In Set 4, a number of Slow Roll compositions are considered to be strong meta picks. Due to some of the changes that rolled out with the new Set, a number 2 or 3-cost units are strong primary carries to be quickly leveled (3-starred). The Chosen mechanic also works well with Slow Roll compositions as it automatically gives 2-star copies of units. So to survive in this Set 4 landscape, it's important to understand the basics of Slow Rolling to use it or counter it.

The changes most affected Slow Rolling are:

XP Changes

Riot increased the experience needed to hit level 7, from 32XP to 36XP, level 8, from 50XP to 56XP, and level 9, from 66XP to 80XP. While the changes at levels 7 and 8 are pretty mild, the level 9 XP change hits much harder. An additional 24 XP is another 12 turns of passive XP or 24 gold. Regardless of how you intend to get there, leveling to 9 is going to occur less with this set.


Unit Odds

Along with the XP changes, Riot also rolled out some changes to the shop mechanics, specifically at levels 5-7. At level 5, the odds of finding 1-cost units are 5% greater, and the odds of finding 2-cost units are 5% less. At level 6, the odds of finding 1-cost units are 5% greater, the odds of finding 2-cost units are unchanged, and the odds of finding 3-cost units are 5% less. Finally, at level 7, the odds of finding 2-cost units are 5% greater, and the odds to find 3-cost units are 5% lower (all other odds at level 7 remain the same).

Both of these changes are vital to slow rolling, as they affect when and how you’ll be rolling and leveling. Understanding your unit odds, gold required to get to certain breakpoints and, of course, the compositions that lend themselves to slow rolling are the only way to confidently play.

Table from Riot Mortdog

Compositions That Slow Roll Well

Not all compositions and unit archetypes benefit from slow rolling, it’s important to understand the main compositions to look out for and what direction your early to mid game units point you in.

Assassins, Duelists, Mages, and Shade are all good primary archetypes to build your slow rolls around. The primary carries and important units in these compositions are generally less expensive units and thus benefit from a non-aggressive leveling playstyle. Units like Katarina and Diana (Assassin comps), Yasuo and Kalista (Duelist comps), Veigar (Mage comps) and Zed (Shade or “Zed” comps) are great carries to go for and build around.

Additionally, these archetypes benefit/have good synergies with Cultists, Hunters, Moonlight, Spirits and Warlord units. Rounding out your composition with a few of these units will support and give your board a nice boost.

How to Slow Roll

A good rule of thumb for Slow Rolling is to try and snag your primary carry units/3-starring them before committing to leveling. As your carries come in the form of 2 and 3-cost units as opposed to the 4 and 5-cost units, so there isn't a real need to focus on getting to the higher levels before then.

Early Game

You’ll play the early stages out pretty normally, hitting level 4 roughly around 2-2 to 2-4. Your main goal is to try and maintain a good econ as best as you can. Obviously you don’t want to be badly losing every fight and putting yourself in a dire situation right away, but you do want to try and have some gold saved up by the first carousel.

A good way to curve into your desired Slow Roll composition is to buy strong early game units. You might even consider avoiding your desired compositions 1-cost units for the more general early game powerhouses. Mostly to save HP, but also in case you can’t find the pieces you need later and need to pivot compositions (TFT is still a heavily RNG reliant game after all).

Mid Game

Assuming you’ve been having an average (non-win streaking) game so far, you should be looking to hit level 5 around stage 3 (If you’re able to safely hit it early, that’s a bonus). Now the real game begins, you should not spend any more gold on XP from here. Your plan is to now econ to 50 gold and spend any interest on rolling for units, staying above 50 gold. Of course there are exceptions to staying above 50 gold - if you’re dying, find a triple or a unit you need - but you’ll need to use your own discretion based on your current game state to determine the best course of action.

At Round 4-1, the time to roll aggressively begins. You’ll spend your gold looking for your 3-star units and ideally upon hitting them level to 6. Regardless of hitting all of your 3-star units, save enough gold to get yourself to level 6 before you go to combat. Again, you need your carries to be 3-starred before leveling, the other units don’t necessarily need to be there.

Using Your HP as a Resource

Your HP plays a large part in your game plan from here. If you have pretty high HP, you can afford to be greedy and not roll down as much of your gold. This will help you get back to 50 and start earning max interest again. If you have low HP, say below 50, you may want to reevaluate your strategy. If you hit your 3-stars then you can consider yourself relatively safe. Not hitting them puts you at a crossroad, you can stick with the Slow Roll and try to find them (which becomes less and less safe) or you can start leveling and trying to build a composition around more expensive units at level 8. Both options have their risks, but not hitting triples from here on out puts you at a disadvantage.

Late Game

At Round 5-1 you’ll repeat what you did at 4-1, then level to 7. Similarly, look at your HP and decide how much gold to spend or how greedy you can get away with being. If you’re struggling to hit 3-stars then you should just level to 8, odds are you’re competing with another player for them/they hit them already. So you may need to switch your strategy/composition to take down the remaining players in the lobby.


Abandoning the Slow Roll

At any point, should you find yourself in danger of dying, it’s time to change methods. Gold is first to go, rolling down regardless of whether it’s “time” to do so or not. If you hit your 3-stars, you can save yourself and the Slow Roll approach. If you can’t hit them, make the strongest board possible and start thinking of what composition will be the easiest to transition to. Obviously, you don't need to abandon the Slow Roll if you miss getting your triples right on "schedule", but be careful. While this outline provides you with a framework for the strategy, it's important for you to know whether you're in a good or bad position in your individual games.