Best Yorick Build & Guide (2026) — League of Legends

Yorick is League of Legends' Shepherd of Souls — the last surviving monk of the Brethren of the Dusk who commands an army of ghouls and the spectral Maiden of the Mist to siege towers and overwhelm enemies. He is a top lane split-push juggernaut who raises Mist Walkers from graves left by dying units through Shepherd of Souls, empowers his next auto-attack with bonus damage and healing through Last Rites while summoning ghouls from nearby graves with Awakening, traps enemies in a ring of impassable spectral terrain with Dark Procession, hurls a globule of Black Mist that marks targets with Mourning Mist so ghouls and the Maiden focus them, and summons the Maiden of the Mist — a powerful autonomous spirit that fights alongside Yorick and deals percent-max-health damage on-hit. Yorick builds Trinity Force into Spear of Shojin and Sterak's Gage to dominate through relentless split-pushing, tower destruction, and 1v1 dueling backed by his ghoul army. Yorick is played as a top lane split-push specialist (50% win rate on Patch 16.6 Emerald+, B Tier) with a 3.3% pick rate and 5.6% ban rate. Whether you want to raise an army of Mist Walkers to swarm enemies, cage opponents inside Dark Procession's spectral wall while your ghouls tear them apart, send the Maiden of the Mist down a side lane to pressure towers autonomously, or overwhelm the enemy team with relentless split-push pressure that forces impossible rotations, this guide covers everything you need to master the Shepherd of Souls in 2026.

Yorick Overview

Yorick operates as a split-push juggernaut whose power comes from Shepherd of Souls' passive grave generation and Mist Walker army, Last Rites' empowered auto-attack damage and healing with Awakening's ghoul summoning, Dark Procession's cage of impassable terrain, Mourning Mist's target marking and armor reduction, and Eulogy of the Isles' Maiden of the Mist that fights autonomously and deals percent-max-health damage. Unlike traditional teamfight-oriented top laners, Yorick excels at split-pushing — raising ghouls to swarm towers, trapping enemies who try to stop him, and sending the Maiden down a lane to create unstoppable dual-lane pressure. He is played as a top lane split-push specialist (50% win rate on Patch 16.6 Emerald+) with a 3.3% pick rate and 5.6% ban rate.

Unlike fighters who look for teamfight engages or tanks who frontline for their team, Yorick wins games through relentless split-push pressure, ghoul army management, and 1v1 dueling power that forces enemies to send multiple members to stop him — Shepherd of Souls (Passive) causes graves to spawn near Yorick whenever he last-hits with Last Rites, damages enemy champions or large monsters, or when every 8th to 2nd (scaling with level) nearby enemy unit dies, with up to 4 graves existing at once, and Mist Walkers raised from these graves have 100-331 health (+15% bonus health) and 15-113 attack damage (+20% bonus AD) that scale with Yorick's level and stats. Last Rites (Q) is an auto-attack reset that empowers Yorick's next basic attack to deal 30/50/70/90/110 (+50% AD) bonus physical damage and heal Yorick for 10-78 (+6/7/8/9/10% missing health), with the heal increased when Yorick is below half health — when cast with 3 or more nearby graves, Last Rites becomes Awakening and raises Mist Walkers from all nearby graves. Dark Procession (W) summons a ring of spectral walls at a target location that acts as impassable terrain for 4 seconds, with the wall having 2/2/3/3/4 hit points that champions destroy with basic attacks — Dark Procession traps enemies inside, preventing dashes and movement, while Yorick's ghouls and Maiden attack them freely. Mourning Mist (E) launches a globule of Black Mist in a line that deals 6/6.5/7/7.5/8% (+3% per 100 AP) of the target's maximum health as magic damage, slows by 30% for 1.5 seconds, reduces the target's armor by 13/16/19/22/25%, and grants Yorick 18/21/24/27/30% bonus movement speed — marked targets are Cursed for 4 seconds, causing all nearby Mist Walkers and the Maiden to aggressively focus them. Eulogy of the Isles (R) summons the Maiden of the Mist, a powerful autonomous spirit with 1050-3700 health (+60% bonus health), 50/75/100 (+30% bonus AD) damage, 600 attack range, and 30-100 armor and magic resistance that fights alongside Yorick indefinitely — the Maiden's attacks apply Touch of the Maiden which deals 2/2.5/3% of the target's max health as bonus damage on-hit, and the Maiden commands Mist Walkers to focus her target. Yorick's strength lies in his ability to create overwhelming split-push pressure through his ghoul army, trap enemies inside Dark Procession for his Mist Walkers and Maiden to shred, and force the enemy team into impossible decisions about how many players to send to stop him.

Shepherd of Souls (Passive) is the foundation of Yorick's gameplay identity — graves spawn near Yorick through multiple sources, and these graves are the fuel for his Mist Walker army. Graves appear whenever Yorick kills a unit with Last Rites (Q), whenever he damages an enemy champion or large monster, and passively whenever a set number of nearby enemies die (scaling from every 8th unit at level 1 down to every 2nd unit at level 18). Up to 4 graves can exist at a time. Mist Walkers raised from graves scale with Yorick's level and bonus stats — their health scales from 100 to 331 base (+15% of Yorick's bonus health) and their attack damage scales from 15 to 113 base (+20% of Yorick's bonus AD). Mist Walkers deal 60% damage to monsters and 50% damage to turrets, but their sheer numbers make them devastating siege tools when four ghouls plus the Maiden attack a tower simultaneously.

Last Rites (Q) has a 6/5.5/5/4.5/4-second cooldown and costs only 20 mana. Yorick empowers his next basic attack to deal 30/50/70/90/110 (+50% AD) bonus physical damage and resets his auto-attack timer. Last Rites also heals Yorick for 10-78 (based on level) plus 6/7/8/9/10% of his missing health, with the heal reduced by 50% against non-champions. When Yorick has 3 or more graves within range, Last Rites becomes Awakening — the same empowered attack, but it also summons Mist Walkers from all nearby graves (up to 1000 units away). This dual functionality makes Q Yorick's most important ability — it provides sustain through healing, damage through the empowered attack, and army generation through Awakening's ghoul summoning.

Dark Procession (W) has a 20/18/16/14/12-second cooldown and costs 70 mana. Yorick summons a ring of spectral spirits at a target location within 600 range that creates impassable terrain for 4 seconds, knocking aside enemies caught on the wall when it forms. The wall has 2/2/3/3/4 hit points, with champion basic attacks destroying one segment per hit. Dark Procession is one of the most powerful basic abilities in the game for trapping enemies — it prevents dashes, blocks movement, and forces enemies to auto-attack the wall to escape while Yorick's ghouls and Maiden freely damage them. The cage is particularly devastating in jungle corridors where enemies have no room to maneuver around the walls.

Mourning Mist (E) has a 12/11/10/9/8-second cooldown and costs 50/55/60/65/70 mana. Yorick launches a projectile in a line within 700 range that deals 6/6.5/7/7.5/8% (+3% per 100 AP) of the target's maximum health as magic damage, slows them by 30% for 1.5 seconds, reduces their armor by 13/16/19/22/25%, and grants Yorick 18/21/24/27/30% bonus movement speed. Enemies hit are marked as Cursed for 4 seconds — all nearby Mist Walkers and the Maiden aggressively leap to and focus Cursed targets. Mourning Mist is the command ability that directs Yorick's entire army — landing E on an enemy causes every ghoul and the Maiden to swarm the target, and the armor reduction ensures Yorick's physical damage from Q, auto-attacks, and Mist Walkers hits significantly harder.

Eulogy of the Isles (R) has a 160/130/100-second cooldown and costs 100 mana. Yorick summons the Maiden of the Mist, a powerful autonomous spirit companion that fights by his side indefinitely. The Maiden spawns with 2/3/4 additional Mist Walkers after a 1.5-second delay. The Maiden has 1050-3700 health (scaling with level) plus 60% of Yorick's bonus health, deals 50/75/100 (+30% bonus AD) damage per attack at 600 range, and has 30-100 armor and magic resistance scaling with level. The Maiden's attacks apply Touch of the Maiden, dealing 2/2.5/3% of the target's max health as bonus damage on-hit. The Maiden can be sent down a lane independently by recasting R, creating split-push pressure in two lanes simultaneously — the Maiden pushes with minions, attacks towers for 50% damage, and spawns new Mist Walkers as enemies die near her.

Strengths

• Yorick's Mist Walker army creates overwhelming split-push pressure that forces the enemy team into impossible rotation decisions because four ghouls plus the Maiden attacking a tower simultaneously destroy it in seconds — and when Yorick sends the Maiden down one lane while he pushes another, the enemy must split their defense across two lanes, giving Yorick's team a numbers advantage wherever they fight — No other champion can create autonomous dual-lane pressure like Yorick with his Maiden
• Dark Procession's cage of impassable terrain traps enemies for 4 seconds while Yorick's entire ghoul army and the Maiden attack them freely — the wall blocks dashes and forces enemies to spend time auto-attacking it to escape, during which Yorick can land a full Q auto-attack reset, E for armor reduction and ghoul focus, and multiple auto-attacks backed by Trinity Force procs — Dark Procession turns 1v1 duels into death sentences for enemies without dashes or unstoppable abilities
• Yorick's 1v1 dueling power with Maiden active forces enemies to send two or more players to stop his split-push because the Maiden's percent-max-health damage, Mist Walkers' sustained DPS, Mourning Mist's armor reduction, and Last Rites' healing make Yorick nearly impossible to 1v1 for most champions — this creates a permanent numbers advantage for Yorick's team in the 4v3 or 4v2 fights happening elsewhere on the map — Yorick's split-push threat warps the entire enemy team's macro strategy
• Last Rites' healing scales with missing health and provides Yorick incredible sustain during extended fights and split-push scenarios — the low 20 mana cost and auto-attack reset mean Yorick can heal repeatedly throughout long fights, and against minion waves the heal keeps him near full health while his ghouls provide free damage, making it nearly impossible to poke Yorick out of a split-push — Yorick's sustain through Q healing makes him one of the hardest champions to remove from a side lane

Weaknesses

• Yorick's teamfight contribution is significantly weaker than dedicated teamfight champions because his ghouls are fragile and die to AoE damage, Dark Procession can be quickly destroyed by multiple champions auto-attacking it, and Yorick lacks reliable AoE damage or crowd control to match teamfight juggernauts like Darius or Illaoi — Yorick must avoid 5v5 teamfights and focus on split-pushing to maximize his value
• Yorick is highly dependent on having Mist Walkers and the Maiden alive to fight effectively — without his army, Yorick is a mediocre bruiser with a slow auto-attack reset and an unreliable cage, and enemies who quickly clear his ghouls with AoE abilities like Irelia's Q resets or Riven's abilities strip away the majority of Yorick's damage — Champions with easy AoE ghoul clearing hard-counter Yorick's core mechanic
• Dark Procession's wall is destroyed by champion auto-attacks with only 2-4 hit points, meaning champions with auto-attack resets or ranged auto-attacks can escape the cage quickly — and the 20/18/16/14/12-second cooldown is long enough that a missed or ineffective cage leaves Yorick without his primary setup tool for a significant window — Dark Procession is only effective against enemies who lack the tools to quickly destroy it
• Yorick has no mobility abilities — Last Rites requires melee range, Dark Procession is a zone tool rather than an escape, and Mourning Mist's movement speed boost is modest — meaning kiting champions and ranged top laners can keep Yorick at distance while destroying his ghouls, preventing him from ever reaching melee range to fight effectively — Yorick struggles against champions who can kite him and clear his ghouls from range

Recommended Runes

Grasp of the Undying (Resolve) — Most Popular

The most popular rune page for Yorick Top is Grasp of the Undying in the Resolve tree. Grasp synergizes with Yorick's trading pattern of walking up for empowered Q auto-attacks in lane, providing bonus damage, healing, and permanent health stacking that scales his durability throughout the game.

• Grasp of the Undying — Grants bonus magic damage, healing, and permanent health on empowered auto-attacks against champions after being in combat for 4 seconds. Grasp is ideal for Yorick's trading pattern because Last Rites' auto-attack reset procs Grasp instantly — Yorick walks up, Q's the enemy for empowered damage plus Grasp proc, and walks away with both Q's healing and Grasp's healing, winning short trades consistently.
• Demolish — Charges a powerful attack against enemy towers when near them, dealing bonus damage based on Yorick's max health. Demolish amplifies Yorick's already devastating tower-taking by adding a high-damage proc on top of the damage from his ghouls, Maiden, and Trinity Force's Sheen-empowered Q attacks.
• Conditioning — Grants bonus armor and magic resistance after 12 minutes. Conditioning provides free defensive stats that scale Yorick's mid-game durability when he begins split-pushing aggressively and needs to survive 1v1 or 1v2 scenarios.
• Overgrowth — Grants permanent bonus health from nearby minion and monster deaths. Overgrowth scales Yorick's health pool throughout the game, directly amplifying Mist Walker health (+15% bonus health) and Maiden health (+60% bonus health) through his passive's scaling.

Secondary — Precision

• Triumph — Restores health and grants bonus gold on champion takedowns. Triumph's healing on kills helps Yorick survive during 1v2 dives when enemies send multiple players to stop his split-push, and the bonus gold accelerates his item spikes.
• Legend: Haste — Grants stacking ability haste from minion, monster, and champion takedowns. Legend: Haste reduces cooldowns on Last Rites, Dark Procession, Mourning Mist, and Eulogy of the Isles, allowing Yorick to summon ghouls more frequently, cage enemies more often, and have his Maiden available sooner after it dies.

Alternative — Press the Attack (Precision)

• Press the Attack can replace Grasp for a more aggressive damage-focused approach. Press the Attack's three-hit proc exposes enemies to bonus damage from all sources including Mist Walkers and the Maiden, amplifying Yorick's all-in burst. The Precision tree primary provides Triumph and Legend: Alacrity for sustain and attack speed, with Resolve secondary (Demolish, Overgrowth) for tower-taking and scaling health.

Alternative Secondary — Inspiration

• Magical Footwear — Provides free boots at 12 minutes (reduced by takedowns), saving 300 gold toward Yorick's Trinity Force power spike.
• Cosmic Insight — Grants summoner spell haste and item haste, reducing Flash cooldown for surprise cage-Flash plays and reducing Trinity Force's Sheen cooldown for more frequent empowered Q procs.

Stat Shards

• Adaptive Force — Bonus AD increases Last Rites' damage, Mist Walker attack damage (+20% bonus AD), and Maiden damage (+30% bonus AD), amplifying Yorick's entire army's damage output.
• Move Speed — Bonus movement speed helps Yorick close the gap on enemies to land Dark Procession cages and Last Rites attacks, compensating for his lack of mobility abilities.
• Health Scaling — Scaling health provides durability that grows throughout the game, directly increasing Mist Walker health through Shepherd of Souls' 15% bonus health scaling and Maiden health through the 60% bonus health scaling.

Recommended Item Build

Based on data from ranked Yorick matches tracked across multiple stat sites on Patch 16.6, the Trinity Force into bruiser build has the highest win rates for Top Lane. Here are the optimal build paths.

Top Lane Build

#### Early Game (0-10 min)

• Trinity Force — Grants attack damage, attack speed, ability haste, and health, with a Spellblade passive that empowers Yorick's next auto-attack after casting an ability. Trinity Force is Yorick's ideal first item because Last Rites (Q) is an auto-attack reset that triggers Spellblade on every cast — the combination of Q's bonus damage plus Spellblade's proc deals devastating burst on a 4-second cooldown, and Trinity Force's attack speed and ability haste accelerate Yorick's Q cooldown and Mist Walker generation. Trinity Force's movement speed on-hit also helps Yorick stick to targets after landing Mourning Mist.
• Plated Steelcaps — Grants armor and reduces incoming basic attack damage. Plated Steelcaps are the default boots for Yorick against AD-heavy top lane matchups, providing durability during split-push 1v1 duels. Mercury's Treads are the alternative against AP-heavy or CC-heavy compositions.

#### Core Build (10-20 min)

• Spear of Shojin — Grants attack damage, health, and ability haste, with a passive that grants bonus damage based on ability haste. Spear of Shojin provides the ability haste that Yorick needs to reduce Last Rites, Dark Procession, and Mourning Mist cooldowns for more frequent ghoul generation and cage uptime, while the bonus health scales Mist Walker and Maiden durability through Yorick's passive.
• Sterak's Gage — Grants attack damage based on base AD and health, with a Lifeline shield that triggers when Yorick takes burst damage. Sterak's Gage provides a massive health pool that directly increases Mist Walker health (+15% bonus health) and Maiden health (+60% bonus health), making Yorick's entire army tankier, while the Lifeline shield protects Yorick during 1v2 dives when enemies collapse on his split-push.

#### Late Game (25+ min)

• Serylda's Grudge — Grants attack damage, ability haste, and armor penetration, with a passive that slows enemies hit by abilities. Serylda's Grudge provides armor penetration that amplifies Yorick's physical damage from Q, auto-attacks, and Mist Walkers against armor-stacking tanks, and the slow from Mourning Mist stacks with Serylda's slow to keep targets locked down for the ghoul army.
• Kaenic Rookern — Grants health and magic resistance with a passive magic damage shield. Kaenic Rookern provides critical magic resistance for late-game split-pushing against AP threats and the magic shield absorbs burst from mages who try to defend against Yorick's split-push.
• Gargoyle Stoneplate — Grants armor and magic resistance with an active shield that scales with bonus health. Gargoyle Stoneplate's active shield scales massively with Yorick's bonus health from Sterak's and other items, providing a huge defensive steroid during 1v2 or teamfight scenarios.

Situational Items

• Black Cleaver — Provides health, attack damage, and ability haste with stacking armor reduction — effective against multiple armor-stacking tanks where the armor shred benefits Yorick's entire team, not just his own damage.
• Hollow Radiance — Provides health, armor, and magic resistance with a Sunfire-like immolation aura — useful for waveclear and adding magic damage to Yorick's melee fights, especially in matchups where Yorick needs extra AoE damage.
• Chempunk Chainsword — Provides attack damage, health, and ability haste with Grievous Wounds on dealing physical damage — necessary against healing-heavy compositions with champions like Dr. Mundo, Aatrox, or Soraka.
• Spirit Visage — Provides health, magic resistance, and ability haste with increased healing and shielding — amplifies Last Rites' healing and Sterak's Gage shield, making Yorick significantly harder to kill during extended fights.

Highest Win Rate 3-Item Combinations

The highest win rate build is Trinity Force + Plated Steelcaps + Spear of Shojin + Sterak's Gage, which provides Trinity Force's Spellblade burst on every Q cast, Steelcaps' anti-AD durability, Spear of Shojin's ability haste for frequent ghoul generation and cage uptime, and Sterak's Gage massive health pool that scales Mist Walker and Maiden durability while providing a Lifeline shield for split-push survival. This three-to-four-item spike at approximately 20 minutes transforms Yorick into an unstoppable split-push force whose ghoul army shreds towers, whose Maiden creates autonomous lane pressure, and whose 1v1 dueling power forces the enemy to send multiple members to stop him.

Ability Priority

Top Lane: Q > E > W

1. Last Rites (Q) — Max first. Each rank increases bonus damage from 30 to 110 and the missing health heal percentage from 6% to 10%, directly increasing Yorick's trading damage, sustain, and kill pressure. Q max reduces the cooldown from 6 to 4 seconds, enabling more frequent Spellblade procs, ghoul generation, and healing.
2. Mourning Mist (E) — Max second. Each rank increases max-health damage from 6% to 8%, armor reduction from 13% to 25%, and movement speed boost from 18% to 30%, while reducing cooldown from 12 to 8 seconds. E max second amplifies Yorick's all-in damage through increased armor shred and provides more frequent target marking for the ghoul army.
3. Dark Procession (W) — Max last. Each rank increases wall health from 2 to 4 hit points and reduces cooldown from 20 to 12 seconds. W max last because the cage functions effectively at rank 1 for trapping enemies, and the wall health increase (2 to 4 hits) is modest compared to Q and E's scaling.

Level-by-level order: Q, E, W, Q, Q, R, Q, E, Q, E, R, E, E, W, W, R, W, W.

Summoner Spells

Top Lane

• Flash — Flash is essential on Yorick for surprise engages and cage setups. Flash-W catches enemies off guard by instantly placing Dark Procession on top of them with no time to react, and Flash allows Yorick to escape ganks since he has no built-in dash or blink.
• Ignite — Ignite is the highest win rate summoner spell for Yorick top, providing kill pressure in all-ins that pairs with his ghoul army's sustained damage. Ignite's Grievous Wounds reduces enemy healing during fights where Yorick's ghouls and Maiden are dealing sustained damage, and the true damage over time secures kills on enemies who Flash away from the ghoul army.

Alternative

• Teleport — Teleport can replace Ignite for split-push-focused games where Yorick needs to recall for items and return to lane without losing tower plates, or teleport to dragon and baron fights while maintaining side lane pressure. Teleport is particularly effective on Yorick because he can send the Maiden down one lane and teleport to a fight, creating presence in three locations simultaneously.
• Ghost — Ghost can replace Flash against kite-heavy compositions where Yorick needs extended movement speed to reach and stick to ranged enemies, compensating for his complete lack of gap-closing abilities.

Playstyle Tips

Early Game / Laning Phase (0-14 min)

Yorick's early laning phase focuses on farming safely while building up graves to summon Mist Walkers, then using the ghoul army with Mourning Mist's target marking and Dark Procession's cage to win extended trades.

Start Q (Last Rites) level 1 for last-hitting with the auto-attack reset and healing sustain. Take E (Mourning Mist) level 2 to unlock the ability to mark targets for ghoul focus and poke with max-health damage. Take W (Dark Procession) level 3 for the full all-in combo — cage the enemy, E to mark them and send ghouls to attack, Q for the empowered auto-reset, and let your Mist Walkers shred them inside the wall.

Yorick's standard trading pattern is: last-hit with Q to generate graves until you have 3-4 graves, then activate Q again near graves to summon Mist Walkers (Awakening), immediately E the enemy champion to mark them as Cursed so all ghouls leap to attack, then W to cage the enemy inside Dark Procession while ghouls deal sustained damage. If the enemy cannot quickly destroy the wall, this combo deals devastating damage from Yorick's auto-attacks plus Q empowered hit plus 3-4 Mist Walkers attacking simultaneously, often chunking the enemy for 40-60% of their health bar.

Manage graves carefully — use Q to last-hit cannon minions and melee minions to guarantee grave generation, and avoid summoning ghouls with Awakening unless you plan to immediately trade or all-in, since ghouls that wander into the enemy wave push the lane uncontrollably. Keep 3-4 graves banked near your position so you can instantly summon a full ghoul army when the enemy steps forward for a trade.

Mid Game & Teamfights (14-25 min)

Mid-game Yorick with Trinity Force and core items becomes an unstoppable split-push threat who takes towers rapidly with his ghoul army and Maiden, and wins most 1v1 duels through sustained damage, cage trapping, and healing from Last Rites.

Yorick's mid-game strategy revolves around split-pushing a side lane while his team applies pressure elsewhere on the map. At level 6, summon the Maiden of the Mist (R) and keep her by your side while pushing — the Maiden's percent-max-health damage on-hit combined with 4 Mist Walkers and Yorick's Trinity Force Q procs destroy towers in seconds. When an enemy comes to stop your split-push: wait for 3-4 graves to accumulate, summon ghouls with Q, E the enemy to mark them and reduce their armor, W to cage them, and fight inside the cage with your full army. Most champions cannot 1v1 Yorick when he has Maiden plus 4 ghouls inside Dark Procession. If the enemy sends two or more champions, communicate with your team to take objectives on the opposite side of the map while you keep pressure up. The Maiden can also be sent down a lane independently by recasting R — this creates dual-lane pressure but sacrifices Yorick's 1v1 power until the Maiden returns.

In the rare teamfight scenarios, Yorick contributes by caging priority targets with Dark Procession, marking enemies with Mourning Mist for his ghoul army to focus, and using Last Rites for sustained damage and healing on the frontline.

Late Game (25+ min)

Late-game Yorick with full build is a siege machine whose ghoul army and Maiden destroy towers and inhibitors in seconds, whose 1v1 dueling power with Trinity Force Spellblade procs, max-health damage from Maiden, and sustained healing from Last Rites makes him nearly impossible to stop alone, and whose split-push pressure forces the enemy into losing macro decisions.

In the late game, Yorick's value is highest when he is split-pushing a side lane with Maiden and a full army of ghouls. A late-game Yorick with four ghouls, the Maiden, and full items takes towers in under 5 seconds — and if left unchecked, he can push from an outer turret through the inhibitor in a single wave. Force the enemy to send at least two members to stop you, then communicate with your team to take Baron, Dragon, or the opposite inhibitor while the enemy team is split. If the enemy sends only one champion, trap them in Dark Procession and overwhelm them with your army.

Late-game Yorick should avoid 5v5 teamfights unless absolutely necessary — his ghouls die to AoE damage, Dark Procession is quickly destroyed by multiple champions, and his lack of mobility means he cannot reach the enemy backline in a chaotic teamfight. Instead, maintain constant split-push pressure and force the enemy to come to you on your terms.

Matchups

Top Lane

#### Favorable

• Vladimir — Yorick dominates Vladimir (~62% WR). Vladimir's lack of burst early and inability to quickly clear Mist Walkers means Yorick's ghoul army overwhelms him in trades. Vladimir's Sanguine Pool cannot escape Dark Procession since the wall blocks all movement including dashes, and Yorick's sustained damage through ghouls and Maiden outpaces Vladimir's healing and sustain. Yorick can freeze the wave and zone Vladimir from farm entirely by threatening all-ins with his ghoul army.
• K'Sante — Yorick beats K'Sante (~60% WR). K'Sante struggles to deal with Mist Walkers because his abilities are designed for single-target trading, and Dark Procession traps K'Sante in a cage where the ghoul army shreds him. K'Sante's All Out ultimate transformation does not help against Yorick's sustained army damage, and Yorick's split-push pressure forces K'Sante to stay in the side lane instead of roaming for teamfights.
• Dr. Mundo — Yorick beats Dr. Mundo (~58% WR). Dr. Mundo's passive Cleavers and ultimate healing are not enough to sustain through the combined damage of Yorick's ghoul army, Maiden's percent-max-health damage, and Mourning Mist's armor reduction. Yorick's sustained damage with 4 ghouls and Maiden chips through Mundo's health bar faster than he can regenerate, and Dark Procession prevents Mundo from running away to heal.

#### Even

• Jax — Yorick fights approximately even against Jax (~50% WR). Jax's Counter Strike dodges Yorick's auto-attacks but does not protect against Mist Walker damage, creating mind-game trades where Jax must decide between stunning Yorick or retreating from ghouls. Jax's Leap Strike can escape Dark Procession if cast before the wall completes, but a well-timed cage catches Jax inside with the ghoul army.
• Fiora — Yorick fights approximately even against Fiora (~50% WR). Fiora's Riposte can block Yorick's W cage placement and her Lunge dashes can escape Dark Procession, but Yorick's ghoul army deals damage that Fiora cannot parry or dodge. The matchup depends on whether Yorick can trap Fiora inside Dark Procession — if he does, the ghoul army overwhelms her; if she Ripostes the cage, Fiora wins extended trades through vital procs.
• Garen — Yorick fights approximately even against Garen (~51% WR). Garen's Decisive Strike silences Yorick's ability to cage him, and Judgment's spin damage clears Mist Walkers quickly with AoE damage. However, Yorick's Maiden and sustained ghoul pressure eventually overwhelm Garen's passive regeneration in extended fights, and Dark Procession can catch Garen when Decisive Strike is on cooldown.

#### Unfavorable

• Irelia — Yorick loses to Irelia (~44% WR). Irelia is Yorick's hardest counter because Bladesurge resets on killing Mist Walkers — each ghoul Yorick summons gives Irelia a free dash reset, allowing her to stack Ionian Fervor to full passive stacks instantly by dashing through ghouls before fighting Yorick. Irelia can also dash out of Dark Procession by targeting a low-health ghoul outside the cage, making Yorick's signature trapping ability ineffective.
• Riven — Yorick loses to Riven (~42% WR). Riven's multiple dashes from Broken Wings and Valor allow her to escape Dark Procession reliably, her AoE damage from Broken Wings and Wind Slash quickly clears Mist Walkers, and her crowd control from Ki Burst stuns Yorick during his cage setup. Riven's mobility and burst damage counter everything Yorick tries to do — she kills his ghouls, escapes his cage, and bursts him before his sustained damage matters.
• Smolder — Yorick loses to Smolder (~43% WR). Smolder's ranged poke and waveclear safely farm from outside Dark Procession range, his abilities clear Mist Walkers before they can reach him, and his scaling damage output eventually overwhelms Yorick's defenses. Yorick cannot reach Smolder without Flash due to his complete lack of gap-closing, and Smolder kites Yorick's entire army from range while stacking his passive.

Best Synergy Partners

Yorick pairs best with teammates who can capitalize on his split-push pressure or provide the teamfight presence he lacks:

• Shen — Shen's Stand United ultimate allows him to teleport to Yorick when enemies collapse on his split-push, turning 1v2 dives into 2v2 fights that Yorick's ghoul army dominates. Alternatively, Yorick can split-push while Shen's global ultimate presence supports teamfights, creating a map-wide threat that the enemy cannot answer in both locations simultaneously.
• Sejuani — Sejuani provides the heavy AoE crowd control and teamfight engage that Yorick lacks, allowing Yorick to focus entirely on split-pushing while Sejuani leads the 4v4 teamfight. Sejuani's Glacial Prison ultimate locks down entire teams, compensating for Yorick's absence from teamfights while he takes towers and inhibitors.
• Malzahar — Malzahar's Nether Grasp suppression locks down any champion who tries to 1v1 Yorick in a side lane, guaranteeing kills when Malzahar roams to help Yorick. The combination of Malzahar's point-and-click suppression with Yorick's Dark Procession cage and ghoul army creates an inescapable death trap for any single enemy champion.

Recent Patch Changes

Yorick's current state in Patch 16.6 reflects a stable position as a niche split-push specialist — his 50% win rate with a 3.3% pick rate and 5.6% ban rate in Emerald+ place him in B Tier, indicating that the Shepherd of Souls remains an effective choice for players who commit to his unique split-push playstyle and understand when to pressure side lanes versus joining their team.

The Grasp of the Undying Resolve build with Precision secondary has established itself as the dominant rune configuration, rewarding Yorick players who leverage short Q trades for Grasp procs and permanent health stacking that scales both Yorick and his army. The Trinity Force into Spear of Shojin into Sterak's Gage build path provides the optimal balance of Spellblade burst on every Q auto-reset, ability haste for frequent ghoul generation and cage uptime, and massive bonus health that directly scales Mist Walker and Maiden durability through Shepherd of Souls' passive scaling. Yorick's dominant matchups against Vladimir (62%) and K'Sante (60%) confirm his identity as a sustained-damage split-push juggernaut who overwhelms champions lacking AoE ghoul clearing or mobility to escape Dark Procession, while his struggles against Irelia (44%) and Riven (42%) highlight his fundamental weakness against mobile champions with dash resets and AoE damage who turn his ghoul army into a liability rather than a strength.

Track Your Yorick Stats

Search your profile on dodge.gg to see your Yorick-specific stats including winrate, average KDA, most-built items, and how you compare to other Yorick players at your rank.

Check out the full Yorick champion page for live data including winrate by rank bracket, popular builds, and synergy picks.