What's up with Yorick?

jgarna143750·Jun 20, 2015·27 votes·4,292 views

I don't understand. I've never played with or against a Yorick. I've never seen him in a free champion rotation, I've never seen any skins come out for him. I've never seen him played with or against before. I mean, is this guy even considered a champion anymore? I know some champions are generally unpopular, like Galio or Urgot, but this is a just pitiful. He's being completely ignored by not only Riot, but by the LoL community as a whole. His share of games has been a resident in the Top 5 lowest for longer than I can remember. I'm confused because when I first played Yorick, he was really fun. He seems just as good as any other champ, but yet he's so unrecognized. There have even been games where people didn't even know who Yorick was. There was new of a rework about 2 years ago but that just disappeared. All in all, I just want some answers as to what is going on with Yoric, and what we can expect in his future.

99 Comments

What Is SmiteJun 21, 201512 votes

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well -Hamlet

DeathToHereticsJun 21, 20155 votes

Fun fact, the quote is actually "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." -Hamlet I performed the play as Horatio a few months ago at my school

ConnceptJun 20, 201510 votes

He is the champion soonest to be slated for a redesign after his initial release. And unfortunately his redesign is no small task, ideally requiring changes to the very game engine.

Literally only a few months after he was made, the developers admitted they probably shouldn't have released him until they had new UI and controls, which would allow for his real niche, that of a multi-minion mage, a necromancer, to actually work. Even the tanky elements were added to him, they admitted, just so he would find a role because his mage role wasn't going to be fulfilling. And he has now been in this state for... four years I think? It's been too long for me to even remember.

In that time he's never been terrible because of the tanky sustain elements, and in fact had a fairly lengthy stint as a competitive top a long long time ago. But he has no supportive skills, no ability to gank, and no way to secure a kill. He is pretty much about nothing but survive and deny, stagnating whatever lane he is in no matter the lane opponent. However, this strategy started to become excessively dominant in the competitive scene, and he was not only nerfed, but most fighters since have been designed or redesigned to discourage any such stagnate bunker strategy from ever making a resurgence.

Ariel the CruelJun 21, 20152 votes

ut most fighters since have been designed or redesigned to discourage any such stagnate bunker strategy from ever making a resurgence.

Braum

ConnceptJun 21, 20151 votes

In what imaginary world do you live in where Braum is a fighter? He's a full on tanky support, and there are tons of supports that are based on stymying a lane, that's totally okay in a support role. But you would get creamed, repeatedly, if you ever took him in to any lane and attempted to use the same bunkering strategy as a fighter. In fact in Braums case you'd get creamed if you ever attempted to use him as a fighter period, leona kind of works as a fighter, as well as maokai and Alistar (once upon a time), but braum... there's just no way, he can't be anything but a support.

Ariel the CruelJun 21, 20151 votes

He's taken top as a counter to snowball champs like Riven and Ekko. His lvl 1 trades are a lot stronger than people realize thanks to his wall (30% damage reduction) and once he gets some health regen, he become an immovable object in lane. Even if they push lane to tower, he can wall all damage off it while waiting for his own wave to arrive.

It's a niche pick taken with the sole purpose of stalling out a lane. And since he lacks any kill potential without a jungler (against a reasonably competent opponent), he fails in lanes against opponents that only care about farming (Susan and Signed).

Demented LemurJun 22, 20151 votes

you cannot get 30% percent damage reduction on yorrick unless your factoring in Armour and his lvl 6

Ariel the CruelJun 22, 20151 votes

I'm talking about Braum. Hie Wall at lvl 1 gives a flat 30% damage reduction.

Demented LemurJun 24, 20151 votes

oh sorry my mistake

DylightfullJun 21, 20157 votes

Shhh. Yorick is like Hufflepuff. He dwells in the shadows, mostly going unrecognized. People know he's there, but never allude to him. Which is fine by Yorick. Because the more unnoticed he goes, the more satisfying it is to lane against someone who doesn't know how to fight him.

That being said, I don't own Yorick nor have I ever laned against one, and so my apologies are given to anyone that's ever had to lane against him and not known what to do. In all seriousness, he seems like a fun champ, and I'm surprised more people don't play him. Now if you excuse me, I have a 4800 IP underdog to save up for.

MachaggisJun 21, 20157 votes

I had a yi tell me to "ult him" the other day in aram. I was shocked he knew what it did to be honest.

RavenMagusJun 21, 20156 votes

It's ironic because one of his main taglines is "You will remember Yorick Mori."

BigPooStormJun 21, 20155 votes

I'm glad he isn't played since he is annoying as hell to lane against.

TerffJun 20, 20152 votes

Eh he's removed from free champion rotation and he costs 4800 so yeh he's a tad unpopular because people can't playtest him since he's never free to play so they are not willing to drop 4800 IP on him. I took the risk and I find him to be quite fun. But rito finds him toxic so they are reworking him nd shit... And thats why they don't want to give him skins because iirc they said they will come out with 2 for him once he gets the full level rework treatment thingy.

Wind WhistlerJun 20, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Eh he's removed from free champion rotation and he costs 4800 so yeh he's a tad unpopular because people can't playtest him since he's never free to play so they are not willing to drop 4800 IP on him. I took the risk and I find him to be quite fun. But rito finds him toxic so they are reworking him nd shit... And thats why they don't want to give him skins because iirc they said they will come out with 2 for him once he gets the full level rework treatment thingy.

So, they're going to essentially remove him from the game?

Ariel the CruelJun 21, 20153 votes

Yep. He's not the first one to get this treatment either. They originally tested it on Karma, before her ~~deletion~~ rework.

Wind WhistlerJun 21, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fT1KlT1F,comment-id=000000000000,timestamp=2015-06-21T00:43:55.722+0000)

Yep. He's not the first one to get this treatment either. They originally tested it on Karma, before her ~~deletion~~ rework.

I've heard about her rework before, but I don't know too much about it. What was the severity of it? I know she changed a lot, but does she have ANYTHING in common with the current one?

Zair UmbrasJun 21, 20153 votes

Her original Q was an AoE cone in front of her, her W was a Bond that either sped up you and an ally or slowed an enemy (No root like there is now, only a slow), and her E was a bubble like it is now minus the speed boost (Her W lost the speed boost for her E to get it in the rework).

Her R wasn't leveled, it simply scaled with level like the new Jayce rework, each of her abilities sclaed to to level 6 rather than 5, and she held 2 charges of her ult.

Mantra Q did the damage and healed all targets by a small amount and then a percent of missing health, mantra W gave boosted speed and even more slow (Generally useless), and Mantra E was the scariest thing alive since you'd Mantra E a tank, give him a bubble and explode a huge amount of damage around that tank, which was ESPECIALLY good with a Malph, Hec, or Alistar.

Overall, the biggest changes were her Q and passive since her E still exploded, her W still slowed and did damage, and she had a mantra. She lost a charge of mantra for a much shorter CD, her passive became reduced CD on her R rather than giving her upwards of.. 80ish AP I think based on how low of health SHE was like an AP version of Tryn's Q or Maw, and her Q went from a cone in front of her to a skill shot (Pretty fast moving at that) explosion and the Mantra Q is now boosted damage rather than healing nearby enemies.

The BIGGEST change that a lot of people hated was the loss of her Fans. If you see a Karma with the skin that shows her fans, that was her ORIGINAL art and that's how she ACTUALLY looked and she had fans to use as weapons. Her Q used to toss a bunch of fans in a cone and her AA's had her waving them around.

I loved Karma pre-rework and I love her now.

Ariel the CruelJun 21, 20151 votes

The BIGGEST change that a lot of people hated was the loss of her Fans.

Visually, it was the fans and the dress. They went back a re-textured the fans into her classic skin's dance, and jury-rigged a dress onto her new rig. But the fans were very iconic of her, and one of her strongest visual queues. (She was a politician and a commander, not a warrior and a brute.)

Lore wise, she lost her personality, mentality, and her background. She's still a leader from Ionia, but that's about it.

Her theme of duality was ignored; Riot going so far as to say she didn't have one (Scarizard specifically), even though it was clearly stated on her release and evident in everything she had.

They basically claimed that no single part of her kit was healthy for the game. They've since contradicted those claims many times over by reintroducing those very "problem elements".

Gameplay, she went from a hyper-scaling support/burst mage (never since repeated) to a generic poke mage.

After they finished the ~~replacement~~ rework, they spent the next 5 or so consecutive patches reworking and buffing her new kit. (And holy Teemo, did she get buffed. Release Skarma wasn't even viable in Bronze 13)

All of this on the wake of huge community backlash.

Now make no mistake. People aren't upset about Skarma specifically. She a good champ and has her niche (now). People are upset about how badly they botched the rework. Skarma is basically an entirely different champion; and if released under a different name, nobody would be the wiser (Some of use still want the name changed).

DisasterSolaJun 21, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fT1KlT1F,comment-id=000000000000000000000000,timestamp=2015-06-21T07:48:46.062+0000)

Visually, it was the fans and the dress. They went back a re-textured the fans into her classic skin's dance, and jury-rigged a dress onto her new rig. But the fans were very iconic of her, and one of her strongest visual queues. (She was a politician and a commander, not a warrior and a brute.)

Lore wise, she lost her personality, mentality, and her background. She's still a leader from Ionia, but that's about it.

Her theme of duality was ignored; Riot going so far as to say she didn't have one (Scarizard specifically), even though it was clearly stated on her release and evident in everything she had.

They basically claimed that no single part of her kit was healthy for the game. They've since contradicted those claims many times over by reintroducing those very "problem elements".

Gameplay, she went from a hyper-scaling support/burst mage (never since repeated) to a generic poke mage.

After they finished the ~~replacement~~ rework, they spent the next 5 or so consecutive patches reworking and buffing her new kit. (And holy Teemo, did she get buffed. Release Skarma wasn't even viable in Bronze 13)

All of this on the wake of huge community backlash.

Now make no mistake. People aren't upset about Skarma specifically. She a good champ and has her niche (now). People are upset about how badly they botched the rework. Skarma is basically an entirely different champion; and if released under a different name, nobody would be the wiser (Some of use still want the name changed).

It wasnt a rework. It was a re-LAUNCH.

Theyre totally different things; there have been four so far; Karma, sejauni, trundle, and sion. It used to be that all relaunches got a traditional skin, as homage to what they were before; However, riot screwed the pooch and REFUSED to give one out for sion, with no reason given.

Riot hates tradition, clearly, because it enforces the meta and is unhealthy to the game as a whole. thats why they have lee sin, vi, nidalee, and zed on the "Un-nerfable" list.

Ariel the CruelJun 21, 20153 votes

At least Lee Sin isn't single-handedly determining the jungle roster for the first time since his release.

ProvengreilJun 21, 20153 votes

Why do people say that? the DID tell us why he didn't get a traditional skin. The answer is that the new model and animations were so far removed from the original skin that it just wasn't really feasible. The only move with any similarity is his shield, the rest were basically parts of an entirely new champ.

DisasterSolaJun 21, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Why do people say that? the DID tell us why he didn't get a traditional skin. The answer is that the new model and animations were so far removed from the original skin that it just wasn't really feasible. The only move with any similarity is his shield, the rest were basically parts of an entirely new champ.

And then you have some highschool student in a 3D modeling class LITERALLY make a traditional skin over the course of three days, during their half hour lunch. That reasoning doesnt make sense because what we WANT with a traditional skin is the previous qoutes. I LOVED old sions VO. I hate new sions VO. Its extremely generic.

ProvengreilJun 21, 20151 votes

the new VO is a preference thing, and TBH I like the new one more. The old one was kinda silly** and the new one helps me kinda get into the champ. Similar things happen with DJ sona and SG udyr, I literally play the champs better on those skins and it's because of the soundsets.

**NTTAWWT

I had to google the classic skin and it actually highlights the issues I brought up, not solve them: The only way to make it work is to clumsily force the old skin over the new model.

The other guys, their model didn't change, not meaningfully. If all color was blacked out to a background like an old iPod commercial, you couldt tell they were the same champ. This isn't the case with Sion.

WhatdoplaygameJun 20, 20152 votes

To be honest, Yorick is one of my favorite champions. I absolutely love his kit. Whenever I try to pick him people bitch so much that it makes it not fun to select him. I started switching to him last second so they don't have a choice. I have never understood the Yorick hate. He's incredibly unique and I love the Four Horseman references. He isn't op and he isn't shit so I don't understand all the hate : /

SachabotJun 20, 20152 votes

I can count the number of times I've seen a Yorick pick work for a team. He's the reason "win lane, lose game" is a phrase. It's not about his numbers, not really. They're okay. First, he's a melee champion with fantastic ranged harass and sustain, meaning that he can't really be strong at either. Then, you really benefit from the tanky items and builds, making his build path confusing for newbies, as it can become very situational. Third, he does nothing for a team. At least nothing that other champions don't do as well if not better. His lack of meaningful CC is exacerbated by his lack of mobility.

He's cool conceptually, but executed poorly by Riot. I like him, and I keep him in my pocket for those times where I have to shut down top lane no matter what, but he needs a rework. Not just a normal rework, the whole minion AI needs to be redone for him to work well.

ËpicJun 20, 20152 votes

Yorik should be more popular these days especially with the tank meta popping back up. He's a scary ass bruiser with high damage, great sustain, and good poke once he gets some mana items.

XonraJun 20, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=Safety Hippo,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fT1KlT1F,comment-id=0006,timestamp=2015-06-20T23:37:40.870+0000)

Yorik should be more popular these days especially with the tank meta popping back up. He's a scary ass bruiser with high damage, great sustain, and good poke once he gets some mana items.

I think your last part "once he gets some mana items" is his biggest issue. Your other points are on the mark, but I have been 6 item Yorick, full stacked tier item + Frozen heart (for example) and STILL go oom in fights, because his mana pool is by default really small compared to his ridiculously high mana costs.

Wind WhistlerJun 20, 20154 votes

{quoted}

I think your last part "once he gets some mana items" is his biggest issue. Your other points are on the mark, but I have been 6 item Yorick, full stacked tier item + Frozen heart (for example) and STILL go oom in fights, because his mana pool is by default really small compared to his ridiculously high mana costs.

They're actually not that high, it's just the consistency at which he uses them.

XonraJun 21, 20152 votes

{quoted}

They're actually not that high, it's just the consistency at which he uses them.

He has a starting mana pool of 294 with one of the lowest mana per level gains for champions that use mana, along with one of the lowest mana per 5.

His W doesn't sound bad at 55, but when you consider that is almost 19% of his mana pool, and his passive relies on having out his ghouls, it adds up pretty quick.

His autos aren't exactly anything to write home about, especially without his passive, which again, requires as many ghouls out at one time as possible. His mana pool runs empty real quick just playing as Yorick, doing his intended playstyle.

ChaoticPineconeJun 22, 20151 votes

Every Muramana champion runs OOM in a teamfight pretty quick since your basic autos drain your mana pool at the same rate. You can stack as much mana as you want, but 3% of your current mana is 3%.

XonraJun 22, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Every Muramana champion runs OOM in a teamfight pretty quick since your basic autos drain your mana pool at the same rate. You can stack as much mana as you want, but 3% of your current mana is 3%.

You know you can turn that off, right?

ChaoticPineconeJun 22, 20151 votes

Do you turn your Muramana off for teamfights?

DaxterrJun 22, 20152 votes

Hmm?? Here at Rito we don't know of this "yorick" of which you speak. And neither do you.

hands you an envelope of bribe money

We would like to keep it this way.

Meep ManJun 20, 20151 votes

What I don't get is how Riot makes Yorick sound so bad that he is completely removed from the FTP rotation, he gets no skins, and they have commented that he is the worst case scenario since they consider him a brain dead champion and one that is very uninteractive. And then they choose to make his rework so low priority. Back when Xerath was announced for a rework, they said Yorick was getting reworked then, but then DROPPED it. They were coming up with actual kits with numbers and such. I think I even saw in-game images of more permanent ghoul minions. Then they dropped it and about two years later are saying they are beginning to come up with things for him. Apparently being considered the worst case scenario for a champion doesnt make you high priority for a rework?

YumaS2AstralJun 20, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Inept Maverick,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fT1KlT1F,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-06-20T20:21:53.824+0000)

What I don't get is how Riot makes Yorick sound so bad that he is completely removed from the FTP rotation, he gets no skins, and they have commented that he is the worst case scenario since they consider him a brain dead champion and one that is very uninteractive. And then they choose to make his rework so low priority. Back when Xerath was announced for a rework, they said Yorick was getting reworked then, but then DROPPED it. They were coming up with actual kits with numbers and such. I think I even saw in-game images of more permanent ghoul minions. Then they dropped it and about two years later are saying they are beginning to come up with things for him. Apparently being considered the worst case scenario for a champion doesnt make you high priority for a rework?

They removed Yorick from the FTP rotation "god know why"

They stated that Yorick is extremely unfun and miserable to play against

Yet there are many champions Riven Katarina Tryndamere Fizz Shaco Yasuo Zed Annie just as unfun to play against, if not worse, but they are not banned from the free week

AbyssphereJun 20, 20156 votes

{quoted}

They removed Yorick from the FTP rotation "god know why"

They stated that Yorick is extremely unfun and miserable to play against

Yet there are many champions just as unfun to play against, if not worse, but they are not banned from the free week

Have you ever actually played against a Yorick?

Arsenic SulfurJun 20, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Have you ever actually played against a Yorick?

Even though I haven't faced him, I can tell my enemy top-laner is miserable against him because GHOULS! and the ability to turn any 1v1 into a 2v1 and usually come out on top.

XonraJun 20, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Pixel Invoker,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fT1KlT1F,comment-id=0002000000000000,timestamp=2015-06-20T21:31:07.187+0000)

Even though I haven't faced him, I can tell my enemy top-laner is miserable against him because GHOULS! and the ability to turn any 1v1 into a 2v1 and usually come out on top.

As someone who plays Yorick, I can say it can be annoying to play against Yorick, but not miserable. People exaggerate the matchup because it catches them off guard, but the problem is...he can't just "spam ghouls" like most try to say.

If you spam....anything aside from auto attacks, you will be oom in lane reaaaal quick. Which is actually the most frustrating thing about him right now. (to me, as someone who enjoys playing him).

ProvengreilJun 21, 20151 votes

I may be in error, but I suspect Nunu Sion Nasus Maokai don't mind him all that much. The spamming would be OK for Mao once he gets a defensive item, Nasus loves more minions to farm, Sion can sream your ghould back at you, and nunu just noms down and keeps going.

Or am I being dumb?

magic poleJun 21, 20151 votes

iirc, the one and only time I've faced Yorick I was playing as Nasus . For the first few levels it was miserable. Like, 3 stacks per minute miserable. but yeah after 1-1.5 items it becomes a joke. Even with far less than average stacks, susan ended up being much more useful post-laning, and we won.

as others have mentioned though, might have had to do with me not really knowing what he did. All i remember is walking up for a stack, not getting it, and being chased away by 2-3 ghouls leaving me at half health.

ProvengreilJun 21, 20151 votes

I remember my first time against olaf was like that. He was plat, I was garen, I got wrecked and was never sure how.

XonraJun 22, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I may be in error, but I suspect don't mind him all that much. The spamming would be OK for Mao once he gets a defensive item, Nasus loves more minions to farm, Sion can sream your ghould back at you, and nunu just noms down and keeps going.

Or am I being dumb?

Nunu honestly doesn't get to do Nunu things to Yorick. If he goes to melee to proc his passive, Yorick can just drop his W on him, click on him with E, and by that point Nunu should be running already, unless he is super fed.

Early, and probably even in lane, Sion doesn't do well against Yorick. Most melee champs don't.

Out of the 4 you listed, from my playing a lot of Yorick, Nasus does great against him, if he can smack the ghouls, and isn't getting hit with his W. The other 3 don't do well in lane against Yorick.

The knocking back ghouls with Sion for example isn't actually the issue. The W drops and does damage. The ghoul staying out is sort of whatever after that point. The E ghoul is more for harass, and Q, again the ghoul isn't that important as what Q does otherwise.

I get where you are coming from, and in theory it sounds good, but doesn't work out. For example:

If nunu uses consume on the ghoul, he won't have it for a minion, and he will need it to help grab the cannon for example, cause Yorick will be harassing him down since his auto is melee.

Sion is good after6-9, but early levels, Yorick will bully him with his W mostly, and his E will just be annoying (I rarely early level my Q until I have to against other melee champs).

Mao gets bullied as well, just in general. Since Yorick does AD with Manamune and the like, but his main Spell (his W) is ap, you can't really just build defense against him in lane, cause he will go around it and just change how he attacks.

Nasus will make Yorick's day miserable. Not cause of q'ing his ghouls, just how he plays, and his built in sustain, and the death patch he puts down. The other 3 aren't a problem for him in lane.

YumaS2AstralJun 22, 20151 votes

Before the nerfs, I used to counterpick Yorick with Akali - She actually has sustain to survive against Yorick thanks to her passive, her E can destroy the ghouls, and her invisibility shroud can make the ghouls lose aggro.

She can also burst down Yorick after 6 with a Hextech Gunblade.

Or at least she could, I am not sure how Akali would do on that matchup now.

Now I like to counterpick Yorick with - believe on me or not - - Malefic visions and voidlings help in cleaning up Yorick's ghouls, which end up being free mana for Malzahar due to his E passive. Also, the suppresion from Malzahar's ult is extremely detrimental to Yorick, which can't affort to rush a QSS early. Silences also cripple him since Yorick is a caster.

XonraJun 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Before the nerfs, I used to counterpick Yorick with - She actually has sustain to survive against Yorick thanks to her passive, her E can destroy the ghouls, and her invisibility shroud can make the ghouls lose aggro.

She can also burst down Yorick after 6 with a Hextech Gunblade.

Or at least she could, I am not sure how Akali would do on that matchup now.

Now I like to counterpick Yorick with - believe on me or not - - Malefic visions and voidlings help in cleaning up Yorick's ghouls, which end up being free mana for Malzahar due to his E passive. Also, the suppresion from Malzahar's ult is extremely detrimental to Yorick, which can't affort to rush a QSS early. Silences also cripple him since Yorick is a caster.

Yeah Yorick has trouble with anyone who has a bit of range, or some sort of ignite type mechanic (Fizz, Malz, etc). Also I can see Akali doing, at least okay, because she can hit him with some range, and when she needs to she can jump on him. His lack of CC would make it hard to deal with her.