One of the most underrated compositions for TFT right now is Dark Stars. If you roll the right units early and just flat out feel like dominating the lobby, this is the comp for you. Keep in mind you’ll need good roll RNG and a lobby of people not also going for your units.

So, why go Dark Star? Recently (on 10.7) the Dark Star trait bonuses received a huge buff, which changed how the trait overall works. The new Dark Star trait bonus, which activates at 3 and 6 are as follows:

(3) When a Dark Star unit dies, all other allied Dark Star units receive a 25 AD and AP bonus.

(6) When a Dark Star unit dies, all other allied Dark Star units receive a 35 AD and AP bonus.

Now instead of hoping the bonuses stack on the correct units, this Dark Star comp will keep funneling bonuses to your carries, which will end up being Shaco and Jhin.

Units

Dark Star units consist of:

Jarvan IV [1-cost] (Secondary Protector)
Mordekaiser [2-cost] (Secondary Vanguard)
Karma [3-cost] (Secondary Mystic)
Lux [3-cost] (Secondary Sorcerer)
Shaco [3-cost] (Secondary Infiltrator)
Jhin [4-cost] (Secondary Sniper)

Early Game

The odds of hitting triple Dark Star early are fairly low, due to the fact that majority of the units are 3-cost. The plan for the early game is simply stay alive and grab Dark Stars. You can build anything that will put you on a winning or losing streak. You want to save up money for when your odds of rolling 3-cost units are higher (level 6 has good odds, but Level 7 has the best odds).

However, if you manage to get a two-star Jarvan or Mordekaiser early, I would suggest pairing them with their secondaries and taking full advantage of those units. Protector and Vanguard are both strong throughout the game, even at the lowest level of their trait bonuses. However, don’t feel pressured to put them in early just because you’re planning on building a Dark Star team.

The early game of TFT is always a weird time, trait bonuses and team comps aren’t the biggest problem. Keeping your streaks and saving up money is the main focus.

Mid Game

By the third carousel, you’ll ideally have leveled to 7 (you need to be level 6 by this point) and can start rolling for better units. If you’re not above 50 gold, keep saving. If you’re above 50 gold, roll any excess gold to find Dark Star units. It's recommended you stay above 50 gold unless you found units you need that turn or you think you may die and therefore should spend all your gold (can't use it if you're dead). Your priority units should be Shaco and Jhin, as these two units will be your main sources of damage.

If you have all 6 Dark Stars, congratulations! You’ve rolled well and should be able to focus on getting three-star units and/or find other synergies. A quick example of your positioning can be found below, feel free to shift units around to better fit the lobby you have.

The easiest and strongest synergies to fit in to your comp at Level 7 are:

1) Sniper - you’ll have a free unit slot and already have 1 Sniper from Jhin.

2) Infiltrator - also fits into your free slot and Shaco counts as 1.

Other easy traits to fit in are 2 Vanguard (Mordekaiser), 2 Sorcerer (Lux) and 2 Protector (Jarvan). You’ll want to try and get the maximum amount of trait buffs with the lowest number of units to keep your Dark Star trait at full power.

On the other hand, if you don’t have 6 Dark Star units, you’ll want 3 in play to get the base Dark Star trait. You should prioritize getting Jhin and Shaco in, with your third Dark Star unit going in based on other trait synergies. Once again, if you can find Snipers for Jhin or Infiltrators for Shaco, prioritize those to maximize your damage from your carry units. If you’re having trouble finding those, Protectors (left) or Vanguards (right) are also good ideas. This way you’ll have a sturdy front line for your Jhin to fire behind.

Late Game

By now you should have 6 Dark Star units and be at least level 7. If you don’t, you either need to give up or roll down. Now all you need to do is focus on finding/activating other traits and three-starring your units.

If you can afford to get to Level 8. Celestial units can also work well with Dark Star, as it only takes 2 Celestials to activate the trait and they synergize well with the units you’ll be looking for. Ashe will grant you the Sniper trait with Jhin and Xin Zhao or Rakan will grant you the Protector trait with Jarvan. This will also provide you whole team with a healing buff, that just may make the difference in some close fights.

Now you’ll just want to focus on improving items for your units and scouting the lobby to improve positioning.

Positioning

There's really only three positioning focuses you should have:

1) Your Vanguard, Protector or generally tankier units should be up front.

2) Your damage, Jhin and Shaco (plus any other Infiltrators, casters, or Snipers) should be in the back.

- Jhin should be in a corner to get max damage, unless you need to position for a Blitzcrank or enemy Infiltrators.

- Shaco should be lined up with the enemy's strongest backline carry.

- You can place a tank or simply any unit next to Jhin for Blitzcrank/Infiltrator bait.

3) If you have units that need to hit large groups with abilities or shield/assist your units, make sure to place them next to relevant tiles and units.

Be sure to constantly scout your opponents, this becomes increasingly more important as the game progresses.

Items

Since Jhin and Shaco will be your main carries, you’ll want to focus on items that work well with them.

Jhin likes to stack flat damage and attack speed. The best item you can give him is an Infinity Edge, a great boost to damage and crit. Bloodthirster is also good for the damage and lifesteal. Rageblade is good for the attack speed scaling and Jhin’s passive will convert that into some more damage. Example builds and variations below.

Shaco likes to stack damage and mana. His best item is also an Infinity Edge, as his ability will always crit. With an Infinity Edge you’ll be essentially doubling his ability damage. Spear of Shojin is easily just as good, as it will allow him to use his ability more and can allow him to single-handedly win fights. Stacking a second of either of those items is fine, but consider a Guardian Angel as he is a melee carry. Example builds and variations below.