Warning: This guide features some graphic language that may be offensive to some. Viewer discretion is advised.

Yorick is an awesome Dominion champ, hands down one of the best (if not the best) pushers and team carriers in League of Legends. I've been experimenting with him a lot and he's been the first character I've switched to since I've been avidly playing Talon over the past month. The amazing part was that as soon as I pick this guy up, it was instant domination... For real. I've been getting double digit kills with low deaths and topping my team in the top three like it's no body's business.

This guide's going to break down everything you need to know about this build from why it's built like it is and how to become a successful Yorick in Dominion. Dominion is an excellent game mode and really the only game mode for Yorick to be best used. I've tried playing him in Classic and it seems that, at times, Yorick doesn't live up to his full potential. I assume it's due to him being a fast paced champion, but none the less, check out this guide. I'll be sure to keep it fresh with my words and make it both easy and fun to read with my crazy antics and harsh language. I also try to avoid too much nerdy talk. (blah blah blah...)

To give you a general idea of what you could be getting with Yorick in dominion, here's my latest match history. Obviously there's some defeats which I can't do anything about bad team mates in a blind pick. Regardless, as I will explain, you will find your self more often in the top ranks of your team. Even with bad teams I still manage to carry the whole game. It gets annoying to pick up the slack and I've been able to pull wins out of my *** but it definitely sucks. Yorick's a bad *** though. I promise you that you will enjoy every second of this champion and love the hell out of this build.

*Author's Note: Don't expect classic builds from me. I like Dominion, it's fast and since I don't have a lot of time on my hands, it's all I play.

• 16Nov2011: Updated build to new masteries (patch version 1.48.11_11_14_17_43)
• 25Nov2011: Updated Skill Breakdown for Omen of Death, Updated new masteries (patch version 1.48.11_11_14_17_43), Updated Dominion Breakdown for Omen of Death

Pros Great Carry and Pusher Excellent Tank/AD hybrid with Omen of Famine Flows well from start to finish Great harasser Can destroy squishies

Cons Easy spotlight target Non-evasive Weak to AP fighters Ability reliant Takes some getting used to

A lot of guides, I've noticed, don't feature this kind of thing but I think it's an excellent way for people to figure out who this build is good against and who to separate themselves from so that they can getting a better strategy concept in their head. Keep this in mind, it's all from personal experience and so that categories are clearly biased. Just take it in as you will with my very fancy Good/Bad chart:

Good Akali Amumu Annie Cho'Gath Dr. Mundo Evelynn Ezreal Fiddlesticks Graves Heimerdinger Karthus Kayle Lee Sin Miss Fortune Morgana Nasus Nidalee Riven Shyvana Sivir Sona Soraka Swain Talon Twitch Veigar Vladimir Warwick

Okay Alistar Anivia Brand Cassiopeia Gangplank Gragas Irelia Janna Jarvan IV Jax Karma Katarina Kennen LeBlanc Lux Maokai Master Yi Mordekaiser Olaf Poppy Renekton Ryze Shen Sion Skarner Taric Teemo Tristana Tryndamere Twisted Fate Vayne Wukong Xerath Yorick

Bad Ashe Blitzcrank Caitlyn Corki Galio Garen Kassadin Kog'Maw Leona Malphite Malzahar Nocturne Nunu & Willump Orianna Pantheon Rammus Rumble Shaco Singed Trundle Udyr Urgot Xin Zhao Zilean

So what makes a champion fit in a particular section of your bias? I thought you'd never ask. This chart is extremely easy to get to know once I break it down by the meaning of each subject of each column:

Good: These champions I have countlessly whooped on and don't even stand a chance to my Yorick build. I've never had a problem fighting them. You won't ever have to worry about these champions with this build.

Okay: These champions I have been back and forth on simply because of builds or player skill, they've been flip flopping between each game I match them in.

Bad: I've done really bad against these champions. Don't get me wrong, there's always leeway to take them down like Shaco for example who 3/16 kills were dedicated to but continued to match me back harassing me when it should be me doing the harassing! So yeah, pay special attention to these champions.

- Exhaust: This is the most popular and most useful summoner tool in Dominion simply because it lets you take a huge and easy advantage over your opponent. I suggest always having this one in any build of Yorick and, in this one, is a definite must. It's a prefect escape and chase tool especially with Omen of Pestilence.
- Garrison: Since Yorick is primarily a carry/pusher type, you'll be near turrets the whole game rather than hunting down champions, because of this you really want to be a useful champion on a guard or push on turrets. Garrison is excellent for this role simply because you can keep enemy attacks back or drop 80% damage of the enemy's turret to get a huge advantage in a push.
- Ghost / Flash: I know I'm putting these two in the same category but, let's be honest here, they both are practically the same tools just with different types of uses. You can use ghost for a hard rush or hard escape out while flash is a flush chase or quick escape. It's a personal preference on what you want to do, to be honest.


I'm not even going to break it down per batum of each spell. All I have to say is: Are you out of your mind? Status spells are pointless especially for a build like this on Yorick. These hardly heal you for a percentage that'll get you more-or-less killed in combat rather than save your life. A lot of tanks use Heal but, let's be honest, does it really help?


You probably won't ever see me with this build but these two spells can actually do some work on a push/carry end in general.
- Ignite: This will allow an easy push and get you access to an enemy turret while keeping opposing champions hiding in the spotlight. When you want to get a bunch of minions up into a danger zone, killing off as many enemy minions as possible is the way to go and this will compliment that achievement.
- Promote: Giving you a hulk minion is a perfect way of setting up a hard push. The hulk minions will allow you to take out a turret quickly while getting rid of other minions in the process; good distraction and great push compliment.

One thing I want people to understand about runes (this is particularly aimed at the lower-level cats): just because it says Greater at the beginning does not mean it's not available to you! You can still purchase a lesser version of that rune to create a similar breed of this build at your level.

(9) Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage 1.26AD per lvl (22.68AD @ lvl 18) AD balance as Pusher - compliments well with items

(9) Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction .45%CdR per lvl (8.1%CdR @ lvl 18) CdR complimented with other items is approx. 31%CdR

(9) Greater Seal of Armor 12.69 armor Tank-valued rune and good for damage nerf

(3) Greater Quintessence of Scaling Magic Resist 1.11MR per lvl (19.98MR @ lvl 18) MR runes are perfect protection against casters

Other runes you can swap for are Greater Seal of Scaling Magic Resist and Greater Mark of Desolation. You can also swap out for AP runes if you want to add more buff to your Omen of Famine which is the primary benefactor of AP in general. The swappable runes are in regards to MR and swapping AD for armor penetration. Armor penetration also deals with DPS which the higher it is the more you bypass armor dealing more damage. It's all personal preference.

As far as any other CdR or MR, the Quint and Glyph should stay where they are. You're going to need the CdR to compliment your item list and maximize your overall CdR. Greater Quintessence of Scaling Magic Resist is going to give you the best boost to MR and will help you in the long run with pushing casters and harassing. I really suggest level-oriented runes simply because they add the highest buffs over time and, most of the time, you'll be hitting 18 pretty quick.

As of 16 November, League of Legends implemented a new mastery tree for season two which is obviously going to get interesting. I looked at it already and I thought, well there's a different variation but I found something that worked for this build all over again. DEFENSE!!! The mastery breakdown I don't feel I need to go too in depth about so I'm just going to give a general summary about it so you can understand what I'm talking about.

masteries build the foundation. You need to understand that as you start using this build. You want to establish a good setting for Yorick to bounce off from the beginning and then harness the real bad *** qualities of it as you pull late game.

This Yorick build takes an interesting twist into the skill sequence method because, if you notice from other builds, you're maxing two skills throughout your journey to 18 at the same time. This can be a gamble in some minds but I think after you read my breakdown, you'll understand how effective this really is. Let's start with the sequence:



Getting to know this sequence, you'll understand that before your ult becomes available you'll have to points in Omen of Pestilence which will allow you to utilize a pretty manageable amount of its capabilities as you max out Omen of War and Omen of Famine. At first, you're probably QQing about how only 1 point is allotted to Omen of Famine but as soon as you get your ult, it becomes a whole new game. This sequence is awesome as well because it's very versatile in the sense that you can bounce between war and famine in which ever variation you become more familiar with depending on how your game goes. At times you'll find me popping a couple points into Omen of Famine before I jump into war simply because duty calls for it. It all depends on your comfort zones and how the game is forming.

Getting to Know Your Skills



I want you to digest this information about this skill before you check out the other skills and put it in the back of your mind when you're trying to do some math on what this build does. Ghoul summons deal 35% of Yorick's AD output and have 35% of his health, okay? Well I could care less about that to be honest as long as they're doing something. The part that I care about is the lower portion of the description. Yorick takes 5% less damage and deals 5% more damage for each summon active. So, in a fight, having all 3 skills active with 3 ghouls in total summoned is an awesome percentage of 15% damage reduction and damage output increase. Now, hold that in your head while you read on.



Your masterpiece in dealing a massive amount of damage, Omen of War will be your best friend as you learn the ropes of its capabilities. The spectral ghoul that pops out when you hit a target adds faster damage input than that of a pestilence ghoul from Omen of Pestilence but doesn't last near as long. The idea behind this is for a quick hit, to give you a good idea is Poppy's Devastating Blow in the sense of an immediate hard hitter that keeps enemies back and you begging for more. The best part that Poppy lacks is our little CdR bumps we've been adding to Yorick right from the get-go.

To give you an idea, you attack an opponent with Omen of War, the spectral ghoul that summons will automatically attack that same target. You are already dealing an addition 150 damage (@ skill lvl 5 - 30/60/90/120/150) and the ghoul adds as a fast acting DOT (damage over time) adding increased damage. By level 18 you should have accumulated items up to Trinity Force which means you're delivering a guaranteed 210 damage. Do the math:

210 + bonus damage( Omen of War = 252) + 150 + 40(ghoul) + 35% of bonus damage(88)
Total Damage in one second = 740!?!

Yeah, 740. That's not including the math behind armor penetration and AP boosts. Obviously it's not a rock-solid number but look at the raw number - holy ****. With CdR bonuses and all you're looking at delivering this every 2.5-3 seconds.



The very famous among Yorick users is Omen of Pestilence and a lot of builds will probably max this guy out simply because it deals 200 immediate damage + 100% AP bonus with a decaying ghoul but also slows the enemy down. I know, it's really a great tool for success but at level 2 while your bumping War and Famine, 95 damage with AP boosts from items, runes and masteries, you can settle for a pretty solid chase tool. Plus, by level 18 it's capped anyways so what's there to complain about?



The beauty in the beast is Omen of Famine. Hands down, my favorite skill and you'll learn why as you get familiar with Yorick. AP boosts will allow this skill to heal you to about 70 at base plus ghoul damage. Oh, yeah, you also get bonus AD to that heal to so um... Drop Omen of War then Omen of Famine to add more bonus AD which accumulates to an even bigger heal - not to mention AP boosts. Just saying, you get healed and easy 20-30% of health back per use depending on the effectiveness of your ghoul and Spirit Visage adds to self heal as well. ******** I love this skill. You just don't understand till you use it!



I call Omen of Death a "chaser" in relevance to alcohol. By this I mean when you hit a shot of Jack straight, you're going to want to chase that boy with something light so your throats not hurting from that lovely burn. This is, of course, unless you've got the drunk confidence to take on the world then my analogy was completely pointless. Anyways, this is your skill you want to use to shift battles. There will be times when you'll find yourself losing battles (I know, shocker). Omen of Death plays great in this situation so that you can drop it and create a decoy of yourself that will deal up to 75% of your normal AD. This is awesome with your skill stacks you're probably already spamming. The best part, to me, is if you end up dying and your decoy is still alive, you come back for vengeance before you need to respawn. (this is temporary)

To start off any Dominion game, you want to establish a good combination of cheap items that will get you flowing off in a good position. A lot of people invest in potions and what-not but I'm not that type that wants to spend extra mouse time to activated anything in my items list. Passives are your best friend! The Prospector's Blade and Boots combination is a very cliche combo for a lot of champions but for a good reason. Using the life steal off the blade will keep you in good hands throughout the game while you save your gold for Sanguine Blade. The Boots are simply there to give you a good point to get to where you need to go as fast as everyone else. Do not invest in expensive boots of the bat. You want some extra damage to counter other fighter classes from the beginning.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity 15% cooldown reduction. Enhanced movement 2. These boots are essential for a champion that needs CdR. This is essential when you're building up that CdR credit as I mentioned in previous chapters. The main goal from the start is to establish CdR and get some pretty decent AD going before you start investing into more bling.


The Brutalizer 1% cooldown reduction. 25 attack damage and 15 armor penetration. A simple add-on to the CdR strategy I've been carving out for you since the beginning. Since you got movement speed out of the way, now it's time to get you working on your AD and there's nothing better than The Brutalizer to touch a last finish to your CdR meter while establishing some damage. Perfect early game item.


Sheen 25 ability power and 250 mana. 100% damage increase on next basic attack when skill is used (2 sec cooldown). Sheen has substantially become a popular tool for heavy skill champion builds. I've noticed this a lot and when I first discovered it with Talon, I was unsure of it... Till I got in a battle. This **** does wonders, no doubt, and is amazing when you're doing the little Omen of War combination I mentioned earlier.

Guinsoo's Rageblade 35 attack damage, 45 ability power. On attack or spellcast you get 4% attack speed and 6 ability power for 5 seconds (stacks 8 times). I discovered the mischief this causes with Yorick by experimenting in a couple games and how well it works with Omen of Famine. This is the first upgrade I will suggest anyone who plays Yorick to invest in simply because of the AP that Yorick needs and you won't be spending too much time investing gold into items that do just that since he's very AD-oriented. That's why a hybrid item like this that stacks is a key essential to the success of this build.

Spirit Visage 250 health, 30 magic resist. 10% CdR and 15% increased self-heals. You're going to need a little bit more of a defensive means by that time you're able to buy Spirit Visage and that's where this comes in amazingly well. With the MR and CdR it compliments really well with the base stats you want to buff Yorick. The 15% increase for self-heals and vamp spells is what I really wanted to focus on simply because this increase makes Omen of Famine even more useful and makes you a stronger tank.



Upgrading your items is essential for any champion and, in this case, these three items are perfect upgrades to Prospector's Blade, The Brutalizer and Sheen. They all will increase all stats necessary for Yorick and will make you a freakin' boss by late game. Yorick is an excellent finisher if well-equipped and, with these three items, you'll be an unstoppable force; without a doubt.

Dominion is a very insane map when you break it down by its three sections: top, middle and bottom. Each of these three sections play into each other and have all sorts of different strategies between each. You'll find yourself bouncing between these three sections at times when the game calls for it and you'll never find yourself using the same strategy like you would in Classic where it's lanes and jungle. It's a fast-paced track full of ridiculous situations and you never know which way the game will go between you and the opposing team.





Going top from the beginning usually involved you and 3 other champions to bust down the other opposing 4 champions that will be challenging you. At first it will only be three of you reaching the top as the other will capture the mid point then come up as a reinforcement. The same applies to the other team so you need to be attentive as far as how many and who is challenging that capture point. Yorick is an excellent harasser but don't get too cocky, early game he can't take too much of a punch so just harass with Omen of Pestilence and Omen of Famine to weaken the other team while your assassin and tanks take them out. When you find champions under 30% health then you drop in for an easy kill. Usually, if you play it right, you'll guarantee one kill from the top. Make sure you keep your distance and don't become the spotlight champion and you'll do fine.


Going middle is basically the same strategy as the top but you'll be arriving late so it all depends on which way the battle is going:
Your team's favor: This is an easy clean up. Same strategy as mentioned before where you just harass and take easy kills.
Other team's favor: I've never been in a situation where even if the enemy clears my team they're all above 50% health. From this point, you can probably rack a couple kills and get out of there. Make sure you focus on one primary target and drop Omen of War then Omen of Famine. At this point they'll start running into the group so that they can get back up - drop Omen of Pestilence and you'll slow them while you have a speed boost and clear their name. You can do this between all champions but make sure you're spamming Omen of War as soon as that cooldown clears. This is your lifeline since Omen of Famine is only at level 1 it won't be as effective. Also use garrison if they've captured the point so you will take 80% less damage from the tower and be able to stay in the fight. I always hated them sticking close to it.


Bottom has become my personal favorite with this Yorick build. You begin off capturing the first point and then you do what I like to call "Fake Farming" where basically you farm but you're keeping an eye on the opponent for an easy way to knock them out and get the advantage push to cap the other point. Usually most champions that go bottom are pretty squishy though I have gone against Dr. Mundo who's too easy. Keep your distance from casters as they're going to try and drop your health as much as they can during the time you look for an opening. My suggestion is pretend you're fearful of them and kind of run from them as they get close. They never catch the bluff and once you get them beyond your minions you drop Omen of Pestilence then Omen of War and use Omen of Famine for extra damage bumps. You can clear spell casters like Vladimir in a matter of seconds and just in time before they can run. If your pestilence proc drops then you can use Exhaust. The goal is to get rid of them so you can get their cap. The other team will still be busy trying to pull top and you are easily guaranteed the bottom spot if your opponent gets stupid.

You can easily harass as well with Omen of Pestilence keeping them backing up. Remember once you get them on their capture point do not be afraid to push! Kill incoming minions to get the support from your own and once you get the support from your minions, you can push that cap point, let the tower focus on your minions drop Garrison and kill the enemy champion. You're a guaranteed win, I've never had an issue yet.

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Early game is an essential role for Yorick as he's a very useful champion for your team to gain an advantage. Primarily at this point, you're more of a harasser unless you're soloing bottom. You're role is to keep the enemy team back while your team makes an effort to push. Make sure that the enemy team is always spaced well between your team and I've often found myself keeping 2 or 3 champions back while my team captures points. A lot of players will learn that Omen of Pestilence is a real pain in the *** and they'll avoid trying to come at you as you spam in their direction. Whenever you find yourself hurting in the health department you always have Omen of Famine to keep you going. The team usually pays attention to your health bar so when you drop your skill they'll see the rise in the green and they'll cowar back. Too easy.


Late game is the most important part for Yorick. Once you've completed your item build up to Guinsoo's Rageblade, you're officially a force. You can push hard and Omen of Famine becomes a lifeline for you where you can play a tank better than most would expect. Don't ever get too cocky with Yorick, however. The most champions you can take on is 2 so when you get caught in a conflict for too long, usually the team will try to gank you. Be aware of this at all times. Be sure to bounce around the map keeping the enemy guessing where you are because, at this point, you've become a spotlight for them. Playing smart will get you both kills and capture points and win you an easy game. Find weaker champions and play gank. When you find capture points empty push hard with minions as your back up. Don't be afraid to use Omen of War to kill enemy minions as your cooldown will be about 3 seconds so you've always got it at your side. You can dispatch them with easy and get a pretty decent-sized group to help you cap a point. Minions are the best source to capturing points and I suggest using them to your advantage.

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Losing the Game: When you find yourself losing a game it's usually because your team is awful. I've found myself with quite a few stupid teams and that's usually where I have to step up to the plate. If you play right, your team will usually back you up knowing you can take a capture point. Make sure to cut off lanes reaching to various points and pay attention to the shortcuts players use to bounce between the middle capture points and top/bottom. Taking the rune in the center of the map will also help you. Play MVP and get capture points in the middle and watch where the enemy's weakest. As I mentioned earlier, you can only take on 2 champions at the most without support so be careful to how much attention you get when you push by yourself.

Pain in the ***: In every game, there's always the pain in the ***. These champions are usually a good build of Master Yi and Karthus. Make sure to invest in Thornmail instead of Spirit Visage when Master Yi is a big time harasser. The 30% return damage will shut him down like no body's business and you'll easily take advantage of the situation. This works on all types of fighter/assassin types.

Karthus and other spell casters will never be a problem for you as long as you know how to fight him. Watch his bombs and when he does kill one of your team mates and drops the world nuke, use Omen of Famine on minions or other champions. You're a self-heal so health should never be your issue in this situation. You also will have a pretty decent magic resist at this point which will limit how much damage casters do to you.

Avoiding a Gank: Gank's are very common in Dominion and, because of this, you have to be aware of your surroundings. Although I've said Yorick is not very evasive, you can still get out of sticky situations using Omen of War and Omen of Pestilence to get you out of a hole. Unfortunately the speed buff you get from war won't last very long so make sure to have Exhaust as a back up when you need to evade. Never stray to far from safety and make sure you're not between two enemy capture points without support. Yorick can't take a gank very well but using Omen of Death can definitely get some redemption.

Using your Ult: Omen of Death is not the biggest role for this Yorick build but it can definitely be used to your advantage. I've found this ability as a great 'vantage switcher when I'm seeing the combat start going against me. When you get yourself caught up in a battle you're sure of losing, drop this and add the extra damage on top of your skill stacks. At level 3, Omen of Death's decoy hits 75% of your total AD which is amazing considering how much you're already putting out. This is also a key resource when you want to rush capture points and ensure you'll stay alive. You can knock out opponents quicker using Omen of Death but just make sure you use it resourcefully when you need to decoy yourself for a quick escape or get some revenge if they do so kill you. From my experience, no one understands Yorick's ult so never use this on other teammates it's a complete waste since they aren't as resourceful as you will be.

Yorick is a key to success in Dominion and definitely a bad ***. A lot of people over look him as a good champion but, if you take the time to learn him, he's amazing. You can get vengeance, push hard and take the #1 spot on your team effortlessly once you get to know this build and you will easily fall in love with this ugly bastard. I hope this guide convinces you and have fun kickin' *** in Dominion.