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If you have the patience to wait through hours of endless queue time, then you might be one of the lucky few to have played League of Legends’ new game mode, Teamfight Tactics.
It’s available on the PBE now if you can’t wait for its official release on June 25 or if you just want to get a head start before ranked queue comes out.
Mechanical skill is thrown out the window in TFT. It’s all about strategy, composition, and item building. The player with the strongest army wins—it’s as simple as that. But there are tons of champions, each with unique abilities, synergies, Origins, and Classes.
The metagame is anyone’s guess at the moment. There’s no defined best set of champions, but we do have a good understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Here are some beginner comps to help you get started with TFT.
Noble / Wild
If all else fails, build Noble. In the early game, you’ll want to have a frontline to protect your force and bolster up your army. Garen is ideal in this situation. He has a good balance of damage and tankiness, and combined with another early game tank, you should come out of the gates swinging.
It’s not the most engaging comp and it doesn’t require much thinking power, but when everything’s upgraded, it’s extremely fun. If you can get the whole team together—Garen, Fiora, Vayne, Lucian, Leona, and Kayle—you’ll be an unstoppable force. What’s not to like?
It’s not easy finding Kayle until the late game, though. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to branch out into another synergy, such as Wild. The combination of Warwick and Nidalee is particularly strong. Warwick is an effective off-tank alongside Garen and Nidalee is a great DPS. If you can get her to level three, she’ll carry. Add a Rapid Firecannon and a Guinsoo’s Rageblade and she’ll work wonders.
Also, don’t forget about Garen. He’s far better than his League counterpart. Even though he’s your primary tank, Morellonomicon is one of his best items. The more he spins, the more damage he deals. It’s a deadly combination.
Once you’ve hit the sweet spot in the late game, your roster should be hard to handle. All in all, that’s +100 armor and 35 on hit heal for your six Nobles, and bonus attack speed for your Wild.
Assassin / Ninja
A team of Assassins doesn’t make sense in League, but it works in TFT. You’d usually want to play behind a solid tank line, but if you stack Assassins, your brute force damage can be enough to flatten your opponents.
Zed will be at the forefront of your roster. He fits in the Assassin and Ninja categories while taking advantage of both synergies. At first, it’s smart to stick with just one Ninja, but once you hit level 10, you can roll with six Assasins and four Ninjas. Together you’ll have +60 percent attack damage for your Ninjas and 350 percent crit damage for your Assassins. Combine that with a few items and you’ll tear through your opponents.
It can be difficult to get to this stage of the game, however. In this scenario, you should be dynamic. TFT isn’t about picking a comp and sticking to it—it’s about adapting. Instead of getting ahead of yourself, you should start the game slowly and bide your time. Play a couple of tanks and gradually build your bench with Assassins.
Even if you lose the first few PVP rounds, you should be in a decent position. You’ll have the first pick in the carousel and your loss bonus will help you maintain a healthy amount of gold. Once you have the resources you need, refresh to your heart’s content and forge your force.
Glacial
The Glacial synergy is one of the strongest buffs in the game. Even though it just got nerfed, it still packs a punch. If you have six Glacial champions, you’ll have a 40 percent chance to stun your targets for two seconds on hit. Combine that with a healthy amount of damage and you’ll be untouchable. Your opponents will barely have the chance to fight back, allowing you to take over the board.
It’s not easy hitting six Glacial, but there’s nothing wrong with four, or even two. Volibear and Sejuani should be at the core of your build. They’re both tanky, they deal decent damage, and they pump out endless CC.
Sejuani’s ultimate is particularly potent. Its range is surprisingly large and can CC your opponents’ entire board. She does cost four gold, though, and upgrading her to level three will take some time. But a level two Sejuani is still incredibly strong and shouldn’t be underestimated.
If you have six Glacial champions, you’ll automatically be making use of the Elementalist synergy. But other than that, you need to decide which route to take. There are a few options. You could go for a third Elementalist, like Brand, to make use of his AoE ultimate, or you could choose a Kennen for his Ninja passive. Either way, you’ll get a free Element at the start of your game. It’s tanky and can soak up a lot of damage, so it’s well worth it.
Glacial is flexible, and because it’s so powerful, it fits with multiple synergies. Instead of Elementalist, you could choose the Ranger synergy.
Ashe is one of your primary damage dealers. She fires out arrows at a fast pace, making use of the Glacial passive stun and freezing with her ultimate. She has a good combination of damage and CC, so combining her with another Ranger to increase her attack speed is an intelligent option.
You could choose Varus for the long range and damage, but Kindred is ideal. If you place them in the middle of your team, their ultimate will act as a protective barrier that can quite easily save you from death.
