Playing Yuumi in URF brings back the feel of old perma heal Yuumi builds with max cdr. However, there are some things to keep in mind: healing is reduced ("Direct Heal power healing effects are only 50% effective at the beginning of the game, increasing by 1% every 30 seconds, up to 100% effective at 25 minutes."). This means that Yuumi is not in a good place until you get two support items: grail and censer, or until you get grail and an ap item. At this point, your healing is more substantial and, with the frequency and absence of a mana issue, you are fine. THis being said, a lot of successful champions on URF quickly burst with their spells or hold down people with neverending cc. Yuumi is a decent counter to the later since you can just heal until your ally isn't cc'ed or get an item to counter the cc and your ally can take cleanse. However, Yuumi heal isn't effective against picks like Jhin, Veigar, Lee Sin, MF, etc who will all 1-3 shot your ally. This means that you either ban such picks or go with one of the other said picks who will do that to opponents.

Yuumi and Veigar are great together since you contribute AP to Veigar's scaling and Veigar scaling helps you in terms of the strength of your heals. Jhin building crit will not be as mutually beneficial but will be a quicker burst with 1-2 auto's and Jhin can be substantially faster than a Veigar so you can zoom around the map.

DO NOT ENGAGE level 1 in most team comps with a Yuumi. Yuumi will either take E (heal) or Q (smol dmg poke) first and is not of much use with her low health and damage. If the ally Yuumi is on dies, Yuumi may likely also die level 1, giving a double to the enemy team necessarily. Your goal is to scale and hard outscale with at least one strong late game beast on your team.

Laning may be rough. Do not force engages and play back until level 6 or team fights/ganks. Late game, stay attached to the carry and run around killing to clear a path for your team to take objectives. With Veigar or Jhin, you can take towers without minions so you may need to split push with the carry. Do so as fast as you can and get out alive so your team insn't in a 3v5 for the next 30-60 seconds.

Hi all, thanks for the support and for reading this guide. I will be finishing up everything incomplete or out of date as of patch 10.19. However, after this patch, I will no longer be updating this guide. I have decided to do this after realizing I am no longer putting the time necessary into Yuumi to maintain this guide.

Since I am not the most knowledgable League player, I made this guide specifically because I was playing Yuumi daily for multiple games a day. This was enough to have an awareness of the state of the champion and make such a guide. However, now that I have begun playing mid, I am no longer as aware of the state of Yuumi. There have also been fewer changes to the support role from what I've seen in the last two patches. This guide will likely not be applicable in the next season with the major item overhaul but I hope it helps new Yuumi players for the remainder of this season.

Here, changes to Yuumi in the current patch are noted.

10.22: URF Yuumi E cooldown 150% change

10.19: No direct changes to Yuumi. Sona and Lux have both received nerfs which will aid Yuumi in lane match-ups.

Upcoming Patch 10.20: No info as of now

Previous Patch - 10.18: Nerfs to Guardian and Galio. While Galio is a niche support pick, the damage reduction on his Q is something to keep in mind if you face a Galio sup. A nerf to guardian is always good for most Yuumi players since we don't take that keystone often. Those who do should check the shield reduction so they know how they will be impacted.

To start, Yuumi has a 400 base max mana, 480 health, 10 mana regen, .625 attack speed, and 330 movement speed. At level 18, Yuumi has 1165 base mana, 1670 health, 16.8 mana regen, and the same attack and movement speed. You are a ranged champion that can attach to allied champs with your W. You are very low health so late game, you die quick against damage carries. Without boots (as you should be), you are generally slow but, because of your W, you have high mobility with allies around. Your job is to provide utility. You are NOT a conventional damage or engage support.

Yuumi’s passive is a massive part of her early game. The passive process with auto attacks to enemy champs and has a cooldown. When you proc it, you get a shield that stays until broken. If you attach to an ally, it will apply to them while you’re attached. If you detach, it reverts to you. With low max mana and less regen items, you need to avoid overusing E. If you use the shield provided by your passive, this can reduce the damage your adc takes and lets you save your E for later or gives you enough time to regen some of your mana to use another E in a tight spot. Cooldown is 20-8 seconds depending on level. [10.15 edit] Yuumi's passive is set to receive a buff to the mana restored by her passive in 10.15. This means players who have experienced mana issues will have an easier time around this. However, this also makes Yuumi more vulnerable in a way by encouraging detaching for her passive. Make sure to be looking for the best opportunities to detach and be wary of times where you might give a double instead.

Your Q costs 90 at level 1 and stay that way throughout the game. It is either a straight line projectile (when detached) or a guidable projectile (when attached). When a second or more (empowered Q) has gone by before it hits an enemy, it will slow 20% for one second. Q will stay out for up to 2 seconds. It also does slightly more damage if empowered. This is a good tool to chase down a low health opponent or start a fight. Be sparing in its early game usage with its starting 13.5 second cooldown. There are 6 ranks in Q because Yuumi begins with a point of W.

Yuumi’s W is perhaps the least understood ability in her kit. Many lower level players don’t realize its usages, weaknesses, and the nuances in its use. Starting at level 1, you have W and (hopefully) Q. This ability has a static 10 second cooldown that will later be 5 and 0 at higher levels. The misconception is that Yuumi can attach and detach at will and can’t be targeted when she casts W. This is untrue. Yuumi is still subject to immobilizing abilities and any in-flight targeting projectiles while casting W. If you are targeted by an ability or hit with a cc ability before becoming attached, your going to take damage and, if it is cc, your W is interrupted. When your W is interrupted, it is on a 5 second cooldown. When cast, there is a .5 sec cd before you can recast. If there is no nearby ally, you will detach up to 250 units in target direction. When attached, Yuumi gives a flat and percentage adaptive force to ally (and gains adaptive force from ally). This means you need to time your attach and detach extremely well in close situations. If not, you will likely die and leave your ally vulnerable in a bad position (likely to result in a double kill for enemy team , a lost team fight, or lost lane trade). If you detach during Senna W on your ally, you will be rooted. If you attach with Senna W, your adc will be rooted. If you attempt to attach while hit by W and it roots you during your W cast, you are not attached and both of you are rooted. This is part of the reason Senna is a great counter to Yuumi (along with good poke potential).

Your E (because of 10.13) costs 40-60 base mana + 15% of your max mana. When you’re level 2, your E will cost 105. At level 6, your E will cost 132. At level 18, it will cost about 235 mana. This is of course without runes or items that add to your max mana. With Mejai, Manaflow, and Presence of Mind (common Yuumi item and runes), you will add 950 max mana=200 (mejai)+250 (manaflow)+500(PoM) if all is fully stacked. At level 18, your E will cost about 377 mana, 142 mana more than without those items and runes. Your max mana will be 2,115. If you start a team fight with full mana, you should be fine. However, starting a 5v5 with half mana isn’t advised in many situations. With half mana: about 1,057, you will have enough for 3 Q’s (1 at beginning, 1 to help damage in fight, and 1 to slow anyone running or finish at low health), 1 R, and about 2 heals (1.82 but, with mana regen, probably 2). If you take away 1 Q, you have 2.06. This means you will provide only 2 heals in a fight. What is the solution? Building mana regen items? Avoiding these max mana keystones? A mix of these two? If you limit what mana items you get, focus mana regen, and make sure not to waste mana, you should be fine.

R is a seven wave, 3.5 second attack in a target direction. When an enemy is hit by 3 waves, they are rooted for 1.75 seconds. They can only each be rooted once per R. Good for starting, finishing, or escaping a fight. Also ok wave clear if you need to save an objective (your tower, inhibit, nexus) or secure dragon, baron, etc.

10.15 update: Spelltheifs edge is getting a buff to mana regen along with Yuumi's passive mana restore. This will significantly reduce the mana issues we have in the early-game in 10.14.

Just a note, there are three things you need to keep in mind for Yuumi items with the changes of 10.13: 1) it is best to avoid items that add to your max mana, 2) mana regen should be a great workaround this nerf, 3) AP to make each E more effective. With your lower max mana or just ability to use successive E's, you need to make each one count for more. Since your E heals for a fixed amount per level of E +40% of your AP, it makes sense to build AP items that have mana regen (and doesn't add to mana max) as you normally would. Just make sure to focus this even more so now.

More to be added

Something that has been joked as a tell-tale sign of a new Yuumi player and a Yuumi main. Most Yuumi mains will not buy boots in a game. The only time you do is if you spend a lot of time detached. If you do, you will not provide as much aid in fights as being attached will generally keep you in fights longer. Being detached can provide benefits but it doesn't always work out. Don't buy boots. If you are playing a top or mid lane Yuumi, then this of course isn't applicable. That being said, only play a solo lane Yuumi after you are well acquainted with her kit and with a pre-made knowing you probably won't win lane. I will write more on this in a later chapter.
As always, the better you become with a champ, the more you can get away with less than ideal builds for lower experience players. Boots can make roaming easier but can also lead you to put yourself in dangerous positions while detached. It also lessens your utility through the lack of better item.

There is a buff to Yuumi's passive relating to mana restore. [10.15 edit] This buff is also determined by your max mana like your E cost. This is a great fix by Riot that slightly negates the nerf in 10.13 to a degree early game. Great to see this and the Spellthiefs Edge buff.

This will reward those who detach more during the early and mid-game. In late-game team fights, it isn't always as safe to do so but in small fights without the risk of cc, Yuumi should generally look to detach for her passive to provide some extra protection for her ally and get some mana.

This is great for all the experienced Yuumi mains out there. However, new Yuumi players less experienced with timing their detaches can actually suffer from this because everyone (both Yuumi and non-Yuumi players) now should know that Yuumi will detach more often and this is a perfect time to catch Yuumi vulnerable and cc or just dmg burst her and secure a possible double or more. In team fights, this is even more important because, if a Yuumi detaches (when they shouldn't), this can result in Yuumi dying first and leaving a team without a key contributor in the coming fight. This is especially true with Yuumi since she otherwise is likely to be the last survivor team fights.

So with 10.13 coming with the major nerf to Yuumi's E mana cost, I made this guide. If this nerf doesn't happen, I will be glad you (and I) can ignore this guide. The change will be from the cost of 100-160 mana to the new 40-60 mana + 15% of Yuumi's max mana. Now for those who build mana regen items like Ardent Censer, you shouldn't be too affected and may be fine. But for those like me who also had around 1,500 to 2,500 max mana at the end of the game, this is an issue. Used to be more around 3,000 to 4,000 when I first started and went for ap and mana max items.
For example, Yuumi's base max mana is 400. If you take manaflow band, you can have an additional 250 mana. This 650 max mana (not including items like Mejai that add to your mana max) would make the cost of a base 100 cost E go to 137.5 or about 138. The later 160 cost would be 157.5 or about 158. However, you probably wouldn't just have 650 mana late game as Yuumi. Let's say you had the lower end of my max mana: 1,500. This would mean that your max E would cost 285 instead of 160, a difference of 125 mana. Now with your max mana being 1,500, you could use this ability 5 times without taking into account mana regen or using any Q's or R's. If you also used 2 Q's (1 at the beginning and 1 at the end of a team fight) and 1 R to root enemy team, you would only have enough for 4 E's. This would then leave you at 80 mana at the end of the fight. Let's say you didn't use all 4 E's and instead used 2. Then you have 650 at the end of the fight. This would leave enough for 1 E if you use a Q or R later.
Knowing this, I recommend that you build mana regen and avoid anything that increases your max mana. If you do so, this may actually benefit you as the cost may be lower for your E. The only downside is you have lower max mana and will need to regen mana over time and may not be as helpful in extended, intense team fights. Instead, you will benefit from shorter team fights or extended fighting with periods of farming or pathing to help the team.

Yuumi is a very different champion with a different play style than most. As you probably know, Yuumi has the ability to attach to allied champions within a certain range with her W. You start the game with a charge in W and should take Q as your level 1. You will have 6 instead of 5 levels for Q because you start with a W.

When you use W, there is a yellow bar above the ability that shows the cooldown before you can detach without activating a timer before you can reattach. This means you need to think of when you can attach and detach and if your decision could leave your ADC vulnerable.

You shouldn’t buy boots in most games since you will stay attached when out of lane, will have the ability to hop around allies with your W, and the take up a valuable item slot.

Make sure to poke with your Q but don’t overuse it or you will be out of mana and the cooldown is high early game and can be unavailable when you need it to finish or secure a kill.

Your passive is a great early game tool to avoid needing to heal since you shield your ally if attached. You need to detach when it is safe, auto enemy champ, and reattach to apply the shield to your ally.

Late game, you should look to detach in smaller fights but, until you are experienced with her, don’t detach in full 5v5 team fights if you are on a front line ally. You will likely be CC’ed and killed, leaving your team vulnerable. In 1v2 or 2v2, you have a much better chance of watching for CC abilities and timing your detach to avoid these. Then you shield your ally to give them a better chance of winning along with your E which heals and provides movement and attack speed.

When under tower against carry champs, you can fight them. If you know Yuumi well and have played her enough to be comfortable, engage the enemy under or near your tower to lure them in and either R to root, just auto and Q them down, or let tower do all the work as your weave around. Make sure to E to heal when you can (watch your mana), and use the speed boost to stay out of attacks and abilities as you can while staying under tower.

As a champion that doesn’t worry as much about conventional positioning, you have more time to improve and focus on your macro awareness. When attached as a new player, you can work to improve your mini map awareness and pings to provide info to your whole team.

A good Yuumi will never just be attached waiting for a fight. Either jump off to help wave clear or be present as you move around lane, be moving to roam lanes in need or your jungler, or be pinging information from the rest of the map and be soaking in information.

When taking a tower, get off your ally and auto tower to help. Always have your W ready and cursor on or near your ally to attach as soon as you need. You can take a tower shot since you will be attached and regain health eventually.

When fighting under enemy tower, watch your allies positioning and be cautious with your Q and R usage. If you use either, you will be targeted by tower and, if you aren’t watching, you will die quickly, leaving your ally alone under tower.

Use your R to engage multiple enemies by rooting them, use to finish a fight by preventing enemies from escaping, or to escape a bad fight. As mentioned earlier, you can also use to get a solo kill under your tower. If you use this well, your R can change a fight from 1 kill to 2-4 just by preventing movement. You can also use to force flashes. Morgana shield will negate this and other CC. Be sure to have an awareness of these types of abilities.

Your Q will slow enemies if you let it stay out for a second before hitting them. This is another way to help your ally finish a fight or start one by catching up.

So the initial thoughts I have on 10.13 is that E cost can be a problem in some situations but the general state of Yuumi isn't greatly affected until the late game but you just need to keep in mind you can't spam your abilities. If you avoid that, you should be fine in most games. Since 10.13, there has been a change to fix her E cost by showing the cost now in HUD.

When watching for opportunities to jump off to proc your passive, be aware of the potential cc from enemies. If those abilities have been used and you are almost certain they are on cooldown, you are clear to auto. However, you also need to consider the health of your ally and potential burst that could kill them or both of you. Experience from previous games will be the best way to judge these things.

Q when you are not at max range so there is less of a chance of your ally or enemy repositioning out of range.

Your Q goes through walls and lower level people don't always consider this. If your adc hugs a wall, you can send it through and avoid hitting minion waves when trying to land a Q.

E before detaching in fights to give your ally a bit longer to live before you get back on with your passive shield.

...

A brief summary as of 10.19:

Yuumi top lane is the optimal role for solo lane Yuumi. While I don't recommend Jungle ADC or Mid, Top is a viable pick in some instances. There is always the issue of this being very out of any meta in the foreseeable future but Yuumi top is possible.
You will never be able to use this as a general pick for any game but if you want to try something different, this is an option that can be enjoyable.


Match-ups: This is not an auto-lock pick. Yuumi top is good ONLY into immobile melee top laners. NO RANGED OR MOBILE. Picks like Renekton, Vayne, Quinn, Teemo, Tristana, Akali, and Kayle will ALL KILL YOU. Of course, there is the chance you outplay and win but assuming your lane opponent is a person who can operate their champ in a semi-competent manner, you will not win the above listed (and other similar) match-ups.

Attack Speed and Crit is your build here. Rush Blade of the Ruined King (BORTK) and Guinsoo soon after. Full boots are a must for you to be able to kite. Make sure to finish out your build with items like Infinity Edge, Static, Rapidfire, etc. Items with energized effects on autos are good since you kite a lot.

Make sure to poke a lot when farming, avoid being pushed up and ganked, don't roam a lot without vision, use your wards to keep yourself safe, Ping your lane opponent when missing, etc.

Play off of your lane opponents mistakes, deny cs, get them to burn spells, set up good ganks for your jungler, etc.

Kiting and playing smart are key.

Know when to step up and back off.

Wave manipulation is very important.

Runes:
Precision - PTA, Overheal, Alacrity, Cut Down
Resolve - Bone Plating, Overgrowth
Adaptive, Adaptive, Health

I started playing League in April of 2020 and have become a new Yuumi main since then. I'm in no way an amazing Yuumi player or a skilled League player yet but I have enjoyed my time playing this great Champ and I am sad to see the nerf coming in 10.13 since I've had such a short time with this champ. That being said, I plan on continuing and hope others also continue playing Yuumi until Riot decides to make things easier (or back to pre 10.13 - would be appreciated). I will be keeping this up to date as my Yuumi guide since my previous one isn't really salvageable unless I delete over half of it. So, please bear with me as we try to all figure out how to make this champ playable for the foreseeable future.