Aatrox
Aatrox is a newly released champion in Teamfight Tactics season 8.5, but it has not met the expectations of players. Aatrox can be very strong when equipped with the Divine Shield or magic items, but in practical combat, it is merely a unit with insufficient durability. According to the specialized site Metatft.com, Aatrox is rated as a C-tier champion (quite weak) with an average placement that currently stands at a low 4.67.
The humorous part is that Aatrox’s weakness in practical combat stems from Riot itself. Specifically, the skills after the initial cast of Aatrox are bugged and only deal single-target damage. As a result, Aatrox’s healing ability is heavily impacted, making this character fail to meet the requirements for frontline durability.
Bel’Veth
Although recently buffed in patch 13.8, Bel’Veth still finds itself in a situation quite similar to Aatrox. Specifically, this unit only has an average placement of 4.65 and is rated as C-tier according to statistics from Metatft.com. This issue arises from the way Bel’Veth operates, which does not align with the current meta of Teamfight Tactics.
Essentially, Bel’Veth thrives in a meta with slower combat to stack its abilities. However, with the Duelist system sweeping through Teamfight Tactics, Bel’Veth struggles to keep pace in power scaling. Not to mention, there are single-target damage champions like Kai’Sa and Twisted Fate ready to eliminate Bel’Veth very quickly.
Jhin
Despite high expectations, Jhin seems to be “drowning” in the current meta. Based on statistics from Metatft.com, Jhin only has an average placement of 4.61 and ranks as C-tier, similar to Aatrox and Bel’Veth. The shift to making Jhin a multi-target damage dealer appears to have weakened this character significantly compared to its previous seasons.
It is important to note that Jhin’s bullets that penetrate the backline suffer a 43% damage reduction with each unit they hit. This makes Jhin’s ability to attack backline units quite weak. Meanwhile, with limited attack speed, Jhin cannot eliminate tank champions quickly. Consequently, Jhin’s damage output is currently not effective.
Conclusion
For various reasons, Aatrox, Bel’Veth, and Jhin currently do not have performance that matches their 4-cost price tag. Hopefully, in upcoming patches, Riot Games will implement reasonable changes to give these units a better standing in Teamfight Tactics.