Players new to TFT often pick up on many of the ins and outs of game, but there are a number of things I notice that aren't immediately intuitive. Today, I'll be touching on the three skills that I often find new players struggling to grasp. These include not using items early enough or properly, rolling incorrectly, and misunderstanding the game's economy system. By learning these skills one can elevate their TFT game and truly reach the potential they have as a player.

Not Using Items

When I coach players who are new to TFT or have always spent their time in normal games, I always notice one glaring issue: they don’t seem to understand the importance of items. They sit there and ask me why they are losing, and the first thing I notice is the fact that they haven’t made any items. Most of the time, they have multiple components just sitting on their bench. Personally, I’m not sure if this is because they don’t quite know what items are strong or they don’t know which items they should be making in terms of their composition. Although it is a skill to know which items are best in the current lobby and situation, a lot of times just making items that synergize a little bit with your current champions will help you stabilize and turn a losing game into a top four.

From my experience, players who are new to the game often respond with statements like, “But I don’t know what items to make” or “I was winning but suddenly I’m getting destroyed.” These statements are often a misunderstanding of power in my opinion where in terms of the second statement they were never really that strong in the first place. The use of just a single item can change the fight immensely. A lot of times this item can be just a general item that fits into a lot of compositions such as Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Sunfire Cape, or Hand of Justice. Items are a way to stabilize or continue your win streak. Don’t make the mistake of believing you're strong, especially early in the game, just because you’ve won a few rounds in a row. In the image below, it can be seen that I place a Needlessly Large Rod and Infinity Edge on Diana in order to improve the strength of my early game.

Another common mistake that occurs with players in terms of items is having components still sitting on their bench come round 5-1. Once there are no longer any singular item drops, there is often little to no reason to not create full items from the components left on your bench. Letting these items just sit there is power you are losing, since items that are not on a unit are simply not doing anything. A common response I receive from players is something to the effect of, “The only item I can make is Morellonomicon and no one uses it well.” In these cases, there is a unit in every composition who, while they might not be able to use the actual effect of the item well, they can still be more useful with the stats it provides.

Rolling Incorrectly/Rolling at the Wrong Time

The refresh button in Teamfight Tactics is the most deceiving thing in the entire game in my opinion. Many individuals find themselves constantly rolling (refreshing) for a certain champion and, while in certain instances that can be good, most of the time, they are either rolling too early or rolling for something that will not make a massive impact. Oftentimes, I find new players will roll constantly and claim they are attempting to find a unit like Elise. In the case of Elise, as well as many other one and two cost units who are not designed to carry, their power is not found in the unit themselves but rather the origin and/or class they belong to. In the case of Elise, her power is in the fact that she provides Keeper and Cultist, which are both strong compositions at the moment. Thus, rolling for Elise in order to achieve a three-star is oftentimes incorrect.

The other rolling mistake I see frequently is rolling in the same manner, but without a purpose. When I ask them their intent, I often receive answers such as, “My team feels weak,” or worse, “I don’t know, it felt like something I should do.” While there are definitely times to roll early in the game, it always needs to be for the right reason. Otherwise you are ruining your economy and, ultimately, your chance at winning. A good alternative is to assess your current situation and attempt to determine where the power of your intended composition stems from. A lot of compositions look to slow roll, power level, or intelligently use gold until a certain condition is met. These methods of play are highly popularized, and I definitely recommend mastering slow rolling and power leveling as they have both been prominent in the game for some time and I doubt they will fade any time soon.

Misunderstanding Economy

The gold system in TFT is one that I believe is essential to master if your intent is to climb up the ranks. The ideas of economy and the interest system both shape the way the game is played and when changes are made to them, the meta often shifts as well. Understanding these systems is essential to finding success in game. I can’t give a full in-depth breakdown here of these systems as that would take more than one article to cover, but I will give some rough outlines to the essentials.

First, the use of interest in TFT is one that a lot of people don’t even realize is in the game when they begin. Interest in TFT gives you an extra gold after each round for every ten gold you have up to fifty gold. For example, if you have ten gold, you’ll receive an extra gold at the end of the round, and if you have 20 gold, you’ll receive two gold at the end of the round, and so on. This system gives us a direct incentive to save up to at least 50 gold in order to gain the extra five gold each round, which will translate into hitting Level 8 quicker or being able to slow roll at a higher efficiency. In the picture below, we can see that the player has obtained 36 gold by round 2-7 and is looking towards reaching the 50 gold mark quickly.

Next, we have the idea of gold offering power. When you have 50 gold and start losing, you have a way to stabilize your composition by desperately rolling late into the game to find something that provides you with power. The opposite is true when you have not given yourself that gold to work with. Gold allows for a presence of power amongst the rest of the lobby. In my games, I’m more cautious of the player who is in fifth with 50 gold than the player in first with less than ten gold, because I know the player in fifth is likely going to use that gold to get stronger in the near future. The idea of this power stored in excess gold is one that is extremely valuable because it offers a high level of flexibility.

Finally, the idea of understanding how to know when to use your gold. This includes when to roll early for a unit that will allow you to push for a top four such as Yasuo and the other Duelists. It also includes when to level and especially in what situations you should hit level four on round 2-1. These ideas are something that take practice and after time will become instinct. Personally, when it comes to leveling before PvP rounds, I often take the approach of seeing what other members of the lobby are doing and following in order to keep pace. The thing about these approaches is that they become personal preference and aren’t something that every player will execute the same way.