Patch 9.18 was shipped to the Teamfight Tactics live servers a few days ago, and as usual just after a patch the meta is currently upside down. Because of the new item distribution system and the arrival of Neeko's Help, things have never been so chaotic.
That being said, we can immediately draw some conclusions about our tryharding sessions:
- Katarina is FINALLY strong. We've been waiting so long for this...
- Knights have become far superior to Brawlers, especially when paired with Imperials and Rangers.
- Kassadin still seems completely unaware that he's only a Tier 1 unit, and continues to destroy everyone. Do you want to quickly climb the ladder? Aim for Spatulas and play Kassassins.
- Sorcerers are still top tier, especially when paired with Yordles or Wild.
- Gunslingers might return, but it's still too early to say for sure.
- The current meta seems to have shifted towards the early rolling strategy, so don't hoard your gold — spend it to quickly get your units to two, or even three, stars.
Why would I pick Katarina?
Because Patch 9.18 reduced her mana pool from 100 to 85, she can now cast her ability sooner. It doesn't seem that much, but it's actually huge. Since she's an Assassin, Katarina can directly jump onto your enemy backline and inflict tremendous damage. We strongly suggest you build the following items on her:
- Seraph's Embrace
- Rabadon's Deathcap
- Guardian Angel or Frozen Heart
Keep in mind that while Morellonomicon might indeed add a burn effect to Katarina's ability, it won't apply another Grievous Wounds stack since her spell already reduces healing.
The Knights Who Say "No."
Another buff for our beloved Knights, and they just keep blocking more and more damage. With four, your entire composition will now block 35 damage from all sources; with six, it jumps to 65. Since they can be positioned in a line, Knights also directly benefit from Locket of the Iron Solari.
It's also worth mentioning that Sejuani is incredibly strong in the current meta — she doesn't even need to synergize with the rest of your composition to be tanky and efficient.
Kassassin
Let's be honest: the nerf changed nothing at all. The Kassassin composition is still S Tier — especially since the item distribution system change made it easier for you to obtain three-star Kassadin.
Gunslingers, from flop to top?
As we previously mentioned, it seems the meta is heavily focused on the early rolling strategy — meaning you spend your gold earlier, focusing on getting three-star champions instead of leveling up.
Well, within that kind of meta, Gunslingers are pretty strong because their three-star champions can heavily snowball. Graves with a Rapidfire Cannon, a Hush, and a Red Buff is one massive damage dealer in the early game — and he can easily be sold, later on, just to put his items on a Jinx or a Miss Fortune.
For now, it seems that the Six Gunslingers composition is better than the old Blademaster/Gunslinger comp, but it might be too soon to draw any firm conclusions.
That being said, Assassins still hard counter them, and the current state of the meta doesn't offer any encouragement...
Why on earth should I reroll the shop early?
- On average, you will now get more gold during the first few PvE rounds — thanks to Neeko's Help, you might even get some champions. That's why you should reroll the shop early — because of these changes, it's actually far easier to get three-star champions.
- To balance this gold inflation, Riot also increased the number of XP points you need to level up. It's not that hard to math this out: getting better champions is far better than having more of the lesser ones. Keep in mind that you'll need to buy XP at least twice to hit Level 5 before Krugs.
- The Tier 3 champion pool was reduced from 21 to 18 — meaning that it's now harder to get these champions to three-stars if another player is aiming for the same champion than you.
- You can't get Tier 5 champions at Level 6 anymore.
To sum up, while the current meta still seems heavily driven by certain compositions, we never saw that much diversity within the game anyway.
Right now, the Convergence is so chaotic that it just leaves us with the impression that — somehow — Patch 9.18 has broken the game.
Time to relearn everything — again...
Following Patch 10.4, Glacials rose to the top — and Patch 10.5 wasn't enough to change absolutely anything. Poison Glacials still dominate the meta — and it's not even questionable.
