We Played Teamfight Tactics, Riot’s New Auto Chess, and It’s Looking Like A Real Competitor
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer’s closure — but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
Riot Games is stepping into the autobattler ring with Teamfight Tactics, its take on the increasingly popular game type formed by Dota Auto Chess. But rather than a simple lift of concept with a layer of League, Teamfight Tactics makes smart changes to the formula that could entice those who haven’t dived into the chess pool yet.
The MOBA genre’s genesis is modification. Games like League of Legends owe their legacy, in part, to the inspiration found in mods like Defense of the Ancients. So it’s fitting that Riot Games, for its first new foray outside the confines of hero combat, turns to a source like Auto Chess.
«It started back in January, shortly after Auto Chess had come out,» says Richard Henkel, product manager of Teamfight Tactics. «One of our design leads sent out an email saying, ‘Hey, there’s this Auto Chess game, this is high level how it’s played, I think it’s pretty fun, we should maybe check it out.'»
A growing interest soon turned into a project for the group that became the Teamfight Tactics team, as about 12 developers conglomerated to create their own take on it. They began to look at what a version of Auto Chess would look like for them, though Riot Games refers to it as the «autobattler» genre; a more apt description, considering Teamfight Tactics sheds the chess imagery, opting for a hexagonal board.
If you’re not familiar with the autobattler genre, it combines elements of tower defense, card games, and tactics games. Eight players earn gold to spend on units, which they put into position on a board. Your board then fights other players’ boards while you defend your own. If your board loses, you take damage according to the amount of surviving enemy units, and you proceed to the cycle of buying units, placing them, and fighting.
Teamfight Tactics is aiming to appeal to a broad range of potential players. | Riot
The intricacy is in the details, where each unit has varying levels of rarity, as well as characteristics that can synergize with others — in Teamfight Tactics, their origin and class — to award added benefits. Fielding a certain amount of Yordle units will give them a chance to dodge attacks, while enough Void origin units will make your units’ attacks pierce armor. Adding more Gunslingers to your lineup lets their attacks hit additional enemies, while Pirates give extra gold at the end of player vs. player rounds. Include the nuance of individual unit abilities, ranging from transformations and crowd-control to raw damage, and there are a lot of ways you can customize your board to beat another one.
Autobattlers are about balancing these benefits, adjusting your build to beat others while not falling behind. Spend too much gold, and you won’t benefit from the interest a stockpile generates each round.
Forego levelling up for re-rolling your unit shop, and soon your board’s max unit count will fall behind the pack. Autobattlers encourage a careful, thoughtful balance akin to poker; you have to know when to all-in, and when to play safe.
What Riot is trying to do with its take on the genre is address places where new players struggle, while putting a new spin on it. Items are basic building blocks that automatically combine into more powerful upgrades. Basic item drops like a cloak or sword give basic stats, but a unit carrying two will automatically combine them into a greater weapon, adding a layer of choice and strategy to how you distribute your armory.
A synergy counter along the left-hand side clearly indicates the tier of boon your lineup has reached in any given bonus. It even tracks it by tier, denoting which level you’ve hit with gold, silver, or bronze. Despite being built in the League of Legends engine, the interface and layout seems tailored to the purpose of autobattling.
It’s very different from the sometimes ramshackle framework of modifying an existing game to fit another genre.
«The main thing we started out with at the beginning was less about, what’s the framework of Auto Chess, though that was a very helpful thing,» says Henkel. «But it was more about what are all the pain points that players experience that we can potentially resolve, and what are the experiences we want to capture that we don’t think have been captured yet?»
The most notable difference is how interactive Teamfight Tactics is, especially in the way its player avatar — or «little legend» — plays into the action. Your board actually teleports to other boards, with your perspective and avatar following. In a clever twist, you take an active role in the action on a roulette wheel in rounds called «shared draft.» At times I heard it referred to as the «carousel,» or as I likened it, «Hungry Hungry Hippos.»
At the beginning of the game, each player’s avatar spawns in a concentric ring, with the inner ring displaying a rotating carousel of units.
These are free to grab, for whoever grabs one first; the first is a free-for-all, while later rounds let players loose on the available units one at a time, starting with the player at the lowest health and going up to first place.
It isn’t just a good comeback mechanic, but it makes each match more animated and interactive, aspects missing from other autobattlers. Where other games have boards magically spawning units and the player character a largely disassociated cursor, Riot Games wants to add a little more personality.
«We wanted to make players feel like they were playing a game that was fun and a game that they were playing with people, and hopefully their friends,» says Henkel. «We wanted to make it a very social experience.»
Playfully competitive is how Henkel describes the attitude, and to its benefit, Teamfight Tactics is that. Within just a handful of games, I already felt at home, eyeing other players’ boards and denoting synergies I could be building up, in the ultimate goal of thrashing my seven various opponents.
But that’s typical for the genre.
What stuck with me were the rounds like the shared draft, where we would drop into a ring and see champions pop up in front of us. Those with low lives darted for high-rarity champions, snatching up characters like Swain or Anivia. The middle of the pack went for their synergies, or the last of three champions they would need to combine and upgrade a unit in their roster. If you were last, it was table scraps. But that was a tension that made playing Teamfight Tactics feel like a much more involved, active experience.
While I got a little animated during those rounds, the genre is still ultimately less demanding than a MOBA like League of Legends. As Henkel notes, this can appeal to a shifting age group within the League and gaming community. It’s a more relaxed experience, where he, as a father of two children, can relax and watch Netflix while battling through a game or two.
How much does this impact League of Legends? The answer is a combination of a lot and a little.
While League will exist as normal, and Teamfight Tactics is ostensibly a separate game mode rather than full-on game, Henkel says they want it to live inside its own area of the client. His team has aspirations of a ranked queue, and a «split flow» where users downloading the League client can opt out of the MOBA tutorial if they’re looking to play just Teamfight Tactics.
It all depends on whether this genre has legs. While it’s been setting record numbers for Valve’s Dota 2, that doesn’t necessarily forecast long-term success in the way League of Legends had it. And as the land rush for autobattlers continues, with Valve and original mod developer Drodo Studio working on their own versions alongside the various imitators, how does Teamfight Tactics not only stand out but thrive? For Henkel and his team, it was simply a matter of timing: this is the time for Riot to jump in, if it’s going to.
«We don’t even know if it has legs,» says Henkel. «It could be in 12 months, maybe it’s gone.
We think that it has longevity, so we wanted to give it our best shot, especially early on, as this is a new thing.»
Autobattlers, while popular, are still nascent. With Teamfight Tactics, Riot Games seems poised to offer a version of the game that is beginner-friendly, while still carrying depth and leveraging the weight of lore and install base behind a global titan like League of Legends. And in the days since playing it, even in the midst of E3 2019, it’s been one of the games sticking with me. It ticks a lot of the boxes Dota Auto Chess does, but it finds clever ways to keep me interested and guessing. While hour 100 may not be the same as hour five, it’s a take that seems poised to capitalize on an open and hungry section, while also drawing in a lot of new players.
Again, Teamfight Tactics sits in a position of precarious potential similar to League of Legends. It could take the framework of a mod and craft it into its own mold, eventually becoming an international phenomenon, or it could be another game mode.
Henkel tells me in presentations, he’s put up a picture of the original boxed copy of League of Legends on store shelves next to a picture of fans cheering at sold-out arenas for the League Championship Series.
«We have no idea if we can do it again,» says Henkel. «But right now we think we have the people, the IP, the platform, and the engine that we can make it happen. Iterate quickly and do what Riot did once before, and I hope that we can do it again.»
Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics auto chess hits open beta today
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League of Legends’ entry into the auto chess genre is now available to everyone, as Teamfight Tactics launches its open beta.
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Gaming’s Auto Chess trend continues to grow in popularity by the day. Shacknews has recently been following Valve’s jump into the growing genre with Dota Underlords, but MOBA competitor Riot Games has also thrown its hat into the Auto Chess ring.
League of Legends is throwing in its effort in as a separate game mode called Teamfight Tactics, with Riot officially releasing the open beta.
How does Teamfight Tactics work? Games start with a planning phase, where you’ll earn gold and purchase League of Legends champions. Players will then take their champions and deploy them on the battlefield. When the Combat Phase begins, champions will automatically do battle with an opponent’s champions based on where they were positioned. Rounds will end with one team left standing, with both sides earning gold based on wins and streaks. All players will then level up and proceed to the center of the Convergence, where they’ll pick a fresh group of champions. Similar champions can be combined to unlock superior versions of themselves, which reduces a team’s numbers, but gives a team a slight edge in strength.
There are eight players total taking part in a Teamfight Tactics session, with only one winner at the end.
This is understandably a lot to soak in, which is why Riot Games has offered a gameplay guide for the uninitiated. There’s a bit more to Teamfight Tactics, including PvE rounds, item usage, and origin/class bonuses. Just like in League of Legends, each champion is distinct and comes with their own abilities. There are 50 champions available right now, with the roster set to grow in the weeks ahead.
At the end of the day, the best way to learn Teamfight Tactics is by jumping in head-first. Fortunately, the time to do that is now with the start of the open beta. This is just the beginning for Riot, as Teamfight Tactics looks to implement a mission and beta pass system by next week, along with a ranked mode that’s set to be deployed with the League of Legends 9.14 patch in just a few weeks. Teamfight Tactics is available now in open beta on the League of Legends website.
Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can’t enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?
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Riot in dismantled Ajax: two players boycott training, demanding transfers to the Premier League
Ajax are both the main seller of the summer transfer window and the main sufferer.
The club is going through even the deadline.
Torment — because of two players: 24-year-old Mexican defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez and 22-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Kudus.
Alvarez and Kudus just didn’t show up for practice. Follow the tactics of Anthony (asked for a transfer via Fabrizio Romano) and Martinez (called the sporting director an empty place)
According to the authoritative Dutch publication De Telegraaf, Alvarez did not show up for Ajax training on Thursday after learning that the club had received an official offer of 50 million euro from Chelsea. Edson has already discussed the details of a personal contract with Chelsea — the salary could quadruple. Of course, Alvarez announced to the management of Ajax that Chelsea was one of those teams that he had long dreamed of moving to.
Kudus also missed training. Everton is claiming him — everything is more complicated there, there have not even been statements about an official offer to Ajax.
These are not isolated cases.
Alvarez and Kudus still follow a proven tactic that has already worked this summer.
De Telegraaf recently leaked an insider that Lisandro Martinez himself pushed Ajax hard to transfer to Manchester United. When the Dutch refused, the defender reportedly had an explosive meeting with Ajax sporting director Jerry Hamstra. On it, he allegedly told the sports director that he was “a fucking empty place” and only works in the position due to the forced departure of his predecessor Mark Overmars (left the teams due to obscene messages to female colleagues). After that, the player was released for 57 million euros.
Anthony recently left for the same Manchester United only after an interview with Fabrizio Romano, in which he directly asked the Amsterdam club to let him go.
Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder clearly did not like this method: “I find his behavior strange. It’s a pity that it happened. Personally, I think it’s very bad. Also I’m mad about it. When you are a coach, this behavior is disappointing.
You think, «You’re just a fucking player.»
Perhaps the main problem for Ajax is that the transfer window has already closed in the Netherlands. This means that the Amsterdam team will not be able to take on anyone to replace them.
Ajax have parted ways with 15 players this summer. And spending on newcomers was beaten off with one Anthony
We are already used to the fact that Ajax arranges a sale every few years. But this summer, records are being broken — 15 players left at once.
Coach Eric ten Hag can be added to this list. Among the departed are many key players: Aller, Gravenberch, Martinez, Mazraoui, Antoni, Tagliafico and Schuurs were the starters. Onana and Danilo also appeared regularly.
All the purchases of this summer, Ajax almost recaptured with one transfer of Anthony — 105 million euros were spent on transfers in Amsterdam. They took Bergwijn from Tottenham, defenders Bassi from Rangers, Kaplan from Trabzonspor, Wijndal from AZ and Sanchez from America, defensive midfielder Grillich from Hoffenheim, the attack was strengthened by young Brian Brobbie (purchase after loan) and Lorenzo Lucca.
At the same time, they took Francisco Conceixau, the talented son of the head coach of Porto. A direct replacement for Anthony will be Lucas Ocampos – the Argentinean from Sevilla was loaned until the end of the season with an option to buy.
Ajax start building a new team. Don’t get used to it.
Photo: Gettyimages.ru/Angelo Blankespoor/Soccrates
5 cases when machines rebelled against humans
Of course, we are still far from the uprising of machines from the Terminator. But some robots have already begun to show their warlike disposition. We will talk about five recent cases when the machine rebelled against man.
Vitaly Marshak
Unsplash
Robots can be quite dangerous if used incorrectly or carelessly
A chess robot broke a finger of a seven-year-old child adversary.
According to the President of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergey Lazarev, the child made a move and did not wait for the machine to complete its move.
As a result, the robot grabbed the boy by the finger and squeezed hard, breaking the bone.
Lazarev noted that the organizers are not guilty of what happened, since the robot was rented. However, the child’s parents have already filed an application with the prosecutor’s office.
Once a robot in Perm escaped from the developers
The uprising of machines can happen without violence: for example, in 2016, the Promobot from Perm escaped from scientists — right from the test site. Having moved 50 meters away from the testers, the robot found its way to the neighboring street and created a rather serious traffic jam. When his battery ran out, the police arrived at the scene and tried to apprehend the metal intruder.
True, some experts did not believe in the rebellion of the machine and considered the incident a PR stunt.
«Drunken» and escaping robot vacuums
It turns out that robot vacuums don’t like their owners very much either.
For example, last year Roomba owners found that after a software update, their devices began to behave like “drunks”. Robots drive around the house without instructions from the owner and strangely circle in one place.
At the beginning of 2022, another interesting incident happened: a vacuum cleaner purchased by Travelodge in Cambridge simply ran away from the hotel. The workers couldn’t find him for a long time. True, the battery of the desperate robot ran out, and a day later, it was found in a hedge.
Unmanned taxi «trolls» American police
In the spring of 2022, a video of San Francisco police officers stopping a car on the street went viral on the Internet … It obediently pulls to the side of the road, but as soon as the officers approach the door, it starts moving and travels about 100 meters before stopping again. The perplexed police officers examine the driver’s seat and cannot understand what is happening.
