Hello, and welcome to my Yorick guide. I am Hogopogo and this is my first guide on MobaFire. Before reading this guide, you should all know that I do not play ranked games, and I am definitely not the best Yorick player out there. However, Yorick was my first 6300 champion I bought, and I actually didn't like him much in the beginning. Only till later did I realize how op he was when playing solo-top. I found out that he was a true monster if built correctly. So, without any other delays, welcome to Yorick - Undertaking the Top Lane

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Pros + Can do good damage and still be tanky + Has incredible sustain in lane + Doesn't have many counters + Awesome ultimate + Has a pretty cool voice

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Cons - Very mana reliant - A bit hard to play - Hard to decide when and who to use your ultimate on - Hard to cs with, due to lack of AOE damaging abilities

Summary

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Over these recent weeks, I have been testing out a new mastery build that I feel is better. This 0/21/9 set-up won't have you doing large amounts of damage, but will keep you durable while you get your Manamune. During that phase of the game, I often saw that I was much squishier then my enemy top laner and this can help out with that. The 9 points in utility will help with your mana regeneration and your sustain in lane.

Defensive Masteries

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Durability : The extra health will help you in early team-fights as well as in lane phase.
I also feel that the 4 points in this is worth more then perseverance because you have some much regen from your ghouls anyways.
Hardiness : Extra armor will help out your durability and often times top-laners are ad so this will help you lane phase.
Resistance : The magic resist in early levels is good during early invades. Consider taking more points in this if you're against an ap toplaner.
Unyielding : Reduced damage from champions = Good :)
Relentless : Not the best mastery, but still useful since Yorick doesn't have a gap-closer. This point could be switched out and put into Resistance if your against AP.
Veteran's Scars : Extra health will help your durability.
Block : Awesome against any sort of auto-attacker and helps a lot early game.
Juggernaut : Extra health will help your durability.
Defender : Great durability mastery for only 1 point, especially in early team-fights.
Good Hands : Reducing the time you spend dead is very good for getting back to your lane quick.
Reinforced Armor : Helps against any time of ADC, especially champs with an IE.
Honor Guard : Allows you to take less damage in total.

Utility Masteries

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Summoner's Insight : The reduced cooldown for flash can be the difference of you dying or living.
Meditation : Any sort of mana regen will help you TONS early game, so this is a good mastery to have.
Expanded Mind : Extra mana will help you a lot early game because Yorick is extremely mana reliant.
Improved Recall : The faster recall is very good considering its only 1 point. Since your top lane, your opponent might take any chance to push when you recall, so speed is needed.
Runic Affinity : This is an AWESOME mastery, increasing buff times by 20% is great for you especially if you have blue buff.

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Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: These quints will help you dish out a lot more damage early game. They will help you in any early game invasions, ganks, or trades in lane. These will also help you a bit during mid-late game, allowing you to deal more damage. Overall, these quints mean more damage to the enemy.

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Greater Mark of Attack Damage: These marks will help you in the same way the quints will. They add a lot more attack damage early game, and will help you in lane. Just like the quints, these marks will also help you in early invasions, ganks, and trades. These marks are also great to help you cs if you aren't as confident in your csing abilities.

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Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: These MR glyphs will help you a lot early game all the way until late game. My build doesn't really include a lot of MR so these will help you against the APC as well as a few other solo-top champions ( Rumble, Vladimir etc.) These, overall, will make you more durable during team-fights and allow you to survive longer and help your team more often.

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Greater Seal of Armor: These seals have the same purpose as the MR glyphs. To make you tankier. This will often help you against most other solo-top champions, because most of them use attack damage. These will also help you a ton against the enemy ADC and jungle objectives such as Baron and Dragon.

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Recommended Summoner Spells

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Flash: This spell has unlimited possibilities. It can work for every champion in the game. Flash can be used to chase down people, initiate, and escape. It can teleport you through most of the walls in Summoner's Rift, but there are some you cannot flash through. Overall, I take flash for its mobility and because Yorick doesn't have any other way of escape.

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Ignite: This spell is more of an aggressive spell, and I often use it to get kills early game. This will help your damage early game and can help you get first blood easily. If you see that your enemy is at around 1 bar of health left, run over to them and ignite them, and they will probably die.

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Other Viable Summoner Spells

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Ghost: I don't really use this spell often, but I can see how it would be very useful when ganking, chasing, or escaping. It gives you an extreme movement speed buff for a short period of time and it works very well with Omen of War's movement speed buff.

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Exhaust: Occasionally, I take this spell. If you know that you are up against a hard champ, taking this spell could help you a lot. It not only reduces the targets damage output, but also slows them down so it will be easier for you to finish them off.

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Heal: I typically do not take this spell because of the sustain Omen of Famine gives, but it is sometimes useful in clutch situations. If you get ganked, this spell could potentially save your life. However, I feel that the amount healed from Omen of Famine is enough and that I don't need Heal.

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Teleport: Teleport can be very useful at certain times. You can use it to invade and quickly escape, or go back to base and quickly get back to lane. You can also coordinate a multiple-person gank if the rest of your team also has teleport. If you feel that you will need a bit more mobility for some super quick ganks or if you think that you'll need to back a lot this game, then taking teleport wouldn't be a bad idea.

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Unholy Covenant: Yorick's takes 5% reduced damage and his basic attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active. Meanwhile, Yorick's ghouls have 35% of Yorick's Attack Damage and Health.

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Keeping all your ghouls out at once increases your damage. Keeping all your ghouls out at once also increases your durability. Makes your sustain extremely high, so you can stay in lane for a long time. Keeping your ghouls out will help you down towers quicker.

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Omen of War: Yorick enhances his next autoattack, in the next 10 seconds, to deal bonus physical damage. 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+ 120% AD) This enhanced attack summons a Spectral Ghoul once it hits. This ability resets the autoattack timer. The Spectral Ghoul deals more damage 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 / 40 and moves faster than the rest of the ghouls. While the ghoul is active, Yorick moves faster as well. 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% / 35%

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This doesn't work on towers, only champions and minions/monsters. You can use to escape, just hit a creep and run. Use it to last hit minions, especially the cannon creeps. This resets your AA (auto-attack) timer, so you can auto-attack->Q and then immediately auto-attack again for the largest damage output.

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Omen of Pestilence: Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing magic damage 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+ 100% AP) and slowing nearby enemies 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% for 1.5 seconds. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed. 10% / 12.5% / 15% / 17.5% / 20%

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This is your only skill to check bushes with. AOE slow is useful to chase or escape from multiple enemies. Your only AOE ability, use it to help you cs.

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Omen of Famine: Yorick deals magic damage 55 / 85 / 115 / 145 / 175 (+ 100% Bonus AD) and heals for 40% of the damage dealt. A Ravenous Ghoul is summoned behind his target for up to 5 seconds, healing Yorick for the damage it deals. The healing effect is halved against minions.

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Use this skill to poke, since it is ranged. If you are a bit low on health, use this skill to heal. Your main damage ability, make sure to use it in trades. Very useful for 1v1ing, since it does damage and heals.

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Omen of Death: Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies that will have a percentage of their max health 50% / 75% / 100% and attack damage 45% / 60% / 75%. The revenant lasts for up to 10 seconds. If his ally dies while their revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them temporarily by restoring them to full health and giving them time to enact vengeance. The reanimation will last for up to 10 seconds. During this time, the ally can use all of their abilities.

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Increases the damage of the target, so using this on the ADC is sometimes a good idea. If you know you cant get away, use this and try to kill someone. If you are lucky, you might even kill two of them :D The clone can be moved by pressing alt and right clicking. You can use the clone to tank the tower while tower diving.

Ability Sequence

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This is my sequence for leveling my abilities. I start out with Omen of Pestilence at level 1 for checking bushes, and then I max Omen of Famine. Although Omen of War does more damage, Omen of Famine is a ranged skill which is very useful for poke, and it also heals. Omen of Pestilence is next because of the range, the damage, and the slow is more useful then just damage. Finally, Omen of War is maxed out. Make sure to put a point in Omen of Death at levels 6, 11, and 16.

Starting/Early Game Items

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Faerie Charm: Since the nerf of boots, Faerie Charm has become an extremely viable start for mana reliant champions. Starting with this item will give you nice sustain and mana regen. Although you wont have as much mobility, the extra pots and sight ward will make your laning phase much safer.

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Health Potion: Potions are a crucial part for your start. The health that you get back from these potions will help you stay in lane for a long long time. You will start with 6 of these, giving you a TON of sustain, so don't be too afraid.

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Sight Ward

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Sight Ward: Starting out with one of these can help you a lot and potentially save your life. An early sight ward can prevent and early gank from the enemy jungler. This will make your laning phase very safe.

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Tear of the Goddess: This should be the item you will buy on your first trip back to base. It's a very nice mana item, which will help you sustain. It also builds right into Manamune, one of your core items. Although you won't get any damage from buying it, it will help your early-mid game laning phase vastly.

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Boots

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Mercury's Treads: My recommended choice for tier 2 boots, Mercury's Treads are great. They have magic resist for any annoying APCs, as well as tenacity. The tenacity is amazing for escaping from a high CC team, and is useful in almost any game.

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Ninja Tabi: You should only get this when the enemy team has a lot of AD champions. (i.e Double ADC team, Double AD assassins). This will help reduce the amount of damaged they deal towards you.

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Ionian Boots of Lucidity: These boots are also a very good option on Yorick. They provide a nice amount of CDR (cooldown reduction), so you'll be able to spam your skills over and over in fights. These will help you do tons of damage.

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Mid Game Items

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Muramana: This is one of your core items. Try to rush this item as fast as you can. You actually buy Manamune in the shop, and once you get 750 extra mana from the unique passive, Manamune automatically turns into Muramana. This item is great on Yorick. It provides good mix damage and mana, and mana regen.

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Sheen: This is a very good mid game item on Yorick. You might think it doesn't help your damage much, but the Sheen proc will have you dishing out huge loads of damage onto enemies. This item also helps your mana as well. Sheen is great because it builds into Iceborn Gauntlet and Trinity Force.

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Phage: Another great mid game item, Phage gives a nice mix of health, damage, and cc. Although the slow proc isn't as reliable, adding on Omen of Pestilence, your enemies will not be able to get away. If you build this after Muramana, then this will also be your first source of health. This also builds into a Trinity Force.

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Giant's Belt: Great item. In my recent games, sometimes I even rush this before I finish manamune, because it makes you so much more durable for such a small price. If you farmed 1000 gold and you don't have enough for manamune, buying this is also a great choice. This item is great mid game and builds right into your warmog's later on. Taking this is very good, and a MUST if you're agains true-damage dealers (Olaf, Irelia).

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End Game Items (Trinity Force or Iceborn Gauntlet?)

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The two main builds I use revolve around Trinity Force, or Iceborn Gauntlet. Both of these builds are very viable, and allow you to do lots of damage. But which one should you pick? Trinity Force is much more expensive item then Iceborn Gauntlet is. This means that I only go the Trinity Force build when I am fed. If you aren't fed, then you won't be able to get through your build quick enough. Iceborn Gauntlet is also a very good item, and I usually run the Iceborn Gauntlet build.

tl;dr: Only go Trinity when you have a lot of money and/or fed.

Core Items (Trinity Force Build)

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Trinity Force: This item helps you do TONS OF DAMAGE. It has a mix of almost everything. The Phage gives you health, CC, and damage. The Sheen gives you damage, mana, and the sheen proc. The Zeal gives you attack speed and critical strike. Added all together, you get a trinity force.

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Warmog's Armor: But now you need durability. Though Trinity Force gives you a bit of health, it isn't really enough. Getting a Warmogs will make you two times as dangerous during team-fights, especially when using your ultimate. Having both a Warmog's and Trinity Force will let you do tons of damage while still being durable.

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Core Items (Iceborn Gauntlet Build)

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Iceborn Gauntlet: This items is similar to Trinity Force, but cheaper. Though it doesn't provide attack damage, the ability power can help the amount of damage Omen of Pestilence does, and the Sheen proc is amazing. It also slows in an AOE, so this slow plus Omen of Pestilence is very useful in team-fights. This item also gives the armor that Trinity Force doesn't have.

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Warmog's Armor: Getting a Warmog here is the same reason you get one in the Trinity Force build. Iceborn Gauntlet doesn't give health. Having health can make you much more deadly, and also allows you to survive longer to do more damage. With this, you can also off-tank.

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Your Last Items (Offensive)

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Frozen Mallet: Though more of a defensive item, Frozen mallet can provide a small amount of damage and a large amount of durability. If you have lots of damage and still want a bit more, but also want health in one item, then get this. The slow is also very nice.

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Mercurial Scimitar: A very nice item with both Utility and Damage. The active is very good for getting rid of any sort of cc, including stuns, slows, snares etc. It can also get rid of ignites which could become extremely useful if your about to die from an ignite.

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Bloodthirster: This item is very good for the Iceborn Gauntlet build. I usually always build it after my Warmogs. However, Bloodthirster works very well in the Trinity Force build as well. If you finished both your Warmogs and Frozen Heart, then getting this item for damage is a good choice.

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Your Last Item (Defensive)

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Spirit Visage: This is a very nice item for Yorick, giving a good amount of magic resist, as well as CDR, health, and health regen. If you don't have a lot of money but need some quick durability, then this is a good item for you to buy because it is relatively cheap.

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Banshee's Veil: Another nice MR item. This is great on Yorick, as it provides lots of Magic Resist for those pesky APCs, good health and mana, and great passive. This item can be very useful because many times people are careless and don't check what items you have. They use their ult on you and they'll be raging because it didn't do any damage.

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Guardian Angel: Extremely good item on Yorick, which allows him to have two more chances at life. This item proveds sufficient Magic Resist and Armor, and has an awesome passive. This is an overall defensive item that can work on a lot of champions.

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Runic Bulwark: If your support didn't already get on of these, getting this wouldn't be a bad idea. It gives Magic Resist, Armor, Health, and to top it all off, an aura that gives nearby allies Magic Resist, Armor, and Health regen!

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Randuin's Omen: This is another great item for defense. It gives lots of armor and provides lots of health as well. This items passive and active are also great for escaping from or chasing enemies.

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Frozen Heart: Although Trinity Force gives you lots of stats, it is lacking in armor. Frozen heart can make up for that. This item includes mana, CDR, and lots of Armor. It also has a passive that reduces the attack speed of nearby enemies. This item gives you so many stats that you need, and will increase your durability and utility by a lot.

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Enchants

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Enchantment: Furor: This is the enchant that I typically use. It works really well with your Omen of War, allowing you to get double speed using one spell, and allowing you to stick to opponents easily.

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Enchantment: Captain: If you kind of the "Off-Tank" of your team, and if most of your teammates follow you, then get this enchant. This will also be very good for running away, because the movement speed from your Q will have you ahead of most of your team.

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Enchantment: Homeguard: A very situational pick, I only use this enchant if we are losing and you need to protect your base. Hence the name "Home Guard".

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Combo 1

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This combo is only used when the enemy: 1. Is close to you 2. Initiated and you can take them. Since this combo starts with Omen of War, you'll have to be close to the enemy in the beginning. This combo gives quick burst in the beginning, and as they are running, you slow them and auto-attack while your cooldowns are refreshing.

Combo 2

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This combo is used when you initiate. If you see an easy target, use this combo. It starts of with your longest cooldown, Omen of Pestilence. Since they know they can't take you, the moment they see you they'll try to run away. Start with the slow, then use Omen of Famine as you are catching up the them, then whack them with Omen of War and auto-attack. You'll be able to stay with them since your Q gives you speed.

Combo 3

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This is your standard poke combo. This isn't go all in initiation, this is just poking. Don't use this as much early game as your mana will go from 100 to 0 in a sec, but after you have your Tear of the Goddess, this combo is very useful. As your enemy comes to farm, deny him of cs by using this combo at long range. Most solo-tops are melee, so he usually wont be able to do anything back.

Combo 4

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This is one of the more unique combos. The "I can't get away" combo. This pretty much means that you are unable to escape, so you ult yourself, turn around, and try to kill the squishiest and/or champion with the least health. As I said in the tips and tricks, you might even kill two people, you never know.

Omen of Death

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Yes, Omen of Death gets it's own little section. Omen of Death isn't extremely complicated, but knowing when to use it can be a bit difficult. Normally, you would think "Use it on anyone who's going to die". But not always. For example, if the support is about to die, don't use Omen of Death on them. Try to use Omen of Death on anyone who is more useful and has a higher chance of killing someone if they do revive. If the support gets revived, their still not as useful as the ADC or APC. General Rule: Use it on the person who has the highest chance of killing someone and is going to die. This sometimes can even mean yourself.

Early Game

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Your main goal early game is to farm. Go leash and invade if your team needs you, then quickly get back to lane and farm. Use your Omen of Pestilence to check bushes early, and use Omen of Famine to poke. For farming, you can use Omen of War since it resets your AA timer. Try to beat your enemy laner in farm and try not to push ( Yorick pushes naturally so try to cs at the very last second). If you enemy is aggressive, just unleash your combo at him whenever he comes at you. Try to stay in lane until you can afford your Tear of the Goddess and maybe a few sight wards to ward your lane. During lane phase, always be careful for ganks and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS call mia (Missing In Action). If you don't, a few seconds later your mid lane is dead.

Mid Game

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Continue to farm at your lane. Now you have a more reliant mana pool, so poke and use combos when you need to. If you push, then go over and roam a bit in the jungle. If you find the enemy jungler, attempt to steal the buff/creep and try to kill them. However, if you cannot kill them fast, then leave because very soon the enemy top and mid will be there and it will turn into a 3v1. If you are really fed, you can also ask your jungle for buffs. This is the time when team-fights start coming up all over the map. Since your at top, don't bother about small skirmishes in bot lane. Chances are you won't make it there in time. If there is a real fight brewing down at dragon, then try to completely deny your enemy of cs and experience and zone them out. Make it so that if they go to dragon, they lose their lane. They will have no choice but to stay up top as well. Remember, continue to creep-slay throughout the whole game. It may not seem like much of a deal, but believe me, it is.

End Game

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This is the climax/highlight of the game. This is when people will just randomly roam around in groups to try and kill people. This is when people start to crowd around baron and mid, looking for team-fights. If your team is attempting baron, make sure that your support has warded properly. Also make sure that your jungler's smite is up. Never attempt a baron that you have a low chance of getting. Baron is one of the most game-changing factors in the game. During team-fights, you obviously want to target the enemy ADC and APC, the two highest outputs of damage. However, you SHOULDN'T be the one who is initiating. You don't have any good initiations. Wait until someone on your team (preferably the tank) initiates, and target one of the enemy carries. As for using your ult, use it on anyone who is about to die, anyone who has high damage and is just ripping through the enemy, or if you're about to die.

Welp guys this is it! I hope this guide helped you :D I had a really fun time making it and hopefully you guys will enjoy it as well. I have worked very hard to make this guide so I hope nobody troll votes it but you know... trollers are inevitable. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed! I do like constructive criticism as long as it is well.. constructive :P

Credits:
- Credit goes to jhoijhoi like always, for making the amazing guide to making a guide :D Url is right here

- Credit goes to The_Nameless_Bard for her amazing banner as well as the awesome chapter headings :D Url is right here

- Credits to those who answered my Q&A including Bezerk, PsiGuard, Meijhye, Pluckin Penguin, and Nighthawk. Thanks for answering my question :P

- Credits to you! Thanks for reading my guide. For those troll-voters out there, I will also thank you for using your time to actually vote on my guide. As for the actual voters, even more thanks for supporting me and helping my guide improve.

- Credits to MissMaw for some aesthetics advice.

- (2/12/2013) Guide Published
- (2/13/2013) Changed a few things aesthetics wise.
- (2/14/2013) Changed a few spelling errors.
- (2/15/2013) Took Bloodthirster out of the core items for the Iceborn build, and moved it into situational (Offensive). Took out Frozen Heart from core items for Trinity Force build and moved it into situational (Defensive).
- (2/15/2013) Changed masteries to 0/21/9 from 21/0/9
- (2/15/2013) Changed skill order to maxing w first instead of q.
- (2/16/2013) Took out Yomuu's Ghostblade and Zephyr out of Offensive Items and added Frozen Mallet and Mercurial Scimitar.
- (2/16/2013) Added Omen of Death Mini Section into Gameplay chapter.
- (4/10/2013) OFFICIALLY #1 guide :DDD
- (4/10/2013) Changed the masteries a bit, and fixed the explanations.
- (4/10/2013) Matchups are on their way, be patient :P