Teamfight Tactics has just kicked off its set 4.5 update and with it brought some cool new units. However, it also brought some problematic units and a week into the expansion, players are already voicing their frustration. Today we look at some of the most frustrating and broken units to play against over the course of TFT history thus far.
Honorable Mentions:
Zed (Set 2 and Set 4), Singed (Set 2), Yasuo (All sets), Xayah (Set 4.5), Olaf (Set 2)
5. Shaco (Set 3)
Coming in at number five is the Infiltrator menace from set 3, Shaco. Shaco grew notoriety mainly thanks to his role in the Infamous Mech-Infiltrator comp that terrorized the metagame for months. For a long time, Shaco was the primary carry in that comp. He was also the primary carry in the Darkstar comp as well. This is due to his insane ability.
In set 3, Shaco’s ability was Deceive. When this ability triggered, Shaco would teleport and backstab his target which would then critically strike for a percentage of his AD. The teleport would allow Shaco to drop aggro and his ability was on a super short mana cost which meant he would proc it multiple times in a fight. The scary part came from the AD multiplier. On release, at 3* Shaco did an insane 450% of his base AD ON TOP of the crit the ability already does. This meant he would pretty much one-shot any champion at will. Bloodthirster was so broken on him that a core of GA and BT were all you needed to solo carry fights.
Shaco was the victim of the much needed nerf bat multiple times. He was nerfed so many times that his original 450% ratio at 3* was eventually gutted to 250% and he was STILL relevant in the meta. Shaco had zero counterplay which makes him one of the most frustrating units to play against ever.
4. Kassadin (Set 1)
Many people forget about the units in set one. Although a couple of notorious ones come to mind, the most notorious has to be Kassadin. Kassadin’s ability just screams frustration. His ability in set one was Nether Blade. This ability lets Kassasin eat his target’s mana and makes Kassadin gain a shield for the same amount. To combat this, Riot decided to give Kassadin the lowest DPS in the game and gave him the Sorcerer class in which he does not benefit off of because he has no mana. But what if we made him a different trait instead? What if we made him an Assassin?
The first-ever tier zero comp in the game was known as Voidsins. In this comp, players gave Kassadin, Youmu’s Ghostblade, which turned Kass into an Assassin. The Assassin trait gave all Assassins the ability to jump to the backline and give them massive crit strike damage as well as crit chance. Giving Kass this trait does two things. First, he gets the damage that Riot tried to take away from him and second, the trait lets him jump the backline and mana lock important carries which gives him a useful trait he lacked. This comp had absolutely zero counterplay and we haven’t even got into the void part.
Kass’s origin is Void. Back in set one Void stated that all void units did TRUE DAMAGE with their basic attacks and abilities. So not only was Kass doing damage now, he was doing massive true damage alongside his other Void Assassin buddy, Kha’Zix. This comp terrorized the meta game so much that if a player was able to get a spatula on the first carousel to make a Youmu’s Ghostblade, they likely would go on to win the whole lobby. Riot infamously said that Voidsins were not a problem and refused to nerf it originally but due to player backlash they finally gutted the comp.
3. Nocturne (Set 2)
If VoidSins was the OG Frustrating comp then Blender from the next set would be the sequel. Unlike Kassadin, Noctune was blessed with amazing traits. Nocturne was a Steel Assassin. The Steel trait pretty much turned Nocturne invincible for a duration once he dropped below half health and we all know how powerful the Assassin trait is. But just like with Voidsins and Kass, giving Nocturne an additional trait would break the game.
Nocturne’s ability in set two was Steel Blades. This ability stated that every third auto attack Nocturne would damage all adjacent enemies and apply on-hit effects on top of his damage to his original target. The third attack would also heal Nocturne for a percentage of damage dealt. Originally it was up to 80% at 3*. So ideally players would want Nocturne to attack really fast and get to as many third auto attacks as possible. In comes Blade of the Ruined King.
BotRK was the Blademaster Spatula item that granted the holder the Blademaster trait. In set two, Blademasters had a percent chance to proc additional auto attacks. At the four Blademaster bonus, they procced two additional attacks. The synergy with Nocturne is an easy one to figure out. Nocturne with the Blademaster spatula literally never died. If he got low the Steel trait would trigger making him invincible, the Blademaster trait allowed him to proc Steel Blades over and over again, and the Assassin trait made him do insane damage which in turn healed him up to full on every Steel Blades proc.
This comp like Voidsins had zero counterplay. Riot knew this was a problem and swiftly nerfed his healing on Steel Blades in half and it did absolutely NOTHING to the comp. Nocturne was THAT broken. Or so we thought. After the menace ran the meta for about a month, Riot realized Nocturne had a serious bug problem. On Steel Blades, Nocturne was actually dealing double the auto-attack damage which was the real root of the issue. After they found the bug, Nocturne was dethroned in the metagame but for that month span, he was the most frustrating unit in the game by far.
2. Rakan (Set 4.5)
At the number two spot we have the newest unit on the list and the real reason this list is being made to begin with. It’s very rare in TFT to have a unit be universally hated at the start of the set. But Rakan managed to do that.
Rakan’s claim to fame is the fact that he is essentially the best CC tool in the entire game, is basically unkillable and is only a tier two unit. Rakan’s ability is Disarming Diversion. This ability allows Rakan to dash to the furthest enemy within attack range and disarming all units he passes for a duration (up to four seconds at 3*) AND taunts his target as well. On top of that, Rakan gains a massive shield as well. If this sounds familiar you are right. Shen has an almost identical ability but Rakan’s is so much better and Shen is a four-cost unit. Rakan straight-up power crept Shen while Shen is still in the game.
The biggest issue is that Rakan has zero counterplay and can do everything he needs to do with no support. He doesn’t require specific items and he doesn’t even require a specific team comp. He is able to shut down the most powerful carries in the game by himself which is one of the most frustrating things to ever come out of TFT.
It also doesn’t help that Rakan is the “main carry” for the middle portion of the game for many comps and all he requires to do that is simply an item like Sunfire cape since he can apply it to everyone thanks to his tankiness and his ability to dive backlines. We haven’t even dove into his traits which actually make him even better.
Rakan is currently played in the infamous Xayah/Asol comp. Rakan is an Elderwood Keeper. The Elderwood trait grants him bonus stats the longer the round goes and it goes on forever thanks to Rakan. While the Keeper trait grants him a huge shield at the beginning of combat. Rakan just simply buys all the time in the world for Asol and Xayah to clean up everything along with the other units on this list, he has no counterplay.
Recent nerfs have made him a little more bearable but he will be one of if not the most frustrating unit to play against for the rest of set four.
1. Urgot (Set 3)
Finally, we arrive at the most frustrating unit in the history of TFT which is Urgot from set 3.5. Urgot isn’t the main carry in a comp or is broken with a specific item or needs a team around him to be good. Urgot is just like Rakan, it’s his ability that is the main problem and also like Rakan, he needs absolutely nothing to be useful.
Urgot’s ability was Fear Beyond Death. This ability makes Urgot fire a drill at the farthest enemy and reels them in. Once they are reeled in they die. Straight up. Also every time he killed a unit, the ability’s mana cost would be reduced. On release, Urgot was insanely broken.
To put this in perspective. It didn’t matter if you had a 3* tier five unit with a GA. If Urgot ulted that unit, they would die without fail. The only way to prevent the death was to kill Urgot before he reeled in his target. Also on release, he would hook in his intended target without fail.
Obviously, if anyone found an Urgot in their shop it was an insta-buy. The deleter of carries was that potent. He fit into any team comp because he instantly became anyone’s best unit. There really isn’t much to say because the game was at its lowest when Urgot was running wild. Every player was frustrated to see their carry they invested their game into just getting deleted by a 1* unit with no items or synergies.
Riot responded two patches later with the biggest nerf/rework in the history of TFT. They reduced his attack range, they nerfed his mana cost, the ability no longer killed through a Guardian’s Angel, the drill would now pull in the first enemy hit instead of always hitting the farthest and his ability now reset less mana on each cast.
These changes made Urgot somewhat balanced but the issue was still there, the fact that a unit with no commitment can kill any unit on the board was the most frustrating thing to deal with in the history of TFT. Many videos and moments exist where a 1* Urgot would kill a maxed out Mech. Is it funny? Sure but is it BS? Absolutely.
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