Sylas vs Yorick — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Sylas against Yorick · 55.45% win rate over 303 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Sylas is favoured — Sylas owns 5 of the 7 game windows to Yorick's 1. Sylas wins 55.45% of games vs Yorick in top lane (303 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1Even / skillYorick spawns a ghoul off any minion kill at level 1 — stepping in to trade hands him free chip damage before you can Q or W back. Stay at Q cast range and last-hit cleanly.
Level 2SylasE Abduct comes online and you can hook him the instant Mourning Mist E is on cooldown — one hook leads into W Kingslayer for a short trade that hurts him more than the ghoul chip hurts you.
Level 3SylasFull kit with chain-Passive autos and W sustain lets you bully his melee pattern; his ghouls deal chip, your W heals it back in any trade that goes more than two seconds.
Levels 4-5SylasYour W heal keeps you healthy through ghoul swarms and you can dodge his W wall with first-tap E — force trades whenever Dark Procession is on cooldown.
Level 6SylasStealing Eulogy of the Isles removes his primary dueling tool and gives you the Maiden and ghouls to fight for you — this is the biggest tempo swing of the entire game; all-in immediately.
First itemSylasRiftmaker omnivamp stacks through every ghoul auto and Maiden hit, meaning his sustained-damage style refills your HP faster than it depletes it — keep forcing fights.
Two+ itemsYorickFull-item Yorick with Maiden's independent push and percent-health damage outduels you in a straight 1v1 — rotate to teamfights where his cage is less threatening and you can still use his stolen R.

Early game (levels 1–5)

At level 1 you only have Q or W and Yorick's Omen of Death passive lets him kill a minion to spawn a ghoul — don't step into ghoul-swarm range or you take free chip damage with no reliable trade back. Farm from max Q range and accept that he shoves early. The moment you hit level 2 and E is available, look for a hook the instant his Mourning Mist E is on cooldown: if you land Abduct before his slow applies, you pull yourself onto him and W Kingslayer fires before any ghoul leash reaches you.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Sylas vs Yorick 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? Yorick vs Sylas guide →
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