Last May, Riot Games launched Yuumi, creating a real sensation in the League of Legends gaming community. This was largely due to the overly cute appearance of this cat, which melted the hearts of cat lovers and fans of adorable things. However, Yuumi is ultimately a League of Legends champion, and with her excessively annoying gameplay, this cat gradually became the most hated character, at least in the West.
Specifically, in the EU West server, Yuumi’s ban rate reached a record high of 73.4%, much higher than other “cancer” champions like Kassadin or Darius. Even in this server, “the god” Yasuo only has a mere 33.8% ban rate. The situation is not as bad in North America, but Yuumi still boasts a 59.5% ban rate, ranking alongside “jungle god” Graves.
However, in Asian servers like Korea and Japan, the ban rate for this champion is much lower, only around 10%. It can be said that within the framework of League of Legends, Asian gamers are cat lovers and do not want to ban this champion, while Western players seem to prefer dogs.
One of Yuumi’s critical weaknesses is that this champion is very weak in the early game; if the enemy jungle or mid-laner ganks, the likelihood of both the cat and her owner dying is very high. However, the characteristic of Western League of Legends players is their reluctance to move and intervene in other lanes, especially in the jungle and mid-lane positions. Many professional players in the EU server have complained about this.
As a result, Yuumi can survive well during the phase when she is at her weakest, in the laning phase. By mid-game, when she completes her support item plus one main item, Yuumi can provide strong buffs to her teammates, effectively initiating and countering fights with her ultimate. Moreover, with the “attach” mechanism, you must eliminate her owner; otherwise, she can still thrive and mitigate the typical squishy support weaknesses. Of course, this only holds true in Europe and North America.
In conclusion, due to the habits and passive playstyle of Western gamers, they greatly dislike facing a champion that “does nothing yet still gains rewards” like Yuumi, which explains the high ban rate for this cat. Perhaps junglers or mid-laners in NA or EU should learn from the aggressive and constantly moving playstyle of Asian players to waste a ban on a champion that is not too strong like Yuumi.