According to what Riot revealed a few days ago, starting from patch 12.2, the odds of rolling champions in TFT Season 6 will significantly change at levels 8 and 9. These could be the final adjustments before Season 6.5 officially arrives. However, the mechanics of rolling champions are extremely important and can affect the entire match, so players pay close attention.
Specifically, from patch 12.2, the odds of rolling a 5-cost champion at level 8 will decrease from 5% to 4%. However, at level 9, this rate will increase from 15% to 16%. In other words, players after patch 12.2, if they want to build an Exodia team consisting of all expensive champions, or want to achieve a 2-star 5-cost champion at level 8, must not only have ample finances but also rely on luck.
Due to such changes, many high-ranked players advise not to level up to 8 before rolling but to focus on rolling champions at level 7 – where the odds of obtaining 4-cost champions is 15% and the chance of rolling a 5-cost champion is 1%. The reasoning from most high-ranked players is that players must save up to 56 gold to level up from 7 to 8. With this amount of gold, players can acquire high-level 4-cost champions that are not inferior in quality to 5-cost champions.
However, one truth is that in the current season 6, the previous odds are just one of the important mechanics. The factor that players value the most is the emergence of Augments, which can make the rolling odds merely a reference statistic. For example, if players obtain Augments like High End Shopping, they can get champions with the odds of appearing at level 9 simply by being at level 8. Or, Augments that allow players to go up to level 10 make rolling at level 7 pointless.
Additionally, Giant champions often take up 2 slots on the board. For example, if players have about 2 Giant champions (usually Cho’Gath – Sion or Sion – Galio), it will cost at least 4 champion slots. The remaining champions (3 slots) are often not enough to create significant influence. And once the Giant champions are taken down, the remaining team will become incredibly fragile.
Moreover, leveling up to 8 still has its benefits; at level 8, the odds of rolling a 4-cost champion will increase to 25%. Setting aside the low odds of rolling 5-cost champions, the higher odds for 4-cost champions at level 8 compared to level 7 is an advantage, especially if players want to build a team around 4-cost champions.
Therefore, overall, leveling up steadily is still something players should do. However, instead of hyper-rolling, players can level up until they have around 30 gold left in their account. This way, they have enough money to buy champions and enough finances to not fall too far behind, especially in the crucial late game phase. Furthermore, TFT is a mode that requires luck. If players save gold and stay at level 7 to roll, they might not get the champions they want and could fall short in numbers compared to other players.