Everything We Know About Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning

Ever since League of Legends' Auto Chess-inspired Teamfight Tactics premiered as a new game mode in 2019, fans have embraced its streamlined combat and unique play style. When the game later was ported to Android and iOS devices and became its own independent title, Teamfight Tactics' popularity only increased, eventually drawing over 33 million players. 

According to a press release received by SVG, the current season, Teamfight Tactics: Fates, has seen 10 million daily players log in at its peak — and those players have spent a combined 2.5 billion hours in-game.

As Teamfight Tactics: Fates begins to draw to a close, with the Fates Championship set to start on April 7, Riot Games is preparing to launch the next season of the game, Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning. The new season emphasizes Teamfight Tactics' core battle of good vs. evil and places the God-King champions Garen and Darius front and center, complete with new mechanics to help players build up devastating forces around them. 

Riot Games plans to launch Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning on April 28, and fans have plenty to look forward to. Here is everything that is known about Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning, courtesy of Riot Games' press release and videos from the developer.

Fans of Teamfight Tactics got their first look at the game's upcoming set when TJ Bourus, product lead for Teamfight Tactics, teased the new season in a short developer video outlining the game's 2021 plans. In that video, Bourus called the Reckoning set "TFT's most dramatic setting yet." Corruption is on the rise, Bourus explained, disrupting the balance between good and evil, requiring intervention from players to prevent "grave consequence in the convergence."

Players got a closer look at how that battle will play out when Stephen Mortimer, the lead designer of Teamfight Tactics, did a deeper dive into Reckoning in a March developer video. Mortimer introduced one of the new Origins of the set, Draconic, and introduced a new in-game mechanic tied to that Origin, eggs, which will slowly grow and hatch over a few rounds.

As far as new champions go, Mortimer said that players will have a chance to use the God-Kings Darius and Garen, although their skills are not complementary. Players will also meet Teemo, a powerful devil who costs HP to play. Finally, a favorite character from the Teamfight Tactics launch set, Draven, will be returning in Reckoning.

When Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning arrives on April 28, the new set will introduce a few new game modes through what Riot Games calls TFT Labs. In his recent developer video, lead designer Stephen Mortimer laid out how TFT Labs will provide variations to how players approach the core Teamfight Tactics experience with new modes available for limited periods.

Mortimer explained that the new experimental game modes included in TFT Labs could alter elements of play such as gold management, shop rolling, or team building. These variations will give both the developers and players a new perspective on the game's mechanics and hopefully reveal even better ways to play Teamfight Tactics.

The first new mode to debut through the TFT Labs will be Hyper Roll, a much faster variation of Teamfight Tactics that will play out in about 15 minutes. Players start with 10 HP but lose 1 HP per round, and changes to gold interest, item drops, and leveling will help accelerate play as well. TFT Labs experiences like Hyper Roll will use a modified ranking system which still allows players to make progress but is separate from the core Teamfight Tactics experience.

As with most major Teamfight Tactics updates, the arrival of Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning will reset players' rankings. Player rankings typically are reset with every new season, while a smaller reset occurs when Riot Games releases a significant mid-set patch. While Riot Games has yet to explain exactly what will happen in the upcoming reset, gamers can look at previous transitions to get an idea of what will occur when Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning arrives on April 28.

When the third set, Teamfight Tactics: Galaxies, transitioned into the current set, Teamfight Tactics: Fates with the 10.19 patch, all players began again at the first stage. The majority of players started Fates at the Iron 2 level, although players who ended Galaxies at Diamond 1 began climbing the ladder in Iron 1. In addition, any players who achieved the rank of Master+ during Galaxies began at Bronze 4 in Fates.

Players can expect any rewards earned during Fates to arrive shortly after Reckoning is up and running. During Fates, the previous season's prizes were distributed with the new set's second patch, so gamers shouldn't have to wait long.

According to Riot Games' press release, Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning will also introduce two new ways to access the game's season pass: the Reckoning Pass and the Reckoning Pass+. As players might guess, the Reckoning Pass is free while the Reckoning Pass+ is paid. While both allow gamers to unlock personalized content as they progress through the season, the Reckoning Pass+ will likely feature higher-tiered content.

The new set will add an expanded collection of Little Legends, the personalized avatars players use to draft and express emotes while in a match. Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning will also include plenty of cosmetics additions, including new themed arenas and personalized damage animations.

In a dev update from March 12, 2021, lead designer Stephen Mortimer promised more details to come on cosmetics, new champions, and additional game modes to arrive with Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning on April 28. Until then, players can continue to climb the ladder in Fates and track top players' progress through the Fates Championship as they compete for its $250,000 prize pool.