Yorick Rework Thoughts and Ideas (With TL;DR at the end)
Hello everyone! I've heard about the Yorick rework and honestly I don't believe it's very necessary, but that's my opinion and all the numbers are stacked against me. Therefore instead of fighting against the inevitable I will pitch in my idea to hopefully be seen and liked by a higher up. So I'm going to divide this into small little chapters if you would like to call it that so this is much easier to read. So please look this over, but I understand that not everyone is as passionate about Yorick like I am so I will put a TL;DR at the end of this post so you can get your small fill in on what this is.
Chapters
1.) Current Yorick and where he stands in the meta
2.) What reworks are and how they "fix" champions
3.) Yorick's current kit and what it does for him
4.) New kit draft
5.) TL;DR
**Chapter 1**
Currently Yorick is an very underplayed champion (In ranked about a .7% play rate versus about an 5-10% where most other champion's play rate tend to be) and under appreciated. Yorick's win rate is about 47% win rate as of recently in ranked too.
Now that are just the basic stats of Yorick right now, where he is in the meta is kind of a weird spot. I guess Yorick is kinda comparable to pre-rework poppy, where really anything can work (In theory at least; maybe besides AP, but I personally haven't tried it out) as long as you know how to play it.
Now personally I play Yorick Top and Jungle, but I know that mid is also popular for Yorick. In the Top lane I play Yorick as a split pushing bruiser, where as Jungle Yorick is a sustain jungle that is good for diving in on teams with is ultimate. Currently Yourick doesn't have any out play potential with his current kit, but is still very strong against opponents for Yorick doesn't really have a counter play and people just don't know what to build against him.
On paper Yorick looks like a great champion that one would think many would play, but many find him unplayable because he is a boring champion or they flat out have the wrong idea about how he is played. This is most likely the reason Yorick isn't played in the current meta, or in any meta really.
Chapter 2
There are somethings that people don't understand about reworks, because I've seen a few posts that want to completely change Yorick into something he isn't, but believe that since it involves ghouls it will still be Yorick. I have seen a concept of Yorick being an aura based champion that has a single ghoul following him, kinda like Sona with a wonky passive. Others want to force him into a supportive role, which is something he is not.
A rework's job is not to redefine a champion, but instead revive it so it finally see the light of day again. Basically the question is,"Would you go (Insert role here) and be 100% serious and expect success in this role?" For current Yorick would one go support or adc? No that's very silly, Yorick was not designed to be played there, so why should he be completely changed to fit those roles. Let's look at a previous example, Mordekaiser. He was a solo laner, but was his rework forced him into the bottom lane while trying to keep his basic concept where there were very mixed results, broken, then under powered, then fixed to where I now only see him as a solo laner once again.
Now what does this mean to Yorick? We first have to understand what Yorick excels at doing. Yorick is a sustain lane bully that excels at 1v1s, split push, and overwhelming opponents. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but this is most likely he was designed to be played as. Yorick's team fighting isn't amazing, but is very do able. You ult the carry (If that's you, ult yourself, or if it's somebody else you ult them) and you have two ways of doing this, A. Right before they die to get a second chance or B. Ult them for a second one of them to make it a 6v5/4v4/5v4/ect. So doesn't it makes sense to keep his basic concept there while just making him fresh and playable.
**Chapter 3**
As I said before Yorick is a sustain lane bully with high sustain excelling with 1v1 and split pushing. This is reenforced with his kit. We will start with every ability and what this means for Yorick.
Passive - This is amazing for 1v1 and bulling for his passive lets him dish out more damage while at the same time as taking less damage for each ghoul he has out on the Rift, and during a 1v1 it gives him a massive damage boost, this combined with all of his ghouls overwhelms an opponent.
Q - This ghoul gives great damage and a large movement speed buff that helps with chasing down enemies, or even just doing the final blow.
W - This ghoul gives amazing harass and chasing down enemies.
E - This ghoul supplies some of the best sustain in the game and has the best ranged poke on cast when playing him normally.
R - This is one of the most versatile ultimate a on any champion, the ability to bring one back from the dead or even just have a clone of the most fed AD on your team is makes a very strong ability that is also core in defining Yorick as Yorick. It is amazing in both team fights and 1v1s, and a staple for Yorick.
**Chapter 4 **
Now I'm going to start this off with a note, I am not a designer in any way, shape, or form. I am simply pitching an idea and spreading what I think is the best way to get the Yorick rework right. I am always down for new ideas and would love to hear what others have to say about what I have put down here about my kit or what even a new kit after reading what I have to say. So please note that I wouldn't be giving out specific numbers unless I see fit to be that way, but more of a broad idea.
So this is how I'm going to go about this new Kit thing. I will first say the Slot it is in (Passive, Q, W, E, R) a basic run down of what the ability does, then how it stays true to old Yorick.
Passive - Yorick takes percent reduced damage for each ability that is affecting an enemy/minion/monster. >> Now this resembles his old passive very closely, nearly a carbon copy but it no longer has the percent damage buff but you will see that later in his kit. "Whoa, whoa, whoa slow down brockolee, his current passive only mentions ghouls, so where are they?" Well the thing is that in this draft there is 1 ability that isn't purely a ghoul, but I feel would fit nicely into Yorick's kit.
Q - When activated Yorick gains a small movement speed buff that also on next basic attack spawns a ghoul on the attacked enemy dealing a large amount of damage. This ghoul gives a de-buff to targeted enemy that makes all spell damage increase by a percent, and if Yorick's E is on that enemy Yorick also gets a percent more healing from that ability. >> Now this has everything that Yorick needs for his 1v1, it allows him to deal more damage to the target and at the same time increasing his sustain in the fight, it allows him to also initiate much better or disengage too when caught between a rock and a hard place.
W - Yorick casts a small grave circle with a medium cast range that after a small delay ghoul arms burst out and snare an enemy (for about .25 seconds) and then applies a small slow (for about 1.25 seconds) dealing a small amount of damage (This is ability is similar to Zyra Q, but deals less damage). >> This allows Yorick to catch up or keep an enemy from escaping him in a 1v1, now in a team fight this spell can be useful, but just like his current W it wont do too much for your team and isn't much of any kind of damaging ability. This can be useful in a team fight with a colaps on an enemy, but is instead very useful for Yorick in the lane or 1v1 by allowing him to self collapse on his target to overwhelm his enemy.
E - Yorick throws out a ghoul that latches onto the fist target hit dealing a fair amount of damage that then slashes at the enemy that will steal health each hit for Yorick's gain (This ability's range is similar to Illaoi's E ability)>> This is just like Yorick's current E, but allows some out play ability by the enemy and even some blind Es by Yorick.
R - Yorick creates revenant of him self or an ally that upon Yorick or ally death while the revenant is still alive it will sacrifice itself to revive it's target for a small amount of time. >> This ultimate is the same as it currently is, it is a staple on Yorick that holds together Yorick, this can make or break a team fight or 1v1. I feel like Yorick wont be Yorick if this ability is removed, because this currently is the base for Yorick, it is great for team fights, 1v1s, taking towers, and overwhelming an enemy.
**Chapter 5 **
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Now I have full confidence that Riot will do their best to make Yorick The best he can be, this here is an idea that I wish to voice, there will be a poll at the end that will see what You guys think of this rework and if you agree or disagree with the new kit.
**TL;DR:** Yorick is currently Split push/sustain 1v1er that has an okay team fight, but nothing too much stands out from his team fighting. The goal is to keep Yorick still a Split push/sustain 1v1er but at the same time giving him a relevant kit that feels like Yorick. All of his abilities, but his ultimate, could be changed in a positive way that keeps Yorick the simple champion he is currently. With my draft it gives Yorick a healthy kit for 1v1ing but now with a little bit more out play potential. If you wish to review the abilities that I feel are right for him they are right in Chapter 4.
Conclusion
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So please, up vote this post to spread the word. If you agree or not please write below how you feel about the Yorick rework or even if there is anything you feel that I got wrong and would like to tell me about or even pitch your Yorick kit idea. I would love to see what you guys have to say and I will try to respond to as many people as I can!
-Thank you so much!
I played against a Yorick once.