Riot Games Releases Micropatch to Buff Yuumi Right After Her Nerfs

If you are a League of Legends player who plays against Yuumi and was happy to see the cat get nerfed in LoL Patch 12.16, then you are probably rolling your eyes while reading this. Riot Games has decided to buff the kitty cat almost the same day she was nerfed. The company rolled out a mid-patch update for Yuumi, giving her some vital buffs.

In the patch that was released on 24th August, Riot nerfed Yuumi and wrote, “Yuumi has had a very high pick rate in Professional play recently given that she synergizes well with a lot of the current meta picks and has strong scaling into the late game. We’re taking a little bit of the zoom out of her Zoomies so that her friends are a little less unkillable.”

Yuumi buffs in mid-patch 12.16

Lead designer on game balance Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison detailed the buffs lined up for the magical cat. He wrote on Twitter, “We micropatched out a buff to Yuumi to add some power back in a way that is not super focused into E after putting it in a better long-term spot. We recognize there's a risk to the return of Artillery Yuumi, but there aren't a lot of great areas to buff.”

In LoL Patch 12.16, Yuumi’s E - Zoomies was nerfed, and hence to bring a sense of balance to her kit, Riot is now buffing her Q - Prowling Projectile. Additionally, the cooldown of her R - Final Chapter has been reduced in the early levels.

Riot Games recognized that it is not fun to play a lane 1v2 as an attack damage carry (ADC) while your support Yuumi is attached to a fighter. Phroxzon added, “Long term, we're interested in reducing her level of force multiplication with fighters and have her be happier about sitting at Marksman.”

The following are the Yuumi buffs in mid-patch 12.16 in League of Legends:

• Q Base Damage (Unempowered) 50/80/110/140/170/200 ⇒ 50/90/130/170/210/250

• Q Base Damage (Empowered) 60/100/140/180/220/260 (+2/3.2/4.4/5.6/6.8/8% of the target's current health) ⇒ 60/110/160/210/260/310 (+3/4.2/5.4/6.6/7.8/9% of the target's current health)

• R Cooldown 130/110/90 seconds ⇒ 110/100/90 seconds

According to U.GG, the following are the stats for Yuumi in Platinum and above tiers in League of Legends ranked at the time of writing:

• Tier: D

• Win Rate: 46.76%

• Pick Rate: 10.8%

• Ban Rate: 41.2%

One could argue that Yuumi’s win rate is below 50% and wonder why Riot Games is even taking the time to balance the champion. However, it is vital to realize that the cat is turning into a menace in pro play while being strapped to the backs of champions like Trundle and Zeri. The nerfs and buffs to Yuumi are mainly based on the state of pro play and Riot wants to bring her kit to a sweet spot before Worlds 2022.