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Hello everyone, I'm Game Xiaodi.

Some players may know that the official developers often livestream to test hero strength and gather feedback. In a recent stream, they brought up the topic of buffing Cheng Yaojin, which triggered a lot of player discussion. This time, let's zero in on Cheng Yaojin and have a chat.

The reason the devs don't buff Cheng Yaojin

During the livestream, a player asked why they didn't give Cheng Yaojin a buff. The devs gave a reason that was honestly unexpected: they said that Cheng Yaojin players are mostly older working-class uncles who play a couple of games after work to unwind. If they reworked him, these players wouldn't know how to play him anymore, and they rarely provide feedback about Cheng Yaojin, so the devs simply left him alone.

As soon as this statement came out, it immediately sparked heated discussion among players. However, Xiaodi's direct way of putting it was still a bit inconsiderate and could easily be interpreted differently.

Does Cheng Yaojin deserve a buff?

First, regarding win rate, casual matches are actually decent, stable above 50%. But in high-level matches, it drops significantly to around 48%. As for pick rate, it's low overall, meaning he's not played much currently.

The reason his strength is decent in casual matches is mainly because players lack awareness. Cheng Yaojin's specialty is his extremely strong HP regeneration, so he is well-suited for split-pushing and drawing attention. By using his ultimate to attract multiple opponents to focus on him, he buys his teammates space to develop. Essentially, it's the same idea as the "Dark Xin" tower-pushing strategy, except Dark Xin relies on his mobility, while Cheng Yaojin relies on his own HP.

Without countermeasures, Cheng Yaojin constantly pushes lanes and invades the jungle to steal resources, so his economy is obviously not bad. Additionally, without items like Sunfire Cape, Mortal Reminder, or Shadow Fang to counter him, Cheng Yaojin is hard to kill and may even directly dive squishy targets for a kill. That's why many people find him difficult to deal with.

As for high-level play, first of all, players have strong awareness. The space for Cheng Yaojin to operate is relatively limited. For example, if Cheng Yaojin wants to invade the jungle, the enemy team may have the mid laner and support helping the jungler defend. In such a situation, Cheng Yaojin can't gain an advantage and has to give up. Additionally, regarding his healing ability, when everyone has a counter item, he simply cannot regenerate enough. Cheng Yaojin also has no crowd control abilities; he does have a dash, but it's short, making him easy to get surrounded and killed.

Therefore, Cheng Yaojin actually needs some adjustments. His current stats are indeed somewhat unbalanced. His playstyle is not a big issue; a rework is not necessary, but his numbers should be tweaked. For example, reduce the cooldown of his first skill, or add some crowd control, or even just increase his stats.

Moreover, Xiaodi looked up the changes to Cheng Yaojin in recent years. There have been quite a few: 4 changes in 2024, 3 changes in 2025, but only one change this year. In April, a new effect was added to his first skill: during his ultimate, it gains a 0.5-second knock-up and collision damage. This was a buff, but the effect is limited and doesn't impact Cheng Yaojin much.

I wonder what you all think: should Cheng Yaojin be buffed? Let's discuss in the comments.

That's all for today. If you liked it, feel free to hit the like button to support. If you have anything to say, ask, or want to see, leave a comment and I'll check them all out~

No game unknown, no thing unknown; I am Xiaodi, let's chat freely!

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