Mai Shiranui Guide: Top Lane Mage-Assassin Hybrid
Mai Shiranui, a beloved crossover hero, is a high-mobility Mage-Assassin excelling in the top lane. Unlike standard bruisers, Mai relies on quick, explosive burst magic damage, sharp positioning, and hit-and-run tactics. Mastering her involves precise timing and using her passive to maintain lane dominance.
1. Mai Shiranui’s Core Abilities
Mai’s skills are built around quick bursts and mobility, with her Passive defining her trading potential.
| Skill Name | Type | Key Effect | Strategy Focus |
| Passive: Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi | Utility/Damage | Hitting an enemy with a skill grants 1 stack of Flame Dance. At 4 stacks, the next Basic Attack deals extra Magic Damage and Slows the enemy. | Crucial for trades and chasing. Use skills to build stacks, then land the empowered auto-attack to finish or slow. |
| Skill 1: Kachousen | Poke/Damage | Throws a fan in a straight line, damaging all enemies hit. | Main Poke Tool. Use for farming, harassing, and safely generating a passive stack from range. |
| Skill 2: Ryu Enbu | Dash/Mobility | Mai dashes forward with a spinning kick, damaging enemies around her. | Initiation, Escape, and Repositioning. Often used to close the gap after a poke or to quickly dodge a skill shot. |
| Ultimate: Chou Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi | Burst/AoE | Mai leaps to a target area, creating a massive fiery explosion that deals heavy magic damage. | Finisher and Team Fight Dive. Use to execute low-health targets or follow up on allied initiation for massive burst. |
2. Optimal Equipment Build
This build focuses on maximizing Mai’s magic burst damage, magic penetration, and essential cooldown reduction (CDR) for continuous engagement.
| Slot | Item Name | Primary Function | Rationale |
| 1 | Boots of Resistance | Movement Speed, Control Reduction | Essential for assassins, reducing the duration of crowd control effects from Junglers and other heroes. |
| 2 | Scepter of Reverberation | Magic Damage, AoE Burst | Boosts raw AP and adds an area-of-effect damage proc on hit, significantly improving waveclear and team fight potential. |
| 3 | Void Staff | Magic Penetration | Crucial mid-game item. Allows Mai to bypass high Magic Resistance (MR) and ensure her bursts remain lethal against tanks and bruisers. |
| 4 | Insatiable Tome | High AP, Cooldown Reduction (CDR) | Provides raw power and speeds up Mai’s short combo rotations, increasing her overall damage uptime. |
| 5 | Bloodweeper | Spell Vamp, Sustain | Grants lifesteal on spell damage, greatly improving Mai’s survivability and her ability to sustain through duels and skirmishes. |
| 6 | Tome of Wisdom | Massive AP Boost, Survivability | The ultimate late-game power spike, maximizing her burst potential to one-shot squishy targets. |
3. Recommended Arcana Setup
As a Mage-Assassin hybrid, Mai needs a blend of raw Magic Attack, Penetration, and Mobility to execute her hit-and-run style.
| Arcana Color | Arcana Name | Quantity | Stats Provided | Rationale |
| 🔴 Red | Nightmare | 10x | Magic Attack, Magic Pierce | Maximize early-game lane dominance and ensure her poke (S1) and full burst cuts through enemy MR. |
| 🟢 Green | Tribute | 10x | Magic Attack, Cooldown Reduction | High early AP boost plus CDR, which is vital for enabling frequent spell casting and quick combos. |
| 🔵 Blue | Hunt | 10x | Movement Speed, Attack Speed | Movement speed is paramount for positioning, dodging, and rotations. Attack speed helps with smoother execution of the passive’s empowered auto-attack. |
4. Mai Shiranui Strategy (The Hit-and-Run)
Mai’s gameplay revolves around safe poking, generating passive stacks, and committing only when a kill is assured.
Laning Phase (Top Lane)
- Poke and Stack: Constantly use Kachousen (S1) to harass the enemy and build up Flame Dance stacks from a safe distance.
- Trade Control: Against melee opponents, use the threat of your full passive (4 stacks) to zone them away from minions.
- The Engage: If the enemy missteps or is low, use Ryu Enbu (S2) to close the gap, immediately follow with the Empowered Basic Attack (Slow/Damage), and then burst with the Ultimate (S3).
Mid to Late Game
- Flanking: Avoid standing in the middle of a team fight. Use your high mobility and stealthy movement to flank the enemy team’s backline (Mage/Marksman).
- The Combo: S1 (from range) > S2 (Dash in) > S3 (Ultimate Burst) > Empowered Basic Attack (to finish/slow for cleanup).
- Safety First: After dropping your burst, use S2 or Flash to safely reposition or escape. Mai is fragile; never linger in an enemy crowd.
