Zaahen vs Master Yi Counter Pick

Master Yi runs at 355 movement speed, ten points quicker than Zaahen’s 345, and Highlander widens that gap while also shielding him from slows. Two 175-range physical champions usually settle their duels by speed, but across 122 games on patch 16.13.1, Zaahen wins 56.6%. What decides it is what happens after the gap closes, not who closes it first.

Wuju Style turns some of Yi’s damage into true damage, which means Zaahen’s 121 armor at level 18 only partly blunts it. Yi is weaker on the defensive side, though. He has 33 armor at level 1 and 109.5 at level 18, against Zaahen’s 36 and 121, and his maximum health is 2,425 compared with 2,578. Meditate heals him and cuts incoming damage, but it is a channel, and Dreaded Return can pull him out of position mid-cast. Alpha Strike lets Yi go briefly untargetable while crossing the map, and that is his genuine counter to Aureate Rush. Landing it at the right moment is the skill this matchup rewards, and it is rated difficulty 4 for Yi against Zaahen’s 2. Both champions rely on mana, and Yi’s 65 attack damage at level 1 slightly outpaces Zaahen’s 63, so his real advantage lies in those first few levels, where he is ahead rather than just quicker. Once armor and health totals pull apart, longer fights tend to favour whoever builds up Cultivation of War. Full details on his kit are on the Master Yi entry.