Riot Mortdog confirms Aphelios with the Infernum Gun as an extremely potent champion.
Among the 5-gold champions in Teamfight Tactics season 8, Aphelios seems to leave quite a little impression on players. This stems from Aphelios often playing a supporting role to trigger the 4 Sharpshooter marksmen synergy for Samira's team rather than being the primary carry. Hence, some players feel that Aphelios needs a power boost.
However, the Director of Teamfight Tactics project - Riot Mortdog, disagrees with this notion. The Riot Games leader even reveals that Aphelios is an incredibly strong champion on the live server. Clearly, Riot won't buff a character that's already so strong.
'Do you want us to buff Aphelios? That won't happen because Aphelios is already an incredibly strong champion. Both statistics and my personal experience indicate that Aphelios with the Infernum Gun is a powerhouse with significant damage output. Everyone should try this champion as a carry.' - Riot Mortdog shares.
Regarding statistical metrics, Aphelios indeed aligns with Riot Mortdog's statements. This unit holds an average placement position of 3.67, with a top 1 acquisition rate at an exceptionally high threshold of 21.8% (statistics from Metatft.com). Perhaps Aphelios' skills leave less of an impression because it's not easy to efficiently utilize this chess piece. Moreover, with a cost of 5 gold, upgrading Aphelios to the highest tier can be challenging.
According to Riot Mortdog's revelation, the optimal gun type to choose is the Infernum Gun. This type of gun helps this champion attack the backline extremely effectively. Perhaps it's time for Teamfight Tactics players to heed Riot Mortdog's advice and recognize Aphelios' true power.