Hello everyone. I'm Hazardis, but also go as Sieghardt in other games/accounts. I've been playing League since around season 7 and peaked at Master 300-something LP a couple of seasons ago, until unhappiness with the game led me to take a long break from it.

I used to OTP Skarner before and up until his rework last year. Some readers might recognize me as the author who made the most upvoted and viewed Skarner guide on MOBAFire, from before he was reworked.

But now, I've moved on to play Yorick almost exclusively, because I find him very fun to play while also being really strong in the meta and, of course, in the Jungle.

I encourage you to check the guide on the desktop browser version, as the mobile version has a clunky formatting that makes for a less organized view.

The last survivor of a long-forgotten religious order, Yorick is both blessed and cursed with power over the dead. Trapped on the Shadow Isles, his only companions are the rotting corpses and shrieking wraiths that he gathers to him. Yorick's monstrous actions belie his noble purpose: to free his home from the curse of the Ruination. Yorick provides a unique archetype in League of Legends: summoner. While he is not the only one that spawns friendly summons, no other champion has a kit that revolves around summoning creatures, nor in the amount that he does, nor creatures that hold so much of the champion's power budget. For people who enjoy overwhelming with raw numbers and strength, this is the closest thing to the ideal champion to be found in the game. While being a constant target of nerfs due to his relative success in the lower elos, he consistently remains a strong pick in every meta we have had over the last few seasons.

PROS + Easy to pick up + Fast Jungle clear + Strong dueling + Excellent scaling + Good macrogame tools Yorick is a beginner-friendly champion who you will have little trouble learning how to play, and won't take you long to master. His clears become ridiculously fast after his level 6 powerspike, which opens up a lot of opportunities for you in your games as you will have to spend less time doing camps and soloing objectives. Later in the game, releasing the Maiden to a sidelane effectively counts as if having an extra champion working for your team, which adds a great deal of pressure on the enemy team that no other champion would be capable of exerting.

P Q W E R

CONS - Low mobility - Lackluster Ganks - Easy to invade - Weak before level 6 - Reliant on summons The first few minutes of the game can potentially be a bad time for you if you get invaded or your laners get outroamed for free, as Yorick doesn't really have much outplay potential until level 6 or even the first item powerspike. His lack of mobility also makes him an easy target to land skillshots on, meaning control mages or anything similar will be challenging for you to Gank. Also, his teamfighting is popularly bad, which limits you to relying on macro game decisions to win games rather than on the mindless chaos that normally happens in solo queue.

Both of the runesets I propose are generally good whether you are going versus a melee or ranged, squishy or tanky matchup. The choice mostly comes down to preference and specific difficult matchups, which you can figure either intuitively or by taking a look at the Threats & Synergies section near the beginning of the guide.



Conqueror: Towards the end of season 14, Yorick got a very important bugfix which involved ghouls and maiden correctly stacking this keystone with each separate hit once again. This translates into them being able to reach the limit of 12 stacks even by themselves, and very quickly, which means that your damage output skyrockets with this rune. The bonus healing while at full stacks comes in handy during extended fights too.

Triumph: Simply the best in slot, as neither of the other two options are useful at all for Yorick. The burst of healing after a takedown can be a lifesaver in some fights, and the bonus 20 gold will stack nicely throughout the game to a decent amount overall.

Legend: Alacrity: Any amount of extra Attack Speed you can get as a Jungler is valuable since you will be Auto Attacking a large amount of times every game. The effect plays along very well with the bonus Attack Speed you get from Trinity Force or Stridebreaker.

Coup de Grace: All your sources of damage will hit harder on enemy champions that are low on Health, making this rune useful for finishing off targets that you or your team have weakened preemptively. More a matter of preference really, as all 3 options in this row are acceptable choices. I prefer this one as it's the one you can make the most use of consistently, rather than rely on more specific situations during the game.

Magical Footwear: You will gain Slightly Magical Boots through normal gameplay, and even quicker into the game if you pull off any successful ganks or Jungle skirmishes early in the game. Saving 300 gold on Boots while also getting an extra 10 Movement Speed out of them is simply too good for almost every Jungle champion in the current meta to pass up on.

Jack of all Trades: For every different stat among the items that you purchase, you will gain 1 stack, each providing an equal amount of bonus Ability Haste. The important thresholds to hit during the game being 5 and 10 stacks, which will grant you 10 and 25 bonus Adaptive Force respectively.

Additional notes:

Rune shards: Attack Speed, Adaptive Force and scaling Health shards are the best for making your early game clears as quick and healthy as possible. While they provide little scaling value, it is better to compensate for your weak early game than to minmax late game stats when it comes to these.



As for the Sorcery tree, in the games where you go for that alternative:

Phase Rush: It's the reason we take this tree in the first place. The burst of Movement Speed, which is easy to activate as Yorick, offers really high value even in situations where you wish to keep fighting in close range because you will find it much easier to dodge skillshots and reposition yourself to keep fighting or disengage, as the situation sees fit.

Additional notes:

Axiom Arcanist: This new rune may seem great on paper for Yorick, but the cooldown reduction on takedowns doesn't apply unless Eulogy of the Isles is on cooldown already, which is very suboptimal as you will spend more time with the Maiden alive than dead during the game. Still, it's more suitable than the two other options from this row.

Transcendence: You naturally earn 10 Ability Haste from this rune that counts towards both basic and ultimate abilities, making it an easy source of 500 gold worth of stats. The cooldown refund on basic abilities after a takedown is nothing to write home about though, so don't hold it in high regard.

Waterwalking: You will be spending a considerable amount of time during the game crossing the river as a Jungler, so getting extra Movement Speed and Attack Damage while you're on it is only the right choice. The bonus stats will make a considerable difference when you're taking an objective on your own, and also if you find yourself fighting with the enemy Jungler over the Rift Scuttler, especially the very first one that appears at 3 minutes 30 seconds into the game.

Flash is arguably the most fitting choice for summoner spell to pair Smite with, because you would have a much harder time outplaying opponents without it if you were to choose Ghost over it instead. It helps you chase, flee, land and dodge skillshots, and set up Dark Procession by surprise. No other alternative to it opens up nearly as much outplay potential.

Gustwalker Hatchling is generally the best choice, as it helps compensate for Yorick's natural lack of mobility. When completed, you will be moving between camps and Brushes around the Jungle quicker, and can come in clutch when it comes to teamfights for objectives that normally happen near bushes, such as when Atakhan or Baron Nashor have spawned.

On the other hand, Mosstomper Seedling is situationally better in games where you really need the extra bit of survivability provided by its shield, and don't mind losing mobility. It is especially valuable if you choose to build Spirit Visage. Once fully upgraded, you will be less vulnerable to being poked before or during fights for objective.

Additional notes:

Taking Last Rites at level 1 is of utmost importance because not only is it your lowest cooldown ability, it's also required to make and raise graves from Shepherd of Souls for your very first clears. Put an extra point into it at level 3 to quicken your first clear with no tradeoff, as Dark Procession isn't really useful in the Jungle.

You will spend 3 ability points into it, then start maxing Mourning Mist second because it's a vital ability for reworked Yorick, due to its utility shredding Armor and how it helps you redirect Mist Walkers onto a new target as you deem necessary. It also provides a lot more value than earlier points into Dark Procession, so we leave that as the last ability to level up. As is standard with most champions, take a point into Eulogy of the Isles at levels 6, 11 and 16.

Even if you don't purchase it directly, the game will set Stealth Ward as your trinket by default after you leave the base, and is generally the best trinket to take at the start anyway. You will get one charge of it right away, and you'll gain another by the time you can Recall for the first time.

Additional notes:

The best situation in which to start with Oracle Lens instead is if someone on your team, most commonly the support, took an engage champion and wants to force an early invade into the enemy Jungle. Taking this will help clear vision and make sure your team remains unseen during the process.

You will take Gustwalker Hatchling in most games as adviced, as it helps compensate for Yorick's lack of mobility. Pay attention before you leave the fountain for the first time in the game, as any item purchases you have made at the start will be unrefundable after this point, and you'll be stuck with your choice of Jungle pet for the rest of the game.

The other viable option is Mosstomper Seedling, and the most general advice I can provide on it is to take it either when you're against an enemy composition where most if not all champions rely on burst damage, or when you know that your first two or three items provide no Health, such as the Lethality items or Death's Dance.

Pick up a Phage when you have 1100+ on your first Recall (which you should, on ordinary circumstances) as it's a component that builds towards Trinity Force, Stridebreaker or Black Cleaver, and can also possibly leave you with 250 gold left to spare to grab either a Dagger or Glowing Mote additionally.

Spending 1050 gold on three Long Swords instead is a viable option as well, as it provides you with 30 bonus Attack Damage early which will boost the speed of your clears between levels 5 and 7-8, and also make you hit hard against champions in the case of duels or skirmishes in the Jungle.

My favorite pair of components to grab after the first Recall is the combination of Pickaxe and Ruby Crystal, which make the most use out of the amount of gold I normally find myself with at that point in the game and offer amazing stats until the first full item. Disregard this combination of components early if you are rushing Trinity Force or a Lethality item.

Additional notes:

Only take Tiamat early in the game if you have your mind set on rushing Stridebreaker and you don't reach 1375 gold. I really don't recommend spending 1200 gold on it only for the sake of doing camps with several monsters faster, so commit to building the full item if you take this.

Additional notes:

For when you are rushing a Lethality item, taking Serrated Dirk on your first Recall is one of the best early powerspikes you could ask for. Despite offering less Attack Damage, I'd still recommend this over the three Long Swords strategy which has a similar cost due to the fact that Lethality applies its full value regardless of how early it is in the game, which is exactly the time when it proves more efficient as everything and everyone have low Armor values.

Trinity Force is the bread and butter item for Yorick in the Jungle and my proposed setup. Once completed, you will automatically have hit the first threshold of Jack of all Trades (with the help of Magical Footwear) and be ready to absolutely demolish every camp, objective and minion wave you go take from thereon, while also losing dependency of Mist Walkers to some degree for farming.

Additional notes:

If you are a beginner to either Yorick, the Jungle role in general, or both, I would recommend you to stick to rushing Stridebreaker as your first item every game. It's an item that provides very useful stats throughout the game, makes clearing camps very easy and fast, and doesn't sacrifice any PvP power in exchange for it.

Additional notes:

Youmuu's Ghostblade is my favorite Lethality item to rush in games where I feel like sacrificing a bit of durability over more damage early and an easier path towards fully stacking Jack of all Trades, but you are free to experiment with other similar options such as Umbral Glaive or Opportunity. It offers great offensive stats for a relatively low cost, and the Movement Speed can prove useful in a wide array of situations.

Umbral Glaive's strength lies in its low cost and the ability to clear any Stealth Wards and Control Wards with extreme speed for the rest of the game, which will not only save you time but also help put on great pressure on the map. Additionally, it opens up the possibility to swap Oracle Lens to Farsight Alteration later in the game at no real loss.

What makes Opportunity a wonderful purchase for jungling is that its passive effect, which grants Lethality while out of combat with champions, will stay up the entire time you are taking camps or objectives, boosting your damage considerably without having to do anything extra. The burst of Movement Speed on kills can be a lifesaver too, in specific situations.

Serpent's Fang is almost a must-buy item when you are up against enemy teams with heavy shielding overall in their kits, which mostly involves enchanters with the same function as Yuumi and Janna, but also a Jungler like Ivern, champions like Mordekaiser and Shen, and mages that are very likely to build Seraph's Embrace such as Anivia, Cassiopeia, Taliyah, Ryze, etc.

Additional notes:

Spear of Shojin has undergone a plethora of bugfixes in the last few months which have finally led it to a state where it's safe to build as Yorick. Your Mist Walkers and Maiden will help stack it, upkeep said stacks and benefit from them in full capacity, which will also strengthen them considerably on instances where they are pushing lanes or taking camps and objectives in the Jungle on their own.

Additional notes:

Black Cleaver is another item worthy of rushing, although I find myself most commonly buying it third after Spear of Shojin. Even though most people take as a given that its passive only has acceptable value later on in the game, when everyone's armor values are somewhat high. The truth is that the stats provided by this item will always be useful on champions like Yorick regardless of what stage of the game it is, and even indifferent to whether the enemy team is composed of champions that will stack Armor or not.

Additional notes:

Plated Steelcaps is the go-to purchase when the enemy Jungler (or the majority of champions on the enemy team) is an Attack Damage champion, which only becomes more efficient against Auto Attack-heavy champions like Viego, Master Yi or Briar. Don't hesitate to choose them if you need the extra Armor.

Mercury's Treads are my favorite boots to run not only because of the 30 Tenacity , which is very good indeed, but also because it will immediately provide you with two extra stacks for Jack of all Trades at the moment of building them, and makes hitting the 10 stats threshold easier all around.

Sorcerer's Shoes are viable on Yorick given that three of his damage sources are magic: the active damage on Mourning Mist, and the Auto Attacks + passive proc attacks of Eulogy of the Isles; adding a fourth source if you choose to build Liandry's Torment.

Additional notes:

As of patch 25.05, Boots of Swiftness are arguably the strongest boots in the game taking into consideration their price. Having more Movement Speed in all situations, including while you're being Slowed, is simply too useful when it comes to dodging skillshots, pursuing or fleeing from champions, getting to fights and strategic spots on the map quicker, etc.

Additional notes:

If your first two items provide 700 or more Health in total, Sterak's Gage becomes a good option for your third item as it will take from that health to increase your durability overall, without leaving you low on Attack Damage. The extra Tenacity is always good to have as well.

Additional notes:

Overlord's Bloodmail has amazing synergy with the rest of the items on a bruiser Yorick build, maximizing the value of its stats for more Attack Damage and also boosting your Health pool greatly, turning you and your summons harder to kill.

Additional notes:

The passive burn from Liandry's Torment will be applied by basically everything Yorick does to an enemy unit, including damage instances from his summons. It is particularly good to build on games where you are ahead, especially if the enemy team has Health stackers and/or don't seem to be itemizing against magic damage.

Death's Dance as second item, and as an item in general, is severely underrated across the board. It provides a really high amount of Attack Damage while, at the same time, aiding your survivability as much as any tank item would, without completely conditioning you to build it against physical damage only. I like to run it second after rushing Black Cleaver against teams that rely mostly on Attack Damage, but it has proven universally good in my experiences.

You should consider taking Chempunk Chainsword or Maw of Malmortius second in matchups where they prove exceptionally useful, such as versus champions with strong healing (like Warwick) or a magic damage Jungler that relies on burst (such as Evelynn). They provide very decent stats to go along their niches, which means you're not going to set yourseful behind necessarily and will also still have a strong foundation to keep itemizing later on in the game.

Hollow Radiance is a good alternative for not building any Tiamat items as it will help you clear camps and waves in AoE more comfortably, saving you valuable time over the course of the game. The main reason you might want this instead of/combined with Stridebreaker is that the minion waves being cleared by a released Eulogy of the Isles will benefit from its on-kill effect, greatly increasing the speed and pressure applied by your summons that are pushing the lane.

Spirit Visage has great synergy with Yorick and this build in general, increasing the healing from Last Rites, your native sustain from farming camps in the Jungle, and the shield from Sterak's Gage if you decide to build it. Its value goes even higher if you have taken any amount of Ocean Drakes or even the Ocean Soul, or if your team has an enchanter support focused on sustain, such as Soraka.

Dead Man's Plate, despite being an Armor item option less suited to Yorick over Death's Dance or even something like Iceborn Gauntlet, is in a good spot in the meta due to its relatively high stats, utility from so much Movement Speed and its considerable synergy with Jack of all Trades in the build we are running here. You can run it in games where the enemy team inflicts too many Slows.

These builds are NOT by-the-book rules you should follow every game, but rather my showcase of combinations that I know for sure that they work and can be adopted as consistent build paths on most, if not every game. Still, they serve different purposes and you are free to swap around items in their slots with similar items that you feel would accomplish a similar function with varying results.

HOW TO GANK: Learning the blind vision spots is of utmost importance when it comes to approaching a lane quickly. Stick to the walls or other terrain if you're approaching from the river, and pop your Oracle Lens as you're approaching the bush; if you spot a Ward, don't waste time clearing it and just keep going before the enemy has too much time to react. Always make sure to ping your laners (responsibly) 5-7 seconds before you go in.

WHEN TO GANK: As Yorick, ideally you want to powerfarm until you hit level 6, which means that Ganks will probably not come before then. The only exception would be the small window of time you have during the first Rift Scuttler spawn (3:30) when ganking the nearby sidelane, or counterganking the enemy Jungler, would be smart plays to look for before falling back to your second spawn camps.

WHOM TO GANK: I really advice you to not waste any time ganking any laner that has died before 4 minutes, or that by the 10 minutes mark has at least 3 deaths; that's all the proof you need that they don't know how to lane properly and that they're not worth trusting with any resources. You're better off focusing on lanes near live objectives who are also even or not losing by too much, and especially in volatile matchups (melee vs melee, etc).

JUNGLE TRACKING: In this season, tracking the enemy Jungler properly is more important than ever due to how much priority early objectives such as Voidgrub have at all stages of the game. A good rule of thumb to follow the enemy Jungler in the first minutes of the game is: if he started on the same side of the map as you for the first clear, he will remain on the same side as you for most of the first 10 minutes of the game, assuming that A) you have focused diligently on farming, and B) he hasn't wasted too much time hovering around mid or the sidelanes before the first objectives have spawned.

At the very start of the game, you should move to the top side river if you're playing on blue side, or the bot side river from red side. Stay in the Brush near the river (either the one in the middle of the river, or the row of Brushes next to the mid lane) for a few seconds to assess if there are any enemies showing themselves on the map.

Stay until around 65-71 seconds into the game, after which you can drop your first Stealth Ward in the Brush or pit near the buff opposite to where you will start to defend against early invades from the enemy Jungler that might otherwise catch you by surprise. It is better to place it defensively rather than offensively, as this Ward will allow you to perform your first full clear free of worries, and you doing an invade is less likely to work than being invaded.


A full clear of your Jungle (6 camps + Rift Scuttler) is the most advisable strategy for your initial clear, and you should always do it leashless so ping your teammates away and give them an optimal start to the game instead of having them waste time leashing for you. Be wary of possible enemy invades or counterjungling while you're still in the first quadrant. The most consistent route, and my personal favorite, is to do Crimson Raptor -> Ancient Krug -> Red Brambleback, then moving on to the opposite quadrant to clear Murk Wolf -> Gromp -> Blue Sentinel, and then finish by taking or contesting Rift Scuttler.


Note that when clearing the second quadrant, you want to stick to the logic of clearing the smaller camps before taking the buff camp. This is for the sake of making their respawn timers be as close to each other as possible, so when you go back to clear them again, you won't have to wait around for either of them to finish respawning, and be as quick and fluid as possible.


Below is how it's done when you prefer to start from the blue quadrant. The same order logic applies, so you will do Murk Wolf -> Gromp -> Blue Sentinel -> Crimson Raptor -> Ancient Krug -> Red Brambleback -> Rift Scuttler.


This route has similar clear speed but has a few caveats: first, it is slightly harder to pull off for people who aren't used to Yorick's Jungle clear; second, you end in a more awkward position as the placements of Ancient Krug and Red Brambleback is farther from the Rift Scuttler compared to Gromp and Blue Sentinel, meaning that you will get there later. Still, it can be smart to take this route instead in order to catch or avoid the enemy Jungler strategically, or to set your pathing in a way that favors the first spawns of Dragon or Voidgrub regardless of what side of the man you're on.

Analyze the state of your lanes after you are done taking the Rift Scuttler. If the sidelane or mid lane don't seem easy to Gank, take the downtime to explore the enemy Jungler's quadrant to gain vision of taken camps and blow the Scryer's Bloom that spawns on it, then move to where you began your clear to take that quadrant camps' second spawn before you Recall to spend your gold.

Post level 6 your clear speed becomes faster and you have to worry less about raising ghouls from camps on your own, as Eulogy of the Isles will raise a ghoul as long as you have less than 4 alive, the camp isn't a buff, and the maiden is within relatively close range of the monster when it dies. Keep in mind though, dying becomes very punishing as you are likely to have a low amount of Ability Haste at this point in the game, which will put the ability on a long cooldown and impact your speed overall.

If the Dragon is alive or the next one is coming up, move to the bot side to gain vision control around it and prepare an ambush on any approaching enemies with smart uses your Oracle Lens and Control Wards. If the Voidgrub or Rift Herald are alive, play around top side on your next rotation. Atakhan is almost always worth fighting for, but if you have to choose between your own tempo elsewhere in the jungle or contesting it, it's not something you should be going out of your way for.

If you are at a disavantage and your team lost all of the Tier 1 towers, go into your own jungle more carefully from there on. Nevertheless, it is really important that you do your best to keep your CS numbers as high as possible as this is the stage of the game where you can start to release Eulogy of the Isles to the sidelanes and apply the most pressure on the map.

The late game is the time for Yorick to fully unleash his capabilities, as releasing Eulogy of the Isles plus your own splitpushing will exert an immense amount of pressure on the map that will force the enemy team to take riskier plays, give up on gains elsewhere, or risk losing their entire base to you.

A good tactic is to release Eulogy of the Isles on the sidelane opposite to where you wish to be on the map next; for example, if the next objective respawning is Baron Nashor, release her to the bot lane so that she can keep pushing it while you and everyone else is focused on the other side of the map. This will force the rivals to decide whether to fully commit to the baron fight and sacrifice whatever structures they have left on that lane, or to divide and make your life easier during the objective fight. Note that this is also a good move when the fight is for a Dragon or Atakhan as well.

Even though at this point of the game pushing lanes should always come first before grouping, you can still set up ambushes or picks in the sidelanes with your teammates if you have a good engage support or laners, as Yorick can dish out impressive amounts of burst and sustained damage at 4+ items; the downside of it being that it's mostly single target, so you will lack efficiency in teamfights.

Thank you for making it til the end of my guide, I hope you learned some new things. My to-do list for this guide includes producing some gameplay footage to expand chapters focused on helping others visualize the correct way of clearing the jungle and some small tips specific to Yorick, and also theorycraft new viable builds that involve items that I know have great potential, such as Eclipse and Serylda's Grudge. I will also make an effort to keep it updated throughout season 2025, hoping that it can keep proving to be a good season for Yorick in this role.