How to win the jungle race as Master Yi against Karthus · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Master Yi's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Karthus.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Master Yi Favoured | Alpha Strike speeds your clear, but raw duels are losers — farm, don't fight. Lay Waste melts camps at record pace, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-1 crossing only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Master Yi Favoured | Wuju Style helps the clear more than the duel; keep choosing camps over combat, but Wall of Pain slows cover their disengage. You still win the straight exchange on the second camp; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Level 3 Route | Master Yi Favoured | Meditate buys time but wins nothing — your game starts at level six, not three. Karthus can make it awkward — isolated Lay Waste double-damage adds up fast if you stand in his Defile zone — but not as the first scuttle timer lands. Trade, then walk away with the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Master Yi Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Karthus, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Highlander Favoured | Highlander's slow immunity plus Alpha resets snowball any post-6 cleanup, while Requiem cashes their farm lead into cross-map kills. You win the breakpoint against Karthus, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Kraken Slayer Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive physical damage, attack speed, and on-hit multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or isolated targets. Karthus' first item is where Lay Waste stops chipping and starts taking a third of a health bar per cast. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Master Yi Favoured at Full Build | Full-build math leans your way: extended fights and side-lane duels favor you over Karthus — make late fights about 1v1s, not coin-flips. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early health sustain and red buff true damage. Karthus has the fastest clear in the game with Lay Waste and Defile, and he will always be a level ahead if left alone.
Ranked by the race windows in Master Yi's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Master Yi vs Karthus report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Master Yi's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows — Master Yi holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Master Yi's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows, so Karthus is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Karthus vs Master Yi guide →
All Master Yi jungle matchups →
More Master Yi jungle matchups: vs Ivern · vs Jarvan IV · vs Jax · vs Kayn · vs Kha'Zix · vs Kindred