e by the time most have looked at their health bar they are at about half health and your q-e combo should be about ready to be used again before they make it back to their turret to hide.

while there are many great summoner spells i only run ghost and ignite. with Irelia's passive + mecury's treads ghost becomes a much more effective tool for chasing people down and escaping. ignite's usefulness should be apparent.

Irelia is a bruiser i rock this masteries build because it allows me to still deal full damage and add a bit of tankyness to her starting game. you could go with a 9/21/0 build but the way i play this seems to work best for me.

her item build is another thing that most people will dislike but again this guide is for an alternative build than the norm. boots and 3 health pots is a great start to any champ imo but doran's shield is another item that i used pre 30 to compensate for lack of runes/full masteries. in a 2v1 top lane where you've had to b and you don't have enough for sheen doran's shield will help until you can get some farm/kills. i start with sheen because with a lot of ad coming from my runes/masteries already the ap from sheen helps her damage significantly. finish mercury's treads next as they will help you escape from any cc including exhaust. its so effecive that when you pop ghost from mid top lane that the animation will still be going when your nearing your turret. next up is a health resist item. generally you will encounter more ad top lane but every now and again I've gone against a kat or akali. who your facing will determine if you build the wardens mail or spirit visage. with the merc treads you may be thinking that the extra MR might be pointless but with the increase in your health regen from her w's passive it makes a noticeable difference. after that finish trinity force building zeal first. why not phage? because after zeal you get a movement speed boost on top of faster attack speed upping your damage with your w. after trinity force finish your health/resist items ,make sure you are using the active on randuin's omen.\, and move on to atma's impaler which gives you a bit of armor crit and with your health quite a bit more ad. the final item is entirely up to you based on what the enemy has for items and what you feel you need. ive built a multitude of things according to what i felt i needed at the time from a blood razor to a guardian angel. its really up to you.

though not very in depth i hope this will help some of you along and i also hope that the many people who dislike this build just because it lays off the beaten path will give it a shot in game before telling me how horrible it is. thanks for reading and good luck.