How to win lane as Riven against Yasuo · 53.83% win rate over 3,043 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are trading Q autos at Level 1 with no lockdown tool — his Q has a slight range edge so don't extend, just farm and deny him free Conqueror stacks. |
| Level 2 | Riven | Your W stun unlocks at Level 2 and he has no answer to it — a hard point-click lock stops his E-dash mid-commit and forces the full rotation on him. |
| Level 3 | Riven | With all three abilities you E in, W-stun him before he can Q through the wave, and chain Q1-Q2-Q3 with Runic Blade autos — he has no escape from the locked combo. |
| Levels 4-5 | Riven | You out-trade him cleanly at Levels 4-5 as long as you juke his Q3 tornado and don't fight him near a wall angle that extends his knockup setup for a gank. |
| Level 6 | Riven | Your Level 6 spike is unconditional — Blade of the Exile adds range and Wind Slash execute — while his Last Breath needs a knockup source he can't produce alone in the top lane. |
| First item | Riven | First item Shieldbow or Trinity Force cements your damage and sustain; he needs two items to reach his crit spike, so keep forcing 1v1s and converting the lead now. |
| Two+ items | Yasuo | Infinity Edge with double-crit passive makes his autos shred you in drawn-out fights — play for short bursts, respect the DPS, and don't expect to casually win the 1v1 anymore. |
At Level 1 both of you are poking around the wave — his Q has more range than your auto-range, so don't stand still for it, but don't blow E chasing him either. The lane flips the instant you hit Level 2: your W stun is a hard point-and-click lock that his E-dash cannot cancel mid-flight, so the moment he steps up to trade you can E in, W-stun him before he dashes away, and run the full Q chain. Level 3 is your first real ownership window — Q1 to close, W-stun to lock, Q2-Q3 through him with Runic Blade autos weaved in; his Steel Tempest Qs can't interrupt your stun and he has no reliable escape from the full rotation. Watch that you don't trade into a pre-stacked Q3 tornado: if you see his third Q about to fire, juke to the side and re-engage immediately after it misses.
The full Riven vs Yasuo 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? Yasuo vs Riven guide →
All Riven top lane matchups →