Hey everyone! I’m miLt, a dedicated Master Yi player who peaked at 920 LP in Challenger last season. I’m not here to ask for buffs but rather to discuss why I think the recent changes to Yi should be reverted. Back in patch 12.5, Riot made adjustments to Yi with the goal of eliminating the duskblade build. They reduced his Q’s AD scaling from 100% to 50% and introduced a scaling down with Ability Haste. In compensation, they allowed his Q to apply on-hit effects, including true damage from his E, making it less affected by the duskblade build. While this change succeeded in killing the dusk-crit build, duskblade itself has been gone for over a year now, and before that, Master Yi was never in the meta for Crit/AD/CDR. The on-hit build has historically been the most effective option.
There are a few reasons I believe these changes should be reverted:
1. **Build Variety**: Since 12.5, Master Yi’s build revolves solely around on-hit items like BORK and Rageblade. Reverting the scaling down would give him the flexibility to build crit items again and experiment more.
2. **Inconsistent Interactions**: The implementation of on-hit effects with his Q has led to numerous hardcoded interactions, which can become confusing and inconsistent, particularly with items like Conqueror and Kraken Slayer.
3. **Fairness**: Yi’s Q applying E’s true damage restricts his playstyle drastically and makes any adjustments to his E’s damage impactful to his overall viability, locking him into a specific build pattern.
While I understand the need for balance, the game has evolved significantly since season 12, and reverting these changes would provide more fairness and flexibility for both Yi and his opponents.
3 Answers
It’s typical Riot to balance a champ around an item, then remove that item but leave the nerfs in place. It’s like an endless loop of chaos. Remember when they made changes to champs like GP because of an item, then just totally reworked the item out from under them? It’s baffling!
Exactly! It’s like they cause so many unnecessary changes for just one item that has been gone for ages.
Honestly, it’s wild how his Q can activate Heartsteel for all targets. It leads to some funny interactions, like proccing Grasp with his Q and instantly stacking Black Cleaver! Maybe we can make use of that in ARAM.
Exactly, spiraling into even weirder interactions. Just imagine how chaotic the games could get!
Yeah, taking advantage of those mechanics sounds fun! Can’t wait to see everyone trying Titanic Hydra on Yi in ARAM.
I see your point about build variety, but even if they revert the changes, isn’t Yi still likely to focus on on-hit items? The meta has always leaned that way. Wouldn’t it just lead to another version of on-hit Yi dominating the scene again?
Not necessarily! There’s always been a good amount of variety before these changes, especially with situational items. It’s just about finding that balance.
Exactly! Yi had diverse builds at one point, so reverting could bring back those days of exploration!
Right? It’s frustrating how they adjust champions based on items that often aren’t even a problem later.