Yi Sun-shin guide from a Top 1 Global SoloQ Player.
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12 total votes
Overview
Arguably the best jungler in current meta, definitely the best jungler for solo players. Great burst, good mobility, insane map presence and can win almost any game in good hands. Micro difficulty(baseline): 6/10 Micro difficulty(pro level): 9/10 Macro difficulty: 7.5/10
Strengths
Everything a good hero should be. Teamfight potential, splitpush potential, good retri, stun, anti-CC, map vision, can solo kill almost any hero. Unmatched snowballing and farming speed. Even the best players struggle to keep up and stress when against him.
Weaknesses
Can be easily shut down early if you don't use your brain, weaker against crowded enemies and can be annoying to learn for new players.
Against tanky comp
Use against tank jungler/2 frontlines/more than 2 tanky heroes
Default build
Great for SoloQ and against uncoordinated teams. Gain advantage with Flame Retri
If good earlygame
Build Sky Piercer before finishing Hunter Strike right after Fury Hammer. Useful if you already gain kills / big level and gold advantage in early game. In late game recommended to sell Sky Piercer for a defensive Quick sell item
For quick buy/quick sell
All the items you can use to gain advantage in teamfights. Recommend to start with Winter Crown, or Immortality if you're against Suppress(Franco, Kaja)
Any matchup
All-rounder emblem. Fast farming, good survivability, can create clutch moments
Against tank jungler/with Floryn
More late-game focused emblem. Weapon master sacrifices a bit of tempo in exchange for better late-game and synergy with Floryn's flower.
Battle Spell
jungle hero.
Level 1-2
I recommend starting from Blue buff every time, except for when you're afraid your Buff can be delayed/stolen(against Franco, Kaja, Novaria, Fanny, Natalia, Hanzo), then you have 3 possible rotations.
r1: Safe Farm
Take all the greens in your jungle immediately. No invades, take Litho only after 2 buffs if it's still up. After Lv.4 try to gank a lane or counter-initiate an enemy gank.
r2: Soft Invade
After Blue Buff, immediately go to enemy green near the Litho and try to steal it. YSS at level 2 in decently strong and has good retri. After the invade take Litho and continue to your Red Buff.
r3: Hard Invade
Risky strategy, but works frequently. Make use of your tempo and immediately take both of your buffs. If enemy jungler doesn't have quick clear(for ex. Alucard) you can invade enemy buff and take it, YSS retri is very good. After invading you will have Lv.4 which opens a possibility for a kill or a further invade. To consistently pull it off, you must have good knowledge of limits of your hero.
1st Turtle
In SoloQ, it can be difficult to take the 1st Turtle. Even if your retri is good, I recommend exchanging turtle for one side of enemies jungle. This funnels gold and EXP to you, while turtle benefits the entire team, but has lower impact on the Jungler. I rarely take turtle if against heroes who can easily zone/shut down YSS (YZ, Lapu², Alice etc.). When invading, try to not use your retri since enemies can counter-invade after taking the Turtle.
2nd-3rd Turtle
If you're more than 2 levels ahead of enemy Jungler, you can be confident in taking the Turtle. Still, don't waste your s1 and be mindful of enemy CC/burst. Always assume enemy will use Flicker unless you 100% know they don't have it. In high ranks, people tend to 5 man group on later turtles, which opens more possibilities for trades. A T1 turret gives same gold as min 5 Turtle, and T2 turret gives same gold as min 7-8 Turtle. Sometimes even when you're ahead it might be more beneficial to funnel the gold and EXP on you rather than risk your life taking neutral objectives.
1st Lord: If winning
1st Lord isn't as important but still can give a massive advantage. Try to get him to charge into enemy's T3 turret and activate as many Holy Shields as possible. You prepare the enemy base for a stronger siege. Make the Lord go sidelane if possible, he is weaker in Mid Lane since he reaches enemy base quicker.
1st Lord: If losing
Don't all-in into the Lord unless you're 100% sure enemies will end the game with it. Remember, if enemies group up, it opens a lot of possibilities for farming/pushing. You can try to take a tower in exchange for the Lord. Using your ult, it's possible to sneakily burst enemies marching lord if they're far away.
2nd-3rd Lord: If winning
This is when most of your games should end. At this point, if you do everything correctly you should have so much advantage and snowball, your presence can win any teamfight. Take risks to try to end quickly. Prepare your Quick Sell/Buy items. Capitalize on every advantage. Remember, after reaching full build you won't get stronger, only enemies will.
2nd-3rd Lord: If losing
Same strategy. Put pressure on the map, try to splitpush, take turrets in exchange for the Lord. Contest only if you know you can win it of you know you can't defend it.
Late game
After 3 Lords, almost everyone will have full build. Prepare lanes before the objective, create pressure, go for solo kills or splitpush to make enemy panic recall. You should control the tempo of the game if you want to win.
Afterword 1
This guide is not for complete beginners. It assumes you know the mechanics of your hero and you have decent battle IQ. It's not really difficult to play YSS but if you feel like youre lacking try to read the info and fill the gaps. 70% WR in soloQ is completely possible. I reached top 1 global YSS with 82% WR(11900 MMR) on him playing mostly solo.
Afterword 2
Always look at the minimap. When clearing jungle, when pushing, even in teamfights. Consider looking at the map as breathing in MLBB. Gank if you see enemy overextending, prepare for an ambush if enemies are missing for a prolonged time, invade if you see enemy heroes busy ganking. Don't be surprised when enemy EXP Laner shows up at the other side of the map. You should've checked the minimap. Take every advantage that you can take. You never know when the game will turn around either way.
Afterword 3
In teamfights, I tend to divide heroes into those who can be easily killed without your boat and those who are not. This doesn't really change with the meta. For example, Aurora or Joy can easily be taken down without your ulti, but Karina or Moskov are difficult to kill if you don't have a stun. Don't waste your boat on someone unimportant. Try to show on enemy's minimap for as little time as possible, always try to flank or find a kill angle. You are very agile and can escape almost any situation if you know the limits well. Take calculated risks.
Best With Mathilda
80% co-op win rate
Great mobility, but lack of frontline or extensive healing can be crucial.
Watch Out For Franco
20% counter win rate
This braindead hero can ruin your match from early to late game with a random hook or flicker ulti. Remember to build Immortality or prepare to quick sell. In SoloQ I prefer to ban him outright.