My thoughts on Yasuo.

So I've been doing some testing of Yasuo on PBE, as I usually do testing, and like with Jinx I want to continue giving feedback on new champs added.

I'm going to first start off with design. I personally love his look, voice, emotes (the flute... amazing). His overall look and feel in terms of character and skills really set him apart from other champs though he distinctly feels Ionian. His overall story is pretty interesting too and leads to some fun speculation on who the assassin was (I know there is a theory of it being Riven floating around given her Ult ability and Noxian origin). Overall, total A+ on the character.

HOWEVER. I am not 100% sold on the alternate skin. I like the harmonica, but, otherwise, it just feels kinda... I dunno. Off.

Kit:

Passive: I find it interesting that his passive gives double your crit chance. It feels like a trap for new players, but also if used by someone who knows how to round out crit to 100% with 2 items without hindering the build, could be crazy. As far as the Flow system goes, I find it kind of neat. He gains a shield of wind as he moves, which is funny considering fast movement generates wind disruption. :P Nicely done on that.

Q: It is thin, but I never felt it was so thin that it was problematic. I mean considering how hard it has the possibility to hit and with max CD stats it drops to a 1.33 per second skill, the difficulty to land the first 2 shots on enemy champs is worth it. It's an interesting skill and I like the interaction with the dash. It is reduced in CD by attack speed which is good for a melee carry such as him, so all in all great skill.

W: The wall. It's intriguing and adds more to the 'wind swordsman' feel. It gets wider for leveling, lower CD, AND makes your dashes gain more flow. It's really the 'max 2nd if you want more survivablity' skill. Which is a good thing. I LIKE that he has multiple build paths for his skills. Max Q first for damage, Max W for defense or E for more damage and mobility. Has great synergy as well as great utility mid teamfights or even for midlane to keep off harass as most mids have either A: Some skill it can block, or B: AA's it can block.

E: I like the amping scaling on it, and that it does magic damage. It keeps him from being TOO hard to handle as he doesn't just unload buckets of AD into you with every skill. I also like the E->Q combo to turn the hard to hit line shot into a team AoE. All in all it gives him the perfect ability to make teamfights work for someone so frail.

Ult/R: Now here is where I am kind of mixed. While I do like what his ultimate does, having obvious synergy with his Q and design with the armor pen, the fact it can ONLY be used during a knockup is a bit frustrating. Yes it has great range, allows him to slap tanks in the face if carries are dead mid teamfight, and it synergizes with his entire kit and design intent. Yes it can be used on enemies knocked up by other allied champs. Still it's just frustrating to have an Ult you can't just USE. All in all I think it's a good skill, just something I would have to get used to.

Overall I think that this kit is EXACTLY what a melee ADC should have. Plenty of damage, mobility, and just enough utility to both help themselves through laning AND help the team (wind wall).

Laning: Early game is a bit of a bitch. I understand he needs to make it to mid/end game to shine, but his early game is really rough against most mids unless you have great help from your jungler. I think he could just use a little, slight nudge in his squishiness. Like maybe an inch bit more health/armor/MR. Just enough so he can survive, but not so much that he can waltz over the enemy. Fine line there.

Mid game to end game he REALLY does shine. Once he gets a lifesteal item, one crit item, and full boots the damage starts showing. A fed Yasuo will destroy most people and endgame he can out duel almost anyone (even Aatrox! unless said Aatrox goes lifesteal build instead of health). With a good team comp and some kills Yasuo can really handle himself in the current game setting.

End game I feel he may be a bit too strong. With a full build (I often see 2 crit items, 1 LS item, boots, last whisper, and an AD item or Trinity Force) he can destroy most people with his 1k-1.5k+ crits, life stealing off those, ON TOP of his Ult dropping any non-natural armor. I don't know where you could even scale him back, because the real tradeoff for such power IS the really, really, REALLY shitty early game.

Bugs: So far the only bugs I've found on Yasuo are one involving his Q, and a few with his W. As far as the Q goes, once in a blue moon it will shoot up (north) when I didn't aim in that direction. I dunno if this is my mouse or a actual targetting bug since I can't get it to replicate every time I use the Q.

The one I CAN replicate his the Windwall bugs. For instance when it is thrust directly into the bodies of Wight and Dragon mobs, it stuns them for several seconds. I imagine this isn't intended and just a bug from the tech needed to make the wall work in the first place. Otherwise he seems to work just fine. With no other noticeable bugs.

Overall summary: Love the design, and kit. Not fond of the alternate skin. Think he's a tad feast or famine, though that tends to be midlane in a nutshell. I truly believe he will shine in team games more then solo queue. Once I see him in the hands of some pros working with people they trust and can initiate with, it'll be insane what he can do. I think Yasuo sets a new standard for melee AD carries.

Great job Riot, just be very careful about his damage. Again, I state he seems a tad on the strong side when even/ahead.