With the adjustments to the Vanguard system, Riot Games’ initial intent was to enhance gameplay diversity in Teamfight Tactics. However, the reality has been the opposite, leading to an increasing prevalence of players abusing traits with powerful 4-cost champions, especially Butchers. In fact, in matches at the Master rank, it’s extremely common for over half of the players to revolve around Olaf and Tryndamere.


This new patch is great, Riot, but everyone is now forcing themselves to play Butchers with Tryndamere and Olaf. I feel like I can’t play any other composition to make it to the top 4.

I mean, this is the Master rank. Therefore, only the strongest compositions should appear here.
The Butchers are too overpowered, which is why people play them.
The problem is that there are 7 other players who want to play Butchers too. Riot has nerfed too many strong compositions in this patch already.


In my opinion, the issue lies in the fact that it makes the champions too contested. If you can’t get Olaf or Tryndamere, you’re almost guaranteed to lose. It’s like the Warwick Divine or Talon meta from before. Honestly, I’d rather play the previous patch; at least you had more options to build your composition.
The mid-season patch has really ruined Teamfight Tactics for me. It’s no longer fun.
I completely agree; people are simply playing the compositions that are guided online.

With the Vanguard system being revamped, hyper-roll gameplay has nearly disappeared as it proves too weak in the late game. Combined with the strong buffs to the Butcher trait from earlier, champions like Olaf and Tryndamere have quickly emerged as the strongest carries in the game. In fact, Tryndamere can counter other 4-cost carries like Aurelion Sol or Kayle extremely well.

The terrifying aspect of the Butchers is that the trait’s effect is very strong even with just 3 champions. If you have a Vanguard Butcher, you only need 2 champions for your composition to have an incredibly high damage output. At that point, you can add powerful effects like Dragon Clan, Warlord… to supplement your team’s damage. You have so many strong options in the late game to ensure your victory.

This also makes countering the opponent’s carries or maximizing the damage of Butcher compositions much easier. With so many advantages, the Teamfight Tactics meta is slowly becoming extremely negative as everyone is forced to play Butchers as shared above. Perhaps it’s time for Riot Games to implement necessary adjustments to end this situation; a few nerfs aimed at Runaan’s Hurricane seem insufficient.