League’s newest champion, Yuumi, has finally joined the Rift, and players have been eager to try her out for the first time. While her cute looks are winning over fans, her gameplay is leaving players scratching their heads.
As of this morning, Yuumi’s win rate over all roles is sitting at a miserable 30.72 percent according to stats website LoLalytics, making her the most under-powered champion on release in the game’s history.
But it’s understandable why her win rate is so low on release. She’s one of the squishiest champions in the game, with the second lowest base health in at 432 and low resistances to boot. Her mana pool of 400 is middling compared to other champions, but the high costs of her abilities means she runs out of mana faster than most other laners.
On top of that, the stats on her abilities are underwhelming. Her Q, Prowling Projectile, has only a 60 percent ability power ratio when empowered and 30 percent normally. Her ultimate has a measly 20 percent ratio, while her heal, Zoomies, has only a 10 percent ability power ratio. She’s incredibly difficult to play, let alone play well.
There are some redeeming factors to Yuumi’s kit that can make her powerful, which the majority of players aren’t using. Summon: Aery sits as by far the most popular keystone with a 78.2 percent pick rate, but her kit is much more suited to Guardian, which is currently on a 10.4 percent pick rate.
She can proc her Guardian with Zoomies or her passive shield, giving a great burst of movement speed. This allows her to use her mobility in team fights more effectively, as well as bail out teammates in trouble. She also has great synergy with Revitalize and Bone Plating in the Resolve tree, making Guardian the optimal rune choice.
Taking Guardian allows players to split into either Inspiration or Sorcery second, both of which are powerful in certain situations. Taking Nimbus Cloak and Absolute Focus down the Sorcery tree helps Yuumi use her ultimate more effectively, while Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight in Inspiration give her sustain for the laning phase.
Itemizing Yuumi is pretty stale right now. There is some power to be found, however. Given her current base stats, taking triple Forbidden Idol items is a must, rushing Ardent Censor or Redemption before getting the other and Mikael’s Crucible. Athene’s Unholy Grail also solves a lot of her mana issues.
Experimenting with items like Zeke’s Convergence or even Twin Shadows might be the way to go with Yuumi. While she exists primarily as an enchanter for hypercarries, items like these will also give her team plenty of peel, which her kit currently lacks.
Taking Flash on Yuumi is a poor choice. Given her primary form of movement is attaching to allies, having Flash is pointless. Heal, Ignite, and Exhaust give her a lot more team fight power. Also, it frees up the bot lane carry to take Teleport, giving Yuumi and her ally a free reset during lane, which can give her a massive advantage.
Lastly, a lot of people are simply giving up on her too early. Yuumi thrives in the late game where she can sit on her hypercarry to buff them up before bouncing around the team fight, locking down enemies with Final Chapter. Quickly dismounting from an ally to get your passive active during a fight is a must too, as the shield is quite healthy in the later stages of the game while also being on a short cooldown.
It will take time for players to find the right way to play Yuumi, and she has a higher skill cap than most people think. However, after a couple of buffs, and once players figure out how to play her optimally, she will become the adorable cat who saves the day—just like everyone hoped for.