It was only a matter time before Riot Games gave Teamfight Tactics fans some details on the third set of TFT. When that reveal came out Wednesday, it was also a matter of space. In an official blog post, Riot Games announced that in the third TFT set, a new mechanic would replace the current elemental theme. Set three, or TFT: Galaxies, will have different maps in each game just like players saw in set two, Rise of the Elements.
This time around, the maps wont have a small change to game play like what the dodge chance increasing Cloud map provides. The different “Galaxies” in TFT: Galaxies will alter games in a big way. Players got a sneak peak at two of these maps in the blog update. One map will grant players a pair of “Neeko’s Help” at the start of the game. The other map previewed will have the entire first carousel consist of only four cost units.
Riot said that games felt a little different in set two but wants to push the boundaries in set three. Riot isn’t just stopping at the two previewed maps either. In the update, the company stated that there might be as many as 10 different maps. With only two revealed and more to come soon, here are a few more galaxy map predictions that could spice up the game going into TFT: Galaxies.
SpatLand: Everyone starts the game with a Spatula
One if not the most impactful item in TFT is the golden Spatula. The destroyer of meta and the curator of fun, the item has been a fan favorite since TFT came out back in the summer of 2019. However, something that hasn’t been a fan favorite is the RNG around the item.
Touted as an item that should be rare and unique, in past meta games it really has been anything but. The item has been notorious for warping games at the first carousel and being used to force a single meta dominating comp. Examples of these include the infamous Void Assassins in set one and Blender in set two.
With entire patches and meta games dominated by spatula compositions, Riot decided to remove the spatula from the carousel entirely in patch 10.3. Because Spatula isn’t given to everyone and is the rarest item, if given a spatula, it was optimal for players to force one of these compositions and they were able to with very little resistance.
But what if every player was given a Spatula at the start of the game? Would there be players forcing a single composition despite everyone having access to it? Would there be more variance to games? If SpatLand exists, it would definitely make players play the game differently.
Greed Island: Level doesn’t dictate units in shop, the stage does
One of Riot’s core design philosophies for TFT: Galaxies is to add variance and require more adaptability to games. Changing a core fundamental of the game would do just that. Instead of the player level deciding the probability of champions in the shop, in Greed Island, the stage of the game does. The longer the game goes on, the better the units show up in the shop.
In this map, during stage two, only one cost units show up in the shop. In stage three, only two cost units show up in the shop and so forth. If a player manages to survive to stage six they will be greeted with all legendary champion shop.
Spending gold on leveling would work the same when it comes to increasing roster size. Perhaps to create incentive of doing this, Riot could increase the amount of units you are able to place on the board. Players who reach level nine may be rewarded with an extra roster slot. Or maybe decreasing leveling intervals on this map would be a good change too.
This creates an interesting risk vs reward dynamic. The risk would be not spending gold on an early stage for strength in hopes of surviving long enough for the reward of having a very powerful team. When should players pull the trigger and spend their gold? Do players spend their gold on leveling to be able to place more mid-tier units on the board?
Players’ greed will need to be in check with a steady finger on the trigger. Wait too long and finish last, pull the trigger too early and be left in the dust in the late game.
Zero Gravity: Items are “weightless” and can be moved around after each round
The biggest variance in TFT is in what items do players make and more importantly, what champions do players put the items on. Once you place an item on a champion, it is there forever or until the champion is sold. But what if champions were not married to the item they were holding?
In the Zero Gravity galaxy, players dont need to sell their two star Kindred to transfer the items onto their newly found Master Yi. Players can simply move items around freely in between rounds. No more worrying about “shotgunning” an item on a sub-optimal unit. That two star Neeko on the board can hold onto the Infinity Edge until a Twitch is found without having to sell the Neeko in the process.
Not only is carry transferring a breeze with Zero Gravity, late game positioning gets a lot more hectic. Zephyr would most likely become the best item in the game on this map. Being able to freely move around Zephyr would create very high tense position scenarios. But it wouldn’t be entirely unfair because there is counter play with Quicksilver. Positioning is more dynamic on this map.
Will players transfer defensive items onto their back line against assassin compositions? Do you take the Mages Cap off of the Malphite and put it on the Nami for a single fight? Do you think your Twitch will carry this fight or is Ashe the safer choice for the offensive items? These questions can be answered on the fly with the Zero Gravity galaxy.
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