Teamfight Tactics has been one of my favorite games since it was released June of last year, and I cannot stop playing. Despite getting angry when I can’t get the characters I need for a composition, or I try running an attack damage heavy composition and get nothing but magic items and play poorly – I always turn around and jump right back into another game. It is addicting, incredibly addicting.
Set 4 of the game commonly known as TFT, Fates, dropped just over a month ago and I have been grinding the ranked game mode nonstop. I’ve been able to get up to Plat 4 from Iron 2 in the first month of the set. The goal is to eclipse my best finish for a ranked season which was Plat 2 (and maybe even reach diamond?). I have been having so much fun with the game that I was inspired to make this article to help players that are maybe playing inconsistently and need ideas of which compositions are the most consistently successful.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional TFT player but these are builds I have tried personally that are recommended by professionals.
This list reflects the meta from patch 10.21 and could change barring balance changes in future updates
Six Sharpshooters
The characters: Vayne, Nidalee, Teemo, Jarvan IV, Jinx, Jhin, Riven, Azir
Fates Character: Vayne or Teemo
Main carries: Jinx, Vayne, Teemo
Six sharpshooters is currently an S-Tier composition that, if built properly, can almost guarantee at Top 4 finish and get you some LP. The reason it’s so strong is that not only the auto attacks, but the spells of sharpshooters ricochet and hit multiple targets. You can play this composition with slow leveling or fast leveling depending on how you do early game to try and get T3 Vayne. Jinx is definitely the most important character to try and build items. Her ultimate ability stuns numerous targets when you have the six sharpshooter buff and, with the right items, can be spammed throughout a round. The items to look to build on her are: Spear of Shojin or Blue buff (these are interchangable for the most part), Jeweled Gauntlet (to help her spell critically hit), and Infinity Edge (to help with the odds of getting a critical). For Vayne, running items like Zeke’s Herald and Rageblade for attack speed, or Infinity Edge and Last Whisper for critical hits and armor reduction will make her a great damage carry. Lastly you have Teemo. Since he received a reduction to his mana cost he is actually an incredible carry for the comp. Item builds for him are a little different, you want to emphasis Hextech Gunblade. This will give him spell life steal making him great for sustain. Other items to use are Hand of Justice and Blue Buff. Six sharpshooter has been my go-to composition to get me consistent LP.
Brawler/Hunter
The Characters: Tahm Kench, Vi, Sylas, Aphelios, Nunu, Kindred, Warwick, Sett
Fate Character: Aphelios or (if you’re lucky) Kindred
Main carries: Kindred, Sett
This composition can be very fun and rewarding to run. The Hunter buff helps you to take down weak characters and do a lot of damage very quickly. Although this composition can be rewarding it is also very dependent on getting a Hunter fates character, and getting the right items for Kindred. That is why it is a composition I don’t normally recommend running unless you happen upon a fates hunter early. If you do, Kindred is definitely the focus to be your carry. You will want to run Jeweled Gauntlet for the spell crit (if you get the chance you can even run two of them) and Blue Buff for the mana. If you really want to be greedy, your other third choice can be an Infinity Edge to guarantee the spell will critically hit. The brawlers will provide a big, annoying front line to allow for your hunters to shred down targets throughout the round. If you can get a Sett relatively early you should get him items like Jeweled Gauntlet, then items to keep him alive, like Dragon Claw for magic resistance and Bramble vest for armor.
Eight Brawlers
The Characters: All Brawlers + Kindred
Fate Character: Tahm Kench, Sylas, Vi
Main Carries: Tahm Kench, Kindred, Sett
If you are unable to get the hunter fates character listed for the composition above, eight brawler is a great composition to pivot towards. The eight brawler buff just makes your team a giant unmovable wall with tons of bonus HP. Now people might be confused why I listed Tahm Kench as a carry for this composition but it isn’t in a traditional sense. You want to get Tahm Kench to tier 3 (which is why it is ideal to get him as the fates brawler) and fully build him with tank items. The three best items are Dragon Claw for pure magic resistance, Bramble Vest for pure armor and attack reflection, and Sunfire Cape to deal damage to anyone foolish enough to step up to your beast of a Tahm Kench. If you check all those boxes your Tahm Kench will actually be unkillable and you can just flat out win or draw every round. Kindred will be the second character you want items on because they will be your main source of damage. The same items in the hunter composition will be the ideal set up once again so: Jeweled Gauntlet, Blue Buff, and if possible, Infinity Edge. Then there is Sett. He is one of the most interesting characters to build because you really can’t go wrong with how you build him. If you want to do a straight ability power build with items like Deathcap, and Jeweled Gauntlet to have him use his ultimate ability once and try to delete entire compositions, you can. If you want him to be able to survive rounds and use his ultimate multiple times in a round, you can build him with items similar to Tahm Kench. There is no wrong answer there it is just preference. This composition can be difficult to run because it is pretty dependent on getting T3 Tahm Kench and finding a Sett relatively early to get the eight brawler buff. I would definitely recommend stashing an Ashe to pair with your Warwick and Kindred to put out some more damage in case you cannot find a Sett by the end of round 5 carousel.
Six Duelists
The Characters: Yasuo, Fiora, Jax, Janna, Kalista, Shen, Lee Sin, Yone
Fate Charcter: Yasuo Duelist or Jax Duelist
Main Carries: Yasuo, Jax, Kalista
We are going to wrap things up with probably the most frustrating composition to run of the four we talked about today. Six duelists is honestly very dependent on getting one of the two fates characters I just listed, and even then, Jax/Duelist fate does not always provide great results either. This comp really only has two outcomes; you either win or you will get sixth place, there is no in between. It is also the composition that requires you to follow a specific formula to a tee or it will not be successful. The best scenario is you get a Yasuo/Duelist fate and build Infinity Edge, Hand of Justice, and Quicksilver for crowd control resistance and that you get him to tier three as quickly as you can. Then throwing items like Rageblade, Runan’s Hurricane, and Deathcap on Kalista to provide you with a second major damage source. If you aren’t able to get the Yasuo fate, it is possible to make a Jax fate work if you build tanky items on him and just let him ult as much as possible to win you rounds, but it is very difficult. This composition is not for the faint of heart but it is definitely a great composition to keep in mind if you see a Yasuo/Duelist fate in your first couple shops of the game.
Those are four really strong compositions that I recommend you guys give a try to help consistently gain LP and climb the ranks. If you are someone that doesn’t like to run meta compositions and do your own thing then I would recommend playing a normal round or two and just be creative. I recently found a composition of nine Warlords with an Akali and Katarina carry that was very fun to run, and won me a game. I also ran a variation of the composition that was six Warlords with three fortune that had similar carries but worked just as well. That is one thing that is really nice about this set is that you can afford to be flexible and play several compositions, even off-meta compositions, and still gain LP non-stop.
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