Master Yi guide: build, runes, matchups and mistakes to avoid

At a glance

Runes

Spells

Start

Build

››+

Skills

Q›E›W

Master Yi in figures

Games in the jungle

29,89188.0% of its games

Win rate

50.4%

Pick rate

≈ 9.0%

Ban rate

≈ 22.5%

The figures come from 378,251 ranked solo games on EUW (patches 16.18 to 16.21, Riot’s official API, up to 24 October 2026): the same sample as Gankademy’s champion pages. “≈”: a figure the app gives as indicative.

Strengths and weaknesses

When Master Yi is strongest

The build that wins most

A build, here, is the order of the first three finished items. Out of the 5,854 Master Yi games in the jungle where they are known, the three most-played paths:

Build	Items	Played	Win rate
Anti-tank	››	28%	≈ 53.3%
Infinity Edge	››	11%	≈ 57.4%
On-hit	››	10%	≈ 57.2%

Kraken Slayer then The Collector open the two most-played builds. Third, Infinity Edge wins clearly more often than the more common Lord Dominik’s Regards (≈ 57.4% against ≈ 53.3%); the attack-speed path — Guinsoo’s Rageblade then Blade of The Ruined King after Kraken Slayer — wins about as often as Infinity Edge.

With build 1, the game most often starts with Gustwalker Hatchling, and the boots are Berserker’s Greaves (60% of games).

Depending on the game

What build 1’s players buy next (5% of its games or more):

Item	Bought	Why
Infinity Edge	44%	damage
Immortal Shieldbow	19%	damage
Death’s Dance	12%	vs burst (×1.07)
Guardian Angel	9%	vs burst (×1.09)

×: how many times as often it is bought against that need (191,000 games checked by Gankademy).

Skill order

Level by level, the most-played order in the jungle: 69% of the 2,143 games where Master Yi reaches level 18.

Q	1			4	5		7		9
W			3											14	15		17	18
E		2						8		10		12	13
R						6					11					16

Runes and summoner spells

The most-played rune pages of Master Yi in the jungle, by keystone and trees:

Page	Games	Win rate
Hail of BladesDomination + Precision	18,486	50.6%
Lethal TempoPrecision + Inspiration	5,913	51.4%
Lethal TempoPrecision + Domination	3,634	48.2%
Lethal TempoPrecision + Sorcery	645	49.8%

Hail of Blades with Precision is Yi’s page in most games. Lethal Tempo with Inspiration, less played, wins a little more (51.4% against 50.6%); with Domination, it wins least.

Hail of Blades, Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos, Treasure Hunter, Legend: Alacrity, Triumph

Summoner spells: Flash + Smite in 96% of games.

Matchups: the easiest and the hardest

Master Yi’s win rate against each opponent in the same role, against the usual 50.4%: the gap in points, from 200 games.

Easiest against

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Gap
Nunu & Willump	349	59.6%	+9.2
Zed	243	58.8%	+8.4
Rengar	564	56.4%	+6.0
Graves	718	56.0%	+5.6

Hardest against

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Gap
Sejuani	456	43.9%	−6.6
Shaco	911	44.9%	−5.5
Elise	447	≈ 45.2%	−5.2
Rammus	988	45.3%	−5.1

Crowd control stops Yi, and his hardest matchups have plenty: Sejuani and Rammus lock him down up close, Elise’s cocoon stuns him from range, Shaco’s boxes make him flee in fear. Against them, come in once their control is spent, and keep Alpha Strike for what is left. Against Nunu & Willump, Zed, Rengar or Graves, Yi comes out clearly ahead: their decisive spell lands in one go, and your Alpha Strike can make it miss.

Matchup sheet

The 12 most frequent opponents in the jungle. The difficulty is the app’s: the gap with the usual 50.4%, and whether it holds.

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Difficulty
Viego	1,680	50.5%	Even
Kayn	1,426	52.0%	Even
Wukong	1,139	49.4%	Even
Shyvana	1,075	49.5%	Even
Cho’Gath	1,069	50.5%	Even
Rammus	988	45.3%	Hard
Briar	988	49.4%	Even
Warwick	919	48.1%	Even
Shaco	911	44.9%	Hard
Kha’Zix	867	49.5%	Even
Lee Sin	821	≈ 53.3%	Easy
Qiyana	767	52.0%	Even

Bans to consider

The opponents Master Yi beats least often in the jungle, among those met at least 300 times:

Opponent	Win rate	Games
Sejuani	43.9%	456
Shaco	44.9%	911
Elise	≈ 45.2%	447

What the specialists do

24 players of the sample play Master Yi in at least 40% of their games, and at least 30 times. Their 967 games in the jungle, against all its players:

	Specialists	All players
Win rate	≈ 53.1%	50.4%
Build	Same 22%	›› 28%
Rune page	Same 46%	62%
Skills maxed	Same 93%	Q›E›W 94%

Same choices as all the players. Their win rate: 2.6 points higher.

The most frequent mistakes

Two habits measured on the 7,593 games with a timeline, then the champion’s own mistakes. These gaps go with losing without proving the cause.

• Dying before 15 minutes. 44% of games have three or more deaths before the 15th minute; they win only 36.7%, against 65.0% when Master Yi dies once or less (31% of games). Instead: Yi is weak before his first items and stops at the first stun. Don’t answer an invade alone, and gank only lanes whose laner can lock the target down.
• Falling behind on farm. At 10 minutes, games with 61 minions and monsters or fewer (26%) win 40.9%; those with 74 or more (27%), 58.4%. Instead: Yi wins through his items. Clear full paths, hit several monsters at once with Alpha Strike in the big camps, and take a camp on your way back after every play.
• Lethal Tempo with Domination. Lethal Tempo · Precision + Domination is taken in 3,634 Master Yi games and wins 48.2%; with Inspiration, the same keystone wins 51.4%. Instead: Inspiration as the secondary tree, or Hail of Blades (50.6%).
• Opening with Alpha Strike. Alpha Strike is your one dodge: used to start a fight, it leaves you open to the stun that follows. Instead: walk in, and keep it for their key crowd control or their ultimate.
• Meditating in front of a stun. Meditate is a channel: you stand still, and any crowd control cuts it. Instead: use it to soak damage you can’t avoid — a tower shot, poke, a burst once their control is spent.

With Gankademy

These are the figures of Gankademy’s Master Yi page: the draft compares your options against your lane opponent and imports your rune page in one click. The draft · The coaches · What it reads.

Questions