Master Yi Jungle Guide For Season 13 (2023)

The preseason is the best time for various builds and searching for new mains or pocket picks. With the new tank meta, Master Yi will surely shine because this champion is very good at winning with tons of health and resistance from the enemies. Moreover, in the last season, he showed terrific results in tanks/ bruisers which definitely is worth the attention. 

Before we jump into the best build for Master Yi jungle, we would like to present you with the pros and cons that come with playing Master Yi.

Pros and Cons of Master Yi Jungle

First of all, we’re going to look at the strongest and weakest sides of the character, as even though he is an S+ tier character, he is somewhat squishy and takes advantage of his full ability only in certain games, and often time takes a very niched role in the team. 

Pros: 

• The greatest basic speed in the game, huge mobility due to Q and R

Master Yi’s mobility is the key to success. The correct movement and patience when using Q, which helps you become invulnerable, during the battle will help you get everything out of your opponent while mitigating the damage done to you. 

• The ability to kill tanks with amplified auto attacks from E. True damage is another strength of the character, which is especially appreciated against tanks, as there is an abundance of them during the pre-season.
• Strong sustain and high protection with W

Master Yi’s W performs many functions at once in addition to its direct healing. This skill resets the auto-attack timer and grants a 90% reduction in incoming damage for the first 0.5 seconds and 45% after. Proper use can completely change the game. 

• Flexibility in choosing builds

With the introduction of many new items, Master Yi builds began to transform the character, moving away from his usual tank killer niche. You can read more about it below.

Cons:

• Easy to die

Master Yi has a solid defensive W in his skill set and a fairly wide selection of survivability items, but he is still quite a squishy champion who dies pretty quickly when caught in any CC chain.

• Strong dependence on items

In the event of a bad start to the game, Master Yi has very few responses when playing from behind, and it becomes more difficult to be useful to his team.

• Weak early game and lack of control

A large number of champions in equal conditions have an advantage over Master Yi due to his lack of crowd control and a small amount of HP.

For further Master Yi build information, check out this article by U.gg

Best Summoner Spells For Master Yi Jungle

Picking the right summoner spell has a pretty big impact on Master Yi’s performance, as it allows you to close a champion’s weaknesses, especially in the early game.

Since this is a jungle guide, you will need Smite regardless but picking your final summoner spell choice lies between:

Flash

Flash is a universal summoner spell for many champions, and Master Yi is no exception. Lacking a fast gap in the early game, Master Yi may miss his target, which Flash helps with. It can also be used to defend and/or escape through a wall.

Ghost

Ghost is a more niche and aggressive option that allows Master Yi to tunnel high-priority targets and stay in range longer. Good against enemies with low CC and low mobility.

Ignite

Ignite is Master Yi’s second most popular summoner spell, unlocking the ability not to put aside your item power spike in favor of Grievous Wounds, while also boosting dueling potential. Also helps in combat against champions with camouflage/invisibility.

Good against: Soraki, Swain, Aatrox, Warwick, Kain, Shaco, Vladimir

Exhaust

Due to his squishiness in the early game, Master Yi is vulnerable to assassins who can deal enough damage in a short amount of time, and duelists who have more options in combat.

Good against:

Rengar, Kha’Zix, Jax, Xin Zhao, Graves, Rek’Sai

Cleanse

Cleanse is a very situational summoner spell, however, it has a place in some games against strong crowd control.

Good against:

Fiddlesticks, Morgana, Rakan, Braum, Leona, Evelynn

Master Yi Best Matchups, Bans, and Counter picks

In continuation of the conversation about champions, we’re going to explore in more detail the champions that Master Yi wants and does not want to see against him.

Positive matchups:

Sejuani, Nunu, Viego, Kindred, Shivana, Diana, Cain

50/50 matchups:

Xin Zhao, Amumu, Gragas, Shaco, Nocturne, Warwick

Negative matchups, worth banning:

Kha’Zix

Kha’Zix has massive burst damage against isolated targets, jumps as a tool to shorten or extend range, and invisibility which allows him to avoid Master Yi’s constant auto attacks.

Rek’Sai

Rek’Sai has pure damage and strong CC, which completely disables Master Yi’s duel potential.

Rammus

Rammus literally makes you kill yourself by auto-attacking him, giving Master Yi back a ton of his auto-attack damage.

Elise

Elise has strong burst, crowd control, and the ability to repel right onto her target, in addition, part of the damage from Master Yi’s Q will be sent to the spiders.

Udyr

Udyr has constant slowdown, control, and sustain. It’s hard to catch up and just as hard to kill him.

 

The Best Master Yi Builds

As mentioned earlier, Master Yi is item power spike addicted and his build, which should be considered during the game plan phase, completely defines his play style.

Master Yi’s starting jungle build looks like this:

Mosstomper Seedling/Scorchclaw Pup & Health Potion

The green forest pet is the best at the moment, giving Master Yi all the properties that are useful to him.

Red Forest Pet is a more aggressive option that grants slow and additional pure damage.

The blue pet is very specific and loses its value in the fire dragon’s gorge.

 

On the first return to the base, you can buy:

Noonquiver/Pickaxe/Recurve Bow/Boots

The Recurve Bow and Pickaxe are components of the Blade of the Ruined King, one of Master Yi’s key items.

 

Possible Mythic items choice:

Kraken Slayer – Carry build

Immortal Shieldbow – Defensive carry option

Iceborn Gauntlet – Tank build

 

Best Master Yi Boots:

Plated Steelcaps – vs AD

Mercury’s Treads – vs AP and CC

Berserker’s Greaves – maximize AS

 

Master Yi Core build:

Blade of the Ruined King, Kraken Slayer, or another Mythic & Boots

Master Yi 3rd & 4th items:

Death`s Dance – survivability

Guinsoo’s Rageblade – maximize AA damage

Master Yi 5th & 6th Item:

Guardian Angel – survivability, table flip situations

Mercurial Scimitar/Silvermere Dawn – dispelling CC

Black Cleaver – vs Armor

Mortal Reminder – vs Healing

Master Yi Situational items:

Wit`s End Or Maw of Malmortius – vs AP

Deadman`s Plate – vs AD, tank option

Force of Nature – vs AP, tank option

Sunfire Aegis – more tankiness & on-hit damage

Lord Dominik`s Regards – vs Armor

Examples of full Master Yi build:

Stable build

Blade of the Ruined King – Kraken Slayer – Death`s Dance – Wit`s End – Mercury’s Treads – Guardian Angel

Tank build

Blade of the Ruined King – Iceborn Gauntlet – Mercury’s Treads – Wit`s End – Death`s Dance – Force of Nature

 

Main carry build

Kraken Slayer – Blade of the Ruined King – Berserker’s Greaves – Guinsoo’s Rageblade – Wit`s End –  Death`s Dance

vs Full AD

Kraken Slayer – Plated Steelcaps – Blade of the Ruined King – Death`s Dance – Guardian Angel – Deadman`s Plate

     

vs Full AP

Blade of the Ruined King – Kraken Slayer – Mercury’s Treads – Wit`s End – Maw of Malmortius –  Death`s Dance

Master Yi’s Skills

The main skills of Master Yi look like this: 

Passive – Double Strike – After 3 consecutive auto attacks, your fourth auto attack strikes twice.

Q – Single dodge tool and gap close, early game damage, clear.

A quick tip: In the jungle, before hitting the Q monster, hit him, otherwise he will begin to regenerate the damage taken, which can significantly slow down the clear.

W – As mentioned in the champion’s pros section, W gives high defence and resets the auto-attack timer, which can help win the skirmish.

E – Main source of damage, can be maxed out if you don’t need Q dodges (almost never)

R – Slow resistance, haste, bonus attack speed, passive 70% cooldown reduction on skills per kill.

Ability Max Level Order: Q -> E -> R -> W

Best Runes For Master Yi:

Currently, only one main Precision branch and the key rune Lethal Tempo are relevant for Master Yi. The rest of the options show themselves much worse.

Lethal Tempo – Triumph – Legend: Alacrity – Coup de Grace

Small tip – Legend: Tenacity is good against teams with a lot of crowd control, but Mercury’s Treads is usually enough.

The secondary branch can be:

Domination – Eyeball Collection & Treasure Hunter

Resolve – Conditioning & Unflinching/Overgrowth

Inspiration – Magical Footwear & Future`s Market

Should you play Master Yi Jungle?

So should you play Master Yi jungle? You should definitely give Master Yi a try. We can say that Master Yi is a champion that falls in the “Easy to Learn but Hard to Master” category. Due to the mechanical simplicity of the character, his actions are easy to predict, and each time you will have to come up with something new to catch your opponent by surprise. If you found this article helpful let us know in the comments below. If you’re looking to try Master Yi out on a brand new account, check out GooseSmurfs.com for unranked & ranked League of legends accounts. As always thanks for reading!