ULTIMATE IRELIA TOPLANE GUIDE S12



Why I recomend to play Irelia in S12

#1 Irelia's ability set is always hard to outplay. She is assasin/bruiser who can instantly change her position in fights that makes her not as vunerable against non-target abilities as other champions. If you learn how to use her ability set properly you will win every contestable fight (1v1 2v2 5v5 and even 1v9) #2 Irelia's map pressuring is very impactful. She can hard shove waves extremely fast and win 2v1 3v1 fights if she is ahead. Also i can't say that her splitpushing is weak and if there are possibilities on the map she can easily get 1 or even 2 towers. #3 As i told before Irelia can hard shove waves very fast => That means that it's much easier to get more farm and roam something without awareness abot missing CS. #4 Big scaling in midgame because Irelia mostly do assasin role but their items makes her also strong bruiser. So if you have huge item advantage you can literally 1v5. You can one shot squishy targets and duel tanks or bruisers too and then back off with full HP :)

Toplane gameplay and knowledge

You can also play Irelia in midlane. That guide will help you to learn Irelia generally too. But why do i think that Irelia is better on toplane. First of all she has extremely strong duel potential and longer lane gives her advantage to make different plays more safely. I can add that roams from top is much better than from midlane. When you play toplane there are much more situations where you can unleash your potential.

Irelia kinda squishy and weaker in laning phase compare to other toplaners right now so you need to understand that the main key to win your toplane is good macro knowledge. If you play your toplane brainless and depending only on your good mechanics that isn't enough to win your lane. So let's begin with toplane knowledge !

#1 Early game

#1 Start of the game

Irelia is weak without 4 passive stacks so be careful to enemy level 1 aggresion. Here is a pic where you shold stay most of the time to don't get invaded by enemy :

/ Different colors = Different side (You shuldn't stay close to your tower because your jungler gets no info if your side of the jungle got invaded) / The blue circles = if you know that your opponent will help his jungler you can stay in the bush and than take minion aggro on yourself for a few seconds [As soon as they arrives to lane] and back into the bush. That provides them to target 1 minion => your opponent guaranteed miss 1-2 CS and XP. #1 There is no level 1 aggresion before minions arrives as Irelia so don't do anything dumb on level 1 without your 4 passive stacks. There is no sense to do that.

#2 Jungler Tracking

It's very important to know where enemy jungler is => That knowledge will help you to avoid risky plays and make good decisions on the lane/map. #1 At the start of the laning phase just pay attention to enemy jungler and what side of the jungle he has started. (If bot/top is coming late to their lane) #2 If that is a farming jungler (ex: Hecarim Evelynn Nocturne) that means he wants to farm all side he had started and only then shift on your lane (If jungler stared from the side closer to your lane most of the time he will not shift on your lane and you can do anything you want) Here's the pic :

Most of the time if enemy jungler started from opposite jungle side will shift on your lane at 3:15 so with that information you can outplay him : (Invade his jungle with your jungler to beat him/just leave the lane/1v2 [if you sure you win that] or 2v2 [if you sure you win that]) Do not forget after shift on your lane 1st time enemy jungler will be clearing his jungle again anyways. So be careful and look at the map where ememy jungler could be at the moment to avoid his ganks. #3 If that is 3 camps jungler (ex: Lee sin Xin Zhao Vi Viego) he wants to clear 2 buffs and 1 camp or even all the jungle side to hit level 3 and then gank most vunerable lane. If the enemy jungler has started fro the opposite side to your lane be careful at 2:30-2:40 (depends how fast he's clearing the jungle) Here's the pic :

#4 If that is ganking jungler (ex: Zac Nunu) his main point is gank most vunerable lanes without any cares about farm. In that situation just don't be very aggressive and don't stay too long on the opponents side of the map.

That's important :

Because Irelia is not that strong in the early game (If she's not too overfeed ofc) so you need to avoid every risky/bad plays to don't ruin the early lane phase. It's really hard to come back if you are already 0/2/0 and missing 15-20 CS. But if you do everything right you can kill the opponent at level 6 or make an 2v2/invade with your jungler easily and take huge advantage over the enemies.

/ Different colors = Different side / White numbers = Time when that type of jungler is ganking

#3 First waves managment

#1 2nd wave crash => Don't recomend to do this on Irelia because after that the wave will stuck close to enemy tower and then you are too gankable and if you want to cheater recall after that you will anyways lose an XP. Even if you kill your opponent at level 2 it's better to recall than to push the 2nd wave. So most of the time it's very bad idea.

#2 3rd wave crash => That should be your usual option because it provides you safe roaming/invading the enemy jungle or cheater recall. You don't miss any CS and you back to lane with item advantage [if you choose to recall] or with several kills that boost you very much at laning phase. But when you crash 3rd wave you can be vunerable by ganks so be sure to don't take bad trades with your opponent close to his tower. If you stay with full HP it will be very hard to gank Irelia.

#3 4th wave crash => Most of the time 4th wave crash forms randomly because of matchup you can't beat on lane and take the lane pressure. If you can crash 4th wave it's also good because there isn't any big difference with 3rd wave crash. Only difference is timings. Maybe you will not be able to help your jungler in time because of that.

#4 If there is a bad matchup all you can do is to catch his crash. You can also ask your jungler to start from the opposite side of the jungle to gank your opponent when he will be trying to crash the wave. Sometimes you just can't compete for lane pressuring because of bad matchup so don't do anything stupid with minion wave and just catch it under your tower.

#4 Trading

#1 Try to not fight when enemy wave is bigger (Ofc if you sure you kill him right now you can go all in)

#2 Don't take risky trades if you don't see enemy jungler especially if the opponent going to crash big wave. Because if you die there you will miss a ton of CS and 2-3 plates and after that it will be really hard to comeback.

#3 I can't give any 100% advice that will help you against every matchup so most of the time it's a matter of experience. Play on Irelia more to know all details how to win trades vs matchup you play.

#5 Making Decisions

Because in S12 Riot Games has reworked the Teleport most your earlygame plan is to help your jungler and secure farm because there is no longer roaming TP through all map to comeback after some deaths at the lane. That means you should play carefully. Secure your farm by avoiding ganks/losing trades and destroy enemy toplaner/jungler farm. Sometimes you can win the lane without killing the opponent because of your good wave managment and jungle invades.



#2 Mid/Lategame

#1 Your team winning

If your team winning I recomend you to play safely : push the waves to make map pressuring on your lane and help your team to win teamfights on drakes/heralds/nashors => That provides securing team's farm and not bad scaling for your team. Irelia is a very powerful engage champion so be sure to take part in teamfights to end the game without any problems. Irelia is very strong at midgame => So if you sure you can splitpush and win 1v1 or 1v2 just do it. Main problem is that your enemies can get shotdown with you.

#2 Your team losing

Try to splitpush and get farm or if you strong enough try to actualize some risky plays (like 1v2 1v3 or solo Herald) to help your team get out of this situation. Irelia is strong but like other champs she can't literally 1v5 (or the enemies should be very dumb) so try to avoid risky object contests and better focus on farm. With an item advantage maybe you win 1 important fight and turn this situation around.



Irelia Build knowledge :

#1 Runes

On Irelia there isn't very much runes to choose so I will show you the rune path you can use everytime and then show what you change sometimes.

# My choise : I use that rune path every time no cap. After the Lethal Tempo nerf it's still very strong rune. 1) I've been playing with Lethal Tempo and Conqueror for a couple weeks and can say Lethal Tempo easier to fight because of attack speed and its easier to all in bruisers or tanks. But if you are playing vs Ranged matchup you can't really stack your lethal tempo so pick Conqueror and try to all in at level 6. 2) Triumph all the time but if it's very easy matchup you can pick Presence of mind to regenerate your mana => It helps you to stay longer on lane. 3) I advice you to pick Legend : Tenacity all the time because it's very useful in teamfights or even in 2v2. You can pick Legend : Alacrity if there isn't much champs with stun abilities. 4) In toplane it's always Last Stand but if you are playing Mid and your main point is to one shot squishy targets pick Coup de Grace. Secondary path : In toplane your main runes is Bone plating and Revitalize but if you are playing against ranged or poke champion always pick Second wind. In midlane you pick the same runes but if you are playing vs champion that want to trade all the time (ex: Le Blanc Pantheon Vex Yasuo Yone) you buy Corrupting pot and pick Biscuit delivery and Time warp tonic. You can see all Rune Paths there :

• My choise
• VS Ranged
• Midlane + Corrupting Pot

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#2 Summoner Spells

1) You always pick flash because it's very important summoner spell for every combo and if you want to catch someone or get away and there are no minions. I pick teleport most of the time because the TP helps you to come back on the lane if you play against difficult matchup and in midgame helps to get to the teamfight in seconds and help your team. 2) If you sure you can destroy your opponent you can pick ignite instead of TP (ex : Aaatrox Jayce)

#3 Skill Path

At first you max Q because it's the most important ability. Then your W because it reduses damage and you can use it before CC and reduce extremely much damege so it's very important to have minimal cooldown in fights. And the last one is your E because all you need is stun the enemie and mark them so there's any reason to max this ability after Q. Maybe if enemy team doesn't have much CC you can max your E , but anyways i don't recomend this.

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#4 Item Builds

Let's talk about one of the most important part in this guide ! Irelia is super strong in Midgame so it's important to know what you should build in different situations.

#1 Start of the Game

#1 VS Poke matchup (+ Second Wind in Runes)

#2 VS Average contestable matchup

#3 VS Matchup that loves to make trades (+ Tonic in Runes)



#2 Midgame

#1 Irelia as assasin-bruiser is super strong so if your main point is to kill squishy targets or engage at enemy backline in teamfights your build should be like that :

#2 If you mostly targeted on living in teamfights and be frontlaner for your team your build should look like that :

Or if you also want to get damage against tanks you can use that one with Divine Sunderer (but most of the time i recomend to build goredrinker instead of Divine)



Your first powerspike is Blade of the Ruined King. Trust me if you play some games you will understand what im talking about , with this item you can 1v1 everything (if the opponents don't still don't get their first items you can even 1v2). So if you are overfeed, with that one item you can turn the tide in every situation.

Steelcaps or Mercs depending on how much CC enemy team has. But most of the time if you are laning against AD bruiser Steelcaps will be so much better because it will help you to splitpush and win 1v1 1v2 and 2v2 fights. And even in teamfight it will help you to take less damage by enemy ADC.

The same thing with Death's Dance and Wit's end it all depends on matchup you play and enemy team comp but I really advice you to pick Death's Dance even as 2nd Item in Patch 12.4 it's way too powerful. Wit's End is also good when you play in midlane or if you need to chase champions what have dashes or big Movement Speed [MS].

My usual build right now :

For me it's the best option right now because in midgame with Blade of the Ruined King and Death's Dance i can be the frontliner and still have good engage potential. After midgame most of the time i try to flank someone or get good engage so it's important to have shield from Shielbow to not die to assasins.

And there you can see my common option i recomend :

Irelia fighting knowledge tips & tricks

#1 Irelia's attack range is bigger compared to other toplaners except ranged so be sure to get auto attack every time you can to poke enemy when he can't do the same. #2 Irelia's 4 passive stacks are very powerful in trades and fights so be sure to have 4 stacks before starting the fight. #3 Irelia's Q is an instant dash into enemie's back so use it to dodge enemy abilities to survive much longer in every fight. #4 Irelia's W reduces very much damage so use it before CC ability to reduce a ton of damage. #5 Irelia's E and R mark enemies => you can use your Q twice on each other so use your Q sensible in fights (ex : dodge abilities or chase prioritised target)

Combos

I chose this video because there are all combos you need to know. This video came up in S11 when Irelia has 5 passive stacks but it doesn't affect combos. All this combos will help you to win trades/fights. Nothing extra you don't need.



Matchups

I can't show you the list of champs that are easy matchup or difficult. Because it's senseless for me some matchup will be easy but for you don't. I advice you after every game against specific matchup watch an Master/GM/Challenger replay and mark the mistakes you have to don't do the same ones next time you will play against this matchup. That's how I have started to learn Irelia long ago. Because In fact Irelia can win every matchup by using macro knowledge i shown you at the start of this guide and by using trading knowledge against every matchup.

Anyways i will show you the list of hard counters to protect your first games from instant losing lane and tilt.

• Counters

Tryndamere

Champion

He's just stronger. It's very hard to trade and you can't do anything on the map because he instantly hard shoves the waves. At level 6 he can even kill you under your turret.

Trundle

Champion

Wins you at every stages of the game.

Jax

Champion

It's winnable matchup. But for newbie it's way too difficult.

Fiora

Champion

It's also winnable matchup but for newbie it's way too difficult.

Synergies

Irelia loves when in team there are engage champions with a lot of CC to have safe engage by herself. (ex: Amumu Leona Nautilus Rell)



I hope i gave you all information to become the godess Irelia main. Good Luck at climbing !