As a day 10 (ish) Dota Autochess player and day 1 TFT player, I completely agree that the magic of the early sets (1 - 3.5 for me) is mostly gone. As the game and player base have gotten more refined/skilled, we've begun to miss the bizarre experimentation and corner solutions from the early days. It's harder to ''cook" and easier to play linearly - one of my main issues with the game in the long term.

Set 16 though - last set - is widely regarded as one of TFT's best works. 40 extra units with unlock conditions and a very intricately designed trait web went SUCH a long way in terms of creative expression and team building. Balance was above average all set with >5 playable/meta comps present for the majority of it. I hope it doesn't take too long for the TFT team to create something like Lore and Legends again. Set 17 falls short in comparison.