Christmas is the season that just keeps on giving: a League of Legends Yuumi rework is slated for next year. The pesky feline has become the MOBA‘s premier menace in the wake of her 2019 release, and Riot has finally decided that enough is enough.
League of Legends’ magic cat has effectively been a permanent ban in both solo queue and high level competitive play; a result of a distinct lack of counterplay due to her W (You and Me!). The ability allows her to attach herself to an allied champion, where she remains in a state of invulnerability until she detaches again.
All the while she tops up health bars and move speed with her Zoomies (E), whilst simultaneously providing a shield with her Bop ‘n’ Block passive. OP, am I right?
Given her prevalence in the ban pool at Worlds 2021 and 2022, Riot has decided the adorable yet abominable little feline is much in need of a rework. Question is, how do Riot go about reworking her while staying true to the ‘beginner champ’ fantasy?
After all, Yuumi is “a champion like Garen, Annie, and Sona who were designed to help introduce players to Summoner’s Rift,” to quote Riot’s blog post. “These champions play a vital role helping players learn League of Legends and have a lower barrier to entry.”
While the devs note that, at lower levels, jumping around hasn’t really taken off, at the pro level players have utilised her detach mechanic to top up health bars constantly, meaning that even hyper-aggressive ADCs have struggled to chunk down enemies.
With that in mind, Riot wants to “rework Yuumi to be an easy-to-learn enchanter that’s all about protecting and enhancing her allies. This means a greater emphasis on how Yuumi can aid her allies earlier in the game by trading her damage and crowd control for more early power
and defence.
“We think Yuumi staying attached for long periods of time is essential for her to serve her current players as well as players learning the game. However, since targetability and fragility are core weaknesses of most enchanters, this work also requires emphasizing other forms of counterplay for Yuumi. These could be making Yuumi’s success tied to winning lane, making her skills easier to dodge, and making her less powerful on highly mobile characters.”
Admittedly the rework is in its “early stages,” so don’t expect to see it shipping soon – after all, the League of Legends Udyr rework took some time. As a support main and budding ADC, I am very glad to see this. I have had to ban Yuumi many a time after some bad trades, and given how much she hit the bench during Worlds 2022 (or dominated off of it), I think this is the right move for the overall health of the game.
To the guy at LEC finals Malmo with the tally board who asked people whether or not Yuumi should be deleted: can you see the future, dude? If so, let me know where she ends up on the League of Legends tier list post-rework. For those Yuumi mains who are lamenting these changes, though, check out our rundown of the League of Legends Prime Gaming rewards – after all, maybe you’ll score a free skin for your ‘paw’some friend.