Hello, and welcome to my guide for completely dominating with Yorick.

Although I am by no means an expert on LoL or Yorick himself, I have been playing Yorick since the middle of Season 2 and feel that I have finally come up with a respectable build for Season 3. I do not play ranked games, but I have won more than 20 games with Yorick this season and lost only 4. The top-lane build I follow allows you to harass your opponent effectively early game and leads to a tanky damage dealing MONSTER mid-late game. So, if you think you are worthy of the task, jump right in and let the DOMINATION begin.


Additional Builds:

Although Yorick is traditionally thought of as a Top-Lane Champion, he is also very good at fulfilling other roles in the team dynamic. The builds on the right are for Support and Jungle Yorick (recommended for the more adventurous summoners). While I recommend playing Yorick solo-top, he is viable in other lanes and these builds provide examples for these positions.

In addition to an updated S3 build, I have also provided the build that I used for most of Season 2, which I feel is still viable (although not as potent) as the new build.

My Choices:

Flash- In my opinion, Flash is a must-have summoner spell on Yorick. Combined with Omen of Pestilence you can easily trap your enemy, or use the same combo to escape a gank.

Ignite- Extremely helpful in securing early kills. Flash in, drop all of your ghouls and Ignite and your enemy will go down much faster than they think.


Other options:

Ghost - Helps escape ganks or catching fleeing enemies. Very good in combination with Omen of Pestilence. Has a lower cooldown than Flash but takes away some element of surprise and ability to escape over walls.

Exhaust - Helps to catch up to an escaping enemy, or escape from one chasing you down. Also useful in 1v1 damage trade-offs, would replace Ignite.

Teleport - Yorick can be very good at clearing a lane of minions and pushing towers when spamming his spells. This summoner spell would be helpful in catching the enemy team off-guard and taking down a tower which can have the potential to turn the game in your favor. I rarely take this however, because I find my choices to be much more beneficial.

Greater Mark of Attack Damage - Provide extra Attack Damage to help with last hitting and make your ghouls deal more damage.

Greater Seal of Armor - Provide some Armor, helpful in early damage trade-offs top lane.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - Provide Magic Resist later in the game, when AP Champions start dealing more damage.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - Provide even more Attack Damage for last hitting minions and giving extra damage to your ghouls.

I use 9-21-0 masteries on Yorick. This distribution adds the most value to your ghouls. The Defensive Masteries provide you with more Health, Armor, Magic Resist, and Damage Reduction, allowing you to stay alive longer. The added Health also keeps your ghouls alive longer. The Offensive Masteries provide you with more Attack Damage, Cooldown Reduction, and Armor Penetration. The Attack Damage helps your ghouls become more potent and the Cooldown Reduction helps to ensure that one is always available when you need it.

I choose this Mastery point distribution over one more focused on the Utility Tree because it adds the most value to you and your ghouls. Plus the item build provides you with substantial Mana and Mana Regen.


Offensive Tree

Defensive Tree

Faerie Charm, 3X Health Potion, 3X Mana Potion, and sight ward

Faerie Charm is essential for early mana regen, and also builds towards your first item, Tear of the Goddess. Health and Mana potions help your sustain, and an early sight ward can be crucial for escaping an incoming gank. I usually toss it in the Tri-Bush around level 4 (if you're blue) or by Baron (if you're purple).

Boots and Tear of the Goddess

Purchase Tear of the Goddess as soon as you can to start building up mana from its passive. Buy basic boots if you have enough in the same back in order to move in and out for easy harassment. If you have gotten a kill or two, you may even be able to pick up a Long Sword to increase the damage from your ghouls and build towards Manamune.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Sheen, or Giant's Belt

Next back try to get Sheen, this will help with you damage output in 1v1 trade-offs. If you are taking a lot of damage, try grabbing a Giant's Belt instead. When you can, get Ionian Boots of Lucidity for the cooldown reduction, which will help you keep your ghouls out ready when you need them. If the other team has heavy CC or if facing an AP lane, you can go for an alternative boot choice in Mercury's Treads. However, I usually find the CDR to be more helpful.

Manamune, Iceborn Gauntlet, and Warmog's Armor

These items make up the core of your build and I purchase them almost every game. Build Manamune right after Sheen to start making use of the mana you have been gathering. Then, turn Sheen into Iceborn Gauntlet for armor and more mana. When you have enough, grab Warmog's for health and to make your ghouls stick around even longer.

Bloodthirster, or Banshee's Veil

I usually go for The Bloodthirster after my core build, to really increase my damage. However, if the other team has a lot of AP or CC you may want to get Banshee's Veil first. Either way, buy the remaining item to complete your build.

As with any build, the item selection should vary with the game. Here are some alternative item selections that also work well on Yorick if the situation should call for them.

Mercury's Treads - Replace the Ionian Boots of Lucidity with these if you are facing a tough AP lane or a heavy CC team.

Trinity Force and Frozen Heart - Replace Iceborn Gauntlet and Banshee's Veil with these for extra damage output. Only go this route if you have picked up a few early kills, as these items cost a considerable amount more than the usual build. Replace Banshee's Veil with Frozen Heart in order to make up for the mana and armor lost from Iceborn Gauntlet.

Maw of Malmortius - Replace Banshee's Veil for more AD than MR, or Bloodthirster for more MR than AD.

Randuin's Omen - Replace Warmog's Armor if facing an AD heavy team, or Iceborn Gauntlet for a more tanky build.

Mikael's Blessing - Buy this if you find yourself running out of mana often. Replace Banshee's Veil, or replace Bloodthirster if the other team has a lot of AP or CC.

Omen of Pestilence - I put a point into this first, for bush checking, as well as a nice early harass (the slow keeps them off of you while dealing some damage). I max this second, as the cc is very helpful for escaping or hunting down fleeing enemies, as well as area damage for team fights.

Omen of Famine - I take a point in this at level 2, to build up some sustain. Max this first, it is essential for survivability and harassment. Remember, this provides 100% lifesteal against champions, and only 50% against minions, so using it to harass is very helpful.

Omen of War - I get one point in this at level 5 because it is difficult to use it before then. Also, it is easier to harass using your other two spells in early game, so you really don't need this right away. I max this last, as this build does not really have you doing huge damage up-close until later.

Omen of Death - at levels 6,11, and 16 to have a crazy-good ghoul by your side to double-team opponents by yourself. This is also useful in tanking towers. Use it on your ADC to get the most damage from it, as it works off of auto-attacks.

TIP: I usually don't use this on an ally unless they are prepared for it or they do much more damage than I do, because most of the time they don't know what it does and they waste the reanimation part of it.