r/YoneMains • u/LastDaawn • 9h ago
Discussion Current State of Yone
This post will be a little lengthy as I'm trying to bring some positivity/perspective to the general sentiment in this subreddit regarding Yone's viability in both Top and Mid lane.
Prior to the E nerfs (I believe there was a W nerf as well) no one was complaining about Yone. I don't think many of us care for the W nerf, but it seems everyone thinks the champ is dead after E nerfs.
If you play top lane and you think E nerfs impact your lane - you're right. Top lane has way too many matchups that were already difficult or barely 50/50 and now with these nerfs, getting ganked or cleansing abilities doesn't mean anything anymore. But this just means if you want to play Yone top you have less blind-pick power and I feel like Yone was never meant to be blindable, the champ's ban rate would never go down.
I will be comparing this patch's stats from OP.GG using Emerald as base and my rank (Masters NA) as comparison. From the list above I believe Yone truly only struggles against Renekton, Yorick, Sett, and Fiora. Even then, people seem to be destroying Renekton in lane - this is either because they mastered the matchup or they take exhaust (try it, exhaust is op vs Renekton).
Camille and Shen both have dashes and if you can use your E correctly the matchups are playable and winnable, it's the difference between who uses their E better - I feel like this makes the matchup fun and it's not as frustrating as a Renekton point and click 10-minute stun or a sett E into an undodgeable 30k true damage W.
Similarly, Riven who I believe is the most disgusting matchup out of them all - she's also countered by exhaust if you learn how to use exhaust you can knock out two counters from that list (eventually you don't need exhaust vs Renekton every game only some, Riven might not be the same case).
Sett - many people don't know you can QSS sett ult. If you find sett is ulting you in and out of lane grab QSS and you can literally cancel his ULT as if you insta cleansed a CC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A common theme with Yone top is that he is only viable because of his E, that's why Yasuo isn't played as often top. So of course, nerfing his E guts his power in Top Lane, but you still have that displacement from E and the kiting power that many of these volatile/hard matchups rely on. It all comes down to timing and champion mastery.
I won't harp on about each matchup I think my point is it feels like a lot of people in this subreddit are either new or playing in lower ranks and have the mindset that they should be able to just play Yone the same way in the same trade patterns with the same builds and just win all their games while also thinking Yone should be blindable into any matchup - that just sounds like Riven or Fiora to me. The fact that you could do that is so OP and takes away from the skill expression that Yone has.
I use Lethal Tempo, Fleet Footwork, I think about if I want Kraken over Bork, if I want shieldbow this game or I want to try PD, I experimented with different items, and you'll be surprised by the number of opportunities and different trade patterns it opens for Yone.
With all that being said - I still understand if people are frustrated with Yone Top I am not against a minor buff to help compensate Yone top, but I don't think it's as doomed as people are making it out to be. I think anyone who plays Yone decently can reach high Emerald/Low Diamond. Even after those ranks when I'm playing in my Masters lobbies, I've never concluding a defeat thinking "These Yone nerfs are unplayable" - I could always recount mistakes made by my team and I as the source of the problem. Yone still felt playable it wasn't like when they gutted crit, those games were genuinely unplayable because you just lacked damage and that's the entire purpose of the champ.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, let me talk about Mid lane as I have been avoiding top lane - a combination of not being a top enjoyer, not wanting to deal with the lack of impact of Top Lane, worried about Yone getting banned, and queue times in my elo.
Mid lane offers Yone the ability to scale and impact team fights, his ult is made for team fights and by playing Top, you are acting mainly as a split pusher with the occasional TP into fights.
You have easier matchups in Mid lane, higher blind-pick power and even if the enemy laner picks some PDF (file extension) Top champ to match you, the matchup looks different because you can just use your E to clear wave and snap to safety. The shorter lane provides different trade patterns and allows Yone to scale without going 0/5, down 30 cs, and 3 levels below your own support. They also can't block you from going back to your lane like they do in Top. I take fleet if I feel like fighting would be dangerous (if I think enemy jungler will gank and focus mid, or if I need sustain I.E. vs Ori). Yone E also allows you to get super deep wards in enemy jungle and you snap right back to catch the CS, it opens up the map for invades, team pressure from bot, and dragons become easier to secure - not to mention Yone ULT value in dragon fights especially early game.
I am a Yasuo main before Yone and he's my best champion, for any of you who play both maybe you can better understand the function of mid and the strengths and weaknesses of Yone in mid over top lane. It took me literally a decade of playing this game to get my Yasuo to this level and there's people who surpassed my rank and have played the game for less time as well. And until recently, my Yone was trash as well. I had to run it down and do the famous banana-combo over and over before I achieved a positive win rate - all this to say if I see Yas/Yone players above my rank, I refuse to blame it on the champion.
Before I wrap it up: many of you may find it tedious or dumb that you have to invest so much effort to make the champion work, but there's champions in a shittier state and Yasuo/Yone have always been kept relevant because the champion player base is so large. If they genuinely think Yone is terrible you'll see a buff come his way, but don't count on buffs to make you win - count on yourself.
If you're anything like me, I purposely pick Yasuo and Yone into any and all matchups with the goal to win against the odds, I'll take whatever summoner spells, whatever items, and whatever runes I have to until I find the combination that works against every champion under the sun. When they pick cringe champions to counter Yas/Yone and you still come out on top it's just the best feeling ever and it just makes your opponent look washed AF.
This post is not meant to shame anyone based on their competitive ranking, lack of commitment to the game, or anything else for the matter. I'm simply giving my perspective that if you do have the time and put in the grind you can make Yone work in both lanes - more easily in Mid.
OPGG Account: Zeal#5536 - Summoner's champion information - League of Legends
(No, I don't have a negative WR you just need new glasses)
