At this point, everyone knows that the League of Legends franchise has its hands in numerous genres and niches. There’s the original MOBA, the Counter Strike-inspired Valorant, the animated series Arcane, the upcoming fighting game 2XKO, and countless others. An often overlooked spin-off is Teamfight Tactics, an auto-battler where players place champions on a board, and they proceed to contend against other players in a grueling battle. The game is available now on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.
Every once in a while, Riot Games will update the game with new sets. These add various new champions, new items, new augmentations, and more. On July 31, they will add a new set to Teamfight Tactics, titled Magic n’ Mayhem. The free update will add everything mentioned above, including a new mechanic titled charms, as well as new traits.
I recently had the chance to preview an in-progress build of Teamfight Tactics Magic n’ Mayhem and interview the developers on what to expect from the upcoming update. While the new set seems to be a thrilling new addition for longtime fans of Teamfight Tactics, for new players like myself, it seems like a lackluster and limited addition to the auto-battler.
What is Magic n’ Mayhem?
Magic n’ Mayhem is the latest set coming to Teamfight Tactics. The new update will give players a new mechanic known as charms. Charms are single-use purchasable spells that’ll appear in every other shop, replacing a unit slot. 100 charms are included in the set, alongside 140 new augments that modify the way people play TFT.
Some of the charms do things like change all the champions to 1-cost, give you ten gold if you win the next player encounter, or you can summon a dragon that has 2000 health. Only one charm can be used per match. According to the developers, this is to make the mechanic accessible to new players.
The new traits are especially exciting. These include abilities like Honeymancy, which allows players to summon a horde of bees to attack enemies, Eldritch, which gives eldritch champions the ability to summon an old god after losing a portion of the team’s combined health. Or Chrono, which features a collaboration with League of Legends: Wild Rift, where a 16-second countdown begins and select champions gain 15 AP.
Additionally, there are plenty of new champions from throughout the League of Legends franchise, such as Norra & Yumi from Legends of Runeterra. Other champions will make their debut, including Norra, Briar, Smolder, and new tactician species that include Lumie
and New Bun Bun Variants.
All in all, this seems like an exciting update for long-time fans of both League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. However, if you’re a newcomer jumping into the game for the first time, you might find yourself lost and confused, which brings me to my experience seeing gameplay for Teamfight Tactics Magic n’ Mayhem during the preview event.
A Bland Gameplay Showcase
As a quick disclaimer, I was unable to play Teamfight Tactics Magic n’ Mayhem during the preview. Due to technical difficulties and compatibility issues with my device of choice, I could not gain access to the beta build of the latest update. However, I did get a chance to watch other preview participants, including influencers experienced with League of Legends, so I could still gleam a lot of information from what I saw during the showcase.
The most important thing to note, right off the bat, is that if you are inexperienced with anything related to League of Legends, let alone Teamfight Tactics, you will not notice the difference between old and new gameplay. As a result of the more “balanced” approach to Magic n’ Mayhem, the new update almost seems too tame. On the surface, despite all the chaos hyped up in the update, it doesn’t seem all that different if you’re simply watching the game.
However, upon closer examination, the differences start to become more apparent. During the preview, I saw tacticians clearly use more chaotic traits that affected the game state. One of the clips I saw showcased the eldritch ability, and it looked particularly impressive. It’s one thing to read about all the new traits, but seeing an “old god” jump onto the arena and tear through champions was incredible to watch. It was even more striking to see a donut miraculously flying through the stage, taking out even more champions.
The new traits of Magic n’ Mayhem are great and add a lot to the charm of Teamfight Tactics, even if you’re not that experienced with the game. My only real complaint is the charm mechanic. The fact that only one charm can be used per round, despite being for balance reasons, limits the potential that could be possible with some of the new mechanics. This seemed to be the consensus with a lot of the other players.
It would be great to maybe see a limited-time mode where all the limiters are turned off and charms are freely available, but for now, if you’re a Teamfight Tactics fan, this update will likely be very exciting for you. That said, I would personally say that this isn’t the best jumping-off point if you’re a new player. However, the real excitement comes from the potential future updates that could be coming to Teamfight Tactics after Magic n’ Mayhem.
The Future of Teamfight Tactics
In spite of my mixed opinions on Magic n’ Mayhem, the future of Teamfight Tactics is looking incredibly bright. During our post-preview Q&A, I asked the developers about the broader League of Legends universe. First, I asked if there were any plans to implement any sets related to Arcane Season 2. Previously, they did a mid-set dedicated to the first season of the beloved series.
Peter Whalen, current game director on TFT, responded cryptically, saying “it’s really convenient that Arcane season 2 is premiering in November, and we usually do major updates in November.” Further, when asked about any potential collaborations with 2XKO, while Whalen said they weren’t currently working on any new updates related to the upcoming fighting game, he did express his admiration for the title’s development team.
It’s safe to say that with Teamfight Tactics‘ collaboration with League of Legends: Wild Rift during Magic n’ Mayhem, the developers intend to further explore sets with other spin-offs. As for the new set itself, I find myself conflicted. On the one hand, the charms are a seemingly limited mechanic, and it’s not the greatest update to ease new players into the auto-battler. On the other hand, the new traits are great, and the promise of later updates down the line, both to Magic n’ Mayhem and Teamfight Tactics as a whole, is very encouraging.
As a whole, only time will tell if Magic n’ Mayhem lives up to fan expectations when it releases on July 31. However, if you’re a fan of Teamfight Tactics, you should definitely give the update a try. If you’re a newcomer looking to jump in, you might want to wait for a bigger and more bombastic update tied to the broader world of League of Legends later.
