I’m excited for players to get their hands on Magic n’ Mayhem later this month. It’s clear that Riot has taken some steps to tone down some of the in-game variance to make it more approachable for casual players while still encouraging high-tier players to make decisions on how to make the best use of charms. While augments and portals remain (all of which are straight up bonkers!!), I am confident that charms will lead to some interesting forms of skill expression.
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At the end of Tactician’s Crown, Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics’ team has officially unveiled the newest TFT set: Magic n’ Mayhem! Starting July 31, tacticians will be transported away from the east-asian wonderland that was Inktale Fables and thrust into a magically charming castle that is the new setting for Set 12! This week, we were given the opportunity to test out this newest expansion’s mechanics (which are charming!) and shown a sneak peek of the upcoming cosmetics, little legends, and updates to game systems that many players, diehard and casual, will equally enjoy. Just like last time, I want to emphasize that our preview contained elements that are subject to drastic change, adjustment, and refinement between now and Magic n’ Mayhem’s July 31 release. The content that was shown to us (and discussed below) is NOT FINAL.
Coming out of Inkborn Fables, I had become mildly overwhelmed with the degree of variation brought forth by that 11th set’s encounter system. At the start of the set, Hyper Roll players were pretty likely to almost always see a Sett encounter and miss out on variance that Double Up and Ranked players were experiencing match-after-match. By the end of the set, it felt as though the usual variance in every round felt turned up to 11 thanks to augments, portals, and usual TFT shenanigans relating to luck. Some players, myself excluded, blamed bag sizes when they couldn’t hit despite encounters offering additional tools that, in theory, could swing percentages. Riot Mort (TFT’s Lead Designer) discussed this player pain in great detail in the most recent TFT learnings article (which I recommend you read, too) and how the game may be becoming too complex for casual players who want a modicum of control. I won’t reiterate his words (because he did a pretty dang good job with talking about the game’s health), but I’ll say this much: I was hesitant about what the next set would introduce.
That hesitation dissolved once I was shown the charms that are brand new to TFT! Unique to this set are charms, which are single-use effects that can be purchased from the shop. These charms act relatively similar to the Headliner effect in that a charm will show up in your shop every other reroll. Upon purchasing a charm, another charm won’t show up until the next round when your current charm’s effect expires. These charms can cost anywhere from 0 gold to 15 (!!) gold, granting you something as simple as a free reroll to a permanent uncraftable emblem. You can also see what charms other players have chosen by clicking/tapping their names, which is great for information visibility.
I have a feeling that some players won’t give charms a fair shake because of how they show up in the shop and occupy a slot until a charm is chosen for current round. Those running reroll compositions may feel like they’re at a disadvantage if they’re attempting to do a single rolldown at a specific level breakpoint. The bag sizes have been adjusted for lower-cost units, but I am concerned that the feeling of losing a slot will lead to undue negativity toward the temporary variance brought upon by charms.
I liked them, though. The temporary power that I obtained from purchasing one from my shop almost always helped me, even if it was something as simple as rerolling my shop with all 3-cost units. Charms had me consider the degrees of success I could obtain with any given charm instead of attempting to work around a larger effect that was brought on by an encounter. Even better, I was able to stick to the team composition I was building. One of my personal pain points of encounters was that occasionally an encounter would force me to pivot to something else if my current team composition was not suitable for whatever effect was impacting all players. Charms allowed me to introduce small bursts of power.
Most of the five-costs this set feel familiar, which I don’t consider to be a bad thing. Smolder (one of the newest League of Legends champions) functions similar to Singed from Set 2 and Aurelian Sol from Set 3/3.5 in that he consistently moves around the field attacking his nearest target. Briar shares some similarities to Teemo in Set 5/5.5 in how players are to wager their health to best utilize her. Briar gives players a biscuit that, when given to her, takes 3 health from the player in exchange for 150 permanent health for Briar AND, the lower the player’s health, the more damage she deals to units.
Magic n’ Mayhem bring two non-League champions to the game. First, Nomsy makes her return as a one-cost dragon warrior who sneezes fire at enemies. Also, Norra makes her TFT debut as a 5-cost. Norra was originally introduced in Legends of Runeterra (Riot’s deckbuilder), bringing Yuumi (her pal) to the convergence. When playing Norra, you get a Yuumi that can be attached to any other champion and will cast whenever Norra casts her spell. I am loving how TFT is fully embracing Riot’s deep catalog of characters and bringing them to life in TFT, even if it’s just for a set. While I’m sad to see Kobuko not in this current set, it’s refreshing to see the same non-League champions utilized set-after-set (I’m looking at you, Yasuo!). I’m slightly disappointed that Ivern wasn’t used in this set, though, as he has two existing skins that would fit two traits (Eldritch and Candy King).
On the topic of traits and origins, I am loving how TFT is continuing to refine its catalog of traits for longtime players while making it easier to pick up for new players. An econ trait does not exist in this set; instead, other traits that are less feast-or-famine make it so that players can run compositions of greater variety. The Honeymancer trait functions similar to Lasercorps, giving Honeymancer units some bees that continuously attack enemies. The Portal trait continuously cycles through effects during a battle, attacking enemies and occasionally healing friendly units. Eldritch champions summon an Old God (just like Abomination trait from Set 5/5.5!) once your team loses a portion of their combined health. I was a fan of Volibear’s emergence on the Howling Abyss during his rework event in League, so seeing him show up in TFT at a specific Eldritch breakpoint was awesome!
Magic n’ Mayhem has gone all-in on fully immersing players in a whimsical thematic. The in-game music has shed its typical TFT jingle and now plays song that would fit in Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. It’s great to see how Riot is flexing their thematic chops so they can highlight multiple aesthetics that are comprised of their in-game universes. While Bandle Tale might not have been explicitly referenced in Magic n’ Mayhem, there’s enough Easter Eggs that eagle-eyed players (like me!) can see and warmly welcome.
I’m excited for players to get their hands on Magic n’ Mayhem later this month. It’s clear that Riot has taken some steps to tone down some of the in-game variance to make it more approachable for casual players while still encouraging high-tier players to make decisions on how to make the best use of charms. While augments and portals remain (all of which are straight up bonkers!!), I am confident that charms will lead to some interesting forms of skill expression.
