I've played a few dozen bot matches a lot but all I can figure out about Yi is that he is very squishy and keeping distance is the best thing to do and bots tends to prioritize getting between me and the minions
I know critical chances and attack speed items work well on yi but I still don't get how to play the squishy swordsman correctly
Like this:
I've got this thread I did where there was one really helpful person. His name is TehNACHO.
Devourer is your first priority item. BotRK is a great first item. IE should be bought every game. Brutalizer works wonders.
"The key to immortality? Not dying." - Basically explains him really well.
Farm and don't be reckless. You can kill things pretty fast, but if you are behind, don't even bother fighting.
I suggest don't blind pick him. Only pick him if the other team has no more than 2 cc. You're guaranteed a win that way.
As Assassin, Yi needs quite a bit of skill to succeed. Otherwise you are just gonna feed. Until you have that, I find him easier to play as a Fighter.
this gives a nice balance of damage and defense for not much gold.
Okay so basically, there's two abilities in his kit that literally change everything about the game (for Master Yi) if you learn how to abuse their tricks; Alpha Strike, and Meditate.
During the middle of Alpha Strike's animation, Master Yi is basically immune to any form of damage or CC. You can completely negate entire abilities by timing your Alpha Strike correctly. During Meditate's animation, Master Yi negates 50% to 70% of any damage dealt to him, making him impossibly tanky.
Study from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfnrKoM9OYA
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If you are laning with yi (or pretty much any melee champion) versus a ranged champion, they are going to be able to zone you away from your minions like you are saying.
Your best bet is to take yi into the jungle, although this may be hard at a low level with few runes or masteries.
I would suggest trying out a ranged champion first. They tend to be a bit more forgiving when you are first learning.
Good luck on the Fields of Justice, Summoner!
The idea is to farm a lot so that he reaches a point where he vastly overpowers most other champions because he scales extremely well.
You pretty much become the janitor, cleaning up your teams messy teamfights.
If you are far enough ahead or reached the point where he really blooms, your Q followed by and auto attack is enough to send teams into a panic.
Simply put you're are biding your time till you become powerful. So in order to play him well look for improve your farming abilities.
building Botrk seems to get me killed more compared to getting PD first
I play him Jungle as follows:
Start at Gromp for the smite bonus, starting with Q. Level E then W later. Do one full clear, ganking only if the situation presents itself- at this point you have no Highlander or CC, so your ganks rely on the laner having CC or the enemy being low hp with no flash.
Back after one clear and get 
. Farm the jungle til 6, then gank. Buy a 
. Cotinue clearing and ganking when Smite is up, always focused on securing Dragon. REMEMBER- Yi is decent at clearing Drag solo with Highlander, but do so carefully. Get 
,
,and
next. At this point, teamfighting may break out. REMEMBER: YI can only be stopped by Stuns, Snares, and Suppression. Wait for the enemy to use these before going in yourself. Focus the ADC or APC at your discretion, then the lowest health enemy after that. Dodge enemy spells with Q or mitigate damage with W.
Lategame, get 
,
, and 
. Once all of these items are purchased, replace your Boots with a 
.
