I love Teamfight Tactics Set 17's Hades vibes, but I'm going to find it hard to say goodbye to Lore and Legends

Riot Games finally lifted the lid on everything it has in store for its next Teamfight Tactics set, and Space Gods is already looking to be so much more than I could have hoped for. It's clear that the designers have been playing a lot of Hades 2 recently, as Set 17's art direction and mechanics clearly draw upon Supergiant's god-like roguelite. As someone who's spent an ungodly amount of time with Zag and Mel, it's very much a bit of me. With that being said, for the first time ever, I'll be truly sad to see Lore and Legends rotate out.

Back at January's TFT Paris Open, I got to chat to masterminds Stephen 'Mortdog' Mortimer and Julian Camaraza about the then-fresh Set 16. At the time, Mort proudly dubbed it "the deepest set we've ever made," and it's certainly held up to that moniker. Devoid of obtuse gimmicks, Lore and Legends is probably the most tightly-designed set I've played to date. Its sole focus on unlocking units gave it the perfect blend of breadth and strategic depth, and I feel the autochess game has maintained its quality even after its mid-set shakeup. It's also managed to avoid a Set 12 Syndra situation, remaining decently balanced despite the odd outlier (hi, Asol).

As a result of all this, Lore and Legends has become my favorite set to date. It's certainly the first in a long time I've put well over 100 games into, and with that time invested I finally stopped messing around in Emerald and ticked over into Diamond. Though I don't know if there's enough time left on the clock to hit Master, I should just about achieve it on current cadence, provided I don't get Mortdogged one-too-many times. Considering how much Slay the Spire 2 has taken over my life in recent weeks, this is probably the most glowing testament I can offer to illustrate just how good we've had it.

But, it's soon to be out with the old and in with the new, and there's plenty to be excited about. When Dark Star Jhin was teased as a unit at the Paris Open, I was immediately sold ahead of time. I mean, come on, my favorite skin for my favorite champion actualized? I knew Riot was cooking. Now all the info's out there, and creators are sharing playtest content, my first impression is that Space Gods looks stunning.

The biggest mechanical change, the removal of the carousel in favor of selectable god boons, is certainly going to take some getting used to. I can imagine this is going to be a big winner with mobile players, as I've historically had many-a-crash-out over bumping into the wrong unit when I've been playing on the go. There looks to be some interesting new tech, too, considering Fiora is guaranteed to win her 1v1s, which I suspect will initially catch out folks that love to solo-flex their three-star five-costs.

Though I'm, of course, going to be 20/20 Fast 9 Jhin, I can definitely see myself Meepmaxxing with some of the new verticals while I learn Space Gods' intricacies. Suffice to say, I'm taking Just Hit every time I see it to fulfill my Dark Star fantasy, though I have a feeling it won't be long before one of the new Prismatic augments is adjusted based on what I've heard people saying.

TFT Set 17 hits the PBE tomorrow, March 31, before going live with Patch 17.1 on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

With the usual two-week PBE period coming in hot, expect to see me ambling around the board looking lost for the foreseeable. Just don't think about playing Jhin if you do bump into me, as I will contest you all the way to a disgustingly fast eighth (that's me going eigth, you'll probably hit).