Irelia Build Guide by IggyJosh

Introduction

Hey guys, this is IggyJosh here for my first guide, ever! This guide is on (Whom I main, if you couldn't of already guessed!). I will be showing you guys all about Irelia! This is a sort of in-depth guide (The best of my ability!) And I hope you all enjoy!

Pros + Cons

Pros

+ Good escape with Bladesurge
+ Great farmer
+ Nice stun/slow with Equilibrium Strike
+ Can deal lots of damage while still being very tanky
+ Excellent crowd control during teamfights with Ionian Fervor
+ Has most tools anyone could want for a 1v1
+ Her Hiten Style heals more and does extra true damage when activates

Cons

- VERY item dependent
- Early game usually determines how well you will do in the end
- Not very good without Hiten Style
- Horrible early game

Runes

Greater Mark of Attack Damage I take these for damage output so you can kill you foes easier.

Greater Seal of Armor The seals of armor are for the extra survivability in lane and for an easier early game.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist Again, like the armor seals this is for extra survivability and for an easier early game.

greater quintessence of armor penetration This is so you can get those pesky armor stackers out of the way and dead quicker :)

Masteries

As Irelia this is the only good way to make the masteries. 9-21-0. Getting to Weapon Expertise gives you the much needed 8% armour penetration. And getting Tenacious is wonderful because it stacks with Ionian Fervor and the Zephyr meaning it can give you 75% Tenacity (maxed out). Then I just try to get as much damage reduction as possible so you can very easily win 1v1's.

Item Choices

These starting items are very common and I always build this first.



These are the mid games items I build on Irelia. I know most Irelia players try and rush Trinity Force. I think this is a good item on her but not as good as the choices I have listed on this build.

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Phage is for the slow proc and the health and the attack damage! I love having the Vampiric Scepter for the 10% life steal which is amazing with the passive of Hiten Style.

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The Stinger is for, well, obviously the attack speed which lets you burst down opponents with ease with your Bladesurge and Hiten Style but this is also for the cooldown reduction.

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Ninja Tabi for a heavy ad team or Mercury's Treads for the heavy ap team.



These are the core items. Frozen Mallet is wonderful on Irelia. The slow proc that slows no matter what is wonderful when your Equilibrium Strike is on cooldown.

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The The Bloodthirster is a wonderful item on Irelia as well. The life steal and the Hiten Style passive means insane life steal. Full health in a few minions hits! Also, the attack damage is great on her.

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Lastly, Zephyr is as well a wonderful item on Irelia. The attack speed helps with your burst even more. The 20 attack damage is a nice touch. The movement speed from it is great. It helps you get away if you ever need or chase down slowed enemies from the Frozen Mallet. Lastly, the Tenacity is AMAZING! With her passive and that if you have 3 enemies you get to 75% Tenacity !! (Unless you go Mercury's Treads



These are the defensive items I feel you should choose from. These items ARE situational. First up we have Atma's Impaler I don't normally get atma's impaler, but when I do, I get it with Warmog's Armor (Welcome to the league of Atmog's!). Yea, only get this if you want to make use of the passive... Otherwise the small armor amout of armor (45) isn't very good...

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Secondly we have Guardian Angel I totally recommend this item if their apc or adc or anymore for that matter bursts you down! The revive is nice, the magic resist is nice, and so is the armor.

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Thirdly we have our Randuin's Omen I cannot tell anyone how much I LOVE this item! The slows, the armor, and the health make you an unstoppable fighting machine!

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Fourthly we have the Warmog's Armor Welcome to the league of Warmog's! Well, I disagree, I normally don't pick this item up because Randuin's Omen is SOOOOO much better. It gives 1000 health and a good amount of health regen. This is nice, but not very effective with Irelia. Like I said with Atma's Impaler only get this WITH Atma's Impaler.

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And last but definitly not least, we have Mercurial Scimitar This is a wonderful item if you go and grab Randuin's Omen You will, with both of these items take like no damage! Trust me, this item is not just for the magic resist, but is also for the damage! Jesus, will you get TONS of damage with this in your build! You will burst down your opponent's like they are nothing and take NO damage! Amazing!

Skill Sequence

Max out Hiten Style by level 9, for the extra damage. Max out Bladesurge by level 13, again for the damage. And lastly, since Equilibrium Strike always has a slow/stun, max it out last. Reasoning behind getting Bladesurge then Equilibrium Strike then Hiten Style Well, Bladesurge is the main way you farm (I will get to farming later) and by level 2 you want Equilibrium Strike just in case the enemy is very aggressive, just stun and mind your own business until they are low.
I realize this one is shorter than most, but only because there isn't too much to explain here.

Farming

Farming with Bladesurge:

Farming with Bladesurge is very easy. Just wait until the minion is low and then jump on them with your Bladesurge it will refresh and give you mana so you don't lose tons of mana. This is good if you are against a very aggressive opponent and they just don't let you get farm but as Irelia you need farm! (just like everyone else.) You can just Bladesurge on and Bladesurge away and take no damage and get possibly 2 farm! If your Bladesurge is on cooldown just focus on last hitting. If you are horrible at last hitting, then you can practice versus bots.

Lane counters (A-J, only top laners) [REST COMING SOON]

Difficulty = medium

Akali can be very annoying if played right and can deny Irelia farm. Pre-9 Irelia is horrible versus Akali. But once you get to 9 you can win. You just have to go Bladesurge to a nearby low minion then on to her and do your combo Hiten Style -> Equilibrium Strike


Difficulty = coming soon

Believe it or not, I have never played against a Cho'Gath


Difficulty = Hard

Man, is playing against a Darius hard. Fist of all his Apprehend is really annoying and he can just Decimate and bring you really low and then just Crippling Strike and Noxian Guillotine and boom, you are dead. Please, just please only go in if you are really ahead or your jungler is there.


Difficulty = medium

Fiora is 'eh' to play against. You both have dashes but, her Lunge can be used twice even when not killing an enemy but your Bladesurge refreshes and refunds mana after a kill with it. Although the dashes are almost equal, I feel Hiten Style is ALOT better than Riposte Even though Riposte gives you ad and the damage reflect on it is good, Hiten Style gives you more lane sustain and gives you extra sustain and true damage when activated.


Difficulty = Easy

Gangplank is a very easy lane. UNLESS And I repeat UNLESS you have a HORRIBLE early game. Just stay tight till level 9 or so and you will dominate, no way for him to win once you are level 9. Advice is, BE PASSIVE AND ONLY FARM BEFORE LEVEL 9. If you follow these insanely easy rules, you will win lane HARD.


Difficulty = Hard

You will lose against a Garen No denying. Even though your late game is boss, Garen has both a boss early and boss late game. You are completely screwed early on. Just sit back in the back of exp range and try to get some farm with your Bladesurge if possible. If you ever get in a fight with Garen use your Hiten Style ASAP! If you don't Garen will use his Decisive Strike and silence you and you will be useless. Just, please don't try to play against a Garen.


Difficulty = Hard

Jax is hard but not impossible to win against in lane. If he can land his Counter Strike stun during a fight, you are dead. Jax as well has his passive, Relentless Assault and his ulti, Grandmaster's Might This is very hard to play against because he constantly get increased attack speed and does extra magic damage every 3 hits. This easily determines fights. My advice is to try and dodge his Counter Strike stun sweep.


Difficulty = medium

Jayce is sort of hard to play against but only if he is a good Jayce. A good Jayce can deny farm with his Shock Blast and keep you away from him. Even if you get close he can just Thundering Blow you away from him. But this is only if that Jayce knows how to play him. Otherwise it should be an easy lane with him missing his Shock Blast and what not. Advice I have for playing a good Jayce is that you should try to farm with your Bladesurge sometimes and try to stay in exp range. If you get in an encounter just Equilibrium Strike him and walk away.