Zhou Yu couldn't find a way out by burning, three major pain points hindered his progress, and the expert bluntly said he was giving up: Data Section

Zhou Yu, how long has it been since he was mentioned on the forums? In casual games, especially ranked matches, regardless of skill level, he's completely absent, with no presence whatsoever. Even though he's got a legendary skin, often paired with Xiao Qiao to complete a Valentine's Day limited edition, what discourages players is primarily his extremely "time-consuming" gameplay. This isn't about the long game time or the pain from frequent finger friction from keyboard controls, but rather his inherent mechanics. In a burst team fight, everyone's attacks are completed within seconds—mages casting spells, assassins diving in—while Zhou Yu slowly lays down his fire, dealing slow damage. By the time you've perfectly crafted your own battlefield, your teammates are likely already dead.

The guy with the amazing skills couldn't be saved.

In contrast, in the peak matches, his performance was strangely strong, perhaps due to the synchronized awareness of his teammates. Since teaming up was not allowed, teammates did not subconsciously pay special attention to their friends' status, resulting in a morbidly strong performance on the field. He directly became the main character of the team, and everyone would revolve around him, creating a tower-pushing strategy. Even in fights, they would subconsciously create opportunities to delay time and set up fires for Zhou Yu to burn. This was his glorious period. After the version changes, he seemed to be relegated to the sidelines, ignored by everyone. It is estimated that even skin marketing cannot save him.

Recent data shows a dismal, almost unbelievable, slump. Across all skill levels, the pick rate is only 3.3%, with a win rate of 50.01%. In the 1350-level peak tournament, the pick rate is 2.7%, with a win rate of 50.61%. In top-tier ranked matches, the pick rate is only 2.2%, with a win rate of 49.59%. Let's first discuss the pick rate. Below 5% indicates a significant drop in popularity, even with the 50% win rate providing some support. As rank increases, the decline is evident, especially considering these are figures from highly skilled players.

Even less noticeable than support

Your favorite pro player is dead, imagine if that happened to a random player, what would happen? Would they become a super minion? Or a powerful mage? Xiao Qiao's other half also has area-of-effect damage, Zhou Yu's fire, while having a healing effect, only affects himself, not his teammates. Isn't that worse than a support? No crowd control, no utility, no explosive damage—nothing like that. Do you really want to keep him around?

Image source: Internet