Why buff Master Yi and not other champions like Lee Sin?
Why in the world would you buff this champion the way you did? This champions win rate has gone down a measly 1-2% across the elos since patch 7.22 and he is a hyper carry late game. The buffs make him incredibly strong early game and thats not really the point of the champion. He is supposed to farm for the first 10-15 minutes of the game but now he has lower mana costs and higher base damage AND scaling damage on his E which already does true damage! This champion was fine the way he was. His win rate skyrockets past 50% when people play more than 50 games on him, meaning with a little practice, you can climb anywhere with that monkey champion. His win rate approaches 55-60% for experienced players in gold and silver which is statistically where most players are on the ranked ladder. THIS WAS BEFORE THE BUFFS!
Stats- Bronze Pick Rate 11-15% across patch 7.22-8.2 Win Rate Overall: 50.25% No surprise here Win Rate after 50 games: 54.68% Not even the kicker Win Rate after 150 games: 63.22% This is the real kicker After 200 games, I guess bronze Yi players go stupid because the win rate drops to 40% but I guess if you've played that many games of Yi and you're still in bronze, well....you know.
God bless you if you're in bronze and not tilting from this, you will deal with yi about every 7-9 games and he will statistically win
Stats- Silver Pick Rate 8-11% across patch 7.22--8.2 Win Rate Overall: 49.62% Just below a 50% win ratio overall, not seeing a need for buffs here Win Rate after 50 games: 54.9% Wow seems pretty good, not in any need of buffs Win Rate after 100 games: 53.6% Goes down a little then goes up from here as they play more games Win Rate after 200 games: 55.95% Well above half, I think you get the point
So in silver, you will deal with this champion about 9-10% of the time and you better hope the guy hasn't played a few games because thats all it takes to "overcome his weakness"
Stats- Gold Pick Rate: 6-9% across patch 7.22--8.2 Win Rate Overall: 48.7% Ok, a little lower for sure so maybe I can see where he might be weak Win Rate after 50 games: 54.74% Wow almost as high as Silver, surprised? Me either Win Rate after 100 games: 53.91% Hmm still not bad Win Rate after 200 games: 59.18% Why does he need buffs again?
Stats- Platinum Pick Rate: 4--7.8% across patch 7.22--8.2 Win Rate Overall: 48.14% Definitely not good, but just wait Win Rate after 50 games: 55.20% Oh wait, that 48% not seeming too relevant now eh? Win Rate after 100 games: 54.66% No suffering here either Win Rate after 200 games: 54.52% Do I have to keep going?
Stats- Diamond and above Pick Rate: 3.8-7.42% across patch 7.22-8.2 Win Rate Overall: 48.07% Alright you got me, this isn't that great Win Rate after 50 games: 55.26% Nevermind Win Rate after 100 games: 54.98% Sigh Win Rate after 200 games: 54.63% Waiting to hear high elo players say "git gud" even though these win rates are more than reasonable for your elo
This is the point where players start to obey the meta or one trick champions so yes, his play rate has gone down because other things are better at this skill level.
So uh, why buff this champion? Why does he "need more love"? Seems to me like you can zoom your win rate just by practicing a little and scaling for the late game. Yi has over a 50% win ratio for games that go more than 40 minutes in EVERY ELO. He is a LATE GAME HYPERCARRY, not an EARLY GAME SKIMISHER. He now has 0 weaknesses short of being a melee champion; he has low mana costs, high base damage and scaling etc. He can tower dive you and drop aggro when he wants and gets damage reduction and healing from his W so a level 3 tower dive from Yi is not totally unrealistic! With Lethal Tempo, he can easily exceed the attack speed cap by building like 1-2 AS items. After that, you build whatever the hell you want; tank, bruiser, ad, crit, LITERALLY WHATEVER YOU WANT. This champion takes no skill, just some practice and basic game knowledge.
