Itemization Strategies & Guide in Current Meta - Early Game, Carousels & Creep Rounds, Compositional

Hey folks!

In today's VIDEO I wanted to consolidate strategies and details on how to itemize in Teamfight Tactics. Please comment below with your thoughts or suggestions!

I split this video up into three sections: (1) Early Game (2) Carousels & When to Combine (3) Team Compositional Items

Early Game

In today's meta, the early game has a huge impact on your success rate in TFT. Especially since you gain LP in Ranked Matches by getting in the top 4 which means win streaks and avoiding player damage early is in your favor. Items like Statikk Shiv, Locket, Ionic Spark, and Guardian Angel have a disproportionate value EARLY in the game compared to the end of the match. A single Statikk Shiv can sometimes be what allows you to win most of your teamfights in the first 10-15 rounds. Just keep in mind these items tend to fall off in value later in the game, and obviously cannot be broken apart once combined.

On the first carousel, I recommend picking up either a Recurve Bow, Needlessly Large Rod, or Chain Vest as these will combine into items that have a bigger impact early on.

Examples of strong Item/Unit combos in the early game:

Lucian with Gunblade or Luden's Echo

Tristana with Cursed Blade or Hush

Graves with Red Buff

Aatrox with Guardian Angel or Gunblade

Vayne, Varus, Tristana, Lucian with Statikk Shiv

Anyone with Locket

Varus with Seraph's Embrace

Pyke with Darkin or Spear of Shojin. Demon Pyke is gross and is essentially an instant teamwide stun that's largely unavoidable due to his stealth and the mana gained from Darkin.

Kassadin with RFC and/or Bloodthirster

Kennen with defensive items like Warmogs or Morellos

Any unit that will survive a long time combined with Ionic Spark (you don't want them to die before it triggers a few times).

A 2-star or 3-star ranged unit with Titanic Hydra (it scales off the holder's HP, so higher stars are better).

What are other combos you've found to be effective?

When to Combine - Carousels, Creep Rounds, Etc.

Never combine items until the first round against players. You don't need items to beat the first 3 minion waves and it's prudent to wait until you have all your drops before deciding what to make. You should aim to make a strong item by the 2nd carousel that either gives you a power boost early or empowers a team composition.

Realistically you should be making your team composition off of the ITEMS you're getting, not the units. So ideally you want to only combine items when you feel they will fit the strategy you're working towards. However, you should never lose a match with uncombined items on your bench. Sometimes you HAVE to make items to prevent yourself from taking too much player damage and that's perfectly fine.

If you're not being pressured early by players who are playing aggressively, sometimes you can simply sit on your items until you have a team comp that works well with them. Also, if you're close to the next Carousel or Minion Round it's good to wait to see what you can get before combining.

Compositional Items

Here are some of the most item-dependent compositions.

Gunslingers - Gunslingers are easily the most item dependent comp in the game. If you think about it, it makes sense. Their bonus allows them to attack more targets but doesn't inherently provide an increase in overall teamfight strength. However, if these extra attacks applied debuffs that's a different story. You want to get a healthy number of debuff items like Cursed Blade, Hush, Sword Breaker, and Red Buff to make Gunslingers effective. Keep in mind Gunslingers fall off later in the game and usually transition into Blademasters since Gangplank gives you both. Usually converting Tristana into a Blademaster then adding a hyper carry Draven gives you a strong late game. This means you're looking for Recurve Bows and Negatron Cloaks.

Sorcerers/Elementalists - Sorcerers and Elementalists tend to build similar items, with the exception of Kennen. You're looking for Needlessly Large Rods and Tears. I recommend staying away from Deathcaps early in the game as it's more effective to build utility items like Seraph's Embrace, Luden's Echo, Locket, and Spear of Shojin. You almost always need at least one Yuumi's to comfortably reach 6 Sorcerers as a handful of the Sorcerers available to you are rather weak. Personally, I like Aatrox, Varus, Cho'Gath (when Demons get nerfed), and Brand to be converted to Sorcerers. Also keep in mind that Sorcerers and Elementalists gain more mana per attack so simply converting a non-Sorcerer over will let them gain more mana regardless.

Rangers - Rangers are actually pretty challenging to make work if you aren't careful. Many of the comps that are being run now counter them pretty hard and if you run into a team with high burst you risk losing. This is because Rangers are inherently a synergy that relies on consistent DPS, which means you want to slow the fight down as much as possible to allow this DPS to work its magic. This is why Glacial + Ranger works so well. The stuns & CC slow the fight down enough for the constant DPS to get kills. You want to lean on Attack Speed as your primary stat for Rangers. Zeke's Herald is a godsend in this case but you also want to work in Rapidfire Cannon (especially against Yordles and heavy Phantom Dancers) and Rageblades. Additionally, you want to convert your Rangers into either Demons or Glacials to benefit from the stuns and mana drains from your extra attacks. Runaan's Hurricane is also a GREAT pickup for any Ranger with Demon or Glacial as the bonus attacks will apply the on-hit effects.

Assassins/Ninjas - Assassins are a simple composition to itemize for. Generally, you want Recurve Bows and B.F. Swords so you can build Rapidfire Cannon (again to counter Yordles and Phantom Dancers), Infinity Edge, and Sword of the Divine. You also want to try and beef up your Akali and Kennen for ability damage. Akali works great with 1-2 Luden's Echos and Kennen is awesome with a Morellonomicon, Guardian Angel, or Warmog's.

Brawlers - With Brawlers you're usually looking for Volibear to be your damage dealer. In this case, a Rapidfire Cannon is essential. The RFC at base grants Volibear Attack Speed, but more importantly increases his range to prevent downtime while re-positioning. The more uptime he has while attacking the better. Next you want to look for on-hit debuff items like Hush or Cursed Blade as Volibear's splash attacks apply on-hit effects. Items like Warmogs work great with the higher HP that Brawlers get as it will give them more effective HP regen time.

Is there something I missed? Let me know!

Cheers