Riot has been on a roll reworking League of Legends ’ underplayed champions. Poppy was an ugly monstrosity and Riot turned her into an OP engage tank. Taric was a stun bot with pizza feet who became one of the strongest supports in the game. Yorick, who has been unloved for quite some time, is finally joining their ranks and is getting a rework. A game developer at Riot told iDigitalTimes in April a few tidbits about what the gravedigger was going to turn into, but now we know his full kit.
Yorick has lost his hobble and now walks with pride and a cape made of smoke. Old Yorick had character, even though he looked doofy and confused. New Yorick looks like he went to Karthus’ tailor at the “generic spooky ghost” store. It’s an upgrade on his old model, but he just looks too generic. Put the new Yorick model next to SIon and ask a non-League player to tell you which one is the reanimated zombie. On the positive side of things, that Undertaker Yorick skin I bought years ago no longer looks like someone dumped a garbage bag on top of a trash mountain.
Yorick’s abilities are another thing entirely. Riot has forgotten how to make simple champions, feeling the need to cram as much text and explanation into an ability as possible. League’s last champion, Kled, is impossible for a player new at the game to understand. He’s got passives on passives, confusing mechanics and a lizard that doubles his health bar. For players comfortable with the game, Kled is fun and enjoyable, but for new players he’s nearly impossible to just pick up. Yorick has that same problem.
Like old Yorick, new Yorick summons ghouls. Riot likes four-step passives, so now in order to summon a “Mist Walker,” Yorick needs to have four graves out on the field. Graves can be spawned when you destroy a minion or champion with your Last Rites, which is a lot like Nasus’ Siphoning Strike.
These graves start to add up real quick and I hate how cluttered Summoner’s Rift has gotten in League of Legends . Bard chimes, Kindred marks and Skarner spires cover the map and add “mini games” to League ’s already complicated system. An Illaoi/ Yorick lane looks like it belongs in another game entirely, covered with graves and tentacles like an 80s metal band album cover.
There are some interesting aspects of Yorick’s rework. His W, Dark Procession, summons a wall of corpses that trap enemies inside. Enemies can break the wall and escape, but they need to auto attack it to get out. There isn’t a spell like it in the game, it’s unique and adds a sense of strategy to Yorick’s kit. Trap an enemy inside, then bash on them with your ghouls and your E, Mourning Mist.
Eulogy of the Isles, Yorick’s ultimate, is where Riot really lost me. The shovel knight summons a Maiden of the Mist, who attacks whoever she damn well pleases and Yorick deals percent health damage to that target. Old Yorick copied a teammate, which in-game got complicated and messy. Whenever I played Yorick, players had no idea what that weird ghost copy did and why it just popped up. This new Maiden is much better than the old ghost in 1v1 skirmishes, but struggles in teamfights. I’d much rather have my ADC back to life for a few seconds than a random tether that has to luckily pick the right target.
A full Yorick combo involves setting up three graves, summoning ghouls, trapping an enemy in the wall, then setting your Maiden of the Mist on them while slapping them senseless with your shovel. You either kill them, or they get away and kill you. He’s going to be played like a mindless split pusher, think Fiora or Trundle. Did we really need another one of these in the game?
I was hoping Yorick’s rework would turn him into a ghoul wielding Pokemon master, a champion that could summon a minion for whatever situation arose. What I got was a grim-dark “nice guy” who summons the the minions from The Darkness combined with the headcrabs from Half Life .
I want to like Yorick, I really do. He’s always been one of my favorite champions in League of Legends , but this rework has destroyed his identity. He’s a soul collector with an angry cloak and a shovel instead of a gravedigger who just wants to dig graves. Not every hero has to have an epic backstory, we already have Aurelion Sol who creates universes, how will a magic soul cape compete? Galio’s rework is going to turn him into an angry, magic obsessed, rage fueled, golem, just you wait.
Right now Yorick is still on the PBE and will most likely change before release. TL;DR: he’s clunky, VFX heavy and confusing to control. He’s better than where he was but we know Riot can do better than that.
