In many games, Goblins are depicted as greedy creatures always looking to hoard their wealth. In Teamfight Tactics, players have gradually formed a term based on this called The Goblin Debuff. This term refers to the regretful mentality of not wanting to sell the champions players have acquired early in the game. This leads to players transitioning their team composition very slowly, resulting in an early elimination.
According to AceofSpades, a player ranked in the top 20 of the European server, as many as 95% of Teamfight Tactics players are affected by The Goblin Debuff. Only a handful of high-ranked players are able to overcome this negative mentality.
So how does The Goblin Debuff affect the ranking process? Basically, this mentality will cause you to lose matches that you could have otherwise won. When you are fortunate enough to acquire a strong champion early in the game, such as Garen, Zed, or Tristana, players often tend to build their team composition around that unit.
However, such units will only be maximally effective during the early game. As the game progresses, you will lose many rounds if you insist on keeping these champions on the board. Players affected by The Goblin Debuff will feel regret for the strong champion they have and will not sell that unit to roll for stronger champions.
Afterwards, players will try every possible way to upgrade their 1-2 gold champion to 3 stars in hopes of achieving victory. If you fail to roll a 3-star champion mid-game, being eliminated early is almost guaranteed. Even if you succeed in rolling, the price you pay is a significant disadvantage in terms of level. You will find yourself unable to acquire quality 4-gold champions to compete for a top 4 position.
To address this issue, you need to sell your 1-2 gold champions when you start losing rounds. This is a sign that the champions you currently own are no longer strong enough to “carry the team” and you need to change your team composition. The time you should “pivot” is at level 7, as players will have a higher chance to roll for strong 3-gold champions.
Champions like Kennen, Shyvana, Kindred, and Sivir in their respective forms will play a key role in shaping the team composition you should play towards the end of the game. They will help players get through the challenging mid-game phase after having to rebuild their team.
In summary, The Goblin Debuff or the regretful mentality of holding onto early-acquired champions is causing many players to climb ranks extremely slowly. You should learn to build a flexible team composition, not reliant on any specific champion to eliminate this negative mental state.