Hi and welcome to my Yasuo guide! I'm NateDog13, a measly diamond player :^)!

My Roles (In Order of Strength): ADC (Main), Support, Mid, Jungle, Top

Yasuo, contrary to popular belief, IS NOT, I repeat, IS NOT, an assassin. He MAY be built as one; however, his true role is what Riot has listed him, a "FIGHTER". Why is Yasuo considered an assassin? His Last Breath and his recommended build along with his high mobility have led to this being his current image. Riot even recommends for him to run a build like an Assassin even though he's regarded as a Fighter first, which is questionable on their part. Unlike other assassins, Yasuo gets punished EXTREMELY HARD for missing even a single Steel Tempest or getting hit by CC, players also aren't rewarded as much for mastering his high skill cap and playing him as an Assassin (As most of these experienced players already know some sort of defensive aspect is needed whether it be in a blatant defense item or using Trinity Force, putting him into the Fighter Category anyway). Either way, attempting to play him as a burst Assassin instead of turning him into a healthy fighter like Riven who wrecks team fights, simply isn't worth doing.

(I was asked to elaborate more on this for I am the Cripple, a lot of people were probably wondering more about this discrepancy).

Currently, he primarily fits best in the top and mid lanes. He is by far the highest skill-capped champion in the game right now due to his combo versatility and high mobility along with a need for correct positioning and timing. Due to this, he is very much like the wind he wields: unforgiving should a part of this equation fail to be used. Regardless, don't let my words demotivate you from attempting to learn this monster of a champion.

Pros

Cons

+ Great Laner (Skill Based)

- Bad Laner (Skill Based)

+ Great Team Fighter (Skill Based)

- Squishy Early Game

+ High Mobility

- Weak Chase/Sticking (Skill Based)

+ Awesome Shield!

- No Magic Resistance Scaling

+ Projectile Negating (Skill Based)

- Low Base AD

+ Great Escape (Relies on Skill and Enemies/Minions/Monsters)

- Weak Escape (Relies on Skill and Enemies/Minions/Monsters)

+ Great Combos(Skill Based)

- Combos Require Setup/Ult Requires Setup (Skill Based)

+ Low Cooldowns

- No Built-in Sustain

+ No Resource Usage (Mana/Energy)

+ Knockup

+ Double Crit Chance

+ You're a Fricking Samurai (Every kids dream)

"Nate, what in the world are you doing?!" Well, here is my logic behind this setup. Yasuo himself is already innately squishy while at the same time being able to deal tons of damage through usage of his abilities constantly. It may be tempting to dive into the offense tree in order to capitalize on this and create a 21/9/0 mastery page with Spell Weaving and Blade Weaving to add even more damage; however, this path attempts to throw you down the secondary "Assassin" role that everyone wants to play Yasuo as. The problem with this is that Spell Weaving and Blade Weaving weren't made for assassins, they actually are complete contradictions to that playstyle. The role of an assassin is to burst a single target as fast as possible and then get out of the teamfight and wait for your round of skills to come back up. Going 21/9/0 , if you aren't familiar with Yasuo, turns you into a wannabe Riven who doesn't have Valor (which is up faster than Yasuo's Way of the Wanderer shield) or the damage output to take out someone faster than they can kill you.

Your focus with this tankier setup is to stay alive and continuously output damage as Yasuo; this allows you a safer early game while still giving insane damage output via itemization, and at the same time being more forgiving for missing part of that equation that makes him a stud or a dud.

(Thanks to Santhan for his masteries explanation!)



Yasuo's focus in the jungle is solely on farming and gearing up for the mid/late game teamfights that will ensue. This setup allows for that, it also doesn't stray too far from the "Samurai Jack: Assassin Yasuo" with the only difference being 9 points into defense for that little extra tankiness to clear through the jungle early on.

• Greater Mark of Critical Chance: Yasuo with a mere 5 crit chance marks and 1 crit seal, you get 100% crit chance with only a Statikk Shiv and an Infinity Edge, pretty good route if you ask me. On top of that you still have that early chance at critting in lane while poking/going all in on champions.
  
• Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Yasuo thrives off of AD, pretty standard pickup that synchronizes well with his kit and the crit chance marks. Everybody loves the damages :D!
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: You can put 3 of these in combination with 5 Greater Seal of Health and 1 Greater Seal of Critical Chance.
  
• Greater Seal of Critical Chance: See Greater Mark of Critical Chance explanation.
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Yasuo has no scaling magic resistance; you either go for the flat ones or for the scaling, personal preference and lane matchup plays a key part in this choice.
  
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: Last hitting is easy with these babies, even if it was already easy with Yasuo's kit, you still want a Quintessence that synchronizes with your marks, there are some other viable quintessences, namely Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed, and Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed (Truly up to the player and their playstyle).

• Greater Mark of Armor Penetration: Yasuo relies on doing full damage with his whole kit and frankly having armor penetration just makes your life easier when you're trying to take out any targets, squishies or tanks.
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: You can put 4 of these in combination with 5 Greater Seal of Health.
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Yasuo has no scaling magic resistance; you either go for the flat ones or for the scaling, personal preference and lane matchup plays a key part in this choice.
  
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: Last hitting is easy with these babies, even if it was already easy with Yasuo's kit, you still want a Quintessence that synchronizes with your marks, there are some other viable quintessences, namely Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed, and Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed (Truly up to the player and their playstyle).

• Greater Mark of Attack Speed: "Attack Speed Marks will allow you to disengage and engage more often thanks to the reduced cooldown and cast time on your Steel Tempest, which provides a stronger and safer early game compared to flat AD. Possible replacements: Flat AD can be acceptable if you feel you need to hit someone HARD at level 6 such as Ziggs. Armor penetration marks should not be taken because calculating the masteries, Last Whisper, and the active bonus from your Last Breath, you're already sitting at 91% ArP. Any more ArP would simply be overkill. The only bonus you get out of this is dipping into true damage and going into the negative region of their resistances which is not as important as the utility of attack speed. AD is also better than ArP simply because he scales better with AD in the long run. 100% of your AD into your Steel Tempest and 150% into your Last Breath will take you further than some ArP."
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: "This is for the enemy ADC or any bruisers that you come across that intend to stop you from getting to the ADC. It gives you some survivability when you need it most since he's pretty fragile as is. Possible Replacements: Greater Seal of Attack Speed. These seals will work if you know for a fact you'll be snowballing this game completely out of control." You can put 4 of these in combination with 5 Greater Seal of Health.
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: "There are few AP casters that will give you trouble early on. Mid game is usually filled with champions that have bad early games, so Greater Glyph of Magic Resists will simply be put to waste. Scaling MR will help you give some tolerance to their damage as they scale into Mid-game and even late-game. Given the same concept as above with armor and bruisers. Possible Replacements: Greater Glyph of Attack Speed. Yes these exist, and function remains the same as Greater Seal of Attack Speed as mentioned earlier. Not acceptable: Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction. If you pick these up I will find you and ban Yasuo from your account. CDR is not a priority in his kit. It has almost no effect on his Sweeping Blade and it barely lowers his Last Breath. It has absolutely no effect on his Steel Tempest. The only benefit you'll see is on his Wind Wall, and if that ADC lives long enough for you to cast Wind Wall twice, you are doing something wrong. The only time having CDR on your Wind Wall will be helpful is for laning phase, in which you're sacrificing too much for an ability that requires quick-reflexes to use, in which case you will more than likely mess it up."
  
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed: "The Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed is used for the same reason as the Greater Mark of Attack Speed, and as for the Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, they are useful since Yasuo has no early sustain. Combined with his +1% lifesteal in the utility tree, he gets 5% lifesteal at level 1. Having Feast in the offense tree combined with +5% lifesteal will almost guarantee a safe early game against most poke champions. Possible Replacements : Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed. Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed. Greater Quintessence of Life Steal. You can go all the way with one of the three or combine any of the three for your own preference. Just don't go ArP Quints. Please." - (Thanks to Santhan for his runes explanation!)
  

Best Choices (Order of Viability):

Flash: Usually have this fill one slot for Yasuo. This, combined with his insane amount of dashing with Sweeping Blade, allows him to pull off some sick nasty escapes that would otherwise leave most champions dead on the ground.

Ignite: This is a core spell on Yasuo; however, it can be replaced by other spells if you would rather play safer in lane than have more kill potential. It's always about play style!

Teleport: This can be magnificent on Yasuo if you use it right, split pushing in particular (IT STILL ISNT DEAD RIOT, SUCK IT!). It can still be used for teleport ganks which can set up some amazing snowball situations. However, if you don't time it right or use it in the right situations it can be quite mediocre (Comes with a bit of a skill cap, Shen is that you teleporting over here? OHGODWHY!... my leg!).

Smite: Smite is for sure necessary on Yasuo jungle for the obvious reasons as it is for every jungler: buff control, objective control (Dragon and Baron), stealing buffs/objectives and the likes.

Ghost: Not gonna lie, definitely not a fan of it personally because of how well Sweeping Blade works and just the fact that Flash is amazing to have since you already have a pretty good dash, but I can see it working for chases/sticking as well as getting away when you have nothing to Sweeping Blade to, personal preference in this case between Ghost and Flash, maybe even both together.

Alternatives (Order of Viability):

Exhaust: I feel like this spell is pretty strong and gets rid of the "Weak chasing/Sticking" mentioned previously in the Pros/Cons section. Unfortunately, it does need to be used in tandem with a gank to have equal/more killing potential than Ignite does.

Cleanse: For a high priority target like Yasuo, this is a pretty useful spell. You can compare the usage of this spell to someone like Vayne, the reason being is because both have the potential to shut down whole teams by themselves, but can be immediately shut down due to CC. This spell can be pretty useful when used against CC heavy teams.

Barrier: This spell is a magnificent piece of work, when you combine it with something like Yasuo's Way of the Wanderer shield, it makes him literally unkillable should he be ahead of the enemy. It's definitely a spell that can be interchanged with ignite, but it has to be used in the correcting laning phases, such as against someone like Syndra.

Heal: Heal has about the same functionality as Barrier in lane on Yasuo. The move speed is a nice thing to have over Barrier, just because you can use it offensively and defensively instead of solely relying on baiting, but it does lose its value the more Heal's you have on the team now, so be careful with this.

Way of the Wanderer: Way of the Wanderer is a passive that consists of two parts.
Intent: This is the first part, Yasuo's critical strike chance is doubled, but the damage dealt by his critical strikes are reduced by 10%.
Resolve: This is the second part, at maximum Flow, the next time Yasuo would take damage from a champion or monster he first converts his Flow into a shield that absorbs damage. After 1.5 seconds, if not already depleted, Yasuo loses all his Flow.


- Yasuo gets rewarded heavily for being mobile, move between auto attacks and use your Sweeping Blade if you're almost at maximum flow to save yourself from something that could kill you.

- Try not to build past 50% critical chance, otherwise you might end up wasting gold for an item that probably isn't as efficient as another one you could buy, buy smart!



Steel Tempest: Steel Tempest consists of THREE parts.
Steel Tempest (Part 1): The first part of Steel Tempest Yasuo thrusts his sword forward, damaging all enemies in a 475-unit (Approximately 4.75 to 5 Dead Teemos) line. If cast while dashing, the area of effect is changed to a ~375-radius circle (That is a lot of dead Teemos).
Steel Tempest (Part 2): The second part of Steel Tempest is parallel to the first.

- Always try to keep at least 1 stack going to set yourself up for a faster knockup on your opponent.

- Keep in mind that the second you hit two stacks Yasuo gains a wind aura around himself, so if the opponent is experienced they will likely know you are going to attempt to knock them up.

- After using your third stack of Steel Tempest, you are at your weakest because you either cannot set up your Last Breath, or you have already used it. If you didn't kill the enemy be careful and keep a level head because at this moment the enemy knows to go for you.

- Riot's Tip: At level 18 Yasuo's Steel Tempest reaches its attack speed cap at 55% attack speed from items/runes/masteries.



Wind Wall: Wind Wall is an ability that contains two parts.
Passive: Yasuo generates a percentage of his maximum Flow whenever he uses Sweeping Blade or Last Breath, in addition to the amount that is generated for the distance moved.
Active: Yasuo creates a wall of wind that slowly drifts forward over the next 3.75 seconds. The wall blocks all enemy projectiles, except tower hits


- This skill can be used as a disengage against enemy teams to stop champions with catch out abilities like Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab.

- Using this in narrow spaces like jungle paths and sharp corners can block A LOT of abilities.



Sweeping Blade: Yasuo dashes 475 units in the direction of the target enemy, dealing magic damage and marking them briefly. Each cast increases the next dash's base damage by 25%, up to 100% bonus damage. Yasuo cannot use Sweeping Blade on an enemy that's already been marked.


- Do your best to avoid dashing to your target unless absolutely necessary, instead dash to near by enemies/minions/monsters to close the distance gap and if he/she flashes then use it to gap close onto them.

- The more points you put into this ability, the lower the cooldown is for you to dash to the same target.

- Before directly engaging an enemy,(should you have enough confidence to setup a combo and go in for a kill), try to get a few stacks on Sweeping Blade (Max 4) and then engage for maximum damage ouput (+100% bonus damage at 4 stacks)!



Last Breath: Yasuo blinks to the nearest airborne enemy champion to the cursor. Upon arriving, he suspends all airborne units within a 400-radius of his target in the air for 1 second while dealing physical damage to all of them. Once he lands, Yasuo gains 50% penetration to bonus armor for 15 seconds.

Casting Last Breath will reset the chain on Steel Tempest.


- In 1v1 situations it's best to use Last Breath as early as possible to get through their bonus armor.

- Last Breath has an extremely low cooldown compared to other ultimate abilities, so try to use it frequently in situations it may be deemed necessary.

The reason for maxing Steel Tempest first is due to the sheer amount of damage you output from it. On top of this, when it hits it procs item effects! Max this first.



The versatility of maxing Sweeping Blade second is extremely good, while it doesn't do enough damage to warrant it as a first max, it does a significant enough amount of damage when on the 4th stack, doing 100% bonus damage to an enemy you dash to. Pretty nasty when you combo it with your Steel Tempest! Max this second.

Note: You can start off at level 1 with Sweeping Blade to attempt a cheese first blood; auto attack harass, 4 stack, and then jump on the enemy, combining the 100% bonus magic damage with ignite and auto attacks.



Utility spell at its finest, maxing Wind Wall first will leave you dead in a pit. It could be a second max, I haven't had a situation that has warranted it though. Max this last.

Steel Tempest + Sweeping Blade
Combo Explanation: Poke and Dash away (Frequently Used Combo in Lane/Teamfight)

Sweeping Blade + Steel Tempest (Directly After)
Combo Explanation: Dash, Spin poke/wave clear (Used in Lane,sometimes Teamfights)

Sweeping Blade + Steel Tempest + Sweeping Blade
Combo Explanation: Dash in, Poke, Dash Away (Frequently Used Combo in Lane/Teamfight)

Steel Tempest + Sweeping Blade + Steel Tempest
Combo Explanation: Stab, Gap close, Stab (Used for chasing/finishing, another Sweeping Blade may be put in at the end to get away/turn it into a poke combo)

Steel Tempest + Steel Tempest + Steel Tempest (Whirlwind)
Combo Explanation: Normal Steel Tempest stacking combo. (Used for your jungler ganks/disengage)

Steel Tempest + Steel Tempest + Steel Tempest (Whirlwind) + Last Breath
Combo Explanation: Normal Steel Tempest stacking combo. (Used for Last Breath Setup)

Steel Tempest + Steel Tempest + Sweeping Blade + Steel Tempest (Whirlwind) + Last Breath
Combo Explanation: Normal Steel Tempest stacking combo. (Used for close-up Last Breath setups and killing combos)

Requirement: 4 stack Sweeping Blade + 3rd Stack Steel Tempest.
Steel Tempest -> Sweeping Blade to Enemy Champion -> AA -> Sweeping Blade to Minion -> Steel Tempest Enemy Champion if still in range
Combo Explanation: Used for maximum damage output in bursts. (Rare combo in Lane/Teamfights)

The point of this build is to make you a heavy hitter. Unlike how people define the word "Fighter" as synonymous to bruiser, Yasuo falls into the "Fighter" category as Riven, Fiora, and Tryndamere do: High damage, potential game carriers who build at most one defensive item, and who trade defense for pure offense in order to survive. Each of these characters is defined by the player, their damage output is large, but can be quickly shut down by CC, so it comes down to a large amount of skill and timing to play these champs. This build allows you to fulfill this role perfectly. While the lack of sustain may seem daunting, the build itself is focused on setting you up to completely wipe out an enemy team should a 5-man knockup occur. By the time you finish your Infinity Edge, you have 100% crit chance and can utterly rip apart any squishies on the enemy team. On top of this, should you land your Last Breath on the enemy tanks, you rip through them just as easily. All in all, this build is focused on outputting as much damage in as little time as possible with a focus on heavier hits rather than multiple crits from attack speed. (The assassin builds focus.)



The Minion Slayer build is one that fights right into the current meta: it capitalizes on Yasuo's stellar wave clearing/farming abilities and enhances them to the point you literally cannot miss a single minion. This build also turns him into a stellar duelist who can rely on a single burst combo to take out single or multiple enemies. It also allows him to engage and disengage 2v1 through hit and run tactics, taking at least one person at the bare minimum out; allowing him to stall for his team to push down towers or take essential objectives such as baron and dragon. Outside of the previous abilities mentioned, he has an unbelievable amount of sustain with just a Ravenous Hydra. On top of that, Yasuo is strong at destroying towers, making him a great split pushing champion choice; putting him among the ranks of Tryndamere, Master Yi and Riven in that aspect. Though this build focuses more on the split push and farming it still allows Yasuo to step away from the split pushing role and still have a large impact in teamfighting. Teleport gives him the ability to quickly jump away from split pushing to join and impact team fights to clean up or change the tide of the fight. All of these aspects make Yasuo an extremely viable pick should a team want a strong split pusher with teamfighting capability.



"I run 9x Greater Mark of Attack Speed, one Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed, two Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, 9x Greater Seal of Armor, and 9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist. The idea behind the Greater Mark of Attack Speed runes and the Statikk Shiv is because: Attack damage only affects your Steel Tempest pre-6. Yes, it has a 100% damage scaling, but the best you're going to get out of runes is +15 AD versus 19% Attack speed and 4% lifesteal (+1 more from utility tree). That AD only affects your Steel Tempest's damage and Auto attack damage with a 15 point value. Attack speed affects your Steel Tempest and attack speed as well, but with a 19 point value even with additional lifesteal quints. In some cases, I will start with a Dagger and 2x Health Potion because attack speed seems to do more damage for two reasons: What I stated above with more harass and disengage. The more Steel Tempest's you have, the more whirlwinds you have. This gives you more participation ability if your jungler ganks, more preparation for disengage from their jungler, and more harass against the enemy champion (Or their turrets...looking at you Heimerdinger…by the way, preparation to disengage, engage and harass refers to reaching your 3rd Steel Tempest charge/whirlwind knockup)

The Brutalizer gives 25 AD, 10 armor penetration, and 10% CDR. 25 AD versus 40% attack speed, 20% crit chance (40% with passive), and 6% movement. The armor penetration is easily replaced by the Statikk Shiv passive that ignores armor all together and can strike the enemy champ safely when using Steel Tempest on minions. Also, you can get the stacks up while moving in circles for passive resolve. Last but not least, the 10% CDR affects your ult and your Sweeping Blade. Your Steel Tempest is only affected by attack speed. Ignoring your Sweeping Blade's .1 CD that probably goes down to a happy.. .1 CD still, we look at the 80 second CD on his ult, that goes down to a 72 Sec CD. The 40% attack speed will bring your Steel Tempest's CD down by ~1.5 secs (According to Riot's Tip, 55% AtS brings it from 2.5 to 1.33). So being able to shave 8 seconds off your Last Breath seems less of a priority in being able to Steel Tempest nearly double the amount of times in that 80 second interval. More harass and farming potential. On the other hand, The Brutalizer does allow for more plays with your Last Breath with the shorter CD, it allows for harder hitting Steel Tempest's rather than faster, and also more reliable damage vs the crit chance on Statikk Shiv. I'm pretty sure you know my preference here, but you're more than free to pick which pros and cons are more important to you!"



This build is a bit rough, because it is EXTREMELY situational. In order to allow Yasuo to jungle, you need your lanes to not only win, but also your top laner to be a Tank and/or your support to be a tank. The reason being is that Yasuo has literally 0 gank potential until after he has Statikk Shiv which takes around 17 mins of jungle farming due to the Wriggle's Lantern rush. You need to rush Wriggle's Lantern because it allows you to farm the jungle 100x faster and gain 40% more gold for it, which allows you to get your Infinity Edge only 8 mere minutes after getting your Statikk Shiv. If there is any champion who jungles that you can compare Yasuo to, it is Master Yi. You have to farm A LOT, pick up kills whenever you can and only assist lanes you are nearby should they be ganked and put in a 2v1 situation. This build allows you to farm safer than you would in lane and get around the same gold output once you have Wriggle's Lantern. All in all, Jungle Yasuo as a carry is viable, but also very situational. Should you go this route, try and get someone to top lane as Malphite, it is the best synergy combo and he is the best tank you could ask for with a Yasuo (especially a jungle one).

Throughout all of my games on Yasuo, debating with others and researching consistently, as well as utilizing multiple builds, these are the three items that every Yasuo guns for first. Each of these items fit different peoples play style and bring a set of pros and cons to the table that may or may not work in certain situations, here is my analysis of the three.

Starting off is Statikk Shiv:

Pros

Cons

+ AS Boost

- Must Be Rushed First

+ MS Boost

- Can Fall Off Late Game (Vs. Tanks)

+ Crit Chance Boost

- Cannot Be Built While Behind

+ Burst Passive

- Less Damage On Crit

+ Synchronizes well with Yasuo's Kit

+ Great Split-Pushing Item

+ Passive Stacks Quickly On Yasuo

+ Can Proc On Steel Tempest

+ Doesn't Fall Off Late Game (Vs. Squishy Teams)

+ Shorter Steel Tempest Cooldown

Generally Statikk Shiv is the go-to for any Yasuo player on any level. It brings a whole slew of positives to the to the table and really doesn't punish you too hard for getting it a bit late, unless of course you are far behind (We're talking waaaaay far behind). Either way, it's an item that synchronizes really well with Yasuo's kit and can easily be fit into many players playstyle, a very versatile item.

The next item is Youmuu's Ghostblade:

Pros

Cons

+ Armor Penetration

- Can Be Overshadowed By Armor Stacking

+ Crit Chance Boost

- AD Boost Can Be Negligible

+ Cooldown Reduction

- Less Reduction On Steel Tempest

+ AS/MS Active

- Requires Use Of Active To Be Efficient

Youmuu's Ghostblade is an interesting item on Yasuo. Generally players tend to shy away from it because it has a skillcap attached to it (Remembering to use it, and when to use it) and overall people feel more comfortable with Statikk Shiv. Still, the item is still very viable though and even though it may be considered more situational, it still is a versatile item and should definitely be considered when dealing with people grabbing smaller armor items such as Seeker's Armguard.

The last item is Blade of the Ruined King:

Pros

Cons

+ Damage Boost

- Can Be Overshadowed (Easily) By Armor Stacking

+ Lifesteal/Sustain

- Passive isn't as strong early

+ AS Boost

- Larger cost than Statikk Shiv and Youmuu's Ghostblade

+ 15% Health/30% Movement steal Active

- Requires Use Of Active To Be Efficient

+ Lowers Cooldown on Steel Tempest

- Can set you behind

+ Removes Sticking/Chasing Problem on Yasuo

- No Crit Chance

Blade of the Ruined King is a really strange item on Yasuo, I've seen tons of players of different levels ranging from bronze to even Challenger players rush this item, and frankly I'm not too big a fan of it. It is however, as much as I want to disagree with it, a viable item in essence. It gives you a stronger laning phase and a higher kill potential when your jungler ganks, however, you wont see it doing as much in just a 1v1 situation. It still is a pretty good item and can be rushed early, I'm not a big fan of it period though. Use at your discretion.

Now take note, all of these items (including the mid, trinity force, and late possibilities section) are interchangeable in my builds. These are the starter items that you want to aim for during the early game depending on your style and the situation/lane you have been given. Try to take everything into account when making the choice because it may cost you your lane and ultimately the game, or vice-versa.

Three of these four items I will be talking about currently. The Sheen (that gets built into Trinity Force) I will be covering in the section after this. In regards to the other three items, I have found these to be the major building blocks to the rest of the build. From this point onward, you decide in which direction you would like to take your Yasuo build, whether it be offensive, offensive with defensive stats, defensive with a bruiser focus, or straight defensive.

First Item up is Infinity Edge:

Pros

Cons

+ Huge AD Buff

- Huge Price Tag

+ Huge Crit Chance Boost

- No AS/Cooldown Reduction For Steel Tempest

+ Critical Damage Passive (Reduced on Yasuo)

+ Turns Steel Tempest into a Champion Killer/Boosts Killing Potential to Max

Infinity Edge is one of those items that is basically synonymous with the name Yasuo. The sheer amount of damage you gain by completing this item is astounding. Although, chances are you have to give up sustain if you aren't running a pure damage build, it is well worth it even going down the bruiser route due to how well it syncs with Statikk Shiv on top of Steel Tempest.

The next item is Bloodthirster:

Pros

Cons

+ Huge AD Boost

- Pretty Hefty Pricetag

+ Huge Sustain Boost

- No Crit Chance

+ Passive Adds On to Previous Bonuses

- No AS Boost/Cooldown Reduction For Steel Tempest

+ Cost Efficient

Bloodthirster is an item that I am a big fan of on Yasuo. The sheer amount of sustain and the damage that it brings to your Steel Tempest is really nice. In terms of its purpose, it gives a large portion of single target damage coupled with its passive. It is a strong item, while not as strong as Infinity Edge, it is still a strong, viable item.

The last item is Ravenous Hydra:

Pros

Cons

+ AD Boost

- Hefty Price Tag (Recovered Pretty Quickly Through Splitting)

+ Health Regen

- No Crit Chance

+ Lifesteal/AoE Lifesteal

- No AS Boost/Cooldown Reduction for Steel Tempest

+ Active Is The Equivalent Of An Auto Attack/Spell

+ Synchronizes Well With Statikk Shiv

+ Great For Wave Clear/Splitting

Ravenous Hydra is an item that I consider to be stellar when placed on Yasuo in tandem with Statikk Shiv, it is about the same as Infinity Edge in this regard. However, it turns Yasuo into a split pushing, burst (albeit less than Infinity Edge and Statikk Shiv) monster who can duel 1v1, 1v2 and even 1v3 without a problem (once you hit 4 or more people, Yasuo has gone beyond fulfilling his job of just split pushing). He has caused an entire enemy team to focus him and allowing his team to take objectives with only his death as a cost.

Now to move away from just pointing out the pros and cons of these single items, all of these items have a single purpose. This purpose is to set Yasuo up for a healthy mid game full of kills and CS. These are core damage items that should not be thrown to the wind for early defensive items, it isn't worth it. These items may seem daunting with their large price tags, but they all serve to increase a certain aspect of Yasuo to extreme proportions. Take each of these items powers into account when deciding on where you want your build to go in a game, plan it right and reap the rewards!

So here comes the much needed speech on Trinity Force: what exactly does it do for Yasuo, why is it worth getting, and what path it puts you down should you go for item.

Alright, so what does Trinity Force do for Yasuo? Well, the reason any champion picks up Trinity Force is because they can use every single stat boost and effect. Generally, champions that pick this item up tend to synchronize so well with it, that they are considered monsters the second they have it. We're talking about champions like Jax, Ezreal, Irelia, Lucian, and more. Yasuo is one of those champions that fits into this category, and I'd say that he probably synchronizes to the level of Jax, the "God of Trinity Force". You can compare Jax and Yasuo's power spike with Trinity Force to be utterly disgusting, both become nearly unkillable and it tends to take 2 people on average to take them down, even upwards to 4 people just to stop these killing machines. The Sheen proc (that can be abused with Steel Tempest), coupled with the mobility from Phage and the attack speed + crit chance + move speed from Zeal just makes this item a completely worthwhile item to get on Yasuo.

Now the question is, is Trinity Force worth getting on Yasuo?

Yes, and no. You have to realize when the situation allows you to pick it up, and whether or not you want to be sent down the road it forces upon you. Take note that Trinity Force's item cost is huuuuuuuuuuge, we're talking 3703 gold. When you take into account the sheer amount of gold you need to finish a build with this item in it, we're shooting for an end game gold amount of around 13k to 16k gold to even finish a build. And when you take into account that usually games end around 40 to 45 minutes with an average gold ranging from 11k to 13k, you better be one successful Yasuo to pull this off.

The other thing that Trinity Force forces (no pun intended) you to do, is go down a route of complete offense. You figure you run a build with a pair of boots, a early core item, a mid game core item, then trinity force, you already have four of your six items. You want to do a ton of damage without having to rely purely on Last Breath for armor penetration, so obviously you'll end up picking up a Last Whisper, which then leaves you with one slot for a measly defensive item, or just finish up with a offensive item. Now some people might say "Yeah well I don't need your stinking whispers." Well, you can try and turn yourself into a bruiser last second using those last two item slots, but what did you really just accomplish with that? 150-170 armor, with what 110 to 130 MR? Nice Bruiser build you got there macho man. You are't really as bruiser as you make yourself out to be, because you probably only have around 2400 health. Good luck with that, you were better off just going pure offensive or forgetting about this item and saving that fourth slot for a more specific resistance item or health item.

All that I ask of you when thinking of Trinity Force, is to not rag on the item simply because of the cost. It obviously has its ups and downs like every other item, it still is very viable on Yasuo, but also more situational than others, so don't just throw it to the wind (no pun intended). With that in mind, before I finish up this section I want to point out my previous placement of Sheen in the section before this. Sheen is before your mid game core item. The reason for this is because the item proc with your Steel Tempest is a huge boost in damage. It is more cost efficient than a B. F. Sword in terms of the immediate future, but it can also set you behind should you not earn the kills to remove this 1200 gold deficit and push forward to get your mid game core item faster.

Should you follow this path, may the Trinity Force carry you. Good luck.

Last Whisper: The cookie cutter late game item when you need armor penetration against armor stackers.

Blade of the Ruined King: Great pick up when you need to deal with tanks or don't have any life steal items late game and you're getting poked out.

Black Cleaver: Best used when on full AD teams and you aren't going for anything but a bruiserish AD kind of build, allows your other AD shredders to do some mega damage if they have Last Whisper as well.

Executioner's Calling: Super situational pick up that is used to deal with annoying lifestealers and healers like Soraka/ Sona and Swain/ Aatrox.

Zephyr: Weird item on Yasuo, people like to replace boots with this, the stats are pretty beneficial to him, just don't know any spot I'd really have it in other than to replace boots.

Phantom Dancer: This item is like Zephyr in the fact people like to replace Statikk Shiv with this late game. Not my preferred choice, but by all means try it for yourself and see how it works in your style.






Frozen Mallet: I'm a fan of Frozen Mallet, completely destroys the sticking con of Yasuo, and it makes you a pretty healthy fighter. Good pickup item.

Hexdrinker/ Maw of Malmortius: Great pickup against annoying AP burst champions like LeBlanc who can take you out in seconds, can change teamfights around completely due to its passive, it also works really well with Way of the Wanderer's shield. Solid alternative vs. Banshee's Veil and Guardian Angel.

Quicksilver Sash: Definitely a solid pickup for when you just want the active to deal with the enemy team, more gold efficient than its upgraded counterpart Mercurial Scimitar.

Mercurial Scimitar: Super situational item. Reserved for situations when you are extremely rich and the only thing keeping you from destroying the enemy team is CC, definitely a sink item (an item that requires a HUGE amount of gold and is generally just bought because you can get away with it).

Iceborn Gauntlet: I know it sounds weird, but this is item actually works pretty damn well as a more armor/defensive item alternate to Frozen Mallet. And since it is a Sheen item, it synchronizes well with Steel Tempest and allows nobody to get away from you!






Banshee's Veil: Most standard defense pick up currently. Banshee's is great against CC teams as well as heavy AP teams, gives you a lot of defensive power against pick off champions like Pantheon, LeBlanc, and stops crazy all in-ners like Malphite from locking you down.

Guardian Angel: Standard pick up against Assassin heavy teams. Gives you that comfort of knowing you can't be taken out by an assassin in one combo and leave them dead in their tracks, forcing teamfights to turn into 4v5s for the enemy team. Solid picks against mixed damage teams where you don't really need more health as much as you need resistances.

Spirit Visage: One of those pick ups that you should pick up if you really need to lifesteal your way through a fight desperately. Best to grab this with a lifesteal item so the passive isn't wasted.

Sunfire Aegis: I'm personally not a fan of this unless you're building something like Bruiser Yasuo, because you already do so much damage that the passive is negligible, but it still works quite well.

Randuin's Omen: This item is absolutely magnificent on Yasuo. If you've got a ton of AD champions/AD assassins trying to jump on you ( Rengar, Shaco, etc.) this is the pickup to grab, the active and the passive along with the armor and health are absolutely magnificent to counter them and keep yourself alive. On top of that, if you Last Breath the entire enemy team and then drop the passive, you just locked them down for 2 seconds and on top of that, slowed their AS and MS. Fantastic for teamfighting.

Thornmail: Rarely, if ever, will you pick this up on Yasuo, best used to deal with pain in the butt picks like Master Yi if he's taking you out too fast.

Face of the Mountain: Support Yasuo is sort of a thing, and Dual lanes are sort of a thing as well, viable if you run either of those routes, trash if you don't.

Warmog's Armor: Generally you pick this up when you've literally had no problems with anything the enemy team has, and generally you always get into extended teamfights.

Early game your focus is to simply get your The Brutalizer/ Zeal/ Avarice Blade/ Vampiric Scepter and level 6 as fast as possible. With this lane you must be careful in terms of how much damage you are trading with the enemy and know not only your damage, but also theirs. Melee vs Melee lanes tend to end with one side getting first blood by level 3, and considering Yasuo is not that strong of an early duelist at level 1 vs. many other champs, it is IMPERATIVE that you play the lane tactically enough to keep yourself alive and maybe even net yourself a kill. The reason I say that it is IMPERATIVE to not give up first blood, is because in melee vs melee lanes, the side that gives up first blood usually can't come back without jungler assistance unless their scaling is better in terms of items/base stats/ability damage.

Trading/Harassing in this lane is generally the same as the ranged lane, HOWEVER, instead of Sweeping Blade to the closest minion near them and then using Steel Tempest, you Sweeping Blade to a minion far from them, BUT JUST CLOSE ENOUGH to Steel Tempest them. The reason is because this allows you to harass without taking an auto attack, aka leading to a winning trade for the cost of nothing.




Early game your focus is simply to get your The Brutalizer/ Zeal/ Avarice Blade and level 6 as fast as possible (maybe even both by first back, its definitely possible with Yasuo's safe play style) ,though depending on which lane you are in and who you are against, you can even have killing potential as early as level 3. The risk that you face when going for a level 3 kill is high when running the fighter build, as it can set you far behind in terms of experience, gold. Yasuo is a man of calculated risk and that is how you have to play him, be aware of your limits, know your damage, and when the enemy makes a mistake slice through them with the very wind that pushes you.

During laning phase faced against a ranged enemy, you want to only last hit with Steel Tempest and the occasional Sweeping Blade/Auto Attack even if that means you lose cs. It is worth it to not take any damage as your base stats early on with your starter items are quite weak. If your enemy relies heavily on ranged projectiles to harass, you can place your Wind Wall in front of their minions for a short duration so you can farm safely via auto attacks.

Assuming you have stepped back into lane armed with Ignite, a major piece of your early core item, and level 6, you now have killing potential. Start the lane off focusing on a bit of farm, when you find your opponent attempting to last hit a minion AND they are near a ranged or melee minion of theirs, quickly Sweeping Blade to the minion nearest them and land a Steel Tempest. Do this until you know that you can kill them with a full combo on your next Sweeping Blade+ Steel Tempest combo with the third tick of Steel Tempest going, do the same set up and knock them up, quickly follow with your Last Breath, an auto attack and then drop Ignite to secure the kill.

At this point the game has decided what you are going to need to do to win.

Scenario #1 (The Perfect Scenario)
If every lane is winning and your team is completely positive and a tower is down for any one lane, get that person(s) (whether it is you or top/bot) and your jungler to group with you and start taking objectives. Force down the first towers on the enemy sides, keep control of dragon, and have most of the crucial map spots covered by wards.

Scenario #2 (The Struggling Lane)
So it turns out you stomp lane and you're in a good position to set your team up to start capturing objectives; however, you've got a lane your jungler wasn't able to help out as he camped top/bot and the other one struggled and/or is struggling. This is the point in which you roam to the lane and set up kills for your teammate, if they can't secure these kills, take them and give them the assist (don't get greedy, greed is not good, it spells doom). After you gank two to three times, have them split push safely to catch back up and do some work on objectives to get them back in the game (fall back into the Scenario #1 strategy from here should this be successful).

Scenario #2 (The Struggling Lane [Failure])
So scenario #2 doesn't work at all, you end up dying on the first gank you do because their jungler counter ganks, DO NOT GANK AGAIN! grab everybody else who is doing well, force dragon and towers, keep the flak off of your struggling lane, and have them split push and jungle to come back as fast as possible. If they can pick up some assists without dying have them do it (should this work you get forced into Late Game with a potential win).

Scenario #2 (The Personal Struggle)
KEEP YOUR COOL! You know exactly what to do in this situation, you've struggled in lane but you have studied and prepared for this. Keep farming, stay back, pick up assists, maybe a kill if you can, and help get objectives if necessary! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, A WIN IS A WIN EVEN IF YOU STRUGGLED! (Should this fail, hope your team can carry you and do your best to assist, otherwise it's a loss if they can't, positive attitude goes a long way though, never surrender!)

Scenario #3 (Please Kill Me)
This is the painful scenario because it can go in so many directions it's ridiculous.
Every lane is failing, your jungler is struggling to do anything, you gave up first blood, you're down 10 kills, and there seems like no possible way you can salvage your early game. HAVE NO FEAR! Try to stall every tower that isn't an inhibitor turret and farm under them, keep a constant amount of wards in your jungle entrances should the enemy get ballsy and try to counter jungle. Also, focus on keeping team morale up, don't ever say you want to give up, there are games where you can turn it around completely. Focus solely on getting to late game if your team beats them in scaling. Sometimes teams just lose against team comps simply because they're all late game vs. cheesy early game champs (like Vayne vs. Pantheon in comparison of length of game potential and power curve). This scenario can either go uphill or downhill really fast, just keep a steady head and know your limitations!

Scenario #1 (The Perfect Scenario)
In this scenario, you end up with a 20 - 30 min win. You stayed in control of the map, in control of nearly all objectives, and didn't throw at a single point. The enemy team is either trashing each other or throwing up the /ff. Congratulations for pulling it off!

Scenario #1 (The Perfect Scenario -Twist-)
So you find yourself having taken every dragon, taking every tower that isn't an inhibitor turret, and you can't seem to be able to siege these turrets to get a firm ground in their base to secure a win. At this point you have a few choices: you can have your best duelist split push another lane while you have 4 push and stall, you can attempt to bait a baron for an ace in order to either secure the baron and then rush towers, or you can rush towers/inhibitors period.

The one other thing you can do is ward all of their jungle camps and buffs, focus on catching at least one champion out and then swiftly crushing the enemy opposition by forcing teamfights or in this case for them, the "Running-from-the-enemy-team-as-I-get-destroyed-from-behind-tactic." You'll also find that depending on the person you catch out, the support and others will attempt to save them and even go so far as sacrifice themselves leading to the gap you need to get to that inhibitor. After this occurs, you're on your own in terms of how you need to win the game. Keep a steady head, make solid choices, and above all SCREAM WORTH AFTER EVERY KILL, just kidding, don't be that guy.

Scenario #2 (The Struggle)
So at this point only two things can happen, you either lost during mid game/early late game because you weren't able to keep up, assist enough, and ended up not only getting shutdown but your team also got shutdown, leading to a loss by late mid game/early late game. The second thing that has happened, is that you have managed to scrounge up every piece of gold you've ever had in your pocket and get a good enough build that you aren't behind anymore or you can at least assist your team enough to make a difference in teamfights. From here on out, your job is to stick with your shotcaller/best player on your team, he/she is doing the best for a reason and you want to get those positive vibes as well as move as a cohesive unit that could potentially catch one enemy out. Stay focused and use the previous tactics mentioned in Scenario #1 -Twist- if you find that your team is winning, but struggling to finish.

If your team is losing teamfights and can't get objectives, then you need to turtle and attempt to use different tactics like forcing teamfights under your teams tower or baiting the enemy team into them. Either way, your focus is to get as much gold as you can to recover and give yourself a fighting chance. Put your game face on, it is going to be a long game.

Scenario #3 (Please Kill Me)
This is the same thing as #2, you've either lost way before here, or you're recovering in an attempt to win. My advice stands the same as the previous mentioned. Don't be discouraged if you do end up losing anyway, you put up a good fight and you know you need to improve. Go over the replay for the match if you can, or if not, think back to how you played and what were the reasons you were beaten, improve through small changes in playstyle and the rewards can be extremely large.

The way you have to play Yasuo is equivalent to a bruiser when the teamfight starts, and then turns him into an assassin (This is only in regards of positioning and focus). First, let your tank initiate and get deep within the fight. At this point you either: stay on the outskirts and peel for your adc then use your Steel Tempest twice to get to that third stack, line yourself up to hit as many enemies as you possibly can into your Last Breath, or if your tank has a multi-man knockup (someone like Malphite) SMASH YOUR FACE ON Last Breath. This allows your teammates to not only get the 1 - 2 seconds of CC reprieve from your Steel Tempest, But also allows your team to capitalize on your mid air hold on those enemies effectively doing not only your damage in terms of Steel Tempest + Last Breath, but also any abilities they have, which can win a teamfight like nothing.

From this point on you play cleanup and stay inside the middle of the teamfight area, Sweeping Blade to the nearest, lowest opponent and proceed to smash their face in. From here on you just take objectives and sail to a win~!

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"One main thing to keep in mind at ALL TIMES is your flow bar and what the enemy has available. Remember you have no cost for your abilities and your Sweeping Blade and Steel Tempest have nearly no CD. Watch the enemies mana / energy. When they are low, they are vulnerable. Watch major cooldowns and when they are down, go all-in. You are almost always going to have those CD's up. Realize when you have an advantage and take it. And always, ALWAYS ward the river for when the jungler decides to gank." - (Thanks to Santhan for this info.)

Top Synergy Combos:

Synergy Level: Strong



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Synergy Level: The Strongest



Synergy Level: Strong



Synergy Level: Strong



Synergy Level: Strong



Individual Abilities:
Aatrox: Dark Flight
Blitzcrank: Power Fist
Darius: Apprehend
Diana: Moonfall
Draven: Stand Aside
Fizz: Chum the Waters
Gragas: Explosive Cask
Hecarim: Devastating Charge
Jayce: Thundering Blow
Lee Sin: Dragon's Rage
Lulu: Wild Growth
Maokai: Arcane Smash
Nami: Aqua Prison , Tidal Wave
Nautilus: Dredge Line , Depth Charge
Orianna: Command: Shockwave
Poppy: Heroic Charge
Quinn: Vault
Rammus: Powerball
Riven: Broken Wings (3rd Stack)
Sejuani: Arctic Assault
Shyvana: Dragon's Descent
Singed: Fling
Syndra: Scatter the Weak
Thresh: Death Sentence , Flay
Tristana: Buster Shot
Trundle: Pillar of Ice
Vayne: Condemn
Vel'Koz: Tectonic Disruption
Volibear: Thundering Smash
Xin Zhao: Three Talon Strike (Third Stack), Crescent Sweep
Zac: Elastic Slingshot , Let's Bounce
Ziggs: Satchel Charge

My Matches:


Freindly Fire's Match:(Interesting switch out of Guinsoos over PD)

WizardHunter's Match:

Karma7277's Matches:


Jakitsa's matches:
(Apparently got to plat using my guide :D!)

This guide is always a work in progress, if you have any input/suggestions or would like to see a build you have, added; send me a message or put it in the discussion so I may see it. If I choose to have it put up you will be credited :D! Also, if you find any errors then please do tell me so I may fix them. If you enjoyed the guide, please do upvote. The purpose is to give the guide not only more feedback, but also show your opinion on it to other people and make it so that its more exposed to the community, which in turn assists more people. Regardless, it is your choice entirely, so choose to your will, and if you do downvote, can you drop a comment in the discussion with constructive criticism that led to your choice?

On a different note, I wanted to talk about my reason for finally making a guide for MobaFire after having been a part of the community (but not really signed up). The reason is because tons of people that are gold and above just trash the site atrociously, and frankly its really undeserved because how much potential it has in terms of creating guides and just how much it helped me along as a player. I want to take a step towards helping set a standard for the community with this guide and change the opinion of all these higher level players, a set of divisions that I have been a part of. Basically by making a guide that's super comprehensive, it allows people from any sort of level to gleam new information, and assist anyone who needs additional help!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day :D!

(Shout out to Guntharius for his continuous support and advice in creating this guide!)
(Shout out to Santhan for being the first to assist on the guide and giving a huge portion of information!)
(Shout out to TheBlackVanguard for the amazing insight and information on the Riven lane matchup!)
(Shout out to IamTheCripple for info on the Volibear lane matchup!)
(Shout out to Thisguyneedsbear for info on lane matchups!)
(Shout out to Freindly Fire for giving a match image!)
(Shout out to WizardHunter for giving a match image!)
(Shout out to Alioth for the awesome insight on the Viktor and Zed matchups!
(Shout out to EdisonKhoo for reviewing and giving me feedback/ideas!)
(Shout out to Sirell for giving me feedback/ideas!)
(Shout out to Voosha for giving me feedback/ideas!)
(Shout out to Vynertje for giving me feedback/ideas!)
(Shout out to Karma7277 for giving me three awesome matches to display!)
(Shout out to Jakitsa for giving me six awesome matches to display!)
(Shout out to Nimwel for pointing out a mistake I missed!)

Lore (The Man Behind The Blade): 100%
THE WIND IS PUSHING ME~! -Yasuo's Real Song-: 100%
Pros / Cons: 100%
Masteries: 100%
Runes: 100%
Summoner Spells: 100%
Skill Set: 100%
Skill Sequence: 100%
Skill Combos: 100%
Build Explanations: 100%
Item Explanations: 100%
Gameplay: 100%
Teamfighting: 100%
Lane Matchups: 100%
Synergies(Knockups/Displacements): 100%
Graphic Art: 100%

Overall Percent Complete: 100%
Time Invested Into This Guide: 148 hours

As you can tell, I've put a ton of effort into this guide, and for absolutely free. I'm also a poor, struggling college student, so if you'd like to donate ANYTHING, by all means go ahead. I'd really appreciate it! (Already checked to see if doing this was fine, no butt hurt pls :D)