Teamfight Tactics 10.25 Tournament Meta

Check out the latest update in Teamfight Tactics Tournament meta here.

The TFT NA Regional Qualifier Finals featured some of the best NA challengers in the game. Let’s take a look at their strongest compositions and the most popular items. We’ll find out what the best carry items and utility items are.

Top 4’s compositions

Adept, Dusk, and Elderwood dominated the Top 4.

Elderwood

In Game 5, Setsuko ran Chosen Mage Lulu with double Chalice until level 9, then grabbed a Chosen Ahri for 3 Mage (Lilia) and a ton of 5-costs to win the game. Elderwood seems to be fairly strong throughout the entire game and can utilize a wide variety of Chosen Elderwood champions.

Common approaches include:

• 6 Elderwood + 3 Mage (Chosen Elderwood/Elderwood Mage required). Slow rolling at level 7 for 3-star Veigar, Lulu, or Annie.
• Elderwood Brawler (Sunfire Cape highly recommended) with Hunters. (Ashe with Giant Slayer)

Elderwood Veigar guide by Challenger Tiaan

Dusk

Dusk was played in several different ways:

• Playing Warlord early, then transitioning into Dusk at level 8. This is probably the most common route to playing Dusk. Robinsongz won 2 games this way. Jarvan or Garen can hold your Riven items (Sunfire Cape, Bramble Vest), Katarina holds your Yone/Sett/Kayn items (HoJ, Gunblade), and Nidalee holds your Jhin items (Giant Slayer, HoJ).
• Slow rolling for 3-star Vayne. Chosen Vayne with Rageblade is required. Mismatched Socks played Fortune Dusk early and filled out his comp with Sej, Yummi, and Jinx for the Vanguard, Mystic, and Sharpshooter synergies.

Dusk guide by GM JLEE7x2

Adept

Flexible play is the name of the game when it comes to Adept. There are only three core units to this composition: Yone, Shen, and Irelia. This means that you will have 5 or 6 additional units to flex in. We saw several Adept comps take a Top 4:

• Adept + Legendary units (5 costs) x 3
• Adept + Divine Hunter x 2
• Adept + Mystic Vanguard (Chosen)

Adept + Legendaries was the most common route to Top 4, however, Kci managed to nab a second place with a comp that felt reminiscent of Set 3. He picked up an early Chosen Enlightened Fiora and played 4 Enlightened + Jax for the Duelist and Divine synergies. At level 6, he added Kindred and Yumi for the Mystic and Spirit synergies. At level 8, he found a Chosen Vanguard Sej, swapped out Jax, and added Yone, Shen, and Zilean. He stayed at level 8 to roll for 2-star Yone and Zilean, as well as Kindred 3. He was eventually beaten by Mismatched Socks’ Dusk Vayne comp.

Other Comps

The other comps that managed to Top 4 were: Divine, Moonlight Hunters (Aphelios + Sylas), a 5-cost comp, and Vanguard Sharpshooters.

Top 4’s most popular AD items

Hand of Justice and Giant Slayer are the go-to items for your carry.

• Hand of Justice was the most built offensive item because it is a strong item for both AD and AP carries. Vayne, Aphelios, Veigar, Kindred, Ashe, Jhin, Yone, Sett, and Kayn are just some of the champions that can effectively utilize HoJ. 45% damage amplification or 45% healing of all damage dealt by its user, makes it a very strong item.
• Giant Slayer has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent patches due to the rise of 5-cost comps. With Belt items, many 5-cost units are over the 1750 HP threshold (Sett and Lee Sin without items) which triggers the 90% additional damage. Giant Slayer also works well against the high HP of Warlords, 4-star Aphelios, Elderwood Brawlers, and Galio. Jhin, Ashe, Aphelios, and Vayne love this item.
• Rageblade enables “Carry Vayne” to deal huge damage over long fights and is usually prioritized first. It is also a decent item for Ashe, Aphelios, and Kindred.
• Last Whisper and Infinity Edge are still potent damage items, however, it seems that they were not on the shopping list today. Some Challenger and GM players still prefer Infinity Edge on Jhin and Ashe.

Top 4’s most popular utility items

Preserve HP and Win Streaks with Locket and Sunfire Cape.

• Your carry can only hold 3 items. Zeke’s and Chalice can increase the power of your carry by buffing your team’s attack speed and spell power. Locket increases the effective HP of your team. In early rounds, a small HP difference or several additional auto attacks can often decide the round.
• Sunfire Cape and Locket were the most built items in game-winning comps (60% of the time). Sunfire Cape is great for taking down that 2-star Tahm or Hecarim. Riven, Jarvan, Vanguards, Brawler-heavy comps, and other tanky champs benefit greatly from the max HP percent pure damage of Sunfire Cape.
• Chalice usually ends up on Lilia or Zilean to help them get off their potentially game-changing skills. Zzrot components are more likely to be used to build Zeke’s and Giant Slayer/Rageblade.

Conclusion

Elderwood, Dusk, and Adept-based comps are strong. Use Warlords to transition into Dusk. Elderwood can transition into a 5-cost comp at level 9. HoJ and Giant Slayer are very strong items for your carry. Sunfire Cape and Lockets win games by helping you to preserve HP and win streaks. Think about boosting your carry’s power further with Zeke’s and Chalice.

Only half (10/20) of the Top 4 went to level 9. You don’t always need to aim for level 9 especially if your board isn’t strong. In both games 1 and 2, there was only a single level 9 player in the Top 4. However, 4 out of 5 games were won by a level 9 player.

If you are also interested in participating in some tournaments yourself, I have compiled a list of free, community-run TFT tournaments.

I hope this can help you on your climb to the top. If you have any questions, critiques, or suggestions, please let me know in the comments.