Talk:Irelia/Strategy/@comment-122.2.31.136-20130314084408/@comment-109.155.74.162-20130328163940

Don't ALWAYS build Merc Treads for a start. If their team has all AD (More commonplace now that AD Assassins are more viable), it's a dead item. You should ALWAYS aim to counterbuild your top lane opponent. You should be looking at 3 offensive and 2 defensive items generally, which will be Trinity Force, Blade of the Ruined King and Warmog's Armour as your staple items. If the team has no AP, you pick up Randuin's Omen and either Ravenous Hydra (Abuse of Q resets on minions and the AoE, you can actually kill someone by Bladerushing minions, as well as gaining absurd amounts of burst, sustain and pushing power.) or Zephyr (If you need Tenacity.)  If they have lots of AP, pick a Wit's End and either a Spirit Visage (Suboptimal, but fairly inexpensive and gives good CDR and some HP) or a Banshee's Veil (Somewhat redundant with her passive, but can still shut off some big spells, like Malph ult, while giving health and mana).