Items updated
Masteries Updated
Deeper explenation of itemization.
Added Friends and Foes section

coming soon:
Pictures and deeper info :)

Hello everyone. I've been a Yorick fan since day 1. I loved him before his buff and just as much after. I've been meaning to make a guide for him since my first week with him but I thought it better to wait for the buff. So here it is, your definitive Yorick guide.

P.S.
I know many of you like to skim these guides and some like to actually read everything. To make things easier on everyone I will be precise and brief but everything in RED will be crucial information and everything else will just be useful information for those of us who want a deep guide.

For those of you looking for some numbers to back this build, here you are:

The numbers speak for themselves, this build works.

Even in defeat you can be graceful :)

PROS
1) Incredible damage and health mid to late game
2) Safe ganking due to amount of total hp
3) Eats through enemy armor and health
4) Great for solo or lane play
5) Acts as a guardian for your squishier team members.
6) A daunting target to face.
7) A full stack Warmogs with your Lifesteal= GG

CONS
1) Squishy early game
2) Expensive build
3) Needs the blue buff but does NOT get priority over casters/carries/junglers!
4) If focused you will not survive like a real tank would
5) Getting team ganked is a nightmare (No Escapes)

Most of the cons can be remedied using skilled play. Don't blame the build, blame your self if you choose to dive with NO ESCAPE abilities.

Being a new champion, Yorick is still in the learning stage. Many are trying to find the appropriate items and runes and masteries to best use this champion. In terms of runes these seem like your best option, why?

Marks

The offensive branch of the rune family; Marks are best used to buff damage output and while many people like to purchase all attack damage marks I am strongly against such an action. Attack Damage is easily countered using Armor. Armor penetration, however, does not suffer the same simple counter tactic. Plus Armor penetration early game means you are nullifying most of your enemies armor and directly smashing their health. A valuable asset indeed considering most champions start with armor well bellow your rune buffs 25.

Seals

Seals are your primary defensive runes. These are arguably the easiest choice of all your runes. 1.41 armor per rune means that you start the game with a reassuring 10.26 armor. Some people prefer the per-level armor runes which give you .15 per level. I personally feel that starting with 10.26 extra armor is better because to actually surpass the flat armor rune of 1.41 you need to reach level 10. By level 10 you are decently beefy. Yorick is a weak starter in terms of health, taking little damage before dying, especially due to his lack of an escape mechanism.
In conclusion? Flat Armor runes ftw.

Glyphs

Your mana based runes. I am torn here. Do I choose flat mana runes or do I choose per-level runes? At the end of the day it comes down to early game once again. Due to the buff given to our favorite gravedigger, he is no longer a mana *****. Meaning you can lane for quite some time using your clarity without having to buy a $1750 item JUST so you can cast your abilities. And considering that you will not surpass your flat mana runes until you pass level 7 the better choice is the flat 90 starting mana.

Itemization is the bread and butter of this game and due to my rigorous field testing SINCE YORICK CAME OUT, I can proudly say this is the BEST build for this champion. Simply follow this sequence, brush in some skill and common sense and I can almost guarantee you success with Yorick.

Berserker Greaves:
Excellent for their early game DPS, a simply integral part of this build.

Starks Fervor:
Providing AMAZING early game DPS and armor penetration, Life steal at 20% and a health regen ratio of 30 per 5 seconds you simply NEED this item ASAP. And don't forget that with it's AoE bonus your nearby allies enjoy many of your Starks benifits, you'll be the life of the party on the fields of justice ;) ...Ironic, considering you are dead.

Warmogs Armor:
While some may argue that you are better off getting armor or magic resist items instead I would like to argue for the Warmog's sake. This item grants you a 920 health bonus and ANOTHER 30 health regen per 5 seconds upon purchase and through it's passive adds 450 health and another 15 health regen per 5 seconds. This means should you ever find yourself running away from a fast approaching enemy you can rest assured knowing that in combination with your starks fervor you have roughly 75 health regeneration every 5 seconds. Add in life steal and you will find that fighting enemy champions has never been easier.

Phantom Dancer:
A self explanatory DPS item. Crits, movement speed and DPS. If you want damage output you want a phantom dancer. Why does it preceed Madreds Bloodrazor? Because in most cases I find that I need to close distances and escape more than I need to put out more damage. Phantom Dancer allows you the chase, attack speed and crit chance to finish off enemies and escape. In some cases however Madreds must come first in order to slay a health heavy teams to prevent you from losing too much ground.

Black Clever:
A reliable item no doubt and a solid choice for Yorick. The Black Cleaver offers 30 Attack Speed, 55 Attack Damage and a passive reducing your target's Armor by 15 for 5 seconds for a maximum of 3 stacks. The reason for choosing this item over an Infinity edge? Late game Armor items would nullify an IE but a black clever would still give you the benefit of armor penetration.

Infinity Edge:
So now you have a lot of armor penetration but your damage output is not quite up to par for a late game slaughter. Worry not, with your infinity Edge you can dish out crits and heavy hits right to the enemy nexus. It's a great closer for your build.

Boots of mobility:
I know it looks weird up there but worry not, I am not a tool. My intention is to replace your old berserker greaves once you have your build with boots of mobility to increase your chase, escape and gank abilities. Considering Yorick has no distance closers and a very slow movement speed you could really use these boots for late game escapes. Plus who doesn't like a new pair of shoes? :)

Clarity:
A simpler solution to the low mana issue. It gets the job done and is a great support ability as well, recovering not only your mana but you your nearby allies mana as well. Win-win.

Flash:
A MUST HAVE FOR YORICK! lacking any real chase or escape ability Flash will save your hide time and time again. My only advice: NEVER USE THIS SPELL TO CATCH A KS OR CHASE A MEANINGLESS KILL! YOU WILL REGRET IT WHEN YOU NEED AN ESCAPE AND DON'T HAVE ONE!

Here we go, the real meat of this guide. Let's begin shall we?

Early game

Your early game play determines the outcome of your match. Plain and simple. Feed the enemy? GG. Lose your lane too soon? GG. Fail to call MIAs and be on the lookout for incoming ganks? GG. So how do you play Yorick early game? Simple, you play defensively. I start the game with boots of speed and my Omen of Famine. The life steal keeps me in the lane for as long as possible and the boots keep me mobile to avoid taking heavy damage and ganks. Forget buying a dorans blade or a long sword to beef up your early attacks. IT'S NOT WORTH IT! Save your ghouls for farming, spawning them on a nearly dead minion to steal the gold without having to go in shovel first and risk eating ****. Plus your ghoul will auto attack the enemy champion after it's original target is dead, killing two birds with one stone.

Once you are at a solid $1500 or close to it, run home and buy the rest of your berserker greaves and pick up your emblem of valor and head back to lane. The 17% lifesteal and health regen will make lane survivability and farming that much easier for you and your partner. I usually lane until I have the $1050 to buy my recurve bow and another $700 to buy my starks fervor. So wait for another $1800 or so and run home to finish your Fervor.

NOW you can start to focus enemy champions seriously. Obviously I don't mean you should avoid kills or opportunities early game but be smart about it. You don't do that much damage aside from your early E, Q, W combo, so you may find yourself leaving an enemy with only 30HP and failing to finish them before they crush you. So be safe, gage how much damage you can really put out with your combo and call the right shot for an attack.

MID GAME:

This is where Yorick gets to be real fun. Get a blue buff either by yourself or with a friends help and re-enter the fight. With your Starks Fervor and your Armor and Armor Penetration runes you should be able to dish out some heavy damage to enemy champions.
So clear your turret and go gank mid. If you can't then back off, don't play too aggressive yet, you're still building that Warmogs armor. If you plan on ganking you need to really be smart about it. Warn your teammate so they know you are gonna attack. Use your W to slow the enemy down and then hit them with your Q ASAP. Never leave your Q for last. You will not be able to catch them. Use your E as they escape or mid fight, this gives you a nice last hit or fight durability. Aside from that, it's all common sense. Gank a lane or two and then go with the flow. Does your lane look at risk of losing ground? go back. If not, push your allies lanes out. Yorick is a terrific pusher so lend a hand.

Using your ULT!

Your ultimate is a wondrous thing. You can double your damage output, turret dive, come back for some sweet revenge or clear a turret using it. Just know how to use it.

Ganks:
If you are ganking a confident enemy who does not wish to retreat, perhaps near your turret or full on health, then send your revenant in first. Shaco players know this strategy is a tried and true one. It may not be as easy with Yorick considering you can't go invisible and surprise the enemy but you can easily move in once you see your clone wavering. This will give the enemy the idea that they can win the fight, although they know it's a shadow they should fear it's DPS output and loose 25% of their hp on him. Get in there and finish the fight Master Chief.

Mid-Fight:
Never ever use your ult immediately after engaging. I can promise you any skilled player WILL run. Congratulations, you have now successfully wasted your mana and ultimate scaring off a free kill. You should engage the enemy, fight them until you are both wavering in health and abilities and THEN summon your shadow at about half or 75% enemy health. It counts as a ghoul, WHICH BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE AS MANY UP AS POSSIBLE, meaning it also reduces your damage taken by 5%. All together that's 20% less damage.

Turret Diving:
Self explanatory. The enemy runs to turret with 0 health? send your ghoul in and follow if need be. The revenant will distract the turret while you pull in for the kill and immediately swerve into a nearby bush evading the turrets redirected fire.

Turret smashing:
Another simple one. You just killed the enemys in lane or forced them B? summon your revenant and go with your minions for a double damage turret crush.

Final warning: Please don't spawn your revenant pre fight to daunt the enemy. There's nothing more foolish than withering your ult's health by having him stand there pre-fight.

Late game:

You finally have most of your build and are feeling great. What have you learned? You're not indestructible. Nope, sorry to say but you can die. So just choose your fights wisely. Please don't ever engage. You can't get out if you do. Unless you plan on wasting your flash just so you can go prod the enemy front line. save it for a retreat or blood thirsty chase.
Your lifesteal, armor, health regen, armor penetration and total health make you a real threat so be careful for an enemy targeted attack on you. It will happen if you play this build well.

So you have read how to play Yorick and are ready to go. Maybe we should go over who you are best suited to fight with and against first :)

Friends
Yorick thrives on fighting to stun and CC heavy champions. Players like Sona, Ashe, Amumu, Morgana, Taric, Veigar. His wall does wonders.
Why CC?
Well they help you take the chase out of the equation :) Now you don't have to stress deciding whether it's too late to flash for the Q and finish. You can just have your team member stun them and just roll in for a smashing good time :)
Blitzcranks pull also serves a great distance closer.

While it is highly unlikely to have no CC teammates you should know that Healers and support are your next best friends. Their ability to keep you up and support you while you push for kills is amazing. Lux, Orianna, Galio etc...

You should try to avoid laning with Assassins and DPS champions at ALL costs. They will not help you and you will not help them. It's just a recipe for disaster.

Foes

These are the champions you should fear fighting. Carries/distance fighters and heavy early damage gamers like: Teemo, caitlyn, Gankplank, Corki, or Vayne. They close distances too fast and are able to dish out some serious punishment. They are should to be fought if you have one of the above listed preferred allies. You should be fine in that case :)

Your next challenge lies in healers and junglers. Players like Udyr, Shaco, Warwick and Master Yi who can appear in the blink of an eye and punish your excessive pushing. With no escapes you are almost certain to meet an untimely toom.
Healers manage to reverse all the hard work you put and all the mana you blew on damaging an enemy. Not fun :(

This build is more or less an ideal situation template. What do I mean? Well this build is intended for fighting a real 5v5 team, each of you with their own tank, caster, carry and assassin. This build is not gonna help if you are fighting an all carry team or an all caster team.

Know your role, you will not be the man in front rushing for the enemy carry, leave that for your tank. If you want to kill a carry, gank them hard. Go in head first and I can promise you a swift and painful death.

In team fights take the assassins first, follow up with am attack on the disorientated carry or caster and then focus the tank while he runs past his teams dead bodies. Play smart.

This build will not guarantee you victory. It will however make it a real possibility if played well. Just use your head, read the guide and play like you would an assassin. You may have a lot of health and armor but you are by no means a tank.


Please rate and comment on this build. It took a lot of testing and work so please feel free to leave me some constructive feedback and helpful tips. Trolls are not welcome.