Yorick Top Build 16.11
Yorick Top build in patch 16.11 has a 41.8% win rate over 91 games. This setup focuses on boots are an early movement purchase built to improve baseline mobility and reduce how punishing bad positioning feels. they are mainly bought to help with spacing, lane movement, and getting to fights or objectives faster.
Yorick Build Guide & Strategy (Patch 16.11)
About Yorick
Yorick is a split-pushing juggernaut who overwhelms side lanes with ghouls, Maiden pressure, and cage control that punishes anyone left alone with him too long. He is exceptional at forcing responses and grinding structures down, but he is far less threatening when his summon setup is gone or when grouped fights deny him the space to set up his army.
Yorick Build Strategy & Items
Boots support a tempo-oriented style where movement matters as much as raw stats, letting you weave in and out of trades, dodge skillshots, and reach waves or skirmishes sooner. They fit gameplans built around cleaner rotations, safer lane resets, and better control over distance in fights. This item fits practical, low-risk play where a little extra health makes trading and wave contesting less punishing. It supports champions who want stronger room for error in lane without committing as much gold as a larger durability component. This item supports committed trading and stronger all-in setups by making each damaging action hit harder before a full item is complete. It fits gameplans where you want lane pressure or skirmish power now while staying on an efficient path toward a major purchase. Boots are an early movement purchase built to improve baseline mobility and reduce how punishing bad positioning feels. They are mainly bought to help with spacing, lane movement, and getting to fights or objectives faster. Ruby Crystal is a basic health component that adds a modest but immediate durability boost. It is mainly bought to survive lane damage more comfortably and to start building toward items that need an early HP base. Pickaxe is a mid-tier attack damage component meant to provide a noticeable step up in raw physical threat. It is mainly for champions building toward larger AD items who want a stronger interim spike than smaller components provide. Doran's Shield is a defensive starter item built to absorb rough early lanes and soften repeated harassment. It is mainly chosen when surviving poke, staying healthy through ranged pressure, or stabilizing a difficult matchup matters more than early damage. Health Potion is a consumable sustain tool used to recover health over time during lane or after small fights. It is mainly for extending early map presence without needing an immediate recall.
Yorick Key Strengths
Their value shows up everywhere because early movement speed changes how quickly you can reposition, chase, retreat, and respond to map plays. Boots also make trading more reliable for champions that need better angles, tighter spacing, or faster entry into range. Ruby Crystal is appealing because its health is always relevant, helping against poke, mixed damage, and early all-ins in a very simple way. It also gives flexible build access for many tank, bruiser, and utility paths, so the purchase rarely feels dead-ended. Pickaxe stands out because the AD increase is large enough to change breakpoints on last-hits, poke, and combo damage in a way a Long Sword often does not. It is especially useful for champions who scale directly with attack damage and want a real spike without waiting for full completion gold. Doran's Shield is especially strong into lanes that win through repeated small hits, because it helps smooth out constant harassment and preserves your ability to stay in experience range. It also gives a sturdier early baseline for melee champions walking into ranged matchups or anyone expecting to concede some early control. Health Potion is valuable because it turns gold into reliable early endurance, which matters most when the first few waves decide pressure and recall timing. It also works across many matchups, making it one of the simplest ways to stay active after a rough exchange. Steel Sigil is useful because it gives a more fight-ready feel than purely scaling components, helping champions survive the kind of repeated contact that happens in close-range play. It also smooths item pathing for builds that want sturdiness now without waiting on an expensive completion. Tunneler is valuable because health is broadly useful, and this component helps melee champions hit sturdier breakpoints before a full item is complete. It also smooths recalls for bruiser builds, since buying it keeps your pathing practical while still improving real fight durability. Plated Steelcaps are strong because they answer one of the most common and persistent damage patterns in the game: sustained physical chip from attacks. They are especially useful into double-AD pressure, ranged harass lanes, or late-game carries that would otherwise shred you through repeated autos. Trinity Force is valuable because it gives a very complete offensive feel to champions that can use all parts of it, making movement, trading cadence, and sustained threat all improve at once. It is especially strong on spellblade users that want every small opening to become meaningful damage without giving up side-lane tempo. Randuin's Omen is valuable because it specifically targets the kind of explosive physical damage that can otherwise punch through ordinary tank itemization. It is especially good against crit-heavy carries and AD divers, since it makes their biggest offensive spikes much harder to convert into a clean kill. Maw of Malmortius is strong because it preserves an AD champion's ability to keep fighting through dangerous magic burst rather than forcing a full retreat the moment a mage finds an angle. It is especially good on bruisers and carries that need to stay active after the first rotation, since the item helps them survive the entry and keep dealing damage. Spear of Shojin is valuable because it reinforces the exact pattern many fighters rely on: get into range, cast repeatedly, and stay dangerous long after the first cooldown dump. It is especially strong on champions whose kit has multiple impactful basic abilities, since more access to those tools often means more chase, more damage, and better fight control at once.
Best Yorick Runes & Spells
Conqueror is a stacking combat rune designed for champions that build momentum as a fight develops. It mainly rewards repeated contact, sustained ability use, and the willingness to stay engaged until accumulated combat power starts to outweigh early burst runes. Last Stand is a combat rune that increases a champion's damage as their own health gets lower. It is mainly chosen by fighters and other close-range champions that expect to keep dealing damage deep into dangerous trades instead of backing off the moment they are threatened. Biscuit Delivery is a lane sustain rune meant to keep health and resources from collapsing under repeated pressure. Its purpose is to make difficult early phases more survivable so a champion can continue farming, trading, and contesting waves instead of being forced out too quickly. Approach Velocity is a chase rune built to help players close distance once a target has already been slowed, controlled, or otherwise made catchable. Its purpose is to make successful setup matter more by turning partial access into full contact. Grasp of the Undying is a trading rune built around repeated short combat touches that slowly tilt lane and scaling in the user's favor. Its purpose is to reward champions that can step up regularly, land a hit in combat, and turn that pattern into both immediate trade value and long-term durability. Second Wind is an anti-poke sustain rune built to soften repeated chip damage during lane. Its purpose is to help a champion keep functioning through annoying harassment by recovering health after taking hits instead of being steadily bled out. Demolish is a structure pressure rune that turns time near enemy turrets into meaningful objective damage. Its main purpose is to reward lane control, roam timing, and side-lane pressure by helping champions cash in on windows where the turret is left exposed. Overgrowth is a health-scaling rune that steadily adds durability as the game progresses through normal minion and monster flow. Its purpose is to give frontliners and bruisers a passive long-term toughness boost without requiring any special combat trigger. Bone Plating is an anti-burst lane rune that reduces the damage from an opponent's immediate follow-up after first contact. Its purpose is to make short, explosive trades less punishing by weakening the part of the combo that usually does the real damage. Legend: Bloodline is a scaling sustain rune that gradually adds more self-healing through basic attacks as the game develops. Its purpose is to make repeated hit patterns more durable over time, especially for champions that expect to stay in combat and convert damage dealt into staying power. Legend: Alacrity is a scaling attack-speed rune made to sharpen auto-based gameplay as stacks accumulate. Its main purpose is to increase how quickly a champion can deliver repeated hits, making sustained DPS and trigger-based attack patterns feel smoother and more threatening. Triumph is a takedown rune that rewards successful fights with a burst of recovery and extra payoff at the moment an enemy falls. Its main purpose is to keep momentum alive after the first kill so a champion can survive the aftermath and continue pushing the skirmish. Flash is an instant repositioning spell built around solving range, angle, and danger in a single moment. It is mainly used to create or escape decisive situations that normal movement cannot cover in time. Teleport is a map-wide tempo spell built to convert wave states and timing windows into presence somewhere else on the map. It is mainly used to protect lane economy, answer side pressure, and arrive at fights or objectives without giving up too much structure or farm.
How to Play Yorick (Early, Mid & Late Game)
Yorick Laning Phase (Early Game)
In the early game as Yorick in the Top lane, prioritize consistent farming and map awareness. Aim to secure your Plated Steelcaps as quickly as possible to establish a lane advantage and create opening opportunities.
Yorick Mid Game Strategy
During the mid game, utilize your 3 item power spikes to control lane transitions and objective contested zones. As Top Yorick, your roaming potential and skirmishing power are at their peak.
Yorick Late Game Strategy
In the late game, focus on teamfighting effectiveness and critical positioning. As Yorick, your role is to maintain utility and pressure in final sieges, coordinated and protecting objectives with your full item build.
Yorick Mechanics & Gameplay Tips
Good Yorick players prepare graves before trading, land Mourning Mist to send ghouls forward at the right moment, and place Dark Procession where it cuts off the escape path instead of reacting after the target already left. Weak Yorick play summons without a real push plan, cages targets who can easily disengage, or brings Maiden into bad fights where she dies for nothing.