I’ve been a fan of Teamfight Tactics, by Riot Games, since the beginning. I’ve seen through the ages, from Set 1: Yasuo knocking up the entire enemy team to Set 5: Heimerdinger destroying my entire comp. And with that, I’ve seen all of the unique gimmicks for each of the sets, as well as how much the Teamfight Tactics team has learnt. Set 6: Gizmos and Gadgets is around the corner, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited. With at least 30 games on the Public Beta Environment (PBE), I’ve managed to gather a pretty good grasp on the set.
One of the biggest issues that Teamfight Tactics has faced in the past is its inability to make flexible sets that incentivise quick thinking from players. The wider the set or the more available the traits, the easier it is for smarter players to overlap and splash traits into their comp. Fortunately, with 27 unique traits, there are endless possibilities for traits to splash, and comps to run. This is easily one of the most extensive and flexible sets to date.
Hextech Augments and Traits
It’s noticeable that the Teamfight Tactics‘ developers have been learning from their previous iterations of the game. With every release, they introduce a new gimmick that assists in varying each game from the previous one.
The latest set, Gizmo and Gadgets, introduces the augment system; a series of game-altering effects that are offered to players in 3 separate rounds. These can range from anything, from bonus gold if you fulfil an objective to having your board count for an additional trait. Almost every trait, minus a couple, changes the fundamental understanding of your play style. This is a fantastic idea that prevents players from just running the same comp each game, as playing to your augments is the key to victory.
On top of the augments, traits are what feedsTeamfight Tactics’ exciting gameplay. Luckily, there are some more great additions in Gizmos and Gadgets. As always, you have basic traits, like Syndicate which give your units buffs to help new players. Fortunately, you’ve also got traits that change up the gameplay.
Socialite places a spotlight on a fixed space on your board, giving whichever unit starts in it huge bonuses. This is made more interesting by the spotlight being universal across everyone’s board, meaning it’s susceptible to Zephyr, or a cheeky Blitzcrank hook.
The Five Cost Units
Throughout most of Teamfight Tactics Set 5, I was a Draconic player. I would always go for Draconic so I could eco up as hard as possible and grab my Gold Comp by the end of it. With Gwen, Fiddle, Voli and Heim there was almost no way of losing late game, which in my opinion, removed a lot of diversity from the set.
That being said, Set 6’s five cost units are far more interesting and specific to their trait this time around. While there are still cases you can throw in five cost units, such as Jayce or Yuumi, for the most part, they act as the chase unit of their certain trait. The majority of the units have really interesting and unique abilities, including Tahm Kench, who can generate items and gold, or Jayce, who acts as either a front or a backline.
Co-Op
After the release of Hyper Roll in Set 5, the Teamfight Tactics team has been busy innovating new modes. Set 6 introduces the 2v2v2v2 game mode, which finally lets me run down my friends’ games. Double-Up Labs will be launching as a limited-time game mode for the duration of Set 6 and will be considered as a full-time game mode depending on how it is received.
With all of that being said, I’m very very keen on what Gizmo and Gadgets has in store for us. The Teamfight Tactics team have done a fantastic job with the set and I’m eager to see how the set transpires and what will change in its mid-set expansion.
Teamfight Tactics is available on PC, and mobile devices.