My Thoughts On Yuumi As An Enchanter Main

I'm kind of disappointed, to be honest.

This doesn't come from a point of gameplay, her abilities look incredible and I'm eager to try her out once she's released, but she simply feels like all the other Enchanters we have in terms of thematic.

These are all the "pure" Enchanters, in the sense that they're not a hybrid of another class, such as how Karma, Rakan, and Morgana could be considered Enchanter-Catcher hybrids, as even though they have decent utility, their focus is more on damage and CC.

Aside from a similar gameplay design, they also all for the most part fulfill the same thematic "The Ethereal Healer" with small niches to separate them. Nami having a more confident headstrong personality, Lulu being a bit crazy though still well intentioned, Janna being a wind spirit that wants only to protect the helpless, Sona and her music, and Soraka being a celestial entity.

Yuumi doesn't do anything to diversify the roster of Enchanters, or the League roster in general, with the only thing that makes her really stand out from a thematic point of view being the simple fact that she's a cat. Turn her into a woman, a woman shaped spirit, or even a Yordle, and she would be essentially invisible in comparison to the other Enchanters.

A healer or simply somebody helping people doesn't have to be contained to some mystical being, and more importantly, it doesn't have to be contained just to woman. While yes, Yuumi is a cat, she's still female, which causes her to even further fall into the same bland overused thematic. As a male Enchanter main, what disappointed me the most about Yuumi wasn't that she uses the same overall design the rest of the Enchanters use, but it's just one more female.

They could have created a male Frost Priest as a new champion, diversifying the Enchanter roster by having a heavier, more dreary design, owing to his use of Dark Ice and worship of Lissandra. Maybe a male Noxian alchemist hardened by war who supports the Empire on the frontlines, throwing explosive potions to heal his allies and debilitate his enemies.

In the end, I just wanted a male Enchanter so I could feel represented, even if it's just in that small simple way. Rakan came close, but he's not a pure Enchanter, only a hybrid, and the same for Taric, who's really just a tank with a mediocre heal.

Again, I'm not angry at Yuumi, I'm definitely going to play her, I just think Riot could have done something truly different.