User blog comment:Daywombat/AP Yi mid/@comment-6061249-20130420135902

Let's get this straight.

AP Yi isn't weak in early, neither in late. He is just mordibly broken. He can even go 0/0/x and still easily score a pentakill in a teamfight.

Time for some facts.

Passive is pretty balanced.

Average poke ability of an average midlaner has, let's say, +/- 75 base damage at 1st rank and +/- 80% AP ratio. Most of these are skillshots and part of them requires clear path to aim (i mean no minions etc. ahead).

Yi has a 100 base damage at 1st rank + 100% ratio ability, which is in fact gapcloser and literally requires no aiming skills (you can even missclick into a minion and still hit your lane opponent). When it's 600 range at first target, the real range is further. Has possible additional damage against minions and monsters. Simply, you don't need ANY skills to use this. Just click and earn free cs and poke the enemy. Ha, it's even better to strike a minion - you will spread into enemy laner anyway and won't get close to him.

Note: Magic resistance stacking is far harder than armor stacking.

Average healing ability gives +/- 70 health in single usage at 1st rank and has +/- 75% ratio. Most of them also give some other bonuses.

Yi heals himself for 200 health at first rank and has 200% AP ratio. Also gains hell load of defense stats while channeling. Fact that it can be interrupted is still no problem due to the fact that you can't always use a hard CC in laning, simply, sometimes you just don't have any, sometimes you have it, but it's on cooldown already. As well, who the hell heals himself standing next to the enemy? Back off for a small distance, heal yourself, it's done. The only true weak side of this ability is long cooldown.

Wuju style isn't broken. Well, i'd like to say, i like it. It forces people to think before using it.

This, will propably cause everybody to flame, but Highlander is in my opinion the strongest ability in game. Incredible long movement and attack speed boost (even Ghost isn't that good) and can't be slowed. Stun? Who the hell cares, he is still too fast and will catch you anyway. Then, the absolute overbroken moment comes - cooldown refreshing. All abilities.

Short word about using crowd control in teamfights against him: No way. If he isn't derpy and can hold himself away until the right moment, he just has to instantly run into (with high movement boost) the fight and begin Alpha Striking, which causes him to dodge incoming abilities. His team literally only needs to drop any enemy to low health and other one to 2/3. If everything goes right, you should see *PENTAKILL!* in +/- 2 seconds.

While AD Yi is hell strong too, it's pretty simple to counter him - Thornmail absolutely shuts him down. Even LW can't help - he will still almost kill yourself due to reflected damage.

AP Yi can't be outresisted that simply. While you need only Thornmail against AD which costs 2000 gold, you surely have to buy at least 2 resistance items against AP. Each one costs more than 2000 and consumes an item slot, oftenly giving you statistics that you don't need that much.

I find him possible to outplay only by shutting down before mid-lategame with massive help from jungler. It's much easier if Yi's player is unskilled.