The new League of Legends game mode will be called Tactical Teamfight and will be based on Auto Chess, a mod for Dota 2. It will be available for testing later this month.
How does the new game mode work? Tactical Teamfight will be based on the principle of Auto Chess known from Dota 2. Players’ game pieces will compete against each other on a board in multiple rounds. A round proceeds as follows:
- First, there will be a shopping phase where you can buy new pieces, upgrade pieces, or reposition them on the board. Gold for this is obtained automatically, but there are bonuses for saving or for consecutive victories.
- Then, there will be a combat phase where the pieces face off against those of another player.
- Finally, the player who loses the round takes damage.
If a player’s health points drop to 0, they are eliminated from the game. The goal is to be the last surviving player in a match.
The principle of Auto Chess is very popular. Especially Hearthstone streamers are really into this game. There is also a mobile version of Auto Chess.
When will Tactical Teamfight be released? According to the official blog post, the game mode should be brought to the test server this June. The official release will coincide with Patch 9.13.
Tactical Teamfight will be released as a beta and then developed further with player feedback. Only with Patch 9.14 should all bugs be fixed and the ranking system implemented.
Hexagonal board and little legends
How does Tactical Teamfight differ from Auto Chess? There are hardly any differences between the two games in terms of structure and gameplay. Both rely on characters from their universes, origins and class bonuses, as well as upgrading the pieces. The differences lie more in the details.
While in Auto Chess all players buy their heroes simultaneously, in Tactical Teamfight in LoL, they are chosen sequentially. This is to give players who are currently lagging behind a chance for a comeback.
Additionally, the board of the League of Legends version is hexagonal, allowing for slightly different positioning in area attacks.
Will there also be avatars? In Auto Chess, the player character is represented by an avatar. Different versions of it can be purchased for in-game currency or real money.
Riot Games has also jumped on this train and is bringing the little legends. They will cost 750 RP in the shop and can be upgraded by hatching multiple copies from eggs. These eggs will cost 490 RP. Initially, there will be six legends, but more are expected to follow.
In addition to Auto Chess, the little legends will also be used in the Howling Abyss. There, they will cheer you on from the sidelines.
Auto Chess works very well in the mobile version. But League of Legends could also soon be available for smartphones:
