Ahead of the 2023 League of Legends season it was announced that Yuumi would be getting some major changes, now Riot has completely nerfed her out of existence. What direction will Riot take when they rework her?
With Yuumi, Riot wanted to create a beginner-friendly champion for new players to test the waters of the popular MOBA before they dive head first into a world of pain and suffering that is solo queue. With Yuumi's dependence on a partner, it makes her perfect for new players to play with friends.
Instead, Yuumi has become the most prominent pick in pro play, with some of the highest win rates as well. So, what is Riot going to do about the most hated champion in League of Legends?
Yuumi Is Meant To Be A Champion For True LoL Beginners
Yuumi was designed with beginners in mind according to Riot Phroxzon. On Twitter he outlined his thoughts on the champion and what direction the balance team will take with her in the future. He stated that the team believes "she's best in class for letting new players play with friends and see if they even enjoy playing League to begin with."
He states that just playing to have fun is one of the main reasons people actually pick up the game, especially if they've got friends that already play League of Legends as well. That's why champions like Yuumi have made their way onto the rift to support brand-new players learn more about the game.
Wanted to give a bit more context on why we've chosen the newer player direction for Yuumi. At time of writing, Yuumi is in Top 3 most performant champions for true new players [not smurfs], while in Top 20 most popular. Simultaneously, she's a top Pro support.
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) January 26, 2023
Due to Matchmaking Rating (MMR) plays a huge role when games are made and if you've got a friend that has been playing for a while and you want to play together, due to their high MMR, you'll be playing against high ranking and experienced players as well. Then playing a champion like Soraka or Janna won't be any fun since you'll get turbo-stomped.
That's where the idea of Yuumi came in to play. She stays on top of her partner at all times and is untargetable, which means you can play together and safely poke and heal from the shoulder of your partner. But that has also become the problem in pro play, where Yuumi needs little to no gold to be able to do huge amounts of damage.
Riot Phroxzon does note that champions like Yuumi won't let high level players improve and evolve their gameplay due to their simplicity, but why bother when she is so safe and so strong, right?
Maybe someone who buys the source code can remove Yuumi completely...?
So, while Yuumi is a great starter champion for beginners she has greatly disrupted high elo and the pro scene, which is why Riot will double down on her power in pro play, thus making her simply a low-elo beginner champion.
Yuumi Rework To Push Her Out Of Pro Meta
Riot will be reworking her to make her less attractive in pro play and simply make her a champion for beginners. Similar to champions like Annie, Garen and Malphite whom we hardly see in professional League of Legends. These are champions with simple kits that just don't work well in professional play.
Riot Phroxzon did state that there will be more information on her rework coming soon, but nothing concrete yet. Let's just hope we finally get some new bot lane champions in 2023, right? The pro bot lane meta has been pretty stale lately.