Teamfight Tactics 10.14 will fix TFT’s frustrating tiebreaker system
Riot is changing how tiebreakers are determined in Teamfight Tactics.
Riot Games continues to iterate its auto-battler, Teamfight Tactics, and one of the changes being worked on is a new tiebreaker mechanic. One of the more frustrating mechanics in the game, the current way ties are determined in TFT is based on who is eliminated first. So if there are a bunch of people eliminated in one round, the placement is determined based on who is eliminated first.
Let’s say there are six players left with 20, 5 and 4 HP heading into a round. In the later rounds of the game, players receive much more damage upon a loss, so it’s entirely possible that you could lose all 20 HP in one loss in the end game.
With the current tiebreaker system only taking into account the speed at which players are eliminated, it effectively negates any sort of difference in HP. It’s possible that if you lose quickly in a tiebreaking round — perhaps by having the unfortunate luck of playing the strongest player in the match — the person with 20 HP will finish in a position lower than the person with 4 HP. That’s incredibly frustrating.
Well, good news, that’s changing. Lead designer Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer was streaming the upcoming 10.14 update from the PBE and one of the things he highlighted was the new tiebreaker mechanic.
Rather than placement being determined on the speed of elimination, TFT tiebreakers will now take into account player health. With the change, players can now go into negative health. So if there are three players eliminated in a single round, the placement will now be determined based on who has the most health left.
In the clip capture, Mort is at 3 HP and takes 18 damage, resulting in -15 HP when he’s eliminated. The second player eliminated fell to -4 HP. The third and final player eliminated went from 8 HP to -6. In the current tiebreaker system, the third player would’ve placed fourth since he lasted the longest. However, in the new system which takes into account negative damage, the second player to be eliminated placed fourth because they only dropped to -4 HP.
Check out the new tiebreaker system in action below.
"Mortdog demonstrates tiebreaker (10.14 PBE) from CompetitiveTFT"
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This new tiebreaker system has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the TFT community. I thought I was the only one frustrated by the current system but it seems there were tons of other players who felt the current system to be unfair. This new system seems to be much more fair, rewarding your play throughout the entire match, instead of simply rewarding the tankier comps.
I’m sure there will be frustrating moments like if there are two players with similar health and one ends up playing a much stronger team comp but I still think this is fairer than a speed test. In the extremely rare event where two players end up with tied negative HP, Mort confirmed it will be whoever started the round with higher HP to gets the better placement.
The new tiebreaker system is expected to go live with TFT update 10.14 which is scheduled for July 8. I can’t wait.