The 10.23 patch notes for TFT are finally here and with it some very interesting changes. This patch brings some unit reworks and balance changes. What does this mean for the metagame? Here are the top three metagame predictions in this rundown of patch 10.23.
Warlords are now a S-Tier comp
For the last couple of patches, Warlords have been one of the best comps under the radar. In patch 10.23, Riot is trying to push them into the forefront of the metagame. The first change to Warlords that we are getting in patch 10.23 is a significant buff to Katarina 1*. At 1 Katarina now does 750 damage which is up from the 600 damage she was doing previously. Katarina was already the best carry option in the comp and now she is even better in the early game. But this isn’t the main reason why players should expect a Warlord takeover.
Xin Zhao has been one of if not the worst tier-three units in the game for a majority of set four. Riot is making sure that Xin Zhao will never be in that conversation ever again because in 10.23, Xin Zhao is getting a rework. He still has the same ability but it functions differently now. Instead of “challenging” enemies when he sweeps around him, he now just gains a flat amount of MR and Armor. But here is the catch, this ability can stack. This means if he can cast a couple of times a fight, he will become an unkillable tank that is also capable of doing serious damage.
This change now gives Warlords two insanely good carry threats and this does not include the prospect of making any unit in the game a Warlord through the Warlord Spatula item. Look out for this comp at the top of tier lists coming soon.
Ahri’s change is actually a buff and she will be meta
Xin Zhao wasn’t the only unit to receive a significant change to how their ability works, Ahri did too. In 10.23, if Ahri dies or gets CC’d during the channel of her ability, she will simply throw it but with a smaller radius. This seems like a nerf due to her not hitting a larger area of the map if she dies but this is actually a buff. Here is why.
In the past, it was almost mandatory that player build a GA on Ahri to ensure she casts because of her channel. It didn’t matter how much damage she did if she couldn’t get her cast off. Now that she will cast even if she dies, this makes it so that players can itemize better on her. Defensive items are no longer optimal. Speaking of damage, as compensation to this “nerf” Ahri got a damage buff. So now that a player doesn’t need to build defensively on Ahri, she is back to her old self where if she throws her Spirit Bomb, it’s killing anyone it hits without fail.
At the end of the day, this change allows Ahri to do insane damage at the risk of herself not being able to hit the entire map but as long as players can keep her safe enough to cast twice which is now easier than ever, it doesn’t matter. This change makes Ahri even better than before.
Divine change won’t do anything, Adept is still the best frontline
In response to the Warweek fiasco a couple of patches back, Riot pulled a lot of power out of the Divine trait in an attempt to put Warwick in check. While Warwick was taken down a couple of notches, the real reason why Warwick was in a broken state was simply the interaction he had with Static Shiv. Essentially, the Divine nerf wasn’t even needed.
Come patch 10.23, the Divine trait is getting buffed but as a preemptive measure, Riot is nerfing Warwick extremely hard again. However, neither of these changes are going to make Divine relevant and that’s because it’s simply outclassed by other traits.
The Divine rework in patch 10.21 was supposed to make the Divine synergy a premier CC/frontline option while also allowing the units in the trait to be pseudo-carries. The issue is that the 10.23 buff of 10% damage reduction and true damage isn’t going to help in the current metagame. None of that really matters against Talon, Ahri, and Ashe who can just melt entire teams through the reduction. But the real reason why Divine will be irrelevant still is because of what the premier frontline looks like currently.
Adept has taken over the metagame as the best frontline because it essentially freezes the board. Cutting the attack speed of everyone on the enemy team in half for a duration is way stronger than having a flat amount of damage reduction. No front line can stand up to Adept currently. Also with the Warwick nerfs, there is no unit in the synergy that can act as a carry. Divine may be good in the future with an additional buff but right now, don’t expect to see this synergy pop off as its own comp. Perhaps players will splash it in but they were already doing that anyways thanks to the Adept focused comps.
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