How to win the jungle race as Master Yi against Kindred · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Master Yi's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Kindred.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Kindred | The window at the first buff belongs to Kindred: Wolf's Frenzy plus Q resets let them skirmish from untouchable range. Your own line is real — Alpha Strike speeds your clear, but raw duels are losers — farm, don't fight — but it arrives second here. Commit only with a hard gap-close ready — chasing her through camps is a lost race, then skip the level-1 crossing. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Kindred | At level 2 this window belongs to Kindred: Wolf's Frenzy plus Q resets let them skirmish from untouchable range, and Dance of Arrows kiting means you never actually touch her while she shreds you. Commit only with a hard gap-close ready — chasing her through camps is a lost race. Refuse the level-2 skirmish and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Level 3 Route | Respect Kindred | Dance of Arrows kiting means you never actually touch her while she shreds you — Master Yi has no answer to that at level 3. With three dashes banked they kite backwards and win every disengage fight on their half of the map too, so give up the level-3 river fight and answer the pressure cross-map. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Even — Farm & Track | Even through 4-5. They spend 4-5 chasing marks, so the side of the map with a live mark is where they will be, so mirror it: farm the same tempo, ward the same crossings, and take the fight only with numbers. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Highlander Favoured | Highlander's slow immunity plus Alpha resets snowball any post-6 cleanup. Lamb's Respite denies your kill at the last second and flips the reset fight — respect that one window, but the six-spike comparison favors you: take the post-6 duel whenever HP bars start even. |
| 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. Kindred's first item plus a few stacks is where the ranged trade stops being poke and starts being a duel they win. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Master Yi Favoured at Full Build | You are the better full-build side, narrowly. A stacked Kindred kites for free and Lamb’s Respite un-loses the fight you thought you won, so take the duel with cooldowns up and never mid-rotation. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early health sustain and red buff true damage. Kindred clears fast at range with Dance of Arrows and Wolf's Frenzy, and takes almost no damage doing it.
Ranked by the race windows in Master Yi's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Master Yi vs Kindred 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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No clear favourite — Master Yi holds 3 windows, Kindred 3, the rest are even.
Yes — Master Yi vs Kindred plays as a skill matchup: the jungle race swings window to window, and the better first clear usually sets the tone.
Playing the other side? Kindred vs Master Yi guide →
All Master Yi jungle matchups →
More Master Yi jungle matchups: vs Karthus · vs Kayn · vs Kha'Zix · vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke