How to win the jungle race as Nidalee against Master Yi · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Nidalee's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Master Yi.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Nidalee Favoured | Max-range Javelin poke decides who enters the scuttle fight healthy. Master Yi can make it awkward — Alpha Strike untargetability dodges your key spell and Wuju true damage wins long trades — but not before either of you has a second camp down. Trade, then walk away with a camp and a chunk of their health bar. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Nidalee Favoured | Pounce-reset cat clears let you out-tempo and kite the slower kits. The margin is thin: Wuju Style helps the clear more than the duel, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Hold your main ability until Alpha ends, and force fights before his items arrive. |
| Level 3 Route | Nidalee Favoured | The spear-hunt-pounce execute pattern wins any fight you start at range. Meditate buys time but wins nothing, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-3 river fight only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Respect Master Yi — Path Opposite | You lose the 4-5 duel. He is farming through 4-5 and will not contest anything until Highlander and a first item land — so let them have that half of the map and cash the other half faster. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Danger — Yi's R | Six is where this matchup breaks for Nidalee — Highlander makes him un-kitable and every takedown resets the chase, while Highlander's slow immunity plus Alpha resets snowball any post-6 cleanup. Hard CC is the only answer — chain stuns or do not take the post-6 fight. Farm the far side and come back at two items. |
| First Item Spike | Lich Bane / Shadowflame Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive magical damage and burst multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or assassin targets. Master Yi's first item is the start of the curve rather than a spike — his real jump is the second and third. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Danger — Master Yi Outscales | The clock is your enemy. He is the strongest 1v1 in the game and hard CC is the only answer left, so close the game on the first two objectives you actually win. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early clear speed and health retention via E heal loops before executing a fast 3-camp clear straight into an aggressive lane gank or invade path. Master Yi clears very fast with Alpha Strike and Wuju Style, and he will be a level ahead if nobody interrupts him.
Ranked by the race windows in Nidalee's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Nidalee vs Master Yi 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 — Nidalee holds 4 windows, Master Yi 3, the rest are even.
Yes — Nidalee vs Master Yi 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? Master Yi vs Nidalee guide →
All Nidalee jungle matchups →
More Nidalee jungle matchups: vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Maokai · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri · vs Nocturne