Hey guys this is LOLResarchProject and Im going to give you a rundown on the Champion Yorick, The Shepard of Lost Souls. This is going to be fresh off of his rework and this is all going to be based off patch 6.19. Yorick is a bruiser top lane champion that excels at split pushing with his ultimate and ghouls. After he pushes his lane into his enemies base he groups with the team with 3 times the enemies CS. Yorick isn't the most snowbally champion in the game, but he has a solid overall amount of damage and tankyness. In this guide I will go over his basics so that you can go into champ select knowing what the champion does and what you can expect to do against the oppenent. As time passes I will add more to this guide. This is all based off of 3 days of play so the guide will get better over time and with more experience.

So... you want to play this guy... If you are new to Yorick then I will tell you why you would want to play him, what he does best, where you can play him and when to pick him. Lets get started :)

Who is Yorick?

-Yorick is a newly reworked champion that was created on June 22nd, 2011. He is a bruiser/Tank.

Why should I play him?

-Yorick is a very strong lane bully.
-Yorick has a sick new rediesign
-He is cheap.
-He plays like a juggernaut

What does he do?

-Yorick pushes his lane.
-Yorick farms up and is great at learning to CS.
-Yorick can 1v2 rather effectively with his ult.
-Yorick can be the tank and damage dealer.

Where do I play him?

-In the top lane 99% of the time.
-If you have to have a second role then play JG.

When do I pick Yorick?

-Play Yorick when your team has CC but they need a tank that can deal decent damage.

Alrighty lets get into this. So Yorick is played like a standard bruiser top laner. He takes 9 attack damage marks. These marks give hime more presence in the early laning phase and they also buff up his Q's early game. So I would go for the 9 attack marks. I you want to go all damage and cheese the enemy team, take 9 armor pen marks instead.

For the seals I would take 9 armor seals. This gives you more sustain and early resistances. Compared to the other options of health it is a no brainer especially in the top lane were majority of matchups are AD. If you are exclusively playing Yorick maybe have a page with health per level if you know you are against an AP champion/team.

For Glyphs I would go 6 scaling or flat CD runes and 3 MR Runes either per level or flat is fine. This will give you some early CRE on your abilities. Plus with Trinity Force you get 30 CDR and maybe even 40% after getting Spirit Visage later in the game. If you absolutely know you are going against an AP matchup I would either go the inverse (6 MR and 3 CDR) or go all out with 9 MR runes. If they are an early game champ go flat and if they are more for the late game go scaling MR. Another option would be AS runes but that is not good on the new Yorick. Plus you get AS from the trinity force.

For the quints I would take AD quints 10/10 times. There isn't anything else that would benefit him unless you want MS quints but that would be for a very niche thing like an Aurlion Sol top or something like that. Just take the AD. It will help early and give you a good added amount of harras in lane.

Im going to break down the Mastery tree for you guys but if you want a tl;dr, take Grasp of the undying and 12 in ferocity,

FEROCITY

Furry vs Sorcery
-Take Furry because you have more use for the added attack speed than the ability power that sorcery. This and the [Trinity Force] will actually give you a pretty good amount of AS.

Double Edged Sword vs Feast vs Expose Weakness
-Expose weakness is not very good for a top laner because you will probably have a very small amount of ganks come your way. If you are confident enough go with Double edged sword for the added damage. If you are just trying him out for the first couple of times then take feast for the added sustain throughout the game.

Vampirism vs Natural Talent
-The added AD is useful for more damage throughout the game. The added AP is also useful with your E. If you are concerned with sustain and surviving the laning phase then take vampirism.

Bounty Hunter vs Oppressor
-You are a lane bully and a tank so you will probably not have a large amount of kills so oppressor is the better way to go. Plus your E applies a slow for small amount of time and oppressor is always good to have. Also this is good for other champions on your team who also have slows.


RESOLVE:

Recovery vs Unyielding
-The recovery mastery is very good early game was a mele champion. With recovery you have increased sustainability in the early game

Explorer vs Tough Skin
-You will probably not be roaming too much because you are a top laner and your kit is more lane focused so I like to take tough skin for the added damage reduction. If you were to JG with Yorick it would maybe be viable.

Runic Armor vs Veteran Scars
-You do not have a shield in your kit so the shielding would go to waste. The added health is very good for you and your sustainablility in the laning phase.

Insight vs Perseverance
-You do not build health re-gen other than the spirit visage and the CDR on summoner spells is too good to pass up. Having flash and teleport on a lower cooldown is always good.

Swiftness vs Legendary Guardian
-Since you are a top laner, the jungle pressure isn't really focused on your lane unless you are in a pre-made. A lot of top laners have slows and movement imaring spells so this mastery is important.

Grasp of the Undying vs Strength of the Ages vs Bond of Stone
-So grasp is the best keystone for top lane bruisers because of the health it gives back and the damage it does is really good. I wouldn't take the other 2 because you are not a JG or a support.

PASSIVE - Shepard of Souls
"Yorick can rais Mist Walkers with his abilities. Enemies that die near Yorick will sometimes leave a grave."

-A large portion of Yorick's damage comes from these ghouls or "Mist Walkers".
-These are a vital part of your kit.
-Use the mist walkers with your E ability for max damage.
-Yhese ghouls are very good at killing the caster minions while you auto the melee minions if you are pushing.

Q - Last Rites
"Yorick deals bonus damage on his next auto attack and heals himself. If the target dies a grave will be dug."

-The second part of his q raises the dead from the grave where he can use them to clear waves and get damage off on enemies.
-This empowered auto attack does a very large amount of damage especially if you have Titanic Hydra.
-This is your main last hitting tool besides your regular auto attack.

W - Dark Procession
"Yorick summons a destructive wall at a target location that will block enemy movement."

-This is pretty mush a destructable wall that is cast in a circle at a target location.
-This is really good for escaping ganks when the JG is coming for you.
-This is also useful when chasing down an opponent.
-The cast range on this ability is really shot so you have to be right up in there to land it.

E - Mourning Mist
"Yorick throws a globule of Black Mist that damages, slows and marks enemies."

-This makes your ghouls pounce on the hit target. This is the only kind of "gap closer" that Yorick has. But it is only for his ghouls.
-This is slso good to set up your W. E them and then cast W while they are slowed.

R - Eulogy of the Isles
"Yorick summons the Maiden of the Mist that causes Yorick's attacks against the Maidens target to deal bonus damage. The Maiden will also automatically rise Mist Walkers from dead enemies."

-This is really got for 1v2 fight and effectively gives you more of a 2v2 chance.
-This is a really good pushing too in lane to get a tower down faster.
-You can be in en entirly different place than the Maiden and it will still push lane.
-The Maiden is a little buggy with when and where she wants to walk sometimes.

Pros

+ PROS + LANE BULLY + HIGH CS = ALOT OF GOLD + SIMPLE PLAYSTYLE + 1V9 CAPABILITIES WITH ULT + EASY LAST HIT WITH Q + GOOD TEAMFIGHT

Yorick is a HUGE lane bully against the correct matchups so you can win lane really hard if you can fight off ganks. Yorick can snowball the game from the first couple of minutes because of his ghouls. pretty mush win lane = win game..

Cons

+ CONS + LINEAR KIT + ONE COMPETITIVE PLAY STYLE + NO MOBILITY SPELLS + EASILY GANKED

Yorick can be a really straight forward champion. The enemy team will know that all you want to do is sit in lane and farm/take towers. This can cause the other team to target you early because you have zero mobility spells. If you can survive the lane phase and get decent gold you can become quite the force. .

These are the Items that I have had the most effectiveness on while playing Yorick. This is all for the 6.18 patch. He is played like a bruiser/tank and his items generally have these 4 attributes. Health, Armor, some damage, and Magic Resist. This is what makes a great tank and a great split-pusher.

Trinity Force gives you your first major power-spike of the game. With this power spike you can roam with TP, kill your lane opponent, or take top tower. With trinity force you can punish your lane opponent really hard with your autos as well as your Q. With the passive on your sheen it gives you a lot more damage in the ealy-ish game. If you are behind I would still recommend going trinity force first because any other item is just going to put you behind in lane. If you go cleaver or dead man's next you just become a CC'less tank that dosen't do any damage.

Alright, if you are going against an AP matchup go Spirit Visage. If not take this. This item gives you health, armor, movement speed, and tiny bit of damage. That iis almost everything that you could possibly want in a item for Yorick. The added move speed lets you roam if your JG is out of place and the passive lets you hit a little harder if you save it up. Of course the added health and armor aren't bad either. At this point if you are against an AD laner you should be able to take them to their tower. If you fell behind in lane then wait until you have titanic hydra to fight them.

So if you are here it looks like you are against an AP matchup. In general the AP opponents that you will be up against with be more squishy than there AD counterparts (unless its maokai). In this situation build Spirit Visage and punish them. Also if you know beforehand that you are going into an AP matchup take MR runes and win lane even harder. You can push and push after 2 items or so, and after titanic hydra you should be able to get their towers.

Hydra is going to be very good if you are ahead or just about even in lane. It will allow you yo push the wave into his tower (if they still have a top tower) and apply pressure on him. If you went negative in lane and you are in damage control mode then go with whatever item you didn't get before this. For example; if you got dead man's, get spirit visage next instead of hydra. If they are all AD then maybe look at Sunfire or Frozen Heart. If they are all AP then I'd look at getting a Banshee's Veil or GA. Buuuut if you are ahead in lane than the Hydra will provide an extra birst of damage and high pressure in lane and also in team fights.

You get these boots if they have a lot of CC or a lot of magic damage. Also if your enemy laner is AP and you aren't doing so hot then take the Merc Treds.

Take Tabi when bot lane fed super hard and they have a 8/0 ADC on their team. Also if they have a super AD comp take Tabi.

If you already have Trinity Force, Merc Treds, Dead Man's, and Spirit Visage and you need a 4th Item then GA might be for you. The Item keeps you from dying as a tank in the front lines. If you happen to be really ahead and the teams main damage dealer then you would want to get this in that case.

You can get this as a last item or as a second item if you are against a yasuo or a crit gangplank. This item lowers the damage of crits and it gives you armor and health. These are somethings that are really good on Yorick. Also if they have a crit orientated ADC on their team, get this item.

I could see how Iceborn gauntlet could be really good on Yorick. If they have an armor pen styled ADC on their team and you don't need Randuin's Omen then get this. It will apply a slow + damage to a target. It also gives CDR and armor. All of these things make Yorick more tanky, sticky and useful.

If you want the AOE damage to push lanes faster or if you want to do the Iceborn + Sunfire combo then take this instead of Dead Man's Plate. This will make your wave clear a little better and also your AOE damage will be greater.

After you have 5 items I could see this being effective against tank compositions. Also if you are super far ahead and have the game in the bag then this item would be good to become a little more tanky and do some more damage. Also the CDR is good.

If they have a stun or hook that always seems hit you then this item is for you. And if tehy are all AP get this instead of Dead Man's after Spirit Visage. This can be bough after GA or before.

If you do not want the passive on Iceborn and need more AD against a all AD or AD heavy comp, take this.

PATCH 6.19
-Nothing really about Yorick in this patch. There was not a nerf or a buff so he is still in a pretty good place right now. If you need that bruiser in the top lane I would still pick Yorick over all of the competition.