5 things to know about Teamfight Tactics patch 9.15b

Teamfight Tactics may have new champions and a new Origin on the way, but first there’s some balancing to do. Patch 9.15b is all about making small balance changes to champions and items rather than shaking up the entire mode.

The biggest champion balance changes in this patch came to five-cost units like Karthus and Kayle who both got major nerfs. Karthus is losing damage on his ability, which will also target fewer enemies at level two, while Kayle’s ability is going to cost slightly more more mana.

As for items, this patch’s changes are a little more significant. Guardian Angel got a 200 health nerf and Morellonomicon lost five percent of its burn damage. Meanwhile, Phantom Dancer now allows units that have it to dodge ability critical hits as well, which should be a pretty huge buff to the item. Finally, Runaan’s Hurricane got a buff that took its bonus damage from 25 percent to 75 percent which might finally make it a viable item.

For a look at all of the changes in TFT patch 9.15b you can check out the full notes.

Riot Games

Runaan’s Hurricane does way more damage now

It’s always been hard to justify building a Hurricane in TFT. After all, the item requires a Spatula and there are plenty of other good uses for that item. But Riot is upping Hurricane’s bonus damage by 50 percent which could actually make it useful. Now if you have champions like Draven or even Tristana with extra attack damage, Hurricane could make for a perfect way to upgrade their damage and make them a little more magic resistant.

Riot Games

Karthus’ ability now does less damage to fewer units

Karthus got one of the biggest nerfs in this patch as his ability’s damage was taken down by 50 damage at level one and 100 damage at level two. Perhaps even worse for him is the fact that at level two, he’ll now only hit seven targets with his ability rather than nine. This means that when a level two Karthus casts his spell, it likely won’t hit every unit on the enemy’s board.

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Kayle won’t be shielding quite so often

Kayle also got nerfed this patch, though not quite as badly as Karthus. Kayle’s mana is increasing from 100 to 125, which means she won’t be able to cast her shield as often. Another important part of this nerf is that she didn’t get extra starting mana to compensate for the mana increase. This means that her first cast will be significantly later than it is on the previous patch.

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Guardian Angel gives less health now

Guardian Angel has been an excellent go-to item since it was buffed a couple of patches ago, but Riot has decided that it was a little too strong. Now the item will revive units at 800 health, rather than 1000. This nerf shouldn’t make it unusable, but should make you think a little bit more about which units you want the item on, rather than just putting it on anyone and knowing that it would be useful.

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Blitzcrank should make teammates attack his hook target

Riot has been trying to get Blitzcrank’s teammates to help him out since TFT’s earliest patches, and they still aren’t quite there. But after patch 9.15b, hopefully teammates will direct their attacks at the enemy Blitzcrank hooks like they’re supposed to. If this does work consistently, it could be a pretty big buff to Blitzcrank since it will effectively mean that whoever he hooks will be eliminated immediately.