Yixing Guide — Best Build, Combos & Playstyle

Role: Mage / Mid Lane | Strength: B (Situational) | Difficulty: Medium | Win Rate: 51.2%

Core Passive: Maintaining Initiative
Basic Attacks deal magical damage. For every 4 skill hits on the same enemy, generates a Weiqi stone that deals magical damage and adds to the total number of Weiqi stones. Upon taking fatal damage, gains brief immunity to all damage and increased Movement Speed.

Signature Ultimate: The World is My Board
Draws a Weiqi board that launches enemies and places marks on them while exposing their location. Enemies caught within the Weiqi board are bound and will be unable to leave. Gains Movement Speed while forming the board.

TL;DR Yixing: A mid-lane mage. Shove wave, then roam — never stand mid doing nothing. Control mages look for picks; burst mages wait for engage then dump damage.

Skill 1: Sliding Stones
Places a Weiqi stone at the target location, gaining vision and damaging enemies.
Weiqi stones will be pulled into Skill 2's Weiqi formation, damaging and slowing enemies in their path.

Skill 2: Taking Liberties
Deals damage to the target area and creates a Weiqi formation. The formation pulls enemies toward its center, damaging them in the process.

Ultimate: The World is My Board
Draws a Weiqi board that launches enemies and places marks on them while exposing their location. Enemies caught within the Weiqi board are bound and will be unable to leave. Gains Movement Speed while forming the board.

Skill Priority: Skill 2 → Skill 1 → The World is My Board (max Skill 2 first)
Max primary utility/damage skill first, then Sliding Stones, and The World is My Board on cooldown.

Practical Tips:
• After clearing your wave, immediately check sidelanes. A mage standing mid doing nothing is a wasted pick.
• Control mages: sit in bushes and look for picks. Burst mages: wait for your tank to engage, then dump everything.
• Mid T1 tower is the most important structure on the map. Defend it at all costs — losing it means losing your entire jungle vision.

Current recommended build for Yixing:

Slot 1: Void Staff (MATK +210, HP +500, CDR +5%
Anti-tank)

Slot 2: Twilight Stream (MATK +160, CDR +10%, Max HP +500
Boosts Magical Pierce)

Slot 3: Sage's Sanctuary (HP +900, PDEF +150, MDEF +150
Resurrect on the spot)

Slot 4: Splendor (MATK +160, CDR +7.5%, Magical Lifesteal +12%
Temp. invincibility)

Slot 5: Insatiable Tome (MATK +160, Magical Lifesteal +24%, HP +750
Lifesteal increases CDR)

Slot 6: Sage's Tome (MATK +350, CDR +10%
Great for mages)

Build Logic:
• First two items are your core damage spike. Don't change the order — build the most gold-efficient item first.
• Third item onward is situational: defensive item vs fed assassins, penetration vs tanky comps.
• Never skip a defensive item for a 6th damage item. Dead carries deal zero DPS.

Recommended Arcana: Lvl 5: Nightmare, Lvl 5: Hunt, Lvl 5: Compassion

Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash is the safest choice. If the enemy has heavy CC chains (point-click stuns, suppression), Purify saves more lives than Flash.

Standard Combos:
• Standard trade (Mid Lane skirmish or objective fight)
Sliding Stones → Taking Liberties → The World is My Board → weave basic attacks

Wave Clear & Roam:
• The #1 mistake mid players make: clearing wave then standing under tower. Clear → look at minimap → roam to whichever side needs help.
• Roam through your own jungle, never through the river alone. The river is where mages go to die.
• Same on the way back. Walking back to mid through the river after a roam is asking to get picked.

Lane Priority:
• Lane priority = clearing your wave before the enemy mage clears theirs. Whoever has priority roams first and creates plays.
• If the enemy mage out-pushes you, farm under tower and ping missing when they roam. Don't try to match a roam into fog — you'll get collapsed on.
• Mid T1 tower is the most important structure in the game. Losing it means losing vision of your entire jungle. Even if it means missing a wave, don't let it fall for free.

Mage in Teamfights:
• Control mages: sit in bushes, look for picks, open fights with CC. Burst mages: wait for engage, then dump everything on the clumped enemy team.
• Never face-check bushes. Use skills. Let your tank walk first.
• After your rotation, back off and wait for cooldowns. Standing in the frontline auto-attacking as a mage is a great way to throw your lead.

Damage Positioning:
• Your ability range = your safety zone. Don't walk past your tank to hit the enemy backline.
• AoE skills should hit as many enemies as possible. Landing your ultimate on 3 people is ten times more valuable than killing a lone support.
• Hold your CC for the enemy assassin's dive. Counter-engaging on the assassin when they jump your carry is a mage's most important contribution.

Engage Rhythm:
• Dump your rotation → back off → wait for cooldowns. Mages who stand in the front auto-attacking have a near-100% death rate.
• After winning a fight, mages shred towers fastest (skills + autos). Don't chase kills — hit the tower.

Yixing struggles against: Allain, Dharma, Dian Wei
When facing these champions:
• Play passive in lane. Surviving > trading.
• Call your jungler for help — don't try to 1v1 a counter matchup.
• Adjust build toward defense. Staying alive is more valuable than an extra damage item.

Yixing counters: Augran, Cirrus, Lam
Against these champions:
• Play aggressive. Deny them farm and force them out of lane.
• Use your matchup advantage to create a lead, then roam and spread it.
• In draft, Yixing is a strong counter-pick if the enemy locks one of these early.

Current Meta Position: B (Situational), 51.2% WR

Yixing isn't meta right now, but any hero can win in solo queue with enough mastery.

Climbing Advice:
• You'll need to outplay meta picks through superior champion knowledge. Know your limits and powerspikes cold.
• Team comp matters more. If your team picks strong early-game champs to buy you time to scale, Yixing can work.