TFT — What can we expect from Riot's live stream on October 15?

League of Legends will soon blow its tenth candle and Riot Games are preparing a load of surprises to celebrate the event! On October 15, the day before the big date, they will organize a live stream during which they will "take a look back at their favorite League moments and share a glimpse of the future, including a first look at this year's preseason changes and TFT's next big content update."

While we can't know exactly what Riot is preparing, we can speculate. A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to interview Teamfight Tactics Product Lead Richard 'MapleNectar' Henkel, and his answers lead us to believe that Riot is preparing A LOT of things.

Gameplay, seasons, champion pool rotations

• Will the next season of Teamfight Tactics bring some rotations within the champion pool?

During our interview with MapleNectar, he explained to us that Riot were aiming at 60 champions in total and that a part of the champion pool would rotate out to leave spot for new champions.

I think we use 60 as our super ballpark number for the most TFT champions we'd ever have at one point. […] These are super, super ballpark numbers, but we're working with things like hey, between Set 1 and Set 2, let's have 50% of the content be the same, 25% be changed, and 25% be new. That can go for traits, champions, or items, to make the game feel totally new and fresh — in three or four months once players have played a lot of the current set and mastered it.

Richard 'MapleNectar' Henkel on Champion pool rotations

• Will some champions be changed — for example, Akali will be given another ability — or will they be completely replaced?

It could be both. Some champions would just be removed. Say Draven is in Set 1, he may not be in Set 2 — that's not a teaser, we don't know yet! But Akali might be in Set 1 and Set 2, but in Set 2 she uses her ultimate from Summoners Rift instead of her Q. We're also looking to use our skin lines, of which we've developed many over the years — things like Star Guardian and Project and Battle Academia and Arcade — to create new origins for champions that they could be slotted into, where they previously wouldn't make sense.

Richard 'MapleNectar' Henkel on Champion pool rotations

• Will Teamfight Tactics have its own competitive scene?

Honestly, we can't really imagine in a world where Teamfight Tactics wouldn't have a competitive scene. Some tournaments such as the Twitch Rivals have already been organized and met with great success. Also, Teamfight Tactics realized the miracle to gather League of Legends and TCG players within the same community. Dog dropping Hearthstone Grandmasters to focus on creating TFT content, Hafu joining G2 Esports, Keane recruited by TSM — pro players and influencers started to move a few weeks ago. We notice these changes without really understanding them, but what's sure is that something is being prepared...

Some ideas coming from Reddit

The following ideas aren't true, Riot Games never talked about that and this should not be taken as a preview or a leak. However, when thinking about any game you love, you might find yourself creating concepts, having ideas on how you would improve it. Do you like to speculate? We quickly summarize the best ideas that we found!

• New Game Modes: If you've played Magic: The Gathering, you've surely heard of the Two-Headed Giant format — a mode in which you can pair with a friend to face another duo within an epic Magic game. Well, is it too crazy to think that TFT could actually benefit from a 2v2v2v2 mode?
• Custom Rule Lobbies: Do you hate Demons? Sorcerers? Kassadin? Picture this: a lobby where they would be banned. Wouldn't it be heaven?
• New Cosmetics: We love Little Legends, so much that we ranked them. However, we must admit that TFT is really lacking cosmetics. We could easily imagine having some banners to display or even little pom-pom Poro-like creatures cheering during a winning-streak.
• Merchandising: We're currently launching our money at the screen, but no one seems to take it. We want goodies, little figurines, plushies, and toys. Please Riot, make this dream happening!

URF mode is back!

In the latest Ask Riot, topics covered include the end of the ranked League of Legends season, the return of URF, champions without mana, and match history in Teamfight Tactics.

League of Legends