i also agree with the bad choice of ruby crystal for two reasons. 1 not as mu survivablity early game like dorans shield and 2. i ran outta mana so much and lost so many kills early it pissed me right off. that being said the irst game using this build we had an afk so i had to solo against jax and nidalee and we won. my score was 11/6/12 and we had a KSing sona. so with all the terrible things happening to me i could still easily solo and 2v1 against their team and sometimes 3v1 against their squishies. made em rage really bad. i think that is is a nice build for a REALLY powerful late game. but my love for epic irelia early is my love. so imma say awesome build but its not for me. also not too good for beginner irelias cause u need to know how to play her well to survive and still dish out the damage needed. only thing i advise you to change would be the ruby crystal to either dorans shield or sapphire crystal
+1

i would go for boots of speed as an starting item. Maybe skilling equilibrium strike over bladesurge, especially if you dont get ad. But +1
Ps: i would think about getting trinity a bit earlier
pps: you may want to read my guide too:http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/irelia-solotop-to-victory-97014

Why do all people like to buy 2 gold items for irelia? I think that if you rush trinity, you will be much stronger and will be able to get kills which means you will have more gold.

So why buy gold items and waste early game gold on items that won't make you stronger except after about 25 minutes?

Your lane opponent will force you to B really early with a starting ruby crystal. You either need something with built in sustainability (doran's shield, regrowth pendant) or something that is cheap enough that it lets you get potions to help with sustainability (boots, cloth armor, sapphire crystal).

Ruby crystal is only OK if your lane opponent doesn't harass you at all. And if they see you start with a ruby crystal, they should be harassing the pants off of you.

Oinorite?

xD

Regen pendent > ruby cristal as starting item , i get a philosopher stone instead of the 1st HoG.
Randuin and Banshee are great but are sometimes not enough , thormail and FoN are sometimes necesary.
Beside that , Irelia vulnerable to cc ? LOL?.
Pretty good build .

Equilibrium > Bladesurge all day. Where your damage comes.

My 2 cents.

Irelia is a great farmer and doesn't really need two HoGs, unless you are going to roam lanes and provide support while other teammates level...in which case take a support character...

If you build bladsurge first and use it effectively to last hit, you can farm a whole wave of minions in no time cause it will always be off CD. The only times it wont be is when you are harassing your opponent with it.

I feel like this build ends up in the right places, but does not take the most effective path to get there.

If you dont agree with Ruby just leave your opinions. We may change it. The ruby is there just for a fast Heart of Gold. And since W get some life to irelia i usually dont need a dorans shield or something like that.

mercs + passiv will give u enough (u forgot these?) - banshees just good for hp/mp, if u fight vs skilled player they know how to get your shield off ;) but with passiv + mercs they cant get u :P (had it often enough)

would get randuins before banshees, then trinity, cause u dont really need any items after these 2 when u keept a good farm

i buy stone and heart, so i can farm very long, and i dont need mp/5 runes - cdr rocks (utli)

but if u go good with this build u should keep fighting on!

The ruby crystal in the beginning is okay for me, since the defence mastery will help in reducing damage...irelia needs to build fast so i tried the heart of gold first and it worked, except that I added in my own items...