League Of Legends' Yasuo Has Weaker Early Shields, Increased Ult Range On PBE

League of Legends' Yasuo has some changes being examined on the PBE testing grounds that increase the swordsman's power against mages with some trade-offs.

The changes to Yasuo that are being tested are likely the product of earlier discussions about the champion's power. Some of these proposed changes hoped to make Yasuo more of a threat against mid laners while decreasing his security provided by his passive shield.

Below are the current changes being tested for Yasuo on the PBE as described by Surrender@20:

Yasuo

• Magic Resist increased from 30 to 32.1
• MR per Level increased from .50 to 1.25
• Way of the Wanderer (Passive) shield changed from 100-510 to 60-555
• Last Breath (R) range increased from 1200 to 1400.

To provide context for the changes, Riot Meddler explained the reasoning behind the buffs and nerfs in a Gameplay Thoughts post from late July. Meddler commented that changes could be expected for Yasuo soon that would shift more power to his traditional matchups in the mid lane while making him slightly weaker against melee champions.

"Exploring weaker shield and more frequent windwalls early game," Meddler said earlier. "Goal there is to test shifting defensive power so he's similar or slightly stronger against ranged match ups and weaker against melee, making it clearer how to deal with him if he gets picked/give him situations where he's a better choice without just being a better generalist."

One part of Meddler's post that is absent from the PBE at this time is a buff to Yasuo's Wind Wall that would give the ability a lower cooldown to use against caster champions. Since his release, Yasuo's ability-blocking move has been quite frustrating to lane against, especially when it blocks so many projectile ultimates, so it wouldn't be out of the question to think that those buffs are being approached with caution.

While the verdict on Yasuo certainly leans more towards contempt for the champ, the shift in power actually seems pretty fair for his matchups. The focus of these changes isn't to push Yasuo firmly into the mid lane, but it might inadvertently do so anyway.

Increasing the range of his ultimate will allow him to engage on teammates' knockups from a greater distance, but it's worth noting that this won't necessarily increase his 1v1 power. Yasuo's empowered Q that tosses out tornadoes only has a range of 900 units, so if he knocks you up in lane before or after the buffs, you're still getting ulted no matter what.

More changes might come to Yasuo in the long term, and these numbers and buffs might be changed more before the next patch goes live as well.