TFT Patch Overview: 12.9

Cristian Lupasco -

Patch 12.9 in TFT has a lot of changes following the small previous patch. Riot buffed a lot of units and traits while also adding a new Dragon Egg hatchling that will give you amazing loot the more you wait for it to hatch.

Systems

A new feature was added to the game - Dragon Eggs. They are given to each player at the start of the match from a pool of 5 different-sized eggs. The larger the egg, the more stuff inside but the longer it takes to hatch. Every player receives the same size egg with the same value of contents and while every egg will contain a Tome of Traits, bigger eggs can have components, completed items, radiant items, and other loot.

Augments

Riot has changed the odds of various augment combinations to keep things fresh and fun towards the end of the set.

  • Gold/Silver/Silver was reintroduced to the game
  • The odds of a Prismatic for the 3rd augment were lowered
  • The odds of an all Prismatic game were increased
  • The total odds of any Prismatic in-game is unchanged

At the same time, a couple of augments received small adjustments to keep them in line with other choices.

  • Electrocharge III Damage: 105/135/165/200 increased to 115/145/180/220
  • Metabolic Accelerator Now only available on 1-4
  • Cybernetic Implants Health: 150/250/350 decreased to 125/200/300
  • Cybernetic Shell Health: 150/250/350 decreased to 125/200/300
  • Cybernetic Uplink Health: 150/250/350 decreased to 125/200/300
  • Golden Gifts I/II number of Gray Orbs: 2/3 increased to 3/4
  • Thieving Rascals low roll (worst case scenario) improved

Traits

Underutilized traits were buffed across the board while the overperforming traits such as Syndicate, Mercenary, and Clockwork were nerfed to diversify the meta towards the end of the current set.

  • Assassin Critical Strike chance: 10/30/50% increased to 10/30/60%
  • Assassin Critical Strike Damage: 20/40/60% increased to 20/40/75%
  • Chemtech max Health Healing: 4/8/13/20% increased to 4/8/15/25%
  • Chemtech Attack Speed: 15/40/80/150% increased to 15/40/90/200%
  • Enchanter Magic Resist: 25/45/70/100 increased to 25/50/80/125
  • Enchanter Heal & Shield percent increase: 25/50/80/115 increased to 25/50/80/125
  • Enforcer: NEW: 5 Piece Bonus - Your enforcers gain 80% Attack Speed
  • Mercenary: lowered the Gold slightly from 3 and 5 Mercenary in the 0 to 5 loss range
  • Mercenary average value of Mercenary (7) Orb: 8.9g increased to 11.37g
  • Clockwork base Attack Speed: 10/35/80% decreased to 10/35/70%
  • Scholar Mana regen: 5/12/25 increased to 5/15/25
  • Innovator Hextech Dragon base Health: 1125 decreased to 1025
  • Syndicate Armor & Magic Resist: 55 decreased to 50
  • Syndicate (7) Multiplier: 55% decreased to 50%

Units

Units across all tiers were buffed, most notably the lower-cost ones with an intent to make the 1-cost reroll comps viable without having to pivot later on to higher-cost units.

  • Caitlyn Attack Damage: 45 increased to 50
  • Caitlyn Ace in the Hole Damage: 800/1400/2000 increased to 900/1500/2250
  • Illaoi Harsh Lesson Damage: 200/325/550 increased to 250/375/650
  • Illaoi Harsh Lesson percent of damage healed from the linked enemy: 25/30/40% increased to 30/35/45%
  • Jarvan IV Attack Speed: 0.6 increased to 0.7
  • Jarvan IV Ageless Standard bonus Attack Speed Percent: 40/50/70% increased to 40/55/80%
  • Zilean max Mana buff: 40/80 decreased to 30/70
  • Zilean Time Bomb Damage: 250/350/700 increased to 275/400/777
  • Zilean Time Bomb Stun Duration: 1.5/2/2.5 decreased to 1.5/1.5/1.5
  • Cho’Gath Attack Damage: 90 increased to 100
  • Cho’Gath max Feast stacks: 20/40/999 increased to 30/60/999
  • Cho’Gath’s size now increases 20% faster. Does not affect his Health growth, he’s just bigger and more menacing
  • Tryndamere Health: 750 increased to 800
  • Tryndamere Spinning Slash 3 empowered autos bonus Damage: 20% increased to 25%
  • Orianna Health: 750 decreased to 700
  • Orianna Mana buff: 50/130 decreased to 30/90
  • Orianna Attack Speed: 0.75 increased to 0.8
  • Orianna Command: Shockwave Shield amount: 120/170/600 increased to 140/200/700
  • Orianna Command: Shockwave Damage: 300/450/1200 increased to 325/450/1500

Meta Implication

Assassin, Enchanter, Chemtech, and Scholar units emerged victorious in the latest round of changes and will be more contested while Mercenary alongside Syndicate will drop in priority following the nerfs to their traits.

While the previous patch had only a handful of changes and didn't change the meta too much, this one definitely will. The most impactful change is the dragon egg which is available to every player, creating paths to new strategies in the game. Outside of that, the low-cost units that were buffed will become a higher priority for all players since pivoting to a higher-cost unit, later on, might not be required if you roll well enough early on.