Any tips for a new Yasuo player?

Laughing Fish·Mar 30, 2015·1 votes·1,843 views

Greetings Summoners!

I recently acquired Yasuo, and have been happy to incorporate him into my arsenal. Here is the problem: I keep dying. And by that, I mean I am dying a lot. Sure, I have gotten a pretty good amount of kills, but overall I am still dying more often than I am killing. I have looked at guides, but many of them are quite outdated. Does anyone have any tips or tricks I should know when playing Yasuo? Posted below is my standard building path (which definitely needs improvement.)

Start: + +

Rush: > > > /

Then I build both (order is situational) /

Then I build Either or .

And finally .

This is not a great build, I am aware. I do crazy damage, but I often get killed before I can actually kill someone. If anyone has an improvement, please share.

-Laughing Fish

28 Comments

CastaneanMar 30, 20152 votes

Well, here's a not-so-simple tip, mainly existant because of Yasuo's nerfs.

THINK.

As a certain professor once said; "There is a time and a place for everything, but not now." What it means is... Well, pick your kills. Yasuo has a LOT of damage, sure, but anyone with a bit of burst can generally 100 - 0 him pretty easily. Make sure the enemy CANNOT CC you, so you can actually go in and get out alive. Dying for a kill is is NOT worth. Unless it's shutdown on a really fed target, then it totally is.

Basically, make sure you'll benefit before going for a kill. And make sure the kill WILL unavoidably happen. It takes time to learn these moments, but once you do you MIGHT actually get a little bit of praise for doing a good! Don't expect much though, because most people, especially enemies, will just say "YASUO NUB-CHAMP GIT GUD L2P SCRUBLORD" or something stupid like that.

Second tip: Keep moving. That shield passive is ESSENTIAL for engaging and getting out alive, and otherwise is just generally too good to ignore.

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

Make sure the enemy CANNOT CC you, so you can actually go in and get out alive.

This has been my main problem. I can dash around and slaughter people when they don't have their CC available, but I have not been great at avoiding CC with him. This is mostly just an experience thing, as I can avoid CC with other champs.

Second tip: Keep moving.

That is one thing I have done right lol. Between Static shiv and the passive shield, I almost never stop moving.

Thanks for the advice, I will continue to practice.

CastaneanMar 30, 20151 votes

No problem! Glad to be of help.

Also, here's a few champs to be extra vary of:

Veigar You can't dash through his E, and since Yasuo can't control the distance of his dash, avoid using it too much when he's nearby. Also, never approach Veigar without your shield and/or windwall. You may be AD but it takes veigar literally zero effort to kill Yasuo. And that's just mid-game.

Fiora She can parry all your shit. I think you can figure out the rest.

Azir His ult stops you in your tracks, leaving you very vulnerable to being killed. You should just avoid him if his ult is up. Especially if he has an ally close by, particularly the ADC. Your ult goes straight through the wall though, so that's a thing to consider.

Amumu His ult, again, will absolutely devastate a Yasuo. Just plain simple steer clear of him until his ult is down.

And for the last one... Ashe Surprise, surprise! Ashe is in da house! Yes. She's a squishy ADC with relatively low damage. But you're and Assassin with relatively low health. Yasuo's movement pattern is very predictable, meaning that dashing towards Ashe leaves you a sitting duck to an about 2 second long stun with a base damage of 250/425/600, against an ADC nonetheless. And you can't just not dash because Ashe has the lowest MS in the game and Yasuo has near the highest, no. You have to deal with Ashe's slows as well. Simply put, despite Ashe being squishy, don't engage her from the front. Surprise and flank her. Never underestimate her damage either. As per usual, keep your wind wall handy when you engage her, just in case. Never get close to her if she might have ult and you don't have wind wall. (This section was a bit extra long. Assassin players just tend to underestimate the power of a melee range Ashe ult to the face, as well as her potential damage as well. She IS and ADC after all. Just wanted to make sure this one got through.)

TL;DR: Don't be stupid. Know you're squishy and AA reliant. Keep windwall handy for champs like Veigar and Ashe with heavily punishing projectile type abilities. Champs like Viktor are best avoided or flank-ulted due to lack of projectiles. Viktor's E counts as a projectile though, funnily enough.

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

His ult stops you in your tracks, leaving you very vulnerable to being killed. You should just avoid him if his ult is up. Especially if he has an ally close by, particularly the ADC. Your ult goes straight through the wall though, so that's a thing to consider.

I am not proud of how I did against Azir lol http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1776575953/217750770?tab=overview

TL;DR: Don't be stupid. Know you're squishy and AA reliant. Keep windwall handy for champs like Veigar and Ashe with heavily punishing projectile type abilities.

I think part of my problem is I am not great with windwall. It seams most of my issues are an experience thing. He is a more difficult champion then he looks lol.

4nth0l0gyMar 30, 20151 votes

Ah, see, your first mistake was not following a simple rule: don't play CertainlyT champions.

But, if you're so determined: I think your build is fine. Yasuo's been nerfed pretty hard, so he doesn't have much in terms of defense, and he's not a champ you want to itemize defensively, really.

I'm not a yasuo player, though, so hopefully someone else can offer you advice.

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

Yasuo is a balls deep champion. regardless of who you are playing, if you are going in that deep you are not likely to return without an escape of some sort...why people play zed instead of yasuo.

so...as for tips to help you, its going to be a team comp and "when to go balls deep" thing. You can't just go in, you will need your team, especially if there is more than one. You need either fanstastic CC or someone that can peel for you. That is how you play yasuo...with the right team. in solo q...well good luck, lol! Get in team builder with some friends and see how it goes with some coordination, you may be pleasantly surprised

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

I play when friends whenever I can. The one game I did well in I had a XinZhao knocking up targets, allowing me to ult in.

You can't just go in, you will need your team, especially if there is more than one.

I will admit to making mistakes in that area lol. Too often I dash in deep to kill their adc, only to have no way out. I really to get better with dashing lol

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

Thats really tricky, because you need either an enemy minion or champion...its a conditional escape. It isnt you so much as it is the champion. One tactic i have seen work really well on yasuo..especially not very skilled yasuo's (not talking about you at all) is when it comes down to team fighting or anything close...Dont initiate. Think katarina cleanup crew. Let maokai, xin xou, and whoever else you have go in and drop a quarter health off the group, then dash around procing your shiv until you get a knockup and ult their face off.

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

Yeah, that tends to be the best tactic. Yasuo feels like a champion that can initiate, but he tends to get melted when he does.

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

1v1, yasuo good. 1v2 yasuo needs to be very careful...anything else yasuo needs to gtfo, lol! He is a great champion and can be a little rediculous. Also consider mercurial scimitar for Hard CC engage teams, the QSS will do a lot of work for yas

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

I will try Mercurial Scimitar. It could certainly help when fighting people like Nautilus .

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

for sure. when you see Ahri Sejuani Fiddlesticks Amumu or anyone with stuns, roots, or slows...your brain should start thinking QSS its not a core item, and is situational for sure..but the current meta has a ton of CC and tanks right now, so for the time being it could start feeling like a core item, lol

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

Yeah, it is becoming increasingly useful. People have a tendency to overload their team with CC.

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

There is a good reason for that....it works and incredibly well. You dont have to do insane damage if the other team cant even respond to what youre doing, lol!

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

Oh it certainly works. It is crazy fun to be on the team with overloaded CC, but annoying as hell to play against the team with overlaoded CC lol.

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

i try to be one having the fun ;)

177A Bleecker StMar 30, 20151 votes

I would put your e on quick cast, so you move your mouse over a minion and you dont have to click it makes it easier.

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

I have all his abilities on quick cast. I mostly play every champion with their abilities on quickcast, as I normally die because others have faster reaction times when I do not.

SerevasMar 30, 20151 votes

Yasuo was one of my favorite champions for a long time, and was the target of repeated nerfs both direct and indirect.

First, Yasuo got pummeled with direct nerfs pointed at Skill Cooldowns, Base Health, Flow Generation, Flow Shield Duration, Bonus Damage on Sweeping Blades, Flow Shield Duration again, as well as his base movement speed. These nerfs were done almost patch by patch in succession until he was extremely unfavorable for most to play, some of us still played him.

In 4.21 he saw a slight resurgence in play following a minor buff, but one that was good for his quality of life overall. Then the item change came along. in 5.1 the critical strike chance of infinity edge was reduced by 5% (Which meant an overall reduction of Yasuo's critical strike chance by 10%). This meant that you needed to find another way to reach 100% crit chance on Yasuo, or you decided to simply deal with the reduction in chance and risk not hitting a crit (80% and 90% are still pretty solid chances to critically strike after all.)

So now, your old build was item 3087 item 3031 item 3153 with other items involved, paired with I believe 5% of your critical strike chance coming from runes that made you reach 100% critical strike, I'd often build item 3035 and item 3072 in addition to my boots, because the shield and lifesteal in combat paired with 100% critical strike chance kept you alive for quite some time and Yasuo had something like 85% armor penetration if you hit someone with his ult, you even cut through Rammus like butter.

Now his build is up in the air, do you build the same way as before and deal with the fact that you have a 10% chance to deal substantially reduced damage? Do you find a way to itemize with it, item 3142 and waste the extra 10% critical strike chance? Throw in a item 3078 which adds 3700 gold to your build cost? The second and third options also leave you extremely limited in item slots, what do you give up in return?

Yasuo is just not that strong right now, because it's extremely difficult to itemize him properly, and not be a glass cannon that instantaneously dies in combat. It's just unfortunately not a good time for Yasuo players.

I'll also tell you that he's far more favorable to mid lane than top lane, he has a lot of mobility sure, but only when there are enemy minions to dash through making him very vulnerable in a lengthy lane where let's face it, he'll fight against tanks or bruisers, both of which are too difficult for him to take down until he gets some items that are rather expensive and difficult for him to get to without achieving some kills to hit the power spikes in a timely fashion.

Laughing FishMar 30, 20151 votes

Yeah, he has been nerfed a lot. And your right that last 10% crit chance is a pain lol. It really throws off your groove.

bad arcade kittyMar 30, 20151 votes

yasuo is a champion for gays/lesbians play ahri or katarina instead or zed

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20152 votes

You are confusing yasuo with taric.... Taric

bad arcade kittyMar 30, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=ToiletteOfDoom ,realm=NA,application-id=WEuoGbmp,discussion-id=PJukjldz,comment-id=00050000,timestamp=2015-03-30T14:22:21.224+0000)

You are confusing yasuo with taric....

no, taric is cute -_-

http://orig11.deviantart.net/e7c5/f/2015/087/c/c/cc269b832cac449da792c51dec3cc3d7-d8nfjsy.png

S H A Y C 0Mar 30, 20151 votes

While i cant argue your opinion...he is still "fabulous" and voted "most likely wear prada" in high school.

bad arcade kittyMar 30, 20151 votes

from my experience yasuo is hard to lane against and he is a strong duelist, but even a fed yasuo is a piece of meat in teamfights

i won a game recently when enemy had yasuo who mid game could kill 3 of us alone from 100-0 being ganked in a bush and getting the full burst and cc from my ahri... still late game he couldn't carry his team, was melted repeatedly and we won

SmknWdlMar 30, 20151 votes

Never stop moving. Never. It helps you stack your shield passive, which is essential for blocking poke.
I sometimes will build vampiric scepter, then go shiv into i.e., then just buy normal boots then bt then finish boots.... try that. Ive been experimenting with it.
Last whisper is always a great item, so i would put that above bork... i dont usually get bork on yasuo, and I've never tried youmuus, just cause of how yasuo plays.
Trinity force is a good item for him, as his q procs spell blade passive.
Play smart. Yasuo is all about playing smart and knowing when and how to go in... i sometimes look to see if i can get my shield up and go back in at low health... it works. Pay attention to when you have your windwall up and use it wisely.
Windwall is essential... make sure to position and reposition yourself around it in a fight... it becomes pretty natural after a while.
Just go watch some yasuo play on youtube... faker, dade, whoever... just watch some compilations... ill put some vids at the end. It kinda gives you a general feel for his playstyle.
Use your Q to slowly poke down enemy laners... a strategy i use a lot in lane is use my q to poke down enemies and then shove hard at level 5... hit 6 before them and ultimate in if they are at low enough health. This is a general strategy i use for lane, although it doesn't always work. Usually windwall and e will allow for a safe disengage if you havent killed them and you are under tower... block their damage and cc and use e to minions to dash out.
Use e defensively and offensively. It really helps to just e a lot... around lane, juking... idk.
your q is very good for farming... if behind in lane, q will provide a bit of space. Q is also good for disengaging with the knockup. Landing q skillshot is very important for poke in lane.
just have fun... yasuo is a very good champion with enough practice, he just isn't as good with low skill level. Keep playing him and I'm sure you'll do awesome