League of Legends Teamfight Tactics – Beginner’s Guide

Teamfight Tactics is a fairly new auto-battler spin-off in LoL. While it uses many champions that you’re familiar with in League of Legends, it’s a different type of game. In order to get better in TFT, you will need to understand the rules, item combinations, and champion builds, which we are going to cover right now …

What is Teamfight Tactics?

Teamfight Tactics or TFT is an auto-battler. What this means is that you’re not going to be controlling the champions in the game. Instead, you’re going to choose the champions you would like to put into play, and then send them out into the battle. Basically, what you’re doing is making your own army with the champions. 

In order to win the round, your army will need to kill all of the enemy army’s units. If your army dies, then your avatar’s life bar will take damage.

Every player starts out with 100 health in their life bar, and if that life bar drops to 0, you’re out. The winner of the game of TFT is the last one standing. 

Basically, in TFT, you have to put together your best army and win enough games to take out your opponents. Each game consists of seven other players …players that all have the same goal in mind, so you’ll have to put your skills to the test.

Also read: Best TFT Overlays

Assembling an Army – What are the Champions?

You need to build the best army you can – those champions are referred to as “units.” There are three ways you can get units. You can get units in the shop from the box that is at the bottom of the screen. There will be five champions in the shop at the start of each round – you can purchase those champions with gold you have accumulated. 

The second way you can get a new unit is to simply get lucky and have one drop for you during the PVE rounds. At the end of each stage, you will be fighting against computer-controlled units, and those units drop some nice loot if you manage to defeat them. Sometimes, this look can include a random champion.

The third way you can get a new champion is with the Carousel round. The Carousel round occurs at the beginning of the game and in the middle of each stage, starting in Stage 2. In the Carousel round, you won’t be spending any gold – what you do is run out to the middle of the Carousel and pick up a still available champion. 

Each champion will have their own defined weaknesses and strengths. Naturally, some of them will be healthy tanks that can take a lot of damage but don’t deal a lot, while others will be the high-damage dealers that are squishy. 

How to Build an Army

You will be using the champions to form a strong comp. Comps are usually made by taking units of the same Origin or Class and combining them – their synergy will grant a bonus attribute to those units.

For example, let’s say you have two of the same units – the bonus goes into their armor, which will reduce the damage from the enemy’s.

When you’re building your army in LoL, we recommend having one significant synergy in your comp that gives a boost of strength to your strongest champions. From there, you should have a mix of supportive synergies that can be helpful to your team.

A good comp will have a mixture of defensive and offensive units with synergies that help the other units. 

Can I Improve My Champions?

Yes, if you get copies of the same champions, you can level them up. In the store, there are multiple copies of every champion that you can buy. If you get three copies of the same champion, it will level up and turn into a 2-star champion. From there, if you get three copies of your 2-star champion, it will level up to a 3-star champion.

Another good way for you to improve your champions involves using items. There are two ways you can get items for your champions – when they drop during the PVE rounds that we talked about earlier and on the Carousel.

You can make your army stronger by increasing the size. The amount of units you can have on the board is equal to your level. If you spend your gold on leveling up instead of spending it on champions, you will be able to get to a higher level quicker, allowing you to get even more units on your board. Mind you; you don’t have to put gold towards leveling up, because you will level up throughout the game. However, spending gold on your levels can speed up the process. 

How to Play Teamfight Tactics

We’d like to go a little more in-depth and teach you how to play Teamfight Tactics. There are numerous phases to Teamfight Tactics:

• Shared draft
• Between combat champion select
• Combat versus monsters
• Combat versus other teams

Shared Draft Phase

At the start of the game, and throughout the game, you will be pulled into what’s referred to as a shared draft. During this time, the champions will be circling in the middle of a stage – each one will have an item over their head. Run into the champion you would like to choose – the one you choose will be given to you with the item they have over their head.

Tips for Shared Draft

• Consider the Items – During the shared draft phase, you may be searching for the best champion, which’s understandable. However, you also need to consider the items above the champions heads. Sometimes, it’s better to pay more attention to the item than you do to the champions.
• Completing a Set of Three Champions – If you manage to complete a set of three champions, this will cause the set to level up. If one has an item, that item will be placed on the new champion that leveled up. If one of those champions in your set of three has an uncomplete item, both items will merge and make a final item. Just make sure you don’t choose a champion that results in your final item being something that isn’t beneficial for your new champ.
• The Color of the Circle – Each champion will have a colored circle under them – the color indicates their level. 

Between Combat Champion Select

During these rounds, you will be able to buy champions from the group of five random champions at the bottom of your screen. The color around each champion is an indication of their price and rarity. The champions will cost you anywhere from 1 to 5 gold.

If you don’t want to use any of the champions you have available in the shop, then you can pay two gold to re-roll and get a new set of champions that you can purchase. In TFT, just be careful with how many times you choose to re-roll because there are better ways for you to use that gold.

Also read: Best TFT Players

Combat Against Monsters

At the beginning of the game, and during later phases of the game, you will be going through a wave of monsters instead of going through player teams. Some of those waves are going to have special rules. For example, the krugs like monster works like a healer – it will heal the remaining monsters.

There is a random chance that the monsters will drop champions, items, and gold when killed. 

Combat Against Player Teams

Most of the game is going to be played against player-owned teams. During the battle, you won’t be able to affect the outcome. Yes, you will be able to place items on the champs, but you can’t do anything to it once the combat has started. When the battle takes place, watch to see if there are any weaknesses in your team – this will give you an idea of what you need to do in order to improve your army.

Also read: Best Silent PC Cases

Selling Champions

If you have champions that you don’t need or want, you can sell them back to the shop for gold. All you have to do is drag the champ onto the shop located at the bottom of your screen. If the champions have items, these items will be placed in your inventory.

Conclusion

Teamfight Tactics is different, but it can be fun. In order to master TFT, knowing about the champions and their abilities can be helpful. Have you played TFT yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it?