Our time in Cyber City is coming to an close with Riot Games hosting the Tactician's Crown finals for Teamfight Tactics Set 14. In addition to witnessing high-skill championship-caliber player, fans can tune in for a first look at the upcoming set, K.O. Coliseum.
As previously revealed TFT Set 15 is going to be anime-inspired, both visually and thematically. The new set will go live on July 30th, but this weekend will provide all of the details, including traits, classes, unique gameplay mechanics, and more.
Kicking off the weekend, Riot revealed the cinematic for TFT K.O. Coliseum. Set to the catchy track "Fighter!!" by ASCA, the anime-inspired trailer leans heavily into the vibrant, high-energy anime aesthetic.
As you can see, K.O. Coliseum is borrowing heavily from anime tropes, while also blending a wide mix of over-the-top fighting game aesthetics, including those old-school arcade-style brawlers. The set looks to reimagine some of Leagues' most popular champions as exaggerated anime fighters, while the classes and traits are clearly inspired by anime themes.
The trailer gives us a sneak peek at some of these champions, including Seraphine, Gwen, and Ezreal.
TFT Set 15 will be revealed throughout the Tactician's Crown Finals this weekend. Saturday will see some exclusive traits revealed, but we'll have to wait until the finals on Sunday, July 13th, before the full K.O. Coliseum dev drop arrives.
With anime rising in popularity across the globe, TFT's anime theme arrives at the perfect time. Although the game itself is fairly niche, it has also been growing and pairing it with a genre as successful as anime could give it an huge boost. That said, there are a lot of complex game mechanics and rules that come with a new set in Teamfight Tactics, so jumping in as a newcomer isn't exactly easy.
It will be interesting to see the approach that Riot Takes with Set 15, especially after the divisive Cyber City. Although Set 14 was praised for its innovation, including its aesthetic and theme, it was criticized for its execution and balance issues, especially early on. The set introduced new mechanics like hackers and cybernetic upgrades, but this led to overcomplexity and balancing poblems. It also resulted in too many overlapping economy echanics, making the entire set feel bloated and inconsistent.
Hopefully, Riot finds a way to balance innovation with complexity with Set 15. If anything, the theme itself looks pretty awesome.