Yorick Build Guide : Yorick enters a bar, there is no counter. (SEASON 3)

Introduction

About me

I am currently hovering in the mid-Silver tiers, near the average of all players. is by far my favourite champion in ranked, and I believe he is underplayed and is probably the strongest pick for solo queue. Thanks to , I carried myself up from elo hell (900 elo and under). With , I have nearly double the wins I have in ranked with him than losses. I've won around 85% of lanes with him, only losing due to being camped.

About this guide

If you are here, you're probably just like me, wanting to learn a new champion and not incredibly high elo. This guide assumes that you are not a high elo player (1600 elo and under), and assumes that the enemy player's skill is not incredibly high. It assumes they will make mistakes, and will be predictable. The reason that I've decided to make a guide specifically for mid-low elo is because high elo players play very differently. If you are however high elo, this guide would still apply, except that you should play less aggressively.

Yorick - Overview

So what does do? Here are some traits of Top Lane using this build:

Tank - In late game, he's most likely going to be the main tank of the team, as his kit is more suited as a tank.
Harasser - During early game, Yorick's specialty is harassing. He's arguably the king of harass in the top lane
Sustain - Yorick also has one of the best sustains in game from his Omen of Famine. It's so amazing that Mana Potions are better for him then Health Potions, as he would rearely use them.
Mana Hungry - To play Yorick to his maximum potential, you have to spam ghouls. This makes his very mana hungry, and is another reason why Mana Potions are better then Health Potions.
Win lane Lose Game - It's very easy to win your lane with Yorick. However, it's very difficult to carry with him too. He's one of the hardest champion to carry a team with, as his late game is very reliant on his AD carry. It's the sad truth to Yorick, and one of the reasons people don't play him much in solo queue.
Boring - Possibly one of the most boring champions in League of Legends. Even though I love Yorick, even I have to admit he's easy to get bored of. It's also the reason why I usually only play him in ranked games now.
Late Game Support - During late game, you're the tank and primarily absorbs damage. However, Yorick's other role is to support the AD carry, mainly by using your Omen of Death on the AD carry and use the clone as your damage source.
Mixed Damage - Another reason why Yorick is very though to lane against is the fact that he deals mixed damage. His main harass combo, Omen of Pestilence -> Omen of Famine deals magic damage initially. However, after that, the ghouls attack the enemy themselves and deal physical damage. In addition, Yorick's auto attacks and Omen of War and Omen of Death (in a duel) also deal physical damage. His damage would be split at around 50%, making stacking armor/magic resist against Yorick futile.

Pros / Cons

Pros

Amazing sustain
Can harass, heal, and farm all at the same time
Has decent range
Wins nearly every lane
Pretty tanky late game with your passive
2 AD carries in teamfights
Best 2v1 laner in game

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Cons

No Escapes
Hard to farm
Relies on AD carry late game
Squishy early game
Cant snowball as well as others
No burst damage = Hard to secure a kill

Runes

Runes are the personalising a champion. It gives you an added edge in whatever you want/need. For that reason, I recommend you use the same runes you would use for any AD off-tank/tank you play. This is just my play style for all my AD tanks that's mana hungry.

Here are the reasoning behind my runes based on my playstyle:

Flat Attack Damage Marks - I chose this for extra early game harass damage and frankly, to help me last hit.

Flat Armor Seals - The vast majority of top laners deal mainly physical damage, so this helps me with my early game tankiness. If you're facing an enemy that deals mainly magic damage, I recommend magic resist instead of armor.

Flat Mana Regen Glyphs - I enjoy spamming spells. Not only on , but on many other champions that I play. One of the reasons why I love is you win your lane by spamming his spells; it's his specialty. However, Yorick is very mana hungry, so these runes let me spam even more ghouls.

Movement Speed Quintessences - I'm just a fan of movement speed. It helps me escape, chase and gives me extra mobility. I just use them on all my champions, as with I find myself being able to kite, chase and escape better.

This is only how I play (aggresive harasser early game tank sacrificing damage) on all my champions and if your playstyle is different, I recommend you to use different runes that fit into your playstyle.

Masteries

fit in with your play style. Do not follow these masteries if you do not think it fits your playstyle. Here's my rationale for my masteries:

Defense

Durability (scaling health), Resistance (MR), Hardiness (Armor), Veteran Scars (flat health), Defender (Armor + MR), Reinforced Armor, Honor Guard - I take these for extra tankiness, for both early game and late game. I put armor in a higher priority then MR as it helps me early games in most cases, as I would face a physical damage in the majority of the cases.

Relentless (slow reduction), Tenacious (tenacity) - These crowd control reductions would help you escape, and really needs that as he's weaker in escaping compared to other top laners.

Tough Skin, Safeguard - helps you tank minions when you want to freeze the lane, and to turret dive.

Utility

Meditation, Expanded Mind, Buicuiteer - I like to spam ghouls, so I need all the mana and mana regeneration I can get.

Summoner's Insight, Improved Recall - I just picked this because these are the best ones out of the options to choose from. Having a short cooldown on and short cast time one Recall are just nice to have, and can come in handy in tough situations.

Note: There are literally thousands of possibilities you can do for masteries, and are not limited to the examples I provided above. You can even do masteries such as 0/29/1.

Summoner Spells

Recommended

has become a standard as a summoner spell on virtually all champions, except for some champions like or who use ghost instead. It can be used to get that last autoattack to finish a kill, or to dodge a skillshot in a gank, and saving you

is good around 90% of the time when you want to be aggresive. It gives the extra damage early game that he would need to secure a kill.

is a better spell than when you want to be safe, like when you're in a 2v1 lane, or to counter a champion such as .

Other Viable Spells

can be a replacement for . Personally I'm a fan of because it's instantaneous and you can over walls. However, can be a viable substitute as an escape if you think you can utilize is better than .

can replace in some cases. I dont't recommend it, but it's not horrible if you take it. It allows you to heal-bait and gives you a more of a support role.

is the counter to . It negates all the damage and has a little shield left over if timed properly. If you think you can fully utilize it more then , then go for it. However, I don't recommend you use it if you don't use regularly.

is a good defensive spell. It can shut down damage from any carry. Only get this if you want to play very safe and passive, which isn't a good playstyle for . It's a good summoner spell, but there are better that fits 's kit.

Don't use these

You're not an AD carry. If the enemy wastes their crowd control on you, it means they're not using it on your carries. It's a good summoner spell especially if you know how to use it, but it's not for .

Just don't. Unless you've literally played only a few games of League of Legends, you should know why you should never get this.

is mana hungry, so would be perfect right? Wrong. It's. horrible summoner spell and currently is not worth using up a summoner spell slot.

This is a guide for Top Lane , not support . Also, noone uses anymore because jungle invades have become rarer as they have become riskier.

Jungle sucks. Trust me, I've tried in every single role, and he wont even survive a jungle clear.

Items

Starting Items

The meta has changed. Now, players are stacking consumables for early game power. This is very bad for , as if the enemy top laner stacks health potions, they'll be able to sustain through it and ignore you. There's nothing you can really do except for wait to the point where health potions are less effective (lvl 6 and beyond).

Sight Ward

Most top laners do this to counter harass (this is more common in higher elo), HOWEVER would not benefit from stacking s because of his sustain. Instead, you should base your potions based on your opponents and what you think you're going to need. If the enemy is a late game carry that's not a harasser such as , get more , as you're probably not going to get harassed much and you would be able to harass more. If the enemy is a harasser such as , buy more health potions for the extra regeneration. You don't need that many though, as 's sustain is still very powerful and would regenerate most of the damage from harasses.

If you're wondering why consumables are wonderful, well lets do the math:

[imgsmall=items/health-potion.png] -> 4 * 150 health = 600 health
[imgsmall=items/mana-potion.png] -> 7 * 100 mana = 700 mana
Total: 600 health and 700 mana.

I also use the Biscuiteer mastery adding 80 health and 50 mana for a total of 680 health and 750 mana. You would essentially be able to regenerate 1 and a half times your level 1 health, and almost triple your total level 1 mana pool with this. With this build, you will not be out of mana until at least level 7, and you will always be full hp, due to the consumables and your natural sustain from . This builds allows you to spam ghouls freely and have a safety net of health potions in case you can't sustain their damage.

vs

The reason why I've chosen Mana Potion over Health Potion is because Yorick's sustain is ridiculous. If you don't believe me, look at the math:

Assuming Yorick is level 4 (when most harassing/trading begins) and Omen of Famine is casted on enemy champion...

Givens

(Level 2)
Mana Cost: 60 mana
% Of initial damage healed: 40%
Initial Damage: 85 damage (Assuming no bonus AD)
Ghoul Damage: 66 AD (Yorick's base damage at level 4) * 35% = 23.1 damage
Health healed from ghoul's attacks (champions): 100%
Maximal number of ghoul attacks possible / cast: 3

: 100 mana gained

: 150 health gained

Number of casts 1 can provide
Number of casts = Mana gained from Mana Potion / Mana Cost = 100 mana / 60 mana = 1.66.. casts

Amount healed from 's initial damage
Amount Healed = Initial Damage * % of Initial Damage Healed = 85 health * 40% = 34 health

Amount healed from 1 ghoul attack
Amount Healed = Ghoul Damage * % of ghoul's attacks healed (champion) = 23.1 * 100% = 23.1 health per autoattack

Amount healed per Mana Potion thru Omen of Famine
Total Amount Healed = Number of casts * [Amount healed (initial) + (Amount healed (per ghoul attack)(Number of ghoul attacks)]
= 1.66.. * [34 health + 23.1 health (0 to 3 attacks)]
= 56.66.. health + 38.5 health (0 to 3 attacks)
= 56.66.. health to 172.166.. health

Compared to Health Potion
Minimum - 56.66 health / 150 health = 37.7..%
Maximum - 172.166.. health / 150 health = 114.7%

Conclusion: 1 Mana Potion will heal 37.78% to 114.7% of 1 Health Potion thru Omen of Famine's heal.

Now please don't comment that s are better then s, the math speaks for itself. Also, if you're wondering, I've put Health Potions in the starting build because if the worst case scenario the ghoul does not land any autoattacks, you have a safety net of Health Potions.

First Trip Back

Sight Ward

Wards are important, they save lives. It is the most important item in the game. If you have map control, you would most likely win the game. In order to have map control, you need vision, and to have that, you need Sight Wards. The most important job of a Sight Ward is to prevent ganks. Especially with , since he has no escapes. If you get ganked and you don't have a ward, you're probably dead, unless you can 2v1, which I'll explain later on. ALWAYS KEEP A WARD OR EVEN 2 ON THE RIVER AT ALL TIMES DURING LANING PHASE. The most important thing about wards, which I find almost everybody in low-average elo forget is TO CONTINUE TO BUY WARDS AFTER LANING PHASE. Remember, wards are the key to winning a game.

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is a vital item for Yorick's build. Get this item as soon as possible. With it, you would be able to spam ghouls almost every time it comes up.

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You might be wondering why I included here. Well, even with would still sometimes have mana problems. Ever leave the fountain with around 100-300 gold? Well you can't buy any items with that. First, buy a couple Sight Wards. If you have something like 80 gold left, buy 3 Mana Potions. It's worth not having to go b for another minute or so because of mana. Of course, this is assuming you're capable of getting 3cs in that minute.

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Getting boots early helps you get that extra movement speed you need to get that kill or escape that gank. It also helps a lot with last hitting.

Boots

These are the only two boots you should be considering, as you're a tank.

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In the current meta, is usually the best boots for the majority of the games. This is because the current metagame centers more around damage and usually has more AD damage rather than AP damage. Get if the enemy team has very little crowd controls and/or is putting out more physical damage.

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These boots are sometimes better if the enemy team has a lot of crowd controls (ex. They have a and ), if they 2 or more AP carries, their AP carry is fed and a hyper carry (such as ), or you just want some magic resist against an AP lane (such as a top lane).

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A 25% cooldown reduction on summoner spells is pretty useful. That means that your and will be available much sooner. Get this is you're having a bad/normal game.

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This enchantment is good at kiting and for chasing. Get this enchantment if you're either an expert in kiting, which in that case you should get this enchantment every game, or if you're ahead, as the movement speed buff helps you in chasing.

Core Build

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This item was made for Yorick. With it, you will NEVER become out of mana. So go ahead and spam your ghouls everytime it comes off cooldown. It also gives you a good amount of AD as well.

Now, you're going to need tankiness for mid and late game. Pick one of these items, depending on how you want to play/what your teams needs. If you want to be a super tank, grab and you'll never die. If you want to be more of an AD Bruiser, take , it would give you some HP, AD, and a passive that helps you to chase. If you cant decide, pick .

is a good item if you're doing okay, because its a cheap, and it gives you around 50 AD, crit chance (you don't really need it but it's still good), at armor.
If you're ahead, or you want to deal TONS of damage/ be able to carry harder, buy . It'll give you less tankiness and AD, but you gain attack speed, and both of 's passive helps you. You gain a basicly a perma slow and burst damage from both passives. Of course, you can always build both.
is a very interesting item for Yorick. It gives tankiness and an extremely good AoE permaslow. It's actually too good that I'm hesitant to put this item in the guide because it's too overpowered to not have an incoming nerf.

Note: Do NOT buy / Iceborne Gauntlet if you have already bought , because it wastes 's passive and makes it not worth it.

Last Items

The last few items in the build are situational. Here are some example situations:

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If you can't decide what to buy, buy this. It's useful 75% of the games. It shuts down the attack speed of anybody near you. It also gives some good health, armour and health regen, which is good for any tank.

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This is usually my 2nd most bought item. If the enemy team has 3 or more enemies that rely on attack speed, or their AD carry/bruiser is fed, then buy this. It's cheaper, and gives you mana, which gives you more AD from the passive in . It also gives you 20% CDR, which is great because now you can summon more ghouls. The main difference is probably the fact that 's attack speed slow is a passive, and is an active and it also slows them as well, but it's only temporary, whereas lasts as long as you're near them. So if your a person who forgets to use actives a lot of times, buy . Of course, if you want, you can buy both, as the attack speed debuffs stack. Honestly, this is more of a personal/situation choice, and there's really no wrong decision when choosing between and .

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There are a few situations when you want to get this. The first would be a fed AD hyper-carry that is completely destroying your team. For example, a or . Also, if they have 3 or more AD carries/bruisers, that deal 95% of their damage as physical, it might be a good idea.

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This is the anti-AP item. I would usually buy this item after finishing by core build if they either have multiple AP carries/damage, a late game AP hypercarry (such as or Evelyn), or a fed AP carry that is not only single-target damage (such , ect.) as once they blow their cooldowns, they can't really do anything and would most likely be using their abilities on a carry rather than a tank.

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This is usually an alternate to . It gives you CDR and extra health regeneration from all sources, but does not give you mana. It's usually a personal preference on which magic resist item to build should you need it, and there is no right item. If they deal almost entirely magic damage (such as triple AP team comp or useless enemy AD carry), then building both would be ideal.

Skill Sequence and Explaination

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's passive. Pretty straight forward, you gain damage and tankiness with the more ghouls (Including your ultimate, ) you have on the map. Because of this passive, you would want to summon as many ghouls as you can in teamfights and in duels.

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Most of the time, you would want to max this last. The reason being that would require you to actually be in melee range in order for you to use it, as opposed to your other abilities. And if your in melee range, they can attack you. However, if you feel the opponent is using a gap closer to get into melee range constantly (Ex. using his every single time its up), then max , since it deals more damage. It also gives you extra MS, which is helpful when chasing or running away from ganks.
*Note: Omen of War resets you autoattack timer (such as abilities like Darius' Crippling Strike. If you want to have more DPS, use Omen of War right after an autoattack to instantly bring another autoattack

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Max this second, unless they keep going into melee range (as explained above). This, combined with your is going to be your harass. The slow also helps you keep the enemy in range of both your ghoul's melee attacks, escape from ganks, and chase.

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ALWAYS max this first. The reason for this is because your sustain scales with the amount of damage deals. This skill is what makes Yorick one of the most high-sustained top lane champions. Ever since the Yorick nerf, the sustain you gain from minions is cut in half, so, unless your in desperate need for health, always use it on the enemy. It harasses then and you get 2 times more health.

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This is what makes you soo terrifying late game. It basicly clones your AD carry in teamfights, soo instead of one fed , you have two fed s. Its like 's , except that you don't rely on killing someone. Also, if your AD carry dies, it becomes 's , and it revived your AD carry for a couple of seconds.
Not only is this amazing late game, it helps you duel early game as well. makes one of the best 2v1 dueler out of all the champions. It actually makes it into a 2v2! Because of this, I've probably either got a kill or double kill whenever the enemy jungler ganks. Just remember to use it at the beginning if you think you're going into a life or death duel against the enemy, as it would increase the damage you deal, not just when you're about to die.

Solo 1v1 Lane

This is the situation you're going to be 95% of the time. Here are some important things to keep in mind when you're laning as :

Harassing

Spam this combo whenever its up at level 2. Its deals amazing damage, it will deal even more damage unless the enemy runs away, and it will heal you for any counter-harass they might do to you. Just remember, that the weakness to this is if they go into a brush, the ghouls will stop attacking. If they're smart and do this, use in the brush, then use on the enemy once you have vision.

Use this combo if they get into melee range into you. It deals more damage, but only do it if you have to, because they would likely deal more damage to you in melee range. As soon as you use the combo, run/kite them (unless you're going for the kill), as they'll deal more damage to you than you deal to them after you use all your abilities.

Ganks

This is 's weakness. If he gets ganked, he's either dead or gets a double kill. He has no escapes. This is why its always important to use Sight Wards. Try to predict where the enemy jungler is, so you know when they may be near you (Ex. has to start blue, so he'll be on the blue side of the map for the first 4 minutes).
If, however, you do manage to find yourself in the situation of a gank, ask yourself this question: Is it more likely that I'll escape, or be getting a kill? 90% of the time, the answer for me is getting a kill. As I've said before, Yorick is an amazing 2v1 fighter. But also, he's a terrible escaper. So you mind as well get a kill if your going to die anyways, and most of the time, I do. You may even manage to get a double kill and live.

Farming and Lane Control

Since you have no escapes, you would want to freeze the lane. Freezing the lane is keeping the enemy minion wave just outside the turret. At this position, not only would you be ungankable, but it would be virtually impossible for the enemy to farm(Most are melee and would have to farm under your tower). Just Remember: Always last hit, unless you want to push (Ex. Setting up to dive, top laner is roaming, ect.) If you're a better last hitter than the enemy is, the minion line would gradually move towards your side. Hint: It takes at least 2 extra minions on the enemy side for the lane to stay frozen

Forcing the enemy to stay in lane

At some point, if you are successful in completely denying them farm, the enemy will get sick of it and roam. They'll either gank, or farm another lane. Except for some exceptions such as , top laners are usually isolated and do not roam often. They are usually bad gankers. If you see them roam push your lane as fast as possible. It will make the enemy want to go back to lane.

Fastest way to push:

1. the ranged minion
2. a ranged minion
3. Autoattack then as soon as it hits to increase DPS
4. Keep autoattacking minions

Once your at the turret:

Repeat above every time your spells comes off CD if there an enemy minion wave
Spam your Omen of Pestilence every time it is up, it will make the turret attack it and not the minions
Keep and eye on the river in case of a gank
If the turret is about to fall and the top laner returns, finish it if you think you can duel him after.

Getting a kill

It's incredibly difficult to get a kill on . The reason is because his damage is sustained, and predictable. If you enemy is smart, they'll go back when they're low enough for you to kill them. However, if you find the enemy very low (1/4 HP or less) use this combo:

This would require you to use both your summoners. You would need flash to be in range of , and ignite to get the extra damage. Unfortunately, there is no other unpredictable/unexpected way to get a kill, unless your/their jungler ganks.

Top lane match-ups

Easy Lanes

In these lanes, would dominate the opponent. Since it's , most champions would belong here. In these lanes, focus on constantly spamming ghouls and go even go into melee range if they ignore your harass to try to kill them:

Irelia

In my opinion, this is one of the easiest lanes you can get. Except for , she has no way of farming without going into melee range.

What to expect: Expect her to last hit with her . It dashes her to the target. If she wants to go aggresive, expect her to to you, use , then activate and auto attack you. If the lane is pushed, she may use to clear it. A higher skilled may use to get away from your ghouls after she last hits, or to basicly dance around your lane and make it very hard to harass her.

What to do: As soon as uses , use your combo from a range. If you feel that your ahead, go in front of any minions close to her that are low. If she uses her , use your combo. If she runs, keep attacking her. If she counter-attacks, run. She will out-damage you with .

Additional Notes:

You will be faster than Irelia with the buff from Omen of War in combination with the slow from Omen of Pestilence.
Irelia has no gap closer after Bladesurge
Irelia's only natural sustain is from Hiten Style's passive, which works like lifesteal.
Irelia's main damage output is from auto attacks. You will not win a auto attack fight unless you are ahead in farm/kills.

Fiora

is unable to farm from a range. This means that it is very easy to deny her if you're ahead. That is why is a counter for

What to expect: Expect to try to ignore you at first. However once you take down a big chunk of her health she'll try to counter attack. She'll attempt to use to get to you.

What to do: Never duel in melee range unless you are significantly higher health, fed, or she's very behind. Always harass her from a range, as your abilities out-range a single . If she's smart, she may to a minion, then to you. In that case, use your combo, then run. She will be unable to chase you even with .

Additional Notes:

Her only natural sustain comes from her passive Duelist. She can only regain health from auto-attacking
She deals 95% of her damage as physical damage, so build armor if she snowballs
She can snowball easily
Beware of Blade Waltz if you're low. If both of you are the same health and under 20% health, go back. She will be immune to damage and can even dive you.
She would usually build damage over tankiness

Tryndamere

is pretty a pretty easy lane if you don't get greedy. He has no ranged abilities, and therefore no way to farm when you zone him.

What to expect: Expect to farm and try to get his Fury up. His sustain, , is based on how much Fury he has, which is based on how many auto attacks he dealt. He will also try to get his Fury up to become more scary, as he deals much more damage on max Fury. Expect him to go aggressive if he is at max Fury. If he is smart, he may attempt to gain Fury from attacking your ghouls

What to do: The most crucial thing to do to deny farm is to keep his Fury as low as possible. It both makes his heal very little, and decreases his DPS if he goes aggressive. Force him to every time he has a high amount of Fury, and he will be less scary. Remember, unless you are certain you can kill him or his is on cooldown, do not dive .

Additional Notes:

Tryndamere is the biggest snowball in game. If you manage to feed him a kill or let him farm, you will lose the game.
Always keep in mind of his Undying Rage
Ignite counters Tryndamere's Undying Rage. He will probably use his Bloodlust to heal himself some health. However, if you manage to ignite within around the last 2 seconds of his Undying Rage, you will probably kill him, as the amount healed, which is not very much, is cut in half, and the damage from Ignite will probably be more than the amount healed.
His only gap closer, Spinning Slash, has a shorter range than your abilities.

Shen

Currently, is banned nearly every single ranked game. However, if you do manage to face a , take so you can follow his .

What to expect: Expect him to play passive and farm until level 6. Then, he would start using his global presence and roam with his . If he chooses to harass, it would most likely be or something similar. If he starts getting too heavily harassed, he will most likely farm with his as it has a short cooldown, and gives health back when it kills a target. He will also probably use his when you summon ghouls upon him. Expect him to build health.

What to do: Harass him as heavily as you can whenever you can. He will not go aggressive, as he would not deal a significant amount of damage. He is usually built and played as a tank. His sustain comes from . There's nothing you can do to stop it besides him every time he uses it. If he into another lane, there if possible. If you cannot follow him for any reason, deal as much damage as you can while he is casting it. There is no way for you to stop the channel.

Additional Notes:

Be careful of his split pushing potential. If you have Teleport, be the one to defend the turret if he is split pushing.
His Shadow Dash consumes a big amount (120/200) of energy if it does not taunt anybody. He would not be able to use it if he used Vorpal Blade and Feint within a short period of time.
If you see him use Feint wait a few seconds until it is gone before harassing him.

Sion

is one of the most hyper-carry AD Bruisers in game. If he's building Ability Power, he would probably go mid. That said, I'm only going to talk about Attack Damage .

What to expect: Expect him to build almost pure damage items, like an AD carry. His game is weak, as he is squishy and most of his damage is melee. Expect him to use his shield, , when you summon ghouls upon him. Expect him to use his stun, whenever he can. Also expect him to gain a significant amount of lifesteal from in duels.

What to do:Try to stay out of melee range unless you're going for the kill. If he manages to stun you while you harass, run if he is not in melee range by the time the stun finished. If he does manage to get into melee range, him, then run. Try to avoid a duel with him, as he will use his ultimate, , giving him huge amounts of lifesteal. Run if he does activate it unless you're certain he will die.

Additional Notes:

He can snowball very quickly
His Cryptic Gaze range is the same as your Omen of Famine
Ignite will shut him down by reducing 50% of his lifesteal
Exhaust can also shut him down by reducing 70% of his auto attack damage (Virtually all of his total damage), and therefore reducing his lifesteal.
He is farm-reliant from his Enrage passive, which scales on minion kills. He will become harder to kill the more farm he has, as he will gain health too.

Malphite

People play and ban in ranked play because of his strong initiation potential and
his late-game. He shuts down any attack-speed based champions. Luckily for you, you do not really care for attack speed.

What to expect:Expect him to initially harass you with . He will not go aggressive against you, as he lacks sustained damage. He will most likely farm and attempt to ignore your harass. When your harass starts to bring his health low, expect him to only farm when his shield/passive, , is up. He may start last hitting with if zoned. He also does not have any natural sustain. Expect him to build armor.

What to do:Harass him whether or not his is up. However, if it is damaged, always try to keep harassing, as it will not regenerate if he takes any damage. Try to stay away from him because of his which deals a significant amount of damage and lowers your DPS from auto attacks. However, it should be safe to duel him, especially if you're ahead.

Additional Notes:

Keep him away from your AD carry in teamfights
If the enemy team is near, don't let your team stay close together due to his Unstoppable Force
Unstoppable Force also acts like a long-ranged Flash.

Vladimir

is usually played for his sustain. He has no mana pool, and his low cooldown can regenerate health quickly. However, 's deals nearly double the damage of (including the attacks from the ghouls), and his sustain from is nearly double of 's . This lane is going to be mainly a harassing war that should be winning.

What to expect: Expect him to harass you with at the beginning. However, if he is smart, he will start using his to last hit. At higher levels (9 or over), may use his to clear the wave. Expect him to use Sanguine Pool] to become untargetable for 2 seconds if he is in threat. If he chooses to attempt to burst you down, expect him to [[Hemoplague you or something similar.

What to do: Harass him as much as possible. He will be unable to sustain your harass.If your jungler wants to gank, try to force first. If you want to try to kill him when he's low, him at the beginning. It will lower the health he regains from if he uses it, and keep damaging him while in . Unless you are certain that you can either tank a turret for at least 5 seconds, his is on cooldown, or he is under 5% health (with up), do not dive .

Additional Notes:

He is weakest early game.
If he uses Hemoplague on you, don't go aggressive unless he follows up.
Avoid your team being close together in teamfights, Hemoplague may hit many of you, and will be damaged and increase the damage you take.

Rumble

is tricky to lane with. Fortunately, he has no natural sustain.

What to expect: Expect him to harass you with . Also expect him to use to clear the wave and damage you. He may if your harass becomes a significant threat. If the chooses to become aggressive, he will use and chase with .

What to do: At the beginning, try to avoid his as much as you can by staying behind minions. If he uses , wait till it the shield disappears, then harass him. If he overheats (100 Heat, and is silenced for 6 seconds), harass him but do not go into melee range with him. If he uses on you, use if you are farther than half of it. Then, get out of it as soon as possible, either from the side or behind. If you are within half way of , go to him, use on him, then kite him by either circling him, making it near impossible to hit you with , or run away. If he uses to escape, do not chase him unless you used . If he uses and becomes aggresive, get out of it as soon as possible, then assess whether or not it is safe to duel.

Additional Notes:

Be careful when his Heat is between 50 and 100. He will deal more damage
All his damage abilities are skill shots. Try to be constantly moving.
Electro-Harpoon can be used twice in a row.

Jarvan IV

as a top laner is rarely played anymore, but if you do happen to find yourself facing one, your in for an easy lane.

What to expect:There's two ways this lane can go. If he goes aggressive, will then auto attack to activate . This will essentially (if it hits), deal damage, knock you up, bring to where his is, give himself a shield then slow you, and finally deal damage based on your current health. If he plays passive, he will farm and away or use if he takes too much damage. If the enemy jungler ganks, or if wants to go for the kill, he will use if it is up.

What to do: If plays aggressively, try to constantly move unpredictably. It will make him using his combo on you near impossible. Also, constantly harass him. If he manages to get into melee range, autoattack then use . If he uses , autoattack then kite him around the arena until it disappears. If you think you may lose the duel. If you think you can win, auto attack him. Do not out of unless you are about to die. is mostly burst damage. If he plays passively, him every time you are able to unless he uses .

Additional Notes:

He has no sustain
He has no escapes if he uses his combo on you
Cataclysm deals a significant amount of damage in addition to trapping you in.
Most of his damage is physical.

Olaf

Olaf is a strong champion. He has a good amount of harass and wave clear from , amazing damage from him and , and is unstoppable with and . However, his weakness is the fact that his only sustain comes from lifesteal in .

What to expect:Expect him to harass you with . Also expect him to use every time he is close to you. If he is in need of health, he may use to lifesteal health back. If he gets ganked, expect him to and escape (unless your jungler has amazing burst). Expect him to to clear minion waves if the lane is pushed (unless you are zoning him hard).

What to do: Always keep moving at all times. This is to avoid his , which can deal a significant amount of damage. Also, try to keep out of melee range as much as possible. also deals too much damage for you to out-trade in melee range. Don't use any summoner spells in a duel with him after level 6 unless you are certain he cannot escape, that he will die, or that his is on cooldown.

Additional Notes:

Do not let him pick his axe up unless it is dangerous to do so. If he picks up his axe, Undertow will have it's cooldown significantly reduced.
Olaf has no gap closer and has no crowd controls expect for Undertow (which can be easily dodged).
Olaf is easy to kite, as his only ranged damage is Undertow.
If you zone Olaf out of him being able to auto attack minions, he has no sustain.

Warwick

Warwick is probably the most jungle-orientated champion made. But some people play him as top lane. The reason why is because his sustain is amazing. HOWEVER, all his sustain and harass/damage require him to be in melee range.

What to expect: Expect him to try to ignore you and out-sustain your harass with his passive and . Unless he is a complete idiot, he will not attempt to go to melee range unless a gank happens, or he wants to go aggressive and uses his on you. If you do happen to find yourself in melee range, expect him to either you, or duel you.

What to do: Always try to keep harassing. His sustain is pretty strong if he constantly auto attacks. However, if he constantly does this, he will push your lane. Try to him, and if runs, keep repeating your harass. If he tries to ignore it, let him push your lane, then freeze it. This makes sure you will not be ganked (unless they dive you), and forces to either stay in lane and not farming, to roam, or to farm under your turret. If does for some reason, farm under your turret, auto attack him until he goes away. If he for any reason uses his on you, Auto attack him then kite him.

Additional Notes:

He is very easily kited, as his only crowd control and gap closer is his Infinite Duress and has no ranged abilities
Do not duel Warwick unless you are ahead, Warwick is one of the best 1v1 champions in game.
Some Warwick players do not go back even if they have less than 10% health. They will think they'll be able to sustain back health without dying. If they do stay in lane, Ignite then first, then use the killing combo (shown above in Solo 1v1 Lane)
In teamfights, if Warwick uses Infinite Duress on someone, any form of disrupting crowd control (such as stuns, silences, knock-ups, knock-backs, fears, ect.) will stop it. Unfortunately, Yorick does not have any of these abilities. Tell someone who does have a disrupting crowd control to save an ability specifically for Infinite Duress.

Kayle

Kayles....interesting to deal with. She is ranged when her is active, and melee when it is not. She also has sustain with and a good escape with .

What to expect: Expect to try to harass you with autoattacks when her is active. If decides to play passive, then she'll probably farm with it. If she wants to go aggresive, will first slow you with , then keep on autoattacking you. will probably only use to escape ganks or a duel, or to prevent damage in order to win duels. Expect a small heal from her every 15 seconds when she needs health from .

What to do: every time it's up. The sustain from is small, and can easily be out-harassed by . However, if slows you with , run away once you've landed your combo. In lower levels, if follows you, she will take more damage from ghoul and minion aggro than you take from her attacks. If you think a 1v1 will be close, do not go aggressive, as 's can change the tide of a duel.

Additional Notes:

Intervention does not cleanse nor prevent crowd control
Intervention does prevent true damage
It is extremely difficult to kite Kayle
Righteous Fury deals AoE damage, meaning if she uses it constantly, your lane will be pushed.

Pantheon

Pantheon is a early and mid game carry. He usually falls of late game compared to other champions such as or . is good early and mid game due to his burst, harass, global presence (such as ) and tower diving ability. You may want to use to use when he uses .

What to expect: Expect him to wait until level 3 before becoming aggressive. He will harass you with as long as his mana allows it (short cooldown). By level 3, expect him to do a or something similar every so often. By level 6, he may use his to escape (you cannot stop the channel) or to roam/gank. If he is being denied farm, he will use to last hit rather than to harass you.

What to do: If harasses you, harass back with . You will deal more damage in addition to healing back virtually all the health lost from that harass. If uses his combo on you, autoattack, then run. You should deal more damage to him and healing at least half the health you lost. If he uses , to where he's going (if you can), or deal as much damage as you can to before it's fully cast.

Additional Notes:

Pantheon has no sustain
He has no escapes, so ganks would have a high chance of success.
He deals more damage if you're below 15 health.
Keep in mind of his passive, Aegis Protection, which blocks the next autoattack (includes Omen of War

Singed

Singed is a mid game AP Bruiser carry. Early game he sucks, due to the mana cost of keeping on constantly. Late game, he's a tank.

What to expect: Expect him to play very passively and last hit with auto attacks. He may occasionally turn on to farm. Until he buys a mana item (usually Catalyst the Protector), he will continue playing extremely passively. Once he buys that item, he will start farming by turning on and poisoning the minion wave, clearing it in seconds. If he wants to be aggressive, he may turn on , use , then you. He will expect you to try to counter attack by chasing him, taking even more damage. Mid game, he may try to bait you and your teammates to chase him.

What to do: Don't chase . That's the most important thing to keep in mind when playing against one. He was literally designed to be chased. Play extremely aggressive early game and take advantage of his poor early game. Even go into melee range and auto attack him. He is one of the only top laner that is safe to harass with auto attacks early game. Once he gets his mana item, keep harassing him with . If he decides to play aggressive, try to avoid , he will not be able to catch up to you with without you standing on it. If you do happen to mind yourself on it, get out of it immediately. If you do get ed, then run away (perpendicular from him would be optimal) from him. The longer you stay in , the more damage you take.

Additional Notes:

Singed will always pick Ghost as a summoner spell
Never chased Singed
Singed becomes a tank late game, so do not focus him.
In order for Singed to deal damage, he would have to be in melee range
Singed has no natural sustain
Singed is also amazing in kiting.

Nidalee

could go either AP or AD. Even though it is the same champion with the same abilities, you should treat each of them differently. Both AP and AD have different strengths and weaknesses vs . AP has amazing sustain and harass if she can aim it. However, she is squishy, and relies on cougar form (and therefor melee range) in order to farm and deal more damage. AD is tankier, last hits better, deals more sustained damage and can duel you. However, AD 's sustain is weak, and will be unable to out-sustain 's ghouls.

What to expect: If goes AP, expect her to attempt to poke you with whenever there is a clear path. Also expect her to attempt to ignore you and heal off your harass with . If goes AD, expect her to poke you with less often, but still occasionally. Also, expect to go more aggressive and attempt to duel you in cougar form by level 6. AD will heal herself with as well, but it would be less effective. Both s may choose to risk going into cougar form to wave clear and farm. *Special Note: In higher elo/ agaisnt higher-skilled opponents, Nidalee may be able to kite the ghouls, thus preventing damage from it, and would be harder to harass. They may also take advantage of brushes in combination of Prowl, Nidalee's passive. This will become very annoying, especially against an AP Nidalee, as they would out-sustain you this way.

What to do: Against an AP , you would want to become more aggressive, while dodging . Harass every time she comes close enough to get a last hit. Her only significant damage should come from in early levels, so it should be safe. Against AD , focus more on harassing, as her sustain is weak. Also, play super aggressive until level 6, as is weakest before having . If either AD or AP goes at you in cougar form, and if you are in melee range. AD 's biggest ability, , happens in cougar form. AP also deals a significant amount of damage with and in cougar form.

Additional Notes:

Nidalee is extremely mobile and therefore can easily kite you
It is extremely difficult to catch a Nidalee, due to Pounce and Prowl
For AP Nidalee, be careful for Javelin Toss, as they have an extremely long range and deals tons of damage (keep in mind that it deals less damage the closer you are).
If Nidalee is taking advantage of brushes to avoid ghoul damage, ward it.

Gangplank

usually builds damage rather than tank. In addition to that, he has no natural sustain. This lane is a pretty easy lane for .

What to expect: Expect to harass with ] at the start. However, if he feels that it becomes redundant or is zoned, he may end up using it to farm. If he chooses to become aggressive, wants to run away from a gank, setting up a gank, or notices a fight happening somewhere else in the map, expect him to use if it's available. Expect him to use if he wants to escape, not to heal (as it has a long cooldown and heals very little).

What to do: Everytime he harasses you with , harass back with . He has no other ranged abilities to follow that up save . If he starts farming with and you're ahead, zone Gankplank by standing in front of your minions, that way, he would have to get past you in order to farm.

Additional Notes:

Parrrley is Gankplank's main damage source
Avoid getting into melee range, as he would be building damage and would auto attack tons of damage
Any damage from him will slow you (due to his passive Grog Soaked Blade

Wukong

He is the king of solo top juking. It is extremely hard to kill him. However, it is very easy to zone him and deny him farm.

What to expect: players tend to be hit and run. Luckily, that's how plays too (in melee range), except deos it better. Expect him to hit-and-run combo with to get in, , then to get out. If he decides to become aggressive, he may use and chase you with it. Expect numerous jukes if you become aggressive or a gank. Some higher-skilled s may press S in order to look as if he used . will be very annoying to handle.

What to do:He best counter to the hit-and-run strategy is to put a in your lane. This way, he cannot escape with (and cant hit-and-run), and you will know if he actually used it. Also, if he does into melee range, use then either stay or run depending on the circumstances.

Additional Notes:

There is no way to see if Wukong used decoy or not without stealth detection
If you want to go for a kill or follow Wukong, go to the path that would lead to the closest point of safety for him (usually the turret). He will probably use this path, unless he is smart and goes in a completely random direction.
Wukong deals mostly physical damage
He has no sustain nor ranged abilities

Teemo

is widely known to be possibly one of the most annoying top laners you'll ever face. usually goes AP or attack speed. However, top lane is usually played attack speed, so I will only talk about that for simplicity's sake.

What to expect: Expect to harass with and a few auto attacks, or something like that. Most of 's damage is from auto attacks. usually plays passive for the first few levels. By level 6, expect him to place s in every single brush and pathway to the lane in order to avoid ganks. Also, he may use s to clear waves also. If you try to chase teemo, expect a hard time, due to and the fact that he's probably going to lead you to multiple s.

What to do: Harass with every time he goes for a last hit, then get out of his auto attack range. As has no natural sustain, and usually does not build sustain, he should be pretty how quickly. Also, if you believe placed a somewhere in the brush, use in the place you believe it is. This will set off the trap, and basically destroy it without getting farm or damage on you.

Additional Notes:

Teemo is one of the best kiters in game
If he builds attack speed, items such as Randuin's Omen or Frozen Heart will reduce his attack speed and severely hurt his damage output.
Even though he's building primarily attack speed, expect some Ability Power too.
Some Teemos may use Camouflage to camp for a kill, to hide, or to get EXP without being harassed.

Master Yi

If I described in one word, it's snowball. He's kind of like an AD Bruiser version of the old pre-remake . If the enemy team ignores him/deosnt stop him and he's fed, he'll hypercarry the game. Theres also AP Yi, but they usually go mid, so I'm focusing on AD Yi.

What to expect: Expect him to just farm early and do the occasional to push and harass. Once he starts to be zoned, he will probably end up using to farm. If he needs health, expect him to every 35 seconds. If he decides to be aggresive, expect him to use then to you and continuously autoattack.

What to do:Expect him to build fairly squishy damage-orientated build, similar to one of an AD carry. If he ever gets into melee range of you, then run. He will out-damage you in melee range. Also, be careful when trying to kill . His ultimate makes him uncatchable to you (as you have no form of hard crowd control). Therefore, if you want to kill him, you would have to burst him down with Autoattack -> (If in melee range) then (This combo would take around 0.25-1 second depending on how fast you are with casting).

Additional Notes:

His only ability that deals damage is Alpha Strike
95% of his damage is from auto attacks, so be careful when dueling him
He has decent sustain with Meditate
He has no escapes (expect maybe an Alpha Strike to a minion)
If he becomes a problem, build items such as Frozen Heart.
Interesting Fact: Without armor pen, Master Yi will kill himself before he kills you if you have Thornmail (assuming he is squishy and you build tank).

Nasus

Some people say is a counetr to . This is because he can use on the ghouls to get the stacks. But there are some key facts that those people are ignoring. First and most importantly, ghouls do not give gold. Sure, will get stacks for his , but he still won't get any meaningful minion farm (and therefore not have gold and be behind in items). Also, he could only one of the 2 or 3 ghouls that spawns. Basicly is just slightly more useful late game if he is denied. He is NOT a counter.

What to expect: Expect him to want to farm his . He will use his auto attacks and to farm, as deals negligible damage (unless he maxes it first). He may first try to out-sustain your harass using his (lifesteal). It is very unlikely he will go aggressive on you, as his early game is his weakest point of the game. If he does, however, then expect him to Whither and possibly (not specifically in that order). He may just use on your ghouls and let himself get denied minions if he plays it safe.

What to do: Spam ghouls on him everytime he comes near a minion. The worst thing you can do is let free farm, as a farmed ' late game is scary. Even get to melee range and use your on him if you think it's safe to. Always play aggressive unless he uses his . If he does, play passive until it wears out.

Additional Notes:

The most important thing to keep in mind is a farmed Nasus can hypercarry, and a Nasus with no farm is useless.
His only meaningful damage comes from auto attacks and Siphoning Strike
Be careful when he uses Whither, the slow increases on you over time

Volibear

is a very easy lane. He's all melee, and his only natural sustain is which can only happen once every 2 minutes.

What to expect: can either go aggressive or passive. If he plays passive then he would probably just farm and probably bite you with when you're too close to him to harass (of course you shouldn't be in melee range of him). If he chooses to play aggressive, expect him to use to get close to you, and or something similar to it. He might also active . Expect him to play more aggressive when his passive, is on.

What to do: Stay away from him. If he doesn't get into melee range, he can't do anything to you if you're not close to him (His longest-ranged ability is 425 range, your has 550 range). If he does somehow use on you, then run. Don't commit for a kill if you see his passive up, as it'll be very hard to kill him with the health regeneration. If it is up, try to get him below 30% health, proc his passive, then commit for it.

Additional Notes:

Most of his damage is from melee attacks with Frenzy as his harass/burst damage
Without Stormbringer all his damage is physical (Damage from Sky Splitter is negligible)
It's easy to kite him when you use Omen of Pestilence on him, even if he uses Thundering Smash

Poppy

Poppy is an interesting lane. She has a passive that makes her tanky, a good amount of burst damage, a movement speed buff, and big gap closer/knockback and a ultimate that makes her one of the best divers in game. However, if wants to deal damage to you, she would have to put herself in a risky situation. She also does not have any ranged ability or sustain, making this lane easy for to harass.

What to expect: Expect to farm with autoattacks early on. If she chooses to play aggressive, she may do a and a . From that point she may continue auto attacking, or run. If she wants to go for a kill or dive, expect her to activate her .

What to do: Keep harassing as much as you wish, as she has no sustain. Try to zone her out, as she is all melee, if she cannot reach the minions she will be denied farm. If uses on you, use then run. She will be unable to catch you due to your buffs and slows, even if she has . If she uses her ultimate on you, don't go aggressive unless you have to/ you are certain you can get the kill. If she uses in a teamfight, ignore her, as you have nothing you can do to her.

Additional Notes:

Poppy's only significant amount of damage is Devastating Blow and auto attacks
Try to stay away from walls, as Heroic Charge stuns you and deals more damage if you hit it during it.

Jax

A lane is tricky and you would need practice against it before it's easy. If you've never faced a lane before with , it would be a hard lane rather then an easy lane. can also outplay you if you don't know what to expect.

What to expect: Most es would play passive in the first few levels. Once they're level 3/4, they may start trying to harass you and do a , auto attack (if they're skilled) then . Most AD Bruiser top laners rely heavily on autoattacks, but dodges all of them while his is active, making this an effective trade with little or no damage to . After level 6, he'll go even more aggressive, as he has the passive from to add in his combo. If he wants to go for a kill, or duel, he'll activate , do a combo, then continue to auto attack.

What to do: The key to beating a lane is to make sure his does not hit you. If he does the combo, immediately use then run. The combination of the slow and movement speed buff should allow you to run away before stops. However, higher skilled es may wait for 1 second then use the combo so they can proc the stun immediately. If they do that, just do the combo if he runs away, as there's nothing you can really do if they do that.

Additional Notes:

His weakest stage is at early levels, and starts becoming more powerful by level 6
His weakness is that he has no sustain nor any ranged abilities
Counter Strike does NOT dodge auto attack modifiers, including Omen of War, so you will still damage him even if he uses it.
His late game is his strongest phase in the entire game, so focus on denying him early

Kennen

can go either mid lane or top lane. He is also arguably the champion that have the most crowd controls in game, due to his passive, . He can stun someone up to 3 times while stunning the entire enemy team once.

What to expect: Expect him to farm early with auto attacks. His harass could either be , or 's passive, and . If he goes aggressive, expect him to and run into you, Thundering Shriken then or something similar (there are multiple combos can do). He will also use if he's level 6. Some s may shove the lane at you by through the creep wave, then at the ladder levels. If he wants to escape expect him to away.

What to do: 's biggest weakness is his lack of natural sustain. Some s may buy an early for spell vamp to make up for that. So you would have to shut down in the early levels. Keep harrasing him with . Also, stay behind the minions to not get hit by a (unless you can dodge it). If he uses to you, him ready and run. If he hits you, you can use it on him to trade back, but preferably he doesn't deal any damage to you in the first place. If he begins to shove the lane, try to stop it, as it would cause you many problems such as having to either tank the minions or get pushed to the turret, and the fact that he'll be outfarming you. Go very aggressive, even using and auto attacking him if he does it.

Additional Notes:

Kennen is very strong in teamfights, due to his AoE damage and stuns.
Kennen is devastating to champions with channeled abilities, such as Fiddlesticks' Bountiful Harvest, as it'll be impossible to use it in teamfights
His only escape is Lightning Rush.

Darius

Most top laners are scared to lane against a . This is because at level 6, if you do a mistake, could burst you down quickly with his . However, has no sustain and all his abilities are short ranged. This lane requires some practice in order to counter. Your first few times laning against a might be a hard one.

What to expect: Expect to play safe and not go for a kill until level 6, as it'll be a lot easier to get a kill when he has . He may use his to farm/harass in early levels. By level 6, he will , autoattack (some es may do this to increase DPS), , then either chase or wait for the cooldowns to refresh then repeat. If he chases and goes for the kill, he will continue autoattacking until you are low enough and there's enough stacks of to finish you off with .

What to do: The most important thing when laning against a is to know when to play passively. If you are low (below 1/3 health), simply a minion, to get some health back, as it is to dangerous to use it on . Try to shut him down at his early levels by constantly harassing him. Once he reaches level 6, try to harass him while stay as far away as you can. If he apprehends you, him then run, unless you think you can duel him. It is only safe to duel him if you have at least double his health before you summon the ghouls.

Additional Notes:

Apprehend has the same range of Omen of Famine (550)
The more stacks of Hemorrhage that is on you, the more damage Noxian Guillotine will deal
Darius is very susceptible to ganks and being kited
Darius has no escapes

Lee Sin

is a pretty easy lane. However, he arguably one of the safest/hardest to gank top laner. This is because he has 3 escapes in addition to should he get it. He is also very good at juking, and can be very annoying trying to kill.

What to expect: 's harass will be something similar to to you, , then to a minion. He will use in order to shield some ghoul damage. If he is zoned, he may simply use to last hit. If he wants to go aggressive, he may use his combo at you, but, instead of Safeguarding to a minion, he will you, then himself. He also have numerous escapes combos, but the most common one is just to a minion. He may also activate to sustain.

What to do: Harass constantly, but try to harass him when his is on cooldown so he can't lifesteal and shield your ghouls. If he uses his harassing combo, try to use your combo as fast as you can before he Safeguards. Once he's zoned, try to block all his s if you're ahead and you're not in a high elo game. The reason why you would want to do that is that mid-low elo players are greedy. Once lands a they will be tempted to use it again, and bringing him to you. If you're ahead, this is very good, as you can and outtrade him.

Additional Notes:

Don't dive Lee Sin unless everything he has is on cooldown or you're very ahead. His escaping abilities will make it very difficult
His only sustain is lifesteal from Safeguard
He deals virtually exclusive physical damage

Trundle

Common Misconception: counters . People think counters him because of his passive. However, , 's passive, sustains very little health. It heals 2-6% of the ghoul's max health. The ghoul's max health is 35% of 's max health. That means heals 0.7%-2.1% of 's max health. That's basicly 7 health from each ghoul at level 1. can regain that same amount of health passively in 2 seconds.

What to expect: If plays passive, expect him to farm and you if you're too close. He's going to expect that his passive will sustain your harass. Once he plays aggressive, expect him to the ground, use to trap you, then and autoattack you to deal damage. He may use if it's up somewhere during the combo.

What to do:Keep harassing him with . If he gets into melee range use then run. Try to keep him away from the minion line if he's zoned, as he will regenerate health if he's close to it. If he sues on you, play passive until it wears off, as he'll have an advantage from the armor/magic resist stolen.

Additional Notes:

Aside from Agony, he deals purely physical damage
If you want to be aggressive, try to duel outside his Contaminate.

Zed

Zed's a harasser who can go all in and burst someone down. He's and an assassin and fairly strong top laner, however, lacks sustain.

What to expect: In the early levels, expect him to harass you simply with . He may also harass using , or something similar. If he becomes denied, he may choose to simply wave clear with the combo stated above. After level 6, if he decides to go aggressive, he will use on you, then and continue to autoattack you (and use the proc), until you're dead.

What to do: Keep moving to dodge his harass. Also, harass him whenever you find the chance, as he has no sustain. Be careful when you're below half health, as he can easily execute you. If he uses on you, away, as he will deal significantly more damage to you while you're marked. If your jungler wants to gank, try to bait out his , as it's his only gap closer and has a very long cooldown.

Additional Notes:
[*] deals delayed damage
[*]Zed deals purely physical damage
[*]He has no sustain

Rengar

is a champion with a big amount of burst damage, especially early game. His sustain is also amazing.

What to expect: can play this 2 ways. He can go either very aggressive, or simply harass with and try to outsustain your harass with . If he chooses to go aggressive, he may sit in a brush, and leap to you with . He will then use , with either or being empowered (depends on the player's preference). If he's denied farm, he will autoattack your ghouls to gain ferocity. If he wishes to escape or in some cases, finish you off, he will use .

What to do: After level 6, I recommend you buy a to ensure that does not escape if you're going to kill him. If he's in a brush, use to gain vision, then for harassment if you think it's safe ('s range is slightly larger then due to it being AoE). If you simply use , Rengar can not jump onto you. Try to push away from any minions, even if they are now low enough to be last-hitted, as he will gain ferocity.

Additional Notes:
[*] has no sustain if he is not able to gain ferocity
[*] can only gain ferocity near minions on his opponent's team
[*]The stealth from can be delayed by damaging him

Elise

is similar to except that she mainly deals magic damage.

What to expect: Expect Elise to initially harass with and (she can always wave clear with this) with this possibility of . If wishes to go aggressive, she will do something similar to Nerutotoxin -> -> -> Spiderform -> (if needed) -> -> . She will also use to escape to a minion or during a tower dive.

What to do: Constantly harass , as you will out harass her. If she goes aggressive, simply her then leave, as with her spiderlings, she will out duel you. If you choose to towerdive , ensure that you have enough health to tank 2 seconds worth of tower damage + the damage you would already of taken, as she will use .

Additional Notes:
[*] has a long cooldown, if you force it, she has no escapes
[*] has no sustain
[*] deals most of her damage of a % of current/missing health

Hard Lanes / Soft Counters

If you find yourself facing against any of these champions, don't be worried. You will usually have a slight advantage or be equal in lane. These champions are champions who can out-play you or ignore your harass if played right, however they would usually require to be highly skilled (I'm talking about 1600+ elo) to counter you. Lane against these opponents with care, and don't play aggressive if you think they're out-playing you in trades. If you are a high elo player, play passively, as they will out-play .

Riven

Many people believe that is a hard counter to . However, hard counter implies that will most likely win the lane by having a better kill/death and more farm by the end or laning phase. This may be true in higher elo, however, in mid-low elo (1500 and under), they are even. will win lane if she goes all-in aggressive and out-play . will win if plays passive, or if does not out-play .

What to expect: A common hit and run combo is to the enemy (), then autoattack and a immediately afterwards, another auto attack, then to escape. However, other s may do numerous of other combos. If she uses the combo stated above, will not win lane unless she outplays you. This is because she is merely harassing you, assuming that she is even ever in range to hit to you (which you shouldn't , as your abilities greatly out-ranges her). Essentially, her Broken Burst can either be used as an escape, wave clear, or damage (in addition to autoattacks from 's proc). is used as either a harass or to stun you while she deals damage. would used as a gap closer to you and not take damage, to shield ghoul damage, or to escape. If activates , it is a sign that she wants to go aggressive, and you should avoid her unless you can absolutely kill her.

What to do: If uses her hit and run combo, wait for to wear off, then harass her back. You should out-trade her, as your ghouls would deal more damage, and you heal half or more of the damage she deals. If she and continues attacking you, her and run, regardless if she has a shield. She would be unable to catch up to you. Also, is melee, so if you consistently out-trade her, she will be zoned and will be easy to deny farm. They key thing to keep in mind is to stay as far away from as you can. In exception to , she has no ranged abilities. Also, if you are low (below 1/4 hp), go back, as her burst damage is powerful.

Additional Notes:

Be careful if you dive Riven. She has 4 gap closers without including Flash, an AoE stun, and Wind Slash which can finish you off if you get outplayed.
Riven has no natural sustain
Riven deals purely physical damage

Renekton

is a very tricky lane. He has 2 gap closers, making it hard to escape/kite/avoid him. His sustain from is also powerful. His burst damage is also amazing and can kill you if you misplay. Finally, his makes him extremely hard to kill and can turn the tide of duels. However, this is not an impossible lane, as he is all melee. If you beat him in early levels, you can easily deny him for the rest of laning phase.

What to expect: Expect him to auto attack at early levels and use if he is low. If he wants to be aggressive (and he most likely will), he will to you, and then . He will be more likely to go aggressive when he is above half fury. If he wants to go for the kill or is in a duel, he will go aggressive and use .

What to do: Try to avoid him as much as you can early on, however, if he does get to melee range, use the combo then run to avoid as much damage as you can. His cooldown is around double your combo, so harass him every time it's up so he'll think twice before trading against you. If he's low, be careful if he has . NEVER dive alone unless you are cetain he does not have . If you begin to lose the lane and lose trades, farm with your ghouls if he's not zoning you. If he is, wait for the turret to push, then farm. He would have to go into turret range in order to harass you. If you're winning, zone him completely away from the minions. His only sustain would be to your ghouls, which would heal him very little.

Additional Notes:

He deals nearly entirely physical damage
His Slice and Dice can gap close up to 900 range. In contrast, Omen of Pestilence is 600 range
His sustain scales off how much damage [[Cull the Meek] deals. If there are less minions around him, he will heal less.

Xin Zhao

This man's early game is scary. He is an all-in champ. He jumps in the middle of your team and just assassins whoever he wants. Be especially careful in this lane, because if you give him a kill, he'll snowball like crazy.

What to expect: Expect him to start by autoattacking minions. If he decides to go to aggressive, he'll to you, while he and autoattack to finish you off. He may add in a somewhere in there as well. He'll do the same in teamfights but to your AD carry.

What to do:If he jumps at you then run. You do not want him to land auto attacks. Once he's a good distance away . If you're ahead, then do the full . Try to bait ganks from him, because his biggest weakness is his lack of escapes. Keep harassing him, his sustain is weak.

Additional Notes:

He's an all in champion. He either gets the kill or gets killed
Very easy to bait
Is a anti-carry late game, he'll assassin your AD carry

Jayce

Jayce is naturally a very hard person to lane against. He is arguable one of the strongest top laners there is. He is very versatile, as he can be ranged and melee. He has a very strong harass, escape, hit and run burst, crowd control, wave clear, and damage in addition to being able to attack from a range. However, what he is missing is sustain, which is essential to beat a lane. This lane will be very tricky, but you can win it if you play carefully and not get out-played.

What to expect: has two main harass combos. The first one, and through it, is harder to hit/ easier to dodge, but is safer for him. There is also the which will deal a significant amount of burst damage, but is more dangerous for him to do. As for Lighting Field and , don't expect to use it unless he's in a duel or pushing. Expect him to simply harass with the combos and/or auto attacks, and farm from a range.

What to do: The key thing is to spam ghouls at . Sustain is his only weakness and you would want to exploit it. Try to avoid the combo and stay out of his auto attack range. If he uses , use your combo. The deciding factor in this lane is who can out-trade each other. If you begin to lose the lane, farm with your ghouls and request a gank. Once your jungler/mid laner is there, bait his then attack him

Additional Notes:

His autoattack range is shorter than your Omen of Famine and Omen of Pestilence.
Remember: He has no sustain
He is very fast with multiple movement speed buffs

Cho'Gath

Many people believe counters . This is true (As a soft counter) in some playstyles of . However, they would need to last hit your ghouls, and build AP (in order to 1 shot the creep wave) in order to counter. If plays AP-farmfest, there's really nothing to tell you except go aggressive early and avoid . Apart from that, if you are facing an AP that is completely ignoring you, treat him as a tank except for the fact that it's going to be harder and more dangerous. Luckily, most people play tank , so, I'm going to focus on how to lane against him.

What to expect: Expect him to try to ignore you and out-sustain your harass with . He may to either decide to go aggressive and try to combo you. Or, he can play passive and just farm with it and out-sustain you harass. At level 6, expect him to about every minute to grow bigger and tankier. If he decides to be aggressive (especially against AP ), expect him to Feral Scream] and [[Feast you (which deals tons of damage if he's AP).

What to do: When facing both tank and AP your job is to ensure that you deal enough damage that he can no longer ignore you. When facing AP focus on setting him behind early game, as he would not be able to 1 shot the minion wave yet. If he's still ignoring you, try to go into melee range and autoattack . If AP reaches a point where it can basicly 1 shot the entire minion wave, focus on counter-pushing rather than going aggressive. Once tank reaches a Godzilla status with 6 stacks, it would be extremely difficult to damage him significantly, so wait until your jungler ganks.

Additional Notes:

Focus on denying Cho'Gath early game, as it's going to be difficult to stop him mid game.
Even though you should be going aggressive in order to stop him from farming, keep in mind that Cho'Gath has a lot of burst (especially if he goes AP)
Be careful when you're low around Cho'Gath. Both tank and AP Cho'Gath has a surprisingly large amount of burst damage just from Feast (It has the same base damage as a fully stacked Darius' Noxian Guillotine).
An early gank from your jungler may be the best way to set him behind and win the lane,

Udyr

only kind of counters you if he goes Turtle Udyr (maxes and spams . This is because if he spams and maxes it first, he will have a shield every 6 seconds that would absorb around half your ghoul damage. He will also have something like a combination lifesteal and spell vamp from his ability damage, which will essentially heal him for the rest of the damage you deal. Harassing Turtle is futile.

What to expect: IMPORTANT: THIS ONLY APPLIES TO TURTLE . Expect to activate if you harass him and ignore your ghouls. He will continue to autoattack the minions to regenerate health and farm his way to the end of laning phase. He will most likely play passively unless necessary, however, if he does go aggressive, expect him to to you, then either switch to or depending on what he believes is the best option. If he wants to shove the lane at you, he will use .

What to do: Before you jump to conclusions, first see if it's or . Wait a few levels and constantly harass. If his shield seems to absorb a significant amount of damage, it's , otherwise, it's . Against : What is the best thing to do is dependent on your how much risk you are willing to take. You could play passive and simply make it a farm lane, which will be safe but will out-damage you late game. You could also play extremely aggressive, and try your chances on that. If you choose to play passive, just simply farm, dont waste mana on harassing (his sustain with in incredible), and don't get killed. If you want to play high-risk high-reward, wait a few levels, then walk up to him, autoattack then keep attacking him until he stops farming and counter attacks. Once he does this, run, and repeat. It is very risky, as has the potential to out trade you, however, if he maxes , his DPS is dramatically reduced and you may be able to duel him.
Agaisnt Udyr: If he's maxing , consistently harass him and stay away from melee range. All his damage is from autoattacks, therefore, if he is not right next to you, he cannot deal damage. If he goes into , it means he wants to go aggressive, which in that case, you should run. if he hits you and get to melee range. Should be easy to zone him due to his short range.

Additional Notes:

Udyr has a 1.5 second global cooldown on all his abilities
Udyr does not have any ranged abilities
He does not have an ultimate, and can level Pheonix Stance at level 1, unlike other champions who can only get their 4th abilities once per 5 levels.

Nunu

I used to believe that was an absolute counter to , due to the fact that he can out-harass and out-sustain , that no matter what you do, it is impossible to win lane. I would choose top to counter a . But then, one ranked game in 1400 elo, a showed me how to counter that. It involves playing with a completely different playstyle and build, and it may sound not viable, but it works.

What to expect: Expect him to auto attack minions in order to get his passive, , up to cast a free spell. Once it is up, he will most likely you. If he is in need of health, he will a minion or your ghoul. If he want to be aggresive, he may either if you are low, or in a brush, then .

What to do: If you want to win a lane, play like a . Wait till uses his , then wait for the slow to end. Once it does, as would most likely be farming in melee range, go up to him, use and continue autoattacking him. You should be able to out-trade him. To continue to do it, you should build damage items, such as a sometimes even before . Just remember that this is only in the special case of a top, and if you try this against any other top laner such as , they will out-trade you. However, by building damage, you're sacrificing you're late game as scales very poorly with AD.

Additional Notes:

Nunu & Willump is terrible at farming, as he is built Ability Power, his Consume has a giant cooldown, and his Ice Blast would probably used to harass instead in farming
If you're near a brush and you're slowed for no reason at all, run away from the brush, or even Flash, because there's a Nunu & Willump chanelling Absolute Zero and you don't want to be near it.
If you think your can consistently get to melee range, max Omen of War 2nd, or even first.

2v1 Lane

Yorick is one of the best 2v1 laner in game. It's why he was one of the most pick/banned champs back when a 2v1 lane swap strategy was popular in MLG. But there's a lot of thing you have to master in order to sucessfuly 2v1, here are some.

When and Why?

There are many situations where a 2v1 lane swap would work out to your favour:

Getting the late game AD carry farmed

In a normal lane, a late game hyper-carry such as or has bad early game. But if they manage to get gold and make it into late game, they literally 3 shot everybody. In a 2v1 lane, they get free farm and can get that farm without worrying about their horrible early game.

Aggresive fast push strategy

You're most likely going to do this when your in a premade. Essentially, this strategy is if you want to get all 3 outer turrets in a short amount of time. This can be risky, and backfire. Explaining how this strategy works is a guide in it's own. But if you want to know how to do it, watch streams of teams like CLG NA.

Early game top laner

If they enemy laner is a top laner that is scary and snowballs hard, putting them in a 2v1 lane makes their ability to farm or get kills becomes almost impossible (unless your duo lane is bad). Of course, Yorick would win most of the lanes either ways, but its easier to deny them gold by putting them agaisnt 2 enemies. It can also be used for champions who might be difficult to lane agaisnt as Yorick (such as or ).

Knowing your opponent

There are many things you have to expect in a 2v1 lane, and how to react to it. Usually, you look at the support, not the AD carry, to choose how you would play:

Aggresive

These supports include:

These supports job is to set up kills for you. This lane can go either two ways: Horribly wrong or Amazingly great. ALWAYS remember what their ranges on their spells are. A at level 1 can result in a First Blood. Keep in mind to constantly harass them. With a support like them, they're going to eventually want to dive you. However, if you get them low, they'll either not dive you, or dive you and you ending up getting a kill. And except for , they don't have any natural healing abilities. Also, don't be afraid to go aggresive. In a 2v1 lane, the AD carry usually become cocky and thinks you cant kill them. They'll stay in lane even with 100 HP. If you see that you can get a kill without getting killed, go for it.

Healer

These supports include:

When facing these supports, focus less on harassing them, and more on trying to last it. The support would be able to heal any damage you deal on them. Also, they would be less aggressive,
and therefore less of a threat. Remember to use your on a champion, because you sustain more.

Poke/Harasser

These supports include:

This would be the easiest lane for you. Your sustain from would usually keep you at full health from any poke they deal. And in exception to , they have no healing abilities to recover from your harass. In this lane, constantly harass them everytime they poke. You'll heal any health you lost, and they'll lose health and be unable to regain it quickly. Remember to go for the kill if they're low enough.

Lane control and going back

Lane Control

Like a solo lane, you would want to freeze the lane. However, you now want to freeze the lane to make it more difficult to dive you, not so your lane would be pushed back. If you see that there is a significant amount of minions more on their side than on your side, use your ghouls to push. As it's a 2v1 lane, your lane will probably be always pushed to your turret. The only time you would want to push to their turret is if they're roaming.

Going back

Sometimes, you're just going to have to let the turret fall or go back. Here's some situations where it would be smart to retreat:

Turret is < 10% HP and your lane is pushed
You see a 4 man gank coming (chances are low you're going to live)
They can dive you (usually less than 25% HP)

Farming

There's only 2 situations where you should last hit with auto attacks:

1.Under a turret

Unless they're diving you, it would be safe to farm under it. To last hit under a turret keep this in mind:

Melee minions:
It takes 2 turret shots and 1 auto attack to kill it. That means to last hit it successfully, its best to let 2 turret shots hit it, then auto attack it.

Ranged minions:
It takes 1 turret shot and 2 auto attacks to kill it. That means if you want to last hit it, hit it once, let a turret shot hit it, then hit it again. Your attack speed is not fast enough to hit it twice before another turret shot hits it.

2.When they can't duel you

If you manage to get them low enough where they're not certain they can kill you in a duel, it is safe to farm. That happens if you have at least 2 times more health than them. If they try to attack you, then use the [Omen of Pestilence] [Omen of Famine] combo. If they try to duel you, kill him. Also, if their support or AD carry left the lane, it is always safe to farm (remember to use Sight Wards though in case of ganks)

Protecting the Turret

Especially in higher elo 5v5 ranked, the enemy duo lane may try to shove the lane at you and try to get the turret before your team does. Why is an amazing 2v1 laner is the because can still do alot of harass safely, and forcing the enemy AD carry away. If the enemy AD carry is pushing your turret, use on him and the nearby enemy minions (to push back), and him. If it doesn't force the AD carry back, and you think it's safe to do so, go up to him and use (if he's under turret range). The amount of damage from all 3 ghouls attacking him should force him away.

Teamfights

In teamfights can either do 2 things: protect the AD carry or kill a target. Note: Unlike many tanks, does not have any initiation abilities (such as 's ).

Protecting the AD carry

When and Why?

You would want to protect the AD carry in the following situations:

Your AD carry is fed
Your AD carry is being heavily focused/bursted down
Your AD carry is a late game carry (such as Vayne Kog'Maw)

You would want to protect your AD carry because in teamfights, especially late game, the AD carry is the most vital person in the team. They deal the most sustained damage out of everybody (excluding champions such as or ). If your AD carry dies as soon as the teamfight begins, chances are you're going to lose it.

What to do

1. Clone the AD Carry with as soon as you're 100% certain the teamfight has started (Don't waste it)
2. Control the clone to attack a target (use Alt + Click the target). The target should be either the person who is the most direct threat to the AD carry (Ex. a who used his on him). If there is no direct threat, use it to attack the enemy AD carry.
3. Spam your combo on the target (use if possible)
4. Autoattack the target, then repeat step 3 when possible.

Killing a target

When and Why?

You would want to kill the target rather than protect your AD carry if:

The enemy team is not heavily focusing the AD carry
Your AD carry is not constantly being the first to die in teamfights
The teamfight is happening in the early/mid game (where AD Bruisers outdamage AD carries)
The AD carry is extremely difficult to kill (Ex. He has a Guardian Angel, a Zilean with Chronoshift,or has a big gap closer such as Tristana's Rocket Jump)
The AD carry is not worth protecting (deals no damage, has no items)
Extremely fed enemy target who is literally single handedly winning the teamfight, and is killable

What to do

1.Select the Target:
Ask youself these questions

How much of an impact does the target have on the teamfight?
How much sustained damage does the target deal?
How easy is it to kill him?
If you can't decide who to pick, just target the AD carry, as the AD carry is usually the best target.

2. Clone the biggest damage dealer only with autoattacks (usually an AD carry, but can be the AD bruiser if you have someone like a fed or )
3. Use the clone to attack the target (Alt+Click them), you'll be shocked on how much damage the clone deals.
4. Use your combo on the target
5. Get in melee range of the target then use and autoattack him
*Note: If you cannot get into melee range in a reasonably short period of time or safely, pick another target.

Yorick enters a bar, there is no counter. (SEASON 3)

Yorick enters a bar, there is no counter. (SEASON 3)

Recommended Items

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Ability Order

Shepherd of Souls (PASSIVE)

Last Rites (Q)

Dark Procession (W)

Mourning Mist (E)

Eulogy of the Isles (R)

Introduction

Yorick - Overview

Pros / Cons

Runes

Masteries

Summoner Spells

Items

Starting Items

First Trip Back

Boots

Core Build

Last Items

Skill Sequence and Explaination

Solo 1v1 Lane

Harassing

Ganks

Farming and Lane Control

Forcing the enemy to stay in lane

Getting a kill

Top lane match-ups

Easy Lanes

Hard Lanes / Soft Counters

2v1 Lane

When and Why?

Getting the late game AD carry farmed

Aggresive fast push strategy

Early game top laner

Knowing your opponent

Aggresive

Healer

Poke/Harasser

Lane control and going back

Lane Control

Going back

Farming

1.Under a turret

2.When they can't duel you

Protecting the Turret

Teamfights

Protecting the AD carry

When and Why?

What to do

Killing a target

When and Why?

What to do

League of Legends Champions: