TFT Patch 12.1 breakdown: All the big changes

After a month-long 11.24 patch, the team behind Teamfight Tactics has revealed the changes coming to TFT Patch 12.1. In a video posted on TFT lead designer Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer’s YouTube channel, Mortdog and Kent Wu showcased what is coming to TFT in the first patch of the new year. Here is a breakdown of all the important changes that players need to know before hopping into games when the patch comes out on Wednesday, Jan. 5.

Champions

The main menace behind TFT Patch 11.24 was, without a doubt, Kai’Sa. The five-cost Mutant Challenger was not good because of any of her traits but still was the best champion. That’s because of her interaction with Morellonomicon and Guardian Angel. She was often seen thrown into comps that just simply had the Socialite package in. With just a small supporting cast, Kai’Sa constantly took center stage, and then the far left corner, and then the far right corner, which made her unkillable.

In Patch 12.1, Kai’Sa is getting a trio of nerfs. Firstly, her health is being cut by 50, which should hurt her survivability. Secondly, she is getting her base spell damage cut by 10 at one and two-star. But her biggest nerf is actually in the starting mana department. With 15 less starting mana, Kai’Sa will take a second or two longer to cast her spell, which can be enough time to stop her from popping off.

Other champions that are receiving significant changes in Patch 12.1 include Urgot, who is being nerfed so that when he casts his spell, only his every third attach will register as an auto-attack — instead of every two. This hurts his synergy with Statikk Shiv and Runaan’s Hurricane. The other champion to keep an eye on is Heimerdinger. In Patch 12.1, Heimerdinger is getting a range buff to four hexes up from three. This could be just what Heimer needed to become a premier carry that can now stay at safe distances.

Traits

The Socialite trait has been a big reason why Kai’Sa has been at the top of the metagame and, because of it, the trait is getting touched in Patch 12.1. At the two champion intervals for Socialite, the champions standing on the hex used to generate an extra five mana per second. In Patch 12.1, they will now only generate three mana per second.

Other traits getting touched include Chemtech, which has been over-performing at the three champion interval according to Mortdog. In Patch 12.1, Chemtech is seeing its damage reduction across all intervals be nerfed to 20% down from 25%. But to compensate, Chemtech 5, 7 and 9 will have their health regen bugged and Chemtech 5 and 9 will have their attack speed increased.

Augments

In Patch 11.24, many of the Heart and Crest augments got massive buffs. That was because many of them now granted the player a champion along with it to ease the burden of being forced into certain traits. Some of these champion combinations proved to be a little too good in Patch 11.24. As a result, the champions players receive with them are being tuned in Patch 12.1

The two biggest losers of the Patch 12.1 cycle are Scholar heart and Scrap heart. Scholar heart used to give a Lissandra and, now, it will only give a Zyra. Lissandra was a premier champion in Patch 11.24 — providing a great mix of CC, tank, and even damage. As for Scrap heart, Ekko used to be the champion given, but getting a three-cost Assassin that scaled well thanks to the Scrap trait early in the game was a big deal. In Patch 12.1, Scrap heart will now give a Blitzcrank instead.

Other Augments getting big changes include Stand United which at the silver and gold versions will now only grant two and three AD and AP, respectively, down from three and four.

Items

With all the talk about Morellonomicon, the item, of course, is getting nerfed too. The Patch 11.24 version used to burn at 2.5% of the inflicted champions max health as true damage for 10 seconds. In Patch 12.1, that number will now be only 2%.

Guardian Angel isn’t off the hook either. In patch 11.24, the item revived the user with 400 health. In Patch 12.1, it will now only revive the holder with 250.

Other items being changed include buffs to Zz’Rot Portal, which will now scale better into the late game based on the current stage. Rapid Firecannon will now grant 60% total attack speed up from 50%.