Teamfight Tactics update introduces a new elemental system

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Forget what you know and get ready for Season Two

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Get ready to relearn Teamfight Tactics, because the auto-battler's latest update upends a lot of the established rules and introduces some new elements to the mix. It also marks the end of the beta period and the beginning of season two.

The new elements really are elements, too: In addition to having class and race affinities, Champions now are aligned with one or more elements. These are: 

  • Crystal (Skarner, Taric, and Ashe) 
  • Desert (Renekton, Sivir, Azir, Khazix)
  • Electric (Ornn, Volibear, Zed)
  • Glacial (Warwick, Volibear, Braum, Ezreal, Olaf)
  • Inferno (Zyra, Diana, Qiyana, Kindred, Annie, Brand)
  • Light (Nasus, Vayne, Jax, Aatrox, Soraka, Yorick)
  • Steel (Rek'Sai, Nocturne)
  • Mountain (Taliyah, Qiyana, Malphite)
  • Ocean (Vladimir, Thresh, Syndra, Qiyana, Nautilus, Nami)
  • Poison (Kog'Maw, Dr. Mundo, Twitch, Singed)
  • Shadow (Malzahar, Kindred, Veigar, Sion, Master Yi)
  • Wind (Yasuo, Qiyana, Janna)
  • Woodland (Maokai, Ivern, Neeko, LeBlanc)

Just as with classes, having multiple champions of the same element on the field will confer special bonuses and make your team more deadly in battle. You may notice a few new names in the above list, and that's because Teamfight Tactics has refreshed its roster of champions, removing some old standbys and introducing some newcomers. The board size has increased, going from three rows of seven hexes to four rows.

Patch 9.22 also decreases the number of each champion available in the pool, the idea being to make forced team compositions trickier to complete. Riot says it wants players to have to pay more attention to what their opponents are building, and look for synergies that aren't already taken.

Since all of this is very new, Riot has disabled ranked play until Patch 9.23 is ready to roll.

You can read the full patch notes here.