Table of Contents
[Pre-Season 8] Vi Guide by Super Metroid (S4/S5/S6/S7 NA Challenger)
Summoner Spells Back to Top
Don't question it, just take these two summoners.
You need 
in order to make use of 
and otherwise your champion will fall flat against non-stupid players in a lot of situations.
www.twitch.tv/supermetroidlol is my stream~
Video Guide:
New Runes Back to Top
Abilities Back to Top
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In season 7 you will most often be starting at blue or red buff, which means your first ability point will be in 
, but if you choose to start at the raptors (with the help of your mid and/or top laner) you will want to start 
instead.
Vi's level 3 is very powerful and stands as one of the stronger jungler level 3 powerspikes, enabling you to look for scraps with the enemy jungler and ganks at whichever lanes look open. It's very important that you are able to land a Q or at least use it to re-position yourself in a meaningful way as its' cooldown at early ranks is very long.
Past her level 3 spike in power, Vi's next strongest point will be her level 6 which can be very powerful as well, as 
brings a lot of gap close, damage, and crowd control.
The last point to be made regarding her skill order is that historically her W was best to max second, with there being some pros and cons to maxing E second or W second, but W being better overall. As of Patch 6.5 in which her E was given a buff I think her E is ever so slightly better to max second within the context of my build and playstyle. There are still pros and cons to both, so I wouldn't worry too much about it, feel free to max W second if you want to.
Items Back to Top
Starting Items
Core Items
-
All of these boots are viable options. Swiftness boots are cheap and feel good with the slow reduction on your Q's self-slow, tabi and mercs are both a bit expensive for what they give currently but are still ok if you want to get a bit more tanky. Lucidity is another strong option if you can fit it into your build. It's cheap and decreases your summoner spell cooldowns.
Situational Items
PATCH 7.9 UPDATE: 
+
+
are a really strong combo together, you can build this most games if you want, after buying your warrior enchant and boots, your last slot can be used for whatever you want. This has been my core build since 7.9, I do still purchase 
in many of my games before going for my core even though it's not in the best spot right now because I find it can be difficult to snowball games otherwise.
Be careful not to buy too much CDR as the cap for CDR is 40% and it's very easy to buy too much this season, especially if you've chosen to go for a rune page with 10% CDR in runes as a result of the enemy team having little to no magic damage. A lot of your build paths will end up being centered around avoiding this limit.
I don't like building Vi as a tank. I don't think she is a very effective when played as a tank champion. It does not make sense to me. For this reason, I do not build Cinderhulk, as it is a jungle item for tank junglers.
Matchups Back to Top
-
AatroxMedium -
AmumuMedium -
EliseMedium -
EvelynnEasy -
FizzMedium -
GragasMedium -
GravesHard -
HecarimMedium -
Jarvan IVMedium -
JaxHard -
Kha'ZixMedium -
KindredHard -
Lee SinMedium -
Master YiMedium -
NidaleeHard -
NocturneHard -
NunuMedium -
OlafHard -
PantheonEasy -
Rek'SaiMedium -
RengarEasy -
ShacoMedium -
ShyvanaHard -
SkarnerMedium -
UdyrMedium -
ViEasy -
ZacMedium
VS
Aatrox
Medium
this dude fucks you up unless he's an ape and dies to you instantly or he lets you interrupt his Q with your Q but he's mostly a shitty champion so it should be okay, just need to play around him unless he's squishy enough for you to burst
VS
Amumu
Medium
this dude just fucks you up in general although he's a shitty champion so it's usually okay anyways, if he manages to get past his terrible early game and get built up you will need to be careful though
VS
Elise
Medium
this matchup seems like it should be good but it isn't because elise's kit is way more overloaded with random crap than yours so be careful
you can still mess her up though if enemy player isn't skilled enough
VS
Evelynn
Easy
this matchup is pretty easy, her high movespeed from her W will sometimes make it hard to land your Q but if you can land it you'll usually just completely mess her up
VS
Fizz
Medium
this dude mostly just fucks you up unless you have low enough ping to execute a full combo on him after somehow landing your Q, or if he wastes his E for some reason
try to interrupt his ult's CC with your R maybe
you can also try to land your Q when he goes for his Q which will freeze him into a fairly quick but predictable dashing animation for a bit
probably contemplate picking up a red smite for this matchup if his build is ap assassin
VS
Gragas
Medium
if you his 
both of you will get damaged and cc'ed but his lasts longer so he'll usually get his 
off which makes that not really ideal to look for, apart from that, he's strong early game and stays relevent as a peeler all game with his low cooldowns/mana costs, %hp based damage and high base damages
with that said, you will be able to be more powerful than him once you've picked up some core items usually.
VS
Graves
Hard
this broken champion will kick your dick off until you don't want to play league of legends anymore
VS
Hecarim
Medium
this guy is pretty easy to face, you can usually win fights versus him, especially if you catch him in his jungle during the early game, his ultimate offers little help for him as you can follow him through it and also avoid the CC from it using your ultimate
EDIT: this matchup has gotten more difficult with the buff to his E, the buff to ghost, and the buff to trinity force. You will need to try extra hard to shut him down before he gets out of control and play around his strengths.
VS
Jarvan IV
Medium
this dude can fuck you up but you can also fuck them up
try to interrupt his E>Q with your Q for great success and style points.
VS
Jax
Hard
this dude just fucks you up if you ever try to fight him so you'll have to play around him
unless his E is on cooldown
try to time your ulti around his E's stun if you can, also
you could try to get a red smite to see if that will help stop him from demolishing you
VS
Kha'Zix
Medium
this one can go either way, he can outplay your ulti pretty easily if he's got fast fingers and is able to see it coming, so be very careful about how you choose to approach fighting him.
i think picking up a red smite is a good idea in this matchup
VS
Kindred
Hard
this broken champion will kick your dick off until you don't want to play league of legends anymore
although if you have low enough ping to reliably perform a full combo you may be able to lock them down and kill them before they get a chance to use their ulti depending on their build
VS
Lee Sin
Medium
this dude can fuck you up but you can also fuck them up
interrupt the second part of his 
with your for great success and style points
VS
Master Yi
Medium
this dude will fuck you up if he manages to Q you while you're mid-air for your Q onto him, otherwise you will probably be able to fuck them up with your lockdown unless they're fed in which case you may need to play around them
VS
Nidalee
Hard
this broken champion will kick your dick off until you don't want to play league of legends anymore
VS
Nocturne
Hard
this matchup is pretty hard if he gets a good spell shield off he can mess you up really easily, need to try to snowball before he becomes relevant and then be careful about how you play the fights against him depending on how he builds
if he is building as assassin you could maybe get a red smite to stop him from being able to do that to you as easily
VS
Nunu
Medium
this dude is pretty annoying, he's pretty decent at ruining your day in general with attack speed slow and movespeed slow, although he's not that strong of a champion so it's usually not so bad
VS
Olaf
Hard
this dude just completely fucks you up
if he tries to use his 
while knocked up from your sometimes he just gets stuck for a second randomly and that can be pretty useful for winning the matchup i guess? lol
VS
Pantheon
Easy
this guy is pretty easy most of the time especially since he's not that good right now although his passive is pretty obnoxious
just make sure to interrupt 
with .
VS
Rek'Sai
Medium
this champion is a bit more broken than yours but it's a winnable matchup for sure
VS
Rengar
Easy
this matchup isn't so bad if you can abuse him early or interrupt his leap with your Q whether it be around bushes or when he's trying to ult
he might still give you a hard time by preying on your lowly pleb teammates mostly though
VS
Shaco
Medium
make sure to turn around so he doesn't get his amplified damage off from his shiv if you can, you can beat him in fights but you need to be really careful about getting your ultimate interrupted by his ultimate, accidentally ulting the clone, or getting your Q dodged with his ultimate
i think picking up a red smite is a good idea in this matchup
VS
Shyvana
Hard
this dudette just fucks you up unless she misses her E somehow so you'll probably have to play around her
if you want to have any chance with fighting her you're going to need red smite
VS
Skarner
Medium
you will probably win duels against him if you aren't fighting on his april fools spires but his ultimate can lock you down and let his team mess you up so you'll have to play around him
VS
Udyr
Medium
this dude mostly just fucks you up usually although he's kind of a weak champion so you can usually just play around him
VS
Vi
Easy
stop playing normal games you pleb
VS
Zac
Medium
this matchup goes both ways, he can interrupt your Q with his E and R in duels, you can interrupt his E with your Q, you should be able to beat him usually but the fights can be close, his teamfighting is stronger but he's less impactful in the early game in most cases
Clear Path Back to Top
These are my clear paths, which are mostly centered around opening up as many opportunities as possible for you to pressure the map using your level 3 powerspike I take 
when starting at buffs and 
if I'm starting at the Raptors (with the help of my mid and/or top laner).
In the following videos I clear my first three camps and then ping which opportunities I have open to me following my first three camps, note that I only receive a bit of help in my Raptor start video to outline that I would never bother starting it without a mid or top who can provide a leash (ex: 
)
The main benefit to starting at the Raptors is that the Small Raptors will give you more experience than they should at level 1 and you can give yourself a small EXP lead by taking them and then taking the large Raptor, resulting in potentially hitting level 4 and/or level 6 a bit sooner.
With that said, you should be receiving help at your Red or Blue starts as well from your Top or Bottom laners, try pinging them a bit a minute in advance if they look inattentive since it can make a reasonably large difference to clear a few seconds quicker and with a couple hundred more HP.
After this clear you will be level three and you should be near full health, depending on the quality of your leash. Next up, you can look for a gank at Mid and Bot, or Mid and Top depending on which side you're clearing from and which team you're on. I look for these kinds of ganks nearly every game if I see an opening, as Vi's level 3 is strong.
If I do not see any immediate openings I will pick up the Scuttle Crab and peek into the enemy's jungle area to check their clear path. (if I have not been given information regarding their clear path by my team) The moment I see what jungle camps are up, gone, or being taken I can usually tell what is the location of the enemy jungler. I will look to communicate this information to my teammates using smart pings to help them avoid ganks or give them the confidence to play aggressively. If their jungle is up I may contest it depending on the position of my lanes and some other factors. If I choose to contest the enemy's jungle I will try to communicate this to my team ahead of time so that they are prepared. Otherwise, I may return into my jungle to farm, while keeping an eye out for gank openings, and recall after clearing the camps on the side of the map I'm on usually.
Note: I may choose to recall at a different time for a variety of reasons, as there are many variables in real matches. Also, make sure to throw down your yellow trinkets someplace useful along the way. The time it will cost you is well worth it.
After this point you will be left with various quantities of gold depending on how the situation played out. Here are some examples of what I may purchase on my first back:
+
+
++
+++
These are just examples, be smart about what you buy on your backs, recalling takes you off the map for a long time. You need to get the most you possibly can from it. There will almost always be pros and cons to what you choose to buy, so take what you think will help you the most in your match depending on what you plan to do in the next few minutes.
Note: I do not recommend buying 
if you are looking to spend 350g as it will only increase your jungle sustain. 
or 
can be acceptable uses of 650g but I would usually get + instead with 700g on an early recall. As of patch 6.9 you only need 
or in your inventory in order to receive the maximum amount of experience from clearing the jungle.
Objectives Back to Top
I should start off by saying that Vi is one of the best junglers at securing both the dragons and the baron, the reason for this being that Vi's %hp damage on her and the auto attack reset on her result in very high sustained single-target damage. Vi has an added benefit, however, with her 
as this additionally helps her to stay relatively healthy while taking them down, which is something some other fast objective takers like 
and 
are weaker at.
Another benefit with Vi is that she is able to sneak into the pit of Dragon or Baron using her which can open up some opportunities for sneaky objectives, as your enemies may ward only certain entrances or sections of the river and fail to react as a result, which can create large leads for your team.
Here is a quick list of objectives and my thoughts on them:
Infernal Dragon: Always useful, not very threatening, especially powerful to take in teams with strong scalings, also important to look for versus teams with strong scalings to deny it from them. Very straight-forward, helps with snowballing games and helpful in every situation.
Ocean Dragon: This one is more subtle but can be extremely valuable for laners and while playing within or against poke compositions, it also isn't very threatening but it's worth noting you should be more careful while taking it as it does heavily slow your movement speed with its' attacks.
Cloud Dragon: This dragon feels very powerful after its' recent buff, it feels fantastic to have for everyone on the team to help with things like roaming, securing vision, leaving base, rotating to objectives. It also helps with dodging skill shots, chasing enemies, and running away from enemies. The last thing I want to mention is that its' health pool is smaller than other dragons but it has a very high attack speed and deals the highest amount of damage out of the dragons as a result.
Mountain Dragon: This dragon has the highest health but deals the lowest amount of damage, the buff it gives is extremely valuable for increasing baron pressure and also helps with securing towers throughout the entire game.
Rift Herald: I don't value this objective super highly but it's not bad to take if you're on the top side of the map and don't have much else to do, having secured a mountain dragon can help make it a bit more attractive as it will speed things up a bit. It provides a buff that can be taken by one teammate and will last for 20 minutes as well as a small amount of global gold for your teammates. The buff provides additional on-hit damage and damage reduction for the person who's taken it when there are no teammates nearby, with decreased effectiveness for ranged champions. I value this buff more highly depending on how split push focused my top lane matchup is or whether or not I feel I will be focusing more on being a split push threat for my team. These things depend on team compositions as well, but some popular examples of split push oriented laners are 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, and many others.
Baron Nashor: Baron is obviously a very high value objective, and from the moment it spawns at 20 minutes it is very important to be conscious of it as it can completely sway the game if it's picked up by any team, sometimes moreso than normal depending on team compositions and how well it's used. The recent buff to the Baron's buff duration has had a large impact on its' usefulness as well. Baron gives everyone on the team a large sum of gold, and gives everyone alive its' buff which gives a large increase to their ability power and attack damage as well as making them increase the power and movespeed of nearby minions, making it the perfect buff for sieging. Baron can be very easy to secure or very difficult to secure depending on what kind of champions you have, but Vi is fantastic to have for Baron if she's able to have a teammate assist her in taking it by soaking the on-hit 50% reduced damage inflicted by Baron's attacks. It's extremely important when taking baron that the tankiest or lowest damage member of your team who's capable of tanking be soaking this debuff. Lastly, of course, having Mountain Dragon will have a massive impact on your baron pressure, as Baron's resistance values are fairly high and Mountain Dragon's damage increase will ignore them completely.
Elder Dragon: Starting at 35 Minutes the regular dragon spawns are replaced with Elder Dragon instead, it has an extremely high pool of health, deals moderate damage, and offers a buff which gives a huge increase in damage to you and all teammates alive when securing it, as well as increasing the potency of any other Dragon buffs you've thus far obtained by +50%. I do not value Elder Dragon very highly as it takes a long time to secure and the buff it offers does not last very long. There are, however, some situations where Elder Dragon can be very useful to pick up such as before a final push or prior to a Baron's spawn in order to give your team an edge in a Baron team fight, but overall I would recommend to be fairly apprehensive about deciding whether or not to look for it.
This concludes my list, as you can see, all of the new base dragons can be very useful to pick up which is very much to Vi's benefit.
Here are some general tips for securing them as Vi:
- I usually wait until I've done my first recall before looking for Dragons, I only ever look for it before my first recall in very rare situations where for example the enemy bottom laners are both dead or something. After my first recall, however, it is usually a reasonably good option to look for a solo dragon.
- You will want to optimize your clear path for this ahead of time if you can, set up a bit of vision to help make sure you won't be interrupted and keep an eye out for whether or not they have set up vision around it.
- Using a Vision plant in the area around the dragon where you think they might have wards and/or expending your enemy's Vision plants ahead of time can help guarantee your safety.
- As always, if you're one camp away from leveling up and it's not too out of your way, you should consider picking it up before looking to start the dragon, every level counts.
- Don't worry about your skill order max, it's not a big deal whether or not you've sunk extra points in your
over 
, the extra points in will allow you to proc the more times and give you more opportunities to proc 
as well, so it's not really a big deal.
Don't fret if the enemy team has picked up the Scuttle Crab, it is easily avoided and will give the enemy team a false sense of security, here are some pictures to help explain.
and the other side:
About Me Back to Top
Hi, I'm Super Metroid.
I'm a North American challenger player who has played in high elo since approximately 5 months after starting my ranked career in season 2, although I've taken breaks, and went by a different name until season 3. I used to be mostly known for my 
gameplay and I've also extensively played a myriad of other champions, primarily farm-based melee carry / semi-carry champions such as 
, 
, 
, , , 
, 
, and 
at various points in time.
During Season 5's pre-season I was very keen on expanding my champion pool to as many meta champions as possible while looking to enter competitive play and picked up 
as a result. I had a ton of fun playing her and even after they gave her a big nerf which pushed her out of viability I kept her in my champion pool this entire time because I still find her to be lots of fun.
I hope that with the help of this guide and some practice you can also experience that same feeling of raw fun while playing Vi in your League of Legends matches!
Here are some social media links where you can reach me:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/supermetroidlol
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/supermetroidlol
Discord: https://discord.gg/e6rm5CF