Master Yi Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

This page contains a champion character strategy guide for Master Yi, including stats, skills and abilities, runes and masteries, and playstyles

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Master Yi

Basic Information

Master – the Wuju Bladesman
Class	Slayer	Role	Skirmisher
Secondary Bar	Mana	IP / RP	450 / 260

Champion Stats

	Lv1	Per Lv	Lv18
Health	599	+92	2163
Health Regen	7.59	+0.65	18.6
Mana	251	+42	965
Mana Regen	7.26	+0.45	14.9
Attack Damage	63.5	+3	111
Armor	60	+3	75
Attack Speed	0.679	+2%	+34%
Magic Resist	32.1	+1.25	53.4
Movement Speed	335	–	–
Melee	125

Lore

[Click to read]

Through the ancient martial art of Wuju, Master Yi has tempered his body and sharpened his mind until thought and action have become one. Though he chooses to enter into violence as a last resort, the grace and speed with which he wields his blade ensures resolution is always swift. As the last living practitioner of Wuju, Master Yi has devoted his life to finding able pupils to carry on the legacy of his lost people.

Even before Yi mastered Wuju, he was considered one of the most skilled practitioners of the mystical martial art. He would soon prove his mastery when word of a massive Noxian invasion reached his remote village. Yi swept across the battlefields of Ionia, turning back the tide of Noxus’s vast infantry with swift and deadly strikes, much to the embarrassment of Noxian High Command. Recognizing the threat the Wuju disciples posed to their invasion, the Noxians chose to unleash a nightmarish chemical attack on the home of the deadly art. Those who somehow survived the poisonous concoction had their minds twisted beyond repair. Yi’s home was left in ruin.

At the war’s conclusion, Yi returned to the grotesque remains of his village. There he became the attack’s final casualty. Slain in spirit, if not in body, Yi clung to the only feeling left within his heart: vengeance. Driven only by his desire to punish those who’d destroyed his home, Yi spent years training in seclusion. He became a deadlier swordsman than he had ever been, but true mastery of Wuju still eluded him.

At the height of Yi’s frustration, a monkey of unusually noble bearing interrupted his training. Standing as straight and tall as a man, the monkey watched and mimicked Yi’s movements. Yi shooed the monkey away, but the agile creature took great amusement in turning Yi’s own techniques against him. Gradually, Yi felt his anger subside as he sparred with the playful animal, and when the burden of his hatred had fully lifted, he found he had caught the monkey by his tail. Yi then understood that he would never master Wuju so long as he pursued it for vengeance, and as he let go of the monkey, he also released his desire to shed his enemy’s blood.

Yi thanked the monkey for showing him what he’d been blind to, and was surprised when the creature actually replied. He wished to learn Yi’s art of fighting. It was an odd request, but through it Yi saw his new path: the way to honor the memory of his lost people was to pass their teachings on to a new generation.

”The edge of the sharpest blade is no match for the calm of the peaceful mind.”
— Master Yi
Source: http://gameinfo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en)

Skills

Icon	Description
	Double Strike Every few strikes, Master Yi strikes twice.
	Alpha Strike (Target Range: 600, Effect Radius: 600, Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 Mana, Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14) ACTIVE: Master Yi teleports to strike up to 4 enemies, dealing 25/60/95/130/165 (+100% Attack Damage) physical damage, with an additional 75/100/125/150/175 damage to minions and monsters. During Alpha Strike Master Yi is untargetable.Alpha Strike can critically strike, dealing an additional 60% Attack Damage physical damage. Basic attacks lower the cooldown of Alpha Strike by 1 second.
	Meditate (Cost: 50 Mana, Cooldown: 35)ACTIVE: Master Yi channels, restoring 30/50/70/90/110 (+25% Ability Power) Health per second for 4 seconds. This healing is increased by 1% for every 1% of Master Yi’s missing Health.While channeling, Master Yi reduces incoming damage by 50/55/60/65/70%. This damage reduction is halved against turrets.
	Wuju Style (Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14)PASSIVE:Grants 10% Attack Damage.ACTIVE: Basic attacks deal 14/23/32/41/50 (+10/12.5/15/17.5/20% Attack Damage)bonus true damage for 5 seconds. Afterwards the passive bonus is lost while Wuju Style is on cooldown.
	Highlander (Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 85)PASSIVE: Champion kills and assists reduce the remaining cooldown of Master Yi’s basic abilities by 70%.ACTIVE: Increases Movement Speed by 25/35/45%, Attack Speed by 30/55/80%, and grants immunity to slows for 7 seconds. While active, champion kills and assists extend the duration of Highlander by 7 seconds.

Strategy

Do not use (Q) Alpha Strike randomly as it can stop you from using it in situations where you need it the most (e.g. an enemy flashing away, disengaging, using a skill shot etc.)
(W) Meditate can negate a lot of damage if used correctly in a team fight. It can also be used when tower diving as it also reduces the damage of tower damage.
When jungling, use the active of (E) Wuju Style when the enemy monsters have 50% health and below because the passive is removed after the duration of (E) Wuju Style and you will have a harder time clearing the jungle.
You can always cancel your (W) Meditate, it is sometimes better not to finish the duration of the skill and just time your (W) Meditate during an enemy attack.
Take note that (R) Highlander lasts more every time you get a kill or assists, so always stick close to your enemies and try to capitalize on the reduction when engaging in a team fight.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Jungle

Smite	Flash

Item Builds

Jungle

Starter Items

Hunter’s Machete	Health Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items

Core Items

Skirmisher’s Sabre: Bloodrazor	Blade of the Ruined King	Infinity Edge

Berserker’s Greaves

Skirmisher’s Sabre: Bloodrazor – Bloodrazor is the perfect jungle item for Master Yi because he can proc his passive Double Strike the faster his attack speed is.

Blade of the Ruined King – Since Yi doesn’t have any decent gap closers and crowd controls, Blade of the Ruined King will act as his item for ganking and catching up onto enemies. This item is also good because it has decent lifesteal and damage, which increases his survivability when ganking and jungling neutral monsters.

Infinity Edge – Infinity Edge increases the attack damage and critical strike of Master Yi a lot. This is the mid-late game powerspike item of Yi. He can deal massive damage and can melt any squishies he comes across.

Full Item Build

Full Item Build

Skirmisher’s Sabre – Bloodrazor	Blade of the Ruined King	Infinity Edge

Youmuu’s Ghostblade	Berserker’s Greaves	Guardian Angel

Youmuu’s Ghostblade – Youmuu’s Ghostblade grants Master Yi attack damage, cooldown reduction, and extra lethality. The passive and active that grants him movement also makes him a good invader and ganker.

Guardian Angel – The extra life and attack damage are what makes this item a must for Master Yi. He has no defensive stats and is considered to be a glass cannon. Adding an extra life for you in team fights is game-changing since Master Yi can easily turn a 1v5 situation in his favor when played correctly.

Situational Items

Situational Items

Frozen Mallet	Edge of Night	Mecurial Schimitar

Lord Dominik’s Regards	Mortal Reminder

Frozen Mallet – Frozen Mallet can be built on a defensive Master Yi. The passive in this item makes him great at catching enemies because of the slow, but the only good attribute that can help Yi a lot is the damage and the extra health doesn’t do much unless you are opting for a tanky Master Yi.

Edge of Night – Edge of Night is a good item if the enemy team has a burst, combo-oriented AP champion. The extra damage and lethality also helps in your overall offensive stats.

Mercurial Schimitar – This is more of a utility item and highly situational. This gives magic resistance and damage, while the active breaks any form of crowd control while healing you.

Lord Dominik’s Regards/Mortal Reminder – Build Lord Dominik’s Regards if the enemy has a lot of armor. Otherwise, build Mortal Reminder if they have a lot of health.

Playing Against

You can still be apply hard crowd control like stuns and knockups when he uses his (R) Highlander
Although Master Yi has damage reduction when he is in (W) Meditate form, he is very vulnerable to team fights because he can’t move in the duration of the skill.
Save your finishers after his (Q) Alpha Strike because he can avoid some skills if you cast it before.
Building Thornmail and other armor items decrease his damage potential in the game since he is an auto-attack dependent champion.

Hard Counters

Jax – Jax can activate Counter Strike to dodge all of Master Yi’s basic attacks. Jax also outdamages Master Yi in an extended fight.
Tryndamere – Tryndamere has the ability to deal a lot of damage without dying because of Undying Rage. Battle Fury also increases his critical strike chance the more he auto attacks, giving Master Yi a difficult task when engaging him in a fight.
Rammus – Master Yi will have a hard time against Rammus since he relies on his basic attacks to deal damage. Rammus can activate Defensive Ball Curl and Puncturing Taunt to counter Master Yi.

Strategy Video