Champion Guide

Irelia Guide

By LoLSuggest

Top

Irelia is a mobile top and mid-lane duelist. Ionian Fervor stacks attack speed when her abilities hit champions, Bladesurge dashes to a target and resets when it kills or hits a marked enemy, Defiant Dance reduces incoming damage while she charges it, Flawless Duet stuns and marks enemies between her two blades, and Vanguard's Edge launches a wall of blades that marks and slows. She snowballs hard off good trades, especially against ranged champions, but punishes herself if she dashes in at the wrong time.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Irelia build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Blade and a Health Potion when you expect to win lane, or Doran's Shield in hard matchups. Buy Vampiric Scepter and boots on your first back, then Recurve Bow and Pickaxe. The default build is Blade of the Ruined King, Plated Steelcaps, Hullbreaker, Death's Dance, Wit's End and Sterak's Gage; add Wit's End earlier against two or more AP threats, and Maw of Malmortius or Kaenic Rookern against heavy magic damage. Frozen Heart helps against full AD, Terminus against tanks in the side lane, and Kraken Slayer with Sundered Sky gives a pure damage build. Take Mercury's Treads against heavy crowd control. Run Conqueror with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, plus Bone Plating and Unflinching; take Lethal Tempo against Yone, Gwen or Yasuo, and Second Wind against poke. Take Flash with Teleport, or Ignite in mid lane when you want to play for kills. Max Q, then W, then E.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Huge mobility from Bladesurge resets on minions and marked enemies.
Excellent duelist once her passive is stacked, and very strong against ranged laners.
Blade of the Ruined King and Hullbreaker make her a dangerous split pusher.

Weaknesses

Point-and-click crowd control and tanky early duelists such as Warwick, Jax or Poppy shut her down.
A missed Flawless Duet or a dash into an unfavourable wave can lose the lane.
Lanes that control the wave well, like a good Riven, can stop her from stacking her passive or farming.

Laning Phase

Stack Ionian Fervor before you trade, using Bladesurge resets on minions to reach the enemy, and land Flawless Duet so your next Bladesurge on the marked target resets. Control the wave in your favour: dodge skillshots behind the minions against champions like Aatrox, and against a strong wave controller such as Riven ask your jungler for help early. Punish key cooldowns, such as Darius missing his Q or Quinn using her Vault, and charge Defiant Dance to blunt burst. Ranged laners are usually easy targets, but respect champions who beat you before level 6, such as Nasus after he scales.

Mid & Late Game

Once Blade of the Ruined King and Hullbreaker are done, Irelia is a strong split pusher who wins most side-lane duels, so pressure towers while your team holds the map. In teamfights wait for the enemy to use their crowd control, then use Vanguard's Edge to mark and slow several enemies and chain Bladesurge resets through them. Dash onto minions or marked targets to reposition, and keep Defiant Dance for the burst aimed at you.

Key Tips

Bladesurge resets when it kills its target or hits a marked enemy, so use minions to close distance.
Defiant Dance reduces damage while you charge it, so start it before an enemy combo lands.
Vanguard's Edge marks every enemy it hits, which lets you chain resets in teamfights.
Against Ahri, approach carefully: dashing into her Charm can lose you the trade.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.