Why Everybody Hates Yuumi
Ever since this adorable cat was introduced to League, she has caused nothing but anger and frustration for players around the world. Despite being released over 3 years ago, she still doesn't feel like a balanced or healthy champion.
Where's The Difficulty?
It's important to recognise that Yuumi does have a moderately high skill ceiling, and there is a huge difference between a bad and good Yuumi player. This is mainly determined by how her W is utilised, and being able to detect when hard CC has been used.
Outside of that, her kit is incredibly easy. Her Q can be controlled with the mouse, her E is a reliable healing tool with bonus attack/movement speed, and her ult is a huge AoE CC tool. Most importantly, she doesn't have to worry about one of the most important skills in League of Legends: movement.
She also provides a ton of hidden value from the adaptive stats granted by her W. It scales with Yuumi's stats and the stats of whichever ally she's attached to, meaning both become even stronger the more fed they get. All this power comes from Yuumi being attached, which requires absolutely no skill to achieve.
The Balance See-Saw
To highlight just how broken this champion is, look no further than her history of buffs and nerfs. Her strongest build always switches between maxing her Q and E:
- Her Q build utilises Luden's Tempest to poke down enemies while she's safely attached to an ally
- Her E build uses Moonstone Renewer to heal for ludicrous amounts, taking advantage of the bonus heal/shield power
Whichever build is strongest will be nerfed while the other is buffed to compensate. This means she is constantly flipping between one build being stronger than the other, with neither feeling at all balanced or healthy for the game.
Her E build is slightly 'better', as its mana cost scales with maximum mana. This forces Yuumi to detach from an ally to proc her passive and restore mana, else she won't be able to cast spells. This gives enemies opportunities for counter-play because Yuumi is vulnerable when detached from allies.
Meanwhile, her Q build is insufferable to play against and is currently running rampant at Worlds. The damage is truly absurd, and unlike her healing build, she isn't restricted by high mana costs. It is outrageous for a support to deal so much damage on such little gold, all while being invulernable to damage and CC.
What Can Be Done?
No matter how many nerfs she receives, Yuumi always finds her way back into solo queue and pro play in ways that never feel balanced, fun or rewarding. The plethora of balance changes suggests she is a fundamentally broken character, and one that cannot be balanced sustainably.
Having an enchanter that's bound to an ally is an interesting concept that can work, but this iteration has not. It's time for this cat to go back to Bandle City for a rework, else the health of the game will continue to suffer.
Until that day comes, you can check out how to master her with our champion guide and how to dominate lanes alongside Twitch and Jhin.