Since League of Legends Patch 13.10, Yasuo has become the most picked mid-lane champion and one of the most banned mid-lane champions—even though he has a less-than-average win rate on the Rift.
Yasuo currently has a win rate of 48.52 percent across all ranks according to U.GG. Despite this, he is still the most popular mid-lane champion—both in terms of being picks and bans—which is pretty unique. And there’s a reason.
Yasuo is one of the most fun and flashy champions to play—and one of the most un-fun champions to play against. His kit is relatively easy to understand, but there are a few combos and things you do need to learn, so he can take time to master. You can also quickly zip in and out of a fight and block all of your enemy’s projectiles with a wall of wind. And he has a katana, so, for many Yasuo fans, that makes him the ultimate champion in League.
Related: Best Yasuo build in League of Legends
But if you’re playing against Yasuo, he can be the bane of your existence for similar reasons. He is fast, can escape attacks, and his Wind Wall (W) can block your attacks, which is incredibly frustrating.
There is also a negative stigma around Yasuo mains, regardless of whether you’re good at the champion. When all of this is combined, you get a champion who is the most picked in the mid-lane and one of the most banned.
For the most part, Yasuo enthusiasts are building him the same way—Lethal Tempo, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, and Last Stand, along with Second Wind, Unflinching, Offense, Flex, and magic resist Defense. But a few other builds are doing well, like On-Hit Yasuo, although they aren’t nearly as popular, and a tank build that should probably not be taken onto the Rift, considering its appalling win rate.
Even with the reworked Galeforce, Bloodthirster, and Phantom Dancer, three of Yasuo’s current core items, his win rate has only slightly improved. But given that his win rate hasn’t been over 49.5 percent for a very long time, this may hint that his kit needs to be reworked or altered.
However, the 23.3 percent of League players who have banned Yasuo may believe otherwise. Unfortunately, Patch 13.10 wasn’t the win-rate boosting patch for Yasuo that he needed.
But, it did increase his popularity—just not in a way that Yasuo mains would have liked to have seen. Time will tell if The Unforgiven One can recover before Patch 13.11.
