Patch 16.2 for Teamfight Tactics Set 16 Knocked Heavy Hitters, But Is It Balanced?
Due to the holiday break, Teamfight Tactics did not have a patch for five weeks. It led to a meta that players had solved. There were many frustrating elements, like Diana, T-Hex, and Yunara everywhere. The recent 16.2 Teamfight Tactics patch targeted these aspects while attempting to buff struggling systems. One of those systems was the emblems, which most players were not enthusiastic about having on their board.
The Teamfight Tactics’ Community Response to Patch 16.2
Many players had doubts about the significant buffs to emblems in the Teamfight Tactics patch. They believed that many of the augments, which grant emblems, would become overpowered. They also mentioned that the nerfs to Bilgewater only changed the way that you approach the trait. The two-time Tactician Crown champion, Dishsoap, noted yesterday as to why Bilgewater has become dominant. He stated on X: “Funny how they nuked a lot of meta comps last patch but bilge keeps getting compensation buffs so now its broken for another completely different reason.”
What Has Become Dominant?
Emblem Augments are everywhere at the moment in Teamfight Tactics. The initial predictions have caused at least one player to take an emblem augment per lobby. But does that show their relative strength? After a week of games, it is nearly impossible to determine. With the pick rate skyrocketing, inevitably, the win rate and top-four rates will decrease. In the early game, many of the emblems have an impact, but they fall off later if players struggle to complete their boards.
Unsurprisingly, Bilgewater has risen to the top of the meta. Unless you low-roll, you are almost always guaranteed a top-four placement. However, it does require you to hit early three-cost Bilgewater units or a Twisted Fate. That leads to you being unable to force Bilgewater in every lobby.
The two units that have become the go-to for players are Ryze and Ziggs. The combination damage of the two AP carries dominates late-game boards. Ziggs, thanks to his buffs in Patch 16.2, is ever-present. He helps the vast majority of boards in stages five and six. While these two champions are a dominant force, they are not nearly as painful as units like Diana and T-Hex from the previous patch.
Players could force those compositions with little that others could do to punish them. However, you need level nine to unlock Ryze and Ziggs. That means other players have a lengthy period to knock down your health before you stabilize on the AP carries. The meta, for the most part, while having some dominant compositions, does not feel like you see the same units in every game.
Riot Mortdog’s Monday Meta Report
In the Monday Meta report for Teamfight Tactics, Riot Mortdog noted that Bilgewater is over-performing. For the most part, the team is happy where Ziggs has landed. However, he might need some adjustments. He mentioned that the auto-attack damage passive is the likely target for nerfs. Piltover has become too niche and is only playable under ideal conditions. Other than that, most verticals are performing well. Zaun is in a better spot now that Singed is better. Jinx is a good carry to get you to the late-game, but 3-star Jinx falls off hard. Ekko reroll has popped up as a decent composition, but it is not S-tier by any means.
As for the Emblem Augments, a couple are over-performing. However, none are above 4.0 in average placement. Mortdog mentioned that World Runes and Trait Tree+, specifically, are higher than the team would like to see them. However, that likely means a couple of changes to stronger emblems, instead of adjusting the augments themselves.
One champion that will see some work in the future is Aurelion Sol. The buffs from Patch 16.2 were not enough to get him into a playable state. The Teamfight Tactics team is looking to make adjustments to his overall kit to make him playable in Set 16.
