In Teamfight Tactics, ever since augments were introduced back in Set Six, one of the best feelings is to acquire a rare Augment that changes the game completely. For me, it usually means that the Augment either fits perfectly for what I need or makes the game a lot more fun to play. That way, even if it leads to a loss, at least it was enjoyable in the end.
One of the best Prismatic augments that was both rare and fun was Level Up, which allowed players to get to level 10—a level higher than the usual maximum level of nine. Level 10 offers better unit rarity drop rates and an opportunity to swarm your opponents. Now, due to the addition of Legends in Set Nine, hitting level 10 is pretty common—and that bores me to no end.
How reaching level 10 is now boring in TFT Set Nine
Set Nine’s Legends allow you to get a guaranteed augment, which will be the left-most one when you first see them. So, if you pick the Aurelion Sol Legend before heading into your next game, you will get one of three augments the first time you see them, guaranteed. The randomness of this aspect is that you can’t choose the rarity, but for Sol, it doesn’t matter. All of his augments—Cutting Corners, Patient Study, and Level Up—allow for players to hit level 10.
Related: Taric struck by surprise nerfs in TFT 13.14 B-patch alongside Akshan, other champions
It is easier if you get the rarer augments, but saving up a lot of gold by win-streaking or lose-streaking isn’t difficult if you’re patient. That means hitting level 10 is a near guarantee as long as you don’t lose every single round before you get there.
That alone makes this experience more boring, just because there isn’t any rarity to it anymore. Additionally, anyone else that you face online, at any rank, can choose Aurelion Sol and fight against you to hit that max level faster and get those Legendary units.
This problem extends past this composition, too. Set Nine has had a lot of issues with carry units being too rare, and if you are lucky enough to get them, you win convincingly. That only gets magnified with Legendary units like Ahri, Senna, and Bel’Veth.
These are just some examples of units that you can throw into any board and gain heaps of value—you don’t need any synergy anymore. At that point, why not just rush to 10 and throw every rare unit in at the same time and win? This problem isn’t unique to this set, but it’s become far too common thanks to A-Sol.
I’m a Platinum-ranked player who grinded out of Gold just weeks ago, in large part because I finally learned all the traits and adapted in real-time to which powerful units I got early on, and ultimately just played it smart. Now that I’m in Plat, it feels as if every single game has at least two players trying to level up as fast as possible.
Related: The focus on four-cost units in TFT Set 9 is leaving fans more frustrated than ever
That means that in the late game, I get overwhelmed and even when I try to run that composition on my own, it’s purely down to chance. You’ll probably reach the max level at the same time as your opponents, so it really boils down to who can roll Legendary units first. Where did I feel this feeling before? Oh right, with four-cost units like Kai’Sa and Yasuo earlier in this set.
Can this problem in TFT Set Nine be fixed? Yes.
Personally, I have two potential solutions to the problem. The first one would be to make Level Up the only Aurelion Sol augment that can get you to level 10. That way it stays rare, and people who want to build Legendary boards have to flex to something else if they can’t get that Prismatic augment early on.
Or, Riot could adjust Legendary units like Bel’Veth to be more trait-specific. When Legendary units get more value on their own than with their trait, that seems off to me. I’m no developer, though, so I’m sure Riot and their TFT dev team can see other remedies—and I hope they come soon.
The addition of Legends has made augments more skill-based for a lot of other facets of gameplay, whether you play AFK to start for coins or you try your luck with Pandora’s Items. Specifically for hitting level 10, the rarity and fun have been lost, and that is the antithesis of what TFT should be.
