Welcome to the world of Teamfight Tactics (TFT)! If you’re new to the autobattler genre or just diving into TFT for the first time, you’ve come to the right place. TFT, celebrating its 5th anniversary, can seem daunting with its evolving mechanics and strategic depth. Learning a new game, especially one as intricate as TFT, is a rewarding challenge. This Tft Guide is designed for absolute beginners, walking you through the essentials to confidently play your first match and understand the core gameplay loop.
Whether you’re completely new to TFT or have dabbled a bit and want a clearer understanding, this guide will provide valuable insights to kickstart your journey. Let’s jump into learning how to play Teamfight Tactics and become a strategic mastermind!
Understanding the Basics of TFT
How to Win in TFT
The primary objective in TFT is to outlast seven other players in a free-for-all battle of wits and strategy. You’ll spend each game building a powerful team of champions by strategically managing resources like gold and items. The key is to assemble a team of units that synergize effectively, enhancing their strengths through combined traits and abilities.
In each round, your team will automatically battle against another player’s team. The player whose team is defeated will take damage. Accumulate too much damage, and you’re out of the game. While being the last player standing is the ultimate victory, consistently placing in the top 4 is considered a win in TFT, so that’s a great initial goal to aim for as you learn.
Getting Started: Your First TFT Match
The Start – Portal Voting
Gone are the days of the opening carousel in TFT. Starting from Set 9, games now begin with Portals, adding a unique twist right from the start.
TFT Set 12 Portal Choices for Beginners
At the beginning of each game, three Portals are presented, each introducing a game-altering effect for the match. You can vote for your preferred Portal by moving your Little Legend (your in-game avatar) into its circle or simply clicking the “Vote” button. Once the voting timer ends, the game randomly selects a player, and their chosen Portal’s effect will be applied to the entire match. This adds an element of unpredictability and variety to each game right from the get-go.
Building Your First Units: The Three Minion Rounds
Round 1: Placing Your Unit
Once the game begins and the Portal is chosen, you’ll receive a free 1-cost Champion. This marks the start of your TFT journey as you prepare for your first battle! Don’t be intimidated; the first three rounds are against computer-controlled minions, designed to be easily defeated.
To deploy your champion, simply click and drag the unit from your bench (the area below your game board) onto any hexagon on the game board. Your placement strategy will evolve as you learn, but for now, just placing your unit on the board is enough to get started.
To understand more about your champion, right-click on them. You can do this both during battles and while they’re on your bench. Right-clicking enemy units during combat is also a great way to learn about your opponents.
Right-clicking a Champion in TFT to View Information
The information panel reveals key details: their traits (synergies), health, mana, cost, star rank (initially 1-star), ability description (hover over the ability icon), and any items they might be holding (also hoverable). Keep these details in mind as you learn more about team compositions and strategy.
At the top of your screen, you’ll see a timeline of round icons. The first icon represents the initial carousel (now Portal), followed by three minion fight icons, and then a cube icon (representing item or resource rounds). These events will unfold from left to right throughout the game.
Before each battle, a countdown timer appears, giving you time to prepare. Initially, you’ll only be able to reposition your unit. As the game progresses, you’ll have more options during this preparation phase. For now, just drag your initial unit onto the board. (If you forget, the game will automatically place it for you).
Once the timer reaches zero, combat begins. Your unit will spring to life and automatically attack the minions. These early minions are weak, and your single unit should easily defeat them.
Mana and Abilities
As your unit fights, notice the blue mana bar beneath their health bar. Champions gain mana by auto-attacking and by taking damage.
Mana Bar and Ability Icon for a TFT Champion
When the mana bar is full, your champion will cast their unique ability. In the example above, Soraka’s ability, Starcall, damages nearby enemies and heals an ally. Abilities are crucial for turning the tide of battle.
It’s important to note that not every champion has an active ability that they cast when their mana is full. Some champions have passive abilities or abilities that trigger under specific conditions. Always read the ability description to understand how each champion contributes to your team.
Item Drops
Item Drops from Minion Rounds in Teamfight Tactics
Defeating neutral (PvE) minions and monsters gives you a chance to earn loot drops. These drops can include gold, item components, or even additional champions. Item components and completed items will appear on the left side of your board. Aside from carousel rounds, these PvE rounds are your primary source of items in TFT.
In these early minion rounds, there’s no immediate need to combine item components into full items. It’s often better to keep the components separate, maintaining flexibility as you assess your team’s needs and strategize your itemization.
Augments
Augment Choices in Teamfight Tactics
Introduced in Set 6, Augments have become a core part of TFT gameplay. These powerful bonuses offer a range of effects, from increasing gold income to enhancing combat prowess.
Throughout the game, you’ll be presented with three sets of Augment choices at specific rounds:
- Round 2-1
- Round 3-2
- Round 4-2
Each time, you’ll see three Augment options. Read each carefully and choose the one that best complements your developing team composition or strategy. You also have a single reroll available per Augment selection phase. This allows you to see three new options for one of the three slots, giving you more flexibility. However, rerolling means you lose the initial options, so choose wisely. You can have up to 6 total Augment options shown to you per selection phase.
Rounds 2 and 3: The Shop
After your first minion round, the game truly begins to open up. Rounds 2 and 3 introduce the Shop and more strategic decisions.
From round 2 onwards, at the start of each round until the game ends, you’ll be presented with five champion choices in the Shop. All eight players in the game draw from a shared pool of champions, meaning there’s a limited number of each champion available.
For each champion in the Shop, you can see their cost, traits (synergies), and ability description (by hovering).
Above the five units, you’ll see your current gold. Gold is the primary currency in TFT and is used for several actions:
- Buy Champions: Purchase units from the Shop to add them to your bench or board.
- Refresh (Reroll): Spend 2 gold to refresh the Shop with a new set of five champions.
- Buy XP: Spend 4 gold to gain 4 experience points, helping you level up faster.
- Sell Units: Sell units from your board or bench to recoup some gold. (1-star champions sell for their full cost, while 2-star champions costing 2-5 gold sell for slightly less than their combined cost).
You can also “lock” your shop (button in the top right corner of the Shop) if you see units you want but don’t have enough gold to buy immediately. Locking prevents the shop from automatically refreshing at the start of the next round, allowing you to save up and purchase them later.
Here’s a quick breakdown of these options:
- Reroll: Use rerolls strategically when you need specific champions or are looking to improve your team composition.
- Buy XP: Leveling up increases the number of units you can place on the board and improves your chances of finding higher-cost, more powerful champions. You passively gain 2 experience each round, but buying XP with gold can accelerate your leveling. Your current level and experience progress are displayed to the left of the Shop.
- Lock: Locking the shop is useful for planning future purchases, especially when you’re on a tight economy.
- Sell: Selling units frees up bench space and provides gold, useful for quickly pivoting strategies or making room for stronger units. You can sell units by dragging them onto the Shop interface or by selecting them and pressing the ‘E’ key.
When starting out, focus on building towards unit synergies. This is a fundamental aspect of TFT strategy.
Building Unit Synergies
Synergies, or traits, are the cornerstone of team building in TFT. There are two types of traits: Origins and Classes. Every champion has at least one of each, and some have multiple.
Remember Soraka from earlier? Right-clicking her revealed she is a “Mage/Sugarcraft.” The key to powerful teams is combining units that share traits to activate synergy bonuses.
On the left side of your game board, you’ll see a panel displaying active traits and the number of units you need to reach each breakpoint for bonus activation. Hovering over a trait icon will show you its effects and the different tiers of bonuses.
Example of Active Synergies in a TFT Game
The Shop also indicates the traits of each unit. Removing a unit from your board will deactivate its trait contribution, reflected in the synergy panel.
TFT boasts a vast array of fascinating synergies. To delve deeper into each trait and its unique abilities, explore resources like wikis dedicated to TFT origins and classes. Understanding synergies is crucial for effective team building.
Learning team compositions can be approached in different ways. If you enjoy experimentation, try different combinations and learn through trial and error which synergies work well together. This hands-on approach can be very rewarding.
If you prefer a more direct path to success, or want to quickly grasp effective strategies, consult tft guide websites that offer team composition recommendations. These guides often feature builds refined and tested by experienced players, providing a shortcut to understanding strong meta compositions.
Starring Up Units
Another core mechanic in TFT is “starring up” units, also known as leveling or ranking up. This involves combining identical units to create stronger versions.
Here’s how starring up works:
- Three 1-star units = One 2-star unit
- Three 2-star units = One 3-star unit
- This means you need a total of nine 1-star units to achieve a 3-star unit.
- Units purchased from the Shop are always 1-star.
In the image below, you can see two 1-star Lillia units, with a third Lillia appearing in the Shop. The game highlights the third Lillia, indicating that purchasing it will automatically combine all three into a 2-star Lillia.
Highlight Showing Unit Upgrade in TFT Shop
When a unit stars up, it visibly grows in size and becomes significantly more powerful. The rank up is also announced to all players in the game chat, so be aware that it can draw attention and signal your increasing strength to opponents.
Visual Changes of a 2-Star Champion Upgrade in TFT
Starring up a champion increases their ability strength, health, Attack Damage (AD), and Ability Power (AP). However, base stats like Armor, Magic Resist (MR), Attack Speed, and Critical Hit chance do not increase with star ranks.
Shop Odds
As you level up your player level, the probabilities of different cost champions appearing in the Shop change. Above the Shop, to the left of your gold, an indicator displays the current odds of finding units of each cost tier. For example, at level 4 in the image shown, there’s a 55% chance of seeing 1-cost units, 30% chance of 2-cost, and 15% chance of 3-cost.
As you level up, these odds shift towards higher-cost units, allowing you to access more powerful champions as the game progresses. Understanding these odds helps you make informed decisions about when to level up and which champions to prioritize at different stages of the game.
TFT Set 12 Mechanic: Charms
Charms are a set-specific mechanic in TFT Set 12, introducing special bonus effects that appear in the Shop. These Charms offer weaker, cheaper bonuses early in the game but become significantly stronger and more impactful in the late game. Charm effects can range from simple gold bonuses to powerful combat enhancements, item anvils, or even summoning a powerful dragon unit to fight for your team!
Charms Appearing in the TFT Shop
Charms appear in the far-right shop slot every 3 shop refreshes and on stages 2, 3, and 4. From stage 5 onwards, they appear every 2 shop refreshes. Once you purchase a Charm, another one won’t appear in your Shop until after the next combat round is completed. Importantly, Charms do not appear during PvE rounds, so manage your gold strategically to take advantage of these opportunities.
Mid to Late Game: PvP and Strategy
Round 2-1 and Onwards: PvP Until Last Player Standing
After the initial three minion rounds, Round 2-1 marks the beginning of player-versus-player (PvP) combat. Round 2-1 also presents your first Augment selection.
Round 4 of each Stage is a Carousel round, where players select free champions and items. Stages conclude with a neutral round, pitting you against more minions or monsters for additional loot drops.
This pattern of PvP rounds, Carousel rounds, and neutral rounds repeats until only one player remains (or until the top 4, considered a win). The following sections will focus on broader strategic concepts applicable throughout a TFT match, rather than round-by-round instructions.
PvP Rounds
During PvP rounds, you’ll be matched against a random opponent, and your team of champions will automatically battle theirs.
The amount of damage the losing player takes depends on the degree of victory of the winning side. While a precise damage formula exists, for beginners, it’s helpful to think of it in terms of surviving units on the winning team.
A close battle with only a few units remaining on both sides will result in minimal damage to the loser. A decisive victory with many surviving units on the winning side will inflict significant damage on the loser.
Player Health and Standings in a TFT Match
The player standings, based on remaining health, are displayed on the right side of your screen. Clicking on a player’s icon allows you to scout their board and bench, giving you valuable information about their team composition and positioning.
You can also scout opponents by clicking on the minimap in the bottom right corner or using the ‘1’, ‘2’, and ‘3’ keys to cycle through player boards (‘1’ and ‘3’ cycle through opponents, ‘2’ returns to your board). Scouting is crucial for adapting your strategy and positioning.
Carousel
As mentioned, round 4 of each Stage is a Carousel round. Player standings are critical here because they determine the pick order in the Carousel.
Carousel Round in Teamfight Tactics
All players start the Carousel phase locked and are released two at a time in reverse order of standing, starting with 7th/8th place and ending with 1st/2nd. This gives players who are behind in health a better chance to catch up by getting first pick at valuable units and items in the carousel.
This raises the question: if losing players get carousel priority, what’s the advantage of being ahead? This leads us to the concept of economy in TFT.
The Basics of Econ: Win Streaks, Lose Streaks, and Interest
In TFT, you earn passive gold income each round. In the early rounds, this income increases each round, starting at 2 gold in round 2 and increasing to a base of 5 gold per round from round 5 onwards (2g in round 2, 3g in round 3, 4g in round 4, and 5g from round 5 onward).
You can also earn bonus gold through win/loss streaks and interest. Consecutive wins or losses generate extra gold:
- 2-4 round streak: +1 gold per round
- 5 round streak: +2 gold per round
- 6+ round streak: +3 gold per round
Win Streak Bonus Gold Table in TFT
Win streaks reward successful play, while lose streaks offer a comeback mechanic for struggling players. (Advanced strategies even involve intentionally losing early to maximize lose streak income and carousel priority, but that’s beyond the scope of this beginner tft guide). Winning a PvP round also grants an additional +1 gold.
Interest is another crucial source of income. At the beginning of each round, you earn interest based on the amount of gold you held at the end of the previous round. You earn +1 gold interest for every 10 gold you have, up to a maximum of 50 gold:
- 10g: +1g interest
- 20g: +2g interest
- 30g: +3g interest
- 40g: +4g interest
- 50g: +5g interest (maximum interest)
- Example: Ending a round with 34 gold yields +3 gold interest next round.
Interest Indicator in TFT Shop
You can always check your current gold income by hovering over your gold total in the Shop interface.
Mastering economy is vital in TFT. For a deeper dive, explore dedicated tft guide resources on economy management, which cover strategies for optimizing gold and resource allocation.
Positioning Basics
Effective economy management and team building are essential, but proper unit positioning is equally crucial for success in TFT. Even the strongest team can falter with poor positioning.
Optimizing unit placement maximizes their effectiveness and improves combat consistency.
Champion Information Panel Highlighting Frontline/Backline and Range
Earlier, we examined Soraka’s unit information. For positioning, two key details are highlighted in the middle box below her mana bar: whether she is a “front line” or “back line” unit, and her attack range (hex range). Soraka is a backline unit with a 4-hex range, meaning she should be positioned behind tankier units and can attack from a distance. Melee frontline units typically have a range of 1 or 2 hexes. This front/backline designation and range are crucial positioning indicators.
General positioning guidelines:
- Position units to maximize mana generation. Units gain mana from attacking and taking damage, so place them where they can actively contribute to combat without being immediately eliminated.
- Aim for units to cast their abilities at least once per fight. If units are dying before casting, repositioning or team adjustments may be needed.
- Most team compositions follow a standard structure: a durable frontline to protect a more vulnerable but high-damage backline.
- As the game progresses and player count decreases, scout opponents and adjust positioning to counter specific threats or compositions.
- To quickly swap unit positions, drag one unit onto another. They will automatically exchange places, whether on the board or bench.
Frontline and Backline
The fundamental positioning concept in TFT is the frontline and backline separation.
Frontline Units: Frontline units are designed to be durable damage absorbers. They often possess defensive traits like Bastion or Vanguard. These are typically melee units placed at the front of your formation to engage enemies directly and protect your backline.
Backline Units: Backline units are the primary damage dealers or utility providers. They often have ranged attacks or abilities, allowing them to attack from safety behind the frontline. Examples include damage-focused carries like Syndra or utility champions like Soraka who provide healing or shields.
While most compositions adhere to this basic frontline/backline structure, variations exist. Positioning can be further refined by placing units on the left, right, or center of the board, and some synergies may encourage closer or more spread-out formations.
For a more comprehensive understanding of positioning strategies, consult dedicated tft guide resources that delve deeper into positioning nuances.
Mastering Items in TFT
How to Combine Items and Who to Give Them To
Items are a critical element of TFT, obtained from carousel rounds and monster rounds. They significantly enhance champion capabilities. Here’s what you need to know about item usage:
- Each champion can hold a maximum of three items.
- Applying an item to a unit is permanent unless you sell the unit or use a rare item remover.
- There are two item types: basic components and combined (completed) items. Combining two basic components creates a combined item.
- Items should generally be used to amplify your team composition’s strengths.
Items provide a wide range of benefits, from basic stat boosts like health and attack speed to game-changing effects like increasing team size. Equipping the right items on the right champions dramatically increases your win chances, especially against opponents who underutilize items.
Example #1: Guinsoo’s Rageblade (empowering auto-attackers)
Guinsoo’s Rageblade Item in TFT
Guinsoo’s Rageblade grants the wearer 5% stacking attack speed each time they attack, stacking infinitely. This item is ideal for champions who rely on consistent auto-attacks for damage, like Ashe, Jinx, or Kalista. It’s also effective on AD champions with powerful abilities, as faster attacks lead to faster mana generation and more frequent ability casts.
Example#2: Spear of Shojin (cast abilities more often)
Abilities are game-changing in TFT. As mentioned in positioning, getting off even one ability cast is often crucial. Spear of Shojin grants 5 mana per auto-attack, enabling the wearer to cast their ability much more frequently.
This item is incredibly powerful on champions with impactful ultimates. In the late game, backline carries equipped with Spear of Shojin or similar mana items can cast their abilities multiple times during a single fight, significantly increasing their damage and utility.
Item Tier List and Recommendations for Every Champion
Item Recommendations in TFT Tool
Itemization is one of the most complex aspects of TFT. As a beginner, experimenting with different items is a great way to learn their effects. However, for faster learning and improved success, consult tft guide resources that offer item recommendations and tier lists.
These resources often provide item recipes, champion recommendations for each item, and item tier rankings. Following these guidelines will accelerate your learning process and significantly improve your itemization decisions, leading to more wins.
Beginner FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions by Beginners
Finally, let’s address some common questions from new TFT players. Keep in mind that TFT is highly situational, so answers are general guidelines, and optimal decisions may vary based on game context and player skill levels in your matches.
If your question isn’t covered in this tft guide, feel free to ask in the comments sections of online TFT communities!
Should I spend gold early to find units or save gold?
Refer to dedicated tft guide resources on economy management for in-depth strategies. They often cover strategies for spending to find upgrades versus saving gold for interest.
Generally, if you’re aiming to maintain a win streak early, spending gold to upgrade your team and continue snowballing might be worthwhile. However, assess your win probability realistically.
If you’re not winning early, saving gold is often more beneficial, provided you’re not losing excessive health. A controlled lose streak can maximize interest income and carousel priority, setting you up for a stronger mid-game.
Which champions are strong at different stages of the game?
This relates to “power spikes,” a concept familiar to players of games like League of Legends.
Essentially, most champions have a period in the game where they are designed to be strongest, and periods where they become less effective.
Generally, attack speed is more impactful in the early game, while burst damage becomes more valuable later. Single-target abilities are often stronger early, while Area-of-Effect (AoE) abilities scale better into the late game.
For example, early game, a unit like Nomsy (depending on the set) might be very strong due to high single-target damage, effective against fewer units on the board. However, in the late game, Nomsy’s single-target damage may become less impactful against tankier frontlines and larger enemy teams, making her relatively weaker compared to AoE damage dealers.
Should I prioritize tank items or damage items?
A balanced approach is best. Most effective team compositions have both a primary damage carry and a dedicated tank unit. Aim to equip 2-3 items on both your primary damage dealer and your tank. This maximizes your item utilization.
As you acquire more items and champions, you can distribute them based on your team’s needs and the game situation.
Where should I position my units? Why do positioning styles vary?
Your unit positioning depends on your specific team composition and units. Follow the general frontline/backline guidelines discussed earlier in this tft guide.
Opponent positioning varies as players adapt to counter each other and seek optimal placements against the current field of players. Small positioning adjustments can make a significant difference, especially in later stages of the game when player counts are lower and matchups become more defined.
Should I combine items immediately or hold onto components?
Ideally, aim to craft optimal items for your key champions. If it’s early to mid-game and you have time to find the ideal components, it’s often better to wait rather than combining into suboptimal items.
However, you also need to build some items to maintain combat strength relative to other players. Some items, particularly tank items, are versatile and strong in many compositions, making them safe to build early.
Remember that item combinations are permanent (without item removers). A useful tip is to use a cheap 1-cost unit as a temporary item holder to combine components, then sell the 1-cost unit, transferring the completed item to your intended carry.
To explore the latest TFT set, visit comprehensive tft guide websites that offer detailed information on new champions, synergies, and set mechanics!
