Meet Teamfight Tactics: The League of Legends Take On Dota Autochess
Published: Jun 11, 2019 - Last Updated: Jun 13, 2019
Riot Games finally did it: they announced a new game! Well, kind of.
The game in question—Teamfight Tactics—is a mode for League of Legends, but the only similarities it shares with this title are items, champions, abilities, and team compositions. The game draws heavy inspiration from Dota 2’s Autochess, making it another addition to the new auto-battler genre.
Today, let’s dive deep into the ins and outs of this League of Legends mode and find out if it’s for you!
How does Teamfight Tactics work?
Teamfight Tactics is a strategy game first and foremost. You will assume the role of a battlefield general locked in round-based combat against seven other opponents. The goal is to build a powerful team composition consisting of League of Legends champions and—ultimately—become the last one standing.
Spend gold to buy new champions, upgrade existing champions and unlock trait bonuses by rounding out team compositions with champions of similar classes and origins. You can also decide exactly where your champions are positioned on the board.
Once a round begins, the action unfolds automatically. Champions march to the opposing side of the battlefield and clash with the fighters there. Moreover, they will move, attack, and use their abilities without any player input. Hence, smart positioning and solid team compositions are key to winning a Teamfight Tactics match.
When does Teamfight Tactics come out?
Teamfight Tactics is scheduled to come out on League of Legends patch 9.13.
Now, this might seem like the mode is going to take quite a while considering the game is currently on patch 9.11. However, the next balance update is right around the corner. Therefore, it will take just a little over two weeks before you can try the Riot auto-battler yourself.
Is Teamfight Tactics good?
The short answer is it’s hard to tell. The reception from players and personalities that participated in the private tests seems to be fairly positive. That said, some brought up issues with pacing, board size, and certain champion abilities not working correctly. Riot Cactopus and Riot Bernana also confirmed the upcoming launch will be something of an open beta, so it might take time to work out all the kinks.
Still, Riot Games seems to be committed to making this game mode flourish—so much so that the publisher promised a ranked queue as early as patch 9.14. Combine that with the general popularity of League of Legends content, and Teamfight Tactics is set for a very bright future.
Image courtesy of Riot Games.
