Best Master Yi Build & Guide (2026) — League of Legends

Master Yi is League of Legends' quintessential hypercarry jungler — a Wuju swordsman who farms the jungle at blinding speed, scales into a late-game monster with on-hit items and attack speed, becomes untargetable during Alpha Strike to dodge abilities and turret shots, shreds tanks with Wuju Style's true damage, and chains pentakills through Highlander resets that extend his ultimate duration and refresh his basic ability cooldowns on every champion takedown. Master Yi excels at melting objectives like Dragon and Baron faster than almost any other jungler thanks to his sustained DPS from Double Strike and Wuju Style, running down entire teams in the late game when Highlander's slow immunity and movement speed make him impossible to kite, and punishing teams that lack hard crowd control by cleaning up teamfights once key CC abilities have been used on his frontline. Whether you're a jungle main who wants to hard-carry games through superior farming and scaling, a player who loves the satisfaction of going untargetable with Alpha Strike to dodge a critical ability and then killing the entire enemy team, or a beginner looking for a straightforward jungler whose game plan is simple — farm, scale, and fight when strong — this guide covers everything you need to dominate with Master Yi in 2026.

Master Yi Overview

Master Yi operates as a scaling on-hit jungler who power-farms the jungle in the early game to reach his item spikes as quickly as possible, then takes over the game in the mid-to-late game with overwhelming sustained damage that few champions can survive in a one-versus-one. Unlike early-game junglers who rely on ganking and snowballing lanes, Master Yi wants to clear camps efficiently, avoid unnecessary fights before his first item, and then become an unstoppable duelist and teamfight cleaner once Kraken Slayer and Guinsoo's Rageblade come online.

Double Strike (Passive) causes Master Yi's basic attacks to generate stacks, and at three stacks his next basic attack strikes twice — the second strike deals 50% AD physical damage, applies on-hit effects independently, and can critically strike on its own. If the first hit kills a unit, the second strike automatically searches for a new target within range. Double Strike is the foundation of Master Yi's damage output because every on-hit effect in his build — Kraken Slayer, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Blade of the Ruined King, Wuju Style — triggers twice on the Double Strike proc. This means that every third auto-attack effectively delivers two full rounds of on-hit damage in a single swing, and with enough attack speed, Double Strike procs occur constantly in extended fights. The passive also makes Master Yi's jungle clear faster because the second strike on the Double Strike proc speeds up camp kills and the auto-target mechanic prevents wasted damage on already-dead monsters.

Alpha Strike (Q) causes Master Yi to become untargetable and rapidly strike up to four nearby enemies, dealing physical damage that scales with attack damage and applying on-hit effects at 75% effectiveness to each target. Basic attacks reduce Alpha Strike's cooldown by one second. Alpha Strike is Master Yi's most versatile ability — it is simultaneously his gap-closer for reaching enemy carries, his defensive tool for dodging critical abilities and turret shots by becoming untargetable during the animation, his jungle clear accelerator for hitting multiple monsters at once, and his primary damage ability in the early game. The on-hit application means that Kraken Slayer and Guinsoo's Rageblade damage are added to Alpha Strike's hits, and the cooldown reduction from auto-attacks means that with enough attack speed, Master Yi can cast Alpha Strike every few seconds in extended fights — cycling between auto-attacks and Q to maintain near-permanent untargetability windows.

Meditate (W) channels for up to four seconds, healing Master Yi each tick with the healing amount increasing based on his missing health, and reducing incoming damage by 70% for the first 0.5 seconds then 45-55% for the remaining duration based on rank. Meditate also resets Master Yi's auto-attack timer and grants one stack of Double Strike per second while channeling. Meditate pauses the duration of both Wuju Style and Highlander while channeling. Meditate's most important use is not the healing — it is the auto-attack reset. Tapping W for a fraction of a second immediately after an auto-attack resets the attack timer, allowing Master Yi to squeeze in an extra auto-attack that would otherwise be delayed by the attack speed timer. This W auto-reset is critical for maximizing DPS during burst combos and for stacking Double Strike faster. The damage reduction is also valuable for tanking turret shots during dives — Alpha Strike drops turret aggro, and Meditate reduces the damage of the next turret shot by 70% if timed correctly.

Wuju Style (E) empowers Master Yi's basic attacks to deal bonus true damage on-hit for five seconds, scaling with bonus attack damage. Wuju Style is what makes Master Yi a tank-shredder — true damage ignores armor and magic resist entirely, meaning no amount of defensive itemization can reduce the damage from Wuju Style's empowered auto-attacks. Combined with Double Strike applying the true damage twice every third attack and Guinsoo's Rageblade doubling on-hit procs at max stacks, Wuju Style's true damage output in extended fights is devastating against even the tankiest champions. Wuju Style has no cast time and should be activated immediately before or during a fight to maximize the five-second duration.

Highlander (R) cleanses all slows and cripples on activation, grants massive bonus attack speed and movement speed, makes Master Yi immune to slows for the duration, and provides ghosting to move through units. Champion takedowns extend Highlander's duration by seven seconds and reduce the current cooldown of all of Master Yi's basic abilities by 70%. Highlander is the ability that transforms Master Yi from a strong duelist into an unstoppable teamfight machine — the slow immunity means kiting champions like Ashe and Nasus cannot escape, the movement speed makes it impossible to run away, the attack speed steroid amplifies every on-hit effect in his build, and the reset mechanic on takedowns means that a single kill extends the rampage for another seven seconds with fresh ability cooldowns. A Master Yi who gets the first kill in a teamfight with Highlander active becomes exponentially more dangerous because each subsequent kill extends his power window and gives him another Alpha Strike to dodge abilities.

Strengths

• Master Yi's late-game scaling with on-hit items makes him one of the strongest one-versus-one duelists and teamfight carries in the game — Kraken Slayer's bonus damage, Guinsoo's Rageblade's phantom hits, Wuju Style's true damage, and Double Strike's double application of all on-hit effects create a DPS output that melts any target in seconds regardless of how much armor or health they have built — At three items, Master Yi kills most ADCs in two to three auto-attacks and shreds full-tank champions in extended fights because Wuju Style's true damage bypasses all resistances. No amount of defensive itemization makes a champion safe from Master Yi's sustained damage
• Highlander's reset mechanic on champion takedowns creates a snowball effect in teamfights where each kill extends the ultimate duration by seven seconds and reduces basic ability cooldowns by 70% — meaning a Master Yi who gets the first kill becomes exponentially harder to stop because he immediately has Alpha Strike available again to dodge the next CC ability, another seven seconds of slow immunity and attack speed, and enough time to reach and kill the next target — Teams that blow their key CC abilities on Master Yi's frontline and then watch him activate Highlander and Alpha Strike into their backline have no remaining tools to stop the chain kills. A single pentakill-capable teamfight from Master Yi can end the game
• Alpha Strike's untargetability makes Master Yi deceptively difficult to kill because he can dodge critical abilities during the animation — tower shots, Karthus Requiem, Syndra Unleashed Power, Veigar Primordial Burst, and any skillshot CC can all be avoided by timing Alpha Strike correctly, and the cooldown reduction from auto-attacks means the window of untargetability returns every few seconds in extended fights — Master Yi can tower dive by using Alpha Strike to drop turret aggro and Meditate to reduce the next turret shot's damage by 70%, making him one of the strongest tower dive champions in the game once he has items
• Master Yi's objective control is among the fastest in the game because his sustained DPS from Double Strike, Wuju Style true damage, Kraken Slayer, and high attack speed melts Dragon, Baron, and Rift Herald in seconds — allowing him to take objectives on extremely tight timers that other junglers cannot match, including soloing Baron with sufficient items — Master Yi can sneak Baron while the enemy team is distracted because his DPS kills it before the enemy can rotate, and his Smite combined with Alpha Strike provides a burst finish that is difficult to outsmite

Weaknesses

• Master Yi is extremely vulnerable to hard crowd control — stuns, knockups, suppressions, and taunts shut him down completely because he has no tenacity steroids outside of runes, no way to cleanse hard CC, and his entire damage output requires him to be auto-attacking continuously, meaning even a single one-second stun during a teamfight can result in Master Yi being burst down before he can Alpha Strike or Meditate — Teams with reliable point-and-click CC like Malzahar Nether Grasp, Nautilus Depth Charge, or Leona Solar Flare can neutralize Master Yi regardless of his gold lead. A well-timed stun on Master Yi after he uses Alpha Strike is almost always a death sentence
• Master Yi has zero crowd control in his kit — no stuns, slows, roots, or knockups — meaning he provides nothing to his team except damage, and if he falls behind on gold or experience, he becomes a liability who cannot contribute to teamfights because he lacks the utility to be useful when his damage is insufficient to kill targets — Unlike junglers like Sejuani or Amumu who remain valuable even when behind because their CC wins teamfights, a behind Master Yi is one of the most useless champions in the game because he dies instantly when trying to engage and provides zero crowd control or utility
• Master Yi's early game is weak compared to aggressive junglers — he has poor ganking tools before level 6 because Alpha Strike requires him to be in melee range to cast, he has no crowd control to lock down targets, and his damage output without items is mediocre, meaning early-game junglers like Lee Sin, Elise, and Rek'Sai can invade his jungle, steal his camps, and kill him in one-versus-one fights that Master Yi cannot win — If the enemy jungler pressures Master Yi's camps and forces fights in the first ten minutes, Master Yi's scaling is delayed significantly and he may never reach the item thresholds he needs to carry
• Master Yi is Highlander-dependent in teamfights — without his ultimate active, he lacks the movement speed to reach priority targets, the attack speed steroid that powers his DPS, and the slow immunity that prevents him from being kited, meaning engaging a teamfight without Highlander available is almost always a death because Master Yi walks slowly into the enemy team and dies to CC and focus fire before reaching anyone important — Highlander's cooldown is long enough that Master Yi cannot fight every skirmish, and teams that force fights while Highlander is down expose Master Yi's vulnerability without his ultimate

Recommended Runes

Primary — Lethal Tempo (Precision)

• Lethal Tempo — Attacking enemy champions grants stacking attack speed for six seconds, with each stack increasing attack speed significantly. Lethal Tempo is Master Yi's optimal keystone because his entire kit revolves around auto-attacking — more attack speed means more Double Strike procs, more on-hit damage applications from Kraken Slayer and Guinsoo's Rageblade, faster Alpha Strike cooldown reduction from auto-attacks, and faster Wuju Style true damage ticks. At full stacks, Lethal Tempo combined with Highlander and Berserker's Greaves gives Master Yi enough attack speed to proc Double Strike almost every other auto-attack, creating a machine-gun rhythm of on-hit damage that shreds any target.
• Triumph — Restores health and grants bonus gold on champion takedowns. Triumph is essential for Master Yi's reset-chain playstyle because each kill during Highlander extends the fight by seven seconds, and the health restoration from Triumph keeps Master Yi alive through the chain — without Triumph's healing, Master Yi would frequently die after getting the second or third kill in a teamfight because the accumulated damage from multiple enemies catches up with him. The bonus gold also accelerates Master Yi's item spikes.
• Legend: Alacrity — Grants permanent bonus attack speed for each champion takedown. Legend: Alacrity provides free attack speed that scales throughout the game, directly amplifying every aspect of Master Yi's kit — faster Double Strike stacking, faster Alpha Strike cooldown reduction, more Wuju Style true damage applications per second, and faster jungle clearing. The permanent nature of the bonus means Master Yi's mid-game power spike arrives earlier as he accumulates takedowns.
• Coup de Grace — Deals increased damage to enemies below a health threshold. Coup de Grace amplifies Master Yi's kill threat on low-health targets, helping him secure the takedowns that trigger Highlander resets. The bonus damage on low-health targets is particularly valuable because Master Yi's teamfight pattern involves chaining kills — the faster he finishes each target, the more time he has left on Highlander to reach the next one.

Secondary — Inspiration

• Magical Footwear — Grants free Slightly Magical Boots at 12 minutes, reduced by 45 seconds per takedown. Magical Footwear saves Master Yi 300 gold that goes directly toward his first item spike, and the bonus movement speed on the upgraded boots improves his chase potential and jungle movement. Since Master Yi prioritizes farming over early ganking, the 12-minute timer aligns naturally with his first item completion window.
• Cosmic Insight — Grants bonus item haste and summoner spell haste. Cosmic Insight reduces the cooldown of Flash and Smite, both critical summoner spells for Master Yi — shorter Smite cooldown means more frequent objective securing, and shorter Flash cooldown provides more opportunities for Flash-Alpha Strike engages or Flash escapes. The item haste also benefits active items in Master Yi's build.

Recommended Item Build

Based on data from over 50,000 ranked Master Yi matches tracked on dodge.gg, here's the highest winrate build path.

Early Game (0–10 min)

• Gustwalker Hatchling — The movement speed jungle pet that grants bonus movement speed when moving through brush and after killing large monsters. Gustwalker is optimal for Master Yi because the movement speed helps him navigate between camps faster during his power-farming phase, and the bonus speed after killing monsters helps him rotate to lanes for occasional ganks or to the next camp more efficiently. The faster Master Yi completes his jungle clears, the sooner he reaches his item power spikes.
• Berserker's Greaves — Grants attack speed and movement speed. Berserker's Greaves are Master Yi's only boot option because attack speed is his most valuable stat — it increases DPS, Double Strike stacking speed, and Alpha Strike cooldown reduction. The attack speed from Berserker's Greaves provides a noticeable clear speed increase and dueling power boost that no other boot option can match.

Core Build (10–20 min)

• Kraken Slayer — Grants attack damage, attack speed, and a passive that deals bonus physical damage on-hit. Kraken Slayer is Master Yi's highest priority first completed item because the on-hit passive synergizes with every aspect of his kit — Double Strike applies it twice every third auto-attack, Alpha Strike applies it at 75% effectiveness to multiple targets, and Guinsoo's Rageblade doubles the proc rate at max stacks. Kraken Slayer transforms Master Yi from a mediocre early-game farmer into a legitimate dueling threat who can fight most champions one-versus-one.
• Guinsoo's Rageblade — Grants attack speed, attack damage, ability power, and a unique passive that converts critical strike chance into bonus on-hit damage, plus a stacking mechanic that applies on-hit effects twice at max stacks. Guinsoo's Rageblade is Master Yi's most important item because the phantom hit passive at max stacks effectively doubles all on-hit effects — Kraken Slayer, Wuju Style true damage, Blade of the Ruined King, and Double Strike all trigger twice as often. Combined with Double Strike's innate double hit, Master Yi at full Rageblade stacks applies on-hit effects at an absurd rate that no other champion can match, creating the DPS ceiling that makes Master Yi a hypercarry.
• Experimental Hexplate — Grants attack damage, health, ability haste, and a passive that grants a burst of attack speed and movement speed when Master Yi activates his ultimate. Experimental Hexplate is perfectly designed for Master Yi because the passive triggers on Highlander activation, immediately amplifying the attack speed and movement speed steroid that Highlander already provides. The burst of additional attack speed at the start of a fight means Master Yi reaches maximum Lethal Tempo and Guinsoo's Rageblade stacks faster, and the movement speed burst makes it nearly impossible for targets to escape the initial engage.

Late Game (25+ min)

• Blade of the Ruined King — Grants attack damage, attack speed, lifesteal, and a passive that deals bonus physical damage on-hit based on the target's current health percentage. Blade of the Ruined King amplifies Master Yi's tank-shredding capability because the percentage health on-hit damage is doubled by Guinsoo's Rageblade phantom hits and applied twice on Double Strike procs, creating devastating DPS against health-stacking tanks and bruisers. The lifesteal also provides meaningful sustain in extended fights, and the movement speed steal passive helps Master Yi stick to targets.
• Death's Dance — Grants attack damage, armor, ability haste, and a passive that converts a portion of incoming damage into a bleed effect over time, with the bleed cleansed on champion takedowns. Death's Dance transforms Master Yi's survivability in teamfights by spreading burst damage over three seconds, giving him time to lifesteal and proc Triumph healing before the full damage resolves. The bleed cleanse on takedowns synergizes perfectly with Master Yi's reset playstyle — each kill during Highlander not only extends his ultimate but also removes the stored damage from the previous fight.
• Guardian Angel — Grants attack damage, armor, and a passive that revives the champion upon death. Guardian Angel allows Master Yi to play aggressively in teamfights knowing that even if he is burst down after engaging, the revive gives him a second chance to continue the fight. The revive is particularly valuable because Master Yi often draws every CC ability the enemy team has — they burn everything to kill him, he revives, and with Highlander still potentially active from pre-death takedowns, he continues the chain.

Ability Priority

1. Alpha Strike (Q) — Max first. Each rank increases base damage, reduces cooldown, and increases the on-hit effectiveness. Maxing Q first provides the largest improvement to Master Yi's jungle clear speed, gank burst damage, and dueling potential. The cooldown reduction per rank is critical because it means Alpha Strike's untargetability window returns faster in fights, and the damage increase makes each Q cast more impactful for securing kills that trigger Highlander resets.
2. Wuju Style (E) — Max second. Each rank increases the bonus true damage on-hit, directly scaling Master Yi's sustained DPS against all targets. The true damage increase per rank is significant — each additional rank adds meaningful damage that applies on every auto-attack and is doubled by Guinsoo's Rageblade and Double Strike. Maxing E second ensures Master Yi's mid-game damage remains threatening as enemies build armor that would reduce purely physical damage.
3. Meditate (W) — Max last. A single point in Meditate provides the core functionality — the auto-attack reset, the 70% damage reduction for the first 0.5 seconds, and the Highlander/Wuju Style duration pause. Additional ranks increase the healing per tick and the sustained damage reduction percentage, but these benefits are less impactful than Q and E damage increases because Master Yi rarely channels Meditate for the full duration in fights — he primarily uses it as a brief auto-attack reset and burst damage reduction tool.
4. Highlander (R) — Level when available at 6, 11, and 16. Each rank of Highlander increases the bonus attack speed and movement speed, and reduces the cooldown. Level 6 is Master Yi's biggest power spike because Highlander's attack speed steroid, movement speed, slow immunity, and reset mechanic transform him from a passive farmer into an active threat who can chase down and kill targets that previously could kite him. Level 11 and 16 upgrades further amplify the steroid and reduce the downtime between fights.

Playstyle Tips

Early Game / Jungle Clear

Master Yi's early game is about power-farming the jungle as efficiently as possible to reach Kraken Slayer, avoiding risky fights and invades against stronger early-game junglers, and only ganking when a lane presents a guaranteed kill opportunity that doesn't cost significant farming time. Master Yi is one of the weakest early-game junglers in terms of dueling and ganking, so his goal is to survive the first ten minutes with a gold and experience lead from efficient farming.

Start Q at level 1 for multi-target damage on your first camp. The standard full clear path is Red Buff, Krugs, Raptors, Wolves, Blue Buff, Gromp — this route maximizes experience and gold while keeping Master Yi healthy through Smite usage and Red Buff regeneration. Use Alpha Strike to hit multiple small monsters simultaneously, and weave auto-attacks between camps to build Double Strike stacks so the passive proc is ready for the next camp's large monster. Tap Meditate briefly between camps as an auto-attack reset to maintain Double Strike stacking rhythm.

Take E at level 2 for Wuju Style's true damage on-hit, which significantly speeds up clearing individual large monsters. Take W at level 3 for the auto-attack reset and damage reduction, which helps sustain through the remaining camps. After the first full clear, look at the map — if a lane is severely overextended with the enemy pushed past the river with no Flash available, consider ganking with Red Buff's slow. Otherwise, continue farming toward your second full clear.

Track the enemy jungler's position carefully. If the enemy jungler is an aggressive early-game champion like Lee Sin, Rek'Sai, or Elise, path away from their likely position to avoid invades. If you see the enemy jungler ganking on the opposite side of the map, consider taking their jungle camps while they are occupied. Every camp you take accelerates your Kraken Slayer timing, and every unnecessary fight you avoid preserves your farming tempo.

Mid Game

Mid-game Master Yi with Kraken Slayer and Guinsoo's Rageblade is a dueling monster who can fight most champions one-versus-one, takes objectives rapidly, and begins looking for teamfight cleanup opportunities where he enters after the enemy team has used their key CC abilities on his teammates. The mid game is where Master Yi transitions from passive farmer to active threat.

After completing Kraken Slayer, Master Yi's dueling power spikes dramatically. You can now fight most junglers one-versus-one, especially if you have a gold lead from efficient farming. Look for skirmishes around Dragon and Rift Herald where you can use the confined space to force extended fights — Master Yi wins almost every extended duel thanks to Wuju Style true damage and Double Strike on-hit stacking. Use Highlander when committing to a fight, and save Alpha Strike to dodge the enemy's most dangerous ability rather than using it as a gap-closer.

After completing Guinsoo's Rageblade, Master Yi reaches his critical power spike. The phantom hit passive doubles all on-hit procs, and combined with Kraken Slayer, Master Yi's DPS becomes nearly unmatched in one-versus-one scenarios. At this point, look for split-push opportunities in side lanes — Master Yi takes towers extremely fast with his attack speed and Wuju Style, and most champions cannot match him in a side lane duel. If the enemy sends two people to stop your split push, your team has a numbers advantage elsewhere.

In teamfights, patience is the most important skill. Do not engage first. Wait for the enemy team to use their critical CC abilities — Malzahar ultimate, Nautilus hook, Leona stun — on your frontline, then activate Highlander and Alpha Strike into the backline. Target the squishiest enemy carry first because the fastest kill triggers the Highlander reset that extends your rampage. Use Alpha Strike to dodge the next CC ability that comes your way, and let the Triumph healing and reset keep you alive through the chain.

Late Game

Late-game Master Yi with full build is an unstoppable hypercarry who melts any target in seconds through on-hit damage that ignores resistances, chains pentakills through Highlander resets, solos Baron, and ends games by split-pushing towers at terrifying speed or wiping the enemy team in a single extended teamfight. The late game is where Master Yi's scaling peaks and he becomes the strongest champion on the map.

In late-game teamfights, Master Yi's approach is the same as mid game but amplified — wait for CC to be used, activate Highlander, and clean up. With Death's Dance and Guardian Angel, Master Yi has significantly more room for error — Death's Dance spreads incoming burst over time, and Guardian Angel provides a second life if the burst is too much. The key decision is when to enter the fight. Too early means every CC ability hits you and you die before getting a single kill. Too late means your team has already lost the fight four-versus-five. The sweet spot is entering two to three seconds after the fight begins, when the enemy team has committed their engage tools and their carries are focused on your frontline.

If the game reaches a stalemate, use Master Yi's split-push threat to force the enemy to make a decision. Master Yi with full build kills towers in seconds — push a side lane, force one or two enemies to come stop you, and either duel them with Highlander or let your team take an objective on the other side of the map. If no one comes, you take the tower and create map pressure. Master Yi's objective speed also means he can solo Baron with sufficient items — look for Baron attempts when the enemy team is distracted or missing members, as Master Yi's DPS kills Baron faster than almost any other champion.

Use Alpha Strike timing to maximum effect in late-game fights. Every ability that Master Yi dodges with Alpha Strike's untargetability is an ability that cannot stop his rampage — Syndra ultimate, Veigar ultimate, Zed Death Mark, Karthus Requiem, tower shots during dives — learning which abilities to prioritize dodging with Q separates good Master Yi players from great ones. Save Q for the most dangerous incoming ability rather than using it on cooldown for damage.

Matchups

Favorable

• Shyvana — Shyvana is a scaling jungler who relies on farming to reach her item spikes and transforms into a dragon with her ultimate for AoE damage. Master Yi wins this matchup because both champions want to farm, but Master Yi's on-hit build with Wuju Style true damage outscales Shyvana's AP or bruiser builds in one-versus-one duels at every stage of the game. Shyvana has no hard CC to lock Master Yi down — her only crowd control is the knockback on Dragon's Descent — and Master Yi can Alpha Strike through her Flame Breath to avoid the mark application. In teamfights, Master Yi's single-target DPS kills Shyvana through her dragon form resistances.
• Kayn — Kayn is a scaling jungler who transforms into either Shadow Assassin or Rhaast based on combat. Master Yi outduels both forms — Shadow Assassin Kayn's burst is negated by Meditate's damage reduction and Alpha Strike's untargetability, and Rhaast's sustained healing through Goredrinker and passive is outpaced by Master Yi's true damage shredding through his health pool. Kayn's early game is also weak, meaning both champions farm passively in the early game where neither can punish the other, but Master Yi's scaling is stronger in direct one-versus-one fights.
• Nunu & Willump — Nunu is a ganking and objective-focused jungler who relies on Snowball engage and Consume for objective control rather than dueling power. Master Yi wins because Nunu has almost zero dueling capability — Nunu's damage output is low and his kit is designed for ganking lanes, not fighting other junglers. Master Yi can match Nunu's objective control with superior DPS on Dragon and Baron, and in direct fights, Nunu cannot survive Master Yi's sustained damage output. Alpha Strike also interrupts or avoids Absolute Zero's channel damage.

Even

• Viego — Viego is a skirmishing jungler whose passive allows him to possess defeated enemies. The matchup is even because Viego's early dueling is stronger than Master Yi's thanks to his passive healing and Blade of the Ruined King rush, but Master Yi outscales Viego in extended fights once Guinsoo's Rageblade comes online. Viego's Heartbreaker stun can interrupt Master Yi's attacks, but Master Yi can Alpha Strike through the ability if timed correctly. The matchup often comes down to item timing — whichever champion completes their core build first has the advantage in skirmishes.
• Graves — Graves is a ranged jungler who clears quickly and fights well at medium range with his shotgun auto-attacks. The matchup is even because Graves's Quickdraw armor stacking and True Grit passive make him deceptively tanky against Master Yi's physical damage, but Wuju Style's true damage bypasses the armor stacking. Graves can kite Master Yi without Highlander, but once Master Yi activates R, Graves cannot escape the movement speed and must stand and fight. Graves's early game is stronger, but Master Yi's late-game DPS overwhelms Graves's defensive stats.
• Xin Zhao — Xin Zhao is an early-game dueling jungler whose Three Talon Strike knockup and Audacious Charge gap-close make him a strong early fighter. The matchup is even because Xin Zhao dominates the first ten minutes — his level 3 dueling is significantly stronger than Master Yi's, and his ganks are more reliable. However, Master Yi outscales Xin Zhao hard after two items, and Xin Zhao's Wind Becomes Lightning becomes less impactful as Master Yi's sustained DPS overwhelms Xin Zhao's burst-oriented kit. The matchup depends on whether Xin Zhao can snowball the game before Master Yi reaches his power spikes.

Unfavorable

• Rammus — Rammus is a tank jungler whose Spiked Shell passive reflects damage back to auto-attackers, Defensive Ball Curl amplifies the reflected damage and grants massive armor, and Frenzied Taunt is a point-and-click taunt that forces Master Yi to auto-attack Rammus — dealing damage to himself. Rammus is Master Yi's hardest counter because every auto-attack Master Yi lands hurts himself, the taunt locks him in place for his team to collapse, and Rammus's armor stacking reduces Master Yi's physical damage while the Thornmail-like reflect punishes his attack speed. Even Wuju Style's true damage cannot offset the reflected damage and CC chain that Rammus provides.
• Elise — Elise is an early-game aggressive jungler whose Cocoon stun, Rappel untargetability, and high burst damage make her a dominant early-game force. Elise counters Master Yi by invading his jungle in the first six minutes when Master Yi cannot fight back — Cocoon stun locks Master Yi in place for the full burst combo, and Elise's spider form execution damage finishes him before he can respond. Elise's Rappel also dodges Alpha Strike, denying Master Yi his primary defensive tool. If Elise snowballs the early game through invades and ganks, Master Yi never reaches the item thresholds he needs to scale.
• Shaco — Shaco is a trickster jungler whose Deceive stealth, Jack in the Box fear, and Hallucinate clone create constant confusion and disruption. Shaco counters Master Yi by invading his jungle at level 2 with box traps at buff entrances, stealing camps while Master Yi is clearing the opposite side, and using clone to waste Alpha Strike targeting in fights — Alpha Strike can lock onto the clone instead of the real Shaco, wasting Master Yi's most important cooldown. Shaco's boxes also fear Master Yi during fights, interrupting his auto-attack chain, and Shaco's slippery kit makes it nearly impossible for Master Yi to lock him down for a kill since Master Yi has no crowd control.

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