Why Play Series: Yasuo

Yasuo is one of the most exciting champions in all of League of Legends, but it takes some understanding in order to play him properly.

Why play Yasuo?

Yasuo is a durable fighter/assassin that is capable of carrying team fights on his own. He is very much a high-risk, high-reward champ – but this guide is aimed to assist you in making those big plays.

Time to dive in.

Yasuo’s Kit

Yasuo’s passive – Way of the Wanderer – has two components. First, it doubles his chance of getting a critical strike. The second part of his passive is his resource bar known as flow. Yasuo builds up his flow bar by moving, and when his flow bar fills up it changes into a shield that triggers once he takes damage.

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Yasuo’s Q is called Steel Tempest and it’s his main source of damage. It’s an ability that is classified as a short-range skill shot that’s registered as an auto attack. This means Steel Tempest can critically strike and apply on-hit effects at the same time. Whenever Steel Tempest strikes an enemy, Yasuo gains a stack of Rising Storm. After two stacks of Rising Storm, the next cast of Steel Tempest will create a tornado that knocks up all enemies hit while still having the same effects as his standard Steel Tempest.

Yasuo’s W is Wind Wall, which is a defensive ability that creates a small wall that will prevent any projectile from passing through.

Yasuo’s E is Sweeping Blade. and it’s known as his outplay mechanic. Sweeping Blade is a set range dash that is targeted. Dashing through an enemy will damage them and place a mark on them showing when you can dash through them again. You can also use Steel Tempest during Sweeping Blade to make Yasuo do a spinning attack which will apply Steel Tempest to enemies around Yasuo in a small circle.

Yasuo’s ultimate ability is Last Breath. Yasuo can only use last breath on a champion that is currently airborne, and if multiple champions are airborne in the same area, his ult will target all airborne targets. Last Breath will suspend all airborne champions for an additional second as well as deal damage. After Last Breath is cast, Yasuo will gain a short buff that allows him to ignore 50 percent of the enemies’ bonus armor.

Gameplay

Yasuo performs best in a solo lane, with mid lane usually being his best position due to the amount of skill shot based champions and the ability to roam around the map easier. During the early game, Yasuo will want to focus on farming while using Wind Wall and Sweeping Blade to avoid enemy harass. When his flow shield is up, it is usually a good idea to get some harass off. Mid-game is when Yasuo really starts to become a threat since he will have a good amount of critical strike, attack speed and movement speed from his items. Late-game is Yasuo’s best phase by far. Most Yasuo players will have 100 percent critical strike chance at this point thanks to his passive and some items.

Team Compositions

Last Breath can only be used on airborne champions, so naturally Yasuo excels when his teammates can provide knockups for easy access to his ultimate. Malphite, Wukong and Alistar are some of his most sought after teammates due to their huge impact knockups. Last Breath without another set up besides Yasuo’s own knockup can be very tough to use to its full potential.

Item Builds

Yasuo does well with critical strike, attack speed and life steal. Stattik Shiv has been his core item since release and still remains that way. It is common to build an Infinity Edge next for the synergy it brings Yasuo, or a Trinity Force for the utility and split push potential it brings. A life steal/attack damage item like Bloodthirster is good as it will boost your damage and durability. Mercury’s Treads or Boots of Swiftness are your best boots option, however this will change based on the enemy team. A couple of defensive items is an effective way to to wrap up the build so Yasuo can remain in team fights longer.

Pros and Cons

-Huge team fight potential

-Combo synergy with champions that have a knock up ability

-Can burst damage to less durable enemies while having great sustain against tank champions.

-Very weak early and susceptible to enemy junglers.

-Crowd control will make him an easy target without mobility.

-Attack damage mid laner, so your team will need an ability power jungler or top laner.

Final Tips

Yasuo will feel underwhelming at first due to his late game scaling and high difficulty level. It is important to remember that you are not a one man army, stay with your teammates during team fights and help keep your attack damage carry alive. Wind Wall can make or break a team fight, so it is crucial to use it upon reaction rather than trying to anticipate an ability. Hitting a tornado and seeing Last Breath light up is very tempting, however, it’s important to think where you will end up after you flash to the target. Focus primarily on your minion kills as well as contesting objectives to snowball into the late-game beast that Yasuo can be.

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