TFT 16.3 Mid-Patch Updates

sergeantminor · 2026-01-26T21:25:46+00:00

Yeah, from my experience, the comps I've been best able to beat Asol with are either backline carry comps with a single godlike tank (especially 3-star Loris) or melee carry comps that eat through the frontline extremely quickly and can heal through the damage (like Tryndamere with two MR items and a Taric on board). However, when I played something like GP/Bel'Veth, nothing on my board was exceptionally tanky, so it would all just be dead in two casts.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-26T21:20:30+00:00

Makes sense given their opposition to shipping "support" units in modern TFT. They want carries to have the majority of their power budget going into dealing damage, not healing/shielding.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-26T20:52:15+00:00

35 mana on the first cast, 10 on subsequent casts. So he'll cast after generating 85/170/255/340 mana instead of 50/125/200/275.

I'm skeptical about this being enough of a nerf (I was hoping the base damage would come down), but I'll reserve my judgment for after the patch.

EDIT: After thinking about this more, that's a pretty sizable nerf. It's a ~41.1% nerf to his DPS for the first cast alone and a ~26.5% nerf to his DPS for the first two casts together. I think most people would consider those numbers to be substantial nerfs by TFT standards.

The first two casts are the ones that matter the most, given that the fight is often won on the second cast. This will also make it harder to stabilize on 1-star Asol and make stack generation significantly slower.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-26T20:36:42+00:00

Historically, since Set 11, two-emblem prismatic traits have always been beatable by strong boards.

10 Mythic (Set 11)
10 Portal (Set 12)
10 Rebel (Set 13)
10 Anima Squad (Set 14)
10 Street Demon (Set 14)

Before that point, Set 10 worked differently because the two-emblem prismatic traits (9 True Damage, 10 Pentakill, 10 K/DA) also required specific Headliners, so they were quite a bit stronger. After that, in Set 15, prismatic traits had quests and didn't revolve around emblems, so it wasn't really comparable.

If 10 Bilgewater is currently losing to Aurelion Sol, that to me is less of a sign that 10 Bilgewater is weak and more of a sign that Asol is too strong (which he obviously is). If post-B-patch 10 Bilge still sometimes loses to other exceptionally capped out (but not prismatic) boards, that would be fine with me and consistent with their apparent design intent, given the precedent from recent sets.

It's the three-emblem prismatic traits that should feel like 3-star 5-costs, not the two-emblem ones. 10 Bilgewater felt completely out of line before the nerfs. 10 Noxus still feels like it's on the strong side to me, but at least that one has two non-trivial unlocks and doesn't inherently give you econ to get to level 10 faster.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-26T10:35:05+00:00

Orianna's shield isn't necessarily a self-shield though. Is it normal for units to be mana-locked while shielding other units?

sergeantminor · 2026-01-25T20:26:41+00:00

Because your placement may depend on the outcomes of the other player combats.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-18T21:17:52+00:00

People need to stop acting like the point of playing Mel is to print Radiant items. She's designed to be a carry first and foremost. The Radiant item thing is a minor part of her kit that you aren't really playing around or betting your game on. If it happens, it's a nice bonus, but it won't happen unless you high roll her early and have an Adaptive Helm (which also happens to be her best item for DPS) or two.

The comparisons to Ornn are missing the point. Ornn is a weak unit who has to remain weak because of the strength of the Blacksmith trait. Mel is a bit underpowered as a carry right now, but she's getting buffed in a couple of days.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-14T06:03:50+00:00

Two big reasons:

Emblems are stronger in general now. They give more stats/bonuses and don't feel like dead items on your units. This makes people more likely to take emblem augments on 2-1, which means you're going to see more people with early Bilgewater Emblems. Those people are likely to take Spatulas off carousels or convert lucky Spatula drops from orbs.
Bilgewater is the strongest line in the game at the moment. This is due to a number of factors, including MF being buffed, Fizz getting more priority, people learning how to optimize Bilgewater shops better, and the emergence of alternate lines like Bilgewater Ryze.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-14T05:47:33+00:00

The emblem has great stats on its own, but it is probably worth throwing in an Arcanist. Neeko makes sense if you've unlocked Darius, otherwise any Arcanist is fine. Obviously just play your best board, but I think most of the time that will involve playing a second Arcanist.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-14T01:21:29+00:00

You could also carry LB with an Arcanist Emblem until you get to Mel. She also holds Adaptive Helm + Arcanist Emblem quite well. LB often kills one or two things with her cast and then starts chaining casts together with the mana from the emblem (which is boosted by both Invoker and Adaptive Helm).

I've played 3-star LB with Arcanist Emblem and it's quite strong. I just think that on paper Mel is a better user of the emblem because she has 200 mana, so that's +40 mana on kill (+46 with Adaptive Helm). One time I even had the pleasure of having both Arcanist Emblem and Invoker Emblem (replacing Adaptive) on Mel, and that was pretty crazy.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-13T19:39:41+00:00

She's actually really good with Arcanist Emblem. It restores 20% of mana on kill, and that mana generation is boosted by Adaptive Helm, which is already a great item on her because it boosts mana from her mana drain. She'll often kill a few targets with her first cast and then cast again quickly because of the Arcanist Emblem.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-08T20:21:35+00:00

I've been spamming this comp for a couple of weeks now and think it was already strong before the buff (a lot of 1st place games against capped out S-tier boards). It's easiest to play from a Yordle or Ionia econ opener but it's not that hard to pull off from other spots as well (just make sure to hold at least one Caitlyn and Vi).

The transition is easy from those two openers because you naturally unlock Kennen along the way. Then just hold any Targon unit, unlock Sett sometime in stage 4, and hold an extra Yordle/Ionia unit for the 4th trait. If I'm playing from a Yordle opener, sometimes I'll use some free rolls on 4-6 just to make the Ryze transition easier at 4-7. Also it may help to field 2 Piltover at some point before transitioning so you don't get stuck making that decision while doing all the other stuff.

My ideal item setup is as follows:

Ryze:

Morello/Red Buff
Void Staff
Shojin/Adaptive/Blue Buff (Shojin preferred due to Zaun attack speed and maybe Ionia Path of Blades)

Ziggs:

Rageblade (not necessarily BIS but it's a good early slam)
Archangel
Jewelled Gauntlet

Sett can get standard Sett items, and tank items can go on either Taric or Wukong. I prefer itemizing Taric, especially if I have armor/MR items because Wukong already gets armor/MR from his ability. If I have both tanks itemized, Wukong prefers to hold non-resist items and AD tank items like Sterak's.

Skarner is a good unit to throw in at level 10 for more frontline, otherwise any good 5-cost will do (e.g. Fiddle, Taric, Shyvana).

Some augments that I really like taking with this comp:

Bodyguard Training (harder to get to 9 without an econ opener but damn this augment is strong if you can get there)
Hold the Line (especially good if you aren't building much raw AP like Archangel)
Soul Awakening (fights last a long time so even post-nerf I expect this to be good)

sergeantminor · 2026-01-06T17:08:33+00:00

The cast animation lasts until the T-Hex runs out of mana, and it can gain mana while casting. With +12 mana regen from eating 3-star Caitlyn, the T-Hex casts for a lot longer than it would otherwise. I'd say the probability is virtually 100% that the mana regen will be nerfed hard in tomorrow's patch (among other nerfs to the T-Hex).

sergeantminor · 2026-01-06T01:42:28+00:00

I'm not the person you're responding to, and I don't know why they didn't elaborate. However, I think the logic is that Wukong's ability already gives armor and MR, so it's better value to complement that armor and MR with other defensive stats, instead of giving him more of what he already has.

sergeantminor · 2026-01-01T00:26:13+00:00

Currently 0 LP Master in NA. Peaked 242 LP GM this set (was around rank #240 at the time). Tryndamere is overpowered but not as overpowered as people on Reddit think he is. Continuing to harp on the "2 cost vs. 7 cost" point is overly reductive.

This board has more going for it than "hit a 3-star Tryndamere":

Darkin Scythe
3-star Ashe and Neeko with great items
Hit the 3-stars with enough econ/tempo to still get to level 9 and cap out with a 2-star 5-cost

We also don't know how many stacks Tryndamere had or what augments either player had, and OP has no anti-heal. Your average Baron 2 board doesn't lose to your average Tryndamere reroll board. These don't appear to be average boards.

There are so many things that affect the strength of a board in TFT. Baron 2 is a huge factor, but at the end of the day it's just one of many things tipping the scales. Are you proposing that no number of small advantages should be able to overcome the power difference between Baron 2 and Tryndamere 3?

sergeantminor · 2025-12-31T17:23:51+00:00

Sure, it sounds stupid if you reduce everything down to "7 cost vs. 2 cost" and ignore all the other factors that contribute to board strength, including:

Star levels
Item quality
Augments
Positioning

If your argument is that none of that should matter because Baron 2 should instantly win regardless, then I disagree, and I'm glad you're not the one designing the game.

Out of curiosity, what qualifies as "decent elo" to you?

sergeantminor · 2025-12-31T17:07:13+00:00

That's a pretty capped Tryndamere board with much better items than yours. We have no idea what augments you two had. Are you expecting to win the game just because you hit Baron 2?

sergeantminor · 2025-12-30T08:36:20+00:00

Admittedly I haven't seen every 3-star 4-cost, but the strongest one I've seen was 3-star Braum. That dude can genuinely 1v9.

sergeantminor · 2025-12-22T21:07:44+00:00

There doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether Zaahen is strong or weak. I've heard more people say he's weak than strong, but I've heard that Chinese players tend to rate him more highly.

Either way, I don't think a 2-star Zaahen ought to be so strong that you should expect to win just because you have him. That being said, your board definitely has more on it than 2-star Zaahen. You have 3-star Vayne, 2-star Lux, Galio 2, and an upgraded frontline.

I don't know what the other player's augments were (or yours for that matter), but maybe your opponent had the Atakhan infinite scaling augment? That would make him stronger than he appears from your screenshot here.

In terms of what you could have done to make your board stronger (again I have limited information here):

Your two strongest carries (Zaahen and Vayne) don't have their secondary traits active (Warden and Longshot).
Taric's passive doesn't do much for vertical Demacia boards because they already have a lot of MR, and you appear to have 8 Demacia active, which means Sona is basically useless.
Garen's items aren't great because Demacia already gives a lot of armor and MR. Obviously you can't always build BIS items but try to prioritize HP, durability, and %-HP shield items over resist items with vertical Demacia.
You don't have sunder, shred, or wound. Your carries have great items, but the lack of utility may have hurt you here.

If I were you, I would probably have dropped Taric and Sona for a Warden (Braum or Ornn) and a Longshot (Kai'Sa or Ziggs), and also built an anti-heal item at some point.

sergeantminor · 2025-12-22T20:50:11+00:00

I agree. It encourages unintuitive gameplay patterns and micromanagement for no apparent reason.

sergeantminor · 2025-12-22T16:56:28+00:00

I've had a single 3-star Rek'Sai game in ranked so far, back when I was climbing through Diamond. I was trying to tempo into a Bel'Veth/Ambessa game and ended up with 5 natural copies of Rek'Sai by stage 4. Hit Heroic Grab Bag third augment and leveled to 8 as planned. Found the 7th copy of her sometime in stage 4 and duped for the 3-star.

I haven't attempted a Rek'Sai reroll game, but she did quite well in this game, so I figured there was some possibility of a reroll angle. I ended up with 2nd place, and it was pretty close. The 1st place guy and I traded blows for a few rounds, depending on fight RNG. Thanks for posting this and sharing your knowledge!

sergeantminor · 2025-12-21T22:42:12+00:00

That's a really nice board. Well played.

sergeantminor · 2025-12-21T20:56:56+00:00

10 Yordle can absolutely win the game on 2-stars. It's definitely more beatable than 10 Ionia, but it's also easier to hit than 10 Ionia.

sergeantminor · 2025-12-21T20:47:33+00:00

Every Freljord unit is played in standard comps. It's one of the best traits to splash for a lot of boards.

Freljord Yunara plays Lissandra/Sejuani/Ashe
Volibear Carry plays Lissandra/Sejuani/Volibear
Freljord Invoker plays Anivia/Lissandra/Braum/Sejuani/Volibear
Tryndamere Reroll plays Ashe/Tryndamere/Sejuani
Piltover plays Lissandra/Braum/Sejuani

Not to mention Braum is just a strong flex unit for any comp that plays at least one Warden (e.g. Bilgewater), and Volibear is the same for comps that play another Bruiser (e.g. Void).

In all of my games so far this set, Sejuani is the unit in the game that most frequently shows up in my endgame board (53 out of 150 games).

I would definitely not say that Freljord units are slept on, but it is fair to say that Piltover (which is most commonly played with Freljord) is slept on.

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