Welcome tacticians to the final Teamfight Tactics patch of the inaugural 2019 season! Many of the changes happening are very small quality of life changes and slight balancing updates. This will also be the final patch where you can climb the ranked ladder. Additionally, this patch will conclude this “seasonal set” as Riot Games look to spice up the meta by shifting units in/out of rotation. Just on the horizon you’ll see many new faces coming to the game and many familiar ones with some new perks!

The Breakdown

With the “Rise of the Elements” season coming up, its obvious that Riot Games are trying to keep things simple. A surprising amount of small buffs came through across the board. Above all of those buffs, the ones that stand out are the Ranger/Varus buff as well as the Sorcerer, Brand and Cho’Gath buffs.

Rangers are one of the more versatile comps, commonly slotting in alongside Knights. Brawler Ranger comps aren’t unheard of, but were typically not as good. Thanks to the massive buff to the 2-unit synergy, Rangers can be slotted into pretty much any composition now. Gone are the days where you would require Spatula items to transform 2-3 of your Rangers to match your army. A 40% attack speed synergy with simply two units enable Rangers to be devastating in the early game. Units like Ashe and Varus are significantly more valuable. Not to mention that Varus received a 10-attack damage buff.

Moving onto the magical side of things. If you’re a Sorcerer player that loves converting Brand and/or Cho’Gath, this is your time to shine. Some pretty big bonus ability power buffs are hitting 9.21. So much so that burst-heavy compositions are even more of a late-game terror. Even if you don’t convert your Brand or Cho’Gath, you’ll enjoy their individual buffs if you enjoy the units. Pyroclasm is now faster and has a larger radius, potentially turning the tide of a battle. Cho’Gath’s rupture hit harder than ever (especially with a Sorcerer or Void synergy to buff him).

Whether you like them or not, these heavy hitters may be enough to shake up the tank focused meta and be able to bring down Knight-oriented armies even quicker.

System Changes

Player Damage: Increased Earlier, Reduced Later

- Level 1 unit by tier: 1/1/2/2/3 changed to 1/1/1/2/3 damage.

- Level 2 unit by tier: 2/2/3/4/5 changed to 2/2/2/3/4 damage.

- Level 3 unit by tier: 3/4/5/6/8 changed to 3/3/3/5/8 damage.

- Player’s base damage: 1/2/2/3/4/5 changed to 3/3/3/4/5/6 damage.

Trait Changes

Guardian (NERF):

- Bonus armor reduced from 45 to 40.

Hextech (NERF):

- Item disable duration reduced from 7 to 5 seconds.

Knight (NERF):

- 4-unit synergy damage block reduced from 35 to 30 damage blocked.

Ranger (BUFF):

- 2-unit synergy bonus attack speed increased from 25% to 40%.

Sorcerer (BUFF):

- 6-unit synergy bonus ability power increased from 100% to 120%.

- 9-unit synergy bonus ability power increased from 175% to 200%.

Champion Changes

Brand (BUFF):

- Pyroclasm (ability) bounce range increased from 2 hexes to 3 hexes.

- Pyroclasm missile speed is now faster.

Cho’Gath (BUFF):

- Rupture (ability) spell damage increased from 175/350/525 to 200/400/600.

Draven (NERF):

- Attack damage reduced from 70 to 65.

Lissandra (NERF):

- Total mana pool increased from 85 to 95.

Pantheon (NERF):

- Armor reduced from 80 to 70.

Varus (BUFF):

- Attack damage increased from 50 to 60.

Item Changes

Locket of the Iron Solari (BUFF):

- Shield duration increased from 7 seconds to 8 seconds.

Redemption (BUFF):

- Heal threshold increased from 25% to 30%.

Repeating Crossbow (BUFF):

- Attack speed and critical hit chance per stack increased from 20% to 30%.

Spear of Shojin (BUFF):

- Mana restoration increased from 15% to 18%.

Trap Claw (NERF):

- Stun duration reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds.

For more information on the 9.21 patch, you can read up on it right here.