Pocket Picks: Darshan's Yasuo
Have you ever wanted to sling Ashe arrows like Sneaky? Or use LeBlanc to juke your way into another dimension like Bjergsen? Well, now’s your chance.
With Lolesports' Pocket Picks, we’re here to deliver the best tips and tricks straight from the pros to help you master the champions closest to their hearts -- their Pocket Picks.
In this episode, Counter Logic Gaming's top laner Darshan Upadhyaya is here with advice to help you get even better at his Pocket Pick, Yasuo the Unforgiven. If you want to level up your Yasuo play, see what else Darshan had to offer up below.
Playing as Yasuo
It's not uncommon for a Yasuo to run into your lane like a wild Tasmanian devil, instantly kill you, then dash away. While frustrating to deal with, according to Darshan, these slick initiations are key when playing as Yasuo. To surprise your opponents with some fancy initiates, consider one of these two engages:
"Something you can do to catch your opponent off guard is to press Q, then, as soon as you press Q, you Flash, so it'll immediately go off," explains Darshan. "Plus, this makes your Q knockup even easier to land."
"You can use it in a situation where there's a bunch of people in a line, so you can knock them all up," says Darshan. "Or, if you're going for a 1 vs. 1 opportunity and you just want to get the knock up right away. That's a good way to do it."
Another trick for catching the enemy off guard is the E > Q > Flash combo.
"E to a minion or another champion, then you press Q. As soon as the Q cast time goes off, you Flash, so then it will immediately knock up where you Flashed," Darshan says.
"It's a trickier one to do, but it's useful because it's the circular instant knock up and people are not going to react well to it at all," Darshan says. He adds that this technique is also a good one to master for team fights, or when you're fighting in minions. "You can stack up the Q, then E through a minion, Q, Flash, and it surprises people because it comes out of nowhere!"
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Playing with a Yasuo
Initiating on Yasuo may be key -- but it can be tough. Yasuo's one of the easiest assassins to bring down, so you've got to be careful when one's on your team. Ideally, Darshan suggests having tanky support or jungle allies who can perform frontline duties.
Otherwise, it's great for Yasuo to have champs on his team with knockups or displacements. His kit's designed in such a way that he has great synergy with champions like Alistar, Braum, Gragas, and Malphite.
And sure, if that Malphite on your team lands an amazing five-man knockup, it'll combo great with Yasuo's ultimate. But only if Yasuo's in range, says Darshan.
"What a lot of people don't realize about Yasuo is the range of his ultimate," explains Darshan. The range of Yasuo's ultimate is 1,200, but it seems lots of Darshan's teammates think the range is much larger.
"For example, I'll have a Gragas on my team in Solo Queue and he'll throw his ulti when I'm too far away because he thinks I can immediately ulti and follow up," Darshan explains. "I wish people realized that I can't use my ultimate from a full screen away."
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Playing against a Yasuo
Now, let's turn the tables and say you're playing against a pesky Yasuo. As Darshan describes the champion, his main goals are, "dashing through minion waves and being super annoying." With a champ who relies on being such a nuisance, it's good to have a few ways to shut him down, and Darshan's got you covered.
So which champs does Darshan think have the easiest time killing Yasuo?
"I don't like playing against Jax, who can dodge your auto attacks for two seconds," Darshan explains. "Yasuo can also get out-fought by champions like Jax and Riven. Jax just dodges and you can't do damage, so you have to be really careful with your E." He also doesn't prefer playing against tanks like Nautilus, as they can stack armor and make sure the Yasuo can't do much damage in lane.
The champs Yasuo does fare well against are ranged champions like Gnar and Swain, as Yasuo can an abuse them with Wind Wall.
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"He's a champ where you get really good so you can play him into most matchups," Darshan says. "But he's best into ranged champions and not so well against Hecarim, Riven, Jax, and other bruisers. But when it's mages, that's when Yasuo's best to pick."
Another thing to keep in mind when playing against Yasuo? His surprising ability to dodge crowd control abilities with his Wind Wall. One example is Lulu's Whimsy.
"Even though it doesn't seem like an ability is a projectile, it was still coded as a projectile, so Wind Wall still blocks it," explains Darshan.
Darshan's played hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of Yasuo games, and one of the reasons he enjoys playing the character so much is because of how you can truly master each of his abilities. So, go give it a try for yourself! And if you manage to pull off any of these tricks, let us know how they work out for you!
Below you can download various wallpaper sizes of the Darshan Yasuo illustration by Nips. You can follow Nips on Twitter and Facebook to see even more of her art.
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1280 x 1024 Pocket Picks: Darshan's Yasuo Wallpaper
