Riot respond to claims Resistance Yorick skin in League is “pay-to-lose”

Avid Yorick mains in League of Legends were glad to see their neglected champion get a new skin in 2020, named Resistance Yorick. However, there’s been claims the cosmetic is “pay-to-lose” over a new recall bug, and Riot is looking at fixing it.

Yorick mains got some good news near the tail end of League’s Season 10 ⁠— their favorite Shepherd of Souls would be getting a new skin to round out the year.

The Resistance Yorick skin, aesthetically, has been a hit with the champion’s player base. It fits the theme of the champion nicely, and it’s a nice change from his last released skin, the April Fools themed Meowrick.

However, there has been a big problem outside of the aesthetic ⁠— Resistance Yorick is “pay-to-lose.” According to Reddit user and Yorick enthusiast ‘TheEpikPotato,’ the Resistance skin can hinder players on the battlefield.

When Yorick channels his recall, he will face the player to make it look a bit nicer. This small feature has a huge impact on controlling his Eulogy of the Isles ultimate though.

• Read more: League patch 10.23b buffs Kassadin, nerfs Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Eclipse, more

“The maiden, when out of combat, will attempt to follow behind Yorick, and since you face the screen you can’t actually choose what direction is behind you anymore, it’s always going to be towards the top side of the map,” they stated.

“This can result in several situations where the maiden will now walk out of bushes when you recall, showing people where you are or have her flat out just int to the lane as you try to leave.”

League developer Jonathan ‘Bellissimoh’ Belliss claimed the “bug” is unintentional and due to how champion abilities sometimes interact with their recall animation. They are looking at fixing it in League patch 10.24.

• Read more: Everything you need to know about League pre-season 11

“Sometimes we turn a champion to face the camera when a particular back animation looks funky or even terrible from certain angles. This is a newer feature and it’s been a minute since we’ve made a Yorick skin,” he stated.

Riot also called for calm in the community about the potential pay-to-lose or pay-to-win elements in other cosmetics. While there are some notorious pay-to-win examples, like iBlitzcrank, the developers often overlook the pay-to-lose ones by pure accident.

“While this is a bug, it does point out that yeah, we are a bit more relaxed on the ‘pay-to-lose’ side of things and have way stricter guidelines and diligence on the ‘pay-to-win’ side of things,” Bellissimoh added.

If you dished out 1350 RP for the new Resistance Yorick skin, you won’t have to worry about the maiden bug past League patch 10.24. The update is expected to drop on November 25, but a smaller update could come even earlier.