Irelia Guide - How to Play Irelia in Season S14 (2024)

The damage she can deal with a fully stacked Passive, along with her increased damage to shield mechanic, allows her to perform a lot of outplays if she uses her Q in a proper fashion along with her Passive. This can allow her to get rid of multiple enemies single-handedly.

Her E allows her to land a multi-man CC chain, which can be used as an extension of CC to already CC’d targets. It also allows her to Q to such targets without putting that ability on cooldown. This ability can be the difference between a won team fight, or a botched up all-in, depending on its use.

Her Ultimate R not only prevents the enemy from escaping quickly, but it also allows her teammates to land their own CC on the slowed/trapped enemy team. It can act as a very effective initiation tool that scores her team a win.

Prone to CC once she goes in. This is lethal for her if the enemy team has layered CC, or if she delves too deep into the enemy team and has no form of follow up from her team.

Her Q usage needs a lot of practice and awareness. If mistimed, that ability will go on cooldown and she won’t be able to do much if she isn’t close to her target. This will also make her prone to CC.

Landing her Ultimate R on ranged carries can be a grueling task, especially if the enemy has some form of dash. Once her Ultimate R is down, her all-in potential goes down by a bit as the enemy can kite her out.

Early game
0 - 15 min

Irelia’s early game is strong. Look for plays to get an early kill on the enemy laner. If you can get one kill or get an early health lead, you’re going to have an easier time during the laning phase.

Once you’re level 6, play aggressive and look for a kill. You should try to get them low before committing to the all-in, but it should be plain sailing.

Remember your Q will reset if you use it on a low health minion. Keep a constant eye on the minion wave and look for these aggressive plays.

Mid game
15 - 25 min

After the laning phase has ended, go to a different lane (or stay top) and just split push. You’re a good split pusher and can draw a lot of attention to your lane.

If somebody tries to contest your split push, look to fight them. Irelia is a good duelist and will be able to fight most enemies who try to stop her.

While you’re a champion that is usually sent to split push, you might need to group with your team if the enemy is trying to force something. Be prepared to rotate around the map and help them fight.

Late game
25+ min

In the late game, continue to split push if your team isn’t at risk of dying or getting caught out.

If your team is going to get caught out or if the game isn’t one-sided, you need to group with your team to help them fight.

Play on the side of the map that has the next major objective up so you can rotate to take it with your team. Alternatively, if you have Teleport, you can go to the bot side of the map and use it to get to your team.

Early game0 - 15 min

Irelia is extremely strong when her Passive is stacked up. This is when she should be going for a significant fight as it will ensure a massive victory for her as long as she has a target to auto-attack. Bonus points to survivability if she can Q to minions and reset the ability.

The first item component will help Irelia massively in this lane. It will bolster her dueling potential and increase her survivability. It will be highly beneficial when her Passive is stacked up completely.

Level 6 is a significant power spike where Irelia can start dictating the pace of this lane. Her opponent will have to be very careful as Irelia can decimate them with her Ultimate R and Q should they get hit by the initial Ultimate R cast.

Mid game15 - 25 min

At level nine, Irelia will be able to max out her Q. Being her central damage ability, she will be able to outplay her enemies for days now. The sustain will be pretty decent too.

Once she manages to get an extra point in her Ultimate R, she will use the ability frequently in the lane. This will lead to her taking more skirmishes and winning most duels in the game.

Irelia is excellent at skirmishing due to her mobility, damage reduction, and Ultimate R. Fighting in chokepoints and the objective pits will surely get her ahead in the game.

Late game25+ min

Three points in her Ultimate R will give her a massive power spike. Then, with a short cooldown, she will take more fights and easily pick enemies in the side lanes.

At this point, due to her items, Irelia will be extremely tanky and will be dealing tons of damage. The amount of damage she deals will catch most enemies off-guard, especially if she manages to flank the enemy.

Irelia is especially good in fights, specifically fights which occur around choke points. This is because her Ultimate R limits the enemy's movement and allows her teammate to dive on the enemy.