Disclaimer

This is my private notes/build used by myself to improve myself and adjust the build based on the input I gather.

I take my inspiration from many guides out there, my own personal preferences in game and the input from other people.

Pro

Due to her mobility, flexible kit and damage output, irelia is fairly easy to pick up. But the interaction in her kit gives her a very high skill ceiling and hard to master.

Con

She is very item heavy making he pretty expansive to play. Beside this, she is very unforgiving for poorly executed skills with, among other things, longer cooldowns.

Skills

Bladesurge- Q
Bladesurge is your bread and butter and can be used in a wide selection of situations. It is an excellent gap closer, chase, disengage and execution skill.

In the laning phase you use it to execute minions, building stacks and farming gold.
In the tower Phase you can use it to dive in and disengage.

Defiant Dance - W
Defiant Dance is a good defensive skill against physical damage making it ideal if your opponent is a hard hitting champion and against early ganks. Lastly you can reach further away minions without being punished by the opponents, giving you the final hit on canon minions for example.

Flawless Duet - E
A bit tricky in the beginning to hit enemy champions but mastering this skill will be vital in higher tiers. You can stun or deny a (theoretical) limitless line across the map. This will also mark any champion and large minion it hits giving you free Bladesurge dashes

Vanguard's Edge - R
Irelia's ultimate is as the rest of her kit incredible versatile. It can be used to slow down a retreating team, it can be used to single out a champion and mark a large amount of opponents.

Early game: Laning

Irelia can play fairly aggressive thanks to her passive

Skill Notes
Q can be used constantly due to the low mana cost and is an excellent gap closer.
W is really handy when getting tower dived and will continue even when CC.
E is can be really an annoyance for the enemy team, keeping them on their toes.
R is best used when enemies over extend and for your jungler to gank easier.

Skill Combo's
R and E deals huge amount of damage.

Extra notes
Don't use W when low on HP. 50% damage reduction is nice to get out of hairy situations but you will also be unable to move.
W can also be a nice tool to finish far away minions

Late Game: Team fights

Irelia's E and R ability can mark many champions creating to opportunity to use your Q multiple times. This will make you incredible mobile and an excellent chaser. You will due a large portion of the work in team fights.


Skill Notes
Q with a large amount of marks with both her E and R marks a lot of opponents.
R is an excellent engage use it on ADC and singling out a champion.

Skill Combo's
E and R result in almost guaranteed kill as it deals massive damage and has great CC. If opponents want to escape they need to use valuable spells.


Extra notes