Yamato

Dash Slash

Power Slash¹⁾ is Yamato’s first ability. In it, she channels a powerful sword slash over a period of 1.4 seconds. During this period, her movement is slowed to a crawl and she is not able to use abilities or active items.

By Dashing then immediately using Power Slash, you can carry the momentum from the dash into Power Slash, allowing you to move while channelling.

The Dash Slash can be used as a surprise option, as a way to make it harder to escape the slash or to close the distance.

To execute, dash then while still moving, use Power Slash.

Empty Strike

Yamato’s second ability, Flying Strike, has her throw a grappling hook onto an enemy

By targeting an enemy player and cancelling while moving towards them, you can maintain the momentum and use that for movement. This is called an Empty Strike²⁾.

Moving backwards while the grapple is thrown allows you to gain more speed, since Flying Strike will increase your launch velocity if you are further. This becomes more powerful with move speed items such as the Weapon item Fleetfoot or by dashing backwards before casting. By quickly Air Jumping or Sliding after cancelling, you can cover more distance after the cancel.

For the most amount of speed, execute an Empty Strike on the ground; executing one from the air results in less speed.

Empty Strike can be used for quickly evading an enemy opponent that is attacking from behind.

To execute, use Flying Strike. Just after you start to move and before the slash would connect, press space to cancel Flying Strike. After this, you are fully actionable in the air.

Flying Strike Cannon

Sometimes when casting Flying Strike on a target close by (usually a neutral creep), you can achieve immense velocity for one tick. By cancelling on this tick, you can preserve this high velocity and fly across the map. This is called a Flying Strike Cannon.

The prevailing theory is that when close to a target, Flying Strike attempts to aggressively push away out if you are too close so that Yamato can strike the opponent whilst next to them. When casting far away, there is enough room to strike without adjustment, but when cast near, Yamato might sometimes be inside the target, resulting in a large push back to get Yamato into an acceptable position. This push back is a large amount of velocity applied for one tick, and sometimes can be seen as a slight camera shake, stutter, or jitter when near an opponent.

Velocity depends on positioning relative to the target; there seems to be a sweetspot around 5 metres away from a target; any further results in a normal Flying Strike, and any closer results in less velocity.

To execute, cast Flying Strike onto an enemy. There is a variable one tick window with large amounts of velocity; if cancelled on this tick, you will be sent backwards. When utilised correctly, Flying Strike Cannon allows for cross map rollouts and rotations. However, incorrect execution results in a wasted Flying Strike.

Zipline Momentum Conservation

Main article: ZMC

Yamato’s first ability, Power Slash, has her charge a sword slash while slowing descent in the air.

By using Zipline Momentum Conservation, you are able to carry over transit line momentum while in Power Slash.

This can help chase down opponents in lane.

To execute, drop off the transit line and use Power Slash.