A League of Legends dev blog about Yuumi’s rework has revealed that she’ll be holding on to her untargetable mechanic, and players aren’t too happy about it.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Yuumi is one of the most hated champions in League of Legends.
She’s dominated for two World Championship metas in a row while being a relatively low-skill champion in comparison to other supports. And yet, her kit is aimed toward helping players learn enchanters in lower levels of play, meaning she’s simultaneously easy and strong at even the highest level of play.
Riot have committed to reworking the champion after years of her being a balance nightmare. In a dev blog that didn’t reveal any concrete details about her abilities, it’s been confirmed that Yuumi will be keeping the mechanic that has made her notrious: Her ability to attach to teammates and become untargetable.
Yuumi will keep her untargetable mechanic in upcoming rework
Enchanters are balanced around their vulnerability in teamfights. Champions like Soraka can provide a great deal of healing for their teammates as long as they don’t get focused down and killed.
Yuumi eliminates that problem by becoming untargetable as long as her teammates are alive, making her impossible to focus down if she sits on a tank and rides out a teamfight.
This is the main mechanic that’s earned Yuumi her notoriety over the years. And, with the announcement that she’ll be holding onto the mechanic in her rework, players already aren’t happy with the direction Riot’s design team is taking with the champion. Even with us knowing nothing about her core abilities and the way she’s going to be changed.
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Rather than increasing her skill floor and ceiling with complex mechanics, Riot compared Yuumi to champions like Garen, Sona, and Annie in that they want to make her an “easy-to-learn” character that is strong in lower levels of play and falls off in high MMR and pro play.
This philosophy is mirrored by a recent Yuumi nerf that took a jab at making her less effective in the hands of pros. Nonetheless, Riot’s design team have stood firmly behind her design philosophy and cemented that she’ll be keeping the mechanic.
“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.”
Tweets in reply to any thread that’s letting the cat out of the bag about Riot’s direction with their rework are overwhelmingly negative. It’s a wall of “delete Yuumi”, people airing their grievances about the champion’s design, and a worrying amount of images depicting knives pointed at cats.
Riot will be revealing more details about Yuumi’s rework in 2023.