League of Legends S12: Yasuo Mid Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Yasuo in the midlane in League of Legends.

Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.

That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.

Runes

Core Items

Immortal Shieldbow

3400 Gold

Infinity Edge

3400 Gold

Build

Immortal Shieldbow helps AD champions survive burst damage, and adds valuable lifesteal.

Infinity Edge enhances Yasuo's crit chance significantly, taking it above the 100% threshold thanks to his passive.

Other good items include Mortal Reminder, Death's Dance, and Guardian Angel.

Starting Item & Boots

Health Potion

50 Gold

Doran's Blade

450 Gold

Berserker's Greaves

1100 Gold

Skill Order

While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Yasuo skill priority is:

R > Q > E > W

Summoner Spells

These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Yasuo in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.

Gameplay

Yasuo is a strong duelist in lane, who benefits from a huge powerspike when he hits the 100% crit chance threshold. He has good mobility and waveclear, and can punish enemy mistakes. You'll want to poke the enemy as much as you can, and try to deny them farm. However, he has a high skillcap, so it will take some practice to become proficient. 

• Level 1 - Take Q - Steel Tempest, for the stacks and whirlwind poke tool.
• Level 2 - Take E - Sweeping Blade, for the gap closer and damage boost.
• First Back - Start building towards your Immortal Shieldbow, or pick up boots.

Tips & Tricks

• Steel Tempest increases in range, and unleashes a tornado every third stack. Use this to zone enemies. 
• You can use Flash during the animation of Steel Tempest to surprise an enemy out of reach.
• Use Steel Tempest just after Sweeping Blade to inflict zonal damage and a possible knockup.
• Wind Wall grants vision in a small area, so you can use it to check bushes - use it to grant vision of an enemy hit by a tornado, so you can follow up with your ult. 
• Yasuo can use Wind Wall during Sweeping Blade. 
• Sweeping Blade always makes you charge the same distance, regardless of how far you are from your target. You can use this to hop over some walls. 
• Each successive charge of Sweeping Blade deals 25% more damage, stacking twice. 
• You can cancel your auto-attack animation with Sweeping Blade.
• Last Breath procs the shield from your passive. 
• Last Breath automatically removes aggro from turrets, if possible.