Master Yi Jungle Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Smite
How to play
Farm steadily toward your items Take nearby camps between ganks instead of chasing early fights with stronger enemies.
Wait for enemy stuns before entering Let your team draw out dangerous spells, then attack a target you can stay close to.
Save Alpha Strike (1st) for a key moment Use it to dodge a dangerous spell or follow an escape, rather than always opening with it.
Guide author
Royal
Royal has reached Rank 1 in EU and NA, and Legend and Sovereign on the Chinese server. Created by Royal with input from high elo and professional players and the WildRiftGuides Discord community.
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Strengths
- Scales harder than almost any jungler, turning a quiet farming start into a carry that deletes backlines once items arrive.
- Highlander (Ult) cuts his other cooldowns and speeds him up on every takedown, so one kill often turns into several.
- Alpha Strike (1st) makes him untargetable mid-leap, Meditate (2nd) keeps him healthy, and his true damage ignores armor, shredding tanks and squishies alike.
Weaknesses
- Hard crowd control before Alpha Strike (1st) or at its reappearance point can stop his attack chain; its untargetable window is not permanent protection.
- His early ganks lack innate crowd control, so he needs allied setup, an exposed target, or a later item slow to keep attacking.
- He needs farm to function, so an early invade or a slow start leaves him with almost no impact.
Master Yi Jungle Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
Why this build
This Master Yi build puts sustained attacks first: Blade of the Ruined King adds current-health damage, Guinsoo's Rageblade rewards repeated hits, and Terminus builds penetration and resistances while you keep attacking. Lethal Tempo and Legend: Alacrity support that same pattern. These effects need time on a target, so enter after dangerous crowd control is spent rather than expecting the first Alpha Strike (1st) to win the fight. Death's Dance and Guardian Angel fill the last two slots to help you survive a commitment. Death's Dance delays part of incoming physical and magic damage; a qualifying takedown clears the stored damage. Guardian Angel only helps if your team can protect the revival location. Neither item makes an unsupported dive safe. Replace Death's Dance with Wit's End when magic damage and reducible disables are the main threat. Use Randuin's Omen instead of Guardian Angel against repeated critical strikes, or Mercurial Scimitar in that slot when an active cleanse is more valuable than a revive. Keep Coup de Grace to help finish targets, or replace it with Cut Down for more damage while enemies are above 60% Health; Cut Down does not amplify Wuju Style's (3rd) true damage.
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Master Yi Jungle, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Simple early attack damage. Three basic attacks build Double Strike (Passive) stacks, then the following attack consumes them to strike twice; the second hit deals 50% AD and applies on-hit effects.
BOOTS
Attack speed helps Yi apply his on-hit effects and reduce Alpha Strike's (1st) cooldown through basic attacks. The on-hit healing and movement burst after hitting a champion help him sustain and stay in range.
CORE BUILD
The first core item adds current-health physical damage to basic attacks and Lifesteal to recover while attacking. Its three-hit slow helps Yi stay on a target; this slow comes from the item, not Wuju Style (3rd).
Stack its attack-speed passive before expecting the extra on-hit trigger. At full stacks, repeated attacks apply the build's on-hit effects more often, complementing Blade of the Ruined King and Wuju Style (3rd).
Stacking penetration and resistances the longer he attacks, which suits a champion whose plan is to never stop attacking.
Delays part of incoming physical and magic damage over three seconds, giving Yi time to respond with Meditate (2nd) or secure a takedown. The stored damage is cleared only when a champion he recently damaged dies; it is not unconditional damage reduction.
A late defensive slot when teammates can protect the revival location. Plan where Alpha Strike (1st) leaves you before committing; the revive does not stop enemies from surrounding that point.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
Replace Guardian Angel only when you can safely keep attacking and want more finishing damage instead of a revive. Its third-hit physical damage grows as the target loses health; do not expect every proc to line up with Double Strike (Passive).
Replace Death's Dance when magic damage is the main threat. Attack speed and on-hit magic damage preserve Yi's attack pattern, while Magic Resistance and Tenacity help him survive magic damage and reducible disables.
Replace Guardian Angel when repeated critical strikes are the main threat and preventing the damage matters more than reviving. The crit reduction helps Yi stay in range, but this choice gives up Guardian Angel's Attack Damage.
Replace Guardian Angel when a removable disable is consistently stopping your attacks and an active cleanse is more useful than a revive. Highlander (Ult) prevents slows, but it does not grant general crowd-control immunity.
RUNES
KEYSTONE
Repeated attacks on champions build attack speed; at full stacks, the rune adds adaptive-damage bullets that scale with bonus attack speed. Yi gets more from it when he can stay on a target instead of being forced out after one hit.
PRIMARY
Adds adaptive damage to basic attacks against champions. It supports Yi's repeated attacks in fights, but does not add this bonus to jungle monsters.
His plan is finishing targets so Highlander's (Ult) passive reduces current basic-ability cooldowns and its active duration extends. This helps secure the takedown that starts that chain.
Takedowns and farming build additional attack speed, helping Yi apply his on-hit effects and reduce Alpha Strike's (1st) cooldown through attacks.
SECONDARY
Permanent health from camps suits a melee carry who gets focused the moment he commits.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Replace Coup de Grace when you want stronger opening damage against enemies above 60% Health. It is based on current health percentage, not how much maximum health the enemy has built, and it does not increase true damage.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Must take. Alpha Strike (1st) makes him untargetable but does not freely cross walls, and Flash is the escape when no takedown is available to extend Highlander (Ult) and reduce his basic cooldowns.
Smite
You are playing Jungle, you always take Smite. Monster damage upgrades from 600 to 1000 after 8 consumed Eco-system Protection stacks and to 1400 after 20 total.
SITUATIONAL SPELLS
Ghost
Take this over Flash against a team with little hard crowd control, where a blink out matters less because nothing is locking you down. It stacks with Highlander's (Ult) movement speed so he stays on a target. Keep Flash against heavy lockdown, which can kill him before a takedown extends Highlander (Ult) and reduces his current basic cooldowns.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 11st Ability
Q - 23rd Ability
E - 32nd Ability
W
Master Yi Jungle Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Master Yi Jungle, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Xin Zhao
Xin Zhao wins the early skirmishes with his knockup and poke, but his power fades right as yours arrives, and late game your true damage and Highlander (Ult) resets out-duel him easily.
Nocturne
One dive is Nocturne's whole plan, and you outscale it: Alpha Strike's (1st) untargetable window dodges his burst, and a fed Yi shrugs off his combo while Meditate (2nd) and your resets finish the duel.
Kha'Zix
Kha'Zix can catch you out early, but once Highlander (Ult) and your items are online you win the straight duel: Alpha Strike (1st) dodges his leap burst and your resets punish him for committing.
Master Yi Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Jarvan Iv
Jarvan IV can hold Cataclysm (Ult) until Master Yi reappears from Alpha Strike (1st), then trap his chase while the flag-and-lance knockup threatens the landing point. Track those cooldowns before committing, and keep Flash for the cage when there is no safe target to follow out.
Vi
Vi can reserve Assault and Battery (Ult) for Master Yi after Alpha Strike (1st) ends, giving her team a clear window to focus him. Highlander (Ult) does not prevent her knockups, so let an ally draw out that commitment or wait for it to be spent before diving.
Rammus
Rammus punishes sustained attacks with Defensive Ball Curl (2nd), while Frenzying Taunt (3rd) can stop Master Yi from choosing his target or using Meditate (2nd) at the right moment. Avoid opening onto the active defense; wait for the taunt or attack a different target when the fight allows it.
Master Yi Jungle Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Master Yi Jungle, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.