Teamfight Tactics, or simply TFT, is an autobattler game mode in League of Legends, although its gameplay mechanic is not at all similar to what we’re used to on Summoner's Rift. If you're a beginner in this field, this guide will help you get started and teach you how to play TFT through six parts.

Part 1: Autobattler gameplay
Part 2: Recruiting champions
Part 3: Gold and Items
Part 4: Best picks for beginners
Part 5: Gameplay for beginners
Part 6: Tips & Tricks

Part 1: Autobattler gameplay

After the rise of popularity of the autobattler game genre with Auto Chess and Dota Underlords, League of Legends has blessed us with TFT. For those unfamiliar with the autobattler gameplay, or as commonly called auto chess, these are strategy games that use drafting elements of card games.

Just like chess, games are played on an 8x8 grid with units moving in different patterns. The board is split by half and each player can arrange units as they wish across their half, starting with one unit bought from a five-unit pool. You position the units, but it's the AI that moves them. The pool then resets every round and allows players to buy more units the more they play, until a certain limit. Units have their own classes depending on their abilities and using units of the same class activates various bonuses. Three copies of the same unit combine them into a more powerful unit.

Image courtesy of Riot Games

One game features eight players that fight each other in random one-on-one matches. A match is won once your opponents' units are defeated. In TFT, you start the game with 100 health and take damage based on the strength of opponents' undefeated units. When health is taken down to zero, you're out of the game and your champions returns to the pool. You win if you're the last man standing.

Part 2: Recruiting champions

To recruit and deploy a champion, buy it from the store using gold and drag it where you want on your half of the battlefield. As mentioned, combining three of the same champion will result in the creation of a better, two-star version of that champion. Champions' origins and classes will give you bonuses when deploying champions of the same background, so make sure to pick carefully. Usually, the more units of the same origin/class you have, the more you will benefit from the bonuses.

There are 13 origins with different trait bonuses:

• Demon (a chance to burn away target's mana and deal damage based on the amount burned),
• Dragon (deploying both Dragons gives them AP immunity),
• Exile (start with a shield)
• Glacial (a chance to stun when attacking)
• Robot (start with full mana)
• Imperial (grants double damage)
• Noble (grants armor and on-attack healing)
• Ninja (additional AD)
• Pirate (extra gold at the end of a round)
• Phantom (decreases opponents’ starting health)
• Wild (grants attack speed)
• Void (ignore some of the targets' armor)
• Yordle (a chance to miss attacks against them)

There are 10 classes with different synergies:

• Assassin (increased critical damage)
• Blademaster (a chance to hit multiple times)
• Brawler (extra health)
• Elementalist (summons an Elemental to fight for you)
• Guardian (grants armor)
• Gunslinger (a chance to hit additional targets)
• Knight (grants block damage)
• Ranger (a chance for attack speed burst)
• Shapeshifter (grants health on transformation)
• Sorcerer (grants AP)

Each champion has either an active or passive ability. As per usual, passive abilities are active at all times with no costs, while active abilities auto-cast every time a champion has enough mana for it.

Part 3: Gold and Items

Gold is the key resource for your TFT games. It's used to buy champions from the pool at the end of each round, and it allows you to refresh the pool if you're unsatisfied with the random selection of champions. Additionally, you can increase your champions level by buying experience chunks with gold. Champions can be refunded for the amount they were bought. Gold is earned simply by playing since you get some at the end of every round, with bonus gold earned as interest or from win streaks.

Items drop randomly from minion waves or are on champions recruited from the carousel, with guaranteed monster item drops every PvE round starting from the second one. You equip them by dragging them onto your champions. Basic items can be combined to make one powerful, upgraded item that has a unique effect. Different items give different effects, so pick who you will equip with an item based on their stats and abilities.

Part 4: Best picks for beginners

For starters, it's best to actually pick builds that are included among the one-cost minions. We’ve listed a few of the easiest starting builds that have champions ranging from one-costs all the way to four-costs.

Noble

Noble is, probably, by far the easiest build to currently utilize in the game. You're starting off with a chance to get Fiora, Vayne or Garen, who are all one-cost champions. If you manage to get all three of them quickly, you'll breeze past the early game since the buff can change the tides of your matches. After you've collected enough of them to at least bring two out of three champions up to level two, it's time to also look for Lucian or a class that synergizes with the existing three one-cost champions. These include Blademaster (Fiora), Knight (Garen), and Ranger (Vayne).

Try to end your game with all six champions. If that doesn't work out, you should focus on your ADC the most at all times. The Noble buff will bring enough defensive capabilities to your team, especially if you combine it with a few Knights among your arms.

Wild

Wild is a build that can quickly spiral out of control. You start off your game with Warwick and Nidalee, who are each among of the strongest early-game champions. The Wild buff, giving seven permanent attack speed after each attack stacking up to 5 times, is very easy to trigger with the requirement to at least have two "Wild" champions on the board. You will have fewer options overall compared to Noble, but Ahri and Rengar definitely aren't bad champions to pick. Outside of the Wild champions, you can branch out to these classes:

• Assassin (Rengar)
• Sorcerer (Ahri)
• Brawler (Warwick)
• Shapeshifter (Nidalee)

It's up to the player whether to continue with the Wild buff or branch out into other buffs as well. You will also have the ability to stay with two to three Wild champions and, for example, go for Glacial later in the game.

Yordle

Yordle is a build that most people starting out will unconsciously ignore since it's a build that's harder to pull off in the early game compared to, for example, Wild or Noble. However, Yordle champions are quite good on their own. You could use Yordles as individual champions besides your main build. Tristana, Lulu, Kennen, and Gnar fit in almost any build and have their own qualities.

Tristana can be used as a secondary ADC champion. If you don't find enough Lucians to at least get a level two (preferably level three), Tristana is amazing. Make sure to build the ADC with a Rageblade! Lulu is a great support even without items. She fits well with all builds that need crowd control or a heal.

Kennen is an amazing off-tank that should be positioned in the middle of the pack. He has high damage, and Spear of Shojin is the perfect item for champions like Kennen. Gnar is one of the strongest tanks in the game, but as with every four-cost minion, it’s hard to get to higher levels without a hefty investment.

Positioning Champions

Normal team composition should look like this:

• Front (Tanks, heavy crowd control champions)
• Middle (Off-tanks, supports, ADCs)
• Back (Off-tank, main ADC)

The most important aspects of positioning are influenced by items and champions that are classified as “Assassins” in-game. Assassins are the most interesting champions when it comes to positioning. They have the ability to take out enemies' backline of by jumping across the map at the start of the round. The way it works is that the Assassin will determine which tile is the furthest from his own position, jump to it and attack the enemy positioned on that tile.

Youmuu's Ghostblade (Spatula + B.F. Sword) can turn any champion into an Assassin. For example, Kennen (Ninja, Yordle, Elementalist) can jump into the enemy team and trigger his AoE lightning quickly and more effectively. Items like Zeke’s Herald (B.F. Sword + Giant’s Belt) should be put on the champion that will survive the longest, with Frozen Heart (Tear of the Goddess + Chain Vest) being the best on tanks like Garen or Warwick.

Part 5: Gameplay for beginners

Sometimes, deciding on your next move can be tricky. Playing to win may not always favor short-term goals over long-term goals. For example, it's better to lose a few games at the start, get to stage draft and pick one of your champions first. When you're trying your best in a hectic situation, you should always focus on these aspects:

Economy

The economy is impacted by a few factors in the game, those being the interest (+1 gold for every 10 spare gold that you own), win/loss streak, and a Pirate build that will net you more profit per round. If you throw all of your money out of the window at the start of a game, it will automatically result in a weaker late game. This is due to the fact that experienced players will try to balance out the number of champions they have and the amount of gold that they own. You will earn 5-7 gold more per round on average if you decide to save up some gold.

Reserve Champions

"Never put all of your eggs in one basket." This saying fits the flow of the game when it comes to TFT. Managing multiple level two champions, even though you can't place more champions due to your level, is beneficial in case you want to switch to a different build.

Item Combinations

There have been too many scenarios where we immediately regret our decision after combining two items. A pro tip, always read the description of every single item before you make them and keep a sheet next to you as a reminder. This will always give you the best options, and you should keep items if you can't make one of the top-tier ones.

Scarra posted a great cheat sheet that can be of use as a help (click to enlarge):

Image courtesy of Scarra

Enemy builds (Late-game)

There are certain builds that really counter each other. If one of the last enemies that have persisted hard counters you with, for example, a Demon build against your Sorcerer build, you should try to at least have a frontline that doesn't rely on mana as much.

Part 6: Some Tips & Tricks

ADC positioning against a player with multiple Assassins

Your ADC should always be alive for a long period of time, so they deal the most damage possible. Assassins have the trait that they always jump to the furthest enemy champion, allowing you to consolidate your team by placing your ADC in the middle of the pack.

Building multiple level two champions over less (in quantity) level three champions

In TFT, you're better off expanding the roster of your team rather than upgrading it. Having two one-cost level two minions like, for example, Vayne and Darius, will do more damage than a singular level three Darius that will cost you 9 gold. It also becomes a lot harder to roll certain characters the more you level up, so keep that in mind!

Using items, the right way

Items, like champions, have synergy with other items that are amplified on certain champions. It's always recommended to use multiple items on a singular champion, rather than distributing them over multiple champions. Be careful though, you'll be committed to a certain character when you've leveled it (preferably) to level 3! You can't remove items from champions, meaning you'll be forced to sell the character at a loss.

Losing in the early-game isn't always a bad sign

It may sound weird at first, but there are genuine strategies in the early-game known as "sandbagging". This means that you're losing early on, but with the intent of getting the first pick in the stage draft. This can potentially give you an advantage that will last throughout the game. This strategy is utilized due to the low amount of damage you take in the early game, thus making it a viable option.

Saving up gold gives you interest

By saving up as much gold as possible, you'll receive up to five extra gold per round, including PvE rounds. To do this, you must gather 50 gold and spend it wisely along the way. That way, you will end up with way more gold later on in the game.

We hope this article has helped you start your TFT journey. This may be a strategic genre with lots of factors to keep in mind, but don't forget to have fun and play around with your strategies!

Check out the Energy Pro Dignitas gaming chair for a whole new realm of design and comfort!