The Easiest Path to How to Fight Yorick: A Guide to Countering the Shepherd of Souls
Yorick, the Gravedigger, can be a frustrating champion to lane against in League of Legends. His ability to summon ghouls, create walls, and generally be a nuisance makes him a formidable opponent. However, understanding his weaknesses and employing the right strategies can significantly improve your chances of success. This guide will break down the easiest paths to victory when facing Yorick in lane and beyond.
Understanding Yorick's Strengths and Weaknesses
Before diving into strategies, let's identify what makes Yorick strong and where he's vulnerable:
Strengths:
- Sustain: Yorick boasts incredible sustain thanks to his passive and abilities, making him difficult to poke out of lane.
- Waveclear: His waveclear is exceptional, allowing him to easily control the minion wave and potentially freeze it.
- Split Pushing: His ability to split push effectively makes him a threat even when behind.
- Late Game Scaling: Yorick scales well into the late game, becoming a powerful siege threat.
Weaknesses:
- Early Game Vulnerability: While he has sustain, he's relatively immobile and vulnerable to ganks early on.
- Kite Potential: His lack of mobility makes him susceptible to kiting champions with range.
- Hard Crowd Control (CC): Significant CC can disrupt his ghoul summoning and ultimately shut down his damage output.
- Focus Fire: Concentrated damage can quickly eliminate his ghouls, negating a significant portion of his damage.
Champion Matchups and Strategies
Different champions offer varying degrees of success against Yorick. Here are a few examples:
Favorable Matchups:
- Champions with strong poke: Champions like Teemo, Jayce, and Xerath can effectively harass Yorick from a distance, punishing him for trying to last hit. Prioritize poking him down whenever possible.
- Champions with strong mobility and hard CC: Champions like Lucian, Vayne, and Pantheon can easily kite Yorick and use hard CC to disrupt his ghoul summoning. This prevents him from building his waveclear and damage.
- Champions with strong AoE abilities: Champions with AoE abilities are essential to quickly eliminate Yorick's ghouls.
Unfavorable Matchups:
- Melee champions without escape tools: Melee champions without escape tools often struggle against Yorick's sustained damage and waveclear.
- Champions with low mobility and low range: These champions will have difficulty dealing damage to Yorick while avoiding his attacks.
Itemization and Runes
Effective itemization is crucial when countering Yorick. Consider building items that increase your damage output, allow you to kite effectively, or offer strong defensive options. Runes that focus on damage, sustain, or mobility can also be beneficial.
Key Items:
- Items that offer significant damage output: These will help you quickly eliminate his ghouls and deal consistent damage.
- Mobility boots: These help to kite Yorick effectively and avoid his attacks.
- Defensive items: If you're struggling to survive his poke, consider building items to improve your survivability.
Rune Choices:
- Runes focused on damage: This is crucial for quickly eliminating Yorick's ghouls and applying pressure.
- Runes focused on survivability: If you're struggling to survive his poke, consider building items to improve your survivability.
Gameplay Tips
- Early Game Aggression: Take advantage of his early game vulnerability by aggressively trading when possible.
- Focus Ghouls First: Prioritize eliminating his ghouls before focusing on Yorick himself.
- Kite Effectively: Use your mobility to kite Yorick and avoid his attacks.
- Utilize Jungler Assistance: Call for ganks early, as Yorick is susceptible to ganks in the early game.
- Ward Effectively: Wards can help you anticipate ganks from Yorick and allow you to counter his split pushing strategies.
By understanding Yorick's weaknesses and employing the right strategies, you can significantly improve your chances of success against this challenging champion. Remember that adapting your playstyle based on the specific champion you are using and the overall game state is vital for consistent wins. Good luck on the Rift!
