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TFT: Teamfight Tactics
Teamfight Tactics is all about luck. But luck is a skill. In this post I'll talk about [four](https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/the-4-types-of-luck) [types](https://medium.com/@ameet/the-four-kinds-of-luck-ea729970d71d) [of](https://pmarchive.com/luck_and_the_entrepreneur.html) [luck](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262511355?ie=UTF8&tag=marandsblo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262511355) and how they manifest in skill expression. **Type I:** [**Blind luck**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCD54fjwsSE)**.** There is no skill in this unless you count not being AFK and being able to click on 3 Sennas. **Type II:** [**Motion**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQnLzPFWQk)**.** "Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down\*."\* In order to benefit from blind luck, you have to roll. How many times have we backseated a friend who refuses to roll on 3-2 despite having 4 pairs? Knowing when to roll is the first and easiest level of skill expression in TFT. If you're reading this post, you probably already know [when you need to roll](https://youtu.be/rozwx868orc?t=29), as in the common 3-2/4-1 breakpoints. A common criticism of rolling is "what are you rolling for?"; that is, "One must distinguish between motion and progress''. And while it's true that at some point you need to make this distinction, I don't think newer players see any difference between rolling on 3-2 and hitting Garen 2 and rolling on 3-2, hitting nothing, and bleeding out. While we should aim to avoid rolling wastefully (for one upgrade, for a 5\* at 7) if you don't roll until you know that you're going to hit you're probably not going to hit. **Type III: Recognition.** "Chance favors the prepared mind." Know when you're lucky and know when you're unlucky. This is when skill expression starts to manifest, so this skill comes in a few levels. 1. [Know how to play flex](https://youtu.be/oqKSYK9oUxA?t=13), because first-timing a comp is gonna lead to a fast 8th, meaning you [know what units to look for and what items to build on those units](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexOyVpKVBs), and therefore what components to prioritize on carousel. 2. [Know how to build items](https://youtu.be/6g0-lBOu99s?t=13) that can work in multiple comps that you know how to play. 3. [Know how to rolldown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB-u6F53VA4) by holding pairs that fit in comps you know how to play or seem broken enough that you can just put units in and win without thinking too much. 4. [Know when to hold pairs](https://youtu.be/V36KhWLG5Yw?t=56) so that your level 7 board isn't just whatever random garbage you find on your rolldown, but also whatever random garbage you found in all the preceding shops. *There are two ways to recognize luck* (well, three if you count just looking at the highest winrate comps). You can read comp guides until you've internalized the intuition behind decisions and plays. Or you can strike out on your own path, be an innovator, and craft the new meta. Jokes -99% of us are here because we want to netdeck something and get free LP. Recognition is (probably) what enables players to hit Masters, it is the level of skill that can be learned by following guides, and it is (in my opinion) still nowhere near the level of skill required to manifest Type IV. **Type IV: Directed Motion.** Make decisions based not just on your game, but also on *other's* games and other *games.* This is the harder flavor of Motion to grasp because it requires not just preparation but knowledge and experience. Rather than micro-level decisions (what to buy in your shop), directed motion dictates macro-level decisions, specifically the two most important decisions in TFT: when to roll and what augments to select. *Applying directed motion to know when to roll* requires a level of awareness of other players that most of us cannot obtain because we are too busy watching Netflix. Instead of blindly rolling at 3-2 and 4-1, you might have enough HP to see that all the Aphelios/Zeri players have already hit so instead you're going to go 7 on 4-2 and get your Azir 2/Nasus 2 for free. Instead of mindlessly slowrolling above 50 when playing reroll, you see that you're contested and you devote all your energy to getting a higher placement in the mirror, and end up killing off the contester early enough that you can still hit your units and secure a top 4. Every time you lost because someone 3\*d a Zeri, it's because you didn't roll to deny them. If you roll on 3-2 and don't hit your units, it might be because you're unlucky, or it might be because you're contested and it was still early enough to pivot out. *The role of directed motion in augment selection* may go unnoticed today because [Tactics.tools](https://Tactics.tools) separates Gifts of the Fallen from Gotta Go Fast III. But without augments stats, it's all about your experience, because directed motion favors the individualized action. You can't [try all 200 augments](https://youtu.be/p-YCzFHWsvU?t=56), you need to pick augments because of your unique knowledge or "pocket picks". **Aren't these all just the same thing?** Yes and no. Motion requires a [bias for action](https://www.amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles), because just by rolling you increase your chances of getting lucky. Recognition requires [preparation](https://www.tfthandbook.com/) to recognize when you are getting lucky; if you're in motion and happen to stumble upon a new path, recognition lets you know whether it's the path to victory. Directed motion requires [tactics](https://youtu.be/SbF1bRwxIWY?t=146), and it enables you to make informed decisions on when to roll and what to play. **Im not OP** Archived source: https://archive.is/KHKDZ
Another good guide from r/competitivetft about Kassadin's augment Riftwalker The guide is too long, so posted an archived link. **I am not OP**
**Hey, I will sometimes repost some helpful stuff I like from my RSS r/CompetiveTFT so people who left reddit can enjoy some TFT stuff here. I will add archive source at the bottom.** Hey everyone! I'm Auqaa. Set 9 is amazing and is a wet dream for a hard force reroller like me :) I've only played reroll trist this entire set and I'm currently at rank 24 with 176 LP. Proudly, all 111 of my games in set 9 have been tristana. I know there was another trist guide recently from Clear who is also around the same rank, but thought I'd go deeper into my thought process for those that want to get some longer explanation. Lolchess: https://lolchess.gg/profile/na/auqaaTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/auqatftI haven't streamed in a long long time but perhaps I can get into it again :D Legend & Augments: Lee Sin - IMO every lee sin augment is good, 90% of my games I'll go two lee sin augments and one combat, and this is enough to top 4 (see mindset section below). Everyone knows by now on a roll is a prismatic in disguise (basically buy every 1-cost pair in the game to get infinite rerolls). Non lee-sin augments that I will pick up: Think Fast, Silver Ticket, Missed Connections How to use Shopping Spree: The rerolls will rollover each round, so save all your rerolls until you're above 50 gold. Resist that urge of the shiny button. Galaxies & Items: Scuttle Puddle, Hearth-Home, Targon Prime, Shuriman Bazaar, Yorick’s Graveyard, Glasc Industries Basically any augment that benefits you late game, or benefits you with gold before the 2-1 augment is really OP for this comp. Early gold from augments + On a roll is a guaranteed top 4 because you can roll with 75% odds for tier 1 units. Late game spike augments will hit right on time with when you're already near capped and can continue your win streak. Most importantly, these augments don't give a significant advantage to the current meta comps that are weaker early but stronger late, so this plays to your overall advantage. Trist: LW & Gunblade + 1 (GS, Runaans, Guinsoo, IE, DB, QSS), my two favorite radiant items are radiant GS and radiant runaans. Not math based, but visually they just look like they melt everything. Maokai: Protectors Vow, Gargoyles + 1 (Bramble, Sunfire, Warmogs) Stages / Mindset: It's important to understand that set 9 is the most forgiving set of all time. You have a bail out at the start of every stage thanks to lee sin augments. So you're almost guaranteed to hit at least three 3-starred units before the 4-1 augment comes regardless of how much gold you lost out on due to unlucky streaks or not making econ. I literally could not care less if someone griefs my 4 loss streak at 2-6. Two options: Based on my spot and how many units I have, I tend to roll down either after the lee sin 3-1 augment comes, or right before the 4-1 combat augment will pop. So if I think I can realistically hit the 3 stars as early as I can, I will try to spike instantly to start knocking down other players' hps. If it's a rather unlucky start, then I slow roll and keep the loss streak up until after the stage 3 creeps, and roll down to 0 before the last augment comes out. This is because I want at least 1 combat augment in the game just to keep up with the average 2 combat augments per game from other players. Three 3-stars, then Push!: Trist, Maokai, and it doesn't matter if the third 3 star is poppy, viego, or jinx. Push levels once you get your first three 3-stars and trust that the process will let you three star the rest of your comp later. Contested? I've had my fair share of contested games where it really comes down to a slight advantage if you just hyperroll after the 3-1 augment while the other person tries to play the econ game. Unfortunate when it happens but there are some techs that you can slide in just to make sure you at least place higher than them. For example, Echo + Viego at lvl 7 on the two top left corners is a brilliant tactic that will do 2k damage to their corner carries. Or building sunfire. Boards/Positioning: Up until you reach level 6 your positioning really doesn't matter because you're either lose streaking or just waiting to hit your comp. I literally do not move my units unless I have a zephyr or something because scouting is hard to do if I'm watching Haikyuu while playing the game. So these boards are how I position every game pretty much. Level 6: https://lolchess.gg/builder?deck=80378e8d83bde923915d6c4df59cca6e32b3942c Level 7: https://lolchess.gg/builder?deck=32652c76bc96535f690a2a1809fb64db73b1a0a1 This is lowkey so good at stage 4 when people are ramping up their meta boards. If your viego or ekko procs rogue onto their backline corner carry, they just die for free. Level 8: https://lolchess.gg/builder?deck=5280f78efc49a9d03cd17c02286e1d9f3f60f4b9 Heimer: I like to get two in repair-o-kit and one in the morello gun and place the turret randomly in the front line. If you've somehow reached level 9, you can really add anything at this point, I'll try to put in 4 shadow isle with Senna + Gwen or something, but late game is different every game so I don't have a standard 9 board. That's it! Good luck and thanks for reading if you've made it this far. As always, let me know how these tips/tricks work for you! **I am not OP** Source: https://archive.ph/ZY0Ml
youtu.be
* [Robinsongz (US)](https://www.tfthandbook.com/) * [Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (US)](https://bunnymuffins.lol/meta/) * [LeDuck (EUW)](https://sites.google.com/view/tftmeta/meta-sheet) * [Sologesang (EUW)](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQXGfKXwmtXV3JXkkvFW9kcvXtWdEpXq-5uohygcek-qM19CvuWTZYf5VwrgXqwMBVLhVomP0yp_jEZ/pubhtml) * [Mobalytics.gg](https://app.mobalytics.gg/tft/team-comps) * [MetaTFT.com](https://www.metatft.com/comps) * [tactics.tools](https://tactics.tools/) * [tftguides](https://tftguides.com/) * [Set 9 Augment Tree/Table by Kayna](https://twitter.com/Lauren_Wu/status/1668629975816355843?s=20) * [Kai's notes for Set 9](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dGt12Uj9FqsvMxssTpBDYrszIr7xtugn/edit#gid=1638433608)