AP Yi Mid OP Guide For LoL (S3) - The Rise Of The Magical Sword

Master Yi is a fun LoL champion that offers two distinctive playing style, mid AP or ADC jungler. In this guide, I will focus on the AP side of Master Yi. AP Yi is a mid lane bully who does really well against a whole host of AP champions. There are only a handful of AP casters that I'm aware of can counter AP Yi well, there are Diana & Fizz.

AP Master Yi needs a strong CC based initiator in the team to help him shine during team fight. Despite AP YI dominance during laning phase, he will easily perish if the team does not have a good initiator as the game transitions into team fight phase. Initiators/Champions that work extremely well with AP Yi are Wukong, Malphite, Amumu, Garen (tank), Sona & Shen. Coincidentally, these initiators are also the type of champions you want use when going against AP Yi (OP healing ability). Your objective for playing AP Yi is to be the ultimate KSer (Kill Securer) in team fight with the help of your Highlander passive ability.

Primary Skill To Upgrade : Q (Alpha Strike ). Your bread and butter to harass your lane opponent and make him/her QQ. I prefer to finish this by level 9

Secondary Skill To Upgrade : W (Meditate) learn this after alpha strike to heal yourself when you are low in HP.

Tertiary skill : Q(Wuju Style). Ignore this skill until you have fully upgraded Q & W.

Ultimate : R (Highlander) Your initiating skill to chase and kill the enemy. Refresh all your abilities after each kill. Without highlander, you would not have your Quadrakill or Pentakill easily.

Summoner Spell : Flash & Ignite or Cleanse . Consider cleanse to replace ignite if you are going against enemy team with heavy CC heroes (Ie : Amumu, Sona, Twisted Fated & etc)

OR

AP Yi Pre Level 6 : Focus on farming creeps, harassing & zoning out your opponent with Alpha Strike. If your enemy is low in HP (<25%). You can flash in, alpha strike and ignite to get an easy kill. Play conservatively when you are up against AP casters that counter you (ie : Diana & Fizz).

AP Yi Post Level 6 : Again, focus on farming and harassing your lane opponent as much as you can. When your enemy AP caster is low in HP, it will deprive his/her ability to gank other lanes and also CS optimally. Try to purchase Deathfire Grasp as soon as possible because this item will give you a massive boost in AP damage.

AP Yi in teamfight : AP Yi should never be the one who initiates in team fight. You should be the last to go in and mob up the remaining enemies like a boss. Wait for your initiators and bruisers to initiate, wait patiently for the CC based enemy heroes to waste their CC skills on your bruisers, and then only you jump in with your Highlander (R), DFG & Alpha strike. If luck favours you and you get a kill off a low HP hero, your Alpha strike CD is refreshed and you get to Alpha Strike again and again until the your team gets an ace. Always remember to use your meditate when SHIT HITS THE FAN (Ie: not killing anyone with your alpha strike & you are getting surrounded). A single CC skill can disrupt your meditation and send your fragile AP Yi back to Noxus so you must use this skill wisely to avoid death.

Chasing low hp Ahri with highlander, and slain her with DFG, Alpha strike & Ignite combo

My favorite items for AP YI : Doran Ring (Early Game), Sorcerer Shoes, Deathfire Grasp, Rabadon DeathCap, Zhongya Hourglass & Void Staff (Sell Doran Ring). Get wards on the both sides of the bush after your first or second base to avoid jungle gank.

Alternative Items to consider

Vs Strong AP Team : Consider getting Abyssal Scepter instead of Zhongya Ring.

AP Yi Masteries :

Runes : 9 X Greater Mark Of Magic Penetration, Greater Seal of Mana regeneration, 9 x Greater Glyph of scaling cool down reduction, 3x Great Quint of magic damage

The Strongest Top Bruiser In League Of Legends (S3)? The Comparison & Analysis.

Data Used : 1.0.0.152 (191670 matches)

Discussion :

The Top 3 top lane bruisers in league of legends (S3) are Wukong, Singed & Riven. The result surprises me because I expect Champions that were used frequently in the past tournaments to occupy the top 3 position. Talon has the highest average winning rate but he is not considered the best top lane hero here because I suspect he gains most of his wins @ mid vs squishy mage.

Darius is the most popular top lane bruiser in LOL. Lee Sin is not considered as the most popular top hero here because he is mostly used as Jungler.

Despite Shen OPness in the past competitive tournaments, he does poorly in both ranked and normal game. Great communication and meticulous teamwork which appeared in tournament more often, are required to utilize Shen (Split Push Strategy + R) to his fullest potential.

Poppy, Rengar & Vi need some love from RIOT's balance team.

Is Deathfire Grasp Still Worth It For Master Yi Or Veigar in S3? The OP Analysis

Objective : To determine whether Deathfire Grasp is still viable for burst type heroes such as Master Yi or Veigar.

Method : Compare the total damage taken by a hero with 1000Hp and 500Hp between S2 and S3 Deathfire Grasp. Also compare the gold efficiency between S2 & S3 DFG.

Data Analysis & Discussion :

As can be seen above, the damage output with DFG when the victim has 2000HP is much higher with S2 DFG compared to S3 DFG. However, when the victim is down to 50% of its health (1000HP), the S3 DFG deals slightly more damage than S2 DFG.

The subsequent damage dealt by level 5 Alpha strike remains the same for S2 DFG, but with S3 DFG, the damage dealt increases by 20% due to the debuff effect of the new S3 DFG. The total damage output (DFG + Alpha) with S2 DFG when the victim has 2000HP is slightly higher than S3 DFG. But when the victim only has 50% of its HP. The S3 DFG deals a significantly higher damage than S2 DFG.

S2 DFG (0.37) has a higher gold efficiency than S3 DFG (0.26) when the victim has 2000 HP. S3 DFG (0.26) is slightly better than S2 DFG (0.258) when the victim has 1000HP.

Conclusion : The viability of S3 DFG Vs S2 DFG becomes situational. S3 DFG seems to be a better choice for burst type AP heroes (ie Master Yi) when he is partnered with a good initiator (Malphite, WK, etc) who can deal significant initial damage to the enemy carry compared to S2 DFG. But when the team relies heavily on AP hero to initiate and to deal that initial damage, S3 DFG seems to be weaker compared to S2 DFG. IMHO, S3 DFG is at least viable for AP Master Yi because his success relies heavily on initiators. The S3 DFG is a nerf to Veigar who specializes in killing carry with full health.

Soon after I completed the above analysis, I played a game using AP Master Yi with my friends.

Rammus OP Jungle Guide For League Of Legends (S3)

Rammus, is a powerful tank based jungler with a strong/borderline OP ability to taunt the enemy for as long as 3 seconds. Rammus has acceptable clear speed, sustainability and an awesome ganking potential pre level 6. With his speedy Powerball ability, you can Q and roam the entire map in high speed even though you are a turtle who is supposed to move & act slowly. Rammus is a dedicated jungle specialist, meaning to say that he is not suitable for any lane except jungle. Your primary goal of playing Rammus is to taunt the enemy carries (AD/AP) whenever possible and secure kill for your team.

Rammus Jungling Route = Wolf -> Blue -> (Look for ganking opportunity in bot > Mid -> Top with your powerball and taunt) -> Wraith -> Red -> (Gank Again if not low in pots and Hp) -> Golem -> Wraith -> Base -> Gank again at level 4 with red.

Primary Skill To Upgrade : W (Puncturing Taunt). Your bread and butter to taunt the enemy carry to attack your hardened shell with spike. I prefer to finish this by level 9

Secondary Skill To Upgrade : W (Defensive CurlBall) (Learn this to reflect damage deal to that enemy (including creeps) that attacks you, finish this by level 13 to enhance your damage output)

Tertiary skill : Q(Powerball) (I usually up 1 level of powerball at level 1 for its superb mobility and stop upgrading it until I hit level 14)

Ultimate : R (Tremor) (A powerful AOE AP ability that can damage surrounding enemies and tower. Learn this at level 6, level 11 and 16)

Rammus Pre Level 6 : Rammus is one of the few junglers (Ie : XZ, Lee sin, etc) who does really well in Level 2 gank. To take advantage of his early ganking prowess, you must first learn Powerball & puncturing taunt by level 2. As you move nearer to the bush (@ top, mid or bot). Initiate with your powerball (Q) and ram towards your victim at full speed, taunt him with W and hope that your teammate will secure the kill. Once you have acquired Defensive curlball @ level 3, your ganking potential increases by 2 fold as this little ability reflects damage and increase your armor & Magic resistance tremendously. Your full combo for wrecking the enemy in high speed is Q, E, W & Auto attack. Creeps will stop your powerball movement so be sure to move the turtle around the creeps and then hit your intended target.

Rammus Post Level 6 : With Tremor At level 6, Rammus becomes a menace not just to the enemy carries but to the tower as well. The combo sequence for Rammus is Q, E, W & Auto attack + R (Tremor). The initiation process is the same as pre level 6 except that you R immediately after triggering your defensive curlball (E). You can also use Tremor & AA to take down tower with ease when the enemy heroes aren't around the tower or be killed.

Team Fight : In organized team fight, your primary goal is to look for opportunity to taunt the enemy carry (AD/AP) so that your carries can follow up and kill him/her. To further increase Rammus mobility in chasing the enemy carries, I prefer buying Shurelya's Reverie as my second items as it gives 40% increase in move speed upon activation. You can also use your puncturing taunt as defensive move in team fight when your carries were initiated by the enemy bruiser or initiator.

Watch Rammus OP Jungle/Ganking Montage

Summoner spells are the standard Flash & Smite

My favorite items for Rammus (Jungle) in season 3 are as follow:

Ninja Tabi, Shurelya's Reverie, Spirit of Ancient Golem, Sunfire Cap, Taunt Mail, Banshee Shield.

Vs Heavy True Damage Team (Darius, Cho Gath, etc) : Consider Warmog To replace Sunfire Cap and get it as early as you can to unleash the full potential of this powerful HP boosting item.

Vs Heavy AP team : Consider Spirit Visage to replace Sunfire cap.

Rammus Jungle Masteries

My Favorite Runes For Rammus : 9 X Greater Seal Of Armor, 9 X Greater Seal Of MR, 9 Greater Mark of Armor, 3 X Q of Armor.

2013 Global Challenge IEM Katowise Pick, Ban & Win Rate Analysis

1) Kha'zix was the best performer in 2013 Global Challenge IEM Katowis, winning 6 games out 7 (85.7%). With high winning rate, Khazix was the most ban worthy champ in this tournament.

2) Lee Sin was the most banned champions in this event (14 bans /19 games = 73.7%). The single time he was picked, the game was lost.

3) Despite enjoying a very high winning rate in both normal (58%) & ranked games (55%), Amumu underperformed in this tournament with a winning rate of just 12.5% ( 1 win/ 8 games). Cleanse (ADC) or/and Quick Silversash seem to counter Amumu pretty well.

4) Ezreal was the most picked ADC or Champion in this event, enjoying a winning rate of 58% (7 wins /12)

5) Sona was the most picked support in this event, enjoying a winning rate of 54.55% (6 wins /11)

6) Thanks to Daniel "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov of GG (formerly M5) and amazing teamwork displayed by Game Gambit, Xin Zhao did surprisingly well in this competitive event, winning 4 out of 5 games (80%).

7) Elise was the most ban unworthy champ in this event, she was banned 7 times out of 19 games, the 5 times she was picked, she didn't manage to win a single game. better luck next time spider queen...

8) Ryze was the best performing mage in this event, winning 5 out of 6 games. (83%)

League Of Legends AP Heroes/Mages Win Rate Comparison (S3)

Data : http://lolmatches.com/championstats/1.0.0.152/R

The most popular mage in Ranked : Katarina

The most popular mage in Normal : Teemo, TEEMO!!!

T-Test (ranked Vs normal) = 0.83 (> 0.5)

Accept the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between normal winning rate and ranked winning rate.

Which champion is the best/strongest ADC in League Of Legends? The ADCs Win Rate Comparison & analysis

Objective : To determine which 5 champions are the top 5 ADC for bot lane in Season 3 of league of legends.

Method : Find out the win rate (%) for both ranked and normal for each common ADC used and then calculate the average of these 2 values. Website used : http://lolmatches.com/championstats/1.0.0.152/N (With 191666 matches)

Data Analysis & Discussion :

T-Test (ranked Vs normal) = 0.75 (> 0.5)

Accept the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between normal winning rate and Ranked winning rate.

A few interesting points we can make from the above table.

1) Miss fortune es the no 1 ADC with the highest winning rate in both the ranked and normal. She has a deadly synergy with CC based jungler (ie : Amumu, Sejuani)or/and CC based support (IE : Sona, Taric) due to her powerful ultimate : Bullet Time, that can blast everyone to hell in front of a cone area. She also has lower skill cap than most ADC like Vayne or Draven.

2) Ezreal is the most popular ADC champion in League Of legends. The high popularity of Ezreal can be partially explained by his youthful good look, OP Korean dance (emote), strong evasive skill (Arcane Shift) and a global ultimate that can snipe anyone who's low in HP from distant location.

3)Urgot, the ugliest ADC has the lowest winning rate in both normal and ranked. Does Riot's balance team discriminate against ugly champion? LoL

4)Vayne, the popular hyper-carry has a surprisingly low winning rate in both ranked & normal. This can be explained by her higher than usual skill cap that most players simply do not possess. An average player will probably get closer to 46% winning as they accumulate more games with Vayne. But for a player with godlike mechanical skill and reflex like CLG-Doublelift, getting >60 % winning rate with Vayne is not a big problem. Doublelift Season 3 Champion stat

Conclusion : Based on the average winning rate on the above the table, the top five ADC for league of legends are Miss Fortune, Draven, Twitch, Ezreal and Graves.