The four new Hextech champions are currently shaking up the meta in Teamfight Tactics. They can be used in almost every combo. We’ll tell you what to watch out for when fighting against them.
What makes the new champions so strong? The Hextech champions introduced with patch 9.16 are very strong due to both their individual abilities and their origin.
Jinx particularly dominates the meta, but the other three are also welcome. Vi performs well in bruiser combos, and Jayce is a central piece in the shapeshifter combo.
A combination of two Hextechs can be found in almost every meta build. Accordingly, their special ability activates quite frequently.
What is the ability of the Hextech champions? Two or all four Hextechs throw a bomb at opponents at the start of a fight, disabling enemy items for 8 seconds.
The bomb always targets an enemy champion with an item:
- The bomb also hits all surrounding enemies
- If you have all 4 Hextech champions, it will also hit all enemies in a field around them
In the image, you see Graves in the middle as the target. If the opponent has two Hextech champions, he and the red fields are disabled; with four, your champions in the yellow fields are also affected.
Hextechs do not like gaps
What should I watch out for against Hextechs? Currently, you generally encounter only the combination of two Hextech champions. Therefore, you should first ensure that two champions with important items are not standing next to each other.
There is also the possibility of giving a champion a simple and less important item and placing him far away from the rest of the team. With a bit of luck, the bomb will land far away from your important fighters.
Yasuo is ideal for such a distant champion with just one item, as he doesn’t want to be near the team anyway. In general, it also helps to develop new strategies for positioning your team.
How do I position my team? During the times of assassins and ice creatures/rangers, heroes were collected in a big ball in one of the corners.
This avoided the problem of assassins suddenly jumping into the backline and simultaneously built a wall between your ranged fighters and the enemy champions.
However, this strategy is now outdated.
This is how you position your team in Teamfight Tactics
General tips for positioning: There are various ideas and concepts for positioning the team. Gaps are currently desired, due to Hextech champions, but also due to AoE attacks.
Additionally, Blitzcrank is currently in vogue as a bruiser. Placing your carry all the way at the back is therefore tricky, as Blitzcrank will otherwise grab him. Unless you know exactly where the enemy Blitzcrank is located.
It is important that you keep an eye on your opponents, especially when some have already been eliminated.
An example of new positioning
In the fictional example, we know that the opponent always positions their Blitzcrank (from their perspective) far left. Therefore, they also attack our champion far down left at the edge of the image, to whom we should ideally give an unimportant item.
At the same time, our Lucian with many items stands somewhat isolated in the middle, while Vi and Garen tank the damage. This setup works well against Hextech and Blitzcrank but would have major problems with assassins that could easily take out our three carries.
What problems arise with positioning? In our example, we had a clear front and a clear backline. This made the setup easier.
However, with protectors like Braum and Leona, it becomes difficult, as many champions want to receive the bonus. The shapeshifters also require a completely different setup.
Therefore, the most important thing in positioning is keeping track of the other players and adjusting accordingly. In general, since the new patch, you should spread your champions with items apart.
