Jhin – The Guardian
If you’ve noticed, the Kai’Sa – The Idol composition has been a significant counter to team comps revolving around Jhin. Typically, you would arrange Wizard units around Jhin to protect this unit, but this makes them susceptible to crowd control from Galio and Sion. Those two massive units aren’t afraid of Braum and Orianna’s crowd control either. Meanwhile, Kai’Sa with the Morello’s Evil Tome will considerably weaken the healing abilities of Wizard units.
Remember, even when heavily countered like that, the Jhin – The Guardian team still ranked among the top in the meta of patch 11.24. Therefore, with the Kai’Sa – The Idol composition heavily nerfed in patch 12.1, there’s no reason to stop Jhin – The Guardian from leading the meta anymore. Moreover, all the strongest elements of this composition remain unchanged, and Orianna even had her maximum energy reduced. Thus, it is very likely that Jhin – The Guardian will become the most “spammed” composition in the upcoming patch 12.1.
Empire
Buff, buff, and buff is the most accurate way to describe the Empire composition in Teamfight Tactics for patch 12.1. First, we need to mention that the Empire and Assassin emblems will now grant Talon instead of Swain. Next, Talon has been buffed with increased base attack speed, enabling this unit to deal tremendous damage early in the game. This allows the Empire composition to secure winning streaks very easily at the start when possessing a 2-star Talon early on.
Additionally, both Swain and Sion have received buffs, ensuring that the Empire composition in patch 12.1 will possess excellent crowd control and magical damage. Although Samira did not receive any direct buffs, the nerf to the Kai’Sa – The Idol team and the Giant units helps this unit become noticeably stronger. With such strong and comprehensive buffs, it would not be surprising for the Empire team to be among the strongest compositions in the next patch.
Innovator
It seems Riot noticed that the Innovator composition was a bit weak in patch 11.24, so they decided to buff this team comp significantly in the first update of 2022. First, we should mention that the Tech Bear at the 5 Innovator threshold has received a strong buff to its basic defense stats. This is crucial because most Innovator units in the mid-game are ranged champions (except for Singed). Therefore, having a sturdier Tech Bear will help this composition withstand fights and deal damage much better.
Next, we need to mention that Heimerdinger and Seraphine (the two main units of the Innovator composition) have been buffed. Heimerdinger, which already dealt decent damage, often moved forward due to its 3-tile attack range and got eliminated, which was unfortunate. With the increased attack range, Heimerdinger will no longer move like that. As for Seraphine, this unit has simply become much stronger with buffs to both damage and mana.