Hi! My name is Viktor aka kmp. Check out my profile: u.gg The origin of my name in case you wonder, is literally 3 random characters next to eachother. Don't bother asking or figuring out what does it mean. I've started playing League in S5 and I've been playing Irelia ever since. I've started my first season in gold with Irelia. I almost got to diamond in S8 and S9 (Platinum 1 was my highest rank unfortunately).

This guide isn't finished yet.

I'm trying to add as many details as I can, so stay with me if you stopped by :D

Remaining topics:

• More threats and synergies
• Special matchups
• Tutor videos on combos
• Tutor videos on animation cancels
• Matchups (VOD)
• More precise laning phase
• More precise mid and late game

Most of this guide is about LANING PHASE, so keep that in mind whilst reading my guide.

Enjoy!

Pros + Easy to farm + Strong early-mid game + High skillcap + Incredibly mobile + Diverse gameplay

Cons – Better for split push – Weak to hard CC – High skillfloor – No actual mobility (can't escape) – Requires a lot of time to master

Best matchups:		Worst matchups:
YorickHe can't do anything without his ghouls, which you can oneshot with Bladesurge and easily stack up Ionian Fervor. At this point, if he's still too close, he's dead. Dr. MundoNo hard CC, no burst damage, little bit sustain which can be nullified with Executioner's Calling, no escape. You simply run him down. GangplankHonestly, little bit hard matchup pre 3, but gets easier as time goes on. Irelia basically outscales Gangplank. KayleThe champion is designed for late game.. She has 0 chance to even survive laning phase UNDER TOWER. GarenLittle bit hard matchup pre 3, but Garen can't do anything once you have Ionian Fervor fully stacked. His post 6 is even weaker considering how much damage he deals with Judgment. He can be a pain in the *** if he goes tanky, but he'll never be able to kill you.		TryndamereToo much sustain since lv1, too much damage based on missing HP, incredible length on Spinning Slash, low cooldowns. This matchup is a nightmare. Even if you manage to kill him pre 6, he WILL obliterate you post 6 at any point. SettIncredible damage on lv1, almost inevitable CC from Facebreaker, usually losing trade because you stack Haymaker. If he whiffs, great. You possibly have a chance to win. If he lands... Well you'll lose the trade or you might die as well. Good news is, you outscale Sett pretty hard as time goes on. Even after buying Blade of the Ruined King. UrgotDodge his Disdain pre 6 and he's dead. He WILL eventually outscale you tho.. VolibearIncredibly bad matchup pre 6, even pre Blade of the Ruined King.. He's simply stronger than you, but eventually you outscale him. HeimerdingerDodge or go next.. you can't farm, you can't kill him. If he kills you, you can't lane against him anymore.

PRECISION

Conqueror: Gives you 2-5 adaptive force and stacks up to 12 times. Each attack / spell gives you 2 stacks so basically, you gain 24-60 bonus ad. Not just that, but you have 9% healing from all sources when fully stacked.

Presence of Mind: Since S11 Pre-Season this is THE BEST RUNE in the game. If you can use it correctly you'll never ever run out of mana / energy (which Irelia needs badly). This makes her gameplay easier and stronger, 'cuz you're constantly trading with the enemy almost cost free.

Legend: Alacrity: This is the best for Irelia. Against a champion with a handful of CC, take Legend: Tenacity instead. Against a lane bully, take Legend: Bloodline instead.

Coup de Grace: This is the most powerful of all available rune in this bracket. It offers you the chance to burst people / trade more efficiently. Consider Last Stand if you're going for sustain.

: Bonus 10% attack speed - Needed, especially in the early laning phase : Bonus 9 adaptive force - Needed 'cuz Irelia doesn't have high base stats : Can be changed to def, depending on the matchup

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: Best summoner spell in the game. Allows you to engage easier, dodge abilities and escape death. TELEPORT: This is a game changer. Ignite gives you easier lanes BUT you can split push (which Irelia wants to do), turn around a fight or contest objectives. You can also go back to lane faster, so you can keep up your pressure. IGNITE: Most powerful summoner spell for laning! BUT Irelia doesn't need that eventhough it provides you easy early kills, thus lead and/or pressure. CLEANSE: I'd suggest this summoner spell exclusievely on mid against high CC or long-range mages. It allows you to counteract their pressure, e.g. Xerath pokes with Arcanopulse and stuns you with Shocking Orb when you want to react or engage on him. Hit Cleanse and boom.. easy kill (or at least a free Flash since it has a bigger cooldown).

Ionian Fervor is your main source of damage especially in the early-mid game. If you don't get a huge lead on the enemy team, start stacking your passive even before teamfights (use minions) otherwise you won't deal much damage.

The best ability in her kit is Bladesurge. It heals you, makes you mobile, allows you to make small trades, baits abilities (front to back), but most importantly Bladesurge deals the most damage in her kit apart from Ionian Fervor. Use it to engage, to escape or to heal. Focus on resets pre 16!

Since patch 11.15, Defiant Dance became a better ability in her kit. Damage reduction scales with levels, but the reason you should max it second is to deal massive amount of damage. Hold for .75s before you release to maximize the damage output (that's precisely half the duration).

The only thing I can say about Flawless Duet is, if you miss and you don't have a lead, you'll probably lose the trade. Since path 11.15, use it at it's max range because it's faster now.

The way I like to use Vanguard's Edge is either start the fight with it or use it right before I claim the kill. Other usage for this should be in teamfights when you can hit at least TWO people (don't waste it on only 1 if you don't need to).

COMMON BUILD

Ability Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ✦ This is the default for me, but I honestly think that starting with Flawless Duet is much better in any matchup. This kinda fits my style more. Use it only if you're playing aggressive on lane from the start.

BULLY BUILD

Ability Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ✦ This is the go to skilltree if you're weaker pre 6. eg.: Sett

Core Items

Usually you start building Blade of the Ruined King starting with Vampiric Scepter into Pickaxe.

Mythics

Immortal Shieldbow is for split pushing. Later in the game this item doesn't do much in teamfights or skirmishes simply because it's not tanky enough to survive damage, eventhough Irelia gets a shield when she's popped.

Divine Sunderer is the best item against bruiser-like or tank team. Also good in general, because it heals Irelia so much, an assassin usually can't kill her.

Goredrinker is the ultimate teamfighter item for Irelia. The fact that it heals her and gives her AD based on missing HP is incredible! Combine this with her W and she's unkillable.

Sunfire Aegis is good if you want to play around your carries. Irelia can utilize the AoE burn very efficiently since she can stack the item's passive very fast. Doesn't deal that much damage tho, so build full tank with this mythic.

Iceborn Gauntlet is good if you want to play around your carries. Combine this item with an HP oriented build path alongside with Gargoyle Stoneplate for extra sustain in teamfights.

Optional sustain items

Sterak's Gage is by far the best item for bruisers in the game in my opinion. Provides neat stats and scales with max HP.

Wit's End is useful if you're playing against a heavy AP team (at least two AP damage source).

Death's Dance is an all time pick for me. Delayed damage and healing after takedowns. This is the best sustain item against burst!

Spirit Visage boosts every incoming healing by 30% including runes and teammates Redemption, Ebb and Flow, Astral Infusion or Wish.

Optional tank items

My personal preference is buying Guardian Angel right after Sterak's Gage simply because it gives you a much better pressure in teamfight (and more damage). Altough if I have a huge lead, I'm not buying defensive items, I'm going for damage and sustain so I can close up the game by myself.

This item is deprecated for Irelia in my opinion, but I still had to include it in the guide, because I love Dead Man's Plate. I feel like it's needed in some cases (after the 5 movementspeed nerf) when you need movementspeed to catch up to someone or to get away from it.

Randuin's Omen is good against crit champs eg. Yasuo, Jinx, Xayah etc. If you're up against any of these champs buy Randuin's Omen right after the core items. The active slow is good, it doesn't let the enemy to kite you (they have to burn Flash).

Thornmail is my all time pick, just like Sterak's Gage, if I want to get some armor. I think the Grievious wounds implementation and attack speed slow is so OP, the enemy doesn't stand a chance even if they're fed.

Other options

Force of Nature is good against constant AP damage eg. Cassiopeia, Ryze, Teemo etc. Also provides movementspeed on each tick which is crucial to catch enemies.

Anathema's Chains is purely for tankiness. When you're going for a defensive build path against one type of damage and the enemy team has one source of another type of damage, then you can nullify their damage dealt to you. For better understanding, let's say you're playing against a heavy AD team with a Brand support. In this case this item nullifies his insane dps. Also provides sustain against carries, so Irelia has time to utilize her dps.

Gargoyle Stoneplate is good if you're going for bruiser-like, HP oriented buid path. For me, I usually get 1300-2100 shield.

Alright.. 2 quick tip to easily win/hold your lane:

• Farm with Bladesurge if your opponent is nearby - it keeps Ionian Fervor stacked up - and try to land basic attacks between Bladesurge's.
• Try to land basic attacks when your opponent goes for a minion.

If you have Conqueror stacked up, you should go in for a trade. You'll win most of the time with Ionian Fervor.

The basics of top lane is understanding the matchup. You have to figure out what do you want to do in the first 5 minutes. Let's say you're laning against a Jax. You want to start with Flawless Duet. His lv1 is stronger because of his Counter Strike. That way, you can take CS from the first waves.

Lv1:

• Start with Bladesurge
• Stack Ionian Fervor
• Jump in for an early trade with Ionian Fervor
• Push lv2

Lv2:

• As soon as you hit lv2, hit Flawless Duet and engage with Bladesurge. It should be a guaranteed kill, but make sure you have Ionian Fervor fully stacked
• If you killed your opponent, push the wave or kill him again if he Teleports back. Make sure to keep Ionian Fervor stacked up in the meantime.
• If you didn't kill your opponent, pressure him with Ionian Fervor. Keep farming with Bladesurge so as soon as he comes to farm, you jump in and kill him.

Lv3:

• Easier trades with Defiant Dance
• Try to slow push

Post Lv6:

• Pressure top
• Roam
• Take Rift Herald
• Take the jungle
• Transfer your lead to other lanes
  
  
  Watch the Combo Tips and Tricks section of the guide!

Irelia doesn't really have a behind state. What I mean by that is she can kill / pressure a lane in 0/3 if she's played correctly.

Altough she can get behind on lane and when this happens:

• Focus on farming instead of trading, but keep stacking Ionian Fervor.
• Ask your jungler to be nearby and eventually try to gank or dive.
• Go for roams, like scuttle fights and mid ganks or even bot ganks with Teleport (make sure to get both kills to make it worth the time, xp and gold you lose on top for that).
• Build sustain and HP.
• If your opponent leaves, split push.
• If you just roamed mid / bot, push the lane as much as you can, but don't show yourself unnecessarily (no overstay).

You need gold, xp and map pressure.

With a lead:	Without a lead:
Pressure other lanes (especially mid) Contest objectives (herald prio, dragon is useless 9 out of 10 times) Take early Rift Herald and try to push it at least to 2nd tier Setup an early baron by pressuring bot Call your team for an aram, you can end the game quickly	Split all the time and build Immortal Shieldbow or Divine Sunderer Only group when you know you'll win the fight!

Irelia has a lot of potentials in this state. She can: Split push 1v1 anyone Win a teamfight with a good Vanguard's Edge

The main thing you want to do is creating pressure.

• Split push when:

  • You have Teleport
  • Your team stalls the enemy team
  • You can 1v1 anyone on the enemy team

• Group up with your team when:

  • You don't have Teleport
  • Baron or Elder dragon is up
  • You have a huge lead on the enemy team
  • The enemy team is sieging your towers

Play Video This video wasn't made by me. Credits for Luviana, check out his channel HERE

Lv1:

• Start Bladesurge and last hit the first 3 minions
• Abuse your passive
• Position yourself to avoid her passive procs
• If she hits one of her Duelist's Dance, back up

Lv2:

• Follow with Flawless Duet and try to hit her, you need to know if she has Riposte
• If she doesn't have it, all-in
• If she has it, your ability will come back a bit faster, so you could abuse that

Lv3:

• Bait her Riposte with front to back playstyle
• Sneak in basic attacks between Bladesurges
• If she follows you with Lunge, use Defiant Dance
• If she backs up, jump after her with Bladesurge
• Don't use Flawless Duet if she has Riposte unless she's 30-40% HP
• If she reacts to your Flawless Duet, jump out of it's way

Post Lv6:

Anytime Vanguard's Edge is up, all-in. Burn her Flash, burn her Teleport, you WILL be stronger.

Lv1:

• Start Bladesurge and last hit the first 3 minions
• Abuse your passive
• Consider all-in

Lv2:

• Follow with Flawless Duet and try to hit her, you need to know if she has Steadfast Presence
• If she doesn't have it, all-in
• If she has it, your ability will come back a bit faster, so you could abuse that

Lv3:

• Bait her Steadfast Presence with front to back playstyle
  Note: if Bladesurge kills anything or procs a mark mid-air, you will get the reset!
• Sneak in basic attacks between Bladesurges
• She will bully you with her Iron Ambassador so everytime she wants to hit you, use Bladesurge on the nearest minion that's about to die
• Basic attack her to death with your Ionian Fervor
• Use Flawless Duet to secure the kill

Post Lv6:

You are technically stronger than her, BUT she's going to be too tanky for you and disrupt you.
You should aim for another objective which is roaming to mid, to jungle, take camps, take Rift Herald if you can.
This way you'll extend your lead eventhough you can't kill her.
This moves the game further as well to your favor.