Marksman
Among the traits – systems focused on physical damage output, Marksman has probably been the most heavily impacted by the nerf from Riot in patch 12.6 of Teamfight Tactics. Essentially, the damage from this system will scale based on the percentage of distance to the target. Therefore, when the base damage from attacks is reduced, the loss in damage output (including skills) will be significantly greater than the figures such as 5 AD, 10 AD that were nerfed as seen in the recent update.
Moreover, with too many champions in the backline (and lacking self-protection), the Marksman composition can be easily countered by the strong Assassin team. As a result, since patch 12.6, the Marksman team has gradually fallen behind other compositions like Mage, Chemtech, and Tech… in terms of damage output. This team composition also lacks effective countermeasures against Assassins, making it increasingly weak and prone to early defeats and eliminations.
Innovators
Although not directly nerfed, the strongest carry, Irelia, has been comprehensively nerfed, leaving the Innovators in a state of extreme “misery.” Previously, this composition could capitalize on Irelia’s dominance and the ability to activate the Idol trait from Gnar for core strength. However, after the nerf, you are forced to play up to 4 Innovators and accept using weaker units like Jarvan IV and Rek’Sai, which reduces the overall strength of the composition.
Additionally, Riot’s nerf of the activation threshold for the Guardian trait also somewhat affects the power that the Innovators possess. This was originally a “full damage” team with Irelia, Gnar…. and lacking any crowd control. To survive, it has to borrow crowd control capabilities from the Guardian. With Riot nerfing this trait, players are forced to incorporate Jayce and accept fierce competition from other players, making building the composition even more challenging.
Recyclers
Essentially, Recyclers were designed as a support trait with the ability to create shields and cheat strength from item components. However, when Irelia became too powerful in season 6.5, the Recycler composition with 4 or even 6 units emerged as a force, significantly boosting this carry’s durability. Then, when Irelia was heavily nerfed, the value of Recyclers also dropped, and compositions using 4-6 units of this trait disappeared from the meta.
Of course, this is a justified change from Riot because, after all, Recyclers are still just a support trait. When it becomes too popular, it indicates that this trait is seriously unbalanced. Riot’s nerf has helped Recyclers avoid that situation and return to their rightful position as a support trait.