How to win lane as Malphite against Master Yi · 50.72% win rate over 558 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Malphite | Your Q poke and Granite Shield win level 1 — chunk him on every approach and shrug off the trade back. |
| Level 2 | Malphite | At 2 your E slow, early armor and shield still out-trade his young kit — keep the pressure on. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Level 3 turns skillful — Alpha Strike and Wuju true damage start answering your poke, and your mana runs thin. |
| Levels 4-5 | Master Yi | By 4-5 his true damage cuts straight through armor and your slow, mana-hungry kit cannot punish him — stop taking extended trades. |
| Level 6 | Master Yi | At 6 he baits your R and all-ins the moment it is down — hold it or use it with backup, never as a solo coin-flip. |
| First item | Master Yi | Once his attack speed is online his true damage out-DPSes your armor stacking — first item is his spike, not yours. |
| Two+ items | Master Yi | Late his resets and true damage out-scale you whenever your R is tracked — you are a teamfight ult, not a Yi answer. |
Cash in while the lane is yours: Q him on every approach at level 1 and let Granite Shield eat the counter-trade for free. Through level 2 your E slow and early armor keep winning exchanges, but watch the mana bar — by 3 his Alpha Strike and Wuju true damage make it a genuine fight instead of a beating.
The full Malphite vs Master Yi report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Master Yi vs Malphite guide →
All Malphite top lane matchups →