How to beat Master Yi

Common role: Jungle

The best counter to Master Yi in Jungle is Rumble: 64.9% win rate over 37 ranked games on patch 26.17.

A hyper-carry auto-attacker who becomes untargetable and resets his ult on kills.

What makes Master Yi dangerous

Master Yi is untargetable during his Q (Alpha Strike), heals with his W, and his ultimate makes him faster and immune to slows while cutting through a team. If he snowballs, his Q resets on kills let him wipe entire fights. He is farm-dependent and useless if behind.

How to play against Master Yi

• 1Hard CC beats him — but he can dodge single-target CC with his Q. Chain your CC or save it for after his Q, then lock him down.
• 2His ult ignores slows, so bring stuns, roots, and knock-ups instead. A single well-timed stun deletes him in a fight.
• 3Punish him early: invade and pressure his jungle before level 6. A behind Yi never gets the items he needs to carry.
• 4Don't let him reset — never fight a snowballing Yi with your team clumped and low. Peel him off your carries and burst him before he gets a kill.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Completely farm/snowball dependent — weak when behind.
• ✓Melee auto-attacker: hard CC shuts him off.
• ✓No ranged threat and no waveclear pre-items.
• ✓Vulnerable while his Q is on cooldown.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Master Yi's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Double Strike

  Every few consecutive basic attack, Master Yi strikes twice.

• Q
  Alpha 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.

  Strong: Alpha Strike makes him untargetable, dodging single-target CC. Weak: chain your CC or save it for after Q, then lock him down.

• W
  Meditate

  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.

  Strong: heals and reduces damage mid-fight. Weak: Grievous Wounds cuts the heal — anti-heal makes his dives losing trades.

• E
  Wuju Style

  Grants bonus true damage on basic attacks.

• R
  Highlander

  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.

  Strong: huge attack/move speed and slow immunity to cut through a team. Weak: ignores slows, so bring stuns/roots/knock-ups — one stun deletes him.

Itemization

Yi is AD on-hit: armor and attack-speed slows (Randuin's Omen, Frozen Heart) wreck him, and Grievous Wounds cuts his W healing. Tenacity and hard CC (Exhaust, stuns) are the reliable answers in fights.

This guide covers Master Yi's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.