Yasuo is one of the most popular and powerful champions in League of Legends.
Since his release in 2013, the champion has seen consistent play in casual and competitive games. While he started as a mid lane champion, he has seen play all around the map most commonly in the mid or top lanes. Yasuo is known for his incredible snowball potential. Once he secures some early kills, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop the champion as the game progresses.
As with any champion in League, despite their skillset, they are always beatable. In this article, we are going to cover a few of the best items that will assist with beating Yasuo.
General Items
Doran’s Shield
When facing off against Yasuo, regardless of whether it is in the mid or top lane, Doran’s Shield is going to be the best pick to counter the champion early in the game. This is due to the durability granted from the bonus health as well as the item’s ability to grant healing after you have sustained damage from Yasuo. The increased health regeneration screen is going to allow you to weather the storm early and provide an even playing field where Yasuo does not have early kills to facilitate his power spike.
Ninja Tabi
While it may seem obvious due to the armor, Ninja Tabi is the appropriate boot choice for facing off against Yasuo due to its unique passive. Yasuo deals most of his damage through his basic attacks as well as his Steel Tempest. Ninja Tabi also grants the champion 20 armor as well as a movement speed buff, so choosing this set is a no-brainer.
Mage-specific items
Frozen Heart
A big issue that will arise in playing against Yasuo as a mage is the lack of durability. Building a Frozen Heart is going to be a great choice for both mages with low health and tank-based mages alike. This item will grant stat increases of 110 armor, dramatically decreasing the damage dealt by Yasuo, a 20-percent cooldown reduction allowing the champion to burst their abilities against Yasuo at a faster rate, and 400 mana that will also facilitate an increase in ability usage. The item also boasts a unique ability that will see nearby enemies lose 15 percent attack speed, another stat that Yasuo uses to increase his opportunity at success.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Reducing Yasuo’s mobility is key in taking down the champion. Rylai’s Crystal Scepter offers a way to do this via the unique passive that causes damaging abilities and spells to slow units by 20 percent for one second. On top of this, the item is going to grant some extra damage and durability with its bonus 90 ability power and 300 health.
Attack-damage items
Frozen Mallet
Similarly to Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, the Frozen Mallet is also going to hinder Yasuo’s mobility. The champion will be slowed by 40 percent for 1.5 seconds. This combined with the massive health boost offered by this item is going to increase the champion’s survival should they engage in a duel with Yasuo. Frozen Mallet also grants a bonus of 30 attack damage.
Mercurial Scimitar
While it may not seem like an obvious choice when countering Yasuo, Mercurial Scimitar has many statistics that are going to assist melee-based champions in defeating Yasuo as well as the perfect ability for this situation. The item offers 50 bonus attack damage, 10 percent lifesteal, and 35 magic resistance. Mercurial Scimitar shines in the matchup due to its unique ability that will remove all crowd control effects from the champion.
Tank Specific Items
Randuin’s Omen
The most common choice in item to counter the intense damage of Yasuo, Randuin’s Omen is tailor-made for use against champions like Yasuo. The item boasts stat increases of 70 armor and 400 health adding some extra durability to the champion. The unique passive abilities on the item are perfect in this scenario since they will reduce critical strike damage by 20 percent, drastically taking away much of Yasuo’s damage and reducing the attacking enemy Yasuo’s attack speed by 15 percent for one second. This is most likely the best item to build against Yasuo out of all of them.
Thornmail
Tank items will be the most effective in countering Yasuo as they commonly hold stat increases that are vital in surviving altercations against the champ. Thornmail is no exception, granting 80 bonus armor and 250 bonus health. On top of this, the item will see damage inflicted on Yasuo as he attacks, causing grievous wounds and dealing damage to him over three seconds. This item also has the Cold Steel passive that will decrease Yasuo’s attack speed by 15 percent for one second when he attacks.
Sterak’s Gage
While it may seem like a health item with its only stat increase being 450 health, Sterak’s Gage is much more than that, offering a variety of passive effects. Firstly the item will see the champion gain 50 percent of their attack damage as bonus damage. The most useful passive on this item by far though is its ability to grant a shield should your champion take damage over a short period of time. This will equal up to 75 percent of your health and will begin decaying after 0.75 seconds. This shield can be enough to ensure your survival should you be jumped by Yasuo without warning. This item has its limits, however, as it can only be purchased by melee champions.
Sunfire Cape
Similarly to Thronmail, Sunfire Cape punishes engaging champions by dealing magic damage to nearby enemies. This can sometimes be just enough to turn the tide of a battle against a melee champion such as Yasuo. On top of this, the item will see stat increases of 60 armor and 425 health. As with other items on this list, having that extra durability is the most important factor of any item going into a game against Yasuo.
