With this guide I hope to share all that i've learned thus far down my path to mastering Illaoi. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions, constructive criticism, and discussions!

This is a work in process and not finished.

Q

Tentacle Smash ✦ Most common/standard starting skill picked. Illaoi's Tentacle Smash deals decent aoe damage and is a great medium range poking tool. ✦ At level 1 Tentacle Smash can be used to last hit the first 3 melee minions at once if the lane is in a neutral state, meaning minion health pools are even. If the enemy is rushing level 2, minion health pools may be unequal. Sitting at 100% mana doesn't do you much good, while saving mana is crucial with Illaoi, you can use Tentacle Smash to secure the first three minions at once and with proper mana manipulation, regain the lost mana in a short while. If you're assisting with a leash and are late to lane you may find Tentacle Smash helps secure the first 3 cs. ✦ Depending on your champion matchup, a level one poke may be needed to keep enemy champs from engaging in all ins or for example keeping Way of the Wanderer from filling up, giving Yasuo better trade capabilities. But with Illaoi being quite mana dependent, you won't be spamming Tentacle Smash at lower levels.

W

Harsh Lesson ✦ Never forget about your passive. Before minions even clash you should be conscious of where your tentacles are being spawned. If you're helping your jungler leash, you can set up two tentacles paired with taking Harsh Lesson first, which procs tentacle slams on your target. With well placed tentacle spawns, you'll deal more damage than you would had done by only hitting with Tentacle Smash. Especially with Harsh Lesson's 4 second cooldown, you get more usages off in time while using less mana. The goal is to be back in lane as soon as possible, helping your jungler get his first large monster kill quickly is beneficial for you as well. ✦ Also useful in level 1 cheeses (hiding in a bush waiting for enemies to mistakenly facecheck when they return from leashing), but remember, if they kite you away from your tentacles, you'll greatly drop off in damage. Grab Harsh Lesson if you have at least two well placed tentacle spawns where opponents will have difficulty escaping at least 2 uses such as choke points and through funnels as you bait them backwards.

E

Test of Spirit ✦ Lastly and the most unlikely choice is Test of Spirit. At level 1 it's difficult to deal enough damage to kill a spirit and proccing a slow on the enemy along with painting them as a target for tentacle slams from Prophet of an Elder God. You may want to consider grabbing Test of Spirit when an enemy team is invading your team's jungle and you're looking to contest them. Grabbing a spirit can help secure the kill when the enemy tries to run from the level 1 engagement and leaves the spirit's range, resulting in being slowed thus giving your team the time to close in, finishing them off. They must run a fair amount of distance away from the spirit for the slow to proc, hence why I suggest it only if they have a long run back to safety. Long enough where your team can close in and remain on target to finish the player off.

W

Tentacle Smash → Harsh Lesson ✦ Harsh Lesson is the more common second pick. It's still difficult to kill Test of Spirit's spirit fast enough at level 2, thus the mana to damage ratio is much better. ✦ Harsh Lesson has a few uses. First it can be used to reset your auto attack by casting it immediately following an auto attack. Following this pattern you can optimize for the most damage per second output possible. ✦ It can also be used to help close down on enemies who are running away and don't have an escape skill or an available flash. Of course, it also helps in secure creep score! ✦ Lastly, depending on your runes, if you're running Grasp of the Undying, grabbing Harsh Lesson early lets you start proc-ing the rune by quickly jumping to the enemy for a quick auto attack to proc the rune and peeling away immediately. Harsh Lesson counts as an auto attack in this manor.

E

Tentacle Smash → Test of Spirit ✦ The vessel from Test of Spirit can be difficult to kill alone at level 2. I don't suggest it unless your opponent is pushing hard and you can freeze by your turret. You can use your turret to attack the pulled spirit. ✦ You can also use it when your enemy is pushed in lane at the edge of your turret and your jungler is coming for a gank. Aim to use Test of Spirit as soon as it looks like they are about to turn and make a run for the protection of their own turret. This helps guarantee a slow when the enemy is out of spirit range early enough to give yourself and your jungler time to kill them. If the enemy is running, don't attack the spirit at level 2. Gauge the distance they have to cover while slowed and deal damage directly to them. Remember at level 2 you won't be doing enough damage to kill the spirit fast enough, so we use it as a slow instead.

E

Harsh Lesson → Test of Spirit ✦ The vessel from Test of Spirit can be difficult to kill alone at level 2. I don't suggest it unless your opponent is pushing hard and you can freeze by your turret. You can use your turret to attack the pulled spirit. ✦ You can also use it when your enemy is pushed in lane at the edge of your turret and your jungler is coming for a gank. Aim to use Test of Spirit as soon as it looks like they are about to turn and make a run for the protection of their own turret. This helps guarantee a slow when the enemy is out of spirit range early enough to give yourself and your jungler time to kill them. If the enemy is running, don't attack the spirit at level 2. Gauge the distance they have to cover while slowed and deal damage directly to them. Remember at level 2 you won't be doing enough damage to kill the spirit fast enough, so we use it as a slow instead.

Q

Harsh Lesson → Tentacle Smash ✦ In most cases you want to grab Tentacle Smash if you haven't already at level 1. It gives you ranged damage to cs against lane bullies, the ability to poke, and apply pressure with more wave clear. While Illaoi is heavily mana dependent you might want to poke with Tentacle Smash to build Conqueror stacks or maintain a high stack count between trades. Also helpful with specific champions such as poking to deactivate Garen's passive, Perseverance.

W

Test of Spirit → Harsh Lesson ✦ Having started with Test of Spirit you should be playing around your tentacle spawns. With properly placed tentacles, taking Harsh Lesson as your second skill can land you more tentacle slams on your opponent than the higher cooldown & higher mana cost Tentacle Smash. ✦ Try to predict when your melee opponent looks to step forward and take a trade with you. A well timed Test of Spirit followed up with Harsh Lesson and a small back step (baiting them forward 1 step), can line up your tentacle slams from Prophet of an Elder God not only on the spirit you grabbed but directly on your enemy who stepped forward looking to trade with an auto attack.

Q

Test of Spirit → Tentacle Smash ✦ Tentacle Smash is the all purpose safer choice. Its a skill that doesn't rely on Prophet of an Elder God's tentacles to deal out damage. Watch how your enemy moves and adapt. If they're targeting your tentacles and easily side stepping their slams, it's unlikely you'll get much use with the Test of Spirit and Harsh Lesson combo.

✦Although Illaoi is an attack damage based champion, you don't want to be simply auto attacking your foes. I don't just mean orb walking, something you should be doing anyways, instead what i'm referring to is kiting your enemies into your tentacle smashes. Often I pull off incredible feats like 1v3s because I'm constantly kiting enemies in a path that aligns and overlaps with where my tentacles will land. I try and avoid kiting perpendicular to my tentacle smashes because it's easier to dodge them this way.

✦If I can kite and avoid taking damage while my skills come off cooldown, I do so. Do not risk taking damage just to get some auto attacks in. Illaoi's tentacles are what make her so strong. I use Harsh Lesson to quickly turn direction, often duping enemies and quickly walking away letting me get out of their auto attack range if they're not quick enough with a retaliation attack.