Hey everyone, welcome back to our weekly champ strength analysis.

Similar to our LoL tier list, our TFT tier list is curated in collaboration with top-level players, such as Ace of Spades. This list is optimized to help you climb.

Patch 12.19 has a bit of a mix of large changes and small changes that will affect the meta. We definitely have some champion changes to update ya’ll on this week. Let’s get right into it.

Looking for info on the upcoming Set 7.5? Check out our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 7.5 reveal article that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

TFT Tier List for Patch 12.19

Early Game Tier List

Mid Game Tier List

Late Game Tier List

General Champion Commentary

Malphite B to A

With Sohm being a strong AP carry, Malphite sees solid play as a mid game frontline for Lagoon and also in Mage Nomsy comps.

Zac S to A

Zac has seen the most play in comps like Seraphine shielding comps rather than the other Lagoon comps due to him being a Guardian. Zac is just a bit weaker compared to other strong early game frontlines.

Seraphine A to S

Even though Seraphine was nerfed this patch, she is still one of the best support units in the game.

Zippy S to A

Unfortunately, Zippy isn’t seeing the most play right now, and full Guild comps aren’t doing so well.

Shi Oh Yu A to S

Jade comps are making a resurgence this patch, and Shi Oh Yu is looking to be one of the stronger Dragons this patch.

Swain A to S

Rengar is looking to be on of the strongest carries this patch, and this makes Swain a premier frontline to use for Darkflight.

TFT Tier List Methodology

Our goal is to deliver the most correct tier list we can. When data becomes available, we will add that to our decision making as well.

To ensure accuracy, we work with experts with multiple Queen accounts like Ace of Spades and Saintvicious to scientifically test hypotheses and come to logical conclusions. We will update these as frequently as possible until the meta settles.

We justify our decision making in the notes, so be sure to read that and weigh in. We welcome feedback to figure out what we missed!

Units are valued in the following ways:

• S-tier = Super powerful and contested champs that everyone wants and forms comps around.
• A-tier = Champs that fit very well into powerful comps in the meta.
• B-tier = Champs that are situational but still fit into good comps.
• Not on the list = Champs that are rarely contested and have better alternatives for their comps or just don’t fit into a strong comp at all.

In the current state of the game, items are a big component of champ strength and champs that work well with them are high value. Right now, we’ll be organizing by unit cost.

This allows you to understand when a champion is valuable and when they start to fall off. This also allows you to understand how you should value your economy with the rolls you are getting. If this doesn’t work out or is too complex, then we will iterate in the future.

We evaluate a specific unit at a specific point in the game assuming it has a reasonable rank for that point and it’s in a comp that works for it.

If a unit usually carries and has good items, it is evaluated in that context since items are so integral to the game.

Please remember that TFT is highly situational so ALL units can be used. Explore and help us figure out the things we may have missed!

To learn about the latest new TFT Set, head to our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 7.5 reveal page that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

The post TFT Tier List: Best TFT Champions for Patch 12.19 appeared first on Mobalytics.

Dragonlands is getting it’s mid set update very soon. Uncharted Lands will be another hefty update similar to Set 6’s mid set update. As usual, this will be a rundown of all the new champions and traits coming, as well as what is leaving.

Keep in mind that the information for new champions are constantly being updated on the PBE. Our website will continually be updated, so make sure to check out the Champions Page to stay updated on any changes.

To explore the new augments, head to our Augments page. To see ALL the new changes, head to our all-in-one TFT page for Set 7.5.

TFT Set 7.5 Cheat Sheet

If you want a quick cheat sheet to reference before reading further, click here to enlarge. The info on this cheat sheet is subject to change during PBE, so don’t look too into it yet.

When does Set 7.5 Uncharted Realms go live?

Set 7.5 Uncharted Realms officially goes live on Thursday, September 8th with the launch of Patch 12.17.

Everything Leaving TFT Set 7

Here’s a list of the champions and traits we must say goodbye to:

Traits

• Revel
• Legend
• Trainer

Champions

• Tahm Kench
• Jinx
• Corki
• Sona
• Anivia
• Ornn
• Heimerdinger
• Tristana
• Lulu
• Taric
• Aatrox
• Ashe
• Kayn
• Nami
• Shen
• Thresh
• Elise
• Illaoi
• Ryze
• Swain
• Neeko
• Talon
• Pyke

TFT Set 7.5 Mechanics Update

As with most mid set updates, there are going to be some changes to the Set Mechanics. Here are the changes coming in 7.5.

Treasure Dragon Update

There are now two new Treasure Dragons that may appear in your games.

Chaos Treasure Dragon

This Treasure Dragon will have highly varied offerings.

Order Treasure Dragon

The Order Treasure Dragon will have a guaranteed Radiant item in every refresh, meaning the entire lobby with powerspike.

Dragon Trait Rework

You no longer need an Augment in order to run multiple Dragons. With the new mid set, Dragons can be run together and even gain more bonuses as more on put on the board.

TFT Set 7.5 New Traits

Astral

Before we get into the new traits, let’s talk about Astral a bit. Astral is being reworked to ideally be in a more balanced state in this upcoming set.

Bonus: After each player combat, gain an Astral Orb. The combined star level of your Astral champions increases the quality of the orb.

Astral champions also gain bonus Ability Power.

Champions: Nidalee, Skarner, Vladimir, Lux, Varus, Aurelion Sol

First Impressions:

So this definitely will make the Astral trait less toxic, but it does turn it into another basic economy trait. Will slow rolling still work with Astrals? Who knows. We’ll have to wait and see.

Darkflight

Bonus: The unit in the Darkflight hex is sacrificed at the start of combat, granting a copy of a random item they have to each Darkflight champion, and bonus health to each.

Non-craftable items and Emblems are corrupted when they’re copied, instead becoming Darkflight Essence.

Champions: Aphelios, Rell, Rengar, Swain Dragon Tyrant

First Impressions:

Off the bat, this trait is quite interesting. Putting a good flexible item on a throwaway unit will result in copying that item up to 4 times on all the Darkflight champions. Swain will be the most important to have a good item, but free item value is quite nice.

Dragon

Bonus: Innate: Require 2 team slots.

Dragons provide +3 to the marked trait, and gain additional bonuses based on how many Dragons are on your team.

Champions: Zippy, Nomsy, Daeja, Idas, Shi Oh Yu, Sy’fen, Swain, Sohm, Ao Shin, Shyvana, Terra, Aurelion Sol

First Impressions:

Dragons are back, but now you are also incentivized to build them together. There are even more Dragons to take into account, and their cost has also been reduced. It will be interesting to see how multi dragon comps work in the coming set.

Lagoon

Bonus:

Lagoon units gain bonus Ability Power and Attack Speed. A Seastone appears on the board that grants loot as Lagoon units cast Abilities over time.

Champions: Malphite, Taliyah, Kai’Sa, Zac, Seraphine, Zeri, Nilah, Sohm

First Impressions:

With Lagoon, we now have basically three different traits that have an economy aspect to them: Shimmerscale, Astral, and now Lagoon. This trait grants loot based on ability casts, so things like mana generation and attack speed will likely be good items for these units.

Monolith

Bonus: Monoliths create 3 hexes on the battlefield. Units standing in the hex at the start of combat gain 20% damage reduction.

Champions: Terra

First Impressions:

This is the new trait specific to the 8-cost Dragon Terra. Being that Monolith only has Dragon and Monolith trait, it will likely be the case that Terra will see play in multi Dragon comps. This way, the other Dragons can get the most effectiveness out of the 20% damage reduction.

Prodigy

Bonus: Nomsy gains a random trait each game, and summons a former Trainer with that same trait to aid her in battle. The Trainers’ Ability Power is always equal to Nomsy’s Ability Power. When Nomsy dies, Trainer gain massively increased Attack Speed.

Champions: Nomsy

First Impressions:

Nomsy is back, but this time, the roles are reversed. Nomsy will summon a Trainer rather than vice versa. It will be interesting to see how players adapt to the different traits Nomsy can be each game. I’m guessing Mage or Evoker will be the best one.

New Champions: Tips, First Impressions, and Positioning

Positioning Key

We’ll be giving basic positioning suggestions for every champion to get the ball rolling for you, but remember that positioning is incredibly contextual in TFT and to always adapt to the situation at hand.

The terminology we’ll be using in this article will be frontline, midline, and backline.

1-Cost Champions

Malphite

First Impressions: Malphite is a new frontline unit, and his ability is nothing particularly special. Just a little shield. His traits will be the most important thing about him. He will be an important pickup for Lagoon comps and Bruiser frontlines will suffice as early game units.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: There isn’t anything particular to note about Malphite. Pick him up early for some frontline and keep him if the traits are useful.

Nasus

First Impressions: For those of you that remember, this the same Nasus ability from back in Set 2. There may even be potential for a reroll Nasus Shimmerscale comp. Otherwise, he’s still a simple early game Guardian to use.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Nasus gaining health and dealing damage in an aura around him is a strong kit. Items like Bloodthirster can keep him healthy while an item like Morellonomicon can help burn down enemy tanks.

Taliyah

First Impressions: Taliyah is a new Lagoon Mage, and her ability seems to be a very simple damage ability. Nothing too special to see here.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Since Taliyah and Malphite are both 1-cost Lagoon units, it will be easy to pair them up to start of the Lagoon train. Mage will likely be the best Lagoon trait to invest into as Sohm, the Lagoon Dragon is a Mage.

Wukong

First Impressions: Wukong’s addition and replacement over Tariq now makes Jade a more interesting trait to pair alongside Warrior. Maybe there’s now potential with things like Jade Yone or Jade along with Olaf.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Keep in mind that Wukong’s ability has a stun on it. Try to position him in front of enemy frontline units with strong abilities to delay their cast.

2-Cost Champions

Aphelios

First Impressions: Aphelios is our new 2-cost Cannoneer that is replacing Tristana. Darkflight is also a very interesting new trait. It will be interesting to see how well Aphelios fits into Darkflight comps.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Aphelios has nice CC in his kit, so once again positioning him in a way that he targets important enemy units will be important.

Jax

First Impressions: Jax is another new addition to the Shimmerscale lineup. Not only that, but Jax has three traits, meaning he will likely be a strong unit to use in the early to mid game.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Jax has an ability very similar to Shen in that he will dodge attacks for a short duration. These types of abilities are always very powerful on units as they buy a lot of time. Even if Jax falls off in the late game, if he can at least cast his ability, he can contribute just as much as other frontline units.

Kai’Sa

First Impressions: Kai’Sa looks to be a powerful unit for the Lagoon trait. Her ability has natural damage scaling built into it, making her a high priority target for the early game. Kai’Sa will likely be a popular unit to test with early on.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Mana generation is extremely important for Kai’Sa as her ability scales the more times she casts it. This also synergizes directly with the Lagoon trait, making her the ideal Lagoon unit to build around it seems.

Lux

First Impressions: Lux is a new addition to the Astral trait, and is basically replacing Nami for that spot. Nami was great because she was also Mystic, but Lux is only Astral and Mage. There will likely still be Mage Asol comps, so Lux will likely be picked up for that reason.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Lux’s ability will target the furthest enemy. Use that to your advantage to try and deal more damage to enemy carries rather than tanks or throwaway units.

Rell

First Impressions: Rell is the only Darkflight unit that is catered toward being a frontline, so it would appear that Cavaliers may become the preferred frontline for Darkflight comps. Her ability is quite unique, but for the most part doesn’t seem to do anything overpowered.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Since Rell tethers to the lowest health ally, you can’t control too much who she targets. As such, you can simply place her anywhere you need frontline.

Zac

First Impressions: Zac is a Guardian that deals damage to surrounding enemies while also healing himself. This is a formula for a strong tank in the early to mid game. With items, Zac will likely even spam his ability a good amount of times, which is beneficial for Lagoon units.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Zac can only reach 2 hexes around him with his ability. It’s unlikely that Zac will be able to hit a lot of enemies, but try to position him so you get the most out of the ability damage.

Zyra

First Impressions: We’ve seen this Zyra ability back in Set 6, and this Zyra appears to be no different.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: The biggest tip about Zyra is more so when playing against her. You don’t want to just stack all of your backline units in the last row or else everyone will be hit by Zyra’s ability.

3-Cost Champions

Rakan

First Impressions: First of all, having three traits is always good. Secondly, having two traits that provide utility in Guardian and Mystic is huge. Rakan is likely an auto include in any Ragewing comp due to his traits. This doesn’t even factor into account his ability.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Positioning Rakan can be tricky since he will dash to “the furthest enemy in his attack range.” This wording is honestly pretty hard to adjust for in game. Don’t worry about it too much.

Rengar

First Impressions: A Darkflight Assassin is quite interesting, but the other Darkflight units don’t help Rengar out too much. However, any Assassin with a gap closing ability is bound to be pretty decent for some one shot potential.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Once again, this tip is for playing against Rengar. If you don’t want Rengar to jump your main carry. Try to build something like Edge of Night to give your carry some extra Armor.

Seraphine

First Impressions: Seraphine is a great utility unit, and once again, having 3 traits is always nice. Lagoon is an interesting trait as you may want to go heavy into Lagoon and less into other traits, but we will see how the meta shapes out.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Seraphine buffs up allies within 2 hexes, so make sure that Seraphine is somewhat in the center of your team comp.

Zeri

First Impressions: Zeri is an interesting unit. Lagoon and her ability make you want to build around things like Attack Speed and Ability Power, but her Cannoneer trait wants her to build more Attack Damage. I figure Zeri may be a bit underwhelming to build around, but I could be wrong.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: You want to place Zeri at a diagonal angle toward the enemy team comp. That way her laser will get the most damage out of it.

4-Cost Champions

Graves

First Impressions: Graves is an interesting carry contender. He is a hybrid between a ranged and melee carry. As with many melee range carries, he will suffer from issues of being CC’d or having to walk too much, but if his numbers are good enough, he can definitely carry.

Positioning: Midline

Tips: You don’t need to worry too much about positioning since Graves will dash around anyway, but you definitely don’t want him to take any initial aggro from enemies.

Jayce

First Impressions: We’ve seen Jayce in a hybrid melee and ranged form, but in this set, he is now a Shapeshifter. This is quite interesting, but he will definitely be a very powerful addition to any comp that uses Shapeshifter. Guild is very flexible to add bonus stats, and his ability is a strong CC.

Positioning: Midline / Frontline

Tips: So Jayce you can opt to place toward the front or the middle. If you want Jayce to cast faster, put him more toward the front where he can gain mana from being attacked. If you want a bit of a delay, you can place him further back. Also, remember to position Jayce wisely to get the most out of his stun.

Nilah

First Impressions: Nilah is a very interesting addition to the game. Her kit counters shields very heavily, and this may warp the meta. If shields are popular in the meta, Nilah will thrive. On the other hand, if Nilah is already strong, shields will become less meta as a result.

Positioning: Backline / Midline

Tips: Remember that Guardians shield themselves at the start of the fight. Positioning Nilah to target a Guardian is an easy way to get some extra damage from her ability.

Pantheon

First Impressions: Abilities like these in TFT that reduce enemy damage or dodge enemy attacks are always extremely powerful. On one hand, Pantheon deals more damage than a regular tank as a Warrior, but his ability allows him to be just as tanky as a frontline unit. This is very important for comps with less frontline.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Beware of Assassins jumping onto Pantheon as they can either bypass Pantheon’s shield, or they may ruin his AI targeting and make him shield in the wrong direction.

6-Cost Champions

Nomsy

First Impressions: Nomsy brings a lot of flavor to the game with him being a random trait each game out of Mage, Cannoneer, and Evoker. Nomsy will definitely be an addition to Mage or Cannoneer comps, you just won’t be able to force it every game due to how Nomsy works.

Positioning: Midline

Tips: Depending on the team comp, you may not want Nomsy to be the main tank, but rather the in between of tank and backline carry. Some comps you may just want Nomsy as a tank, and in other comps, you may even want Nomsy as the backline DPS.

Zippy

First Impressions: Zippy is a flexible Dragon that grants Armor and MR with their Guild trait. Zippy will mainly be used to interfere with enemy backline units, but it’s unsure how he will prioritize targeting when there are multiple full health enemies.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Zippy is a weird Dragon to analyze. Guild is a nice and flexible trait, but using up two team slots for some bonus stats and a tank doesn’t seem to be the best idea usually. We’ll have to see if Zippy will be good as a placeholder Dragon or if Zippy’s utility is enough to warrant the team slots. But maybe there is potential for a full Guild comp.

7-Cost Champions

Sohm

First Impressions: Sohm is a powerful Dragon who’s ability somewhat scales over time. Basically, his fourth cast will be a larger damage nuke and deal much more damage. You can either give Sohm lots of mana generation, or try and build a strong enough frontline to stall for Nohm. Sohm will no doubt be a focal point in Lagoon comps.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: It’s unclear how Sohm prioritizes enemies on the first three casts. Even still, try to position your board more spread out when playing against Sohm so you don’t have units sitting under multiple vortexes summoned by Sohm.

Swain, Dragon Tyrant

First Impressions: Swain is going to be that boss monster type Dragon that both tanks and deals a bunch of damage. His kit already gives him a lot of survivability, so expect Swain to be quite the satisfying carry to play. (Assuming him numbers aren’t underbalanced).

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Swain’s ability heals him based on missing health, so having items or augments that give him bonus health will help scale his healing as well. Items like Bloodthirster are also another great way to increase Swain’s survivability. Damage items are also good. Basically, Swain can use a lot of items.

8-Cost Champions

Terra

First Impressions: Terra appears to initially be another flexible Dragon that will likely see play in multiple Dragon comps. Terra is extremely tanky and provides utility to multiple units, making him the perfect Dragon to play alongside other Dragons.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: If Terra does see play outside of multi Dragon comps, it likely will be as a late game replacement for Idas in a comp that doesn’t rely on a Dragon.

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theory crafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 7.5 hits live!

To learn about the new TFT Set, head to our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 7.5 reveal page that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

The post TFT Set 7.5 Uncharted Realms: New Champions and Traits Revealed appeared first on Mobalytics.

Set 6.5 still has a ways to go, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be excited for the next set coming sometime in June.

We don’t know much information about the new set, but we have seen tidbits here and there from Mortdog himself.

Here’s a rundown of everything we know about Set 7 so far.

NOTE: The full reveal is out! Check out everything you need to know about Set 7 Dragonlands here.

Latest Dev Drop

We’ve just gotten a new update for the upcoming Dragonlands set. This video above will summarize all of the new information we know.

Dragons

We now know that the Dragon trait will be the flagship trait for Set 7. These units will be extra powerful and also cost more than regular 5-cost units. This is similar to how Lux was more expensive back in Set 2.

Dragons require 2 team slots, gains triple the bonus from their origin, and are only allowed one Dragon to have their trait active.

There should be 7 Dragons, and so far we know these:

• Aurelion Sol
• Shyvana
• Galio

Treasure Dragon Event

This event will be replacing the Raptors, and will be sort of like a huge Armory. You will get rewards that you can accept or refresh for 1 gold. We’ve had hints of an Armory system already, and this looks to be it.

Augments

Set 7 will bring back Augments, and instead of a Hexcore, players will have a Dragon Shrine. It’s basically the same thing.

Dev Drop

A bit ago, we got a short teaser of what’s to come in Set 7. We know the theme will be based around Dragons, and we see one champion leak with Illaoi.

A Mechanic Similar to Hextech Augments

They also briefly touch on the new mechanic. Although there are no details, they note that the mechanic will have a similar feel to that of Hextech Augments.

Set 7 Armory

If you played in Set 5, you will remember that the Armory mechanic allowed players to choose an item component at a few points in the game.

In one of Mortdog’s streams, he leaks that Set 7 will bring back the Armory mechanic, but in a better way.

Leaks

If you don’t know, China runs Teamfight Tactics on a separate client from League of Legends. Because of this, some people were able to datamine it to find leaks for Set 7.

Although these leaks may be accurate, they may also change as Set 7 draws closer. Don’t take this as a guarantee that these champions will return.

In this video, we see these champions coming in Set 7:

• Brand
• Kai’Sa
• Karma
• Lee Sin
• Sett
• Thresh
• Volibear
• Yasuo

A Riddle

The last thing we know as of right now is this very cryptic message from Mortdog. There’s gonna be some “large changes” that will show how much we “treasure” you.

Now that we have an updated Dev Drop, this hint seems to refer to the new Dragon Treasure Event.

The post Everything We Know about TFT Set 7: Dragonlands New Champions and Traits appeared first on Mobalytics.

Set 5 is coming to a close, and everyone is excited to try Set 6 out on the PBE server.

The new Hextech Augments mechanic will definitely change how the game is played every game.

As a result, the variance in this set will likely be higher than in Set 5.

Keep in mind that all of this information is subject to change during PBE testing.

For more information on the new set, head to our all-in-one TFT Set 6 reveal page!

If you’re looking for a handy reference for item/synergy combinations, check out our TFT Set 6 cheat sheet.

Jump to a section:

• New Traits
  • Origins
  • Classes
• New Champions
  • 1-cost
  • 2-cost
  • 3-cost
  • 4-cost
  • 5-cost
• New Mechanics
  • Hextech Augments

Set 6’s New TFT Traits

We have a whole slew of new Origins and Classes, so let’s get right into the new additions.

Set 6’s New TFT Origins

Academy

Bonus: Academics have bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power, and can learn from their allies, increasing this bonus whenever an ally casts an ability. (2,4,6,8)

Champions: Garen, Graves, Katarina, Leona, Lux, Yone, Yuumi

First Impressions: 

This trait is very similar to Spellweavers from Set 5 except this time the trait gives both AD and AP. Giving bonus stats is a very common trait bonus, which allow scaling items to be more effective on carries.

Chemtech

Bonus: After dropping below 60% Health, Chemtech champions gain 25% Damage Reduction, 50% Attack Speed, and regenerate 5% of their maximum Health each second. Breakpoints add to the duration of this effect. (3,5,7,9)

Champions: Singed, Twitch, Warwick, Lissandra, Zac, Dr. Mundo, Urgot, Viktor

First Impressions: 

If this buff lasted until the end of the fight, it would be broken. However, the units in the trait determine the duration of this effect. Even still, attack speed, damage reduction, and health regen are all great stats to have on any unit.

Cuddly

Bonus: Yuumi attaches herself to her nearest ally at start of combat, or to the lowest Health ally after being briefly unattached. Attaching grants the ally a shield equal to a portion of Yuumi’s maximum health, and Yuumi detaches if the shield is broken.

While attached Yuumi is untargetable and can’t attack, but gains mana per second, and whenever the ally attacks.

Champions: Yuumi

First Impressions: 

This trait is specifically for Yuumi, who will attach herself to allies. This trait can be extremely useful if you attach to a tank in the frontline. This will allow her to constantly attach herself to allies, giving your team more effective HP.

Clockwork

Bonus: All allies have increased Attack Speed, and additional Attack Speed for each Hextech Augment you own. (2,4,6)

Champions: Camille, Zilean,  Jhin, Orianna

First Impressions: 

This trait is quite simple and gives Champions attack speed. It will likely be a trait that you will fit 2 units in for some bonus attack speed for the team. Whether the 4 champions synergize together enough in a team comp will have to be seen.

Enforcer

Bonus:  Enforcers detain enemies at the start of combat, temporarily removing them from combat:

• (2) Detain the enemy who has the most Health.
• (4) Detain the enemy who dealt the most damage last combat.

Champions: Caitlyn, Vi, Fiora, Jayce

First Impressions: 

This trait seems very annoying to deal with, however, I wouldn’t call it OP or anything. The usefulness of this trait largely relies on the units. If the units are good, then this is simply something you have to play around. If it’s not, you likely won’t need to worry about it too much.

Glutton

Bonus:  Once per planning phase, you can feed a unit to Tahm Kench. This unit is consumed, granting permanent bonus stats. The more valuable the unit, the bigger the bonus. To feed Tahm Kench, hover a unit over him until his mouth opens, then release.

Champions: Tahm Kench

First Impressions: 

This is the trait for Tahm Kench, and it seems like a very fun one to use. Feeding Tahm Kench units just seems like a treat to do.

Imperial

Bonus: At the start of combat, the Imperial who dealt the most damage last combat becomes the Tyrant. The Tyrant deals bonus damage (3,5). When the Tyrant dies, the Imperial who has dealt the most damage this combat becomes the new Tyrant.

Champions: Swain, Talon, Samira, Sion

First Impressions: 

Imperial is finally making a comeback, but it looks a lot different than before. The bonus is quite strong as it automatically will go to your main carry with how it’s built.

Mercenary

Bonus:  Gain a treasure chest that opens when you win combat against a player. At the start of each planning phase, roll the dice to add more loot to the chest! The longer you’ve gone without opening the chest, the luckier the dice:

• (3) Roll two dice.
• (5) Roll a third dice that grants you a bonus orb right away.

Champions: Illaoi, Quinn, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Tahm Kench

First Impressions: 

Mercenary is the new economy trait just like Fortune and Draconic. This is much closer to Fortune in that you get a big payout once you win a round. Players will be very excited to try this out.

Mutant

Bonus: Mutants gain unique bonuses. These are different each game. (3,5)

Champions: Kassadin, KogMaw, ChoGath, Malzahar, Dr. Mundo, KaiSa

First Impressions: 

I can’t comment much on this trait since we don’t know what bonuses Mutant will come with.

Scrap

Bonus: At the start of combat, a number of incomplete components on Scrap champions turn into an ephemeral full item for that combat. Additionally, at the start of combat, Scrap champions gain a Health shield increasing with each item equipped in your army:

• (2) 1 incomplete component
• (4) 3 incomplete components
• (6) All incomplete components; Health bonus is doubled.

Champions: Ezreal, Ziggs, Blizcrank, Trundle, Ekko, Janna, Jinx

First Impressions: 

This trait is very unique and follows similarly to Cybernetic from Set 3. You’re incentivized with this trait to put item components on Champions to turn them into random full items. It’s a bit RNG, but at 4 Scrap units, this trait could provide a lot of value.

Sister

Bonus: (2) Sisters are empowered by trying to one-up each other.
Vi’s ability range increases by two hexes. Jinx gains stacking Attack Speed for 3 seconds on takedown.

Champions: Vi, Jinx

First Impressions: 

This trait basically screams to always pair Jinx with Vi and vice versa. Vi slow roll can potentiall be a comp that is further buffed by Jinx. Jinx is already a strong 5-cost, so pairing her with Vi increases her strength.

Socialite

Bonus: Socialite reveal a spotlight on the battlefield. The unit standing in the spotlight at the start of combat gains unique bonuses:

• (1) Bonus Damage
• (2) Bonus Mana Regen
• (3) Bonus Omnivamp.

Champions: Taric, Seraphine, Galio

First Impressions: 

This trait is very similar to Coven from Set 4, except it’s unclear where the spotlight will appear. You’ll also need either Galio (a 5-cost) or a Hextech Augment to reach 3 Socialite, so keep that in mind.

Syndicate

Bonus: Chosen allies are cloaked in shadows, gaining Omnivamp, Armor, and Magic Resistance:

• (3) The Syndicate champion with the lowest current Health.
• (5) All Syndicate champions
• (7) All Allies. All bonuses are increased.

Champions: Darius, Twisted Fate, Zyra, Shaco, Braum, Akali

First Impressions: 

Syndicate is a very simple vertical trait that gives a solid bonus. The buff is quite useful as it will jump from your frontline to back with how it’s determined through low current health.

Yordle

Bonus: Yordles created more Yordles and reduce mana costs:

• (3) After combat with a player, a random free Yordle appears on your bench!
• (6) Yordle’s mana cost are reduced. “

Champions: Poppy, Ziggs, Tristana, Lulu, Heimerdinger, Vex

First Impressions: 

This is another economic trait being added to the game. 3 Yordles will be like Draconic in that you get more Yordles as the game progresses. This will definitely make players interested in slow rolling this comp with early Yordles.

Set 6’s New TFT Classes

Arcanist

Bonus:  Allies have increased Ability Power:

• (2) All allies gain Ability Power.
• (4) Arcanists gain additional Ability Power.
• (6) All allies even more AP. Arcanists gain an additional 50%.
• (8) All allies gain a ton of Ability Power.”

Champions: Twisted Fate, Ziggs, Swain, Malzahar, Vex, Lux, Viktor

First Impressions: 

This seems to be the premier trait for magic damage. A simple AP buff, but it can be very effective when paired with scaling items like Jeweled Gauntlet.

Assassin

Bonus: Innate: Assassins jump to the enemy backline at the start of combat. Assassins’ Abilities can critically strike, and they gain bonus Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage. (2,4,6)

Champions: 1g Twitch, 2g Katarina, 2g Talon, 3g Ekko, 3g Shaco, 5g Akali

First Impressions: 

It wouldn’t be TFT without some form of Assassin. We’ve seen Assassins time and time again, so not much to comment on here.

Bruiser

Bonus: All allies have increased Health. Bruisers gain double this bonus. (2,4,6,8)

Champions: 1g Illaoi, 2g Trundle, 2g Vi, 3g Cho’Gath, 3g Zac, 4g Dr. Mundo, 5g Tahm Kench

First Impressions: 

Bruisers are a new take on the classic Brawler trait giving more HP to units. Brawlers haven’t been favored over traits that give Armor, but this may change things.

Bodyguard

Bonus: Bodyguards have increased Armor (2,4,6,8). Shorly after combat begins, Bodyguards taunt adjacent enemies.

Champions: Darius,  Poppy, Blizcrank, Leona, Braum, Galio

First Impressions: 

Bodyguards are the new Knight/Vanguard trait that have bonus Armor. Instead of Magic Resist, though, they instead have a taunt which will be very effective against Assassins.

Colossus

Bonus: Innate: Colossus are bigger, more powerful, and take up two slots in your army:

• (1) Colossus are immune to Crowd Control effects.
• (2) Colossus take reduced damage.

Champions: Cho’Gath, Sion, Galio

First Impressions: 

This is a trait we’ve something nothing like before. Two unit slots is a heavy price to pay, but the units may be worth it.

Challenger

Bonus: Challengers have increased Attack Speed (2,4,6,8). Upon landing a takedown on their target, challengers will dash to a new target, doubling this bonus for 2.5 seconds.

Champions: Camille, Quinn, Warwick, Samira, Fiora, Yone, Kai’Sa

First Impressions: 

Challengers are similar to traits from the past like Duelist, except takedowns allow them to dash to targets. This helps them as most of them are melee units and mobility helps a lot.

Enchanter

Bonus: Enchanters’ healing and shielding are stronger, and all Allies gain increased Magic Resistance. (2,3,4,5)

Champions: Lulu, Taric, Janna, Orianna

First Impressions: 

Mystics have been updated and now increase their own healing and shielding. This is quite an interesting thing to add as they now are stronger the more Enchanters you have, but are not as strong by themselves.

Innovator

Bonus: Innovators build a mechanical companion to join their battle:

• (3) Mechanical Scarab
• (5) Mechanical Bear
• (7) Mechanical Dragon

Champions: Ezreal, Singed, Zilean, Heimerdinger, Seraphine, Jayce

First Impressions: 

Summoning units is always fun in TFT and these Mechanical summons will definitely be interesting. We don’t know what they do yet, but we’ll find out soon enough.

Protector

Bonus: Protectors shield themselves for 4 seconds whenever they cast a spell. This shield scales with max Health and trait breakpoints (2,3,4,5). The shield doesn’t stack.

Champions: Garen, Kassadin, Blizcrank, Sion

First Impressions: 

This trait doesn’t seem to be extremely strong, but it can be quite strong early game as the HP can make it difficult to take down the units.

Scholar

Bonus: All allies restore some mana (2,4,6) every 2 seconds.

Champions: Zyra, Heimerdinger, Lissandra, Janna, Yuumi

First Impressions: 

This trait will be an obvious pair with any Arcanist comp to give all allies more mana generation.

Sniper

Bonus: Snipers deal bonus damage (2,4,6) for each hex between themselves and their target.

Champions: Caitlyn, Kog’Maw, Tristana, Miss Fortune, Jhin

First Impressions: 

Snipers are back, and more importantly, Jhin is back. He was quite the strong carry in both Set 3 and 4, so he likely will make a strong comp in the new set.

Twinshot

Bonus: Whenever a Twinshot attacks, they have a chance (2,4,6) to attack twice instead.

Champions: Graves, Kog’Maw, Gangplank, Urgot, Jinx

First Impressions: 

This trait interests me, but it comes with some caveats. This is basically another form of attack speed, but also scales with any on hit effects. This also scales with attack speed, so doubling down essentially.

Transformer

Bonus: Transformers have two forms that they can swap in from during planning phase depending on whether they are placed in the frontline or backline.

Champions: Jayce

First Impressions: 

Jayce can transform between a ranged and melee unit, making him an interesting unit to try out. He may be able to fit into many situations with his different skills.

Set 6’s New TFT Champions

Ready to dive into the new Set 6 champions?

We’ll cover their abilities, likely position within a formation, and our first impressions.

Positioning Key

The terminology we’ll be using in this article in reference to a champion’s potential position will be frontline, midline, and backline.

1-Cost Champions

Caitlyn – Enforcer Sniper

Ability (Ace in the Hole): Caitlyn takes aim at the farthest enemy, firing a deadly bullet towards them that deals 800/1200/2000 magic damage to the first enemy it hits.

First Impressions:

Caitlyn is coming back with the same ability as in Set 3. We’ve seen her be quite strong in Set 3, and this new set is no different. The high magic damage is very strong in early fights when there are only a few units on the board.

Positioning: Backline

Camille – Clockwork Challenger

Ability (Defensive Sweep): Camille gains a shield blocking 300/400/600 damage over 4 seconds, then sweeps her leg, dealing 150/200/300 magic damage to enemies in a cone.

First Impressions:

Camille fits the role of a frontline unit that does a little more damage than just a tank. How strong she is early largely depends on how well she can synergize with 3/4 other units.

Positioning: Frontline

Darius – Syndicate Bodyguard

Ability (Decimate): Darius swings his axe in a circle, dealing 100/150/200 magic damage and healing himself for 50/75/100 health for each enemy hit.

First Impressions:

Darius can be very strong in the early game as he can heal a lot from enemies with his ability. Instead of being a pure tank, he deals damage and heals.

Positioning: Frontline

Ezreal – Scrap Innovator

Ability (Mystic Shot): Ezreal fires a missile at his target, dealing 125/200/350 magic damage. If the missile hits, he grants himself 30% bonus stacking attack speed, up to 150% at 5 stacks.

First Impressions:

Ezreal hasn’t seen himself in much of TFT yet, and his kit this time is quite unique. He will benefit from a lot of different items, which can make him a versatile early game unit.

Positioning: Backline

Garen – Academy Protector

Ability (Decisive Strike): Garen shrugs off all Crowd Control effects, empowering his next strike to deal 225%% of his Attack Damage, plus an additional 20/25/30% of his missing Health in bonus physical damage. This ability can be cast while stunned.

First Impressions:

Being able to cast an ability while stunned is very unique. Garen is yet another frontline that deals a solid amount of damage rather than being a pure tank.

Positioning: Frontline

Graves – Academy Twinshot

Ability (Smoke Grenade): Graves launches a smoke grenade toward the enemy with the highest Attack Speed. The grenade explodes on impact dealing 150/250/400 magic damage to nearby enemies, and Disarms enemies who remain within the smoke cloud for 2/2.5/3 seconds.

First Impressions:

Smoke Grenade will definitely be a very annoying skill to deal with. It will target enemies with the highest attack speed, so it likely will hit enemy backline carries.

Positioning: Frontline

Illaoi – Mercenary Bruiser

Ability (Harsh Lesson): Illaoi slams her target, linking their souls for 5 seconds and dealing 175/300/500 magic damage. While linked, Illaoi is healed for 30/35/40%% of the damage taken by her target.

First Impressions:

What’s interesting about Illaoi is that she heals based on the damage the linked enemy takes rather than how much damage she does. That means if your team deals a lot of damage, she will be able to heal a lot even if she doesn’t have any items or scaling.

Positioning: Frontline

Kassadin – Mutant Protector

Ability (Null Sphere): Kassadin fires an orb of void energy at his target, dealing 200/275/340 magic damage, applying 35/50/65%% Mana Reave, and granting Kassadin a shield that reduces incoming damage by 30%% for 4 seconds.

First Impressions:

Kassadin is a Protector just like Garen, so they will synergize together early game. His ability is quite simple, but stacks with his Protector shield to make him even tankier.

Positioning: Frontline

Poppy – Yordle Bodyguard

Ability (Buckler Toss): Poppy throws her buckler at the farthest enemy, dealing 200/250/300%% of her Armor as magic damage. The buckler then bounces back, granting Poppy a shield that blocks 250/375/525 damage.

First Impressions:

We’ve seen Poppy with this ability a couple times now, so there’s nothing particularly new about this. It’s unlikely that “Candyland” will come back, but she’ll likely just be a solid frontline unit.

Positioning: Frontline

Singed – Chemtech Innovator

Ability (Fling): Singed flings a nearby enemy towards the largest cluster of enemies, stunning his target for 1.5/2/2.5 seconds when they land. All adjacent enemies take 125/175/250 magic damage and are briefly stunned.

First Impressions:

Singed is able to punish enemies that group their units together on the board. Being able to fling a frontline away while also potentially stunning backline units can be quite useful.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Twisted Fate – Syndicate Arcanist

Ability (Wild Cards): Twisted Fate throws three cards in a cone that deal 150/225/300 magic damage to each enemy they pass through.

First Impressions:

Twisted Fate is a simple early game magic damage dealer. He won’t be amazing, but he will likely be a solid item holder assuming Arcanists are good.

Positioning: Backline / Midline

Twitch – Chemtech Assassin

Ability (Piercing Bolt): Twitch fires a powerful bolt towards his target that pierces through enemies hit, dealing 175/185/200% of his Attack Damage as physical damage and applying 50% Grievous Wounds for 5 seconds.

First Impressions:

Twitch will be an interesting unit to use. He is a ranged Assassin, so positioning him can be quite open. However, positioning him so that his ability hits many enemies will be harder to achieve.

Positioning: Backline

Ziggs – Scrap Yordle Arcanist

Ability (Mini Inferno Bomb): Ziggs hurls a bomb at his target. After a moderate delay, the bomb lands dealing 250/350/475 magic damage to the enemy in the epicenter, and half to adjacent enemies.

First Impressions:

A 1-cost unit having 3 traits is very interesting. He is a Yordle, making him attractive for Yordle comps, while Scrap is also a strong early game trait. Arcanists make him nice to pair with other Arcanists, so he has a lot of early game options to pair with.

Positioning: Backline

2-Cost Champions

Blitzcrank – Scrap Protector Bodyguard

Ability (Rocket Grab): Blitzcrank pulls the farthest enemy, dealing 200/350/999 magic damage and stunning them for 2.5 seconds. His next attack after pulling knocks up for 1 second. Allies within range will prefer to attack Blitzcrank’s target.

First Impressions:

Blitzcrank is finally back, so enemies can no longer afford to corner their carry every game. Banshee’s Claw makes Blitzcrank less strong than previous sets, but he still will warp the positioning meta game.

Positioning: Backline / Midline / Frontline

Katarina – Academy Assassin

Ability (Shunpo): Katarina blinks behind the enemy with the lowest Health within three hexes and slashes all adjacent enemies, dealing magic damage. For each enemy this kills, Katarina is refunded mana.

First Impressions:

Assassins with any type of blink or teleport ability can be very annoying to deal with. Katarina refunds mana on kill, so she may not need Blue Buff, but it may provide more consistency.

Positioning: Backline

Kog’Maw – Mutant Sniper Twinshot

Ability (Barrage): For 3 seconds, Kog’Maw gains infinite Attack Range, 80% Attack Speed, and his attacks deal 3/4/6% of the target’s maximum Health as bonus magic damage.

First Impressions:

Kog’Maw’s kit synergizes very well with itself. Attack speed makes him attack more with Twinshot, while the increased range makes him deal more damage with Sniper. Mutant is just the cherry on top.

Positioning: Backline

Lulu – Yordle Enchanter

Ability (Wild Growth): Lulu embiggens 1/2/3 low Health allies, granting them 300/350/400 bonus Health and knocking up enemies near them. If the ally is already embiggened, they are healed instead.

First Impressions:

Lulu is coming back with the same ability as Set 4. She no longer CC’s enemy units, but the increased health can make teams very hard to take down with an early Lulu 2.

Positioning: Backline / Midline

Quinn – Mercenary Challenger

Ability (Disarming Assault): Quinn sends Valor out at her target, dealing 150/250/350 magic damage to the target and nearby enemies. The main target is disarmed for 3 seconds and all nearby enemies have their Attack Damage reduced by 40/40/80% for 4 seconds.

First Impressions:

Quinn doesn’t really appear to be a carry candidate, but she will be an important pickup for anyone trying to play Mercenary for that juicy loot.

Positioning: Backline

Swain – Imperial Arcanist

Ability (Death’s Hand): Swain unleashes piercing bolts of eldritch power in a cone towards his target, dealing 300/425/575 magic damage to enemies within and healing Swain for 200/275/350 for each enemy hit.

First Impressions:

Swain is a nice frontline Arcanist as he doesn’t have defensive traits, but his ability heals him. He will be a nice addition for any Arcanist team as those teams usually lack frontline.

Positioning: Frontline

Talon – Imperial Assassin

Ability (Blade’s End): Passive: Talon’s first attack on an enemy causes them to bleed for 450/600/1000 magic damage over 7 seconds. Every third attack on a target applies an additional bleed.

First Impressions:

I’m not the biggest fan of Talon as Assassins usually want to burst down enemies rather than deal slow damage. However, his bleed damage can be very strong, especially if it crits.

Positioning: Backline

Tristana – Yordle Sniper

Ability (Buster Shot): Tristana fires a massive cannonball towards her target, dealing 200/210/225% of her Attack Damage plus 150/200/250 physical damage to the first enemy it hits. If the target is within two hexes of Tristana, they’re knocked back 1/2/3 hexes and briefly stunned.

First Impressions:

Tristana doesn’t seem to be particularly strong, but her Buster Shot can be very useful to deal with things like Assassins or even in fights when your frontline is gone.

Positioning: Backline

Trundle – Scrap Bruiser

Ability (Chomp): Trundle bites his target dealing 175% of his Attack Damage, applying 50% AS Slow for 3 seconds, and stealing 20/30/50 Attack Damage for the rest of combat.

First Impressions:

Trundle is a Bruiser that can become quite scary if the fight goes on long enough. The more he casts his ability, the more damage he will build up.

Positioning: Frontline

Vi – Enforcer Sister Bruiser

Ability (Denting Blow): Vi empowers her next attack to blast through her target, dealing 350/500/750 magic damage to all enemies in a cone and reducing their Armor by 40/50/70% for 8 seconds.

First Impressions: 

Vi is a solid frontline that helps deal with enemy frontlines that have armor. This incentivizes players to build Attack Damage team comps along with Vi.

Positioning: Frontline

Warwick – Chemtech Challenger

Ability (Eternal Hunger): Passive: Warwick’s Attacks deal an additional 6/9/12% of his target’s current Health as bonus magic damage, and heal him for the damage dealt.

First Impressions: Warwick can be quite scary as his ability makes his attacks deal magic damage. Since Challengers mostly deal attack damage, he can provide a solid amount of magic damage to help with enemies with high Armor.

Positioning: Frontline

Zilean – Clockwork Innovator

Ability (Time Bomb): Zilean places a bomb on the closest enemy, Stunning them for 1.5/2/2.5 seconds. When the stun ends, or the target dies, the bomb explodes dealing 200/300/450 magic damage to adjacent enemies and applying 20/35/50% AS Slow for 3 seconds.

First Impressions:

My only complaint about Zilean is that he targets the closest enemy. It can be useful to stun enemy frontlines, but hitting backlines would be better. It would be funny to pair him with Tristana to Buster Shot a Time Bomb to the enemy backline.

Positioning: Backline

Zyra – Syndicate Scholar

Ability (Grasping Spines): Zyra summons vines in the row with the most enemies, dealing 200/300/500 magic damage and stunning for 1.5/2/2.5 seconds.

First Impressions:

Zyra is the first unit I can think of that deals damage to an entire row of enemies. This will definitely be something players will need to position around to avoid getting their carry stunned.

Positioning: Backline

3-Cost Champions

Cho’Gath – Mutant Colossus Bruiser

Ability (Feast): Cho’Gath devours the lowest Health enemy within range, dealing 500/750/1500 magic damage. If this kills the target, Cho’Gath gains a stack of Feast, up to 6/12/999. Each stack of Feast grants 2% bonus Health and size permanently.

First Impressions:

The first Colossus unit is Cho’Gath and he looks very fun to play with. He will take up two unit slots, but he has the potential to turn into an extremely high health monster. Make sure to build a Giant Slayer if you’re playing against him.

Positioning: Frontline

Ekko – Scrap Assassin

Ability (Parallel Convergence): Ekko invokes an afterimage that bats a device towards the largest group of units. Upon landing, it deals 200/325/450 magic damage to enemies within and applies 35/35/50%% Slow for 4 seconds. Allies inside gain 30/50/70% Attack Speed for 4 seconds.

First Impressions:

Ekko is a great Assassin that provides a bit of utility. His ability says the largest group of units rather than enemies, so he incentivizes good positioning with Assassins. If most of your Assassins jump to the enemy carries, Ekko will very likely cast his ability toward them, slowing enemies and buffing allies.

Positioning: Backline

Gangplank – Mercenary Twinshot

Ability (Parrrley): Gangplank shoots his target, dealing 225/250/300% percent of his Attack Damage. If this kills a champion, Gangplank plunders 1 gold.

First Impressions: 

Usually when Champions abilities scale with Attack Damage, they also scale with other on hit effects. I hope this means that his ability works with Twinshot, but I’m not certain. Even still, he will be fun to use in Mercenary team comps as yet another way to gain extra economy.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Heimerdinger – Yordle Scholar Innovator

Ability (Rocket Swarm): Heimerdinger fires 3 waves of five rockets that converge on his target. Each rocket deals 30/45/75 magic damage, reduced by 30% for each target they hit. Each successive cast fires an additional wave of rockets, up to 10.

First Impressions:

Heimerdinger clearly is a unit that you want to cast multiple times throughout the fight. We don’t know his exact mana pool yet, but he likely will need mana generation like Blue Buff to scale his ability up.

Positioning: Backline

Leona – Academy Bodyguard

Ability (Solar Eclipse): Leona calls down a beacon of light upon herself, granting herself a 500/800/1300 Health shield for 4 seconds. Leona and all allies within two hexes gain 30/50/80 Armor and Magic Resistance for the same duration.

First Impressions:

Leona finally is not a 1-cost unit. She seems to be quite a strong frontline unit, but she doesn’t provide much CC which is very crucial for late game frontline units.

Positioning: Frontline

Lissandra – Chemtech Scholar

Ability (Iron Maiden): Lissandra encases her target in an iron maiden, stunning them for 1.5 seconds and dealing 250/400/700 magic damage to enemies within a large area. If Lissandra is below 50% Health, she encases herself instead, dealing damage to surrounding enemies and becoming untargetable and invulnerable for 2 seconds. Damage from this ability applies 40% Attack Damage reduction for 5 seconds.

First Impressions:

Lissandra is another unit that can be on the frontline even if she isn’t very tanky. Her ability is very strong against enemies, and can be used as a way to save herself. This also makes Guardian Angel a very strong item on her.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Malzahar – Mutant Arcanist

Ability (Malefic Visions): Malzahar infects the mind of the closest unafflicted target, dealing 800/1100/1500 magic damage over 8 seconds and applying 40% Magic Resistance shred for the duration. If an afflicted target dies, Malefic Visions spreads to the nearest 1/1/2 unafflicted targets with the remaining duration.

First Impressions:

Damage over time usually isn’t super amazing unless he can cast his ability quite often. However, being able to save the overkill damage to spread to other units makes him a very efficient damage dealer. The magic resistance shred also increases the damage he does as well as his allies.

Positioning: Backline

Miss Fortune – Mercenary Sniper

Ability (Make it Rain): Miss Fortune rains 4 waves of bullets down around a random enemy, dealing 200/300/450 total magic damage to enemies in the area and reducing their incoming healing by 50% for 6 seconds.

First Impressions:

The Sniper trait lets Miss Fortune deal bonus damage based on their distance, which should scale with her ability as well. We’ve seen Miss Fortune be a strong carry in Set 5, so she potentially could do the same in this set.

Positioning: Backline

Samira – Imperial Challenger

Ability (Flair): If a target is adjacent to Samira, she slashes with her blade in a cone towards them dealing 150/160/175%% of her Attack Damage as physical damage to all enemies within and reducing their Armor by 5/10/15. This armor reduction can stack. Otherwise, she fires an empowered shot at her target with the same effects and refunds 20 mana.

First Impressions:

Samira is an interesting carry to say the least. She has the Challenger trait meaning she will dash to another target after a takedown. Even if you position her in the backline, she will inevitably dash in after ramping up a bit.

Positioning: Midline / Backline

Shaco – Syndicate Assassin

Ability (Deceive): Shaco dips into the shadows, briefly becoming untargetable. His next attack is empowered to deal 250/260/275% of his Attack Damage as physical damage, and is guaranteed to critically strike targets below 50% Health.

First Impressions:

Shaco will be a very annoying unit to deal with his Deceive ability. The fact that he is guaranteed to critically strike is a bit out of place in my opinion. Every Assassin carry wants Infinity Edge which guarantees a crit anyway, so this seems a bit unnecessary.

Positioning: Backline

Taric – Socialite Enchanter

Ability (Starlight Bastion): Taric heals himself and the lowest Health ally for 200/300/600. Any overhealing is converted to a shield that lasts 4 seconds.

First Impressions: 

Taric is definitely a nice unit to have on any team since he has the Enchanter trait. This makes him very flexible as he has a flexible trait and can be used for frontline.

Positioning: Frontline

Zac – Chemtech Bruiser

Ability (Yoink!): Zac stretches his arms up to three hexes to pull the two most distant enemies towards him, dealing 450/600/999 magic damage. Zac takes 60/70/80% less damage while using this ability.

First Impressions:

Zac being able to pull in enemies makes him yet another unit to have to position around. With other units like Blitzcrank in the game, this will make positioning more intense than before.

Positioning: Frontline

Vex – Yordle Arcanist

Ability (Personal Space): Vex shields herself against 500/700/900 damage over 4 seconds. When the shield expires, it deals 150/250/350 magic damage to all enemies within 2 hexes, and an additional 150/250/350 damage if it wasn’t destroyed. If it was destroyed, Personal Space becomes 25% stronger this combat. This effect can stack.

First Impressions:

Vex is another Arcanist that can act as a frontline unit with her shield. This makes Arcanist a very high damage comp with frontline units that are also dealing magic damage.

Positioning: Frontline

4-Cost Champions

Braum – Syndicate Bodyguard

Ability (Vault Breaker): Braum slams his vault door into the ground, creating a fissure towards his target. Enemies within two hexes of Braum and those struck by the fissure are stunned for 2.5/3.5/7 seconds and take 100/125/1000 magic damage.

First Impressions: Braum will very likely be a strong frontline unit as his kit provides a lot of CC. However, it’s unlikely that his ability will be able to reach backline enemies, but he will still be strong against low range enemies.

Positioning: Frontline

Dr. Mundo – Chemtech Mutant Bruiser

Ability (Zap Dose): Dr. Mundo injects himself with “medicine”, restoring 20% of his maximum Health and becoming energized for 6 seconds. While energized, he restores an additional 65/75/200%% of his maximum Health over the duration and deals 30/50/100 magic damage per second to a random nearby enemy. At the end of the spell, Dr. Mundo expels a burst of electricity that deals 20/25/30% of his current Health as magic damage to all enemies within two hexes.

First Impressions:

Mundo has an ability that scales with Health which also synergizes with the Bruiser trait. He will become quite the frontline unit with the insane amount of health he can have and regenerate.

Positioning:

Fiora – Enforcer Challenger

Ability (Blade Waltz): Fiora becomes untargetable as she strikes her target’s vitals four times. Each strike deals 200% of her Attack Damage as physical damage, 75/125/400 bonus true damage, and heals her for 15%% of the total damage dealt. If the target dies, Fiora will change targets to the nearest enemy.

First Impressions:

Fiora is the 4-cost melee carry of the set, and she looks to be quite powerful. Being able to become untargetable makes her difficult to take down, and her Challenger trait allows her to be mobile.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Janna – Scrap Enchanter Scholar

Ability (Monsoon): Janna summons a Monsoon, healing all allies for 400/550/2000 Health over 3 seconds. When the spell is cast, nearby enemies are knocked back and stunned for 1/1/4 second.

First Impressions:

Janna is a very powerful unit against Assassins, but if there are no Assassins, she will still be a solid unit to have. The heal is quite useful, and the Enchanter trait also makes her very flexible.

Positioning: Backline / Midline

Jhin – Clockwork Sniper

Ability (Curtain Call): Passive: Jhin always attacks .9/.9/1.4 times per second. He converts each 1% of bonus Attack Speed into .8 Attack Damage. Jhin transforms his weapon into a powerful sniper rifle for his next four shots. Each shot deals 175/250/444% of his Attack Damage as physical damage, reduced by 33%% for each target they pierce through. The fourth shot is guaranteed to critically strike, and deals 44% more damage based on his target’s missing Health.”

First Impressions:

Jhin has a different ability than we’ve seen so far in that it actually deals damage instead of being an empowered auto attack. The ability gives some AoE, but we’ll need to see it in action before knowing how powerful it is.

Positioning: Backline

Lux – Academy Arcanist

Ability (Final Spark): After gathering energy, Lux fires a beam towards the farthest enemy target, dealing 350/500/1337 magic damage and applying 40/40/80%% Attack Damage reduction for 4 seconds.

First Impressions: 

Lux is the 4-cost Arcanist carry, and her ability seems decent. She will be like Vel’Koz in that you will want to line her up opposite of enemy carries to hit as many enemies as possible with her beam.

Positioning: Backline

Orianna – Clockwork Enchanter

Ability (Command: Shockwave): Orianna sends out her ball towards the largest group of champions, then commands it to release a shockwave. Allies within two hexes gain 175/375/750 shield for 4 seconds, while enemies within the area are briefly knocked up and dealt 350/550/1500 magic damage. Enemies adjacent to the ball are drawn in, stunning them for 1.5/1.5/5 seconds.

First Impressions:

Orianna provides a very strong unit for Clockwork team comps. Her ability provides a lot of utility and damage, and she also provides Enchanter, giving the team some extra magic resist.

Positioning: Backline

Seraphine – Socialite Innovator

Ability (Encore): Seraphine projects her song towards the largest group of units. The song deals 200/300/1000 magic damage to enemies and applies 35/35/50% Attack Speed slow for 4 seconds. Allies it passes through are healed for 200/300/1000 Health and gain 30/50/100% Attack Speed for 4 seconds.

First Impressions:

Seraphine is another unit that provides an ability that does it all. It deals damage, buffs allies, and debuffs enemies. The most important thing with Seraphine will be positioning her so that you can get the most value out of her ability.

Positioning: Backline

Sion – Imperial Protector Colossus

Ability (Decimating Smash): Sion winds up for a moment, then smashes his axe down. All enemies within a large area are knocked up, stunned for 1/1.5/4 seconds, and dealt 400/600/2500 magic damage.

First Impressions:

The second Colossus unit we see is Sion. His ability is quite simple, but we will need to see how large the AoE is to see just how menacing he can be.

Positioning: Frontline

Yone – Academy Challenger

Ability (Soul Unbound): Yone summons his spirit to attack distant enemies for 4/5/20 seconds. The spirit is an untargetable, invulnerable copy of Yone and heals him for 40/50/100% of the damage it deals. If Yone dies, his spirit dies with him.

First Impressions:

Yone is another 4-cost Challenger carry, and his kit allows him to bypass the need for healing. This means you can build him extremely offensively to push through as much damage as possible. I’m also curious to see if Guardian Angel will allow his spirit to continue attacking.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Urgot – Chemtech Twinshot

Ability (Purge): For the next 5 seconds, Urgot attacks the closest enemy at a fixed rate of 5/7/15 attacks per second. Each attack deals 30% AD * 30% AS physical damage. (This ability’s damage scales with Attack Damage and Attack Speed.)

First Impressions:

Urgot is an interesting unit as he is usually a tanky damage dealer, but his Twinshot trait makes players incentivized to place him further away from enemies.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

5-Cost Champions

Akali – Syndicate Assassin

Ability (Perfect Execution): Akali dashes through the most enemies in a line, dealing 225/350/2000 magic damage as she passes through and marking them for 7 seconds. When a marked target drops below 15/25/90% Health, Akali will dash through them, executing enemies below that Health threshold and dealing 225/350/2000 magic damage to all other enemies she passes through.

First Impressions:

Akali looks to be an insane 5-cost carry for Assassin team comps. Viego was a 5-cost Assassin, but he was more utility than damage. Akali looks to be a main carry if you are able to find her.

Positioning: Backline

Galio – Socialite Colossus Bodyguard

Ability (Colossal Entrance): Passive: Galio’s critical strikes slam the ground, dealing 100/150/500 bonus magic damage to enemies around his target. Galio becomes invulnerable and leaps into the sky before crashing down on the largest group of enemies. Enemies within a large radius 200/300/2000 magic damage and are knocked into the sky. The lower the enemy’s maximum Health is compared to Galio’s, the further they are knocked up.”

First Impressions:

Galio has a very strong CC ability, but is limited by the fact he is Colossus. Having 2 unit slots to fit him in the late game is a tall order to ask.

Positioning: Frontline

Jayce – Enforcer Transformer Innovator

Ability (Mercury Cannon/Mercury Hammer): Melee form: Jayce swipes his hammer twice before slamming down on his target, dealing damage and shredding their resistances.

Ranged form: Jayce deploys an acceleration gate, granting allies in the same row bonus Attack Speed and empowering his next three attacks with electricity.

First Impressions:

Jayce is very interesting as he has two forms that you can choose from. For the most part, ranged damage is usually preffered, but we will see how strong his melee form is before making a judgment.

Positioning: Frontline / Backline

Jinx – Sister Scrap Twinshot

Ability (Super Mega Death Rocket): Jinx rides her rocket high into the sky. After a moderate delay, she comes crashing down near the center-most enemy, dealing 400/600/3000 magic damage to enemies around the epicenter, and 50% of the damage to all other enemies in a large area. The epicenter is left burning for the rest of combat, applying a 2/2.5/3% Burn to friends and foes who remain inside other than Jinx.”

First Impressions:

Jinx is quite the monster. Her ability deals a lot of damage, but makes her jump right into danger. Even still, with the right items and team comp, she can probably carry many late game team fights.

Positioning: Backline

Kai’Sa – Mutant Challenger

Ability (Icathian Monsoon): Kai’sa dashes to the hex furthest from all enemies. She then fires a volley of 14/18/40 missiles spread evenly among all enemies that deal 50/75/150 magic damage each. For each time Kai’Sa has attacked this combat, she’ll fire an additional missile.

First Impressions:

Kai’Sa seems like a very scary unit to play against. She has Challenger which makes her very mobile, and her ability also takes her away from danger. As the fight goes on, her ability will deal more and more damage, making her a scary scaling carry.

Positioning: Backline

Tahm Kench – Mercenary Glutton Bruiser

Ability (Devour): Tahm Kench devours his target, storing them in his belly for 3 seconds and dealing 1000/2000/30000 magic damage damage over the duration. During this time, they are invulnerable to other sources of damage and Tahm Kench takes 40%% reduced damage. If they die while inside, Tahm Kench spits out a random item component they were holding, or the cost of the unit in gold. Otherwise, he spits them towards the farthest enemy, briefly stunning targets they impact.

First Impressions:

Mercenary looks to be extremely fun to play with Tahm Kench. Being able to swallow enemy units can be extremely strong, especially if you are able to target the enemy carry.

Positioning: Frontline

Viktor – Chemtech Arcanist

Ability (Death Rays): Viktor summons multiple singularities to fire death rays that cut across the battlefield in a line, melting through enemies’ defenses. Enemies caught in their path take 300/400/1500 magic damage, have 25/33/100% of any remaining shields destroyed, and suffer 40/50/70% Armor Shred for a few seconds.

First Impressions:

Viktor is a little weird since his ability shreds the Armor of enemies instead of Magic Resist. Even still he likely will deal an insane amount of damage as a 5-cost unit.

Positioning: Backline

Yuumi – Academy Cuddly Scholar

Ability (Final Chapter): Yuumi and Book launch 4/6/33 waves toward the farthest enemy, each dealing 60/80/247 magic damage and stunning enemies for 1 seconds. She then re-attaches to the nearest ally.

First Impressions: Yuumi will be very interesting to play with. She provides a lot of utility by granting shields with her trait, and she also deals a solid amount of damage. On top of that, she is difficult to take down as she attaches to allies.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Hextech Augments

Here is a rundown of the new Set 6 Mechanic: Hextech Augments.

Hextech Augments are the new mechanic that will allow you to power up your entire board. Some Augments feature bonuses that power up your team while others may give you valuable loot.

There are over 140 Hextech Augments to choose from, making every game you play unique.

In every game, you will be able to choose 3 Hextech Augments to improve your team comp.

You will also be able to see what Augments other players pick through their Hexcore (a new monument featured near your board).

There are three tiers of Augments, ranging from small bonuses to game-breaking upgrades.

Some Augments have versions in each tier, while others may be unique to one tier.

Every player will choose their Augments at the same time in a game, but the Augments offered to each player will vary.

For more information on the new set, head to our all-in-one TFT Set 6 reveal page!

The post Gizmos and Gadgets: New TFT Set 6 Revealed (All New Champions, Traits, and Hextech Augments) appeared first on Mobalytics.

Riot Games recently dropped a dev video teasing some of the new mechanics coming to TFT Set 6.

In this article I’ll be covering all of the new mechanics we know of so far, as well as my thoughts about the set’s potential.

TFT Set 6 Release Date

We don’t have a confirmed release date, but based on the patch schedule and the video, we can safely assume that the release of Set 6 will be on November 3rd with the 11.22 patch.

New TFT Set 6 Champions

From the video, we can see a list of new champions coming to Set 6.

• Blitzcrank
• Caitlyn
• Cho’Gath
• Darius
• Dr. Mundo
• Ezreal
• Gangplank
• Graves
• Heimerdinger
• Illaoi
• Katarina
• Lulu
• Miss Fortune
• Orianna
• Poppy
• Quinn
• Singed
• Swain
• Tahm Kench
• Tristana
• Trundle
• Twisted Fate
• Warwick
• Yuumi
• Ziggs

New TFT Set 6 Traits

Here’s a list of the new traits coming to the next set as well. We don’t know what they do yet, but we have a list nevertheless.

• Academy
• Anti-Mage
• Arcanist
• Assassin
• Brute
• Challenger
• Chemtech
• Clockwork
• Colossus
• Enchanter
• Enforcer
• Hero
• Imperial
• Innovator
• Mercenary
• Mutant
• Scrap
• Sniper
• Syndicate
• Twinshot
• Yordle

TFT Set 6 Mechanic: Hextech Augments

The new set mechanic is one that upgrades your entire board. Here are some example augments:

• All of your ranged champions gain 2 extra range.
• All of your champions with an item gain 200 Health and 20 Attack Damage.
• Gain 1 additional gold and a free reroll every time you lose in combat.
• Opens up an Armory that lets you pick from a Set 4 Ornn Artifact.
• Allows you to see who you will fight each round.
• Allows you to level up to 10.

Infinite Possibilities

In my opinion, this Set mechanic has to potential to be as exciting as Set 4. We don’t know too many details about the Augments yet, like how many you get, when you get them, etc. Even still, based on the examples we’ve gotten so far, I can imagine that there will be tons of exploring to do in the new Set.

TFT Labs

New Co-op Lab

A new Lab will be joining the Hyper Roll Lab in Set 6. Shortly after the launch of Set 6, a new team mode will be released. This will allow you to queue up with a friend and play against 3 other teams of 2.

You will have your own unique board, but you will have a shared health pool with your teammate.

Furthermore, at the end of the release, the top rated teams will compete in a tournament to see which pair is the best in the world.

Chibi Champions

The last teaser we have for Set 6 is a cosmetic release.

Little Legends are famous in TFT, but now, you will have the option of buying Chibi Champions. These tiny versions of League Champions are bound to be extremely popular.

This won’t affect gameplay in Set 6, but it’s a fun addition for the game, especially for players who enjoy both League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics.

Closing Thoughts

From the video we’ve seen so far, I believe that Set 6 will be an extremely fun and wild set for competitive and casual players alike. The dev team have clearly put a lot of effort into this new set, and I can’t wait to try it out on the PBE server.

In the meantime, the Set 5 World Championship will be happening soon, so if you are thirsting for some TFT content, make sure to check it out on October 1st.

To learn about the latest new TFT Set, head to our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 6 reveal page that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

The post TFT Set 6 Teaser and First Impressions (New Champions, Traits, and Mechanics) appeared first on Mobalytics.

Set 5.5 of TFT was released on the PBE server during Patch 11.14! In this article, we will cover all of the new champions and traits.

We’ll also be going over all of the traits and champions that aren’t returning, so get your last few games of Set 5 in before your favorites are gone.

Keep in mind that the information for new champions are constantly being updated on the PBE. Our website will continually be updated, so make sure to check out the Champions Page to stay updated on any changes.

When does Set 5.5 Dawn of Heroes go live?

Set 5.5 Dawn of Heroes officially goes live on July 21st with the launch of Patch 11.15.

Everything Leaving Set 5

Here’s a quick rundown of everything leaving Set 5.

Traits:

• God-King
• Coven
• Dragonslayer
• Eternal
• Verdant

Champions:

• Warwick
• Viktor
• Katarina
• Trundle
• Pantheon
• Mordekaiser
• LeBlanc
• Lissandra
• Morgana
• Kindred
• Ryze
• Taric
• Darius

Shadow Items

Shadow items are leaving TFT and are being replaced with Radiant items. Radiant items are extremely powerful versions of regular items with no drawbacks. Because of this, you will only get one Radiant component per game.

For a rundown of all the new Radiant items, check out our Radiant Items page to get familiar with the new items.

Returning Changes

• Garen: God-King -> Victorious

God-King is no longer a trait, so Garen will now have a new trait to replace it. Darius unfortunately is not coming back, but Garen will still be staying for this set.

New Traits

Sentinel

Bonus: At start of combat, the Sentinel with the highest Health gains a shield that grants Attack Speed each time it is applied. When the shield is destroyed or expires it will pass to the ally with the lowest percent Health.

Champions: Akshan, Galio, Irelia, Lucian, Olaf, Pyke, Rakan, Senna

First Impressions: Sentinels are the new origin with a large vertical trait. This gives another option for a vertical team comp similar to how traits like Forgotten, Dawnbringer, or Nightbringer are used. We see lots of carry potential with units like Lucian, Akshan, and possibly even Irelia.

Victorious

Bonus: When Victorious champions score a kill, their next attack is empowered to deal 40% of the target’s missing Health as bonus magic damage.

Champions: Garen

First Impressions: Victorious is the new origin trait for Garen that is replacing God-King. This trait looks to make him more of a threat rather than simply a tank utility unit.

Inanimate

Bonus: At the start of combat, Inanimate champions summon Harrowing Mist in the 1 hex surrounding them for 8 seconds, granting all allies within 50% damage reduction while they remain within the mist.

Champions: Gwen

First Impressions: Gwen is already a menace in regular League of Legends, and her trait in TFT also makes her a very powerful unit. Gwen will likely be a very strong 5-cost unit that can fit into many team comps due to her utility.

Cannoneer

Bonus: Every fifth Cannoneer attack is replaced with a cannon shot that deals a percent of that attack’s damage in an explosion around the target as physical damage.

Champions: Lucian, Miss Fortune, Senna, Tristana

First Impressions: Cannoneers are a new class that function similar to Rangers. They provide a smaller trait that you can focus around to build up your main carry. Most of the Cannoneers provide utility except Lucian and Tristana. These two look to have carry potential in their own comps.

New Champions: Tips, First Impressions, and Positioning

Let’s go through a quick rundown of all the champions in Set 5.5 There are a total of 12 new champions this update. We don’t currently have the stats for the new champions, but we’ll update our Champion Page as soon as they’re out on PBE.

Positioning Key

We’ll be giving basic positioning suggestions for every champion to get the ball rolling for you, but remember that positioning is incredibly contextual in TFT and to always adapt to the situation at hand.

The terminology we’ll be using in this article will be frontline, midline, and backline.

1-Cost Champions

Olaf – Sentinel + Skirmisher

First Impressions: Olaf is coming back, but he’s only a 1-cost unit meaning his base stats are much lower than in previous sets. He will likely still be a great item holder, but his carry potential will need to be tested.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Tips: Having Guardian Angel is great on Olaf as you want him to get low health. The lower his health, the stronger he becomes. Guardian Angel allows him to safely get down to low health, and when he revives, he will have bonus strength from his ability.

[See TFT Olaf Champion Page]

Senna – Sentinel + Cannoneer

First Impressions: Senna has two new traits, and from the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to be a particularly strong carry unit. While we don’t know her stats yet, her ability makes it seem like she’s mostly there to provide CC rather than damage.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Senna will target the furthest enemy, but her ability will proc when it comes into contact with any enemy. Use this to your advantage and position her in a way that allows you to try and hit the enemy backline.

[See Senna’s TFT Champion Page]

2-Cost Champions

Irelia – Legionnaire + Sentinel + Skirmisher

First Impressions: Irelia looks to be a 2-cost carry champion by the fact that she has 3 traits. She also has quite the strong ability as well.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Tips: Olaf and Irelia pair very well as they are both Skirmishers and Sentinels. By adding one more Sentinel and one more Skirmisher, you can have a strong early board with 4 units.

[See Irelia’s TFT Champion Page]

Pyke – Sentinel + Assassin

First Impressions: We’ve seen Pyke plenty of times now, and he has a great ability. His role in the game is to provide some solid CC for the traits he has.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Using items like Sunfire or Frozen Heart are great on Pyke as you can have him jump toward enemy carries. This will proc the item effects on important enemy units.

[See Pyke’s TFT Champion Page]

Tristana – Hellion + Cannoneer

First Impressions: Tristana has a very interesting ability. She jumps to the furthest enemy with her ability, and will instead jump away from enemies when they are close. This is helpful for avoiding things like Assassins, but her regular jump can be tricky to utilize.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Enemy teams usually put a weak champion as bait in one of the corners of the board. You can use this to your advantage by having Tristana jump toward that enemy champion. This will keep Tristana safe from enemies for a little while longer.

[See Tristana’s TFT Champion Page]

3-Cost Champions

Miss Fortune – Forgotten + Cannoneer

First Impressions: Miss Fortune is another Cannoneer that looks to be more of a utility unit rather than a damage carry. She is also a Forgotten unit, so she can help reach 6 Forgotten this way as well.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Miss Fortune already has an anti heal built into her ability, so items like Morellonomicon won’t be as powerful since you won’t need half of the item’s effect.

[See Miss Fortune’s TFT Champion Page]

Rakan – Sentinel + Renewer

First Impressions: Rakan is back, but his ability has changed from previous sets. His ability is a simple single target damage ability with a bit of healing for your team. As such, Rakan will likely be a unit used mainly for traits. The heal is quite powerful, but has a short radius, so it can be difficult to maintain.

Positioning: Midline

Tips: Since Rakan’s heal affects the units adjacent to him, you will  want to place him in the middle of all of your units. This way, the heal can ideally affect as many units as possible.

[See Rakan’s TFT Champion Page]

4-Cost Champions

Fiddlesticks – Mystic + Abomination + Revenant

First Impressions: Fiddlesticks is a new 4-cost with his ultimate ability from League. The ability looks to deal quite a bit of damage, and it will be very powerful when placed well.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Since Fiddlesticks is a Revenant, you won’t need to have Guardian Angel on him unless you’re missing Revenant. With this, you can safely frontline him so that he can cast his ability quickly.

[See Fiddlesticks’ TFT Champion Page]

Galio – Draconic + Sentinel + Knight

First Impressions: Galio looks to be an amazing frontline unit that will taunt enemies and has a lot of built in damage reduction with his ability. He is also a Draconic unit, meaning you can reach 5 Draconic without needing to find Heimerdinger.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: If you’re playing against Assassins, you can also use Galio in the backline to taunt enemy Assassins away from your carries.

[See Galio’s TFT Champion Page]

Lucian – Sentinel + Cannoneer

First Impressions: Lucian is back as a 4-cost carry, and he has the same culling ability as in previous sets. He has a lot of offense packed into his kit, so expect him to be a competent carry once Riot balance his stats and numbers.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Lucian scales very well with all sorts of damage. Attack Damage, Attack Speed, and Ability Power are all very strong on him. As such, he will likely have lots of good items, but players will eventually figure out his optimal items.

[See Lucian’s TFT Champion Page]

5-Cost Champions

Akshan – Ranger + Sentinel

First Impressions: Akshan looks to be an amazing carry as he has a built in Armor Shred with his attacks. This means he can doesn’t need items like Last Whisper and can build other offensive items. Being untargetable while swinging also makes him a very tricky unit to take down.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Like many champions, Akshan will grapple the furthest enemy. Use this to your advantage when placing him to try and target enemy carries.

[See Akshan’s TFT Champion Page]

Gwen – Mystic + Inanimate

First Impressions: Gwen doesn’t have offensive traits, but her defensive traits make her an extremely flexible unit in many team comps. Being a Mystic is very flexible, but her Inanimate trait allows her to provide a lot of utility for any team.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline / Backline

Tips: Positioning Gwen largely depends on your team comp. If you want to protect the units in your backline, place her close to them. If your team is mostly melee, place her close to the front.

[See Gwen’s TFT Champion Page]

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theorycrafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 5.5 hits live!

To learn about the new TFT Set, head to our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 6 reveal page that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

The post All New Champions and Traits in TFT Set 5.5: Dawn of Heroes appeared first on Mobalytics.

TFT Set 4 is coming to a close and everyone is excited to try out Set 5 on PBE. The Chosen mechanic is not returning, but we have a whole lot of other mechanics coming to TFT.

If you don’t know about the new set mechanics yet, make sure to check out our TFT website to understand all the changes coming to the game.

In this article, we’ll be going over every new Trait and Champion in Set 5, along with some first impressions.

Keep in mind that all of this information is subject to change. Champions, synergies, and items will all be updated very regularly on the PBE server, so make sure to check out our Champion and Synergy Pages to stay up to date with everything.

New Traits

If you want a solid overview of all the new traits and champions, check out this cheat sheet provided by Riot Games.

Click on the graphic to zoom in!

New Origins

With the cheatsheet as a guide, let’s go into each trait starting with the Origins. To view the updated numbers for the Origins, check out our Synergy Page for in depth info.

Abomination

Bonus: When 3 allied Champions have died, the Monstrosity will awaken from its grave. The Monstrosity gets bonus Health and Attack Damage based on allied Abomination units’ Star Levels. The Monstrosity will also receive a random copy of an item from each of the three Abomination Champions nearest the grave when combat starts.

Champions: Kalista, Brand, Nunu, Ryze

First Impressions: Mech-Pilots are back in a spookier form with Abomination. Abomination seems like a very nice trait to have in the game as strong hyper carry units like the Abomination will be able to use defensive items very well. One important thing to note is that the Abomination takes items from the three closest Abomination units. This means you can’t stack all your items onto one Abomination and have ideal items every time. You will need to split your ideal items across 3 units and not use other items if you want to guarantee what items the Abomination has.

Coven

Bonus: At the start of combat, the Champion nearest to the center of your Coven Champions is chosen as the Coven Leader, gaining 50% bonus Ability Power.

Champions: Lissandra, Leblanc, Morgana

First Impressions: This is another trait that relies a lot of positioning. One important thing to note is that this trait doesn’t necessarily have to buff a Coven unit. You could use Coven as a supporting trait to beef up your main carry assuming you can position your carry in the middle of your Coven.

Dawnbringer

Bonus: Dawnbringers rapidly heal some of their maximum Health the first time they drop below 50%. When this heal occurs, all allied Dawnbringers gain 10% bonus damage.

Champions: Gragas, Kha’Zix, Soraka, Nidalee, Riven, Karma, Garen

First Impressions: Dawnbringers are an interesting trait in that they provide a pseudo Guardian Angel effect with their healing. This means you could potentially run 3 offensive items on your main carry if the Dawnbringer heal is enough to keep them alive.

Draconic

Bonus: At the end of each player combat, gain a dragon egg on your bench. The bigger the egg, the longer it takes to hatch, and the rarer the reward. In Hyper Roll, dragon eggs hatch a lot faster.

Champions: Udyr, Sett, Ashe, Zyra, Heimerdinger

First Impressions: It wouldn’t be TFT without a trait like Space Pirates or Fortune. Draconic is the new trait that allows you to gain loot throughout the game. Players will need to test the specifics of the loot table, but I’m sure there will be innovators working at it from the start of the Set.

Dragonslayer

Bonus: Dragonslayers gain bonus Ability Power. After the first ally Dragonslayer scores a takedown on an enemy with at least 1400 maximum Health, all allies gain additional Ability Power for the rest of the round.

Champions: Trundle, Pantheon, Diana, Mordekaiser

First Impressions: Dragonslayers are an interesting trait. They specialize in buffing Ability Power, meaning they are mostly magic damage carries. The main focus will be on Diana as I believe she has the best carry potential out of these units.

Eternal

Bonus: Wolf separates from Lamb to become a second champion. Wolf does not count toward your unit cap, and receives all of Lamb’s item bonuses.

Champions: Kindred

First Impressions: Traits that only involve 5-cost units are always very powerful. Even if Kindred is too strong or too weak on release, Riot will buff or nerf her accordingly to make her a powerful late game unit.

Forgotten

Bonus: Forgotten champions have bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power. Each Shadow item held by a Forgotten champion increases these bonuses by 10% on all Forgotten champions, stacking up to 4 times.

Champions: Warwick, Vayne, Hecarim, Thresh, Viktor, Katarina, Draven, Ryze, Viego

First Impressions: Forgotten seems to be the flagship trait for the Set. Their buff ties in directly with the new set mechanic: Shadow Items. There’s a whopping 9 units in the origin, so these units will very likely be used in a variety of compositions.

Hellion

Bonus: Hellions gain Attack Speed.Whenever a Hellion dies, a Deoppelhellion of the same type (with one less star and no items) will leap from the Hellion portal and join the fight!

Champions: Ziggs, Kled, Poppy, Kennen, Lulu, Teemo

First Impressions: Attack speed buffs are always nice in any trait. More attack speed means more damage and more mana gained. Teemo is an especially interesting carry as he costs health to buy instead of gold. It will be interesting to see how this affects how players play this team comp going forward.

Ironclad

Bonus: All allies gain Armor.

Champions: Nautilus, Rell, Jax

First Impressions: There isn’t anything super special about this trait. It’s basically an Armor version of Mystic that applies to your entire team. This trait will likely be easy to splash into many team comps, much like how Mystic is often splashed into teams.

Nightbringer

Bonus: Nightbringers gain a shield for 8 seconds equal to a percent of their maximum Health the first time they drop below 50%. When this occurs, that Nightbringer gains bonus damage.

Champions: Vladimir, Sejuani, Lee Sin, Morgana, Yasuo, Aphelios, Diana, Darius

First Impressions: Nightbringer is the evil equivalent of Dawnbringer. Their effect is very similar, in that they get bonus survivability once they hit 50% health. This comp will likely see early play much like Dawnbringer as they are simple to play with a high trait count.

Redeemed

Bonus: Redeemed have increased Armor, Magic Resistance, and Ability Power. When they die, they pass this bonus split among remaining Redeemed allies.

Champions: Aatrox, Leona, Syndra, Varus, Lux, Rell, Vel’Koz, Kayle

First Impressions: This trait is somewhat similar to how Nobles played in Set 1. They have a trait that gives them many increased stats. However, they also are like Dark Stars from Set 3 with how their buff is split upon death. The great part about this buff transfer is that it is split evenly instead of passing onto a nearby ally. This makes positioning with them flexible compared to something like Dragonsoul in Set 4.

Revenant

Bonus: Revenants revive after their first death each combat. Once revived, they take and deal 30% increased damage.

Champions: Nocturne, Ivern, Volibear

First Impressions: Based on the champion abilities, I don’t believe this trait is meant to carry team comps. It’s a small trait that seems to be more about splashable frontline and CC rather than carry damage.

Verdant

Bonus: Champions that start combat adjacent to at least one Verdant ally are immune to crowd control for a duration.

Champions: Ashe, Taric, Kayle

First Impressions: Right off the bat, this trait looks amazing to me. Kayle seems like a scary 5 cost carry, and having an innate Quicksilver ability gives her one more item slot for other things. Unfortunately, the 2 trait bonus is only 3 seconds, so it likely will be stronger and better at 3 units.

Classes

Now that we’ve seen all the origins, let’s go into the classes. Just like for the Origins make sure to check out the Synergy Page for more in depth numbers and any updates made in the PBE.

Assassin

Bonus: Innate: At the start of combat Assassins leap to the enemy backline. Assassins’ abilities can critically strike and they gain bonus Critical Strike Chance and bonus Critical Strike Damage.

Champions: Kha’Zix, Leblanc, Katarina, Nocturne, Diana, Viego

First Impressions: It wouldn’t be TFT without an Assassin type trait. Assassins always squeeze their way into the meta with their unique leaping passive. Having a 5-cost Assassin is also quite intriguing.

Brawlers

Bonus: Brawlers gain additional maximum Health.

Champions: Gragas, Warwick, Sett, Nunu, Volibear

First Impressions: Brawlers have been in the game for a quite a while now, so there’s not too much to comment about them. They don’t have very many Brawlers, so it will likely be more splashable into team comps rather than being their own comp in this Set.

Caretaker

Bonus: Caretakers deploy with a Baby Dragon that can be placed anywhere on the battlefield. Baby Dragons gain 100% of their handler’s Attack Speed and restore 50 mana to their Caretaker upon death.

Champions: Heimerdinger

First Impressions: Heimerdinger is kind of like Azir from Set 4. He summons a Baby Dragon turret like an Azir Sand Soldier except this turret will deal a good amount of damage when combined with his ability.

Cavalier

Bonus: Innate: Cavaliers charge quickly towards their target whenever they move. Cavaliers take reduced damage. At the start of combat and after charge, this effect is doubled for 4 seconds.

Champions: Kled, Hecarim, Sejuani, Rell

First Impressions: Cavaliers have interesting potential as a frontline, but I somewhat doubt the trait will go more than 2 units. There is only 1 4-cost unit in Rell, so the others will likely be replaced in the late game unless they are used for synergy.

Cruel

Bonus:

Cruel champions are purchased with Little Legend Health instead of gold. They can be sold for gold but not Health. You’re welcome. Never underestimate the hunger of a Cruel champion in single combat.

Champions: Teemo

First Impressions: Teemo is the little flair unit of this set. Spending 5 health per copy of Teemo is quite the cost. Lose streaking and going for a Teemo comp is extremely risky. He may be splashable into many team comps, but he will probably have his own comp where he is the main or secondary carry.

God-King

Bonus: If you have exactly one God-King they deal 30% bonus damage to enemies who have at least one of their Rival Traits.

• Garen’s Rival Traits: Forgotten, Nightbringer, Coven, Hellion, Dragonslayer, Abomination, Revenant
• Darius’ Rival Traits: Redeemed, Dawnbringer, Verdant, Draconic, Ironclad

Champions: Darius, Garen

First Impressions: The God-Kings are more 5-cost units that provide extra flair to the set. Almost every trait pertains to a side of light or dark. Garen and Darius will deal more damage to opposing enemies with rival traits. They will deal bonus damage to each other, so it’ll be interesting to see which carry comes out on top in the end.

Invoker

Bonus: All allies gain extra Mana from their basic attacks.

Champions: Syndra, Ivern, Karma, Teemo

First Impressions: Instead of a Mage class providing more damage, this Invoker class provides more mana generation. Karma looks to be a solid carry for Invokers as well, while Ivern is more of a support utility unit for Invokers.

Knight

Bonus: All allies block a flat amount of damage from all sources.

Champions: Leona, Poppy, Nautilus, Thresh, Taric, Darius, Garen

First Impressions: Knights are the new Vanguard providing a damage reduction rather than defensive stats. This makes them quite strong in the early game by blocking small damage numbers, but unless the numbers scale well, they may not be tanky enough to survive the late game damage from other units.

Legionnaire

Bonus: Legionnaires gain bonus attack speed, and their first attack after casting a spell heals them for 50% of the damage dealt.

Champions: Aatrox, Kalista, Riven, Yasuo, Draven, Mordekaiser, Kayle

First Impressions: Legionnaires are the new Duelist gaining a some attack speed. But instead of scaling attack speed, they gain a bit of survivability. This intrigues me as it opens item slots for carries when they already have some innate survivability.

Mystic

Bonus: All allies gain Magic Resist.

Champions: Lulu, Morgana, Lux, Ryze, Kindred

First Impressions: Mystic started in Set 2 and has been a recurring trait ever since. They provide a strong game balance mechanic while also being very flexible in many team comps.

Ranger

Bonus: After 4 seconds, Rangers gain Attack Speed for 4 seconds. They regain this bonus every 4 seconds thereafter.

Champions: Vayne, Varus, Ashe, Aphelios, Kindred

First Impressions: Rangers are finally back with their patented attack speed buffs. Statikk Shiv may finally make a comeback with these units. Having a 4-cost and 5-cost carry also makes them extremely enticing.

Renewer

Bonus: Renewers heal for a percent of their maximum Health each second. If they’re full health, they restore mana instead.

Champions: Lissandra, Vladimir, Soraka, Ivern, Heimerdinger

First Impressions: Renewer is another trait like Invoker that gives mana generation, assuming the unit is full health. This seems to be a very strong trait to run alongside Heimerdinger to provide him with a lot of mana to carry.

Skirmisher

Bonus: Skirmishers gain a shield at the start of combat, and gain Attack Damage each second.

Champions: Udyr, Trundle, Kennen, Lee Sin, Nidalee, Pantheon, Jax, Viego

First Impressions: Skirmishers have scaling attack damage throughout the fight, so it may be more efficient to build defensive or attack speed items instead. They seem a bit difficult to fit into comps as they run 3 and 6 units, but we will see.

Spellweaver

Bonus: Spellweavers have increased Ability Power and get bonus Ability Power any time a champion uses an ability, stacking up to 10 times.

Champions: Ziggs, Brand, Viktor, Zyra, Vel’Koz

First Impressions: Spellweavers are the new magic damage class that boosts Ability Power. The trait clearly intends to use Vel’Koz as a carry, but his ability will need to have good targeting in order to be able to carry.

New Champions: First Impressions and Positioning

For this section, I’ll be giving some brief thoughts on every new champion in Set 5. There’s a whopping 58 to go through, so let’s get into it.

Positioning Key
We’ll be giving basic positioning suggestions for every champion to get the ball rolling for you, but remember that positioning is incredibly contextual in TFT and to always adapt to the situation at hand.

The terminology we’ll be using in this article will be frontline, midline, and backline.

1-Cost Champions

Aatrox – Redeemed Legionnaire

[See Aatrox’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Aatrox’s ability is quite simple and is very similar to something like Wukong from Set 4. His ability doesn’t stun though and he heals himself instead. He can be a decent holder for attack damage items in the very early game. The redeemed trait gives him some extra survivability while Legionnaire gives extra attack speed. He seems like a decent early game unit, but usually players prefer ranged or Assassin units to hold damage items early.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Gragas – Dawnbringer Brawler

[See Gragas’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Gragas’ ability does a little bit of damage, but his main role will be as a frontline tank. Brawlers are a solid option for early game frontline, and the damage with his ability is nice. He reminds me of a unit like Maokai from Set 4. He is a tanky frontline with a small damage ability.

Positioning: Frontline

Kalista – Abomination Legionnaire

[See Kalista’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Kalista is the new version of Nidalee for Set 5. She hurls a spear that contacts the first enemy hit. However, instead of more damage for distance, her spear will pierce and deal overkill damage to the next unit. Kalista will provide solid attack speed as a Legionnaire, but more people will likely look at her for her potential as an Abomination unit.

Positioning: Backline

Kha’Zix – Dawnbringer Assassin

[See KhaZix’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Kha’Zix is back with the same ability as Set 1. He has a simple single target damage ability that deals more damage if units are isolated. Kha’Zix is quite strong usually in the early game where there are less units on the board. It’s unlikely he will become a hyper carry candidate, but he likely will be a solid pickup early game for damage.

Positioning: Backline

Kled – Hellion Cavalier

[See Kled’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Usually when an ability has a lot of words, it means that it’s quite good. Unfortunately, without knowing his base stats, we can’t conclude too many things about Kled. However, he will provide a solid frontline for the early game. His ability also allows him to deal decent damage after he dismounts.

Positioning: Frontline

Leona – Redeemed Knight

[See Leona’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Leona a a pure tank. Her only job is to be a beefy frontliner to stall for your damage dealers. Her damage reduction in the early game can be extremely strong, especially if combined with other Knights.

Positioning: Frontline

Lissandra – Coven Renewer

[See Lissandra’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Lissandra deals a solid amount of damage for a 1-cost unit, and will punish players who group their units together. Her attack damage debuff can also come in clutch in later stages of the game. If Renewers or Coven units see play, Lissandra will be a solid unit to have throughout the game. Make sure to position Lissandra well so that her ability isn’t absorbed by an enemy tank.

Positioning: Backline

Poppy – Hellion Knight

[See Poppy’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Poppy is another frontline tank that will pair very well early with Leona as a Knight duo. Her main function in the meta will be to provide frontline or to help transition into Hellion comps. I don’t see Poppy being used in the late game, but she likely will see play early game alongside other Knights. If her base stats are extremely strong, we may see potential in a hyper tank Poppy, but Riot will likely nip that in the bud quickly.

Positioning: Frontline

Udyr – Draconic Skirmisher

[See Udyr’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Udyr has a very unique ability that allows him to gain defensive and offensive abilities. He slowly will gain attack damage through Skirmisher, so things like Attack Speed or Crit will help scale his damage even better in the early game.

Positioning: Midline

Vayne – Forgotten Ranger

[See Vayne’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Vayne is back with her Silver Bolts ability and the classic Ranger trait. We’ve seen this many times before, so there isn’t much to say here. As usual, you she will do well with items like Hurricane which proc her Silver Bolts.

Positioning: Backline

Vladimir – Nightbringer Renewer

[See Vladimir’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Vladimir is also making a comeback with his simple single target damage ability. I don’t expect Vladimir to shake up the meta, but he will likely be a solid synergy and transition to use in the early and mid game stages of the game.

Positioning: Midline

Warwick – Forgotten Brawler

[See Warwick’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Warwick is very interesting as he has an ability that is very similar to Talon from Set 4. He will jump around to different targets if his ability kills the target. He has built in survivability with Brawler and healing through his ability, so I recommend you use him as an early game offensive item holder.

Positioning: Midline

Ziggs – Hellion Spellweaver

[See Ziggs’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Ziggs has a very simple single target damage ability, but if his mana pool is low, we may see Blue Buff make a comeback. Spellweavers want to cast multiple times, so having some mana items on a unit like Ziggs will help buff up your Spellweavers. Hellion units also have great synergy as attack speed leads to faster mana generation.

Positioning: Backline

2-Cost Champions

Brand – Abomination Spellweaver

[See Brand’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Brand is similar to Ziggs in that his ability is single target, but there is the extra bonus of reducing the target’s magic resist. This will be helpful for the early game to deal with tanks. As an Abomination unit, there will be interest in 3-starring Brand, so we may see a good amount of him going into the new Set.

Positioning: Backline

Hecarim – Forgotten Cavalier

[See Hecarim’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Hecarim has the same ability as he did previously, but I like him a little bit better now that he has the Cavalier trait. This will allow him to charge at enemies. This is important since his ability range is quite short and he can waste time walking around the board instead of dealing damage.

Positioning: Frontline

Kennen – Hellion Skirmisher

[See Kennen’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Kennen is essentially the new Pyke. His ability is very similar in that he stuns units in a line, but he will likely take just a bit longer to finish his ability. He’s definitely a unit that will see play in the late game in Hellion or Skirmisher teams due to his kit providing utility. This makes him a good unit to pair with your main carry that is either a Skirmisher or Hellion.

Positioning: Midline

Leblanc – Coven Assassin

[See Leblanc’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Leblanc is unique because she provides CC as an Assassin. Much like Kennen, she will likely stick around in the late game as she does well as a unit to provide bonus traits. Having CC allows players to not have to invest in her items and allows her to benefit the team with her kit. Make sure to place her well as her ability targets the units that are closest to her.

Positioning: Backline

Nautilus – Ironclad Knight

[See Nautilus’ TFT champion page]

First Impressions: There isn’t anything too crazy about Nautilus. He is a solid frontline unit that provides CC and decent damage. Nautilus is quite annoying to play against if your comp is mostly melee. Since his ability is AoE, if he casts multiple times, your melee carry can be stalled for quite a bit of time.

Positioning: Frontline

Sejuani – Nightbringer Cavalier

First Impressions: Sejuani isn’t a super special unit. She is very tanky with her ability on and she has a single target stun, which is solid for a two cost unit. Cavaliers seem to provide decent frontline for cheap with units like Sejuani and Kled, but I would imagine theyre a bit less tanky than Knights. However, they likely make up for it in damage.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Sejuani’s TFT champion page]

Sett – Draconic Brawler

First Impressions: Sett is very similar to Vi from last Set. He is a 2-cost Brawler that has an armor shred in his ability. This will be useful for attack damage teams early on to get through enemy frontlines. I expect players are more interested in running him for his Draconic trait, which is like the new Fortune for Set 5.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Sett’s TFT champion page]

Soraka – Dawnbringer Mystic

First Impressions: Soraka is another great Mystic unit with a solid ability. She can come in clutch by delaying an important spell cast from an enemy. The only problem is you can’t really control who she casts on, it’s entirely dependent on who has the most mana when she casts. Even still, I can see this ability being very useful in fights.

Positioning: Backline / Midline

[See Soraka’s TFT champion page]

Syndra – Redeemed Invoker

First Impressions: In my mind, Syndra is the early game item holder for a late game carry like Karma or Teemo. Her ability not only deals solid damage, but it is also AoE and provides CC. For only a two cost unit, that’s pretty good.

Positioning: Backline

[See Syndra’s TFT champion page]

Thresh – Forgotten Knight

First Impressions: Thresh plays the role of the Blitzcrank or Aatrox. If I am correct, his ability does not hit the first unit it collides with and instead will always hit the furthest target. This will mean that you won’t want to put your main carry in the corner against Thresh, as he will hook them with his ability. A unit like this is important for Set 5 as it creates more situations to position around. Make sure to try and position him on the side where he will hook a more important unit.

Postioning: Frontline

[See Thresh’s TFT champion page]

Trundle – Dragonslayer Skirmisher

[See Trundle’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Trundle is an interesting unit. His ability steals stats from his target, so that makes him a very tanky unit, but it also makes the enemy less tanky. Trundle will be great for dealing with tanky enemies, while also possibly becoming a tanky monster himself. Try to position him in front of an enemy with high stats to get the most out of his ability.

Positioning: Frontline

Varus – Redeemed Ranger

[See Varus’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Varus is back as a Ranger, but his ability is now his E from League of Legends rather than his Q. The interesting point about Varus is that he deals physical damage with his ability, which isn’t very common with abilities that aren’t attacks. This pairs nicely with Rangers as the expected combo of Statikk Shiv will provide a lot of magic damage.

Positioning: Backline

Viktor – Forgotten Spellweaver

[See Viktor’s champion page]

First Impressions: Viktor is another Spellweaver that has a single target ability. Spellweavers worry me for the early game simply because all of their abilities are single target. Even still, granting a shield is a nice addded effect for a 2-cost unit.

Positioning: Backline

3-Cost Champions

Ashe – Verdant Draconic Ranger

[See Ashe’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Ashe is back with her ultimate from League. Her ability stuns for a solid amount of time assuming the arrow travels at least 5 hexes. Her attack speed from Rangers makes her a perfect unit to hold Spear of Shojin.

Positioning: Backline corner

Katarina – Forgotten Assassin

[See Katarina’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Katarina is an Assassin that has mobility and solid damage. She may be quite annoying to deal with if she is constantly teleporting around the board.

Positioning: Backline

Lee Sin – Nightbringer Skirmisher

[See Lee Sin’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Lee Sin seems like a decent unit, but I worry that his ability will mainly hit frontline units rather than enemy carries. If the enemy is running a melee carry, make sure to place Lee Sin close by so that his ability can slow the enemy carry’s attack speed.

Positioning: Frontline

Lulu – Hellion Mystic

[See Lulu’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Lulu is back, and this time, her ability can either buff or debuff enemies. If you want Lulu to debuff an enemy, try to place her close to the enemy you want to debuff and away from allies. Even if you can’t safely do so, the bonus attack speed give to allies is also a strong and flexible ability to fit in many teams. Being a Mystic unit also makes her extremely flexible in team comps as well.

Positioning: Midline

Lux – Redeemed Mystic

[See Lux’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Lux is another example of a solid Mystic unit that can be splashed into many team comps. Redeemer comps will have easy access to 2 Mystic with Lux. Her shield is nice, but I think other units like Lulu and Ryze provide better utility compared to Lux. Even still, she’s bound to be a solid unit for any comp running Redeemers.

Positioning: Backline Corner

Morgana – Nightbringer Coven Mystic

[See Morgana’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Morgana is back but this time with a different ability. You may be tempted to place her in the back like a ranged unit, but she will likely do best in the front where she can hit many units with her ability. Since she is a Nightbringer, she has built in survivability which should help her cast her ability before dying. You can also use an item like Guardian Angel to ensure she casts her ability.

Positioning: Frontline

Nidalee – Dawnbringer Skirmisher

[See Nidalee’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Nidalee is an interesting unit. She transforms in to a cougar with with 1 range, and she scales better with Dodge. This makes her a solid item holder for things like Quicksilver which give Dodge. However, Rapid Firecannon almost completely counters Dodge, so I don’t expect her to ever break the meta with some Dodge build.

Positioning: Backline

Nocturne – Revenant Assassin

[See Nocturne’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Nocturne is quite the scary Assassin since he has built in lifesteal. This lets you really go into building offensive items. Furthermore, since he is a Revenant, he has built in Guardian Angel if you are able to fit in at least one other Revenant. He will deal and take more damage, but since he has built in lifesteal, this ends up still working in Nocturnes favor.

Positioning: Backline

Nunu – Abomination Brawler

[See Nunu’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Nunu is the frontline unit in the Abomination lineup. Since the Abomination gains a random item from your Abomination units, you may not want to stack more than one item on Nunu. Splitting your ideal Abomination items up might be the play for this type of team comp.

Positioning: Frontline

Pantheon – Dragonslayer Skirmisher

[See Pantheon’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: At first glance, Pantheon seems to be an amazing unit at stalling. However, this will depend on how large his mana pool is. If it’s not too big, Pantheon can be one of the best tanks on a Skirmisher team, stalling the fight out for more damage to be built up by Skirmishers.

Positioning: Frontline

Riven – Dawnbringer Legionnaire

[See Riven’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Riven seems to be a semi tank for Legionnaire or Dawnbringer teams. Her ability provides some decent damage, so it may be enough to only need defensive items on Riven. She likely won’t be the main carry on a team, but she can be a solid unit to place extra items on.

Positioning: Frontline

Yasuo – Nightbringer Legionnaire

[See Yasuo’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Yasuo seems to be a solid main carry to me. He gains true damage throughout the fight, and has built in lifesteal through Legionnaire. Items like Hurricane will be great to spread his on hit true damage to multiple units.

Positioning: Midline

Zyra – Draconic Spellweaver

[See Zyra’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Zyra is the utility unit for Spellweavers. This is the only AoE damage in the Spellweaver trait that’s 3-cost or below. Because of this, I can see Spellweavers struggling early without ample frontline. Like Ashe, she targets the furthest enemy, so you will want to place her in one of the corners to try and hit as many units as possible.

Positioning: Backline Corner

4-Cost Champions

Aphelios – Nightbringer Ranger

[See Aphelios’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Aphelios is clearly an attack damage hyper carry for Rangers. His ability provides a lot of physical damage, which can pair nicely with other units that provide magic damage through Statikk Shiv. Aphelios provides a different carry for Ranger comps that build more Nightbringer units instead of things like Redeemer or Statikk Shiv stacking.

Positioning:

Diana – Dragonslayer Nightbringer Assassin

[See Diana’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Diana looks to be quite the scary Assassin. Her ability provides AoE CC and she will likely deal a good amount of damage with her auto attacks as well. Being an Assassin allows her spell to crit as well, which will add a nice chunk of damage.

Positioning: Backline

TFT Draven – Forgotten Legionnaire

[See TFT Draven champion page]

First Impressions: Draven is back with his trademark spinning axes. Rapid Firecannon was changed to only give +1 Hex range, so we may see Draven players want to build more crit damage items rather than RFC. As usual, being a Legionnaire gives him a little bit of healing, so we’re likely going to see heavily offensive items on Draven.

Positioning: Backline

Ivern – Revenant Invoker Renewer

[See Ivern’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: From the way Ivern’s ability is worded, it seems like he is a unit that will do well with a lot of Ability Power. This will empower Daisy even further, making the shockwave more powerful. He’s also safe to be in the frontline as he is a Revenant and has a built in Guardian Angel as long as the bonus is active.

Positioning: Frontline

Jax – Ironclad Skirmisher

[See Jax’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Jax is quite the melee carry. He jumps to enemies and his traits and abilities give him scaling attack damage and attack speed. Keeping Jax alive for as long as possible looks to be the best course of action. Items like Guardian Angel and Bloodthirster will help him stay alive and make his damage extremely strong toward the end of the fight.

Positioning: Midline

Karma – Dawnbringer Invoker

[See Karma’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Karma feels like a powerful carry if you are able to stall long enough. She’s similar to Jax in that once she gets going, she will start casting more and more. If the fight lasts long enough, she will have almost no mana and might not even need a mana item like Blue Buff. However, Blue Buff will help reduce her mana cost faster, so it will depend on the situation.

Positioning: Backline

Mordekaiser – Dragonslayer Legionnaire

[See Mordekaiser’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: When Mordekaiser casts his ability, he will gain range and smack enemies with bonus magic damage. Giving him large amounts of attack speed will surely make him into a strong carry. However, if his mana pool is too large or his mana lock duration is too long, he may be a bit clunky to use as your main carry.

Positioning: Midline

Rell – Redeemed Ironclad Cavalier

[See Rell’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Rell looks to be one of the best frontline CC units in the new Set. She’s clearly a tank with a very nice CC ability. Not only does her ability provide CC, but it also provides a shield for allies. I definitely think that many team comps will try to fit in Rell as a flexible Ironclad unit, much like how Mystic is often splashed into team comps.

Positioning: Frontline

Ryze – Forgotten Abomination Mystic

[See Ryze’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Ryze is a Mystic unit, meaning he can be splashed into many team comps. What’s unique about Ryze is that his ability provides strong CC and decent damage. Usually, Mystic units are fairly defensive, but Ryze is somewhat the opposite. When using Ryze, place him close to enemies that are grouped together so his second cast can spread to as many units as possible.

Positioning: Midline

Taric – Verdant Knight

[See Taric’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Taric is interesting because his ability is very defensive. It provides Armor and healing to allies close to him, and his Verdant trait also buffs allies that are adjacent to him. I expect Taric to have a solid role in the late game meta, but he may not be prioritized over units that provide things like CC.

Positioning: Frontline

Vel’Koz – Redeemed Spellweaver

[See Vel’Koz’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Vel’Koz is the clear Spellweaver carry of the team. If his ability targets similar to how it did in previous Sets, you will want to place him on the side more in the middle of the board rather than straight in the back. However, things can change since Vel’Koz now always targets toward the center of the board. This may allow players to safely place him in the corner where he will almost always fire in a diagonal across the board.

Positioning: Midline / Backline Side

5-Cost Champions

Darius – Nightbringer God-King Knight

[See Darius’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Darius an extremely unique ability. He will transform and summon wolves to fight for him. Because of this, I assume an item like Deathblade and Hurricane will be amazing on him, but this is assuming his wolves proc Deathblade

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

Garen – Dawnbringer God-King Knight

[See Garen’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Garen is a late game monster now with his ultimate ability from League. Unlike most carries, I would belive that you want Garen to take damage at the start of the fight in order to gain mana quickly. When combined with something like Gunblade, he should be able to heal most of his HP back in one cast.

Positioning: Frontline

Heimerdinger – Draconic Renewer Caretaker

[See Heimerdinger’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Heimerdinger is similar to Azir from Set 4 in that he gives you a turret to place on the board. Unlike Azir though, this Baby Dragon Turret will deal some crazy damage when it casts it’s fireballs.

Positioning: Backline

Kayle – Redeemed Verdant Legionnaire

[See Kayle’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Kayle seems like the ultimate late game carry to me. Once she gains enough attack speed, she will be immune every 7th auto, which can be quite frequent if she’s attacking extremely fast. However, even at Kayle 2 star, the third Ascension will still take 12 seconds to take place, which can be quite long. She really needs a strong frontline to ensure she stays alive long enough to ascend fully.

Positioning: Backline

Kindred – Eternal Mystic Ranger

[See Kindreds TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Kindred is very unique because this unit really counts as two units on the board. This makes her a very attractive unit to run already as it provides two bodies for your team at the cost of one slot. Her ability is also extremely powerful as it can stall for your team to deal damage to enemies.

Positioning: Backline

Teemo – Cruel Hellion Invoker

[See Teemo’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Teemo is a nice addition to the Set to give it some flair. Instead of costing gold, Teemo will cost health to buy. This means a 2-star Teemo will cost you 15 Health. This can be quite the price to pay in the late game. As such, it’s a risk to buy him, but if he’s strong enough to carry, the cost is well worth it.

Positioning: Backline

Viego – Forgotten Skirmisher Assassin

[See Viego’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Viego is quite the interesting carry. He’s an Assassin, so he will jump into the backline where he can be vulnerable to enemy damage or CC. His ability will also cancel if he is interrupted by CC. This makes Quicksilver seem to be one of his best items to ensure that his ability is not interrupted.

Positioning: Backline

Volibear – Revenant Brawler

[See Volibear’s TFT champion page]

First Impressions: Volibear seems to be the only 5-cost unit whose job isn’t to deal massive amounts of damage. He looks to be an extremely tanky unit that provides a very strong CC for any team. He also has the effect of breaking enemy shields, which can be very useful in countering specific enemies or items.

Positioning: Frontline

Conclusion

That wraps up all of the new Champions and Traits coming to TFT Set 5: Reckoning.

For those going into the PBE server, I recommend planning out a simple comp to try out. It will be easier to simply try one thing one game and move onto the next.

Eventually, you’ll use more and more champions and start to get a feel for the game.

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theorycrafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 5 hits live!

To learn about the new TFT Set, head to our all-in-one Teamfight Tactics Set 6 reveal page that covers all champions, synergies, and more!

The post All New Champions and Traits in TFT Set 5: Reckoning appeared first on Mobalytics.

The PBE server has had Set 4.5 up for about a week now, and we’ve seen a lot of new units with lots of promise.

However, in this article, I will be going over the champions that are coming back who show a lot of promise.

With this information, you will hopefully be able to ease into the new set having a good idea of what returning champions have good promise.

Keep in mind that this article will only cover returning units. Many of the new TFT Set 4.5 units are very strong and have great potential, but that won’t be covered in this article.

1-Cost Champions

A lot of the 1-cost champions are great for transitions and early game power, but I will be talking about the champions that have carry potential.

Wukong

Riot hasn’t changed many things about Wukong, but the most notable change was giving the Vanguard synergy bonus Magic Resist. Wukong saw some play early in Set 4 as a slow roll carry, but he slowly phased out as players discovered stronger builds.

[See Wukong’s TFT champion page]

While I don’t expect Wukong to break the meta, I do think there is some potential as a slow roll carry.

Yasuo

Duelists were one of the most popular comps in Set 4 even though they weren’t usually considered to be a top tier comp. The Duelist comp likely won’t change much going into 4.5 other than the addition of Kayle.

[See Yasuo’s TFT champion page]

Yone is still a very powerful late game carry for Duelist comps. The question is whether Yasuo will be worth investing into early game.

2-Cost Champions

Pyke and Zed

I grouped these units together because of the amazing synergy they now have. Zed was a very strong carry in Set 4, and Pyke was a common unit run in many comps for his traits and CC.

Now that they both share the Slayer trait, they will be a very strong early game combo.

[See Pyke’s TFT champion page] [See Zed’s TFT champion page]

Slayers also have a lot of promise as Olaf, Tryndamere, and Samira are all potent late game units.

Zed can either be a very strong early game transition unit or the main carry of a team. Cultists are also a strong early game trait, so putting these two together will be very strong.

3-Cost Champions

In the mid game, a lot of 3-cost champions have good usage and play a role within a team comp. Not all of them will have carry potential, but units like Nunu and Irelia definitely have their use cases depending on the team comp.

Katarina

Of the returning champions, Katarina has the best potential as a 3-cost carry. She is quite item dependent, but her items don’t require multiples of the same item in order to be effective.

Because of this, she can be a very consistent carry if you are able to find her early or find her as a Chosen.

[See Katarina’s TFT champion page]

You can either use her in the traditional Warlord comp, or you can also pair her with Keepers. Keeper Katarina is a fairly new innovation that seems to be quite strong.

Assassins in general usually perform well as they have the unique ability to jump to the backline. Katarina is no exception and I expect her to be a solid carry for most of the set.

4-Cost Champions

Unfortunately, almost all of the carry units in the 4-cost pool have been replaced with new carries. However, there are some notable returning carry champions.

Morgana and Talon

I grouped these two units because once again, you will usually play the two of them together. They have natural synergy together as they mainly deal different types of damage. Morgana is now a Syphoner, which means that she will give the team a bit of lifesteal assuming you can fit in at least one more Syphoner.

[See Morgana’s TFT champion page] [See Talon’s TFT champion page]

Personally, Talon is one of my least liked units. There is counterplay to Talon, and he does fall of a bit late game, but playing against him is unfun to me. He can sometimes feel like he is unstoppable and kills the entire team.

Other times, he falls flat and does nothing in the fight. Nevertheless, these two units are still strong carries that will likely be in the meta for the entire set unless they are nerfed into the ground.

5-Cost Champions

All of the 5-cost champions play a solid role in the game. They won’t all be main carries, but they are all very powerful units that serve a role in the team they’re on. Because of this, there aren’t really any spectacular returning units that stand out above the rest. However, if I had to pick my favorites going into Set 4.5, it would be these two.

Azir

Of all the returning 5-costs, Azir possesses, in my opinion, the most unique ability. Being able to add in two Sand Soldiers provides immense utility to the team. It can be additional frontline, baits for Assassins, or used to keep your team cornered. His ability also provides great CC throughout the fight.

[See Azir’s TFT champion page]

Azir fits into a lot of comps as well as he only needs one other Keeper to proc one of his traits. Overall, Azir was one of the best 5-costs in Set 4, and I expect it to be the same in Set 4.5.

Yone

The core Adept units are some of my favorite units in the game. The core only requires 3 units, allowing for many possibilities and combinations with other synergies. Yone is a very powerful late game carry, and the other two units, Shen and Irelia, are also very strong utility units.

[See Yone’s TFT champion page]

In Set 4, Adept has been seen in many comps including, Divine, Enlightened, Moonlight, Hunter, or Duelists. While some of these traits aren’t returning to Set 4.5, I believe that Adept has some of the best potential with how easy it is to fit into comps.

Closing Thoughts

This article mainly focused on the returning units with carry potential. However, keep in mind that many units not covered here still can play an important role in the game. This article is intended to be a general idea of what familiar units will still be strong in Set 4.5.

It’s also very important that you try out the new units to get a feel for how strong they are and what traits to build around them. However, if you’re just trying out the new Set, it can be beneficial to play something a little familiar before jumping into all the new additions.

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theorycrafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 4.5 hits live!

The post The Best Returning Champions in TFT Set 4.5 appeared first on Mobalytics.

TFT Set 4.5 is releasing soon on the PBE server, and in this article, we’ll be going over everything new as well as provide some first impressions. This mid set update is quite substantial compared to the one we had in Set 3.5, so expect a good amount of experimentation before the meta settles down. test

Keep in mind that at this current moment, we don’t have all of the information on the mid set update. Our website will be up to date with any information we learn, so be sure to check out the Champions Page to stay updated on any changes.

Everything Leaving Set 4

Before going into the new champions and traits, here’s a quick rundown of all the champions and traits leaving Set 4.

• Dusk: Vayne, Thresh, Casseiopeia, Riven, Lillia
• Moonlight: Lissandra, Aphelios, Sylas
• Tormented: Kayn
• Shade: Evelynn, Kayn
• Hunter: Aphelios, Ashe, Warwick
• Dazzler: Ezreal, Lux
• Other: Nami, Hecarim, Xin Zhao, Jhin, Jinx, Ahri

Returning Changes

Above lists all the champions as well as the 6 traits being removed. However, there are four champions returning that now have different traits to compensate for the removal of their old trait.

• Diana: Moonlight to Spirit
• Zed: Shade to Slayer
• Kindred: Hunter to Executioner
• Morgana: Dazzler to Syphoner

New Traits

The Festival of Beasts is replacing the 6 old traits with 7 new ones. For a better look at all the synergies and up to date information, check out the Synergy Page on our website.

Blacksmith

Bonus: After participating in combat, Blacksmiths will begin forging an Artifact item. The higher their star-level, the faster they work. Once the Artifact is complete, it will be able to bestow upon an ally. An ally may only equip one Artifact.

Executioner 

Bonus: Executioner’s basic attacks and spells always critically strike targets below a certain health threshold.

Champions: Kindred, Kayle, Xayah

First Impressions: Executioner is quite a powerful trait that is very similar to the Valkyrie trait from Set 3. These units will likely be very strong carries, and Kayle was quite the fan favorite in Set 3, so it’s nice to see her again.

Slayer

Bonus: Slayers gain Lifesteal that increases at lower Health, and deal bonus damage that increases based off their target’s missing Health.

Champions: Pyke, Zed, Olaf, Darius, Tryndamere, Samira

First Impressions: Slayers definitely have promise, but their reliability is hard to assess as we don’t know exactly how much lifesteal they gain or how well they will perform in game. Even still, bonus damage and lifesteal is quite a nice bonus as it makes them have good survivability without the cost of an item slot.

Syphoner

Bonus: All allies heal for some of the damage they deal with spells and attacks.

Champions: Morgana, Vladimir, Nasus, Swain

First Impressions: Giving all allies lifesteal, even if it’s a little bit, can be very powerful. Celestials were very strong in Set 3, and I expect Syphoners to be quite decent in Set 4 as well.

Daredevil

Bonus: Daredevils seek the thrill of the battle, dashing after every other attack. After every dash, they shield themselves for 20% of their max health and their next attack fires two shots, gaining Style. At max Style, they cast their spell. Base Style rank increases star level.

Champions: Samira

First Impressions: Daredevil is a trait that is unique to Samira. The trait works in tandem with her ability, so it’s hard to get a good grasp on her power without trying her out in game. It will be interesting to see her carry potential, but Riot will be sure to try and balance her before the update goes live.

Dragonsoul

Bonus: At the start of combat, the highest health Dragonsoul ally receives the Dragon’s Blessing. While blessed, the unit gains bonus stats, and every 5th attack fires a blast of Dragonflames, dealing a percent of their target’s maximum health in magic damage. On death, this blessing passes to the closest Dragonsoul ally.

Champions: Tristana, Brand, Braum, Shyvana, Olaf, Aurelion Sol, Swain

First Impressions: Dragonsoul is reminiscent of Dark Stars from Set 3. However, this time, the buff only goes onto one unit at the start. The buff is quite sizable, and a team with multiple carries can make decent use out of this buff. It will be difficult to control where the buff bounces, however, as the units will move around a lot during combat.

Fabled

Bonus: Fabled champion’s spells gain an additional effect.

Champions: Neeko, Nautilus, Cho’Gath

First Impressions: Fabled is interesting as it’s bonus is tied with the champion’s abilities, giving them bonus effects. The bonus effects are quite nice, but none of these champions look to be main carry potential. Fitting all three of these units in one team can be difficult, and picking up a Chosen Fabled may not be the best choice unless you are running one of these units as your carry.

New Champions: Tips, First Impressions, and Positioning

In this section, I’m going to give a brief rundown of all the new champions. As of writing this article, we don’t have the stats on every unit, but once the servers hit PBE, make sure to check out the Champions Page for any and all updates.

Positioning Key
We’ll be giving basic positioning suggestions for every champion to get the ball rolling for you, but remember that positioning is incredibly contextual in TFT and to always adapt to the situation at hand.

The terminology we’ll be using in this article will be frontline, midline, and backline.

Following this key, you’ll be able to understand the rows that champions should be placed in general.

1-Cost Champions

Brand – Dragonsoul + Mage

First Impressions: Brand has a decent ability for a 1 cost unit, and can be a good item holder for a late game carry. He also has good synergy with Aurelion Sol as they are both Dragonsoul Mages.

Positioning: Backline

[See Brand’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Brand might not deal good damage in the late game, but his ability can be clutch against enemies with high attack speed as that is who he will target. If you’re playing against Brand, you want to try and make it so he casts away from the rest of your team.

Nasus – Divine + Syphoner

First Impressions: Nasus’ Wither ability is quite strong, but it might not always cast on the target you want. He likely won’t cast on an enemy frontline unit, so it will likely be random which of the remaining enemies he will cast upon.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Nasus’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Nasus isn’t a particularly complicated unit, but in the early game, he can be useful to likely cast on enemy backline units once the frontline units clash.

Tristana – Dragonsoul + Sharpshooter

First Impressions: Tristana definitely seems to be a potential 1-cost carry. She attacks very fast with her ability, which also will activate the Dragonsoul trait.

Positioning: Backline

[See Tristana’s TFT champion page]

Tips: If you’re running Tristana as a carry, you will want to make sure she receives the Dragonsoul buff. If she doesn’t have the highest health of your Dragonsoul units, you will want to have your other Dragonsoul units die quickly so she can receive the buff.

2-Cost Champions

Braum – Dragonsoul + Vanguard

First Impressions: Braum’s ability is very unique in that he can protect your team from a lot of damage. A lot of the strongest teams have at least one ranged carry. With Braum’s shield up, ranged attacks and abilities deal very little damage.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Braum’s champion page]

Tips: Positioning Braum is much more important as you want him to block ranged attacks and abilities from enemies. Putting him in the front is a simple solution, but you also want to make sure that he blocks important abilities, and not just soak up damage in the front.

Nautilus – Fabled + Vanguard

First Impressions: Nautilus is coming back, and his ability is quite decent. Against melee units, his ability can be extremely strong as he constantly will knock up enemies. However, he can be somewhat lackluster against enemies that are mostly ranged.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Nautilus’s TFT champion page]

Tips: You will want to place Nautilus wherever the largest clump of enemies is. This way, if he is able to cast, he can knock up multiple enemies.

Rakan – Elderwood + Keeper

First Impressions: Rakan is coming back with a slightly different ability than he had before. His ability packs a lot of utility into a 2-cost unit, so he will likely be a strong unit to use in the early and mid game.

Positioning: Frontline 

[See Rakan’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Rakan dashes to the furthest enemy within his attack range. Because of this, try placing him on the side that enemy carries are on. This will increase the likelihood that his ability will cast toward the enemy carry and CC them for a few seconds.

Vladimir – Cultist + Syphoner

First Impressions: Vladimir’s ability is very simple and isn’t very special, but Syphoners in general have interesting potential. Giving the entire team lifesteal is quite a strong ability, so even if his ability is a bit lackluster, his trait could potentially make up for it.

Positioning: Midline

[See Vladimir’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Vladimir likely won’t be a main carry in a team comp, so you can put in him the middle of the board to use at protection for your main carries.

3-Cost Champions

Darius – Fortune + Slayer

First Impressions: Darius is coming back with his usual dunking ability. In Set 3, Space Pirates were an all in type of playstyle that relied on high rolling Gangplank. This time can be a very similar situation as he has the Fortune trait to build up gold, and Samira is a 5 cost unit that shares the Slayer synergy with Darius.

Positioning: Frontline / Midline

[See Darius’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Darius will do better toward the front, but you don’t want him to be a primary tank. As such, you can place him on the sides of the front or in the middle so that he doesn’t draw the inital aggro from a fight.

Neeko – Fabled + Mystic

First Impressions: Neeko has interesting potential. Fabled bonuses are quite decent, and having a Mystic trait means that Neeko could be the replacement for Ahri in the 4 Vanguard 4 Mystic comp.

Positioning: Backline

[See Neeko’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Fitting in all 3 Fabled units can be difficult as Brawler and Vanguards usually aren’t put into the same team. You will likely have to decide between running Cho’Gath or Nautilus and using a Chosen Fabled. You could run all 3 and have one of the synergies not utilized, but that would only work if the Fabled bonuses are strong enough.

Shyvana – Dragonsoul + Brawler

First Impressions: Shyvana is back with her transformation ability and it’ll be interesting to see how players use her. There are a lot of carry options for Dragonsoul comps, so investing into a 3-cost unit might not be the best choice. In Brawler comps, she will definitely be a strong addition, but she may not deal enough damage to be worth investing into.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Shyvana’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Interestingly enough, Shyvana will fly away from her target when she transforms. This means you can probably place her in the front to cast quickly, allowing her to cast away from danger.

Sivir – Cultist + Sharpshooter

First Impressions: Sharpshooters are already a very offensive bunch of units, and Sivir gives them even more of an offensive boost. For Sharpshooter comps, Sivir will likely be the mid game carry until you are able to find Samira. She also will probably be a consistent carry for Cultist comps with the removal of Jhin.

Positioning: Backline

[See Sivir’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Sivir plays a very similar role to Jhin as they are both Cultist Sharpshooters. This means that the comps will likely play very similarly as before, just without Dusk in the mix.

4-Cost Champions

Aurelion Sol – Dragonsoul + Mage

First Impressions: Aurelion Sol’s ability seems quite strong to me. While Ahri’s ability largely relied on one shotting enemies, Aurelion Sol has a huge benefit to the mage trait. By casting twice, his ability will deal more damage the second time. This makes the damage reduction from Mage 3 less noticeable, and makes the bonus from Mage 5 and 7 quite strong.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Aurelion Sol will cast toward the furthest enemy, so it will be beneficial to be place in the corners of the map. He can be susceptible to Aatrox this way, so be careful where you place him.

[See Aurelion Sol’s TFT champion page]

Cho’Gath – Fabled + Brawler

First Impressions: Cho’Gath’s ability is very strong, and his Fabled ability seems to be very strong. My main issue with Fabled is that it may be difficult to fit them all into a team. Even still, if his Fabled ability is strong enough, people will find a way to make it work.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Cho’Gath’s TFT champion page]

Tips: You usually will want Cho’Gath to take a lot of damage early so that he casts quickly. Because of this, you want him to be one of the main tanks of the team by being in the very front.

Kayle – Divine + Executioner

First Impressions: Kayle was one of the best carries in Set 3, and  it’s very possible that she will be very strong in Set 4 as well. However, she had the Blademaster trait in Set 3 which greatly helped her attack speed. In this Set, the Divine trait is also quite strong, but we will see if she lives up to her name.

Positioning: Backline 

[See Kayle’s TFT champion page]

Tips: It will be interesting to see what items players decide to go for, but since she is very similar to her appearance in Set 3, players will likely use similar items as before.

Olaf – Dragonsoul + Slayer

First Impressions: Olaf was always a fun unit to use as his ability allowed him to be immune to crowd control. His trait also gives him lifesteal, making him quite the carry to build around. Dragonsoul looks to be quite a strong synergy with carry options like Olaf and Aurelion Sol.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Olaf’s TFT champion page]

Tips: In most games, you want Olaf toward the front, but you don’t want him to take too much damage early on or get CC’ed before he is able to cast. You can put him more toward the side to prevent this from happening. You can also use an item like Rapid Firecannon to keep him at a safe distance from enemies.

Tryndamere – Warlord + Duelist + Slayer

First Impressions: Tryndamere has three traits, making him both powerful and flexible. His ability is quite powerful, but he can run into danger by spinning toward enemies. If his damage output is strong enough, he will make an excellent carry.

Positioning: Frontline 

[See Tryndamere’s TFT champion page]

Tips: Tryndamere spins toward the largest clump of enemies, so he will definitely be in danger. Try to balance offensive items and defensive items to ensure he doesn’t die instantly in fights.

Xayah – Executioner + Elderwood + Keeper

First Impressions: Xayah is another carry with three traits, making her a flexible carry. In League of Legends, Xayah’s ultimate is very powerful as you can dodge any ability or attack with it, but in TFT, it may be inconsistent. You won’t be able to cast whenever you want, but it could be a strong defensive move to drop aggro from units like Assassins.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: Depending how long it takes to cast her ability, Xayah could be a backline carry that doesn’t need protection around her. If her ability cast is long enough, she could reliably drop aggro from enemies before they can kill her.

[See Xayah’s TFT champion page]

5-Cost Champions

Ornn – Blacksmith + Elderwood + Vanguard

First Impressions: Ornn can potentially change the game in a huge way. Depending on how powerful his artifacts are, it may make him an instant buy on any team. Of course, he will be stronger on teams that can utilize his traits, but his artifacts may be worth adding into any team.

Positioning: Frontline

Tips: Keep in mind that Ornn targets the furthest enemy with his ability. You can use him as a frontline unit, but you may want to move him toward the side opposite of the enemy team or their main carry.

[See Ornn’s TFT champion page]

Samira – Daredevil + Sharpshooter + Slayer

First Impressions: Samira definitely has potential to be an extremely strong late game carry. She already has lifesteal with Slayer, so an item like Hextech could be a wasted slot if she just needs more damage. Her Daredevil trait and ability synergize together to make a unique unit.

Positioning: Backline

Tips: The wording on Daredevil is a bit difficult to fully understand without playing her in game. What’s for sure is that she will be constantly dashing around the map. If fast enough, enemies might not even be able to hit her if they are melee.

[See Samira’s TFT champion page]

Swain – Dragonsoul + Syphoner

First Impressions: Swain’s ability is so long it broke our image. Jokes aside, Swain also has very good carry potential as he also has lifesteal as a part of his traits. You may not need an item like Hextech, but more lifesteal and a shield won’t hurt.

Positioning: Frontline

[See Swain’s TFT champion page]

Tips: If Swain is like his previous appearances, his ability will cast through his resurrection animation from Guardian Angel. If that’s not the case, you should look to build other defensive items or even an offensive item.

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theorycrafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 4.5 hits live!

The post All New Champions and Traits in TFT Set 4.5: Festival of Beasts+ appeared first on Mobalytics.

Warlords are a very simple comp, but they can feel unbeatable if they get everything they want. Katarina 3 is very strong, but not impossible to beat with good positioning and counterplay.

In this article, I’ll go over the main strategies I use to counter Katarina comps. So let’s get right into it.

Counter Positioning

Without a doubt, the best counter to Katarina comps is positioning. You may have to position sub-optimally for other fights, but if you can predict when you fight the Katarina player, you can counter position for a fight very well.

The most important positioning tactic to keep in mind is to place a bait unit properly. Let’s go into an example to see what I mean.

The enemy positioning might not always look like this, but almost all Katarina players will put their Katarina in the middle of the board.

This is simply a good positioning to fight into any comp regardless of which side they place their carry on.

Proper Bait

Now let’s look at an example positioning for a comp you might be playing.

Many comps like to position like this in order to keep their main carry safe from Assassins or Shades. However, against Katarina, this type of positioning can do more harm than good.

Katarina will jump into the middle of your backline and proceed to walk toward your carry. Once she casts, it’s doom for your backline.

Because of this, you can try to counter position against Katarina like so.

This positioning looks very similar, except for the Thresh. In a fight against Katarina, she will jump toward the backline, but the closest champion to her is now Thresh.

This will make her path toward Thresh and away from your Ahri. Thresh will move up about 1 hex while Katarina is jumping, which will make her walk away from your Ahri.

This bait tactic is extremely helpful in trying to get units like Katarina or Kayn away from your carry. This won’t work all the time as the enemy can simply move their Katarina to jump right into your backline carry.

Even still, if you can catch them off guard in the mid game, you can disrupt their win streak to try and break their economy.

Holding Items and Champions

There are two main win conditions for Katarina comps. Either they can get Katarina 3 or they are able to get a Warlord Spatula or both.

If one of these things happens, their comp can become too strong to counter-position against. As such, you should try to keep track of what they need in order to prevent them from becoming too strong.

Holding Items

You can’t disrupt their items too much without ruining your own items, but if a Warlord Spatula or a Spatula appears on carousel, it might be a good decision to try and steal it from them instead of going for an item you want.

Maybe you want an Infinity Edge or a Quicksilver from carousel. However, if you think they will still beat you if they get the Spatula or Warlord’s Banner, you’re better off stealing the item they want instead.

Holding Katarina

In the late game, if the enemy Katarina is still 2 star, you should consider buying Katarina from the shop to reduce the odds they find the last few copies they need. If you’re low on gold and need some key upgrades, you might not be able to afford to do this.

But, if you upgraded your units and have some spare gold, try buying up Katarina so that the enemy doesn’t complete their Katarina 3 star.

Counter Items

The last thing I want to touch on is counter items. In my opinion, there aren’t many items that counter Katarina well. You may be able to get a slight advantage with certain items, but overall, positioning and preventing them from completing their units are more effective in my opinion.

Shroud of Stillness

One of the most effective items against Katarina is Shroud of Stillness. Most of the time, the enemy player will want to group their units to make use of the Keeper buff.

This will allow you to easily hit Shroud on many units and ideally Katarina. Delaying her cast time by even a few seconds can turn the fight in your favor.

Zephyr / Trap Claw

Unfortunately, while these two items are very effective against Katarina, almost every Katarina will have Quicksilver on her, negating these items’ effects.

However, in the few games where the enemy is unable to build Quicksilver, both of these items are very effective against Katarina.

A well placed Zephyr will stop her from jumping, allowing your backline to be safe. Trap Claw allows her to jump but will negate her first cast if she breaks the shield, stunning her and negating her damage.

Conclusion

And that concludes a few of the tips I have for playing against Warlord Katarina comps. There are surely more things you can do to counter Katarina, but these are the main ones I’ve noticed from my time watching and playing.

Make sure to experiment with different tactics to try and see what works and what doesn’t. Even if they are a bit stronger than you, with superior play, you can always try to come out on top.

Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to theorycraft your own counters or explore our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with.

The post How to Counter Katarina + Warlords in TFT appeared first on Mobalytics.