TFT Patch Notes: The 5 Biggest Changes Coming in Patch 10.23

Patch 10.23 features a Xin Zhao rework, big changes to Cultists, Aphelios, and Ahri. See the biggest changes in the latest TFT patch notes!

While Patch 10.23 won’t be nearly as significant to Teamfight Tactics as it will be to our League of Legends brethren, there are still some massive changes on the way. Five, in particular, have proven to be the most significant changes listed in the patch notes.

Xin Zhao is getting reworked to become the central carry of Warlord comps, Ahri and Aphelios are getting large changes, and Cultists are also getting a massive nerf. Let’s take a look at the latest TFT patch notes and give the five biggest changes coming in Patch 10.23!

1. Cultist (Galio) Nerfs

"All Galios Mana: 50/150 ⇒ 75/150Demon Lord Galio (Cultist 6) Base Health: 1750 ⇒ 1650Supreme Overlord Galio (Cultist 9) is now immune to crowd control for 8 seconds after being summoned.Supreme Overlord Galio (Cultist 9) Base Health: 2500 ⇒ 2250Supreme Overlord Galio (Cultist 9) Base Attack Damage: 400 ⇒ 320"

Cultists crept to the top of the meta in the last patch thanks to the change to the Chosen Cultist mechanic where they now count as a double 2-star (to make up for the fact that you will have fewer overall Cultist units). This change is aimed right at the centerpiece of the Cultist comp, Galio, weakening his health at Cultist 6 and Cultist 9. Yes, the CC immunity at Cultist 9 is nice, but consider that he also lost 80 AD, which somewhat negates his late game oomph.

2. Xin Zhao Rework

"Crescent Guard (Rework): Xin Zhao sweeps around him, dealing 300/325/350% of his Attack Damage to nearby enemies and gains 50/60/75 Armor and Magic Resist for the rest of combat.Xin Zhao now has a normal Spellcast Mana lock instead of having to wait until there are no Challenged units.Xin Zhao Starting/Total Mana: 0/30 ⇒ 40/80Fixed a bug where Crescent Guard could not crit."

A pretty significant change to Xin Zhao where he now does AoE damage at three times his total AD and gains defensive stats for the rest of combat. Items like Spear of Shojin could be massively OP on him given that huge AD ratio on his ability. With the defensive stats he also gets from Warlord, Xin could be a primary carry in Patch 10.23!

3. Ahri Nerfs

"Ahri Spirit Bomb is now an actual channel that can be interrupted (ie: stun, GA) causing Ahri to release her orb early and reducing the size of the impact area.Ahri Spirit Bomb Damage: 475/675/3000 ⇒ 500/700/3000"

One of the most annoying aspects of Ahri’s kit is the fact that she is still able to cast her ultimate after being crowd controlled or put in stasis. Luckily, Riot didn’t make her ult channel cancel-able but instead canceling the animation will reduce the size of the impact. She also got a small compensatory damage buff, so overall I don’t think this nerf is massive, but I’ll have to wait and see how the change turns out.

4. Talon Nerfs

"Talon Kill Reset Targeting: Highest Damage Dealt ⇒ Lowest ArmorTalon Increased his leap time after getting a successful kill"

While Enlightened didn’t get a nerf in Patch 10.23, one of its main offenders in Talon did. Easily the best Assassin in TFT, Talon’s kill reset mechanic changing to attack the lowest armor champion is actually very significant, as armor is fairly uniform across classes (e.g. all Sharpshooters have 20 armor). This means that any armor item (like GA) on a damage-dealer is going to put them at the end of Talon’s priority of targets.

5. Aphelios Nerfs

"Aphelios’ turrets will no longer trigger on-attack effects (e.g., Rageblade, Statikk Shiv, Runaan’s Hurricane) or grant him mana, but will continue to trigger on-hit effects.Aphelios Starting/Total Mana: 90/180 ⇒ 40/80Aphelios Attack Speed: 0.7 ⇒ 0.75"

Aphelios is getting a slight attack speed buff, but an overall nerf because of how his turrets interacts with on-hit effects. Riot stated that these changes were designed to decouple his reliance on Guinsoo’s Rageblade, but now that his turrets no longer grant mana he’s just overall weaker. The mana changes are nice, yes, but he’s probably more item reliant with a build of Guinsoo’s plus Shojin.