His W interrupts yours which is an interesting mechanic since your W can't be interrupted, but whatever.. His base damage is a lot stronger than yours. Buy Wit's End after Tiamat so you can fight him when you have passive. Don't die 'til then.
Quinn
Her E is too strong, it interrupts your Q reset, her blind denies your auto and Q. Extremly hard to lane against, extremely strong character and she can get fed easily. Use W to reduce her burst, stack your passive to counterattack.
Rammus
Another strong jungler in the early game with CC lockdown. Vision is the most important thing to have against junglers like him and track his pathing if you can. Try to deny jungle cs if you can.
Rek'Sai
Extremely powerful jungler, especially in the early game. He can ruin your entire laning and you can't do anything about it. Have vision control all over the place, track his pathing and back off when he's nearby (anywhere on top side..).
Tahm Kench
Dodge if you lane against Tahm..
Trundle
Hard to lane against him, his Q steals your AD, so you can't win 1v1. Maybe if you have your passive ready.
Udyr
He's too much for Irelia to handle. You can't win 1v1, 1v2 or 2v2. Maybe 2v1 if he can't reach you and you just Q back to secure the kill. In teamfights it's much easier tho. You just have to ignore him.
Veigar
Extremely big threat since his E interrupts everything. Bait out his E, engage right after it expires. In teamfights his E cooldown is too low to actually wait it out, so you want to engage with your R 'til it runs out.
Vi
Pure CC jungler. If you see a Vi coming to you and you can't kill the enemy laner, you're probably dead everytime. If she's pressuring you, just lure the wave near your turret so you can farm at the very least.
Volibear
Laning against the bear is hard actually.. He has 2 CC which breaks your Q reset, so try to stack your passive and go for long trades.
Warwick
As a jungler, Warwick could be one of the biggest enemies of Irelia. Try to keep track of him and don't engage when he's nearby. Also back off when you're below 50% HP.
Xerath
He's not really a big threat but his range is. If he doesn't come up to the wave, you can't do anything with him at all. Farm, dodge his Q's, look for roam.
Fiora
This matchup is a nightmare.. All you wanna do is farming as much as you can, 'cuz if she's good, your chances of winning are 0. You'll probably outscale her if you can keep up with the gold and you can still roam or tp for kills/assists but you shouldn't fight her alone. If she makes a mistake, say used her parry, then that's the right time to go in, 'cuz you are stronger if she can't parry your damage/mark.
Heimerdinger
Can be an extremely hard matchup. Unfortunately, your Q doesn't oneshot his turrets, but using your W before you Q works totally fine. Try to kill him early using minions to jump onto, 'cuz you don't have the damage on your Q yet to use his turrets. If he gets a lead, you're out.
Kled
Too high base stats compared to Irelia's.. You can't compete with that. But he's useless in teamfights compared to you, so if you don't feed him, you'll be fine. You should only farm in the early game.
Malphite
I never liked this champion nor the matchup. So.. if you play Irelia against this monster, try to kill him at lv2 'cuz he's like a Nasus. He'll outscale you in no time and you'll be useless against him, since he takes away your attack- and movementspeed.
Pantheon
Just a lane bully. Irritating but beatable after 6. Try not to die and get behind exp. Gold doesn't matter against him, you'll be stronger on 6.
Poppy
Her W is bad for Irelia. You should go in for long trades with your passive. If she brought Aftershock, you should wait for 6 before engaging. Try not to die or get behind in exp and you'll be fine.
My name is Viktor aka kmp (currently 21st if you wanna check out my OP.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 (I'm actually planing on adding every champ to both and explain them)
Special matchups
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/Cons
Pros
→ Easy to farm → Strong early/mid game → High skillcap → Incredibly mobile → Diverse gameplay
Cons
→ Can be double-edged sword → Falls off in late game → High skillfloor → 1 CC destroys her → Requires a lot of time to master
Summoner Spells
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).
Runes
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 Conqueror is fully stacked. Press the Attack is good, but not good enough to beat Conqueror (keep in mind, that Press the Attack is stronger in 1v1 all-in's, so if you want to split all game, feel free to take it)
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.
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.
: 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
General 1
INSPIRATION
Magical Footwear: Since you don't want to spend money on boots - 'cuz you want to rush Blade of the Ruined King - this is the best rune in this bracket. Also it helps you attack move much easier.
Cosmic Insight: It helps you a lot with split pushing by reducing Teleport cooldown and also with teamfighting by reducing Goredrinker active cooldown.
General 2
INSPIRATION
Biscuit Delivery: If you play this rune, you have to go Triumph 'cuz your mana problem is gone. Also works perfectly with Time Warp Tonic and gives you a much stronger early than other toplaners.
Time Warp Tonic: Instant healing and movementspeed. Best early tool in the game.
Poke
DOMINATION
Sudden Impact: Personally, I don't like Taste of Blood 'cuz it doesn't scale and I don't feel like it does anything on a bully lane. On the other hand, Sudden Impact gives you a better burst, can be used multiple times in a singular fight and also better later on.
Ravenous Hunter: Omnivamp. This is where Irelia really shines. If you can't burst her, you're dead. With this rune, you won't be able to burst her, unless you or your team has at least 2 hard CC.
Skill Sequence
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 in a bully matchup e.g. Jax, Darius, Jayce etc.
Abilities Usage
Ionian Fervor is your main damage especially in the early/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 more mobile, you can make small trades, bait abilities by jumping in and out, but most importantly Bladesurge deals the most damage in her kit apart from Ionian Fervor. Use it to engage, to escape or to heal, but you have to focus on getting those resets!
After the nerfs/buffs/adjusts to Defiant Dance, it became more of a useless ability in my opinion.. but you can always use it to reduce AD damage which is good since you should play Irelia on top :P (if you only want to stack Ionian Fervor it's a fine use too).
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. Use Flawless Duetat it's max range, meaning, jump on minions as a gap closer to lengthen Flawless Duet.
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 2-3 people (don't waste it on only 1 if you don't need to..).
Itemization
Core items
Usually you start building Trinity Force after Tiamat starting with Phage into Sheen. But in certain matchups where I don't need minions to Bladesurge to, I simply rush Phage so I can all-in whenever I want to, because the movementspeed and AD from Phage is enough in the early laning phase to kill someone with your Ionian Fervor active.
I'd say Tiamat is mostly a oneshot tool and it helps you spam Bladesurge. I used to think it can be skipped, but it really can not be. You don't have to upgrade it right away. Build HP if you are playing against a burstier team, then your upgrade should be Titanic Hydra, or build damage/sustain against a tankier team, then your upgrade should be Ravenous Hydra.
Optional sustain items
Sterak's Gage is by far the best item for bruisers in the game in my opinion. It gives you tons of HP and AD, pops a shield everytime you get a huge burst, gives tenacity everytime it pops.. Do I need to say more?
Wit's End is an interesting item since it's rework. For Irelia, it's useful if you're playing against a heavy AP team, but unfortunately it loses usefulness against a full AD team even with it's OP healing
(I'd recommend buying Death's Dance for sustain in this case).
Death's Dance is an all time pick for me. I really like what it gives to you. Delayed damage and 33% healing from AA and abilities.. How could I say no to this?!
This is the best sustain item against burst.
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 (also, the bonus 100 damage and slow implementation on-hit is pretty useful too).
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
Sunfire Aegis is purely for tankiness. When you're lacking damage and you have to build tanky, Sunfire Aegis is a good choice (build Titanic Hydra first, so you don't lose damage that way).
Poke (with basic mostly) between every minion you take.
If you have Conqueror stacked up, you should go in for a trade. You win everytime with Ionian Fervor.
The basics of top lane is understanding the matchup. Meaning, you have to figure out what do you want to do in the first 5 minutes. Say you're laning against a Jax. You want to start with Flawless Duet 'cuz his lv1 is stronger because of his Counter Strike. That way, you can take CS from the first waves.
If you killed your opponent, push the wave or kill him again if he Teleports back (keep Ionian Fervor stacked up)
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
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