One day maybe, just maybe, I won’t need to write an article about League of Legends‘ peskiest support, Yuumi. Today, however, is not that day, as the Magical Cat continues to cause chaos in the MOBA. While she’s dropped off the face of Summoner’s Rift in pro play, many believe she’s now unsalvageable, leading former caster turned League of Legends game designer David ‘Phreak’ Turley to clarify that her rework has actually done some good.
As we reach the pointy end of the LCK, LCS, LEC, and LPL, we’ve seen both Yuumi and her equally frustrating sidekick Zeri cast aside for the likes of Aphelios and Milio. For most of us, the cat being back in its cradle is a welcome respite, not only because she’s not the most inspiring champion to watch, but because she can help snowball games incredibly quickly.
Following her recent rework, her winrate has dropped to 45%, up slightly from 44.5% on League of Legends patch 13.12. It’s still relatively low, especially at lower ELOs where she’s supposed to thrive, but Riot sees her current status as a “meaningful success” after her reign of terror.
“At her current state she is resting at the same win rate and 70% lower pro presence than Worlds 2022,” writes Phreak, responding to a Reddit thread rejoicing over her absence in pro play. “That is a meaningful success. The rework wasn’t perfect (nothing ever is) but it absolutely bought us a lot more room.”
In response to a few comments expressing concern that she will simply be left “rotting in the 45% winrate graveyard” because balancing her is too volatile, Phreak writes “last time we tried to kick Yuumi out of pro play she went to 39% win rate. At the very least, consider this a buffed state from where she was in February.
“Ideally yeah I’d like a version of Yuumi that was scarce in pro, rewarding for her mains, and approachable for newer League of Legends players. It’s also not the most pressing task at the moment.”
While I cannot stand Yuumi, 45% is definitely better than 39%. Given how much time Riot has put into balancing her, and the fact that she is absolutely the best LoL champion for beginners – I wish I had her when I started playing – I would like to see her finally land in the spot she’s supposed to be in.
Until then, though, she’ll remain at the bottom end of the LoL tier list – love it or hate it. Just cross your fingers and hope she gets a new League of Legends skin sometime soon to make up for the nerfs.