Illaoi

Playstyle Profile

Illaoi is a frontline juggernaut — dominates melee range and punishes anyone who steps too close

Teamfight Role

Juggernaut Frontline

Power Spike

Mid game

Split Threat

None

Backline Access

Low

Illaoi's Strengths

• Dominates close-range fights — Illaoi shreds through anything that stays in melee range

How to Play Illaoi

Champion-specific pre-match tips

Gameplay tips on Summoner's Rift

Lane Phase

Position near terrain where your passive has already spawned tentacles before initiating a trade with your W.

Lane Phase

Hold your E until the enemy steps outside the minion wave, as missing it leaves you defenseless against all-ins for its entire cooldown.

Lane Phase

Aim your Q to strike both the enemy champion and the caster minions simultaneously to maintain push priority and sustain your health.

Mid Game

Push side waves past the river to draw multiple enemies, but only cast your ult after successfully pulling a spirit with E to guarantee an extra tentacle spawn.

Mid Game

Arrive at neutral objectives one minute before they spawn so your passive has enough time to generate a defensive perimeter of tentacles around the pit.

Mid Game

Throw your E at defenders while sieging towers to force them off the minion wave or chunk their health through the pulled spirit.

Late Game

Cast your ult and immediately Flash into grouped enemies during major teamfights to bypass your lack of mobility and instantly spawn maximum tentacles.

Late Game

Force teamfights inside narrow jungle paths or objective pits where enemies cannot easily sidestep your E or walk out of your tentacle slam range.

Late Game

Spam your W continuously on the closest target while your ult is active to trigger rapid tentacle slams and maximize your healing.

For matchup-tailored tips, download Baron Buff's AI Coach & Companion App.

Gameplay tips in Arena

• Land E only when your partner can punish the spirit, then fight beside spawned tentacles. R after enemies commit into you and use W between slams instead of chasing outside the zone.
• Build Black Cleaver, Sundered Sky, Overlord's Bloodmail, and Hemomancer's Helm. Health, shred, and sustain make the tentacle zone untradeable; movement items rarely fix a missed E.
• Prioritize Goliath, Goredrink, Heavy Hitter, and Mystic Punch. Stay alive long enough for repeated W slams rather than building for one leap.

Illaoi Build

This might not be your familiar build. We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher.

Core

• Black Cleaver
• Plated Steelcaps (Boots)
• Iceborn Gauntlet

Situational

• Sterak's Gage
• Spirit Visage
• Death's Dance
• Terminus
• Chempunk Chainsword
• Serpent's Fang

Illaoi Runes

The most popular rune page and summoner spells for Illaoi in ranked games over the last 30 days.

Resolve + Precision · 52.9% WR · 20,047 games

• Grasp of the Undying
• Demolish
• Bone Plating
• Overgrowth
• Presence of Mind
• Last Stand
• Adaptive Force
• Adaptive Force
• Health Scaling

Summoner spells

Flash, Teleport

Illaoi Skill Order

The recommended skill order for Illaoi from ranked games over the last 90 days: the first three skill points, then the order to max abilities.

1. lvl 1: Q
2. lvl 2: W
3. lvl 3: E
4. max: E
5. max: Q
6. max: W

How to Counter Illaoi

Counter strategies and draft context

deny access, disengage, or apply pressure from range

• Easily kited from range — Illaoi dominates melee but struggles to close distance without help
• Early aggression that denies farm and forces a lead before item spikes
• Split-map strategies that avoid grouped fights where juggernauts thrive
• Burst-heavy compositions that kill before sustain and resistances matter

Illaoi's Weaknesses

Ranged compositions kite Illaoi when allies lack the crowd control to hold targets in melee range.

Best Synergies with Illaoi

Team synergies and draft context

Allies with speed-ups or gap closers help Illaoi reach fights, which is their biggest challenge. Mixed damage keeps enemies from stacking one resistance type. Split-push allies force enemies into awkward map rotations. AOE wombo-combo setups group enemies for devastating melee damage.

Draft Context

• Picks all melee with no ranged damage — enemies kite Illaoi and the whole team for free

Learning Curve

Based on 1.2M+ matches across all ranked elos, showing how Illaoi's win rate changes with mastery level

Illaoi has a typical skill ceiling, but getting results takes patience. Expect lower win rates early while building the experience to unlock this champion's potential.

Skill Cap

Medium

Cost of Learning

High