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Can be pretty annoying with his Q poke and healing but generally it is Irelia favored. I start with Q early on and try to get the lane to push or stay in the middle because at lvl 2 with passive stacked you are much stronger. If you manage to keep the lane in the middle or pushing and have your passive stacked, at lvl 2 if you land your E you can go for the all in. Try to either flash his 3rd Q if he is committed or Q a low hp minion if you have one around (try to prep one for this opportunity) and you should win. Post 3 use your W on his third Q. I would also recommend going right into botrk before getting executioners because it is important to be able to do as much damage as possible to him early levels in order to snowball. Avoid allowing him to poke you down as if you are under 75% HP you will not win an all in, especially if he can kite you out. You destroy him with botrk even if you have no grievous wounds hence why I rush the item but I do get executioners as his healing is crazy after level 11. Make sure to start E first if he gets to the lane first and let him push where you will be able to stack your passive safely under tower and look to all in if you can manage to hit E.
Akali
Her Q spam and high base damage make her quite annoying. You have to play passive early and let her crash the wave into your tower or you have to be very aggressive at lvl 1 and look to stack your passive. I recommend the first option if you are new to Irelia. Start E and be passive, once you have passive stacked and its pushing back look for fights as you will typically win with full passive level 2. After level 3 her kiting potential and base damage is insane so you will have to only look for all ins if her shroud is down and you are over 75% hp. Try to use minions to stop her from kiting you so much and rush a negatron cloak if you are struggling. After 6 she tends to crush you hard if she lands her ult but you can avoid it. If you can manage to stay healthy after she uses her shroud you can all in her as your damage is more consistent and comes out faster however do keep in mind she can easily one shot you if you miss anything and she hits her ult. Try moving adjacent to her to avoid her Q’s also. Once you get botrk you will win all ins but you absolutely will need minions for the healing and outplay potential since she can keep up with a gunblade.
Camille
She is hard if she can poke you at level 1 since you don’t have passive, they usually try to run at you at level 1 so start E so you can disengage. Try to stun her when she autos you so she tanks the minions. You want to avoid fighting her until it crashes to your tower, once it does you can stack your passive and start looking for fights. You can dodge her E and W with your Q as long as you have low hp minions. Use your W on her E as well as it will prevent you from taking as much damage. The lane is much easier at this point however be really careful once she has sheen since her poke will chunk you hard, be prepared to all in her the moment she uses her E on you but be wary of ganks. Avoid fighting her after she gets 2 items unless you are ahead of her in levels and items.
Cho'Gath
This guy has a huge model so hitting your skills on him is super easy. He is also super squishy early on so you can start Q and look to build your passive and fight him early. You can also avoid all of his abilities with your Q granted you have minions around you. The only way you really lose is if you get hit by everything and he has minion advantages. Its also risky after 6 if you misstep as he can easily chase you down due to your low base movement speed and kill you. Fight with full passive and land your R and E, use minions to avoid his skill shots and you will win. Be careful of the jungler, it's the only way you really lose this lane.
Darius
Avoid fighting him at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive, start e and let him push you in. E him after he autos you so that your creeps target him. Once it pushes to tower stack your passive and look for fights, especially since it will be pushing back and you will have exp advantage over him. Don’t be afraid to fight him even if he looks spooky. Make sure he has no boneplating before all-inning him and land your E before you go in AND make sure you have passive. Save your last Q for his Q, spam your Q when they pull you if they are charging his Q. If you don’t get hit by his outer Q you will typically win, same goes later levels however I would avoid fighting him after 3 items if you are not ahead of him since it will take you too long to kill him and he will get his passive.
Dr. Mundo
Avoid fighting him at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive, start e and let him push you in. E him after he autos you so that your creeps target him. Once it pushes to tower stack your passive and look for fights, especially since it will be pushing back and you will have exp advantage over him. Don’t be afraid to fight him even if he looks spooky. Make sure he has no boneplating before all-inning him and land your E before you go in AND make sure you have passive. Save your last Q for his Q, spam your Q when they pull you if they are charging his Q. If you don’t get hit by his outer Q you will typically win, same goes later levels however I would avoid fighting him after 3 items if you are not ahead of him since it will take you too long to kill him and he will get his passive.
Fiora
Avoid fighting her at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive and her Q destroys you early on however don’t be afraid to use the minions to your advantage if she is overly aggressive. Start e and let her push you in. E her after she autos/q you so that your creeps target her. Once it pushes to tower stack your passive and look for fights if you have a level over her. Use your Q to avoid her parry or your flash if you don’t have low HP minions around you. Rule of thumb in this lane is, if you start a fight with full passive and full HP AND you have low hp minions, you win if you dodge her W. It is easier after level 6 since they almost always parry the E making her W very predictable. As long as you have ONE Q mark on her, you will typically win if you start the fight with 5 stacks and have avoided her W. Avoid fighting her after 2+ items unless ahead since its really hard to out damage her if she has tabi. Rush executioners and look for fights asap once you have your botrk if the lane is going even.
Gangplank
It is generally an easy lane but if you are against someone good at gangplank it can be a bit troublesome. I recommend avoiding fighting at level 1 and starting E and just letting him push you in early on. You can build up passive under tower and look for fights after. You will win all ins granted that you hit your E and have passive from the start. Try to only go for all ins if you are over 75% hp. Anything else he can easily beat you with grasp procs and auto/Q/his passive. After 6 it gets a bit easier as you can open up with ult and 5 stacks and you can land your E on him with the slow. It is fairly easy to beat him as long as you land everything. You beat him until 3-4 items assuming you don’t fall behind.
Gnar
Can be quite hard if you fall behind him as he is impossible to run away from but otherwise he is a fairly easy lane. Start Q and build passive and look to fight early on. You crush him before he gets items. As long as you hit your abilities on him you will win 100% of the time assuming you have passive stacked. Use your Q on low hp minions to dodge his Q and W and avoid being near walls when he is level 6 and has his ultimate form.
Gragas
He is easy to fight but he can also stop you from auto attacking quite easily and keep poking you with barrels so he can be a pain. Also most of the people that will be playing Gragas tend to main him so that will also make things a bit more difficult. The way I tend to beat Gragas is stack up passive and look for level 1-2 fights because he won’t have all of his abilities that help him trade back. He is generally pretty strong at level 3 due to his high base damage. You can also juke out his Q and E easily while trading with him. It is quite easy to outplay him but you have to be careful with how easy it is for him to disengage from you after chunking you heavily. So, I’d recommend only fighting him if you have minions set up to juke him out so you don’t have to worry about him bursting you and disengaging. Be careful when committing as if you miss anything he can easily run you down so make sure you hit your abilities/have passive stacked before going for an all in.
Heimerdinger
Can be troubling if he lands his combo on you but it is fairly easy to avoid everything he throws at you. Start with Q and look to build your passive/be aggressive early on. If you land your E at level 2 it is a guaranteed flash or kill from him depending on how hard you chunk him. You can be extremely aggressive against him just make sure to be aware of ganks. Post 6 it is crucial to avoid his combo as he can easily do 80%+ of your hp in a second or two if you get hit by his combo. Avoid his combo and you are golden in all ins.
Illaoi
This lane isn’t too bad. I start Q in this lane and last hit minions to get my passive stacked (don’t be afraid to auto her to make sure you don’t lose your stacks). When the wave is about in the middle, when you hit level 2 (preferably before her), land your E and try to all in her, you will either get her flash or kill her. This setup will give you a large advantage in lane, she will likely be passive after this and if she is chunked enough don’t be afraid to dive her). After level 3 it is a bit harder if she lands her E on you but it is generally a slow skillshot and you should be able to avoid it. As long as you avoid it you will have no problems beating her granted that your passive is stacked, however, I would avoid fighting her once she has cleaver even if you are super ahead of her. The reason for this is even if she misses her E it will be up again as you are fighting her and if you die and give her a shut down its BAD news for you and your team and if you aren’t ahead of her, all inning Illaoi is a good joke.
Jax
He beats you level 1 unless you have minions set up for passive, but usually its better to start with e. Don’t be afraid to auto him because if he presses e then you can just simply stun him and run away. This will screw up the wave and it will push to you and you can keep going for sneaky autos because your auto range is a lot longer but if you just go for farm its also fine. You can use this to get level advantages which are pretty big early on. Try to keep your passive at 5 stacks and auto attacking him whenever he is in range, if he is close enough you go for an e and if you land your e don’t be afraid to q on him and auto. After lvl 6 It gets easier but it also gets very punishing if you make any mistakes after this point. At level 6 jax gets a lot of extra damage from his R passive every third auto and is really tanky with his ult. You have to start with a full passive in every fight and you also have to make sure that his passive is not stacked, if it is his full passive is stronger than yours. This is generally how the lane plays out until level 11. If you have not gotten ahead of him after lvl 11 do not try to 1v1 him unless you have help on the way. His ult passive does too much damage and his E cooldown will be very short but if you are ahead the same concept from above applies.
Jayce
Can vary largely on whether or not you get camped. If you get camped this lane can be a nightmare, however I would start E against him instead of Q like how you would against other range matchups. He will look to poke you out at level 1 and jump on you with his Q in melee form this is when you want to stun and auto him. Once it pushes under your tower you can stack your passive and when it pushes back, if you have your passive stacked and you land an E you absolutely destroy him. After level 3 try to use your W on his Q (either the empowered EQ or the melee Q) as it is a bulk of his damage and you should be fine. It gets even easier at lvl 6 because he does not get a real ultimate and opening with your ult makes it easy to hit your E on him.
Kayle
Can be quite annoying if she goes PTA and tries to poke you out at level 1 before you can stack passive. In this case let her push which makes her vulnerable to early ganks. Once it pushes to your tower you can
stack your passive safely and look to all in her the moment you hit E. The matchup actually gets easier once you get past the early levels because you can kite her out with your Q and stick to her when she is running away. use minions to avoid her ultimate damage if need be and look to fight at all times if you can stack passive up.
Kennen
Start Q and stack your passive, he will poke you but you have much more sustain. Once you have passive stacked dont be afraid to jump on him however I recommend not being overly aggressive because you can hit level 2 first and try to kill him that way. He can be pretty annoying once he is level 2 since its hard to hit abilities on him when he uses lightning rush. Avoid taking too much poke if you can and look for all ins when you are over 75% hp, if you are anything under that I recommend avoiding any all ins. Post 6 it is a bit simpler since you can ult him and go for the all in that way (him using e and stunning you can still kite you out though, be careful!). Have your passive stacked and go for it but keep in mind if you miss anything you WILL be in a bad spot. It generally gets easier with items but always respect his burst and his stuns. Rushing mercs is a must and makes the matchup MUCH easier once you have them.
Kled
This matchup can be quite difficult if you do not have a lot of experience against Kled. I promise that it will get easier the more you play against him. His remount mechanic forces you to play very carefully with your abilities and although it is quite simple to deal with him, it is hard to consistently time everything right. Try to go for all ins if your passive is stacked when he uses his W on a minion (he can’t avoid doing this if he wants to last hit), when it is down you have a large window to win an all in against him. This holds true throughout every level even when you both have ults. Once you have botrk you can run him down even without considering this. If you happen to fight him when his W is up try to W his last two hits as they do the most damage and you’ll be golden.
Lucian
I would’ve said he was easy but after his buffs he can be hard to beat especially if he has jungle help. The lane sucks and you have to give up a lot of cs early on, start E and get whatever minions you can while he pushes it. Be careful of him hitting level 2 first and farm under tower. You can look for fights with passive stacked when it pushes back but generally it is safer to wait until you are level 6 as hitting your E on him can be tricky since he can just E out of it. If you end up committing and missing E you will likely lose early on. Dying early on against Lucian is horrible as you won’t be able to lane against him but if you make it safely to 6 and kill him, he is a walking bag of gold whenever he comes to lane. Be careful of ganks and don’t be afraid to ask for ganks as well, he is pretty squishy and easy to kill.
Malphite
His kill pressure over you is low but so is yours over him. Start Q and last hit the minions with Q to build up your passive, try to not shove him in so you can try and get lvl 2 first. If you do, level E immediately and land it on him. If you do you can chunk him hard or get his flash. If you manage to do this you will likely have lane priority till first back. You generally win until he gets bramble, after he gets this avoid all-inning him because its impossible to kill him and you will hurt yourself a lot and possibly die. Only fight him if you get really ahead before he buys bramble.
Maokai
You can start Q and look to stack passive early to fight him at level 1 or cheese at level 2, you will have no issues in this lane as long as you respect his minion wave and that he sets up ganks really well. It is also extremely hard to dive him if it is post 6 and keep in mind that your character will auto him when he roots you so spam S if you are under his tower (if you have auto attack enabled in your settings). He is hard to fight when he has bramble if you haven’t gotten ahead of him before then so you might need to wait until botrk.
Mordekaiser
Fairly doable lane if you beat him before level 6, start q and start stacking passive and looking for fights early on. Be careful of his passive as it is quite strong early on but the ability to dash around on minions and your auto range gives you an edge until 6. If you fight him post level 6 be careful as he can use his ult to dodge your E and R. Once he is 6 just avoid fighting him all together unless he is close to your tower and you can run to it safely in his ultimate. He is quite predictable so don't get caught out too far from safety when he has his R since he will beat you if he has bramble even if you are very ahead of him. QSS helps a lot later on so I do recommend it as a 2nd or 3rd item.
Nasus
Quite an easy lane, granted you don’t ever fall behind. Start Q and look to build passive and fight early on. He is fairly easy to kill until he is level 6 so be aggressive and look for a kill. After 6 I recommend using your auto range to get 2-3 free auto attacks with passive before all inning. He is pretty easy to beat until he gets a sheen and a decent amount of stacks however if you get ahead of him it is pretty easy to keep fighting him until he gets 2-3 items. Use minions to kite out wither and use your W on his Q if you can and you will be alright. He is also fairly easy to gank so if you have the wave pushing to you, freeze it and force him to over extend
Nocturne
He is really strong with his passive and base damage however you have your auto range over him. Start E early on and let him push, he cant avoid pushing so don't worry. Once it reaches your tower you can stack passive and look to get free autos on him with passive stacked. If you get a few autos in you can win as long as you have a minion set up so that when he tethers you, you can E out of its range to avoid its fear. If you get hit by the fear you 100% lose, hopeless matchup if you have no minions around unless you are crazy ahead of him.
Ornn
This lane is pretty straight forward, you almost always beat him with passive stacked. Try to avoid getting hit by his W, if you have a Q mark on him you can simply Q him when he uses W to avoid getting hit by it or you can Q a low hp minion. Start with Q and stack your passive and go aggressive on him, feel free to keep doing this until he gets bramble. If you don’t get ahead of him by the time he gets it, it is a bit hard until you get botrk but once you have botrk its not a problem to continue fighting him. Just respect that he beats you with bramble if you don’t get ahead of him before then but you crush him with botrk. Even with bramble you can win if you can avoid his w since its most of his damage.
Pantheon
This guy is a pain in the ass. He will likely try to spam Q’s on you early on and make your life miserable. I just give up a lot of cs and let him push the lane and farm safely under tower. Even under tower he will still poke you down, so try to only go for the melees that are directly under your tower. You should be focused on getting to level 6 safely because his ultimate does nothing for him in an all in. After level 6 you can start beating him if you are over 90% hp and before he pokes you down. Try to fight him before he does otherwise if you get poked down it will be impossible to all in him. The later this lane goes, the easier it gets for you but he is still going to be annoying due to his E.. I heavily recommend rushing tabi against him as his base damage with penetration is pretty high.
Poppy
She isn’t that bad in lane but she will make your life miserable in team fights due to her R and W. In lane you can start Q at lvl 1 or E depending on how you want to play. I recommend going with Q and going for passive stacks early to try and fight lvl 1-2 because she is generally pretty squishy before she gets items and levels. However, do keep in mind that she has quite high base damage and you must avoid her Q to have the best chance of winning. Avoid sitting near walls/towers after level 3 as she can stun combo you and you can easily lose more than ½ your hp. Avoid fighting her when she has bramble until you have botrk. With her high base damage and tankiness you don’t stand a chance when she has bramble so you have to wait until you get botrk. You can fight her later on if you’d like but you’d have to counter build her (eg. building botrk cleaver and wits end but this might gimp your team fighting, use your best judgment when building, take into consideration the whole enemy team rather than just your lane opponent).
Quinn
Can be hard if you mess up and fall behind but generally heavily in your favor. Try to avoid getting poked down level 1 and let her push you in, you can either start E or Q its not too important. When you have your passive stacked and she hasn’t poked you much if you land your E on her you can look to jump her. Be careful as her E can cancel your Q if you get unlucky with the timing. You should be fine to fight her as long as she does not have too many minions. If you feel unsure about fighting her early, level 6 is a good time to fight her as your ultimate is much stronger in a 1v1 and opening up with your ult makes it easier to hit your E, if you hit both you 100% win if you start with stacked passive.
Renekton
Avoid fighting him at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive, start e and let him push you in. E him after he autos you so that your creeps target him. Stack your passive under tower and look for fights if you land your E on him. Look for fights right now, especially since it will be pushing back and you will have exp advantage over him. Try to W after you go on him since usually they almost always react with an auto> W when you are on top of them. This usually works a couple of times then they will hold on to it, it becomes a mind game but if you get an advantage it won’t matter as much. His level 6 is super strong so avoid going for an all in unless you can chunk him out when he has no fury or if you W his W. You almost always win if you W his W! This matchup is also a race to botrk so if you get the item first you basically auto win, later levels he has an advantage but you can still win if you outplay him with W and have minions to heal up with.
Rengar
Rengar has very strong damage early game and can cheese kill you lvl 1-2 if you dont play carefully. Stay away from the bushes and look to soak exp and get farm whenever you can but let him push towards you so you can farm under turret. Stack up your passive under tower and look for fights when it pushes back, you will generally win if you have 5 stacks and land your E, be careful when fighting him in the bushes though, only commmit if you are already winning before he goes there. Easier post 6 since you can just ult him and all in, his ult isn't very helpful other than running away in a direct 1v1.
Riven
Largely depends on how good she is, matchup is fairly even but Riven outscales Irelia 1v1 after she gets enough CDR. I recommend being passive early and starting E, if she jumps on you stun her in your minion wave and back off. Once it crashes to your tower it will start pushing back and you will have passive. This is the best time to fight her (just like any other melee lane). Try to predict where they will dash with their E, almost 80%+ they will try to dash in the opposite direction to avoid your E but make sure to drag it out enough to cover yourself if she dashes into you as well. If you clip her with your E and you have your stacks you 100% win, try to use your W on her CC (either predict her W or react to her 3rd q). After 6 the lane gets a bit bloodier, you can use minions to avoid her abilities and kite out her shield, never ever Q her shield if you can help it, its 1.5 seconds to wait out, dont let her get value out of it. To open up post 6 try to have your passive stacked or will have it stacked when you go in and ult her. If she avoids your E you can still beat her. You can continue to fight her the same way however I would avoid fighting her after 2 items if you are not ahead of her.
Rumble
He can be pretty annoying with his Q spam, start E and play passive until it pushes into your tower. Look for fights with passive stacked once it bounces back and pushes towards him. As long as you land your E you should be fine to all in him. Do not commit if you miss anything as he is impossible to run away from and he will kill you. After 6 it is a little easier as he is fairly immobile and has a large hitbox. Open up with ult (granted you have passive stacked) and all in him. Landing your E should be fairly simple and common knowledge but don’t sit in his ult, use low hp minions to get out of it if you feel like you will lose.
Shen
He can be pretty annoying and a lot of them run ignite. He is the last person you want to fight early levels. Start E and be passive however unlike the others once you have your passive stacked don’t look for fights unless you can weave in free autos (2-3) before you all in. If you can survive to 6 without falling too far behind you can beat him a lot easier (though it is still hard). Try to kite out his W and Q his taunt if you have a low hp minion if you can. When you are fighting him post 6 open up with ult when you have passive stacked and start autoing him, use your E after he dashes as it will be easier to hit once his escape is down and you should win as long as you avoid at ALL COSTS Q’ing him when his W is down (the force field around him blocks your Q and autos, when he drops it look to auto minions to have them low enough for a Q reset or kite him out). As long as you play around his W and his passive (kiting them out with low hp minions), you should win, especially post 6
Singed
I have no idea why his win rate against Irelia is high, likely because his W screws your team fighting over. I start Q at lvl 1 in this lane and I look to stack my passive, I am also going to be autoing him if he gets near my minions. Do be careful in case he is out pushing you early as he might be able to level 2 cheese you though. However if you are the one with the wave pushing and you have level 2 coming up, hitting your E on him with passive stacked is an easy kill. If he pushes you in, treat him like the other melee matchups where you start looking to fight once it pushes back as you will have an exp advantage and have your passive stacked. Land your E and you won’t have any problems. Also you can use your auto range to poke him out and gain an advantage before going for an all in. Post 6 it is even easier however be careful on how much you commit because his ult heals him a lot and makes him pretty tanky. Avoid fighting him once he has rylais and armor since it will be impossible to kill him (he won’t be able to kill you either unless you fall behind).
Sion
You can only lose this lane if you literally play without your Q, you can avoid most of his abilities and make it really hard for him to to anything about it. However, he can get pretty tanky really fast so you might end up having a farm lane. This is really bad as he outscales you hard, same strat as malphite except you can fight him later levels no problem even if he gets bramble. Just avoid getting hit by his Q and fight with full passive and you auto win. Start Q and last hit the minions with Q to build up your passive, try to not shove him in so you can try and get lvl 2 first. If you do, level E immediately and land it on him. If you do you can chunk him hard or get his flash. Always be aggressive against Sion if you know where the enemy jungler is, as you have much higher sustain and his damage is low as long as you avoid his skill shots. Its a face roll lane after you get botrk as well.
Teemo
Can be pretty annoying if he has ignite and his small model makes it hard to land your abilities on him. Start Q at lvl 1 and last hit the minions for stacks, use bushes to avoid getting poked and try to not let him shove you in, if you can hit lvl 2 first you can chunk him hard or burn his flash assuming you land your E and you have 5 stacks. If you manage to do this the lane is a breeze since you will have priority. If you do not manage to do any of this you will end up pushing him in, look for a recall after you push him otherwise you will just stare at him while he pushes you back, you can’t fight him in his minion wave before level 6. After level 6, if you have your passive or you can acquire it while jumping on him, q a minion close to him and ult him, Q and land your E and avoid autoing him and run with him if he has blinded you. This is to prevent him from kiting you. After the blind wears out, you should be able to kill him, this is generally how fights go post 6.
Tryndamere
I generally find this matchup straightforward but I put it as hard as it takes a lot of getting used to. Start E and avoid fighting him at level 1, if he runs at you stun him when he autos so he tanks minion damage. Once it crashes to your tower, stack up your passive and look for fights since his rage will likely be low since your minions are at your tower (he can’t auto them safely).
You should have lane priority now and can win all ins granted that he can’t stack up his rage bar, basically look for all ins when rage bar is under half and you have full passive, wait his bar out if not. Same goes after level 6 however make sure you always have full passive before fighting and have at LEAST 3 minions you can Q reset on. Bringing him to ult is the easy part, the harder part is kiting him until his rage wears out but as long as you have minions its generally straight forward. You can fight him until 4+ items as long as you have minions, avoid showing yourself to him without minions even if you are 3/0+.
Urgot
This lane can be really annoying but you do have a good chance against him. Avoid walking up to him at level 1 since they always start E and try to chunk you hard early. Start E and stun him if he starts propelling himself towards you that way you stun him when he flips you and you can minimize the damage. Once it pushes into your tower you can stack your passive and look to fight, try to avoid his little bombs and if you are fighting post level 4 try to fight with minions around because it allows you to avoid his W and jump back on him when it is down. Keep in mind that it becomes a toggle at level 9, generally you only want to fight him after level 9 if you have killed him before or you have a major powerspike like botrk. Once he gets 2 items I recommend not fighting him 1v1 unless you are extremely ahead, he shreds through anything with cleaver and death dance.
Vayne
She can be rough at level 1, so I recommend just being passive and getting whatever minions you can. It does progressively get easier over time but if you wish to fight her before the first back levels 2-6 are great assuming you remained healthy enough from before. Just Q a minion right beside her when you have your passive and stun her and start autoing her with full passive and try to land your E. If you land your E you 100% win but try to not be near any walls and try to walk behind her so that when she condemns you its towards her side of the map unless its close to her tower (denying her a way out). Then Q her as soon as you are in range after her condemn and you should be able to come out on top. Level 6+ is a little tricky due to her invisibility but as long as you jump on her and have your Q up for her condemn it shouldn’t really be a problem and you have your passive stacked. She will have a hard time dueling you until 2-3+ items. A sweeper helps a lot after lvl 6 if you want to get that but be careful about jungle ganks if you have no wards.
Vladimir
Start Q and start looking to stack passive and look for all ins lvl 1-2. He is really weak early on and you should be looking to fight him as much as possible. Irelia is a very good champion into vlad that can fight him 1v1 later on with botrk+wits end as long as you build executioners (i recommend this after you get botrk). Be careful with his pool and you will have a very easy time in this lane
Volibear
His base damage is crazy but it is avoidable. Start E and treat him like the other melee lanes. Stun him if he runs at you and wait until it crashes into your tower, he is pretty squishy lvls 1-5 so if you have your passive, look to get a few autos in and all in once you hit your E on him. Avoid his E and you will be fine. I recommend avoiding any all-ins with him after this point if you do not get an advantage as he will smash you with his base dmg after 6 even if you avoid his E and R. You have to kite out his R and then all in with yours however it is much safer to farm up for BOTRK and then all in him once you have it (provided that you avoid his E). Avoid all inning him once he has 2-3 items.
Wukong
This matchup is pretty annoying and unforgiving however you can still beat him. Start E and stun him in your minion wave as he will look to jump you whenever possible. Let it crash to your tower and when it starts pushing back look for fights with your stacked passive. You HAVE to land your E to win, don’t worry too much about him clone jumping to avoid your E, most of the time you will clip him as he is dashing through and you get two Q marks (pretty sweet). You should win especially if you are lvl 3 when he is lvl 2 which is the whole point of his passive strat lvl 1. Try to W when he dashes in as they almost always dash in auto Q so if you W all of this you reduce a lot of damage. Post 6 try to avoid being between two clones as he will maximize his ult damage that way and use minions to kite out his ult if possible. Do not Q him while he is ulting as it will cancel your Q and make sure you land all of your abilities when going for an all in and start with passive stacked.
Yasuo
Can be pretty annoying as he can windwall your E and R, start E and be passive as he beats you hard early levels. Let him push you in and once you have passive stacked, try and get him with your E. If he doesn't windwall you crush him. Be careful though as he has better mobility than you in minions (he doesn't need to last hit them, just press E on them), if he kites you and spams Q on you, you will lose. Its better to fight him when he has minions and you don't assuming its not before you have cutlass, since you will heal a lot from the minions rather than get destroyed by them. You beat him as long as you hit either E or R on him even into much later levels but he will beat you if he gets to jump on you first since he can drop windwall right where you are and you won't be able to react. Always have passive stacked before fighting.
Yorick
Start Q and stack your passive, generally a pretty easy lane but can be hard if you don't get an advantage before he hits level 6. I recommend getting executioners early as it will help you a lot when all inning him post 6. Should be a breeze since he is so easy to kill as Irelia before 6 but make sure to ALWAYS avoid getting hit by his E, its pretty slow and its necessary to dodge it after 6 if you want to win.
Sett
This lane is a major pain in the ass, i recommend fighting him if you are only getting jungle help otherwise it is really hard to beat him.
It is doable if you abuse your auto range over him whilst having 5 stacks. Be passive lvl 1 and stack up your passive once it crashes to your tower and look to
poke him with autos. If he E’s you into him after you’ve gotten 2-3 autos on him beforehand you will win the all in.
Try to Q out of his W or use your flash to avoid it when all-inning him.
The same applies later levels but if you mess up even slightly you will die and if he is ahead of you there is very little you can do.
Orianna
Irelia's ease to get to the back line makes her an ideal champion to carry Orianna's ball to their team
Lulu
Perfect for allowing you to dive their carries and giving you a buff to your attacks while making you quite tanky
Sejuani
She allows you to get stuns from her passive on your auto attacks and q's. One of the most solid top/jg combos
Rell
Rell has an AOE skarner ult, if she lands a good ult she can set you up quite well so that you can land all of your abilities and delete their squishies
Zac
The disruption is similar to rell allowing you to land all of your spells
Rakan
Same with this guy, he sets you up quite well but he is harder to pull off than the others so it likely wont happen often.
Braum
Same as sejuani he helps your autos a lot and can follow up on you and you on him. He is a bit hard to pull off sometimes but can be quite strong with Irelia
Kai'Sa
She can follow up on your all in in team fights and clean up after you
Yuumi
Strong as hell only if you are fed. She buffs all of your abilities and stats which is great if you are super fed.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Orianna
Irelia's ease to get to the back line makes her an ideal champion to carry Orianna's ball to their team
Lulu
Perfect for allowing you to dive their carries and giving you a buff to your attacks while making you quite tanky
Sejuani
She allows you to get stuns from her passive on your auto attacks and q's. One of the most solid top/jg combos
Rell
Rell has an AOE skarner ult, if she lands a good ult she can set you up quite well so that you can land all of your abilities and delete their squishies
Zac
The disruption is similar to rell allowing you to land all of your spells
Rakan
Same with this guy, he sets you up quite well but he is harder to pull off than the others so it likely wont happen often.
Braum
Same as sejuani he helps your autos a lot and can follow up on you and you on him. He is a bit hard to pull off sometimes but can be quite strong with Irelia
Kai'Sa
She can follow up on your all in in team fights and clean up after you
Yuumi
Strong as hell only if you are fed. She buffs all of your abilities and stats which is great if you are super fed.
Hi there, I have been a challenger Irelia main on NA since season 3 and I have always enjoyed making guides. I was known for an old lolking Irelia guide which reached up to 30 million views and over 95% approval. I am hoping to do the same with the new Irelia here! Here is me getting challenger
Early Game
Irelia is quite strong in the early game (0-15 minutes). However, she is quite reliant on getting her 5 stack passive and hitting her E and R. Make sure that you are patient with your spells, generally the longer you wait the less likely your enemies can dodge them. Be careful with being overly aggressive in lane with irelia as well since she is easy to gank and you should only push up if you know you can 1v2. Irelia is great at 1v2's as long as you hit a double E on both the jungler and top laner and you have a stacked minion wave and a stacked passive. However, this is VERY risky even as an experienced Irelia so it is better to only all in if you know where their jungler is (eg. they are ganking bot).
Irelia is all about patience because the moment you fall behind with her it is VERY hard to get back into the game as her scaling is subpar and she is only useful if at least slightly ahead.
Take deep breaths before you do anything and ask yourself if it is the right thing to do.
You are at your strongest once you complete botrk, you can duel almost anyone and can team fight very efficiently. make sure you let your team initiate the fight or skirmish and distract them though because you are going to be very squishy at this stage of the game.
Mid Game
Mid game is usually the point from 15 minutes to 30-35 Minutes into the game.
Irelia is quite strong in the mid game and at this point you have some tank items that allow to you last a bit longer than if you were just at your BOTRK.
You still want to let your team initiate fights or wait until the enemy team initiates on your team. This will allow you to clean up and land your abilities easier.
You can still kill squishies relatively quickly and you will be able to impact the fights greatly. Ideally you can end the game during this period as later in the game you become more of a disruptor than anything.
Late game
This is the point where Irelia cannot kill squishies as easily and tends to do much less damage in comparison to mid game.
At this stage of the game you should focus on being a front line for your team but not engaging unless your team has 0 engage. It is still better to wait for the enemy team to engage or if you have a Rell for example wait for her to engage for you so you can land all of your abilities without issue.
A lot of top lane champs outshine you at this stage of the game but you can still do a lot of damage to the enemy team if you land your spells and get to their backline and distract their squishies.
Aatrox Matchup
Can be pretty annoying with his Q poke and healing but generally it is Irelia favored. I start with Q early on and try to get the lane to push or stay in the middle because at lvl 2 with passive stacked you are much stronger. If you manage to keep the lane in the middle or pushing and have your passive stacked, at lvl 2 if you land your E you can go for the all in. Try to either flash his 3rd Q if he is committed or Q a low hp minion if you have one around (try to prep one for this opportunity) and you should win. Post 3 use your W on his third Q. I would also recommend going right into botrk before getting executioners because it is important to be able to do as much damage as possible to him early levels in order to snowball. Avoid allowing him to poke you down as if you are under 75% HP you will not win an all in, especially if he can kite you out. You destroy him with botrk even if you have no grievous wounds hence why I rush the item but I do get executioners as his healing is crazy after level 11. Make sure to start E first if he gets to the lane first and let him push where you will be able to stack your passive safely under tower and look to all in if you can manage to hit E.
Akali Matchup
Her Q spam and high base damage make her quite annoying. You have to play passive early and let her crash the wave into your tower or you have to be very aggressive at lvl 1 and look to stack your passive. I recommend the first option if you are new to Irelia. Start E and be passive, once you have passive stacked and its pushing back look for fights as you will typically win with full passive level 2. After level 3 her kiting potential and base damage is insane so you will have to only look for all ins if her shroud is down and you are over 75% hp. Try to use minions to stop her from kiting you so much and rush a negatron cloak if you are struggling. After 6 she tends to crush you hard if she lands her ult but you can avoid it. If you can manage to stay healthy after she uses her shroud you can all in her as your damage is more consistent and comes out faster however do keep in mind she can easily one shot you if you miss anything and she hits her ult. Try moving adjacent to her to avoid her Q’s also. Once you get botrk you will win all ins but you absolutely will need minions for the healing and outplay potential since she can keep up with a gunblade.
Camille Matchup
She is hard if she can poke you at level 1 since you don’t have passive, they usually try to run at you at level 1 so start E so you can disengage. Try to stun her when she autos you so she tanks the minions. You want to avoid fighting her until it crashes to your tower, once it does you can stack your passive and start looking for fights. You can dodge her E and W with your Q as long as you have low hp minions. Use your W on her E as well as it will prevent you from taking as much damage. The lane is much easier at this point however be really careful once she has sheen since her poke will chunk you hard, be prepared to all in her the moment she uses her E on you but be wary of ganks. Avoid fighting her after she gets 2 items unless you are ahead of her in levels and items.
Cho'Gath Matchup
This guy has a huge model so hitting your skills on him is super easy. He is also super squishy early on so you can start Q and look to build your passive and fight him early. You can also avoid all of his abilities with your Q granted you have minions around you. The only way you really lose is if you get hit by everything and he has minion advantages. Its also risky after 6 if you misstep as he can easily chase you down due to your low base movement speed and kill you. Fight with full passive and land your R and E, use minions to avoid his skill shots and you will win. Be careful of the jungler, it's the only way you really lose this lane.
Darius Matchup
Avoid fighting him at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive, start e and let him push you in. E him after he autos you so that your creeps target him. Once it pushes to tower stack your passive and look for fights, especially since it will be pushing back and you will have exp advantage over him. Don’t be afraid to fight him even if he looks spooky. Make sure he has no boneplating before all-inning him and land your E before you go in AND make sure you have passive. Save your last Q for his Q, spam your Q when they pull you if they are charging his Q. If you don’t get hit by his outer Q you will typically win, same goes later levels however I would avoid fighting him after 3 items if you are not ahead of him since it will take you too long to kill him and he will get his passive.
Dr. Mundo Matchup
Super easy lane, feel free to start Q and look for early fights with passive stacked. He is super easy to beat as long as you don't get camped. Get executioners after botrk you don't really need it until he is level 11.
Be really careful when all inning though, if you mess up he can easily run you down.
Fiora Matchup
Avoid fighting her at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive and her Q destroys you early on however don’t be afraid to use the minions to your advantage if she is overly aggressive. Start e and let her push you in. E her after she autos/q you so that your creeps target her. Once it pushes to tower stack your passive and look for fights if you have a level over her. Use your Q to avoid her parry or your flash if you don’t have low HP minions around you. Rule of thumb in this lane is, if you start a fight with full passive and full HP AND you have low hp minions, you win if you dodge her W. It is easier after level 6 since they almost always parry the E making her W very predictable. As long as you have ONE Q mark on her, you will typically win if you start the fight with 5 stacks and have avoided her W. Avoid fighting her after 2+ items unless ahead since its really hard to out damage her if she has tabi. Rush executioners and look for fights asap once you have your botrk if the lane is going even.
Gangplank Matchup
It is generally an easy lane but if you are against someone good at gangplank it can be a bit troublesome. I recommend avoiding fighting at level 1 and starting E and just letting him push you in early on. You can build up passive under tower and look for fights after. You will win all ins granted that you hit your E and have passive from the start. Try to only go for all ins if you are over 75% hp. Anything else he can easily beat you with grasp procs and auto/Q/his passive. After 6 it gets a bit easier as you can open up with ult and 5 stacks and you can land your E on him with the slow. It is fairly easy to beat him as long as you land everything. You beat him until 3-4 items assuming you don’t fall behind.
Garen Matchup
This matchup is straight forward but can be a nightmare if you fall behind (he can literally dive you at will). Try to avoid his Q with your E early, when he runs at you stun him and auto and then back away. You don’t need to let it crash to your tower, auto the minions back to keep the lane in the middle. Once you hit level 2, stack your passive but maintain your distance. Once you stack your passive you can E him and Q to him or Q a low hp minion to maximize your autos. Start autoing him and stun him when he turns on you (easiest time to land your E on anyone really). He will do a good chunk of damage but you will outdamage him in a prolonged fight. Do try to get free autos in before you all in him. Post level 3, use your W on his Q before it hits you and you will have a major advantage in this lane. Post 6 it gets a little harder as you do have to watch your hp but as long as you chunk him a bit with your auto range, W his Q and land your abilities (E/R) you will come out on top. I would avoid fighting him post level 11 if you do not get ahead of him.
Gnar Matchup
Can be quite hard if you fall behind him as he is impossible to run away from but otherwise he is a fairly easy lane. Start Q and build passive and look to fight early on. You crush him before he gets items. As long as you hit your abilities on him you will win 100% of the time assuming you have passive stacked. Use your Q on low hp minions to dodge his Q and W and avoid being near walls when he is level 6 and has his ultimate form.
Heimerdinger Matchup
Can be troubling if he lands his combo on you but it is fairly easy to avoid everything he throws at you. Start with Q and look to build your passive/be aggressive early on. If you land your E at level 2 it is a guaranteed flash or kill from him depending on how hard you chunk him. You can be extremely aggressive against him just make sure to be aware of ganks. Post 6 it is crucial to avoid his combo as he can easily do 80%+ of your hp in a second or two if you get hit by his combo. Avoid his combo and you are golden in all ins.
Jax Matchup
He beats you level 1 unless you have minions set up for passive, but usually its better to start with e. Don’t be afraid to auto him because if he presses e then you can just simply stun him and run away. This will screw up the wave and it will push to you and you can keep going for sneaky autos because your auto range is a lot longer but if you just go for farm its also fine. You can use this to get level advantages which are pretty big early on. Try to keep your passive at 5 stacks and auto attacking him whenever he is in range, if he is close enough you go for an e and if you land your e don’t be afraid to q on him and auto. After lvl 6 It gets easier but it also gets very punishing if you make any mistakes after this point. At level 6 jax gets a lot of extra damage from his R passive every third auto and is really tanky with his ult. You have to start with a full passive in every fight and you also have to make sure that his passive is not stacked, if it is his full passive is stronger than yours. This is generally how the lane plays out until level 11. If you have not gotten ahead of him after lvl 11 do not try to 1v1 him unless you have help on the way. His ult passive does too much damage and his E cooldown will be very short but if you are ahead the same concept from above applies.
Jayce Matchup
Can vary largely on whether or not you get camped. If you get camped this lane can be a nightmare, however I would start E against him instead of Q like how you would against other range matchups. He will look to poke you out at level 1 and jump on you with his Q in melee form this is when you want to stun and auto him. Once it pushes under your tower you can stack your passive and when it pushes back, if you have your passive stacked and you land an E you absolutely destroy him. After level 3 try to use your W on his Q (either the empowered EQ or the melee Q) as it is a bulk of his damage and you should be fine. It gets even easier at lvl 6 because he does not get a real ultimate and opening with your ult makes it easy to hit your E on him.
Kayle Matchup
Can be quite annoying if she goes PTA and tries to poke you out at level 1 before you can stack passive. In this case let her push which makes her vulnerable to early ganks. Once it pushes to your tower you can
stack your passive safely and look to all in her the moment you hit E. The matchup actually gets easier once you get past the early levels because you can kite her out with your Q and stick to her when she is running away. use minions to avoid her ultimate damage if need be and look to fight at all times if you can stack passive up.
Kennen Matchup
Start Q and stack your passive, he will poke you but you have much more sustain. Once you have passive stacked dont be afraid to jump on him however I recommend not being overly aggressive because you can hit level 2 first and try to kill him that way. He can be pretty annoying once he is level 2 since its hard to hit abilities on him when he uses lightning rush. Avoid taking too much poke if you can and look for all ins when you are over 75% hp, if you are anything under that I recommend avoiding any all ins. Post 6 it is a bit simpler since you can ult him and go for the all in that way (him using e and stunning you can still kite you out though, be careful!). Have your passive stacked and go for it but keep in mind if you miss anything you WILL be in a bad spot. It generally gets easier with items but always respect his burst and his stuns. Rushing mercs is a must and makes the matchup MUCH easier once you have them.
Kled Matchup
This matchup can be quite difficult if you do not have a lot of experience against Kled. I promise that it will get easier the more you play against him. His remount mechanic forces you to play very carefully with your abilities and although it is quite simple to deal with him, it is hard to consistently time everything right. Try to go for all ins if your passive is stacked when he uses his W on a minion (he can’t avoid doing this if he wants to last hit), when it is down you have a large window to win an all in against him. This holds true throughout every level even when you both have ults. Once you have botrk you can run him down even without considering this. If you happen to fight him when his W is up try to W his last two hits as they do the most damage and you’ll be golden.
Lucian Matchup
I would’ve said he was easy but after his buffs he can be hard to beat especially if he has jungle help. The lane sucks and you have to give up a lot of cs early on, start E and get whatever minions you can while he pushes it. Be careful of him hitting level 2 first and farm under tower. You can look for fights with passive stacked when it pushes back but generally it is safer to wait until you are level 6 as hitting your E on him can be tricky since he can just E out of it. If you end up committing and missing E you will likely lose early on. Dying early on against Lucian is horrible as you won’t be able to lane against him but if you make it safely to 6 and kill him, he is a walking bag of gold whenever he comes to lane. Be careful of ganks and don’t be afraid to ask for ganks as well, he is pretty squishy and easy to kill.
Malphite Matchup
His kill pressure over you is low but so is yours over him. Start Q and last hit the minions with Q to build up your passive, try to not shove him in so you can try and get lvl 2 first. If you do, level E immediately and land it on him. If you do you can chunk him hard or get his flash. If you manage to do this you will likely have lane priority till first back. You generally win until he gets bramble, after he gets this avoid all-inning him because its impossible to kill him and you will hurt yourself a lot and possibly die. Only fight him if you get really ahead before he buys bramble.
Maokai Matchup
You can start Q and look to stack passive early to fight him at level 1 or cheese at level 2, you will have no issues in this lane as long as you respect his minion wave and that he sets up ganks really well. It is also extremely hard to dive him if it is post 6 and keep in mind that your character will auto him when he roots you so spam S if you are under his tower (if you have auto attack enabled in your settings). He is hard to fight when he has bramble if you haven’t gotten ahead of him before then so you might need to wait until botrk.
Mordekaiser Matchup
Fairly doable lane if you beat him before level 6, start q and start stacking passive and looking for fights early on. Be careful of his passive as it is quite strong early on but the ability to dash around on minions and your auto range gives you an edge until 6. If you fight him post level 6 be careful as he can use his ult to dodge your E and R. Once he is 6 just avoid fighting him all together unless he is close to your tower and you can run to it safely in his ultimate. He is quite predictable so don't get caught out too far from safety when he has his R since he will beat you if he has bramble even if you are very ahead of him. QSS helps a lot later on so I do recommend it as a 2nd or 3rd item.
Nasus Matchup
Quite an easy lane, granted you don’t ever fall behind. Start Q and look to build passive and fight early on. He is fairly easy to kill until he is level 6 so be aggressive and look for a kill. After 6 I recommend using your auto range to get 2-3 free auto attacks with passive before all inning. He is pretty easy to beat until he gets a sheen and a decent amount of stacks however if you get ahead of him it is pretty easy to keep fighting him until he gets 2-3 items. Use minions to kite out wither and use your W on his Q if you can and you will be alright. He is also fairly easy to gank so if you have the wave pushing to you, freeze it and force him to over extend
Nocturne Matchup
He is really strong with his passive and base damage however you have your auto range over him. Start E early on and let him push, he cant avoid pushing so don't worry. Once it reaches your tower you can stack passive and look to get free autos on him with passive stacked. If you get a few autos in you can win as long as you have a minion set up so that when he tethers you, you can E out of its range to avoid its fear. If you get hit by the fear you 100% lose, hopeless matchup if you have no minions around unless you are crazy ahead of him.
Ornn Matchup
This lane is pretty straight forward, you almost always beat him with passive stacked. Try to avoid getting hit by his W, if you have a Q mark on him you can simply Q him when he uses W to avoid getting hit by it or you can Q a low hp minion. Start with Q and stack your passive and go aggressive on him, feel free to keep doing this until he gets bramble. If you don’t get ahead of him by the time he gets it, it is a bit hard until you get botrk but once you have botrk its not a problem to continue fighting him. Just respect that he beats you with bramble if you don’t get ahead of him before then but you crush him with botrk. Even with bramble you can win if you can avoid his w since its most of his damage.
Pantheon Matchup
This guy is a pain in the ***. He will likely try to spam Q’s on you early on and make your life miserable. I just give up a lot of cs and let him push the lane and farm safely under tower. Even under tower he will still poke you down, so try to only go for the melees that are directly under your tower. You should be focused on getting to level 6 safely because his ultimate does nothing for him in an all in. After level 6 you can start beating him if you are over 90% hp and before he pokes you down. Try to fight him before he does otherwise if you get poked down it will be impossible to all in him. The later this lane goes, the easier it gets for you but he is still going to be annoying due to his E.. I heavily recommend rushing tabi against him as his base damage with penetration is pretty high.
Poppy Matchup
She isn’t that bad in lane but she will make your life miserable in team fights due to her R and W. In lane you can start Q at lvl 1 or E depending on how you want to play. I recommend going with Q and going for passive stacks early to try and fight lvl 1-2 because she is generally pretty squishy before she gets items and levels. However, do keep in mind that she has quite high base damage and you must avoid her Q to have the best chance of winning. Avoid sitting near walls/towers after level 3 as she can stun combo you and you can easily lose more than ½ your hp. Avoid fighting her when she has bramble until you have botrk. With her high base damage and tankiness you don’t stand a chance when she has bramble so you have to wait until you get botrk. You can fight her later on if you’d like but you’d have to counter build her (eg. building botrk cleaver and wits end but this might gimp your team fighting, use your best judgment when building, take into consideration the whole enemy team rather than just your lane opponent).
Quinn Matchup
Can be hard if you mess up and fall behind but generally heavily in your favor. Try to avoid getting poked down level 1 and let her push you in, you can either start E or Q its not too important. When you have your passive stacked and she hasn’t poked you much if you land your E on her you can look to jump her. Be careful as her E can cancel your Q if you get unlucky with the timing. You should be fine to fight her as long as she does not have too many minions. If you feel unsure about fighting her early, level 6 is a good time to fight her as your ultimate is much stronger in a 1v1 and opening up with your ult makes it easier to hit your E, if you hit both you 100% win if you start with stacked passive.
Renekton Matchup
Avoid fighting him at lvl 1 since you won’t have passive, start e and let him push you in. E him after he autos you so that your creeps target him. Stack your passive under tower and look for fights if you land your E on him. Look for fights right now, especially since it will be pushing back and you will have exp advantage over him. Try to W after you go on him since usually they almost always react with an auto> W when you are on top of them. This usually works a couple of times then they will hold on to it, it becomes a mind game but if you get an advantage it won’t matter as much. His level 6 is super strong so avoid going for an all in unless you can chunk him out when he has no fury or if you W his W. You almost always win if you W his W! This matchup is also a race to botrk so if you get the item first you basically auto win, later levels he has an advantage but you can still win if you outplay him with W and have minions to heal up with.
Rengar Matchup
Rengar has very strong damage early game and can cheese kill you lvl 1-2 if you dont play carefully. Stay away from the bushes and look to soak exp and get farm whenever you can but let him push towards you so you can farm under turret. Stack up your passive under tower and look for fights when it pushes back, you will generally win if you have 5 stacks and land your E, be careful when fighting him in the bushes though, only commmit if you are already winning before he goes there. Easier post 6 since you can just ult him and all in, his ult isn't very helpful other than running away in a direct 1v1.
Riven Matchup
Largely depends on how good she is, matchup is fairly even but Riven outscales Irelia 1v1 after she gets enough CDR. I recommend being passive early and starting E, if she jumps on you stun her in your minion wave and back off. Once it crashes to your tower it will start pushing back and you will have passive. This is the best time to fight her (just like any other melee lane). Try to predict where they will dash with their E, almost 80%+ they will try to dash in the opposite direction to avoid your E but make sure to drag it out enough to cover yourself if she dashes into you as well. If you clip her with your E and you have your stacks you 100% win, try to use your W on her CC (either predict her W or react to her 3rd q). After 6 the lane gets a bit bloodier, you can use minions to avoid her abilities and kite out her shield, never ever Q her shield if you can help it, its 1.5 seconds to wait out, dont let her get value out of it. To open up post 6 try to have your passive stacked or will have it stacked when you go in and ult her. If she avoids your E you can still beat her. You can continue to fight her the same way however I would avoid fighting her after 2 items if you are not ahead of her.
Rumble Matchup
He can be pretty annoying with his Q spam, start E and play passive until it pushes into your tower. Look for fights with passive stacked once it bounces back and pushes towards him. As long as you land your E you should be fine to all in him. Do not commit if you miss anything as he is impossible to run away from and he will kill you. After 6 it is a little easier as he is fairly immobile and has a large hitbox. Open up with ult (granted you have passive stacked) and all in him. Landing your E should be fairly simple and common knowledge but don’t sit in his ult, use low hp minions to get out of it if you feel like you will lose.
Shen Matchup
He can be pretty annoying and a lot of them run ignite. He is the last person you want to fight early levels. Start E and be passive however unlike the others once you have your passive stacked don’t look for fights unless you can weave in free autos (2-3) before you all in. If you can survive to 6 without falling too far behind you can beat him a lot easier (though it is still hard). Try to kite out his W and Q his taunt if you have a low hp minion if you can. When you are fighting him post 6 open up with ult when you have passive stacked and start autoing him, use your E after he dashes as it will be easier to hit once his escape is down and you should win as long as you avoid at ALL COSTS Q’ing him when his W is down (the force field around him blocks your Q and autos, when he drops it look to auto minions to have them low enough for a Q reset or kite him out). As long as you play around his W and his passive (kiting them out with low hp minions), you should win, especially post 6
Singed Matchup
I have no idea why his win rate against Irelia is high, likely because his W screws your team fighting over. I start Q at lvl 1 in this lane and I look to stack my passive, I am also going to be autoing him if he gets near my minions. Do be careful in case he is out pushing you early as he might be able to level 2 cheese you though. However if you are the one with the wave pushing and you have level 2 coming up, hitting your E on him with passive stacked is an easy kill. If he pushes you in, treat him like the other melee matchups where you start looking to fight once it pushes back as you will have an exp advantage and have your passive stacked. Land your E and you won’t have any problems. Also you can use your auto range to poke him out and gain an advantage before going for an all in. Post 6 it is even easier however be careful on how much you commit because his ult heals him a lot and makes him pretty tanky. Avoid fighting him once he has rylais and armor since it will be impossible to kill him (he won’t be able to kill you either unless you fall behind).
Sion Matchup
You can only lose this lane if you literally play without your Q, you can avoid most of his abilities and make it really hard for him to to anything about it. However, he can get pretty tanky really fast so you might end up having a farm lane. This is really bad as he outscales you hard, same strat as malphite except you can fight him later levels no problem even if he gets bramble. Just avoid getting hit by his Q and fight with full passive and you auto win. Start Q and last hit the minions with Q to build up your passive, try to not shove him in so you can try and get lvl 2 first. If you do, level E immediately and land it on him. If you do you can chunk him hard or get his flash. Always be aggressive against Sion if you know where the enemy jungler is, as you have much higher sustain and his damage is low as long as you avoid his skill shots. Its a face roll lane after you get botrk as well.
Teemo Matchup
Can be pretty annoying if he has ignite and his small model makes it hard to land your abilities on him. Start Q at lvl 1 and last hit the minions for stacks, use bushes to avoid getting poked and try to not let him shove you in, if you can hit lvl 2 first you can chunk him hard or burn his flash assuming you land your E and you have 5 stacks. If you manage to do this the lane is a breeze since you will have priority. If you do not manage to do any of this you will end up pushing him in, look for a recall after you push him otherwise you will just stare at him while he pushes you back, you can’t fight him in his minion wave before level 6. After level 6, if you have your passive or you can acquire it while jumping on him, q a minion close to him and ult him, Q and land your E and avoid autoing him and run with him if he has blinded you. This is to prevent him from kiting you. After the blind wears out, you should be able to kill him, this is generally how fights go post 6.
Tryndamere Matchup
I generally find this matchup straightforward but I put it as hard as it takes a lot of getting used to. Start E and avoid fighting him at level 1, if he runs at you stun him when he autos so he tanks minion damage. Once it crashes to your tower, stack up your passive and look for fights since his rage will likely be low since your minions are at your tower (he can’t auto them safely).
You should have lane priority now and can win all ins granted that he can’t stack up his rage bar, basically look for all ins when rage bar is under half and you have full passive, wait his bar out if not. Same goes after level 6 however make sure you always have full passive before fighting and have at LEAST 3 minions you can Q reset on. Bringing him to ult is the easy part, the harder part is kiting him until his rage wears out but as long as you have minions its generally straight forward. You can fight him until 4+ items as long as you have minions, avoid showing yourself to him without minions even if you are 3/0+.
Urgot Matchup
This lane can be really annoying but you do have a good chance against him. Avoid walking up to him at level 1 since they always start E and try to chunk you hard early. Start E and stun him if he starts propelling himself towards you that way you stun him when he flips you and you can minimize the damage. Once it pushes into your tower you can stack your passive and look to fight, try to avoid his little bombs and if you are fighting post level 4 try to fight with minions around because it allows you to avoid his W and jump back on him when it is down. Keep in mind that it becomes a toggle at level 9, generally you only want to fight him after level 9 if you have killed him before or you have a major powerspike like botrk. Once he gets 2 items I recommend not fighting him 1v1 unless you are extremely ahead, he shreds through anything with cleaver and death dance.
Vayne Matchup
She can be rough at level 1, so I recommend just being passive and getting whatever minions you can. It does progressively get easier over time but if you wish to fight her before the first back levels 2-6 are great assuming you remained healthy enough from before. Just Q a minion right beside her when you have your passive and stun her and start autoing her with full passive and try to land your E. If you land your E you 100% win but try to not be near any walls and try to walk behind her so that when she condemns you its towards her side of the map unless its close to her tower (denying her a way out). Then Q her as soon as you are in range after her condemn and you should be able to come out on top. Level 6+ is a little tricky due to her invisibility but as long as you jump on her and have your Q up for her condemn it shouldn’t really be a problem and you have your passive stacked. She will have a hard time dueling you until 2-3+ items. A sweeper helps a lot after lvl 6 if you want to get that but be careful about jungle ganks if you have no wards.
Vladimir Matchup
Start Q and start looking to stack passive and look for all ins lvl 1-2. He is really weak early on and you should be looking to fight him as much as possible. Irelia is a very good champion into vlad that can fight him 1v1 later on with botrk+wits end as long as you build executioners (i recommend this after you get botrk). Be careful with his pool and you will have a very easy time in this lane
Volibear Matchup
His base damage is crazy but it is avoidable. Start E and treat him like the other melee lanes. Stun him if he runs at you and wait until it crashes into your tower, he is pretty squishy lvls 1-5 so if you have your passive, look to get a few autos in and all in once you hit your E on him. Avoid his E and you will be fine. I recommend avoiding any all-ins with him after this point if you do not get an advantage as he will smash you with his base dmg after 6 even if you avoid his E and R. You have to kite out his R and then all in with yours however it is much safer to farm up for BOTRK and then all in him once you have it (provided that you avoid his E). Avoid all inning him once he has 2-3 items.
Wukong Matchup
This matchup is pretty annoying and unforgiving however you can still beat him. Start E and stun him in your minion wave as he will look to jump you whenever possible. Let it crash to your tower and when it starts pushing back look for fights with your stacked passive. You HAVE to land your E to win, don’t worry too much about him clone jumping to avoid your E, most of the time you will clip him as he is dashing through and you get two Q marks (pretty sweet). You should win especially if you are lvl 3 when he is lvl 2 which is the whole point of his passive strat lvl 1. Try to W when he dashes in as they almost always dash in auto Q so if you W all of this you reduce a lot of damage. Post 6 try to avoid being between two clones as he will maximize his ult damage that way and use minions to kite out his ult if possible. Do not Q him while he is ulting as it will cancel your Q and make sure you land all of your abilities when going for an all in and start with passive stacked.
Yasuo Matchup
Can be pretty annoying as he can windwall your E and R, start E and be passive as he beats you hard early levels. Let him push you in and once you have passive stacked, try and get him with your E. If he doesn't windwall you crush him. Be careful though as he has better mobility than you in minions (he doesn't need to last hit them, just press E on them), if he kites you and spams Q on you, you will lose. Its better to fight him when he has minions and you don't assuming its not before you have cutlass, since you will heal a lot from the minions rather than get destroyed by them. You beat him as long as you hit either E or R on him even into much later levels but he will beat you if he gets to jump on you first since he can drop windwall right where you are and you won't be able to react. Always have passive stacked before fighting.
Yorick Matchup
Start Q and stack your passive, generally a pretty easy lane but can be hard if you don't get an advantage before he hits level 6. I recommend getting executioners early as it will help you a lot when all inning him post 6. Should be a breeze since he is so easy to kill as Irelia before 6 but make sure to ALWAYS avoid getting hit by his E, its pretty slow and its necessary to dodge it after 6 if you want to win.
Sett Matchup
This lane is a major pain in the ***, i recommend fighting him if you are only getting jungle help otherwise it is really hard to beat him.
It is doable if you abuse your auto range over him whilst having 5 stacks. Be passive lvl 1 and stack up your passive once it crashes to your tower and look to
poke him with autos. If he E’s you into him after you’ve gotten 2-3 autos on him beforehand you will win the all in.
Try to Q out of his W or use your flash to avoid it when all-inning him.
The same applies later levels but if you mess up even slightly you will die and if he is ahead of you there is very little you can do.
Summary
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