Game Plan

Yunara is played like a backline damage carry in Mayhem: win space first, then damage. Do not walk up just because your poke is ready. Let your frontline or crowd control create the first mistake, hit the closest safe target, and only step forward when the enemy engage tools are already spent. Your best games come from clean spacing, steady wave control, and using Snowball as a follow-up or escape tool instead of a coin-flip engage.

Levels 1-6: survive the first crash, trade only on safe windows

  • Position: Start behind your minion wave and slightly off-center from your team. If the enemy has hooks, long-range crowd control, or assassins holding brush control, stand on the opposite side of the lane from that threat. Your job is not to “win lane” in the first minute; it is to keep enough health to contest the first real fight.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Use short trades. Hit when an enemy walks up for a minion, misses a skillshot, or uses a dash forward. Take one clean damage pattern, then back off before their return engage lands. If you stay too long after a good hit, Mayhem’s extra power spikes and random augment pressure can turn a winning trade into a forced death.
  • Snowball use: Early Snowball should usually be held. Throw it to check a low-risk angle, follow your tank’s confirmed crowd control, or mark an enemy diver so you can dash away if they overcommit and the recast gives you a better reposition. Do not Snowball into the enemy backline at levels 1-6 unless two conditions are true: your team is already moving with you, and the target has no easy peel behind them.
  • Augment use: Take early augments that let you keep hitting safely: attack speed, range, on-hit damage, sustain, shields, or movement that helps you kite. If the choice is between more damage and not dying, pick not dying when the enemy team has hard engage. Damage only matters if you can stand in the fight long enough to apply it.
  • Push or stall choice: Push only when your team has lane control and the enemy cannot punish you under their wave. If your frontline is low, your support tools are down, or the enemy has brush control, thin the wave instead of hard shoving. A stalled wave gives you space to farm and makes enemy engage start from farther away.
  • Ahead plan: If your team wins the first exchange, use the health lead to hit turret safely behind minions. Keep one step back from the most obvious engage angle. The enemy will look for the “carry got greedy” punish; make them waste it into your frontline instead.
  • Behind plan: If you lose early health, stop contesting every minion. Farm what is safe, clear with your team, and let the wave come closer to your side. Preserve health for the next augment and level spike. Dying for a small amount of gold delays the moment where you become relevant.
  • Next move: By level 6, identify the enemy’s main way to reach you. If it is Snowball engage, stand behind minions and dodge first. If it is long-range poke, play wider and use sustain windows. If it is assassin dive, save your movement, peel, or defensive augment until they commit.

Levels 7-11: group tighter, punish cooldowns, convert fights into structure damage

  • Position: This is where Yunara should start taking over space, but only with a screen in front of her. Stand close enough to hit the closest target, not close enough to be the first target. If your tank steps forward, mirror them at maximum safe range. If they back up, back up too. A carry that is half a second late retreating gives the enemy the fight they wanted.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Shift from tiny poke to controlled DPS windows. When the enemy misses engage, burns a key defensive spell, or gets slowed by your team, step forward and keep hitting until they can threaten you again. Then reset. Do not chase one low-health champion through their team unless your frontline has already broken the formation.
  • Snowball use: Mid game Snowball becomes a strong follow-up tool. If your team lands crowd control on a priority target, marking them can let you join the collapse quickly. If the enemy frontline is the only safe target, it is fine to Snowball them and hold the recast as a threat rather than taking it instantly. A bad recast puts you inside the enemy team with no clean exit.
  • Augment use: Build your augment plan around the fight you are actually getting. If enemies dive you every wave, defensive and kiting augments are higher value than greedy damage. If your frontline is winning space and you are free-hitting, stack sustained damage, attack speed, on-hit, or range-style choices. If you picked a mobility augment, use it after the enemy commits, not before; early movement often just invites them to wait and punish the landing spot.
  • Push or stall choice: Push after a won trade, after the enemy wave is cleared, or when two enemies are too low to contest. If your team lacks ultimates, defensive tools, or health, stall and clear from range. In Mayhem, forcing turret damage while your team is one engage away from dying can hand over the reset and lose all the pressure you built.
  • Ahead plan: When ahead, do not tunnel on kills. Hit turret, take safe damage on whoever walks up, and make the enemy choose between losing structure or starting a bad fight. If they engage, kite backward through your team and keep attacking the closest target. Winning carries make the enemy cross danger to reach them.
  • Behind plan: When behind, play for one clean punish. Let the enemy shove, clear the wave, and wait for them to overstep near your turret or choke. Use Snowball defensively or as a follow-up after your team catches someone. Avoid side-stepping alone into brush or fogged angles; behind teams lose because the carry tries to “find damage” before the fight starts.
  • Next move: Around level 11, decide your fight identity. If your augments and items give strong sustained damage, call for front-to-back fights and melt the first target. If your team has heavy pick tools, stay near them and burst whoever is caught. If the enemy has better poke, force short all-ins only after they miss their first wave of spells.

Levels 12+: protect your life, end through clean front-to-back fights

  • Position: Late game Yunara must treat every death as a possible game-losing mistake. Stand behind your tank, beside your peel, and away from isolated walls or brush angles. If the enemy assassin is missing from vision, assume they are waiting for you. Hit what is safe. The closest target is the correct target when stepping past them gets you killed.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Late trades should either force a retreat or set up a fight. Random poke that costs half your health is not worth it. Wait for enemy engage to miss, then commit to sustained damage. If a bruiser dives you, kite backward while attacking them; do not ignore the diver to chase a backliner unless your team has already peeled the threat off you.
  • Snowball use: Late Snowball is high risk. Use it to follow a guaranteed catch, dodge a lethal zone, or reposition after the enemy commits. Do not start the final fight by recasting into five enemies unless it is clearly ending the game. If you mark a tank, you can hold the threat and keep them honest without throwing your life away.
  • Augment use: Your final augment choices should close the weakness the enemy is attacking. If you are getting one-shot, prioritize shields, sustain, damage reduction, or escape options when offered. If you are untouched in fights, take scaling damage and range tools to end faster. Use active augments patiently; pressing them before the enemy commits often wastes the exact answer you needed for their dive.
  • Push or stall choice: Push hard only after a kill, a forced recall-style reset, or a won fight where the enemy cannot immediately engage. If both teams are full strength and one mistake ends the game, clear waves first and make them walk into you. Stalling is correct when your team has better scaling damage or when your defensive tools are about to come back.
  • Ahead plan: When ahead late, group and end through minions. Let your frontline touch the danger zone first, then hit turret when enemy crowd control is down or aimed elsewhere. If they dive you, kite back and turn. If they refuse to fight, take structure damage in short windows and reset your position before they can flank.
  • Behind plan: When behind late, do not split from your team or fish alone. Sit under structure, clear waves, and look for the enemy carry to step too far forward. One shutdown fight can flip the game, but only if you are alive when the enemy overextends. Save Snowball and defensive augments for that moment instead of using them to chase poke damage.
  • Next move: After level 12, every decision should answer one question: can they reach me if I step up? If yes, wait, bait, or reposition. If no, hit relentlessly. Yunara wins late fights by staying calm while enemies waste tools trying to touch her, then turning that failed engage into a turret, an inhibitor, or the Nexus.