Riot dev explains lack of Yasuo & Yone buffs after League win rates drop

A Riot Games developer has responded to League of Legends players calling for Yasuo and Yone to be buffed after the champions took a significant hit in win rate percentage following the Season 11 item overhaul.

After Riot announced that they would be introducing a massive item overhaul in the 2021 preseason, many players were concerned about the effects it would have on champion balancing in League of Legends.

The 2021 preseason has already seen many balance changes such as the rise of tanks like Amumu and Sejuani, but Riot has been quick to make even more characters viable with League patch 10.24.

However, two popular mid-lane champions, Yasuo and Yone, have seen a massive drop in win rate percentage after the new item update, and the lack of buffs has caused fans to reach out to Riot devs for an update.

One Redditor called out to League developer Riot Phlox, asking why there were no pre-emptive buffs for champions like Yone and if there would be any changes in the upcoming patch.

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The League of Legends dev explained that, although Yasuo and Yone have been underwhelming so far, he believes that part of that is due to some of the current item builds that players are choosing, and not necessarily their strength in-game.

He revealed that buying Immortal Shieldbow into Infinity Edge was quite strong, compared to the traditional Phantom Dancer start that has been a go-to for players piloting the high-crit damage champions in past seasons.

But, with Yone still sitting at 43% win-rate and Yasuo at 45% in high-elo matches, according to u.gg, Riot Phlox admitted that they might be in need of some adjustments in the future.

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“I think Critbros (Yasuo and Yone) still building terrible items on average,” he explained, claiming that he was unsure if buffs would be needed, “still might need buffs but not on fire.”

Despite being two of the most popular characters, the Ionian brothers are currently the worst performing champions in the mid lane.

However, as of now, it is unclear just what Riot has planned ahead of the competitive spring season.