Remix Rumble, set 10 of Teamfight Tactics (TFT), is now live. This article breaks down what is being added, changed, or removed in this set. The full patch notes can be found here.
What is TFT?
Teamfight Tactics is an autobattler made by Riot Games, creators of League of Legends. Teamfight Tactics runs out of the League of Legends client. In Teamfight Tactics, players assemble teams of champions. These teams fight automatically on behalf of the player. Each champion has a combination of traits and a cost rarity. Champions cost between one and five gold, with more expensive champions being rarer. Each round, players are offered a shop of five random champions. The chance of seeing champions of specific rarities is based on the player’s level.
Gold is one of the most important resources players obtain during the game. Players earn gold by winning rounds, as well as winning or Each round, players gain one gold in interest for every ten gold they have. This bonus caps at five gold per round at fifty saved gold by default. Players can spend gold on champions, or buy experience to level up. They can also spend gold to reroll the shop offering.
Champions Are The Star
Players can field a number of champions equal to their level by default. Players also have a nine-slot bench, to store champions for combination or later use. Collecting three copies of a champion combines them into a new two-star version. Collecting three two-star copies combines them into the final three-star version. The higher the star level of a champion, the stronger it is. Players can also strengthen champions by giving them item components. Two item components can be combined into various completed items.
Fielding certain numbers of champions sharing the same trait grants various bonuses and effects. Traits have multiple levels of activation, with higher levels having stronger effects. Specific combinations of units and traits are called compositions, or comps for short.
Play is divided into stages, with each stage divided into rounds. Most rounds pit the player against another player. The first player to lose all their units, loses the fight and takes damage. Damage is taken based on the current stage and number of surviving opposing units. The first stage as well as the last round of every other stage is against monsters instead. These rounds give players money, champions, or item components, used to get stronger.
Around the Carousel
From stage two on, there is a carousel halfway through the stage. The two lowest health players select from a random offering of champions. Each of these champions is also holding an item or item component. Each champion with item package can only be selected by one player. After a few seconds, the two players with the next lowest health get to pick. After all players have had a chance to make a selection, play resumes normally.
Players are eliminated when their health reaches zero. The winner of the game is the last player standing. When playing ranked games, placing fourth or higher gains rating points, called LP. Conversely, placing fifth or lower loses LP. For this reason, placing “top 4” is considered a good result. Players gain or lose more LP for higher or lower placings, respectively. Games tend to last between thirty and forty-five minutes.
What is Remix Rumble?
Remix Rumble is the tenth set of Teamfight Tactics and is themed around music. As such, some traits are based on musical genres such as punk and country. Other traits are based on in-universe bands such as K/DA and Pentakill. There are a mix of new and returning champions, trait effects, and set mechanics.
What’s New in Remix Rumble?
New Music System
Remix Rumble gives making a composition another meaning with the new in-game music system. The music being played changes based on the champions and traits players are fielding. Different champions and active traits can combine, offering many musical possibilities. This helps make different comps really feel – and sound – different to play.
Headliners
Another core mechanic of Remix Rumble is the headliner system. Headliners are a variation of the chosen mechanic from set 4. Headliner champions start as two-star champions, costing as much as three one-star copies. One of the headliner champions’ traits gets counted twice. This makes it easier to hit certain trait levels.
Choosing a Headliner
Each champion has a unique headliner bonus. Some headliner bonuses are raw stats, while others grant bonuses to the champion’s ability. Headliner champions appear in every shop until one is purchased. After one is purchased, one will appear every fourth shop instead. A player cannot own two headliner champions at the same time. Therefore, the player must sell their headliner to buy a new one. If half of a champion’s pool is purchased, it cannot appear as a headliner. Thus, tracking how many copies of champions other players have purchased is important. A player can opt to take a headliner that gives the right trait bonus, or hold out for a specific key champion. The right choice depends on the situation and preferences of the player.
There are several important differences between the headliner and chosen mechanics. Chosen champions did not appear every shop, and never while one was owned. Chosen champions also did not possess unique bonuses. There were several raw stat boost categories that a chosen champion could fall into. Finally, chosen champions did not have the half pool size limitation that headliners do.
Less Copies of Champions
Each champion has a maximum number of copies that can be owned simultaneously. This number counts all copies owned by all players in the game. Once all copies are out of the pool, nobody can buy another. The number of copies of a champion is determined by their cost level. Lower cost units have more copies, while higher cost ones have less. In Remix Rumble, the number of copies at each cost level has been lowered. This could be due to the headliner mechanic making it easier to three-star champions.
The change makes it harder to hit two-star and three-star versions of champions. As a result, running contested comps is now riskier and more punishing. Buying key champions an opponent is looking to run is now more effective. A player now needs every copy of a five-cost champion to three-star it. If any player holds a single copy of it, it becomes impossible to do. The same applies to lower cost champions. However, how many champions a player must hold increases for lower cost champions.
New Leveling
In Remix Rumble, level ten is now obtainable regardless of augments. Specific augments made level ten possible in previous sets. However, the max level normally obtainable was nine. As a result, the experience needed for levels six through ten has been lowered. The shop’s champion rarity odds at levels six through nine have changed as well. Learning the new leveling patterns and champion rarity odds is vital to success.
Returning Mechanics in Remix Rumble
Augments
First introduced in set 6, augments have become a fixture for Teamfight Tactics. Unsurprisingly, augments are returning for Remix Rumble. Three times per game, players are given the choice of three augments at random. Players have the option to reroll each initial offering one time. Augments can be divided into three rarity tiers: silver, gold, and prismatic. For each augment selection, all augments are the same rarity. If an augment offering is gold, all players are offered gold augments. If a gold augment is rerolled, the new augment offering will also be gold. The augments in Remix Rumble are a mix of new, returning, and altered augments. However, all augments offering emblems or plus one to a trait have been removed. This could be due to the headliner champion serving that purpose. Having both could make it too easy to hit the highest level of traits.
Portals
Also returning to Remix Rumble is the portal system, first added during set 9. At the start of the game, players vote between three randomly selected portal options. Rather than a majority vote, one player is randomly chosen. The portal that the player voted for is the one used for the game. Portals can have a wide variety of effects on the game. One might determine the rarity of certain augments offered during the game. Another could make headliner champions count two traits twice, instead of just one. There are a mix of new, returning, and revamped portals to choose from. More portal options are planned for the future.
Mechanic Not Returning in Remix Rumble – Legends
The legend mechanic, introduced in set 9, will not return in Remix Rumble. The legend mechanic allowed players to choose legends before the game. Each legend guaranteed specific augments would be offered at every selection. This allowed players to plan around certain augments. Players who liked to force the same comp every game benefited from legends. However, legend-guaranteed augments were slightly weaker than other augments. Now, players must once again determine the best augment to take in the moment. Players can no longer rely on specific augments being offered every game.
Summary
Remix Rumble offers a fresh take on Teamfight Tactics while staying true to its core. The new in-game music system looks to make each comp sound different to play. Hopefully, this helps make comps feel different to play as well. Headliners, reduced bag sizes, and the removal of legends all reward more flexible gameplay. This could be better for the health of the game in general. It also might frustrate players who prefer to play the same comp every game. The ability to level to ten in all games is a massive change. It might take a little while for players to fully adjust to these changes.
Players can take the stage themselves and compose their own masterpieces today.
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