Weapon-switching jungle Assassin who chases down targets with global vision.
Yi Sun-shin is a jungle Assassin-Marksman hybrid who alternates between his glaive and longbow depending on range, gaining bonus Attack Speed and Crit Damage from Weapon Mastery every time he switches. Traceless dashes him through control effects, and Mountain Shocker grants global vision before ramming and stunning a target, turning a single good read into a cross-map execution.
Managing the melee-ranged weapon swap for Weapon Mastery stacks while positioning Blood Floods' hold-to-charge arrow takes real practice to use consistently.
Max Blood Floods first for burst damage, level Traceless second for the mobility and control immunity, and take Mountain Shocker at 4, 8 and 12.
Yi Sun-shin attacks with his longbow and glaive according to his distance from the target. Weapon Mastery: After each weapon switch, the next two Basic Attacks will gain extra Attack Speed, dealing 70% and 55% Crit Damage respectively, and gain 15% Movement Speed for 1 second.
Always active — no cooldown
Yi Sun-shin dashes forward and slashes with his glaive, dealing 150–300 (+40% Total Physical Attack) Physical Damage and becoming immune to control effects for 1 second. Each Weapon Mastery triggered reduces the cooldown of Traceless by 1 second.
Tap: Yi Sun-shin slashes swiftly with his glaive, dealing 240–340 (+80% Total Physical Attack) Physical Damage. Hold: Yi Sun-shin shoots a powerful arrow, dealing 240–340 (+80% Total Physical Attack) Physical Damage to the target. The arrow's damage scales with the hold time, up to 200%. Yi Sun-shin gains Weapon Mastery immediately when this skill is used.
Yi Sun-shin summons a turtle ship and gains sight of the whole map for 5 seconds. The turtle ship lasts for up to 15 seconds, during which Yi Sun-shin gains 70% burst Movement Speed (decay to 20% over 2 seconds). When cast again, Yi Sun-shin commands the turtle ship to ram towards the target area, dealing 160–320 (+65% Total Physical Attack) Physical Damage and stunning enemy units in the central area for 0.8 seconds.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Signature combo
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
7,050g total
Default pick for jungle clears, ganks, and skirmishes off early farm.
Battle spell
Retribution35s CDA well-timed Retribution on a low-HP objective — a 'smite steal' — can snatch Turtle or Lord away from a team that appeared to be securing it, often the single biggest swing play of the early-to-mid game.
Swap in when needed
Blade of Despair — Extra burst on low-HP targets once Weapon Mastery's stacks have softened them.
Immortality — A second life when he's the primary engage on an isolated pick.
Wind of Nature — Against a physical-heavy dive comp threatening to burst him before Traceless is up.
7,350g total
When the enemy stacks physical defense and raw crit damage stops converting into kills.
Battle spell
Retribution35s CDA well-timed Retribution on a low-HP objective — a 'smite steal' — can snatch Turtle or Lord away from a team that appeared to be securing it, often the single biggest swing play of the early-to-mid game.
Swap in when needed
Sea Halberd — Against enemy lifesteal or healers who out-sustain his damage in an extended chase.
Blade Armor — Versus a rival crit-reliant Marksman punishing him for auto-attacking.
Queen's Wings — Extra effective HP versus burst combos aimed at his low durability.
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
KarinaAssassinHardKarina's true damage scales off missing HP and ignores the physical defense Yi Sun-shin itemizes, killing him before Traceless's immunity is up again.
GrangerMarksmanHardGranger's burst shots outrange and outdamage Yi Sun-shin's weapon-swap combo before he can close to an effective range.
XavierMageHardXavier's Mystic Field immobilize locks Yi Sun-shin in place right as Dawning Light lands, bypassing Traceless's one-second control immunity window.
NataliaAssassinHardAssassin Instinct teleports her behind Yi Sun-shin with a silence, and Smoke Bomb makes her immune to his Basic Attacks entirely, shutting down the weapon-swap kiting his kit depends on.
UranusTankSoftRadiance regenerates HP off every hit he absorbs and Transcendent Ward's shield detonates when it breaks, so Yi Sun-shin's Basic Attack pressure only feeds Uranus's sustain.
EsmeraldaTank · MageSoftFrostmoon Shield soaks Blood Floods' charged arrow and Starmoon Casket converts that shield straight into HP, so his biggest burst just tops her up.
HildaFighter · TankSoftArt of Hunting locks onto Yi Sun-shin and its third strike knocks him out of his preferred weapon range, breaking the Weapon Mastery rotation while Blessing of Wilderness refills her shield from every bush.
HayabusaAssassinSoftHayabusa's shadow teleports dodge Blood Floods' charged shot and burst Yi Sun-shin down before he can weapon-swap for a counter.
LolitaSupport · TankSoftGuardian's Reflection sends the ranged Blood Floods arrow he relies on for longbow burst straight back at him.
AlucardFighter · AssassinSoftFission Wave's permanent Hybrid Lifesteal and Whirling Smash's AoE outlast Yi Sun-shin in an extended duel, and Pursuit gives Alucard a free dash after every skill to stay on him.
Winter CrownDodges the burst window right after Blood Floods' charged shot lands.
Tough BootsCuts the duration of any CC that lands outside Traceless's one-second immunity window.
Antique CuirassHis skill hits trigger Deter, which then cuts every point of Physical Damage he deals for 2 seconds, weapon-swap Basic Attacks included.Heroes whose own counter list names Yi Sun-shin — the same matchup, read from the other side.
MelissaMarksmanHardYi Sun-shin's mobility lets him weave in and out of Basic Attack range faster than Muddles can maintain a link on him.
ZetianMageHardYi Sun-shin's Traceless grants a full second of control immunity, letting him dash straight through Celestial Robe's stun and burst Zetian down.
KhufraTankSoftTraceless makes Yi Sun-shin control-immune for a full second as he dashes, so he slips past Bouncing Ball's anti-blink field without being knocked airborne.Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
FlorynSupportFloryn's healing and Movement Speed buffs keep Yi Sun-shin topped up during extended jungle skirmishes and ganks.
ValentinaMageValentina can copy an enemy ultimate to open a fight, letting Yi Sun-shin follow up with Mountain Shocker on the disrupted target.
ChipSupport · TankShortcut's portals drop Yi Sun-shin into a gank without burning Traceless on the approach, leaving its control immunity for the fight itself.
DiggieSupportTime Journey cleanses the crowd control off Yi Sun-shin and hands him a shield and Movement Speed, so he can ram in with Mountain Shocker and survive the answer.
YveMageYve's zone control slows and clusters enemies, setting up Yi Sun-shin's charged Blood Floods for a guaranteed hit.
HarithMageHarith's blink burst forces an enemy to react, and Yi Sun-shin cleans up whoever tries to flee with Mountain Shocker's global stun.KhufraTankTyrant's Rage hauls enemies together and stuns them outright against a wall, holding a target still long enough for Yi Sun-shin's full weapon-swap combo.
KaleaSupport · FighterKalea's mobility and poke soften a target from range before Yi Sun-shin closes in with Traceless for the finish.
MathildaSupport · AssassinGuiding Wind shields Yi Sun-shin and guides him back to Mathilda out of a bad engage, covering the gap after Traceless's one second of control immunity ends.
Lapu-LapuFighterBravest Fighter leaps in and Storm Sword's stacking damage reduction lets Lapu-Lapu hold enemy focus, giving Yi Sun-shin room to flank and finish with Blood Floods.Switch weapons deliberately before engaging to bank a Weapon Mastery Attack Speed stack before the fight starts
Use Traceless's control immunity to dash through a CC chain rather than only for gap-closing
Hold Blood Floods' charge fully before releasing on a stationary or slowed target for max damage
Use Mountain Shocker's global vision to scout Lord or Turtle contests even when you don't intend to engage
Yi Sun-shin is moderately difficult — the weapon-switching mechanic rewards good positioning, but landing the charged Blood Floods shot consistently takes practice.
A crit attack-speed build with Windtalker, Berserker's Fury, and Malefic Roar covers most games, converting Weapon Mastery's Attack Speed stacks into burst damage.
True damage burst heroes like Karina counter Yi Sun-shin by ignoring the physical defense he itemizes and killing him before Traceless's control immunity is available again.
Yi Sun-shin is a jungler who clears camps early, then uses Mountain Shocker's global vision and ram to gank lanes and secure objectives.
