Since Season 2 of Teamfight Tactics, Riot Games has been striving to introduce special mechanics and unique champions into the game to create a fresh experience. In Season 2, we had the instant kill mechanic from the Beast, Lux costing 7 gold, and in this third season, the most unique mechanic is arguably the “transformation” effect into the Super Robot of the Aviator Tribe.
However, this tribe seems to be heading in a direction that the developers of Teamfight Tactics are not satisfied with at all. Riot Mortdog – the team lead for Teamfight Tactics – shared this on his stream, promising that the Aviator Tribe and its three units: Annie, Rumble, and Fizz will undergo significant updates soon.
Riot Mortdog: “You ask me if I’m happy that Fizz is almost only used in the Aviator – Spy formation, the answer is No. In fact, the entire design team is not happy with all the Aviator units. The truth is that all Aviator units only serve the purpose of assembling into the Super Robot, which is a mistake, and we will find a way to fix it.”
There are two things causing the current state of the Aviator to be as it is: first, the Super Robot is too strong and comprehensive, and second, the Aviator units are too weak when standing alone. Riot Games has been trying to limit the power of the Super Robot in recent patches by continuously nerfing its health and damage stats. However, this seems to be insufficient as despite numerous adjustments, the Aviator – Spy still remains incredibly dominant.
The second issue – Aviator units being too weak when standing alone – is also a significant headache for Riot in balancing. Remember that the Super Robot receives stats from the Aviator units; directly buffing their base stats would only make them more dependent on the Super Robot. The creation of such a perfect tribe is harming Riot Games as it is overwhelmingly powerful and difficult to control.
With the entire design team being dissatisfied with the Aviator tribe, it is quite understandable that major changes are coming soon. The important question here is in what direction will Riot Games make adjustments, and whether that direction will be correct. Will they continue to nerf the Super Robot, rework champions, or even overhaul the entire Aviator tribe?