Riot has announced that Yuumi will receive a rework in League of Legends. However, even though they did share what they might be changing, the player base is concerned about all the changes.
League of Legends was released over a decade ago. And this game still kept up its relevancy, even to this day. One of the ways that the game stayed relevant is by releasing new champions regularly.
Including K’Sante, this game has over 162 champions. Because of having so many champions, it’s very hard to balance them all. And if the champion is bad in the core, then Riot often does a rework to make the weaker champion relevant again.
One of the recent champions to receive a rework is Udyr. His rework was extremely anticipated, and Riot did not disappoint. Even though he was over-tuned when the rework was released, players reacted positively to the changes.
Earlier this month, RiotPhroxzon confirmed on Twitter that Yuumi’s rework is on the way. Ever since the magical cat, Yuumi, was released in the game, she has been a tough champion to balance. Initially, she was known as “underpowered” and “useless.” Even after her buffs, players didn’t think that Yuumi was a viable pick. However, after the pros started picking her, the players quickly realized how broken she was.
Since then, Riot has been trying to balance her constantly for both solo queue and pro scene. But unfortunately, her win rate in ranked in plat + elo is always below average.
As Yuumi is a very problematic champion, despite countless adjustments, Riot has decided that they are currently working on reworking Yuumi. Moreover, Riot revealed more in their recent dev blog about her rework.
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League of Legends: Yuumi Rework
At the start of the blog, Riot explained the reasoning behind her rework. The primary reasons include her kit and the playstyle she promotes.
The main issue with her kit is the un-targetability and safety that she provides with her W-You and Me. Normally enchanters are balanced by having little durability, almost no mobility, and very low spell range. They cannot buff their assassin or frontline teammates if they dive into the opponent. But Yuumi has no such weakness.
She can attach herself to any carry and provide them with the sustain they desire, with an extra summoner’s spell alongside. Moreover, while being attached, she can use CC abilities against her opponents without any room for counterplay, as she remains untargetable.
Moreover, her hyperscaling is also one of the core issues in both the ranked and pro scenes. Yuumi is extremely weak in the early game; thus, for her ADC, it feels like they are playing a 4v5. However, in the late game, after she builds her items correctly, she can attach herself to any carry, making the carry unkillable.
According to Riot, Yuumi falls under the same champion category as Garen and Sona, which players pick to learn the fundamentals of the game. So with that in mind, they want to make Yuumi an easy-to-learn Enchanter that’s all about protecting and enhancing her allies. Moreover, Riot also mentioned that they would change Yuumi’s playstyle to emphasize her staying with her carry for a long period.
However, as she is un-targetable during that period, Riot wants to add more counterplays to Yuumi. Most notably, Riot will nerf her CC abilities, Q-Prowling Projectile and R-Final Chapter. They added that they would nerf Yuumi’s projectile speed, making them easier to dodge.
Community’s Concerns
Since Riot published their dev log about Yuumi’s rework, it has received mixed reactions from the player base. Some concerns include Riot’s reasoning, what might change about Yuumi, and not addressing the core issue.
First, Riot explained that Yuumi teaches the players about the fundamentals of League of Legends. But according to the community, it is false. Yuumi does not teach anything significant to new players. More so, she teaches newer players to play passively and not try at all, as she does not require proper skills.
Secondly, Riot mentioned that they would nerf her projectile speeds for both Q and R. Even though not confirmed, they might also increase her base health and movement speed. But all of these mentioned changes do not fix the core issue of Yuumi, her W. Furthermore, these changes will keep Yuumi as same as she is now.
And finally, Riot did not mention changing her main frustrating ability, her W-You and Me. Her un-targetability while attached to a teammate makes the community dislike Yuumi. For context, if a Lulu is buffing a teammate to the point that they are unkillable, the player could slay Lulu to end the problem. But with Yuumi, it is impossible to kill her as she stays un-targetable when she attaches to her teammate. Additionally, there is no penalty for her W usage, making the ability even more frustrating.
As Riot mentioned that Yuumi is still in the early phases of rework, we can expect more information next year about what changes she will receive in League of Legends.