Ask an Irelia Main - Completed

We’re thrilled to welcome Irelia Carries U to Ask a Champion Main! Irelia Carries U has been playing since Season 2 and has played over 4000 games on Irelia, finishing last season in Challenger.

UPDATE - This AMA is officially closed but Irelia Carries U will be checking in periodically tonight and tomorrow to answer a couple more of your questions.

Thanks for all of the great questions and a big thank you to Irelia Carries U for hanging out!

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What got you hooked on playing Irelia?

I used to main Katarina from lvl 5-30 but when I got into ranked she was always permabanned and I was always stuck playing top lane since no one wanted it. I started playing Irelia because no one at the time played her and I wanted a champion that wouldn’t get nerfed any time soon (hehe).

Who is your go-to champion if Irelia gets banned?

If Irelia gets banned I usually dodge, although sometimes I do play Kat or other random champions.

If you could describe Irelia’s playstyle in a sentence, what would it be?

Irelia is a mid-game assassin since she can burst squishies very easily, but as the game goes on she becomes more of a bruiser as her damage falls off.

What runes and masteries do you run on her?

I run 29% attack speed with scaling MR/Armor on her. A lot of attack speed makes her level 4/5/7/9 very potent in lane once you put points in her W and if Trinity Force is your only damage item. I use scaling runes since they become more valuable than flat runes relatively quickly.

For masteries I run 18/0/12 with Fervor. Fervor is the best on her because it's very easy to stack and does a ton of extra damage.

What is Irelia’s core item build?

Irelia’s core item build is Trinity Force and tanky items, with a possibility of a second damage item such as a BotRK or Maw. Rageblade is also strong in lane but falls off hard with time so I am hesitant to put it as a core item, whereas Trinity into tanky has been a staple for a very long time.

What are Irelia’s easiest matchups? What are her toughest?

Irelia does really well against squishy match ups and not so well versus tanky and sustain matchups, although she can do well against anything. She doesn’t have hard counters, so although some matchups are hard, they are not impossible.

Something like Malphite or Tryndamere would be annoying to deal with, whereas something like Jayce or Kennen would be a lot easier.

What is Irelia’s main job in laning phase? What about Teamfights?

Irelia’s main job in the laning phase is to try and get Trinity as soon as possible. She does well in lane and once it’s completed she can 1v1 almost anything and becomes a very potent ganker. Trinity should be done within 11-14 mins and allows Irelia to have a massive impact on the game when running around.



Her job in team fights changes throughout the game; when Trinity is completed she acts as more of an assassin than anything and as the game goes on she fills the role of a tanky bruiser/disruptor, since her damage begins to fall off but you get tankier over time. You just want to be a nuisance to the enemy team after that point, getting stuns off on squishy targets and so on.

If someone is playing Irelia for the first time, what is the most important thing to bear in mind?

If someone is playing Irelia for the first time, I think it's best to understand that she is not a complicated champion. She isn’t hard to do well with but that extra bit to really utilize her kit can take some time and creativity.

Just because you do well with her after 5-10 games of playing her, it doesn’t mean you can’t get better with her.

How do you use Bladesurge to set up a trade?

I usually use Bladesurge on a low-health minion that is close to my opponent for a reset. I’ll Bladesurge, then stun and activate my Hiten Style (W) to go for a long trade. I try to use Q at the very end of my W duration or if my target gets out of melee range in order to get as many autos in as possible.



It’s also a good escape tool if there are minions around in case you get ganked so using it early is typically not very smart.

How do you make the most of Equilibrium Strike without getting too low on health?

I think Equilibrium Strike (E) is best used when you are around the same health with your opponent since it stuns if both players are the same % HP. It's easy to panic and use it off cooldown but being patient with it when you are higher % HP than the opponent when in a long duel in order to get the stun is definitely beneficial.

What’s a neat Irelia trick that players may not know?

For some reason a lot of people don’t seem to utilize low HP minions when the opponent is running away. If you Q a minion right next to them and continue autoing you might get a few more autos than directly Q’ing them. Unless your W is about to end there’s no reason to be impatient with her Q



Have you played Irelia in other roles outside of Top? How did that go?

I’ve played Irelia everywhere. She works mid decently but she is easy to camp and if she falls behind she’s useless. The other roles didn’t go too well.

What’s your favorite Irelia skin?

Nightblade is my favorite.

What’s the best Irelia play you have ever pulled off?



It’s my favorite because my reaction timings were on point and my team had enough time to help me turn it around for a triple kill.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! If readers want to reach out, where can they find you?

You can find me at any of the links below:

• Twitch
• Youtube
• Twitter

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