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by 안녕지지Updated Oct 4, 2026, 3:07 PMTranslated

Master Park Hyo-woo's LoL Classic Mid AP Master Yi

Master YiMiddle16.17

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This guide is a practical adaptation of the video from TesterHoon's Master Park Hyo-woo segment. AP

Master Yi is a pick you take as a counter to

Ryze rather than a blind first-pick, and it relies on Q last-hits and ultimate resets to carry teamfights. Original video

Key Points First

- Position: Mid - Summoner Spells:

Flash +

Ignite. The video emphasizes

Ignite as mandatory. - Masteries: Offense 21 / Defense 0 / Utility 9 - Skill Order: R > Q > W > E - Ideal First Item:

Rabadon's Deathcap - Core Second Item:

Lich Bane - Third Item Choice:

Deathfire Grasp if ahead,

Zhonya's Hourglass if you need more survivability on engage. - Core Gameplay: Clear first wave → Take small raptors XP → Save up to 1600 gold → Buy

Needlessly Large Rod → Push lane and roam.

Summoner Spells

Ignite is used to secure the first kill, which is the starting point for lane kills and Q resets. AP Master Yi's burst increases significantly when he gets the kill directly rather than an assist, so it's important to use

Ignite to secure the finishing blow.

Masteries and Runes

Masteries

Based on the video, we've replicated the 21/0/9 mastery setup. The 9 points in Utility are used to improve movement, recall, and buff duration.

Runes

- 9x

Mark of Magic Penetration: Magic Penetration +1 each → +9 total Magic Penetration - 9x

Seal of Gold: Gold per 10 seconds +0.25 each → +2.25 total Gold per 10 seconds - 9x

Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist → +32.4 total Magic Resist at level 18 - 3x

Quintessence of Ability Power: Ability Power +5 each → +15 total Ability Power In the video, the player explains that they would like to use AP on seals but since Classic doesn't have that option, they substitute with gold generation runes.

Skill Order

Skill order

- Level 1 Q (

Master Yi Q - Alpha Strike): Core for wave clear and poke. - Level 2 W (

Master Yi W - Meditate): HP recovery after raptors and lane sustain. - Max Q first: Secure AP scaling and AoE wave clear as quickly as possible. - Max W second: Increase healing to survive poke and ganks. - E last: The video emphasizes the standard of maxing W before E. - R at levels 6/11/16: Having your ultimate is crucial for kill resets.

Item Build

Starting Items

Boots of Speed + 2x

Mana Potion Start with

Boots of Speed so you can dodge skillshots and ganks with movement even if the early laning phase goes poorly. Two

Mana Potion are important because you need to use Q on cooldown.

Ideal First Recall

Try not to recall before reaching 1600 gold to buy

Needlessly Large Rod. Since the components for your first core item

Rabadon's Deathcap are expensive, making awkward early recalls will significantly delay your power spike.

When Recalls Go Wrong

- If your first recall gold is too low, buy

Doran's Ring to compensate for lane sustain. - If you couldn't buy

Needlessly Large Rod and bought

Blasting Wand instead, but still can't afford

Needlessly Large Rod on your next recall, pivot to

Sheen →

Lich Bane. - In other words, don't lose tempo by stubbornly waiting for

Rabadon's Deathcap; use the

Lich Bane first-item plan instead.

Core Build Order

Rabadon's Deathcap: The strongest first item. So important that the video says "this is where it begins." 2.

Lich Bane: Use auto-attacks before and after Q, and W to proc the spellblade effect multiple times, enhancing finishing power. 3.

Deathfire Grasp: When you're ahead and need pure burst damage. 4.

Zhonya's Hourglass: When you need to create your own angles or buy time after engaging. Prioritize the

Rabadon's Deathcap timing over mana items like

Chalice of Harmony. The video's approach is to manage mana with potions and blue buff.

Early Laning Phase

1. Small Raptors After First Wave

After quickly clearing the first wave, enter the raptor camp and take only the small monsters to accelerate your level 2. Use a potion, then after learning W, heal up with

Master Yi W - Meditate. Don't greed for the entire camp and lose lane presence.

2. Use Q on Cooldown

Use

Mana Potion and push the lane with Q, bouncing to the enemy to gain advantage. If only 3 minions remain and the enemy champion is also within Q range, it will target them as the 4th target, giving you a guaranteed poke opportunity.

3. Recover Damage with W from Behind

Early on,

Master Yi W - Meditate has good healing, so you can survive as long as you don't take free poke. However, W is not a damage reduction spell; it's more of a resistance increase and heal with a cast time, so don't rely on it to block the enemy's true damage or instant burst.

4. Survive Until 1600 Gold

Delay your first recall as much as possible to buy

Needlessly Large Rod directly. If the lane is tough, use the movement speed from

Boots of Speed and W sustain to hold on, and only compromise with

Doran's Ring or

Blasting Wand when absolutely necessary.

Mid Game and Roaming

- Push one wave and immediately roam. Master Yi is good at joining fights thanks to the movement speed from R and Q's tracking. - Always ask for blue buff. Since you need to spam Q, having blue buff determines your lane pressure and roaming frequency. - Side lane management is possible, but the video recommends staying mid-focused and constantly joining skirmishes. - However, during downtime when multiple enemies are dead and no fight is imminent, catch one nearby side wave to farm.

Combos and Using Lich Bane

Basic Burst Combo

R →

Lich Bane auto-attack → Q → auto-attack If

Lich Bane is ready, don't rush to press Q first; land the empowered auto-attack first. After Q, auto-attack again to get the

Lich Bane damage.

Proc Lich Bane Again with W

If the enemy can't kill you immediately, you can use W to heal while opening the next

Lich Bane cycle and finish with an auto-attack. However, Classic W has a cast time, so this isn't a combo you should force in the middle of danger.

With Deathfire Grasp

R →

Deathfire Grasp → Q →

Lich Bane auto-attack This is the combo for a fed AP Master Yi to delete one target and start the reset chain.

Teamfight Play

1. Don't engage first; wait for your team's initiator to draw out CC and key abilities. 2. First, decide "who to Q to get a kill." 3. Activate R and directly finish off a low-health target with Q. 4. If you get the kill, Q resets; if it's an assist, the cooldown is only halved. You should try to secure the first kill yourself. 5. Use the reset Q to follow the next target or their escape, chaining kills. Without your ultimate, kill resets are difficult to achieve. When R is down, avoid forcing teamfights and focus on wave clearing and vision control.

Matchup Tips

Ryze

This is the most recommended matchup. The video explains that Master Yi is a hard counter to

Ryze in Classic. If you use Q right when

Ryze's snare lands, you enter Alpha strike while snared, allowing you to dodge follow-up damage.

Long-range Poke Midlaners like Kog'Maw

With their long range, if Q doesn't bounce to them, you'll take free damage. After clearing the wave, don't stay in lane; change the tempo by taking raptors, setting up vision, or roaming.

Pantheon

You can predict when they use W to engage and dodge with Q. If your reaction time is slow, lock your camera and focus on

Pantheon's engage animation.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

- Strong counter to

Ryze - Fast roaming and rotations thanks to Q wave clear and R - Can chain teamfights with Q reset after getting the first kill - Good lane sustain by healing poke with W

Weaknesses

- A pick that relies on the team to set up the fight first - Resets are incomplete if you only get assists - Teamfight power drops significantly without ultimate - Frustrating to play against long-range poke champions - First item components are expensive, so a bad recall timing creates a large growth gap

Summary in One Line

Summary: In lane, hold on with

Boots of Speed and W to reach the 1600 gold

Rabadon's Deathcap timing, then push and rotate from the mid game. In teamfights, the key is to use R to enter the angles created by your team, directly finish off low-health enemies with Q, and then chain to the next target with the reset Q.