Hello, and welcome to my guide on Yorick, The Gravedigger. This is my first guide on mobafire, and I welcome all constructive criticism, but please, no trolling.

Most people think that Yorick is an extremely weak champion, whose only use is to ks kills from the team. Well, that's just because they don't know how to play him yet, and how epic he is if built properly.

When Yorick was released, there were a few people who bought him immediately, a few who waited to see what he was like, and a few who weren't interested. I was in the first category. And after playing for several matches (80% wins, 20% losses) I saw that he had a lot of potential to grow as a champion. But when I chose him, I'd be met by my teammates negative attitude, saying that he sucked as a champ, no matter how good the player was. In most matches, I proved them wrong. But it was still annoying to see such an awesome champion get trashed by so many people.

And so, I decided to write this guide, in hopes that after reading it, people would be able to play him better. But enough talk. ON TO THE CONTENT!!!!!!!!!

Yorick is one of the most unique champions ever created in League of Legends (possibly THE most unique till now). As such, most people will be confused on how to play him. So, before we go on to his item build, skill build, playstyle and whatnot, we need to establish what type of a champion Yorick is. After playing many games this is the conclusion that I have come to (it may be obvious, but please bear with me):

Yorick, is slightly tanky (and I mean VERY slightly tanky) caster type champion whose skills scale off AD (Basically, sort of like a vlad or mordekaiser, only with AD instead of AP and much squishier). And due to this unique champion format, to many people, Yorick will be a hard to play, hard to build and ultimately useless champion.

Now, you may be wondering (at least, those of you who didn't already know), "How is he a caster type with AD?"
Well, the answer to that lies in the fact that of his 4 skills, 2 of them deal magical damage, 1 is an on hit effect, and his ult scales off individual champion stats. And built properly, he can fulfill his role of being a tanky caster depending on AD.

Pros
Amazingly good harasser early game
Very flexible hero who can fulfill dual roles
Hard to counter against
Well rounded hero
If built well, becomes practically unstoppable late game
Can adjust well to any type of opponent in laning phase
Underestimated, and therefore potentially dangerous (i mean, they might just let you do as you please till it's too late)

Cons
Extremely item dependent
Does not specialize in any particular role
Very reliant on lane partners for early game kills
Small AoE for his skills

For runes, I go with ArPen marks and quints, armor seals and mag res glyphs. Marks and quints can be substituted for damage runes.

Why these runes?
ArPen marks and quints make it easier for Yorick to kill, while AD marks and quints make his skills deal more damage. Armor seals and Mag res glyphs are needed due to his squishiness early game and his need for survivability at all points in the game.

Why not dodge seals and CDR glyphs?
I'm still trying out dodge seals and have not reached a verdict on them yet. As far as CDR glyphs go, the maximum CDR you can get from them is 10% at level 18. This calculates to about a maximum of a 1 sec cdr, which imo is a waste of rune slots. Therefore, I don't go for them. Plus, Yorick needs survivability.

First summoner spell I take is exhaust. Why? Because although Yorick has a slow, it also reduces armor, mag res and damage, and can be used for running away and killing.

The second skill I take is either Flash or Ghost, again for bot escape and chasing purposes.

Other summoner spells:
Heal/Clarity-Truthfully, its only useful early game, and late game just takes up the place of another summoner spell. If you can get a blue buff, its better.

Ignite-If you're confident that you won't need any escape skills, you can take it to help you kill a bit more easily. But again, only if you're sure you can survive without the escape spell.

Fortify/Clairvoyance/Rally-ask the supports to take it

Teleport-A good spell to have a little map dominance. Take it if you think you'll need a lot of pushing power.

Cleanse-If you're always the target of their ccs and want to be able to escape.

Smite-Better for jungling, but if you're not confident in your farming abilities, then maybe you can take it, though it's better not to.

Revive-

I've tried out many mastery combinations, and the one that I've found to work best is a 9/21/0 combo.

In offense, i take deadliness for increased crit chance and cripple to give my exhaust spell a more offensive use. Sorcery is taken mainly because we need to take it for Archaic knowledge, but also because a the CDR does prove useful.

In defense, i go straight for armor and mag res masteries, skip dodge in favor of strength of spirit, reduced damage and all 7 top 3 masteries.

These masteries provide Yorick with enough survivability but also give him enough offensive capability.

Omen of War is maxed out first in order to maximise your damage output. Whenever Omen of War cant be levelled up, Omen of Pestilence and Famine are levelled up alternately. After 2 levels of Omen of Pestilence are taken up, Omen of Famine is maxed out and lastly, Omen of Peswtilence. Omen of Death is skilled whenever possible in between.

With this skill build, Yoricks single target damage output is maxed first along with providing increased survivability due to Omen of Famine, while the 2 levels of Omen of Pestilence at levels 4 and 10 will allow him to deal decent AoE damage during ganks.

After trying out lots of starting items and item builds, I discovered that the following item build would be the most optimal way to build your inventory.
To help with last hitting while farming.
To take care of your early game health and mana problems. The hp potion is not necessary but can be bought if you wish.

The following 2 items are your core:For the movement speed and Mag Pen
An item which gives you both survivability (as HP, movement speed, Mana etc) and DPS abilities (with attack speed, slow, crit chance etc)

After my core, I go for one of the 2 following defensive itemsFor armor, mana and CDR. Made when the opponents consist mainly of AD heroes.
For HP regen and extra movement speed as well as obvious stats. Made when opposing team consists more of AP heroes

After finishing one defensive item, one of the following AS items is made.Made when the opposing team has built for more Mag Res
Made when the opposing team has not built Mag Res or Armor
Made when the opponents are going Armor Heavy. Either this or black cleaver, depending on preference.

After finishing the 4 items above, the main part of your invent is done. My usual invent at this point in time consists of finishing off a second defensive item, either FoN for a more well rounded team with both AP and AD carries. In case the opponents have 4-5 of either Ad or AP, then the second item we make will be either Randuins or Banshees.

My final item in my invent is Infinity's Edge, for the extra crit chance, flat 80 damage and extra crit damage.

If you need slightly more survivability as well as a little extra mana regen, and some help farming, this item is made for you. Make it and then rush Tri force and sorcerers shoes.
Only make this if you are having sever mana shortage.
ororare the only 3 lifesteal items you should make for yorick. Truthfully, these items aren't actually needed and are in fact wasted on Yorick due to his low AS. But, if you really want a lifesteal, these 3 are the only good ones for Yorick.

Early Game

Item Sequence-When the game starts, grab your starting invent, level up Omen of War and go to your lane. In case the lane consists of 2 ranged heroes, level up Omen of Famine and Omen of Pestilence at levels 2 and 3, before taking Omen of War at 4 and 5. Early game lasts till you've farmed up your phage and sorcerers shoes, which should be at about level 7 or 8, or at the latest 9, when Omen of War is completely maxed out.

Playstyle- Till level 5, farm as much as possible in lane, push as mush as possible and prevent the opponents from getting the lane advantage. At about level 5 or 6, you should be able to solo the blue golem with just 1 hp pot for regen. After grabbing blue, you should start roaming a bit, ganking other lanes and either assisting in kills or getting them.

Mid Game

Item Build-By now, you should have your phage and sorcerers shoes. With these items, you should be able to deal some decent damage in ganks, possibly landing one or 2 kills. Your basic job at this stage is to stick with your team for ganks and push whenever you can. After this, rush your trinity force and finish one defensive item, depending on their team composition. Also, by about level 14 or 15, you should have started (or possibly finished) your AS item.

Playstyle-At this point in the game, you should stick with your team and push lanes or gank together, only splitting off to counter push lanes that are being pushed by creeps, or to go back to base for items and regen. If possible, and if your jungler hasn't done so already, make sure to get the dragon as much as possible. The extra 190 gold helps a lot.

Late Game

Item Build-You should be finishing your AS item and should rush either your second defensive item or your second damage item, depending on how much damage you're taking in ganks and depending on your deaths.

Playstyle-The games not over yet? Then right now, you're job is to push, and push hard. Turrets present in some lane? Push till you hit the second tower in lane and then return to base. Lane being pushed by creeps or heroes? Wait till they reach your base and annihalate the creep wave before counter pushing. Opponents trying to gank and turn the game in their favor? Pull your team together, take them out and push as hard as possible. Enemies outpushed you? Turtle in base defending your last 2 turrets till your inhibitors are back and then counter push.

One of Yoricks worst used skills is Omen of Death. Although at first glance it seems to be extremely mediocre, it can, in fact be used for several purposes.

The first use for Omen of Death is by using your ulti on your AD carry at eh beginning of a gank, and properly controlling the revanant for its lifespan, you can direct the gank slightly into your favor. Plus, in case the AD carry dies in the first 10 seconds of the gank, you can still keep her around for 10 more seconds, which may help your team win.

The second use is by using your ulti on your tank or AD carry just before he or she dies, they can be brought back for a few more seconds to keep wreaking havoc in the gank, possibly doing more than just assisting.

The third use is to use your ulti on a champion in order to push a tower. One way to do it is to duplicate your AD carry while pushing a turret with your team, to take out the turret faster. The second way is to tank out incoming creeps till you reach half hp and then use your ult on yourself and send the revanant to tank the creeps. However, this method can only be used if the tower is about 2/3rd hp or less.

Alright, we've reached the end of this guide to Yorick Mori. Thanks for reading and/or bearing with me so far. And remember one thing. Yorick may be called useless by a lot of people, but thats only because most people still have no idea how to play him properly, due to the uniqueness of his design. However, after people start learning how to play him, he'll be the favored pick of most summoners (at least during free week) and also, possibly, banned from ranked games at least 50% of the time.:P

Again, thanks for reading my guide, and I hope it helped you play Yorick a little bit better than you used to, or at least helped you realize his true potential.

PS-I am currently still testing out new item builds, summoner spells and skilling orders for Yorick, this is just the first one that i found to be good. So, if anyone wants me to test out Yorick in a specific manner, just send me your request. I'll look at it, and unless it's just some sort of troll build, I'll test it out. If I use any suggestions, I'll also make sure to credit the sender as well in the guide.

PPS-Currently, I'm trying out a jungle yorick build, which seems to be going decently well. Any suggestions, please post them in the comments section.