Guide · Jungle

Master Yi Guide

the Wuju Bladesman

Fighter

Assassin

Tier S Jungle

Master Yi, the Wuju Bladesman, is a fighter and assassin champion of medium difficulty. Across our 585 analysed ranked games, Master Yi is mostly played in the Jungle (93% of its games), with a 51.4% win rate in that role: tier S among Jungle champions (#3 of 48, ranked by win rate). Master Yi's damage is mostly physical (66%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. 30% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 57.1% in long games (over 35 min, 84 games) versus 49.7% in short games (under 25 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.21

Averages measured over 545 Jungle games played with Master Yi, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Master Yi is a melee jungler who wins through speed: Double Strike hits twice after several consecutive attacks, Alpha Strike makes him untargetable, Wuju Style adds true damage, and Highlander gives him speed and immunity to slows. Killing or assisting extends Highlander and reduces his abilities' cooldowns.

The engage

R › Q › E › AA AA

When: A carry is within range.

Highlander raises your movement and attack speed and makes you immune to slows; Alpha Strike makes you untargetable, Wuju Style adds true damage.

The clean-up

Q › AA AA › Q › AA AA

When: Your team is winning the fight.

Every takedown or assist reduces your abilities' cooldowns and extends Highlander: chain Alpha Strike from target to target.

See all 3 Master Yi combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Attack with Alpha Strike: basic attacks reduce its cooldown. Meditate heals you every second and stacks Double Strike.

Common mistakes

• Using Alpha Strike with no target or no exit plan.
• Casting Highlander too early: its duration is limited.
• Not chaining your attacks: Double Strike depends on them.

Riot's official tips for playing Master Yi

• If you're in a lane against ranged players, leveling up Meditate can allow you to stay in the lane longer and gain levels faster than they will.
• Wuju Style is very strong early for last hitting minions.
• Try using Alpha Strike on a minion in front of an enemy champion so you are placed at a safe distance at the end of the spell.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Lord Dominik's Regards, Kraken Slayer, and The Collector (96 games, 55.2% win rate).

Lord Dominik's Regards+Kraken Slayer+The Collector

96 games · 55.2%

Experimental Hexplate+Guinsoo's Rageblade+Kraken Slayer

87 games · 64.4%

Guinsoo's Rageblade+Death's Dance+Kraken Slayer

83 games · 68.7%

Skill order

Max order : Q > E > W62.3% · 69 games

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

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 80 games).

Starting items

Gustwalker Hatchling54.8% · 31 games

Mosstomper Seedling75.0% · 20 games

First completed items, in order

Kraken Slayer›Guinsoo's Rageblade

37 games · 56.8%

Kraken Slayer›The Collector

24 games · 75.0%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 4105 gold, 71 CS, 3958 XP. At 15 min: 6580 gold, 108 CS, 6751 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Smite51.2% · 537 games

Most-played runes

Hail of Blades + Precision

48.2% · 276 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Grisly Mementos61%

Treasure Hunter76%

Secondary tree · Precision

Triumph93%

Legend: Alacrity91%

Shards

Attack speed99%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling84%

Lethal Tempo + Inspiration

54.2% · 177 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Alacrity99%

Coup de Grace80%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight72%

Cash Back53%

Shards

Attack speed100%

Adaptive force97%

Health scaling84%

Lethal Tempo + Domination

56.4% · 55 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph98%

Legend: Alacrity100%

Coup de Grace98%

Secondary tree · Domination

Treasure Hunter78%

Grisly Mementos49%

Shards

Attack speed100%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling89%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Master Yi's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team52.0% · 171 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Kraken Slayer 52.0%

Guinsoo's Rageblade 55.1%

The Collector 51.7%

Lord Dominik's Regards 45.8% ▼

Blade of The Ruined King 56.1%

Experimental Hexplate 58.8% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team58.3% · 144 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Kraken Slayer 62.2% ▲

Guinsoo's Rageblade 61.4% ▲

The Collector 70.0% ▲

Death's Dance 71.0% ▲

Blade of The Ruined King 54.3%

Experimental Hexplate 65.5%

The item that stands out most is The Collector: 70.0% win rate, +16 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team46.5% · 230 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Kraken Slayer 46.2% ▼

Guinsoo's Rageblade 50.9% ▼

The Collector 45.5% ▼

Blade of The Ruined King 57.1%

Death's Dance 58.2% ▼

Lord Dominik's Regards 51.9%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Master Yi in the Jungle

Kha'Zix Master Yi: 42.1%19 games

Kha'Zix has the edge in 58% of the 19 Jungle duels against Master Yi. See the Kha'Zix guide.

Shaco Master Yi: 47.1%17 games

Shaco has the edge in 53% of the 17 Jungle duels against Master Yi. See the Shaco guide.

Viego Master Yi: 53.3%15 games

Viego has the edge in 47% of the 15 Jungle duels against Master Yi. See the Viego guide.

Graves Master Yi: 65.2%23 games

Graves has the edge in 35% of the 23 Jungle duels against Master Yi. See the Graves guide.

Lee Sin Master Yi: 80.0%20 games

Lee Sin has the edge in 20% of the 20 Jungle duels against Master Yi. See the Lee Sin guide.

Who Master Yi is strong against

Lee Sin80.0% · 20 games

Graves65.2% · 23 games

Viego53.3% · 15 games

Shaco47.1% · 17 games

Kha'Zix42.1% · 19 games

How to play against Master Yi

• Meditate is an effective method of healing damage over time, but Master Yi is susceptible to coordinated team ganks early in the game.
• If Master Yi tries to farm with Alpha Strike, hit him a few times so he has to use mana with Meditate to heal.
• Although Master Yi cannot be slowed while using Highlander, other disables can stop him in his tracks.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Master Yi's matchups.

Master Yi Jungle: what our games say

Laning phase against the Jungle average

Measured over 80 Master Yi games with a timeline; the average covers 69 champions played Jungle in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: long (over 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Master Yi in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
Top	40	42.5 %	6.4	404

Roles where we have at least 40 Master Yi games.

Abilities

PassiveDouble Strike

Every few consecutive basic attack, Master Yi strikes twice.

QAlpha Strike

Master Yi teleports across the battlefield with blinding speed, dealing physical damage to multiple units in his path, while simultaneously becoming untargetable. Alpha Strike can critically strike and deals bonus physical damage to monsters. Basic attacks reduce Alpha Strike's cooldown.

WMeditate

Master Yi rejuvenates his body by focus of mind, restoring Health and taking reduced damage for a short time. In addition, Master Yi will gain stacks of Double Strike and pause the remaining duration on Wuju Style and Highlander for each second he channels.

EWuju Style

Grants bonus true damage on basic attacks.

RHighlander

Master Yi moves with unparalleled agility, temporarily increasing his Move Speed and Attack Speed as well as making him immune to all slowing effects. While active, Champion kills or assists extend Highlander's duration. Passively reduces cooldown for his other abilities on a kill or assist.

Other Jungle champions to know

Most played

Lee Sin50.1 %Graves49.2 %Qiyana51.4 %Viego47.2 %Jarvan IV50.4 %Hecarim49.2 %Talon51.2 %Sylas50.2 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Rek'Sai58.7 %Quinn56.9 %Briar55.4 %Kayn54.3 %Shaco53.4 %Nidalee53.3 %Vi53.0 %Rammus52.9 %

Frequently asked questions

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