How to win your games without building 3* pieces!
Good afternoon Summoners,
With only a couple of days left in the season, I thought I would share a guide on how to build my favorite team in TFT. There is always the ever-looming shadow of RNG effecting our games but if you play your pieces right and have patience, you can greatly reduce the risk of losing your games. The team I build is almost the same every single game and it helped me climb from Iron IV as a new player to a somewhat decent Platinum IV. I'm confident that I could climb higher but with such little time left in the season, I just don't feel comfortable under that RNG shadow... HOWEVER, I do feel comfortable sharing my guide now that I know I will no longer have to fear competing against it and hopefully those of you at the tip of your climb but not quite at the top can get that little boost you need if you ever feel uncertain. Used properly, this build will put you in the top 4 almost every game. I can't guarantee every game due to RNG but that should go without saying. Without further ado, here is my blueprint.
(Note: if you stray even slightly from the build due to uncertainty, you will almost definitely fail. Uncertainty kills. HAVE FAITH IN YOUR BUILD)
Gunslingers and Blademasters
I have 2 versions of this guide. The first is an ultimate summary of the guide. This is for those who got it and just want to get back to winning. The second will have all the intricacies I realized during my climb.
Version 1
Build blademasters and gunslingers. Put Giant Slayer and BOTRK on Jinx.
Version 2
Article 1: Beginning Drafts
In the intro draft there will be 3 key items to look out for. If you can grab a spatula, great, it's the rarest and worth having as your first item but do not panic if you don't get it. If someone grabs it before you, DON'T STOP MOVING, change course to the nearest of either a sword or a bow. Depending on which item you start with, you may have to plan differently but ultimately, there are 2 items you NEED. They are a NECESSITY and you MUST build them as soon as possible. They are Giant Slayer and Blade of the Ruined King (BOTRK).
Build Giant Slayer First
This item will cut down your brawlers, knights, dragons, all the front line enemies. This is your ultimate weapon and the single most important item in the game. You will find that on occasion, you will beat your 2* opponents with your 1* pieces on accident because you beefed up too fast.
Grab a sword or bow in the first draft and complete your item by second draft. Do your best to save up the pieces you need for the build but only place the lowest quality build you can create. The first 3 rounds against other players should be a competition to see who can lose the best so they can have first pick on second draft.
Put your Giant Slayer on Tristana.
Article 2: SAVE YOUR MONEY (50 gold to be precise!)
5 gold is granted every round. We also get bonus gold for winning or losing so many games in a row. But did you know that you ALSO get gold for saving it? For every 10 gold you hold on to in your little legend bank account, you earn 1 additional gold as a thank you for using their service. When you save 50 gold, you earn an additional 5 gold every single round. This will compensate you if you find an uncomfortable balance between winning and losing. Did you see the guy at the bottom climb to the top somehow? Lose streak bonus. Girl at the top is winning all game? Win streak bonus keeps her up there. What about us in the middle? We keep winning then losing then we end up desperately trying to level or hyper roll but can't afford it! Save those gold pennies. Having extra cash will increase your opportunity rate and reduce the chances of RNG screwing you over.
I'll put this here so you can't just scroll by it-
DO NOT BUY LEVELS OR ROLL FOR CHAMPS UNTIL YOU REACH KRUGS.
As tempting as it can be to rush your build and beat the competition, your gold will keep you afloat in the long run. Being patient has its benefits. Once you reach Krugs, buy your level and roll to make enough 2* pieces to defeat them. I try to keep my gold around 30 or 40 by this time and for the rest of the game, above 50. The ONLY time to cash out is for survival. If your life points go below 30 at any point, cash it out. Buy the nearest level and roll as many 2* champs as you can. If you are smart and know your stuff, you can roll a minimum or maximum amount just enough to crush the competition you've been keeping your eye on. Once you are confidently winning, start saving it up again. Cash is king.
Article 3: Build and Arrangement
For the sake of a text guide, I will use a code for tile placement. The 3 rows will be alphabetical with the top row as A, middle as B and bottom as C. The tiles will then be addressed from left to right numerically from 1 to 7.
RNG will have us guessing every round which champs we will roll but we don't have to guess what to build anymore. If you are using this guide, you will build ONLY gunslingers and blademasters. Don't bother with ANY other champions outside the build, even if you roll 3 Kennens at once, leave him for someone else. You don't need him. That being said, the first 3 rounds of minions WILL need to be won so build anything you desire for it. Keep in mind, you will get a full 3 gold refund for 2* 1-gold champs. You will only get a 4 gold refund for your 2* 2-gold champ. As you build higher quality champions into higher tiers, their monetary value diminishes. This can result in a loss of gold early on if you just had to have that 2* Lissandra rush. Only build something strong enough to beat minions and then try to lose your first 3 rounds against players. I'll list the champs you need for your full build at level 9 and where to place them for maximum effectiveness. I'll even add a bonus champ for what I call the unbeatable Full Blood Moon 10 champ placement.
Do keep in mind that tweaks are important case by case but ultimately your lineup should look like this
- A-5 Shen
- A-6 Aatrox/Gangplank
- A-7 Camille
- B-3 Yasuo
- B-5 Graves
- B-7 Lucian
- C-4 Miss Fortune
- C-5 Jinx
- C-7 Draven/Aatrox/Fiora
- (FORCE OF NATURE/SECOND BOTRK) Tristana maxes our guns out. Shoot everyone! In case of making with BOTRK, replace Draven/Aatrox/Fiora
This is NOT written in stone. Make sure your 2* champs are either in the A row first, on either side of Shen (according to placement), or back everything down to rows B and C temporarily when on the defensive (while also staying as true to placement as possible. Play in the moment and make your placements properly as the game progresses. After you earn 50 gold, spend the extra on leveling only if you are ahead and as you need to on upgrades when behind. If you are getting nervous about your life points getting too low, there is no shame in hyper rolling for upgrades reasonably. You can still earn extra gold when you have 40, 30, 20 and even 10 gold. Aim to get Jinx and Camille together quickly for the hextech buff. As soon as you purchase Jinx, sell Tristana and add Giant Slayer and BOTRK (blade) to her replacement.
The purpose of these placements is simple. We have a strong defensive line with Shen blocking incoming attacks in front while Gangplank and Camille help tank incoming damage. Our defensive line does massive damage as well as they have a 50% chance of earning extra hits. While the items are of utmost importance, the reason they become so is because of our trait advantage. Sure we could beef up with knights and brawlers but jinx will be in the back hitting only 1 or 2 (maybe 3 if she's lucky) pieces at a time at a rate of however fast her Rageblade can get her there. It's effective enough but make her a blademaster and surround her with other gunslingers and shes hitting 5 champs at once at 3 attacks per second. Meanwhile, enemy assassins and Blitzcrank are distracted by Yasuo, Lucian and whoever you put in the back on the right. It will only take a second before your enemies realize they are in a champ shredder.
While making your way up, there are many challenges to face from not getting the right items right away to not rolling the right champs right away and the enemy just finished their 3* Darius by stage 3-1 or that guy already has 4 brawlers and 2 archers... the list goes on. Staying true to your build can not be stressed enough. That being said, you would be surprised how much power you can get out of your duplicate pieces. When you already have 2 guns an 3 blades, feel free to boost your offense or your defense by adding duplicates. Add a second Shen to your backline if you have trouble with assassins or blitzcrank. Add another gunslinger. You aren't just adding another champ. You are adding one that also hits multiple enemies because of trait benefits. Make every round count for something.
Article 4: Items
Items can make or break your game. I spent the whole season analyzing how to handle acquiring undesirable items. When you get items you didn't want, it seems like the end of the world. Well there are ways to get around that too. You just have to know which items work best on which pieces. To keep it short and sweet, put your offensive items and the ones that create on-hit effects on your gunslingers. They hit multiple enemies and every additional hit deals the same damage and on-hit effects as their normal hit. Got defensive items? Your blademasters have a lot of hp and can dodge direct hits. Below is a list of what works well on whom.
Negatron Cloak- This little gem can create disabling effects. It is great to have and can mix with a teardrop for silence, armor for disarm, or a bow for *shrinking. I like to put these on Lucian or Jinx, depending on when the item is acquired or whether I have something better for the situation. Against casters, you can add a rod to it so they take damage on cast but I typically only use it if I can make more than one.
Needlessly Large Rod- This is a great item to mix with itself for a boost in spell power but if you want some REAL firepower, add a glove to it. Put it on Miss Fortune. Every separate wave she casts has a separate chance for each piece in its wake to critically hit. Put any spell damage items on Miss Fortune. If you can't seem to get to her in time, Aatrox and Lucian can benefit from extra AP. Got an extra extra extra bow? Rageblade on Draven is traditional but Jinx and Lucian hit more enemies. If Jinx has her two main items already, add it to Lucian. Jinx won't attack any faster but Lucian can use the extra juice. Tristana also deals more with her skill if she has more consecutive hits before it detonates.
Tear of the Goddess- Mix with a cloak to silence those pesky casters or do you have too many of these?Mix two teardrops and put it on Yasuo. He will have a full mana bar every time he casts. Lucian also benefits greatly from Seraph's Embrace as he also requires very little mana to cast.
Giant's Belt- Combine with armor and stop your opponent from healing! Lucian or Jinx fire the fastest and will therefore spread Red Buff the fastest. Got two belts? Shen can heal quite a lot from Warmogs while blocking attacks. Gangplank or Aatrox also make decent tanks if Shen's items are full.
Chain Vest- Obviously we want to combine with a cloak and stop our enemies from attacking but what if we have no cloak? Combine it with a glove and put it on Shen. Iceborn Gauntlet works exceptionally well on someone who's ability is to literally dodge attacks. Shen is full? Put it on one of his wingmen.
Sparring Gloves- Combining 2 of these can add a huge advantage to your team. Put Thief's Gloves on your largest blademaster – preferably Gangplank as he has high offensive and defensive capabilities and can benefit from any item. If he's not free, Shen is good but I prefer defense specific items on him. Combine with chain vest and get your slow zones from Shen or combine with rod to maximize damage on Miss Fortune.
Spatula- Got another one? Great! Lets make more blademasters! OR combine with a rod and watch them cast twice as often! Sorcerors gain double mana from basic attacks. Put it on Yasuo, Aatrox, Gangplank or Lucian and watch them deal twice as often magic damage! Got 2 spatches? Add another champ to your team. When you have 10 champs, you can create the ultimate build with 6 gunslingers and 6 blademasters. It simply cannot be beat.
That's all I have for now, let me know what you guys think and I'll see you in game next season!
-ReaI Estate
