Is Yasuo dead? (For real this time?)

T Cleezy·Oct 22, 2014·4 votes·2,505 views

I don't hate Yasuo, I actually really like playing Yasuo and he's one of the first Champions I really loved in this game. I have banned him, I have thought his skill to result ratio had been a little iffy in the past (i.e. easy to use hard to master, but still doing great none the less) but I don't think he needed this many and this large of nerfs. Though, I'm not here to debate that; I would like to know if you think he's still viable. As a solo lane with little to no team synergy knockups. Can he still work? This may be a dumb question, but I feel the need to ask it. His base health is so low now that his early game pressure is almost gone. I feel it'll be very difficult for him in the laning phase and I've played a few games with him and it seems that he'll have a significantly harder time. I just want to know your opinions, is he still worth picking up without SSW Dade like reflexes?

15 Comments

CaekieOct 22, 20144 votes

dunno about you guys but 50 hp is really not that big of a deal lol. unless you happen to be in high diamond where every single stat point counts... you're facing bad yasuos.

even in his current form i think he's still completely viable due to how well items scale on him. going 0-0-0 and farming up shiv already gives him significant damage. going 1-0-0 and farming up shiv means you've already lost your lane against him. going 0-1-0 means he's just going to farm a bit harder instead of play agro. there's really no way to win against him unless you know what you absolutely know what you're doing (ie; high diamond)

DarkwindOct 22, 20141 votes

dunno about you guys but 50 hp is really not that big of a deal lol. unless you happen to be in high diamond where every single stat point counts... you're facing bad yasuos.

even in his current form i think he's still completely viable due to how well items scale on him. going 0-0-0 and farming up shiv already gives him significant damage. going 1-0-0 and farming up shiv means you've already lost your lane against him. going 0-1-0 means he's just going to farm a bit harder instead of play agro. there's really no way to win against him unless you know what you absolutely know what you're doing (ie; high diamond)

This is completely wrong. Shiv doesn't make him stronger than (fill in any other mid lane champion with 1 ~2500 gold item). Yasuo isn't stronger in a 1v1 or in lane than his competition until he gets AT LEAST ie and shiv. Mostly, he needs 5 items to be effective in teamfights. Before then, he's just free food. 50 hp at level 1 is an INCREDIBLY big deal. It's around 1/10 of your entire health.

If Yasuo only goes 0-1-0 in lane, he's an above average Yasuo. The best yasuo i've laned against since the nerf went 0-2-0 in lane and ended up down 20 cs. No yasuo i've laned against since then has been relevant to the outcome of the game. If yasuo tries to play aggro, just kill him. He can't do a single thing about it.

slippykittenOct 22, 20143 votes

The problem is that his kit is so poorly designed that there is no way to make him viable and balanced. If he is strong enough to be viable, he will be op because his kit is insane.

Shield every time you move? Wall that blocks literally everything (even AA) Infinite dashes Completely resourceless Ult that instantly flashes you to an enemy, regardless of bad positioning, makes you untargetable and does insane damage? And because that isnt enough, just give him double crit because crit is almost meaningless, right?

That kit is friggin retarded. Riot gave you a broken champ. You guys loved playing him? well no shit, he has the most overloaded stupid kit that has every graced the game. So, either he is too weak to be viable, or he will molest everyones face. The numbers cant fix this one.

Wehrmacht BunnyOct 22, 20141 votes

The problem is that his kit is so poorly designed that there is no way to make him viable and balanced. If he is strong enough to be viable, he will be op because his kit is insane.

Shield every time you move? Wall that blocks literally everything (even AA) Infinite dashes Completely resourceless Ult that instantly flashes you to an enemy, regardless of bad positioning, makes you untargetable and does insane damage? And because that isnt enough, just give him double crit because crit is almost meaningless, right?

That kit is friggin retarded. Riot gave you a broken champ. You guys loved playing him? well no shit, he has the most overloaded stupid kit that has every graced the game. So, either he is too weak to be viable, or he will molest everyones face. The numbers cant fix this one.

Umm, all that really needs to be done is his Q have a longer passive, 30 seconds instead of 15 seconds. And a health boost.

Also, his Ultimate isn't even that good. It does barely any damage what so ever, and the after passive doesn't really matter, because in a team fight, you're dead anyways from everyone focusing you.

It's sad that Yasuo level 18, can't even beat Lee Sin Level 18. Yet, Yasuo is a fighter and Lee Sin is an Assassin.

Personally though, if I was Riot, I would rethink his Ultimate. It relies too much on Q and other teammates to be successful.

EllphiOct 22, 20142 votes

Yasuo was my favorite champ and probably the only one I've encountered in league that I don't get bored of playing every game.

After this huge series of nerfs, he's almost unplayable in solo queue (idk about ranked 5's). He gets absolutely destroyed by almost every pick, even matchups that used to be considered skill matchups. In the land of solo queue, he's an absolutely shit-tier carry because unless your lane opponent sucked massively or you were lucky enough to get ganks, by the time you hit your first power spike your team is probably already 0 - 10 and down a dragon.

Its just disappointing to see an undeniably high skill-requirement champion get completely facerolled by even the most nooby of Ryze/Fiora/Orianna/Brand/Fiddle/Riven/Irelia/etc players. Yasuo simply doesn't have the stats to keep up with the scaling of other champs, and since his kit is based around 'outplaying', champions with very little counterplay and even less skill requirement just make his life a nightmare. You can be 3/0 Yasuo and up 30 CS and still get completely deleted by Fiora if you make the smallest mis-step. In the latest Yasuo vs Orianna matchups I've played, you'd see Orianna starting doran's blade and maxing shield first so she could just endlessly autoattack Yasuo for 0 risk and completely deny him out of any potential to scale.

It's bad to the point where even though I consider myself a Yasuo main, I have far more success playing Orianna/Syndra/Viktor at a total noob level than I have with Yasuo who is my most comfortable champ.

The worst part about his nerfs is that Riot took the completely wrong direction with them. He had a unique theme going as a champion who built flow and utilized wind to be a defensive and agile mADC who didn't have the highest of damage outputs but had consistent sticking power and a good amount of survivability. Nowadays he's just played as a 1-time use suicide bomber where you build pure damage, and dive in a team fight to deal as much damage as you can before you die without ever having the intention of surviving a fight. We already have mADC DPS powerhouses like Fiora/Yi/Trynd, we didn't need another one.

ChimeiTekinaNasuOct 22, 20141 votes

The worst part about his nerfs is that Riot took the completely wrong direction with them. He had a unique theme going as a champion who built flow and utilized wind to be a defensive and agile mADC who didn't have the highest of damage outputs but had consistent sticking power and a good amount of survivability. Nowadays he's just played as a 1-time use suicide bomber where you build pure damage, and dive in a team fight to deal as much damage as you can before you die without ever having the intention of surviving a fight. We already have mADC DPS powerhouses like Fiora/Yi/Trynd, we didn't need another one.

"We already have mADC DPS powerhouses". mADC?? m???? I agree with you on that Riot went too far with nerfs. I remember release Yasuo was able to faceroll me in top lane without even trying. Like, what's with that shield that lasts so long. Then each time I thought I outplayed him, nope, shield outplayed me. Well played, shield, well played. In the patch where they finally nerfed his shield and how much damage it absorbed, I think he was finally balanced. Cause if I played it right in top lane, he was a bit easier for me to kill now. Then I think people used him in mid lane which his primary role. He wasn't too bad to face against. Then, I think he got nerfed twice after they already nerfed his shield duration and shield damage amount, which I actually did find rather unnecessary. Now it's common for a Yasuo to go 2/11. I remember ganking this Yasuo and getting him killed. Then right when Yasuo got back into lane, I used my Skarner ult on him and got him killed again. I think that was the Yasuo that went 2/13. Ranked, too. That was also before his most recent nerf to his base health and movement speed. Like what. Why would you nerf him more already. He can barely do decent with a good team comp. Now I think he's going to be a lot harder to use in Solo Q.

12talesOct 22, 20142 votes

I have yet to see a Yasuo do well outside of massive skill mismatches (Platinum vs. Silver, for instance). I dunno about premade, but I don't think he's a particularly justifiable choice in soloq at the moment.

Long Dong WukongOct 22, 20142 votes

He's still functional because he has a lot of outplay potential, but you have to bust ass to win the match.

It's kind of one of those situations where sure the character isnt TRASH but it takes too much effort for what you get.

Wehrmacht BunnyOct 22, 20142 votes

Is Yasuo dead? I believe so. He has such little damage output, and miscual health. He is somewhat strong early game, but all that falls off mid and late game. He becomes really useless, and almost a nuisance to have on your team. His ultimate is probably the worst, because it requires too much for way too little. I have yet to see anyone be successful with him after the nerf changes.

But I'm sure some haters of him will tell me I'm full of shit.

Hyrum GraffOct 22, 20142 votes

In a team with no synnergy, I think he's on the weak side. In a team with 2-3 knockups, especially reliable aoe ones like alistar, I think he's on the stronger side, though his laning has certainly taken a hit.

It makes him a niche pick, which I think is good for game health overall.

Stars ShaperOct 22, 20141 votes

Yasuo is still good imo. I don't play him much though because he needs a team because all the focus you get from enemies.

JustKittingOct 22, 20141 votes

Its not the hp but the movespeed nerf that really screws him. Makes his dashes take longer and with his low hp just makes him easier for a jungler to shutdown.

AkabaneKunOct 22, 20141 votes

Meanwhile Fizz, for way longer time.

BaughwsseryOct 22, 20141 votes

He wasn't supposed to have early game pressure.

ElegendaryNov 15, 20141 votes

Perhaps im just wrong, but i feel that riot has gone the wrong direction in yasuos nerfs. His kit really isnt that Op or broken until you add in the double crit chance, that is the only reason he does so much damage. So i think they should have toned down that aspect of his kit instead of taking away his defensive aspects, being that his damage is sustained he needs some kind of defense (I.E. range for adc's, untargetable and meditate for yi, undying rage for trynd ect.) to keep him alive while building mostly damage. So i feel they should have either lessened the scaling (1.75x or 1.5x crit chance) which would make him build a little more crit chance (ghostblade) to get his 100% or made it a unique scaling such as he doesnt "crit" based on a % chance, its just a multiplier on his autos and q (so 30% crit change = 120% ad just as an example considering he does less damage on crits) capping at 100% crit chance for scaling, thus making the damage 100% predictable and he cant get lucky early on like 4 crits in a row or get screwed and not crit at all. Just some ideas but i dont feel like the wall, shield, mobility part was the problem by itself, it was a problem because of how much damage he does.