Shapeshifter – Dragon Composition of TFT Season 12
Despite being a very large system in TFT Season 12, Shapeshifter is rarely used at high activation thresholds. The reason is that most Shapeshifter champions are tank units and quite limited in dealing damage. Therefore, to play this composition effectively, players must possess the Spider Queen core and use Elise as the early game carry. However, the appearance rate of this core is still quite low, so this is not a reliable climbing composition.
By patch 14.17, things have improved significantly as many Shapeshifter units from Jayce, Swain, Shyvana to the system effect itself have been buffed heavily. Moreover, the skill damage of Nomsy (a crucial early game carry) has been increased to 400% AD, resolving the damage shortage issue. This will help the Shapeshifter – Dragon composition become much stronger in the mid-game to have enough resources to reach level 9 and add Smolder in the later stages.
Mage Composition of TFT Season 12
Although magic damage is favored in patch 14.16, the Mage composition did not receive much attention from players. The reason is that this composition heavily relies on a 3-star Veigar, while this unit has a rather annoying mechanism of increasing AP based on the number of Orbs purchased. It’s important to note that many types of Orbs in TFT have situational utility, and players cannot continuously purchase them. Furthermore, players also need to save gold to upgrade to a 3-star Veigar instead of spending too much money on Orbs.
In patch 14.17, Riot has somewhat addressed this issue as Veigar received a substantial buff in basic damage stats, with the interaction stat with AP at 1-star increasing from 200% to 240%. Moreover, the Mage system itself has also been buffed to increase AP stats for champions, thereby improving Veigar’s output damage. This will make the Mage composition much stronger in the mid-game and maximize Veigar’s power.
Dessert Composition of TFT Season 12
Unlike past “resource-cheating” tribes, the Dessert composition of TFT Season 12 has a rather unique mechanism that scales based on the number of items. This requires the composition to be strong enough in the early and mid-game to sustain health until it has many items in the late game. However, the Dessert thresholds in patch 14.16 and prior provided too little attack stats, making it difficult for players to operate this composition effectively.
However, everything will change in patch 14.17 as Riot has strongly buffed both AP and AD stats from the Dessert tribe. Even champions that deal good magic damage like Soraka and Gwen have also received increased base stats, allowing this composition to sustain health much more effectively. These are excellent conditions that enable players to effectively “cheat resources” with the Dessert tribe since the new patch.