Guide to Illaoi in League of Legends Season 13: Runes, itemization, and more

Illaoi is a powerful League of Legends champion, known for her ability to dominate the top lane with her unique playstyle and devastating tentacle attacks. As a juggernaut, she is a formidable force to be reckoned with, capable of 1v2s/1v3s at once, and dealing massive damage in team fights.

Her kit is centered around her tentacles, where she can spawn from nearby walls or by hitting enemy League of Legends champions with her abilities. Illaoi's Q (Tentacle Smash) allows her to slam the ground and damage all enemies in front of her, while her W (Harsh Lesson) allows her to dash to a target and strike them with a powerful attack.

Her E (Test of Spirit) is a unique ability, while also being the core one that allows her to rip the soul out of an enemy League of Legends champion, dealing damage over time, and allowing her to spawn additional tentacles in their vicinity. Finally, her ultimate, R (Leap of Faith), causes her to slam to the ground, summoning additional tentacles and dealing massive damage to all nearby enemies.

In League of Legends Season 13, Illaoi is arguably one of the best champions, with her having a lot of good matchups, and she is certainly one of the best picks that one can invest time into. But with that being said, players should consider her to be a decently high-skilled ceiling champion who is fairly ability-reliant. So mastering her certainly takes time.

With that in mind, this article will serve as a detailed toplane guide to Illaoi in League of Legends Season 13.

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Runes, itemization, and gameplay guide for Illaoi in League of Legends Season 13

Illaoi might be a fun and 1v9 machine on paper, but players should consider that she has a considerable amount of skill expression and requires a good amount of standard games practice, before one can use her to win Ranked Solo/Duo games.

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Runes

In League of Legends Season 13, there are two optimum rune choices for Illaoi, both of which are situational.

A) Primary Rune (Precision)

Conqueror - Presence of Mind - Legend Tenacity - Last Stand

Secondary Rune (Resolve)

Demolish - Overgrowth

The Conqueror Rune setup (Image via Riot Client)

The first is the Conqueror rune configuration, which is the finest rune set for all ranks in general. Precision is the primary rune tree in this case, with Resolve as the secondary. Access to the former allows one to have Conqueror, which is highly useful in most matchups to stack more damage, followed by Presence of Mind because she has some of the highest mana requirements.

Then comes Legend Tenacity, which is extremely effective against any CC (Crowd Control), and finally Last Stand, which is critical in tight duels. Resolve secondary, on the other hand, grants players access to Demolish, which is useful while side-laning and taking down towers. Overgrowth also allows players to gain more health throughout the course of the game.

B) Primary Rune (Resolve)

Grasp of the Undying - Demolish - Bone Plating - Overgrowth

Secondary Rune (Precision)

Presence of Mind - Last Stand

The Grasp of the Undying Rune setup (Image via Riot Client)

The second option is to go for the Grasp of the Undying rune setup, which is generally best suited against ranged toplane champions.

Running this setup allows players to access Grasp of the Undying, which is great at short trading and poking, Demolish, which helps Illaoi take towers, Bone Plating, which helps reduce the enemy's damage in a crucial 1v1/1v2, and at last Overgrowth, which gives her bonus maximum HP upon farming.

Having Precision as secondary offers players access to Presence of Mind, which is great for mana sustain, and Last Stand which is very good for dueling and skirmishing in League of Legends Season 13.

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Itemization

When it comes to itemization for Illaoi in League of Legends Season 13, she has a vast variety of builds, all depending upon the matchup.

Overall, her best mythic item is the Iceborn Gauntlet. If she is against HP-stacking opponents, then Divine Sunderer is the best option. However, if she's against more than two melee champions, then Goredrinker is a really good purchase.

Overall best build:

• Black Cleaver (Core Legendary Item)
• Plated Steelcaps
• Iceborn Gauntlet (Core Mythic Item)
• Hullbreaker
• Sterak's Gage
• Spirit Visage

Best build vs tanks/HP-stackers

• Divine Sunderer (Core Mythic Item)
• Plated Steelcaps
• Black Cleaver (Core Legendary Item)
• Sterak's Gage
• Hullbreak (If enemy team comp has 2-3 ranged champions)
• Spirit Visage

Best build vs multiple melee champions

• Goredrinker (Core Mythic Item)
• Plated Steelcaps
• Black Cleaver (Core Legendary Item)
• Sterak's Gage
• Death Dance (If there are more than two AD threats)
• Spirit Visage

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Gameplay

Players should consider Illaoi to be primarily one of the weakest League of Legends toplane champions at level 1. Unless the enemy makes a blunder, where the outplay can be made. However, it's best advised to be passive at level 1.

When it comes to levels 2-6, League of Legends players should consider spawning at least 2-3 tentacles, and the focus should mainly be on farming and trying to land her E, through her Q buffer, which helps her in baiting the opponent as they will look to dodge her Q, but would not expect the E.

While in the midst of landing her E (Test of Spirit), players should always develop a habit of first spawning a tentacle. Illaoi's gameplay and abilities in League of Legends Season 13 heavily revolve around her tentacles.

Post level 6, Illaoi becomes one of the scariest 1v1/1v2 League of Legends toplane champions. Providing that one wasn't overly aggressive in the early game, the goal should now be towards now pushing the wave, spawning 2-3 tentacles near the enemy tower, and looking for her E (Test of Spirit) angles.

Additionally, players should have the mindset of applying pressure on the enemy tower and forcing the ooponent jungler to respond, and if played correctly, Illaoi can very easily 1v1,1v2, and 1v3.

Players are also advised to continuously keep applying pressure, as long as they play around with the tentacles and land Illaoi's E. Doing so makes one soak enemy pressure as the champion is capable of doing so, which allows their teammates to either react by focusing on free objectives or look for a counter gank.

If the enemy team composition consists of more than 2-3 range champions who can CC, it's best advised to opt for the second or third item as Hullbreaker and continuously look to apply pressure at the sidelane, forcing the enemy team to send at least 2-3 members to deal with Illaoi.

Illaoi's ultimate, R (Leap of Faith), is one of her strengths in League of Legends Season 13 as it allows one to become untargettable during the casting of the ability. Meaning that her R is very crucial in dodging enemy champions' CC powers. For example, using Leap of Faith to dodge Sett R (The Show Stopper), or Mordekaiser R (Realm of Death), etc.

In conclusion, Illaoi can be a fearsome force on the Summoner's Rift if played correctly. With her immense damage output and incredible sustainability, she is a top-tier pick in the League of Legends solo queue.

By mastering her abilities, understanding her playstyle, and utilizing her strengths, Illaoi players can dominate their League of Legends opponents and lead their teams to victory.