The 7 best Teamfight Tactics Set 2 builds
Teamfight Tactics’ Set 2 expansion, Rise of the Elements, has brought a bunch of new League of Legends-inspired units to try out, so we’ve compiled the best builds for you to take into ranked as soon as the patch hits live servers.
Teamfight Tactics: Rise of the Elements has brought a new and exciting gameplay style to Riot Games’ fan-favorite auto-battler. While the kinks are still being ironed out before it hits live servers, a clear-cut meta has been emerging.
To get you ready to rush to Challenger when the set drops, we’ve compiled a list of the seven best team compositions, units, builds, and items that you’ll need to master in order to get a head start on the competition in 2020.
Inferno-Summoner
- Early: Zyra, Ornn, Varus, Diana
- Mid: Zyra, Malzahar, Annie, Brand, Yorick, Ornn
- Late: Zyra, Malzahar, Annie, Yorick, Azir, Zed, Brand, Ornn
Inferno-Summoner is by far the strongest composition in Teamfight Tactics set 2. This is because of the synergy you get between the two compositions in terms of build paths and traits. Summoners increased life span on summoned units, combined with Inferno’s damage buff, means that you can flood the board with units and shred the enemy to pieces.
While a composition like this does lack a bit of a frontline, the additional units you spawn are usually a fair enough tradeoff. Items are also key to this teams success. Spear of Shojin, Guardian Angel, and Seraph’s Embrace are exceptionally strong on Zed, and Mage transformations are incredibly powerful on the likes of Zyra and Annie.
If you find the right items, there is no stronger composition in the game right now.
Cloud-Poison-Alchemist
- Early: Woodland-Druid or Ocean-Mountain-Mage
- Mid: Yasuo, Kog’Maw, Dr. Mundo, Twitch, Jax, Aatrox
- Late: Yasuo, Janna, Master Yi, Singed, Twitch, Dr. Mundo, Lux (Cloud)
Singed is one of the strongest units in Teamfight Tactics right now. If built right, he can be unkillable, thanks to the 95% dodge chance he gains with a Cloud composition. With Cloud Elemental Rift (30%), two wind units (25%) and two Sparring glove items (40%), your Singed will be free to run around the map without fear of being touched.
There is a way to take 100% dodge chance though – finding a Cloud Lux. The double Cloud buff Lux gives you can up your Cloud buff to 55% dodge chance, meaning that you only need one Sparring glove item to hit the dodge cap.
Usually, it’s not best to rush out into this composition. A lot of the core units come in the late game, so building around a cheap Ocean-Mage or Woodland-Druid composition early can help you not lose too much HP. Once you hit those big power spikes at around level seven and eight though, you’ll be sure to start dominating the board.
Crystal-Ranger
- Early: Vayne, Jax, Nasus, Varus OR Varus, Zyra, Diana, Vayne
- Mid: Vayne, Varus, Kindred, Ezreal, Zyra, Braum
- Late: Ashe, Kindred, Twitch, Ezreal, Taric, Braum, Master Yi, Nami, Lux (Crystal)
The Crystal buff removes all of the issues Ashe faces with being a squishy ranger. She can’t be nuked by high damage abilities, and she’s got a Taric to protect her with Cosmic Radiance, meaning that a fully kitted out Ashe will decimate any team.
Items like Giant Slayer and Guinsoo’s Rageblade work well on Ashe because of her ultimate proccing on-hit effects. She doesn’t rely on a defensive setup as much as other Rangers due to the nature of the team composition, so feel free to go full glass cannon.
Partnering with other rangers such as Twitch, Kindred, and Ezreal will make sure the double attack speed steroid is active as often as possible. Then, to keep your carries alive past the Taric ultimate, getting an active Warden, Mystic, or Cloud buff should give your carries all the tools to stay up.
Light-Ranger
- Early: Vayne, Jax, Nasus, Varus
- Mid: Vayne, Varus, Kindred, Jax, Soraka, Yorick
- Late: Vayne, Jax, Soraka, Yorick, Aatrox, Kindred, Master Yi, Ashe, Twitch (requires one Light buff item)
Light-Ranger is an inferior, glass cannon version of Crystal-Ranger, but can still dish out just as much damage. Instead of relying on the Crystal buff to survive, Light-Ranger requires Light allies to die at just the right time to get the perfect amount of attack speed steroids across the board.
Because of that, Light-Ranger is susceptible to burst damage from Mages and Lux, but it should survive most fights. There’s a lot of synergy across other classes and elements, including Shadow/Mystic/Blademaster with Master Yi.
Getting to four Ranger and six Light is optimal for this composition, although it can be done with three Light and six Ranger. You will just need to find yourself one Light buff to get this team composition to its true potential, but once you find it, it can definitely hold its own in the late game.
Desert-Blademaster
- Early: Renekton, Zyra, Malzahar, Yasuo
- Mid: Aatrox, Jax, Sivir, Azir, Zyra, Malzahar, Soraka
- Late: Master Yi, Sivir, Aatrox, Yorick, Azir, Yasuo, Malzahar, Zyra, Soraka/Janna
Sivir is also one of those really strong units you can build a whole team around and be successful. Her Ricochet triggers on-hit, meaning she can hit like a truck with Last Whisper, or get rolling with Guinsoo’s Rageblade. Partnered with Blademaster, she can stack up attacks and destroy the board in no time.
It also helps when you have the Desert buff shredding through opponent’s armor. This makes it a direct counter to Warden tank compositions. While getting four Desert buff isn’t optimal, due to Renekton’s relative weakness and assassin not being as strong in Set 2, you can try and run for it just for the 90% armor penetration.
To bolster your team’s defense, picking up some Mystics through Master Yi and Soraka, Janna, or Nami should protect your squishy lineup from magic damage. Janna partnered with Yasuo also grants you Cloud buff, and 25% dodge chance could be the difference between a win and a loss.
Ocean-Mountain-Mage
- Early: Thresh, Vladimir, Syndra, Taliyah
- Mid: Thresh, Nautilus, Vladimir, Syndra, Taliyah, Malphite
- Late: Nautilus, Vladimir, Syndra, Taliyah, Malphite, Nami, Master Yi, Lux (Ocean/Shadow)
Ocean-Mountain-Mage is probably the strong early game comp in Teamfight Tactics Set 2. It provides an incredibly strong front line, adaptability into both armor and magic resist, and huge amounts of magic burst damage thanks to the plethora of mages you can build into.
Thresh, Nautilus, and Malphite provide the basis for the frontline, while Syndra, Vladimir, and Taliyah are must-haves in the back line. Nami paired with another Mystic like Master Yi can give your team the magic resist it needs, while an Ocean or Shadow Lux will help you max out some traits.
You can also just go full glass cannon, maxing out mages with LeBlanc, Brand, and Veigar. However, while the 100% double cast is a major bonus, you risk not being tanky enough to survive the final rounds.
It’s a super cheap composition to build that can easily guarantee top four, but be careful, as it’s incredibly popular. If you can’t find the pieces early enough, you will need to look into other compositions and try and hold out until late.
Woodland-Druid
- Early: Maokai, Ivern, LeBlanc, Taliyah
- Mid: Maokai, Ivern, LeBlanc, Taliyah, Malphite, Vladimir
- Late: Look to transition
While Woodland-Druid isn’t particularly strong in the later parts of the game, but it’s a great early game comp to start off with. Maokai, Neeko, Ivern, and LeBlanc are all two-cost or lower, meaning they are readily available at the start of every game.
Woodland’s buff means that you have more units on board in the early game, meaning you can look at saving for a big boost in the mid game. Druid also gives you tankiness, alongside Maokai and Ivern’s healing and shielding respectively. Partnering with Mages and Wardens from Ocean and Mountain will give Woodland-Druid the damage to compete in the earlier stages.
However, this team comp really struggles with scaling into the late game. Because all of the core units are low cost, they get rolled by higher cost units later on. Being able to transition after building an early lead with this composition will be the key to success for Woodland-Druid.
Teamfight Tactics set 2 is set to hit the live League of Legends servers on November 5.