Yuumi has been a huge topic of conversation as the community is divided on the champion’s future.
League of Legends is constantly adding champions and making balance changes to help improve and diversify the game. The recently released champion, K’Sante, has already hit the rift, and he is being played quite a fair bit at the moment.
Balance changes are included in every patch, along with new champion additions. The meta constantly evolves due to the changes, which has resulted in a great environment to play different champions and positively impacted professional play. Worlds 2022 is a great example considering the meta we saw in the tournament and how entertaining the games were.
Reworks are also in the block, as the reworks for Rell and Skarner were revealed a while back. The reworked champions have found new identities in the game, which has changed how you play the game. The Udyr rework has done wonders, as seen in the past patches.
Transitioning to Yuumi, a champion that has plagues pro play and solo queue in good and bad ways. This champion has confounded players and analysts alike as the champion seems to be overpowered and underpowered simultaneously. Thus, in this article, let’s dive into whether Yuumi needs major tweaks to her kit.
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Does Yuumi Need A Rework?
As this is a very subjective topic, this is entirely based on my opinion and data from solo queue and esports leagues. So, in short, I believe Yuumi needs a mini rework. A full rework is not needed, considering the kit is fine for its purpose.
A mini-rework is the right direction towards changing ability or two and how it works. Currently, Yuumi is in a state where she is a nightmare to balance. While Yuumi is obnoxious in professional play, as she had 95% presence in drafts, her solo queue win rate and such are among the worst.
This signifies how weird of a state Yuumi is in, making her impossible to balance. Hence, the champion is in need of a mini-rework to fix the issues in the future.
What Could The Rework Be?
Let’s speculate what Yuumi’s rework could be. This Reddit post illustrates what many of the players think should happen. Some of the suggestions are outlandish such as W returning a percentage of damage taken on the tethered champion. That is unsustainable as this would make players who are playing Yuumi to always stay behind and untethered, and it would be counterintuitive to the kit she has right now.
However, there are some interesting ideas floated in there, such as mana being depleted based on how much damage the tethered champion takes. This is more lenient and a good tradeoff considering the amount of adaptive force and healing Yuumi can provide.
Another suggestion that caught my eye was retooling how the W works, where the adaptive force given is reduced or the ability is changed to give something else, like shields or heals. Reducing the adaptive force applied is definitely a way to go considering that it is part of Yuumi’s value.
Any massive overhaul would basically destroy the identity Yuumi has right now. As much as many players may hate the champion, she is still a unique concept that can be worked around. Hence, a mini-rework is the best idea at this moment.
Her Q does not need changes apart from balancing the numbers. Her E is pretty much in the same boat, and the R is basically a cc ability which is fine as well. The W ability that turns heads as altering will change how the champion is played. Currently, she has no drawbacks to being tethered, and there is no counterplay against her. Thus, adding some kind of penalty is justified to the W to make Yuumi players play more strategically.
Will A Rework Happen For Yuumi?
In short, no. It does not seem like Riot intends to rework the champion, even though players are clamoring for it. Yuumi needs it for balance purposes, but Riot does not seem to want to do it. A lot of that has to do with the crowd Yuumi draws in.
Yuumi is a champion for many of the players who want to sit back and chill in a way. There is no real skill requirement for the champion. Also, Yuumi is played a lot considering most of the champions in the game. So Riot probably does not want to upset the apple cart.
In Conclusion
A rework is necessary for Yuumi, considering the champion’s current balance issue. However, I would not hold my breath to expect Riot to make any significant changes for now. It would be better to do so, but sadly, it won’t be easy as there are many players that like the champion as it is right now.
