Yone – Shadow
This composition has greatly benefited from TFT patch 14.12, as both Yone and Kayn received direct buffs to their base stats. Furthermore, the Shadow trait also saw a reduction in damage-over-time duration while keeping the total damage output unchanged. This makes the damage burst capability of the Shadow trait significantly stronger in a shorter time frame.
Moreover, when combining this with the execution effect of the Shadow trait, Yone will have the ability to eliminate targets extremely quickly. This is a clever move by Riot to enhance Yone’s damage capabilities and tie this unit closely with the Shadow trait. This allows Riot to achieve two goals: avoiding the Yone – Celestial meta and successfully bringing back the Shadow composition.
Zoe – Sorceress
One of the notable changes in patch 14.12 is that the appearance rate of 3-cost champions at level 7 has been reverted to 40%. This has made the reroll strategy for 3-cost champions much stronger, as players can upgrade this group of units to 3 stars more easily. Additionally, this change has also brought Zoe back into focus, as she is a Sorceress unit with a strong snowball potential mid-game.
Simply put, Zoe’s ability requires her to eliminate a target before she can bounce to another unit. If Zoe lacks the right items and level, her power is extremely low. However, the level issue for Zoe has been resolved in patch 14.12 due to changes in the appearance rate of 3-cost champions at level 7. It is important to note that Zoe is a unit that is rarely contested, allowing players to upgrade her more easily mid-game and create a snowball effect towards victory.
Bard and Friends
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Bard is one of the champions most heavily impacted by the nerf to the appearance rate of 3-cost champions by Riot. This character requires a 3-star level to deal effective damage, so the nerf from Riot nearly wiped out compositions centered around Bard. This champion only made a slight return when the item Purple Bow appeared, but it couldn’t be considered a meta yet.
However, with the release of patch 14.12 and the appearance rate of 3-cost champions being reverted, Bard almost immediately returned. It is important to note that in Bard compositions, players also need to upgrade Tahm Kench to 3 stars to ensure tankiness. Riot’s reversion of the rate becomes even more significant for this composition. Therefore, if players start with many Wooden Bows, they can aim to play around this to maximize the power of this unit.