Welcome to my in depth Yone guide! I'm Yeager, a high elo midlaner in league of legends consistently reaching at least master tier on EUW every season since season 5 and challenger EUNE season 9. I spend some of my free time creating high quality educational content to help you improve and become a better player. Why should you play Yone? Yone is an assassin/skirmisher who has the advantage of being able to deal both physical and magic damage. He's a high skill ceiling champion with flashy mechanics similar to his brother Yasuo, and other champions like Ekko and Zed, where perfectly executed combos can lead to incredible outplays and make you look like a mechanical god. Compared to a lot of other assassins, Yone also scales well into the later stages of the game because of his versatile kit, and itemization. If any of this sounds interesting, then Yone might be the champion for you.

Pros + High outplay potential + Resourceless + Mixed damage + Assassin and Skirmisher Yone being ressourceless with mixed damage, gives him an advantage over most other champions he will be laning against. Even though he excels at assassinating squishy targets, he also works great as a skirmisher thanks to his kit and versatile itemization.

Cons + Weak early game + High skill ceiling + No reliable escape + Soul Unbound can backfire Yone can be quite weak early game because he's a melee champion. Not having access to a reliable engage or disengage tool, leaves him vulnerable to engages. The champion also has a variety of combos that has to be executed perfectly. Poor usage of Soul Unbound can result in you exiting fights too early, letting the targets escape, or even end up costing your life.

Flash The absolute best summoner spell in the game that can be used both defensively and offensively, so you will always have this as your primary summoner every single game.

Ignite As for the secondary summoner spell, this will be the most popular choice on Yone because it gives him more kill pressure in the laning phase, so it can help securing the kills and snowball the game out of control. The grievious wounds is also great against champions with lots of healing like Vladimir, Sona, Yuumi, Soraka etc.

Teleport You mainly want to use this if you're playing Yone in the top lane. It allows you to recall whenever you're low HP and teleport back so you don't have to risk getting dove by the enemy team. It can also be used to flank players by teleporting behind them. Teleport basically helps you stall the game and scale up, which is why you see it being used on champions with extremely weak laning phases like a Kassadin.

Cleanse Since Yone is somewhat immobile with no reliable escape tool, he is very vulnerable to point and click CC. If the enemy team comp has lots of CC, then make sure to have Cleanse as your secondary summoner spell. An example could be against Lissandra mid and Elise jungle.

Exhaust This is not a summoner you will be using often but it can be a good choice against team comps built around bursting down the targets, so mainly against assassins.

When can I use this?: Every single game as it is the overall best page.

Lethal Tempo: After the rework, it is the superior keystone on Yone. He is supposed to be weak early game but Lethal Tempo fixes that weakness. The attack speed you get has synergy with Mortal Steel and Spirit Cleave, so you will have almost no cooldowns in the early game. It allows you to spam abilities like you would do in the late game, and no champion will be able to match that DPS. Overheal: After the S13 buffs, it gives you some massive shields when combined with life steal and items like Bloodthirster. Yone is a squishy champion that's very vulnerable to burst damage, so this will help keep him alive in fights. Legend: Alacrity: Gives you attack speed which happens to be one of the most important stats on Yone. He isn't only AA reliant but Mortal Steel and Spirit Cleave also scales with attack speed, so it will lower the cast time as well as the cooldown of these abilities, making them much faster and smoother to use. Last Last Stand: Consistent rune that empowers those extended fights where you will be put at lower HP levels. The other viable choice is Coup de Grace which better promotes the assassin playstyle. Math has shown that Last Stand performs better in most games, so that's why it's used more now. When can I use this page?: Preferably against the easier match ups. It doesn't offer much in the early game so it's very risky to use in difficult lanes. Conqueror: Great scaling keystone you can use on Yone as it provides you with a lot of extra damage and sustain in the extended fights. Yone can also easily get full stacks with his combos. Since this is a rune that only shines in extended fights, it doesn't do a whole lot in short trades, so it's not the optimal choice for the early game but it does outscale all other options, and make him a bigger threat in the later stages of the game. Conditioning: Takes time before it comes online, but it gives you free resistances which is something Yone really lacks as a squishy champion. Overgrowth: Another rune that helps making you tankier by offering a decent amount of HP. Depending on the game length, you can expect to get around a Ruby Crystal worth of HP in most of your games. These 2 runes combined with defensive items will allow you to better survive the mid-late game fights. When can I use this page?: Viable in every single game and gives Yone the safest laning phase possible with Doran's Shield start. Most of the time you will be using this against difficult match ups where you will get harassed a lot in the laning phase. Fleet Footwork: It doesn't offer any damage but the sustain helps you survive the laning phase against tough lanes where you would otherwise get harrassed a lot. (Examples: Qiyana, Tristana and Pantheon.) If you're against skilled opponents, then Fleet Footwork can be a good choice so you can safely make it out of laning phase and reach your core items. Second Wind: Lots of sustain for the laning phase and makes a huge difference against poke heavy champions. Revitalize: Increases the healing you receive and also buffs the shield you get from Spirit Cleave. If you're below 40% HP, the effects will be increased by an additional 10%, making this a super valuable rune for the laning phase as you will get poked a lot.

PASSIVE ABILITY

Way Of The Hunter (Passive): Yone uses two blades, causing every second attack to deal more magic damage. His critical strike chance is also doubled, but his critical strikes deal reduced damage. Additionally, every 1% excess critical strike chance is converted into 0.5 bonus AD.

First part of the passive is the exact same as Yasuo. Double crit chance from items is why we always have to rush a crit mythic item and then Infinity Edge since it gives us a free 100% crit powerspike. The second part of this passive makes it extremely hard to itemize against Yone when he's dealing both physical and magic damage. The new passive that converts excess crit chance into bonus AD makes so many different item builds viable now since we no longer have to worry about the 100% critical strike cap.

Q

Mortal Steel (Q): Yone thrusts forward, dealing physical damage to opponents. On hit, he gains a stack of Gathering Storm. At two stacks, Yone can dash forward with a wave that makes enemies airborne.

Very low cooldown ability that you will be spamming in the laning phase to poke your opponent but also to farm with. The cast time and cooldown of this ability scales with attack speed up to a cap, allowing you to use it more often, which is one of the reasons why attack speed is so important on Yone.

W

Spirit Cleave (W): Yone cleaves forward in a massive arc, dealing a portion of the target's maximum health. After successfully hitting an enemy, Yone also gains a temporary shield. The shield's power increases per champion struck.

AOE damage ability that deals mixed damage based on the target's maximum HP, so it's great against champions who build lots of HP (Bruisers and Tanks). The shield is useful during trades as it can soak up some of the damage you are receiving.

E

Soul Unbound (E): Yone can enter his Spirit Form, gaining movement speed and leaving his body behind. When Yone's Spirit Form expires, he'll snap back into his body and deal a percentage of all the damage he dealt while in Spirit Form.

This is Yone's playmaking ability and basically a mini Death Mark. Since it stores some of the damage you've dealt and deals the same amount of damage once more, you want to make sure this ability is used early on in the combos for maximum damage. While Yone is returning to his main body at the end of the ability or when recast, you will be unstoppable so no amount of CC can cancel you out.

R

Fate Sealed (R): Yone strikes all enemies in his path, blinking behind the last enemy hit and knocking everyone airborne towards him.

Extremely powerful ability that will make Yone a threat even in the teamfights as it opens up for huge combos with your teammates. During the animation, he also can't be stopped by CC.

Mortal Steel is maxed first as this is his main source of damage and poke. You will be spamming this ability in the laning phase, using it to trade with and also for last hitting. Putting points into this ability will increase the base damage.

Soul Unbound is maxed second. Yone's playmaking ability is important to have on a low cooldown so you can go for engages more often. Putting points into this ability doesn't only lower the cooldown but it also increases the stored damage, which at max rank will be 35%, so a mini Death Mark but on a much lower cooldown.


Fate Sealed is maxed third. Each point into this ability will increase the base damage by 200 which is a huge deal, especially when you consider the fact that it's mixed damage.


Spirit Cleave is maxed fourth and last. There is no reason to max this out before any of the other abilities because it scales off the target's maximum HP, so it won't be that strong until later on in the game once people have invested gold into HP items. Similar to Mortal Steel, the cast time and cooldown of this ability can only be reduced with attack speed.

Doran's Blade

Doran's Blade: Offers great stats for the early game with a mix of AD, HP and lifesteal. You can have this as your starting item if you aren't in a lane where you would get poked to death.

Doran's Shield

Doran's Shield: Defensive item that you start with if you're against match ups where you would get harrassed and poked a lot (For example: LeBlanc, Azir, Orianna, Syndra etc) The passive helps you sustain through the early laning phase.

Immortal Shieldbow

Immortal Shieldbow: In most cases this is the best mythic item because it synergizes so well with Yone's kit. Way of the Hunter will double the crit chance, so we will have 40% crit just from this item. Life steal is also incredibly good for the laning phase, so the fact that you can have that without delaying any of your core items, makes this the best mythic item on Yone. The cast time and cooldown of Mortal Steel and Spirit Cleave will also be lowered with the bonus attack speed. Yone already has a lot of damage but his problem is staying alive in fights because of how squishy he is. With Immortal Shieldbow you also get a shield to help you survive against burst.

Kraken Slayer

Kraken Slayer: Shred tankier champions with the true damage passive. The attack speed passive also lets you hit your AS cap on the abilities earlier. Besides that, it doesn't really offer much for your laning phase compared to Immortal Shieldbow, so you only want to buy it when you're facing a heavy tank team.

Galeforce

Galeforce: It's a item you rarely see on Yone but it has been used by several pro players like Chovy and Faker. It gives you access to an additional gap closer so you can get within range for your third Mortal Steel or Fate Sealed. It can also be used to add more damage to your combos.

Core items are items you will be getting in every single game no matter who you're playing against. These items are a part of the champions identity so they can never be swapped. The only thing that can change, is when you buy them. For example Wit's End can be bought before any of the core items into the right match ups.

Berserker's Greaves: You will always be rushing these boots as your first item because of the mobility and attack speed that synergizes very well with Yone's kit.

Bloodthirster

Bloodthirster: This item now gives you crit chance so it's a strong early buy for Yasuo and Yone. Pairing this up with Immortal Shieldbow gives you so much life steal that you can never get poked out at any point in the game, so you can basically go for awful trades, and then easily heal back up to full HP from a few minions or a jungle camp.

Infinity Edge

Infinity Edge: Stat boost item that has its place in every crit build. It scales off your current critical strike chance and since you get double crit from your passive, you should buy this as your 3rd finished item after Berserker's Greaves and your mythic item.

Wit's End: You can buy this AP assassins like Diana and Fizz or heavy AP comps because it will lower their damage output to the point where you can easily survive the laning phase and outscale them.

Blade of the Ruined King: Huge 1-item powerspike that makes you strong in the 1v1's, especially against tanks because of the HP shredding passive. If the enemy has a bruiser or tank comp, then this is a good item to buy.

Death's Dance: Defensive item that converts physical damage TAKEN into bleed over time, so it's made to counter burst from for example assassins like Talon and Zed. Getting takedowns will get rid of the damage you would otherwise take and also grant you some HP and movement speed. Buy this against heavy AD comps or assassins.

Mercurial Scimitar: Item bought mainly for its component Quicksilver Sash. Make sure to buy this against heavy CC comps, especially if they have suppression abilities because Cleanse is useless against it. (Example of champions with suppression abilities: Malzahar with Nether Grasp and Skarner with Impale). You usually want the component Quicksilver Sash early on in the game, and then you wait upgrading it to Mercurial Scimitar until you at least have your core items, or towards the end.

Maw of Malmortius: If you're facing a stacked AP team then this can be a valuable item because of the MR and huge magic shield to counter burst from champions like Annie and Fizz. Most of the time you will be getting Wit's End instead because it's cheaper and also has better synergy with Yone's kit. If you're planning to buy this item, make sure to get another mythic item instead of Immortal Shieldbow because they share the same shield passive, so it would be a waste of gold getting both of these items.

Guardian Angel: Yone's assassination playstyle means that you will be flanking the backline to find the carries and possibly putting yourself at a risk in the process. Guardian Angel gives you that extra bit of safety in fights and allows you to play more aggressive. ADC's start shining in the later stages of the game, so the armor you get from Guardian Angel is super valuable too.

Mortal Reminder: Item bought for its grievious wound component Executioner's Calling. It's a must-have against champions with a lot of healing ( Vladimir, Yuumi, Soraka, Sona etc). If you desperately need the grievous wounds, you can get Executioner's Calling early on and then upgrade it to Mortal Reminder once you have boots and 2 of the core items.

Lord Dominik's Regards: It's a viable option against tank teams where you will be needing the extra armorpen. It's very rare that you build any HP items on Yone except for Spirit Visage, so you also benefit from the damage increasing passive.

Black Cleaver: Another armorpen item that you could consider getting against beefy champions (Bruisers and tanks). On top of the armorpen, you get AD, health and a passive that helps you sticking to your targets with the bonus movement speed.

Spirit Visage

Spirit Visage: Defensive item that you should consider buying against AP threats. The unique passive that increases all healing and shielding makes this the best MR item you can buy with this build.

Playing Yone in the very early stages can be rough because you will face a lot of ranged champions who will constantly try to poke you down. At levels 1 and 2 you just want to stay far back and last hit minions with Mortal Steel. If you're playing against melee match ups you can play more aggressive and harrass with Mortal Steel whenever they walk up to farm. From level 3 you can start trading back with all your basic abilities unlocked. When going for trades, you want to start the combo with Soul Unbound that basically works like a Death Mark in that it stores some of the damage you've dealt and then deals it once again when you leave the spirit form, so using it at the very start of your combos will give you the highest DPS. You also want to have your Mortal Steel stacked so you can use it as an engage tool. You want to go in for quick trades and then hop back to safety with Soul Unbound to slowly whittle them down. Once you are level 6 you can go for the execution. Fate Sealed is a skillshot so it can be difficult to hit on moving targets, so what you want to do, is that you use the third part of Mortal Steel right before your Fate Sealed. That will keep them airborne, giving you a guaranteed hit with the ultimate. If you were able to whittle them down from earlier trades, then you can look for the all-in with your ultimate. It can be difficult to find kills early game against skilled opponents, so most of the time you will be looking to farm out the first levels, or waiting for jungle ganks so you can combine your CC and secure kills that way.

The mid game is where Yone starts shining because you will have the 2 core items Immortal Shieldbow and Infinity Edge giving you a massive powerspike with 100% crit. You can wipe out any squishy who's unfortunate enough to be within range. Champions will struggle itemizing against you because they won't have enough gold to complete both armor and magic resistance items, so this is the point where you have to start carrying the game. Your main focus should always be the objectives like the remaining outer tower, rift herald and dragon that can help you snowball and secure a lead. The goal as Yone is to look for aggressive plays whenever your Soul Unbound and Fate Sealed is available. Clear out the enemy wards using Oracle Lens and hunt down the squishy champions to look for assassinations. Being in the side lane and getting experience and gold for yourself is extremely important so you don't fall behind. You don't have to splitpush in the side lanes but make sure that you rotate back and forth to pick up the minion waves. During smaller skirmishes, be careful that you don't end up using Soul Unbound too early because it can take you completely out of the fight, and leave your teammates alone. Save it until you're confident that you can make proper use of it for one, big engage.

The late game is all about teamfighting and objectives like baron nashor and elder drake. During teamfights, assassins will mostly wait patiently and try to flank the carries from a different angle to catch them off guard. Yone can do the same but he's also very strong in direct teamfights with the right compositions and setup. Your Fate Sealed is the key that can turn entire teamfights around so you want to be very patient with this ability, and wait for the right moment. If you have teammates with hard CC like a Malphite or Zac, let them be the ones to engage and then you can follow up with your abilities for guaranteed hits. Yone can also transition into a more defensive playstyle if your ADC is fed, and focus on peeling him from incoming threats. Succesfully hitting a carry with Fate Sealed and 3rd Mortal Steel should almost always result in a kill because they will be chain cc'ed and unable to move while your team can follow up with their damage. Soul Unbound gives you many unique ways of approaching a teamfight with the safety of Ekko's Chronobreak, so you have to be creative with how you want to engage in each teamfight to make the most out of this ability and Yone.

- Every second auto attack with the Azakana blade will always deal 50% magic damage, so make sure to include at least 2 auto attacks in your combos to abuse the magic damage part since most enemies will be using armor against you in the early game.





- The ability is coded as a single target ability to the first target hit, and then as AOE to everyone behind that. This allows you to poke the opponents behind minions without getting aggro. (Exactly the same as Yasuo)

- The cast-time and the cooldown of this ability only scales with attack speed capping at 0.133 sec cast-time and 1.33 sec cooldown. (111.11% Bonus attack speed is required for this)

- The third part of Mortal Steel will make Yone dash a fixed distance and can be used to cross terrain.

- Use each cast in rapid succesion with your auto attacks for maximum DPS.




- Deals mixed damage and gives you a shield when hitting any enemy unit (Not just champions.) Hitting multiple champions at once will make the shield stronger from 100-200% depending on the amount of champions you hit.

- The range is deceptive so you can often catch the opponents by surprise.




- Yone will dash a fixed distance with this ability. The range is similar to Riven's Valor but it can also be used to dash over small walls.

- When damaging champions while in the spirit form, a symbol will appear above them. If the target is low enough HP to be executed by this ability, the symbol will be split in half.

- While returning back to his main body, Yone will be unstoppable so no CC can stop him. It can be used to intentionally bait out important CC abilities from the enemy team.




- The ultimate covers a huge distance through terrain, allowing Yone to engage the fights from unique angles similar to Rek'Sai. (Range Example: From bot lane tribush and straight into the lane)

- The ultimate by itself can be difficult to hit on moving targets. To get a guaranteed hit, you want to use the 3rd part of Mortal Steel to knock the opponents airborne and then immediately follow up with Fate Sealed.

- Yone is unstoppable during the animation, so he can't be CC'ed.

I have made a video guide for Yone showcasing the combos step-by-step so you can follow it easily. Basic combos start at 2:06 and the advanced ones start at 6:07.

Freezing is a advanced technique that lets you deny your opponent exp and cs if done correctly. Freezing a lane means that you kite/tank the minions without letting your tower hit the creeps. You need to make sure the enemy minions always beat yours. After the enemy killed your entire wave, you let 2-3 of the enemy creeps live, and kite them until the next wave is here. When the next wave arrives, the wave will freeze right outside of your turret range.

By doing this, you are safe from jungle ganks, while your opponent takes a big risk everytime he overextends for a cs.


You can Freeze the wave when you and the enemy are even or ahead, and it can be used to help you win back the lane after you screwed up and died. You can attempt to freeze the wave already from level 1, leaving your opponent vulnerable to jungle ganks or be within your kill range, if you are able to kill them. When you get a lead, and you can solokill an overextended enemy laner, that is exactly when you want to freeze the wave. You force the enemy midlaner to either be in your kill range, or miss a ton of cs and exp, putting them further behind.

Freezing a wave is a great way to snowball a lead, if you have no objectives to fight for, such as dragon, herald or towers.

Here is a youtube video that explains wave management very well. I recommend watching the entire video. All credits for this video goes to Blitz Esports LoL

That's it for my Yone guide. I have spent countless hours playing him on PBE and working on this guide so i hope you learned something. The champion is new so there's a chance of different builds and combos appearing over the coming weeks but i will make sure to keep this guide updated with the latest information.