Riot Q&A on Yuumi Rework Amid Controversy

Shadman Sabik Zaim
By Shadman Sabik Zaim
11 Min Read
Image Credit Riot Games

The Yuumi Rework has created a controversy as Riot does a Q&A on the changes.

League of Legends has had a lot of controversy over the past year or so. Season 13 all started with the lack of a cinematic for 2023. Since then, there have been controversies on the Xayah and Rakan recall animation, Aurelion Sol Rework issues, Missions missing in Broken Covenant Showcase Event, and more. Riot can’t seem to catch a break.

Now we come to probably the most controversial champion in League of Legends, Yuumi. The cat has been a thorn in Riot’s side since the champion was released. Riot has attempted to balance her in many ways and then ultimately landed on reworking her. This Rework came out in Patch 13.5, and Yuumi has already been hotfixed since then.

Ever since the Rework, Yuumi’s win rate and pick/ban rate shot up. Also, the Rework has changed how Yuumi works as she stays attached and invulnerable. All that and the base stats and mechanics changes have made Yuumi pretty strong. Now, players are irate with the state of Yuumi at the moment. Riot has also done a Q&A since then, so let’s talk about the controversy and what Riot said about the player’s questions.

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The Yuumi Controversy

Let’s start by talking about the exact controversy with Yuumi. It is extremely hard to miss the backlash against Yuumi and Riot at the moment. The complaints from players can basically be boiled down to the following points.

  1. Yuumi is too strong in the current patch
  2. Her ban rate is too high
  3. Yuumi player does not detach much anymore/untargetable
  4. No skill expression anymore (low skill ceiling and high skill floor)

Yuumi is Too Strong In The Current Patch

The first point is absolutely valid, as the numbers speak for themselves. As currently constituted, Yuumi is too strong despite the hotfix recently. Riot said it as much in the Q&A, and Riot RayYonggi said it as much on Twitter.

Her Ban Rate is Too High

Her numbers are still high, and Riot will adjust them appropriately. The second point, however, is of little significance to issues with Yuumi. It is definitely a player trend and worth keeping tabs on. However, players, especially in low ELO, will just ban out of meta/weaker champions in the current patch just because they do not want to face a particular pick like Zed in the lane. This is something that happens on a regular occasion, but it is still concerning that Yuumi is at a 40%+ ban rate at Diamond+ ELO.

Yuumi Player Do Not Detach Much Anymore/Untargetable

The third point is basically how she has become as a consequence of her new W – You and Me! She now pretty much sticks to her laner and does not detach at all. It is definitely an issue if Yuumi is kept at her current numbers. However, that is exactly what Riot wants, as they spoke about in their dev blog. They want to keep things simple, which is a direct consequence of what Riot has to deal with.

Also, let’s be honest; players will always complain about Yuumi being untargetable. It’s the first thing they will point out when they lose to a Yuumi because they couldn’t target her. This will be the scapegoat argument that everyone will make because they simply hate the champion.

No Skill Expression

Finally, we have point number four about skill expression. This is a term that gets thrown around a lot on Reddit, Twitter, etc., by players. While that does matter to a certain extent, it only matters for a small percentage of players. In Yuumi’s case, it’s obvious why there is no skill expression.

Riot has emphasized Yuumi as a new player-friendly champion that can be used to get into League of Legends and all that. In that context, having no skill expression makes a lot of sense. Also, if everyone harkens back to a few patches ago, the reason Yuumi even got reworked was that her skill expression caused the divide in terms of balance between Solo Queue and Pro Play.

Pro Players used to detach a lot strategically to block damage from their carries and kept bouncing around to buff the right targets. That caused her to run amok in pro play, and that is one of the primary reasons for reworking Yuumi.

In terms of Riot’s aim to rework Yuumi, they did just that. They reduced skill expression on purpose to a bare minimum to make it easy for new players and make it not so strong in the hands of pro players. Whether we all agree or not, this is part of their design choice.

Riot’s Q/A on Yuumi Rework

While the controversy was all over Twitter and Reddit, Riot Truexy did a Q&A on the Yuumi Mains Discord Channel. A megathread was made on Reddit to compile all the questions and Riot Truexy’s answers.

There are actually some really good questions in there, especially about the future of Yuumi and the ‘Best Friend Mechanic.’ As mentioned earlier, Riot has admitted that she is probably overtuned at the moment, and this will be addressed in Patch 13.6. To dissect all of this, let’s talk about all the key questions and topics answered.

Riot Answers About Skill Expression

The skill expression issue was addressed, and Riot wants Yuumi to be a beginner-friendly champion. However, Riot Truexy did talk about the outliers and the balance issues with Yuumi at the moment and said that they would take a look and balance appropriately. Also, the Best Friend mechanic is being watched to see whether it’s too limiting or not.

This ties in with Pro Play, as skill expression often leads to Pro Players hyper-optimizing their play style. Also, a Best Friend bar/meter will not be shown, as Riot Truexy answered a question regarding that. All of this will diminish Yuumi in Pro Play, but to what extent is yet to be seen.

Best Friend Mechanic

Riot Truexy also talked about the Best Friend mechanic and how it functions. They will safeguard against Yuumi abandoning the lane in order to make her more ADC-centric and get that Best Friend buff with the ADC. Yuumi should never be leaving the ADC entirely, as Riot Truexy pointed out, and that isn’t good for League of Legends.

As mentioned earlier, players will not be able to see the friendship bar/meter to stop optimizing gameplay. It also seems like Riot tested other mechanics and landed on the Best Friend Mechanic to guide them forward. They tried many versions of kills, healing and shielding, proximity, etc,. but the current version is what they liked.

Yuumi Is Not A Good ADC Pairing

Some questions asked about Yuumi not being a good fit with ADCs in line, but Riot Truexy refuted that. He talked about all the abilities of Yuumi, either peel or give healing/shielding to ADC players. That is the essence of an Enchanter as they are trying to save their ADCs through buffs and such.

In general, what Riot Truexy said was that her Q – Prowling Projectile exists to peel for the ADC, W – You, and Me! buffs all the other abilities to do more, E – Zoomies gives shielding, and R – Final Chapter gives more sustain. Overall, this is the perfect fit for an ADC. Thus, that question was answered fairly well, and Yuumi is definitely a bit for the ADC.

The Ultimate might feel lackluster at the moment, but Riot Truexy talked about the philosophy behind it, and it looks like Final Chapter will remain what it is for now.

Future of Yuumi

According to Riot Truexy, Yuumi is not a one-patch-and-done project, and more work will be done soon. Balancing is probably coming as soon as Patch 13.6, and more will be done based on feedback from players.

In Conclusion

A lot has been talked about Yuumi and the controversies behind it. Riot Truexy was able to shed some light on the issue, but the fundamental problem with Yuumi will always remain. Most players will not be able to get a grip on the fact that Yuumi’s untargetability will probably never be removed, so it is what it is.

Players are definitely divided on it, as there are people who think that Yuumi is just overtuned, and she is. So Patch 13.6 should be the time we get to see what the Yuumi Rework lands on as Riot tries to find the right balance.

We know that Riot will do whatever it takes to keep her as a beginner-friendly champion and keep her out of Pro Play. Hopefully, Riot can do that, and the controversy can be quelled, at least for a bit.

By Shadman Sabik Zaim Deputy Editor
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Shadman is a Deputy Editor of League of Legends and other Riot IPs (excluding VALORANT) at GameRiv. He is a computer science and engineering graduate who got into games pretty early. Also, he takes pride in trying multiple types of games and got into League of Legends pretty early. Games, Board Games, Writing, Music, and Sports are his passions and hobbies.