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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Flash
Exhaust
Ability Order
Ionian Fervor (PASSIVE)
Irelia Passive Ability
Introduction and a Brief Primer on Irelia
Introduction to the Guide
Welcome to the guide! I won't spend much time talking about myself, and will rather elaborate on the fashion of the guide. This guide has a lot of text; the amoutn of information in this guide is probably a little bit intimidating at first. However, the way this guide was designed is intended to be read once, and then maybe refer to the character match-ups on a later date.
The item section is rather large, and that's because Irelia can utilize a lot of items because of how bloated her kit is. I try to explain what core builds Irelia uses, and then I offer a gamut of items than Irelia typically uses and my opinions on them (usually backed with a fact or two). Also, this guide suggests item combos to use; this lets you tailor your Irelia build to your playstyle and the situation.
Perhaps the most interesting portion of this guide is the solo-top section. It's a relatively long list (about 50 champions!) of characters that could go solo top and Irelia's intended goal against these champions. I also include a match-up score to show you the difficulty in each match-up (which I find more informative than coloring champions orange, yellow, red, and green).
Eventually, this guide will include videos of myself playing Irelia in various scenarios. I'll update this guide and post relevant videos and pictures once my premade team gets a bit more consistent.
Note: Current pictures are rather bleh; I'm more concerned with getting out information ATM rather than images; I'll consult a graphic designer later to fix this issue.
Introduction to Irelia
Irelia is a dominant champion in top lane, in both 1v1 and 2v1 scenarios. She's able to build relatively tanky while outputting good damage, and this allows her to fit well in the current tanky DPS metagame and find a place on a team regardless of ELO. Early-game, Irelia has some of the strongest sustain because of her natural healing from


However, Irelia does struggle against some matches. For example, Irelia is dominated by

Masteries
For Irelia's purposes, it's rather clear that the offense tree and defense tree are extremely strong and the utility tree seems rather lackluster. But, there are a few options that Irelia has. I prefer these two mastery sets:
Suggested Runes
Irelia's runes are relatively standard for a tanky DPS. There is some room for altering, but I wouldn't deviate too far from these choices.
greater mark of desolation is chosen for damage. As a tanky DPS and a solo top, Irelia will often be contesting against other tanky DPSes in top lane. Armor Pen is the best option against them to do damage. An interesting option for those Irelias preferring to maximize on-hit abilities could mix 5 greater mark of desolation with 4




greater quintessence of desolation is the default choice for Irelia for reasons already mentioned. However, there are some other options for this slot. You could elect to use


Suggested Summoner Spells
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Exhaust is an incredible summoner spell. Not only does it slow the target (allowing you to proc a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Although it has been slightly nerfed, Flash is still good for mobility purposes. Flash allows Irelia to jump over walls and make escapes--and chases--that would otherwise would be impossible. It also allows you to recover to a good position when you find yourself overextended from farming poorly with ![]() |
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Some individuals like to take teleport when they solo top. This is usually for champions that have to recall relatively often and can teleport back to their turrent to minimize EXP and lane pressure loss. Irelia, however, is extremely sustainable in top lane as soon as you get Philosopher's Stone. This sustainability is exponentially increased when you finish ![]() |
You could elect to use another summoner spell, but I believe that these prior mentioned spells are the most viable for Irelia. Like runes and masteries, summoner spells can be switched according to the player's preference.
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Irelia's passive is what allows her to be a phenomenal off-tank. Not only does it stack with Mercury Threads, but it can be used to psuedo-scout bushes. Ionian Fervor only buffs Irelia when nearby champions are relatively close; it does not matter if they are invisible or visible. Because of this, if you keep watchful eye on your buff, you can notice if it rises or falls. If an enemy ![]() |
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At first glance, many Irelia players wonder why you wouldn't max Irelia's E early. Simply put, Equilibrium strike has poor scaling (0.5 AP ratio). Beyond this, the only AP that most Irelia players get comes from their ![]() ![]() |
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Irelia's ultimate serves more of a utility purpose rather than a burst purpose. Because of its relatively short cooldown, you can use your ultimate to heal off of minions when you find yourself getting harassed a tad too much. It also farms relatively well because it does not decrease in damage based off of how many minions it goes through. In team fights, Irelia's ultimate usually serves as either a pre-fight harass tool or a way to kill runners when ![]() |
One of Irelia's greatest strengths is the variety of builds that she can adapt to in order to fit a given situation. Usually, this is simply a question of whether to max



Hiten Style -- Maximizing Defense First
As prior noted, Irelia's W is the reason she's able to maintain a good amount of damage while remaining relatively tanky. However, to maximize the benefits of both the heal-per-hit and true damage, we have to find a balanced core that gives armor, magic resist, and attack speed. Thankfully, Irelia can find both of these--and more!--in the relatively inexpensive core of



When maxing W first, we make


What do these two items offer together as a core? Irelia not only will proc her



In general, you choose to max

Bladesurge -- Maximizing Burst First
When you begin maxing Q first, you're making Q less farm friendly because you're increasing its mana cost. In return, you're getting a much stronger gap closer which enables Irelia to harass harder. So, if we're maxing





Of course, your







Unlike maxing W, it's a good idea to level your



Starting Items




























Early Game Items/Making Your Core
Philosopher's Stone is Irelia's early-game goal, regardless of what build you elect to do. The quicker you can make it, the quicker (and longer!) you can benefit from it's GP/10 effect. In addition, Philo Stone offers Irelia some much needed mana regen and health regen; this allows her to farm with her









Transitioning to Mid-game/A Brief Discussion of Boots
Between finishing your early core and making your


There's not really much options in terms of boots, but I'll discuss what I commonly see on other players.
Mercury Treads are usually the best choice for Irelia. Tenacity on its own is a great effect, but it also stacks with Irelia's









Berserker Greaves may be a tempting option because of how well Irelia's build can synergize with attack speed. However, there are items that add to Irelia's bulk and still grant attack speed, such as


Mid-game Items




Although this is not typical on an Irelia build, I'd like to mention checking and seeing if your support has bought an


Finishing Up Your Build
At this point, you've built Trinity Force and may or may not have a few luxury items. Now that Irelia's core is done,you have to build according to the enemy team comp. There's a few items that synergize well with eachother and/or Irelia, so I'll list those items as pairs.

















Randiun's Omen isn't a bad item in its own right. CDR is a welcomed stat for Irelia, and most items that Irelia builds do not add CDR. The health, armor, and health regen aren't too bad, either. However, because of its active and passive effects Omen is an exceptional anti-AD item. My issue with Randiun's Omen's active is it required you to be the one targeted, and even then the chance to proc is relatively low (20%). The active is strong, but not everyone uses the active portion (we've all seen people buy [Zhonya's Hourglass] and never use its active). For those individuals looking to be anti-AD and get CDR, another viable option is:



Sunfire Cloak is an interesting choice and it actually synergizes rather well with Irelia. Because she'll likely be slowing opponents, building HP, and jumping close to kill, Sunfire's passive does work on Irelia. The humble HP bonus Sunfire gives can aid your damage somewhat. However, if you were wanting an HP item that gave you armor, why wouldn't you just grab an Omen instead?
Sample Endgame Builds
Standard Irelia Build:





Atmogs Irelia Build:





GP/5 Irelia Build: Radiun's Omen,




MR-Based Irelia:




Armor-Based Irelia:




7-3: Irelia wins 7 out of 10 against the opposing champion. These are match-ups where Irelia has a significant advantage and it either requires a large mistake by her or a lack of skill for Irelia to lose her lane. A good example of a 7-3 match-up would be Teemo vs. Tryn.
6-4: Irelia wins 6 out of 10 games against the opposing champion. These are relatively balanced match-ups, but Irelia has some part of her kit that at least soft counters an opponent. Good example of a 6-4 match-up would be Malphite vs. Gangplank.
5-5: A balanced match-up. These are match-ups that could go either way dependent on players' decisions, builds, and item choices.
Likewise, 4-6 and 3-7 match-ups exist, but those are just converses. I prefer this system simply because it's a little bit more informative than, "Green means easy, red means hard."
That being said, let's begin:























































































































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