Yone: Yasuo, Only Needlessly Edgier

(4 Old Abilities in a New Way)

The defeated samurai we’ve heard so much about has come back from the dead. There has been a lot of “dead” characters coming back from the depths of lore as of late. Kai’sa (Kassadin’s Daugther), Senna (Lucian’s Wife), and now Yone (Yasuo’s Brother) have all dug themselves from the grave to break the game for a bit. It almost seems as if League of Legends is turning into a family reunion of a sort. Our newest addition to the sword-wielding maniacs of Runeterra is Yone, the Unforgotten.

Yone’s Lore, in a Nutshell

Failing to keep his brother in check and his master alive, the stick-in-the-mud samurai clashed with Yasuo only to taste defeat and death. After his brief intermission with death, Yone finds himself conscious again in the spirit realm. This interlude opens him up to fall prey to a lurking Azakana. Haunted by a shadow of his own, he hunts Azakana, elusive bottom-feeding demons that thrive on negative emotions, to the ends of the Earth to seal in the masks he bears on his waist. Destined to live a life of relentless pursuit, and unable to die a peaceful death, he purges the Azakana plague that threatens to plunge society into disarray. 

It is easy to get lost in all the lore has to offer, and overlapping lore like Yone’s goes much deeper down the rabbit hole. The ever-expanding lore of the demons (, Nocturne, Tahm Kench, and Evelynn) are all intertwined within this storyline and there is sure to be some interaction within the lore in the future. 

Yone’s Abilities

Reluctantly removing the focus from the lore, Yone’s in-game abilities bring many old mechanics in a new display. Among these older mechanics, there is what seems to be one of the longest blinks in the game, which sounds fun. With many similarities between Yasuo and Yone with just as many differences, Yone will be the option Yasuo players opt-out for when he’s banned.

Passive: Way of the Hunter

Starting from the passive, it isn’t as wordy as passives generally are these days. Every other auto-attack, Yone deals half magic damage. He also receives double critical strike chance with 10 percent reduced critical strike damage. So think Yasuo, Corki, and Sett’s passive put into one champion in a sense. He does not receive armor penetration from his ultimate like Yasuo, so I assume this is compensation for that. 

Q: Mortal Steel

Similar to Yasuo’s Steel Tempest (Q), Yone’s Q has two functions. First, he strikes forward dealing on-hit damage to the first enemy hit and is also capable of critically striking. After hitting an enemy with the ability twice within six seconds, the second function makes him dash forward slightly and knock up enemies. The ability is rather simple but much more flexible than Yasuo’s Q which will open a lot of different windows in places where Yasuo would fail. The dash can go over walls, so chasing and escaping over walls will be an exceptional survival, offensive, and outplay tool for our demon-slaying newcomer.

W: Spirit Cleave

The W is also a very simple ability. Yone slashes in front of him dealing percentage-health damage and receiving a shield based on how many enemy champions he hits with it. You can think of this as a fast-acting Camille W that shields instead of heal. This is arguably the most basic ability in his kit, and it is far from reaching the significance that Yasuo’s W has in his kit. Since it is an area-of-effect ability, it does assist Yone in clearing waves, so his ability to roam may be more potent than it appears.

E: Soul Unbound

Moving on from the disappointing W, we move on to the most complicated portion of Yone’s kit. This ability is Zed’s Deathmark (R) meets Leblanc’s Distortion (W) and it is arguably the most fun, coolest, biggest outplay tool Yone has to offer. Yone dashes slightly forward leaving his body in place and taking on a Spirit Form. He gains up to 30 percent movement speed over the duration of the ability. After recasting the ability, or at the end of the five-second timer, Yone returns to his body from WHEREVER he is. One of the more interesting things you can do with this is Baron recall and then return to where you were or returning after a teleport, which could be useful for would-be Baron steals. The possibilities with such a versatile ability are endless. But wait, there’s more. During these five seconds, a percentage (25 to 35 percent) of the damage Yone deals to enemy champions is dealt as bonus true-damage at the end of the ability. Whether you recast the ability yourself or the timer runs out, or even if you die the damage will go off. Think of Zed’s ultimate, but you have to damage them to get extra damage. Unlike Leblanc’s W ability, Yone always returns to his body, so if you can’t catch him, just wait for him at his body to settle accounts. 

R: Fate Sealed

Every edgelord needs an awing ultimate, and Yone’s is one of the sickest so far. After a brief channel, Yone blinks at the end of the ability or if enemies are hit, he then blinks right behind them and they are knocked up and pulled together like a Sett Facebreaker (E). This ability is much more flexible than Yasuo’s ultimate, as it can be used as an escape as well along with an engage. This ability can go over walls like the rest of his dashes, so Yone may inherit all that Akali lost with the three dashes. It’ll be interesting to see team comps built around him. Yone himself doesn’t really synergize with all the knock-ups he has, but a Yasuo and Yone comp may not be troll. This doesn’t mean charge into a game and go Yasuo and Yone botlane…

Overall, the champion is indeed has a solid spot to fit in League. The revamping of old mechanics makes him a sort of jack of all trades, master of none. He has many abilities that other champions can do better, but they don’t have all of those at their disposal, so this weakness may become his strength. If he seemed balanced before, after the Koreans have a month with him to theory craft, he will surely be in line for a nerf. Hopefully, after the first few weeks of perma-ban that each new champion goes through, everyone will be able to enjoy him to his fullest extent.