Tired of playing the same compositions over and over? Well, brace yourselves, because Riot Brazil have 'leaked' something that might just interest you — four new champions are joining Teamfight Tactics!
Camille, Jayce, Vi, and Jinx will soon be unleashed, alongside their brand new Trait: the Hextech Origin!
Hextech Origin Details
Hextech units temporarily disable enemy items. This is still under significant iteration, so the exact mechanic beyond this is not locked yet.
Tier: 1 Cost
Class: Blademaster
Ability:
• Hextech Ultimatum - Camille roots and damages her current auto-attack target. Camille’s allies that can attack that target will switch their current target to do so.
Tier: 2 Cost
Class: Shapeshifter
Ability:
• Thundering Blow + Transform Mercury Cannon - Knock back his target then change to ranged, gaining max attack speed for a few attacks.
Tier: 3 Cost
Class: Brawler
Ability:
• Assault and Battery - Vi targets the furthest enemy and charges towards them, knocking aside everyone else while knocking up and dealing damage on impact with her target.
Tier: 4 Cost
Class: Gunslinger
Ability:
• Get Excited - Jinx gets more excited as she scores takedowns. After her first, she gains attack speed. After her second, she pulls out Fishbones for AoE damage on Autos.
Why did Riot add Hextech?
- To give some counter options to strong items. If you are losing to an RFC Volibear, you can tech in some Hextech units and try to shut them down which can be devastating.
- To expand on some of our existing traits. Having an early path to Blademaster through Camille, or Shapeshifter through Jayce opens up some early game options for example.
- To add some new units with very specific purposes through their spells. Vi, in particular, is a great option and bursting down the backline carries which means comps and positioning need to change pretty dramatically. Jinx also opens up another late-game carry option, so we don’t see Draven in every game.
- Simply to expand our roster. Having more units and more possibilities changes the game, and also makes forcing specific options a bit harder. We think we’re getting close to the max count for a good set, so this will allow us to see the impact of adding 1 unit into every pool.
As usual, the specifics of Hextech and these new champions are still in iteration, meaning it might change a lot until it gets released on the live servers.
Our Thoughts
Considering the fact that TFT is heavily impacted by items, in our opinion the Hextech trait might be too powerful — at least at the start. The current meta is so centered around Void champions, that we're afraid this new Origin could reproduce the same phenomenon.
This could balance the fact that items tend to dominate matches — whoever has the most items early usually wins. However, it might also become a game-breaking mechanic — to such a point that the Hextech trait becomes mandatory in most compositions.
After a week of complete dominance, the Demon trait receives a major nerf, while the Knight trait benefits from a rework that buffs it significantly.
