The champion is one of the most annoying in League of Legends. As a support, Yuumi is feared for her heal and untouchability. The developers are unhappy with the cat’s current appearance, which is why her whiskers are to be trimmed in the future.
Like so many champions in League of Legends, Yuumi has unique abilities. One of them, however, makes her mightily unpopular: she attaches herself to another champion and can heal them without being vulnerable herself. Riot Games now wants to rework the cat to counteract the previously powerful effect of her support arts. However, there are doubts about the rework plans.
Riot Games announced a rework for Yuumi last week. Since her release in May 2019, the magical cat has been considered a troublesome support for any opponent. Due to her obvious skills, Yuumi is considered annoying, although her kit makes her predictable to play. Most of the time she protects and heals her AD-Carry on the bot-lane, while she can only be targeted by towers.
Unpopular opinion:
Yuumi is ICONIC and deserves a place in League of Legends.
Riot should nerf her into oblivion + accept her being perma D-tier at all levels of play rather than rework her
She should be a cute mascot for new players, not a legitimate threat or prio pick EVER pic.twitter.com/ebtDCKGHEA
– ioki (@i0ki_LoL) December 19, 2022
The developer confirms, “We believe that such a complex play style combined with Yuumi’s frequent non-targetability was one of the causes of much frustration.” For many players:inside, Yuumi is considered a no-skill champion because of this. She also causes annoyance in Pro Play, prompting Riot Games to make a change. At Worlds 2022, her pick and ban rate was 95 per cent – all eight games played with her were won.
Despite change – Yuumi continues to stick with allies
What are Riot Games’ specific rework plans? The clamp effect of the W ability will remain. There are no final effect changes yet, but there is a trend: the change aims to “reduce some of the things that make it frustrating to play against”, according to Riot Games. However, it will “maintain the basic gameplay pattern that their players have come to love.”
Yuumi is said to be an “easy to learn” enchanter, which protects and enhances allies. Above all, Riot Games wants to sort out their weak early game. She is supposed to get better crowd control and damage, but lose health and defence in return.
LoL-Caster Kernus: Yuumi is difficult to balance
“The current example of Yuumi is not working,” says German LEC and Prime League caster David “Kernus” Kratz in an interview with esports.com. “It is difficult to balance.” For him, the kit is too simple: “I’d rather go back to the roots and more skill-based mechanics.”
In general, Kernus questions whether the concept of the pinning W skill is even necessary. That’s how most of the LoL community feels. However, as Riot Games already confirmed, the magic cat will retain this skill. So that leaves the more difficult way to find the right balance. But then, according to the LoL caster and commentator, a time limit would be conceivable: “If she’s only allowed to be on a champion for two seconds, for example, that would change the dynamic and also the skill requirement.”
There is no date for her rework yet, but it is expected in the course of 2023.
