Riot has done it; they’ve finally earned the plurality of their name! And with Teamfight Tactics, you’ll get to have a break from all the people yelling at you in solo queue – however, this also means you’ll have no one to blame if things go pear shaped.
Before we can give you what you want to know about the new game mode, we need to discuss its predecessor – Auto Chess.
Auto Chess has been around since January 2019, and Teamfight Tactics is heavily inspired by it.
And by inspired, we basically mean that Riot copied the game, but tweaked it by adding their own Champions and map.
That being said, I’m okay with it – after all, League of Legends’ Champion roster has more interesting lore than that of Dota’s.
Just like MOBA’s, this hot new genre sprang out of a mod for Dota 2. And while Dota was the first to pick it up, League of Legends was quick to jump on the bandwagon.
So quick, in fact, that both Dota Underlords (Dotas version of Auto Chess) and Teamfight Tactics feel a tad shoddy. Visually, there are no issues, as both games have plenty of visual assets to borrow from.
However, the interface is clunky, and it’s all a bit of a mess, but despite this it’s still great.
Why? Because it’s wonderfully fresh.
It incorporates elements of tactical games, but it’s not really like Chess or an RTS.
It also bears similarities to card games such as Hearthstone, but it’s different enough that it stands out.
If you enjoy the style of games mentioned above, then this will likely be a brillaint fit for you! How do you get started in Teamfight Tactics though?
Before you can begin, you need to place your army on the board – positioning works much the same as it does in regular League of Legends. Tanks at the front, and squishes tucked away behind them.
Once all Champions are placed, battle commences. From here on out you have no choice but to sit back and watch as both sides duke it out.
It’s like watching ants duel, all you can really do is cheer on the side you want to win.
You basically become this image;
As you’ve probably guessed by now, the goal is to kill all the other teams – but achieving that doesn’t work quite the same as it does in League. After all, once armies clash, you play no part.
As in regular League of Legends, Champions have basic attacks and both active and passive abilities. These abilities require mana to use, however, they function more like Gnar’s rage.
The only way to gain mana is by attacking enemies, and Champions can only use their active ability once they have a full mana bar. That’s right, their active ability, not abilities.
Each Champion receives one active ability, and that ability determines their worth. For instance, an Ahri who can only toss out her orb is not worth as much as say, Gnar, who can yeet enemy teams into walls.
Additionally, you’re going to want to upgrade Champions too – you need 3 bronze Tristana’s to make 1 Silver Tristana, and you need 3 Silver Tristanas to make one Gold one.
It’s worth having an idea of what Champions you’re going to upgrade early on, so that you aren’t fumbling around with eight half finished Champions come late game.
It’ll come as no surprise that gold coins are the currency that will help ensure victory. But what can you do with them? Good question, glad I asked it.
First, coins are used to purchase Champions and to deploy them on the battlefield.
They are also used to refresh the list of Champions that can be purchased, so that if you really want to run a “Protect the Vayne” comp, you have a chance of getting the roster you need.
Lastly, coins are used to buy experience – more experience means more levels, and more levels means more Champions in your army.
There’s a little thing called interest too – for every ten gold you have, you gain an extra one gold, up to a maximum of +5.
If only interest was that great in real life.
Interest gives you a decision to make. Do you save up your money so that you’re more powerful in the long run, or do you cash in early to try and get a nice lead?
Generally, we’ve found that it’s a good idea to always have 50 gold stockpiled, but the game is still new, so don’t take our word for it.
With all that said, let’s get into the meat of how damage works, and how you actually win.
You begin each game with 100 health, and for every match you lose, you’ll also lose HP.
The more healthy enemy Champions alive at the end of a round, the more damage you will take. If you run out of HP, you’re out of the game, and your Champions are snatched up for others to recruit.
It’s really that easy, and that hard.
By now, you should have enough knowledge to do more than mindlessly button spam, but we’ve still got a lot to cover!
We’ve discussed how you win against enemy players, but what we haven’t mentioned is that this game also has farming!
We hear ya, but the farming in Teamfight Tactics is barely like it is in LoL.
Okay sure, you’re against wolves and other familiar neutral mobs, but honestly, it’s different.
Alright, in both instances you farm to get gold, but in Teamfight Tactics there’s less of it – the first 3 rounds will always be against AI that can drop useful items for your Champions.
These are like warm-up stages. They’re a way for you to power up your army without having to clash with other players too early on.
Make sense? Good. Only a few more key points to cover!
Losing players have a real chance at a comeback in Teamfight Tactics – something it does differently to other games in this genre. This is made possible by the use of a carousel, of all things!
At the start of the game, players participate in a shared draft. A randomized lineup of Champions rotates round and round, and all you have to do to nab this totally free Champion is run up and touch it.
However, there are a few caveats.
The first Champion you touch is the one you’re stuck with, so be careful where you click. Conversely, it’s also a little like musical chairs.
If you take too long, you’ll be left with all the worthless Champions no one wants.
How does this help players who are behind though? Well, there’s more than one carousel.
In fact, there’s one every couple of rounds, and players who are behind have first pick – this means that if you’re dominating, you might end up losing the one Champion you needed to secure victory.
How do you know what Champion you need though? As in League, the best Champion in any given situation is the one that meshes well with your current Champions.
Let’s unpack that a little, and learn how you can build the perfect army.
Got a ton of Yordles, or maybe Champions from the Freljord? Chances are they’ll go great together!
A champions origin represents their allegiance to a particular faction, their race, or where they come from.
For instance, the “Demon” Origin includes such Champions as Eve, Morgana, Aatrox and more. Combine one demon with another, and bam! They now have a chance to burn away enemies mana with each attack dealt.
Or take the “Noble” Origin for instance, deploying Garen, Fiora and Leona will result in more armor and on-attack healing.
Are your enemies stacking nobles? Why not add some “Void” Champions to your army. Deploying enough Voids allows your team to ignore some of their enemies armor when attacking.
Classes work much the same way, but instead of being about who a Champion is, it’s about what they do.
The usual classes are all here – Assassin, Guardian, Ranger, Sorcerer. And just like Origins, having more of them grants you more benefits.
Add more assassins and they all gain increased critical strike damage.
With the right setup, you can benefit from both Origins and Classes – this is a core part of the strategy of the game:
“Do I take Leona off of this guy? I don’t really need her, but he’s got Braum, and that Vayne is already pretty well defended. If I let him have her, I’m screwed.”
Here’s a handy little cheat sheet that allows you to see all the Origins and Classes!
We have one final thing we need to cover, and then you’ll be ready for your first game of Teamfight Tactics!
Picking up items increases your Champions’ base stats, and just like with Champions, can be upgraded into stronger items that grant special effects. There are quite a few items in Teamfight Tactics, and most of them act much as they do in regular League of Legends.
Chain Vest causes a Champion to take less damage from basic attacks. Giant’s Belt grants more health, and Recurve Bow causes a Champion to attack faster.
When you equip a Champion with 2 basic items, those items combine into their upgraded version – and every pair of basic items upgrades into different upgraded versions! This cannot be undone though, so make sure you’re really committed to it before you do so.
You should now be ready for your first game of Teamfight Tactics! It might seem a bit reliant on RNG from time to time, but you’re unlikely to regret giving it a try.
If you'd like to learn more about indepth Teamfight Tactics'...Uh, tactics, be sure to give Scarra's Youtube channel a visit! GL HF, and let us know how it goes!
