TFT: Galaxies adds wild new mechanic to encourage more variance in Teamfight Tactics
TFT: Galaxies (Set 3 of Teamfight Tactics) will launch with an incredible new mechanic encouraging variance and adaptability.
Earlier this week, Riot Games officially unveiled the core of what Set 3 will be all about with Teamfight Tactics: variance in gameplay. With TFT, Riot has consistently sought to create a game in which you must strategically adapt on the fly. Welcome, TFT: Galaxies.
Whether its from the carousel, the random drops or the champion store, there has always been an element of randomness to Teamfight Tactics with an aim to make each game feeling “a little bit different,” as the developer puts it. With TFT: Galaxies (what Riot is calling Set 3), the developer is taking it a step further. No wait, an entire galaxy further. See what I did there?
This week, offered a bit of insight into the new set mechanic for TFT: Galaxies. It’s pretty straightforward but a complete game-changer.
"In addition to games with normal rulesets, some games of TFT will take you to a different galaxy where the rules are just a bit different."
In other words, each match you play will have some sort of wrinkle in the traditional Teamfight Tactics ruleset. An example provided by Riot was a “Neekoverse Galaxy, where everyone starts with two Neeko’s Help items ready to go.” Suffice to say, the strategic decisions that come with this ruleset is crazy.
"Do you use them early on a powerful three-cost or four-cost to start win streaking? Do you chase a powerful 3-star that might normally be too hard to achieve? Or do you hold out for that late game 2-star five-cost champ?"
These seem to be the sort of on-the-fly decisions Riot has always aimed to create with Teamfight Tactics. Set 2: Rise of the Elements only scratched the surface with its Elemental Hexes. However, Riot acknowledges that the hexes’ power level was a bit underwhelming, so some players just ignored them.
In Set 3, you won’t be able to ignore a completely game-changing rule, such as the example provided above. Another example was a “4-cost-carousel” Galaxy where the first carousel is comprised entirely of four-cost champions. Again, this sort of thing has never existed in Teamfight Tactics, so it would be wild to watch what strategy players adopt with this rule.
One of the complaints about randomness in a game like Teamfight Tactics is that it could lead to an unfair advantage for some players. While Riot has done a considerable amount of work to minimize the RNG advantage, the best thing about Galaxies is that the rules will apply to all of the players. If everyone starts out with Neeko’s Help or the chance at a four-cost champion, then there’s no immediate advantage.
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Of course, there will still be more “powerful” champions and I’m sure we’ll have guides suggesting the best team comps for the different galaxies, but it seems like it won’t be as straightforward as the previous Sets. With more variance, there’s less of a straightforward path to building the most overpowered team comp — and that’s a good thing.
"TFT is at its best when you can’t just look up a guide and know the best way to play, but rather have to adapt to what’s going on in game. So coming up with a set mechanic that made that happen was important."
At the end of the day, there will always be a “meta” to build towards — two or three different team comps deemed the strongest. But at least with galaxies, getting to that comp will be different for everyone. You won’t be able to go into a game dead set on a certain comp. You, along with the other seven players, are going to be required to adapt to the randomness of any given galaxy.
At launch, TFT: Galaxies will have the normal game mode with one or two different Galaxies, but Riot is hoping to expand this to as many as 10 different Galaxies. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.