TFT to introduce Sparring Gloves and Neeko’s Help in patch 9.18

Always looking ahead, Riot Games has detailed two new items coming to Teamfight Tactics (TFT) in patch 9.18: Sparring Gloves and Neeko’s Help.

Continuing to find ways to keep TFT feeling fresh, Riot Games has plans to introduce two new items into the auto battler.

Coming with patch 9.18 (September 11) will be the new item component, Sparring Gloves. On its own, Sparring Gloves provide a +10% Dodge chance and +10% Crit chance. However, this statline will shift to either +20% in either category depending on if it’s offensive (Crit) or defensive (Dodge) in nature.

A total of eight new items can be crafted from the Sparring Gloves, including the updated Infinity Edge (+BF Sword; previously the item required two BF Swords). The new items fill a number of niches, including Quicksilver (+Negatron Cloak), which “prevents the next crowd control effect applied to the wearer.”

One of the more intriguing new items is the Hand of Justice (+Tear of the Goddess) which grants the wearer either 40% increased damage or 40 life on hit in the next round. This seems like it will be really overpowered on a hypercarry like Jinx or Draven.

Another unique-sounding item is the Repeating Crossbow (+Recuve Bow). Unlike any current items in TFT, this one actually transfers its powers (+20% Crit chance, +20% Attack Speed) to a new ally when the wearer dies. These percentages actually stack with each passing.

In addition to Sparring Gloves, patch 9.17 will remove the useless Sword of Divine and replace it with Last Whisper (BF Sword + Recurve Bow). This new item prevents attack misses and deals True Damage equal to 5% of the target’s maximum health. It’s basically a Morellonomicon for hypercarries.

The second item introduced is Lord’s Edge, the new item created with two BF Swords. This is another unique item in that the champion equipped with this can not hold any other items except temporary ones gained by this one. So what does it do? “On takedown, gain a BF Sword for the remainder of the round.”

Basically, it sounds like when you kill an enemy champion, you gain another BF Sword. So with four kills in a round, your champion could technically wield three Lord’s Edges. That sounds like some insane damage.

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Lastly, one final item will be coming to TFT in patch 9.18: Neeko’s Help. Unlike any of the aforementioned items, this is one you can not equip. It is a consumable that will undoubtedly be beneficial in a game.

"Neeko’s Help is a consumable item that you can place on a champion. When you do, Neeko’s Help is consumed and a 1 star copy of the champion is instantly made and added to your bench."

Neeko’s Help is undoubtedly in response to the growing number of champions being introduced to TFT. With more new champions, there’s less chance for you to reroll for the champion you need. Neeko’s Help should allow you to more easily level up a champion, especially in the later rounds with the rarer Legendary champions, like Yasuo, Karthus, etc. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I’ve been stuck with two of them, unable to successfully farm the third.

At this point, it’s far too early to tell how these new items will impact the meta of TFT, but you can bet we’re in for some big changes. It’s interesting that Riot would introduce such a major change this late into the season, but technically TFT is still in beta and tournaments are not yet being held.