UPDATE · Honor of Kings: World — Alpha recap
Sima Yi

Sima Yi

司马懿

C Jungle Mid
Difficulty

Assassin/Mage

Burst Assassin Gap-Close Early Game Medium

Also known as

Sima Yi's Chinese name is 司马懿.

司马懿

Quick summary

Sima Yi is a struggling Jungle Assassin who wants to close distance and snowball off picks. Public guides recommend a build starting with Guerrilla Machete. Watch for Alessio-style counters in the enemy draft.

Current patch decision guide

When to pick Sima Yi, when to avoid them, and how to adapt your build.

Updated 2026-06-04

Sima Yi is a struggling Jungle Assassin who wants to snowball with kills off early ganks. Public guide data shows a build centered on Guerrilla Machete, Blood Clan's Grimoire, Boots of Dexterity, used to clear camps efficiently and convert pressure into ganks. Pick him when the draft lets Sima Yi reach targets that aren't built around Alessio-style answers; avoid when the enemy chains crowd control that stops the engage before damage lands.

Pick Sima Yi when

  • Your draft can capitalize on early picks and snowball lane leads
  • Your team has the structure to use his ability to clear camps efficiently and convert pressure into ganks, since Sima Yi delivers tempo from objectives and cross-map kill threats.
  • The enemy draft includes Lu Bu, Wuyan, and Menki, who appear in counter data as matchups Sima Yi can pressure.

Avoid Sima Yi when

  • The team needs sustained team-fight damage rather than a single-target diver
  • Your team needs a tank pick more than Sima Yi's specialty, leaving the role unfilled if you commit here.
  • The enemy already drafted Alessio, Arli, and Lady Zhen, who counter data identifies as direct answers to Sima Yi.

Power spikes

Early game: Sima Yi is listed as an early-game threat in public guide data — convert the early window into objectives before scaling picks come online.
Mid game: with cooldown reduction online, gap-close skills come back fast enough to chain into multiple fights
Late game: cooldowns become short enough that Barren Lands influences every team fight rather than being a one-shot tool.

Build decisions

Default jungle path

Public build references for Sima Yi recommend Guerrilla Machete, Blood Clan's Grimoire, Boots of Dexterity, Insatiable Tome, Breakthrough Robe, and Runeblade. Use this as the baseline assassin plan before adapting to the enemy draft.

Situational item pivots

Spare options listed in build data include Boots of the Arcane, Staves of Sorcery, Savant's Wrath, Void Staff, and Golden Blade. Treat these as situational swaps when the default path is not enough — for example, swapping in defensive items against burst comps or penetration items against stacked armor.

Matchup logic

Versus Alessio

Alessio and Arli are flagged in counter data as a direct answer to Sima Yi. Bait the enemy crowd control before engaging, and route through fog to reach targets without being seen first.

Versus crowd control

Reliable hard control stops Sima Yi's engage before the combo lands. Bait the most threatening control skill before committing Death Descends, and wait for ally engage to absorb peel.

Synergies

Public synergy data lists Kongming and Zhou Yu as strong partners for Sima Yi. Plan engages around Kongming's setup window, then second-engage with Death Descends.

Common mistakes

  • Diving while enemy hard control is still up, which directly counters Sima Yi's engage.
  • Ignoring Alessio and Arli on the enemy team when picking fights — counter data flags them as direct answers, so engage timing must respect their cooldowns.
  • Pathing predictably and getting tracked by the enemy jungler — vary first clear and rotate based on ward placement rather than muscle memory.

Background

Shadowreaper

Three Kingdoms
“A ruined soul, with unfathomable power.”

Sima Yi is like a walking shadow, shrouded in the darkness from head to toe, always waiting for an opportunity to strike. He comes from an illustrious anomalic family, who chose to sacrifice him in cold blood in their struggle for power. Despite spending a short time as a carefree student of the Jixia Academy, he ended up taking the solitary road of vengeance instead. Hidden by his own shadows, he has conjured a giant scythe to reap all who stand before him.

Race:
Human
Height:
184 cm
Style:
Sorcery
Nation:
Wei
Title:
Wei Strategist

Source: Official Honor of Kings — canonical lore for Sima Yi.

Base Stats

Source: in-game capture (HoK Global v11.x, 2026-04-20)

Survivability

3257
Max HP
150
Phys DEF
75
Mag DEF
45
HP/5s

Offense

173
Phys ATK
5%
Atk Speed
200%
Crit DMG

Utility

375
Move Speed
80
Max Mana
10
Mana/5s
Ranged
Range

Current patch rates

Source: Camp API

Jungle

Win rate
46.2%
Pick rate
0.3%
Ban rate
0.0%

Rates are role-specific snapshots from the current Honor of Kings Camp data refresh.

Build

How to choose a build

Start with the safe default badge if the draft looks normal, then swap to burst, anti-tank, sustain, or utility builds when the matchup clearly calls for it.

Jungle Full AP burst

Safe default

Start here if the draft looks standard and you want the safest all-around setup.

Position 3

Mage support

Utility support

Best when your team needs peel, setup, or safer fight control more than damage.

Position 3

Jungle Full AP burst

Anti-tank

Best when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.

Position 3

Mage support

Utility support

Best when your team needs peel, setup, or safer fight control more than damage.

Position 3

Jungle Full AP burst

Anti-tank

Best when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.

Position 3

preajustes

Jungle Full AP burst

Anti-tank

Best when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.

Position 3

Jungle Full AP burst

Anti-tank

Best when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.

Position 3

Presets

Recommended Build

Skills

passive Quiet Whispers

Gains vision of casters within a range of 2000.

skill1 Shadow Stings

Controls an untargetable spirit, dealing damage upon contact with enemies. The main body gains crowd control immunity. When the duration ends, using another skill or a Basic Attack will cause the main body to teleport to the spirit's location.

skill2 Barren Lands

Damages and silences enemies within a certain range. After a short delay, if Sima Yi is still within the skill's area, he recovers Energy. Passive: A portion of the magical damage taken is converted into Health.

ultimate Death Descends

After a short delay, flies to the target location, dealing damage to enemies at the destination and lower damage to enemies in his path.

Skins

2 skins
Sima Yi skin: Megumi Fushiguro

Megumi Fushiguro

Sima Yi skin: Dark Magician

Dark Magician

Playstyle

Bait the enemy crowd-control cooldowns before committing the engage.

Patch History

S12 Nov 2025 Stat Changes

Adjusted Skill Damage

S10 Jun 2025 Stat Nerfs

Passive Effect Upgrade

S10 May 2025 Stat Nerfs

Ultimate damage reduced

S9 Mar 2025 Stat Changes

Stat Changes

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