it's at start game that yasuo is at his weakest, so taking a mix of defensive and offensive runes will help to make up for this. in early laning you want to use yasuo's E to dart around through the minion wave, keeping you're opponent from landing heavy damage during trades. after you get yasuo's Q, you can use a QE combo to either get off some quick harass by dashing and poking through the minion wave then dashing back out of harms way, or doing a mid-dash spin to clear waves faster. remember to always hang back and keep moving to charge you're passive shield, which can help you win trades with almost no damage taken.

yasuo's burst damage is HUGE when played effectively, so by mid to late game, you should be roaming, looking to pick up kills for your team. in a 1v1 situation, leading with and spamming your Q in between basic attacks will burn your opponents very quickly. save you're E and R for when you're opponents attempts to run, or to dish out a finishing blow. in team fights, you want to use your R as soon as possible, as it applies a huge penetration buff. start by dashing between opponents, using your Q at the end of each dash to build your knock up, then target the enemy squishies and burn them with your R. after this enemy tanks will fall quickly to your armor penetration steroid, allowing you to mop up the fight. finally, yasuo excels in chases, both chasing and being chased. when chasing in lane use your E to quickly catch up to enemies by dashing through the minion wave, and when being chased use your W to block skillshots and once your passive shield is charged turn to burst down the enemy, allowing you to easily demolish half their health or more before your shield is gone.

aside from starting items, you should be building into a static shiv, phantom dancer combo IMMEDIATELY! with this combo complete (usually around level 9) every attack you land will be a critical hit, and will allow your Q to crit every time, so you should be using it as often as possible. after this building into wit's end will give your already insane attack speed an even greater boost, as well as add magic damage, to help bypass enemy armor. after this you should build mercury treads / ninja tabi. from here you can build last wisper or trinity force, for better burst damage, bloodthirster or thornmail, for damage and sustain, or guardian angel or randuin's omen, for better sustain in team fights.

yasuo's skills allow him to play in any lane effectively, though his skills are often situational. it top lane he can burst down tanky enemies, and block skillshots with his W, and escape using his E, allowing him to dominate the lane. in mid lane he can out-trade most champions if played correctly, using essentially the same tactics. in bot lane yasuo play's an excellent bruiser support, allowing him to block off shots from the enemy adc to allow risk free trades, and can close the distance to ranged enemies very quickly, to deal great damage, allowing for your adc to easily mop up kills. while yasuo is not a very proficient jungler, as his initiation relies on a knock up, or is very close range, and he has no sustain except for his passive shield, he can still counter jungle extremely well, with a fast move speed and fast clear times. over all, yasuo is a laner, not a jungler.

first and foremost, yasuo is a squishy champion, so he plays an extreme risk/reward gameplay. he thrives at the heart of a battle, but is also at his most vulnerable. another noteworthy tip is yasuo is entirely situational, where if he's playing on a team with no knock ups, it can be very hard to lead with your ultimate, meaning a lower damage output overall, is W can only block projectiles and skillshots, meaning AOE teams and melee focused enemies render the W useless, and yasuo is ruined by CC, as all of his abilities can be canceled by a well timed CC effect.