Following a series of adjustments in patch 14.8, the TFT meta has changed rapidly as the reroll playstyle has been severely limited. Currently, only the Forest God composition with Gnar and Kindred as the main carries remains viable. Meanwhile, half of the top meta compositions depend on 4-cost carries like Ashe, Kai’Sa, Kayn…
Essentially, the Blessing mechanism along with many upgrades providing substantial economic benefits has allowed players to upgrade their compositions quite easily. According to Riot Mortdog, the Project Lead for TFT, 4-cost 3-star champions are appearing far too frequently and negatively impacting the game. Therefore, in patch 14.9 (scheduled for next week), Riot will implement what seems to be a minor adjustment but will have a significant effect on the TFT meta.
Specifically, the appearance rates of 4-cost champions at levels 8 and 9 will decrease from 22/35% to 20/30% starting with the upcoming patch 14.9. This reduction will shift the rates to 2-cost champions (at level 8) and 1-cost champions (at level 9). According to experts, in the context of normal matches, the actual probability for players to upgrade to their desired 4-cost champion will drop by up to 10%, not just the 2-5% indicated by the change.
Although Riot is not directly modifying champion stats, this decision is likely to completely change the TFT meta in the next patch. With such low appearance rates for 4-cost champions, leveling up to 8 quickly and searching for carries will no longer be as easy as before. Clearly, when upgrades are not achieved quickly, compositions with multiple 4-cost 1-star champions will easily falter and result in significant health loss for players.
Furthermore, Riot’s nerf on the appearance rate of 4-cost champions at level 9 further diminishes the significance of reaching this level. At that point, compositions using 4-cost carries will struggle to compete with “Exodia” builds featuring many 5-cost champions. The result is that these compositions will find themselves in a very difficult position, being significantly weaker at level 8, and even leveling to 9 won’t greatly enhance their strength. In fact, the meta relying heavily on 4-cost champions could potentially disappear in the next version.
Therefore, it is highly likely that compositions rerolling 2-3 cost champions will make a comeback in the upcoming patch 14.9. This playstyle is extremely effective for defeating players using 4-cost compositions that lack luck in upgrading their teams. Moreover, this strategy will keep players strong in the mid-game and maintain enough health and gold to aim for level 9 to add valuable 5-cost units.
In summary, with what seems to be a minor adjustment but has a huge impact, compositions using 4-cost carries will significantly weaken in patch 14.9. Hopefully, this change will make the TFT meta more diverse and interesting instead of revolving around a few overwhelmingly strong 4-cost champions like it is now.