Early Game: 1-6

  • Position: Stay a step behind your front line or beside the healthiest melee on your team. Do not stand in the first line unless the enemy has already spent their hard engage. Yi wants to enter from a clean angle, not soak the first wave of poke.
  • Trading / poke rhythm: Take short trades only when someone walks up too far or wastes crowd control. Hit once or twice, then reset out. If the enemy comp has constant poke, you are not trying to match damage straight up. You are waiting for them to miss or overstep, then punishing that gap.
  • Snowball use: Use Snowball as a commit button, not as a random engage. Throw it when a target is already slowed by bad positioning, low on health, or locked in place by your team. If it lands and the target has no easy peel nearby, go in fast. If it misses, do not force the fight just because the icon is ready again. Reset and look for the next wave.
  • Augment use: Early augments should help you survive the lane and reach your first real fight pattern. Take any augment that gives you safer all-in timing, better stickiness, or more value during brief bursts. If an augment only matters in long, front-loaded teamfights, hold that fantasy until you can actually stay on top of a target.
  • Push or stall: Prefer to stall if the enemy is stronger at range or can punish your approach every wave. Let them push into your team, then use the tight ARAM space to turn on overextended targets. Push only when the enemy backline has already lost health and cannot freely stand in the wave. Yi does better when the fight starts messy, not when the enemy gets to set up a clean line.
  • Ahead plan: If you get early momentum, keep the pressure controlled. Do not sprint into the enemy backline just because you are winning. Walk with your front line, wait for the first enemy spell commit, then clean up. The point is to force them to hold cooldowns awkwardly and make every step forward feel dangerous.
  • Behind plan: If you fall behind, stop forcing first contact. Stay patient, clear waves, and only enter after your team has absorbed the first round of damage. Your job changes from starter to finisher. If the enemy focuses you when you step up, back off immediately and make them waste time turning around.
  • Next move: After each skirmish, look for the healthiest enemy without an escape path. If the wave is still alive and your team still has bodies, keep stalling. If one target is already chunked, Snowball that target and turn the lane into a cleanup fight.

Mid Game: 7-11

  • Position: Start playing the side lane of the fight, not the center. In ARAM that usually means standing just outside the main projectile path, ready to cut in once the enemy turns their attention elsewhere. If you stand dead center, you get peeled before you can do anything.
  • Trading / poke rhythm: This is the stage where your rhythm should become more disciplined. Let your team trade first, then answer with a fast entry when the enemy health bars drop or their key control tool is down. If you keep hitting the nearest tank while the real threat is untouched, you are wasting your window.
  • Snowball use: Use Snowball to cross the last gap only when there is a real payoff. Good targets are low-health backliners, isolated mages, or anyone who used their defensive button already. If the enemy still has peel ready, keep your Snowball as a threat and hold the angle. Burning it into a full-health wall is how Yi gets deleted.
  • Augment use: Mid game is when your augments should start paying you back in actual fight patterns. Prioritize augments that reward repeated attacks, reset-style cleanup, or damage that ramps once you are already in. If you have an augment that helps you survive crowd control pressure, use it to buy one more second inside the fight, not to dive deeper than your team can follow.
  • Push or stall: If you are ahead or the enemy has weak engage, push the wave and force them to answer your threat in a cramped space. If they have better poke, stall until they step forward to hit the wave, then punish the movement. Yi loves fights where the enemy has to choose between taking damage from the wave and taking damage from you.
  • Ahead plan: When you are ahead, look for the second wave of the fight. Let your team bait the first response, then enter on the retreat or reset. This is the cleanest way to keep your lead without throwing it into a layered peel setup. If one enemy burns escape tools early, switch targets instantly and keep the chain moving.
  • Behind plan: If you are behind, your value comes from restraint and timing. Do not enter on the first snowball just because it connects. Wait for the enemy to commit to someone else, then go in from the edge. You are looking to punish overchase and finish wounded targets, not to duel the enemy carry in open space.
  • Next move: After each mid-game fight, decide quickly whether your team can keep pushing the same lane or needs to reset and wait for another pick. If the enemy is low and scattered, keep the pressure. If they are grouped and healthy, back up and make them walk into your next setup.

Late Game: 12+

  • Position: Play like a closer. Stay hidden on the edge of vision, behind your tanks, or just outside the angle where the enemy can freely target you. Late game Yi dies fast if he enters first. Your best fights start when the enemy has already committed spells into someone else.
  • Trading / poke rhythm: Stop looking for fair trades. At this stage, one clean opening matters more than five small hits. Let your team chip first, watch for any carry stepping too close, and then convert instantly. If the enemy is grouped and healthy, do not force a heroic dive through every layer of peel. Wait for the fight to split.
  • Snowball use: Snowball becomes your real entry tool late. Use it on the target that is easiest to isolate, not always the one with the highest damage. If the enemy backline is protected, tag a frontliner only when that gives you a safe route through the fight. Once you are in, commit fully only if you see a clean kill path or a reset chain forming.
  • Augment use: Late game augments should help you survive the first collapse or snowball the first takedown. Use your best damage augments to speed up the first kill, then use any durability or sustain augments to stay alive through the counterturn. If your augment package rewards repeated hits, stay on one target until it drops, then move fast to the next. Do not waste late-game value by swapping targets too early.
  • Push or stall: If you have the lead, push hard and force the enemy to walk into a bad angle. Yi is much scarier when the enemy has to move forward into your reach. If you are even or behind, stall every wave you can and make the fight start on messy ground. Late game is not about elegance. It is about forcing one bad step and turning it into a dead carry.
  • Ahead plan: When ahead late, you can threaten the backline, but do it with patience. Hold your entry until the enemy uses peel, then sweep through the team and keep moving. The punish window is the moment they turn to answer you and lose track of your next target. If they overfocus you, cut back toward your team and let them walk into a losing chase.
  • Behind plan: When behind late, your only real win condition is a clean cleanup. Stay disciplined, let the enemy burn spells, and enter after the health bars have already been reduced. If you are forced to start the fight, it usually means the setup was bad. Back out, wait for the reset, and try again on the next wave. One patient fight is worth more than three desperate dives.
  • Next move: After a late fight, immediately decide whether you can end the game, take position for the next wave, or need to back off and defend. Yi wins late when he keeps converting small advantages into the next objective. Do not linger in the open after a successful cleanup. Reset fast, hold your angle, and make the enemy guess where you will appear next.