TFT Set 9 Guide: How to Play each Legend (Best Legend Augments)

How to Pick the Best Augments for each Legend

With the release of Set 9, TFT overhauled a majority of the Augments with new ones. While there are still familiar Augments like Heart Augments (+1 trait bonus) or things like Golden Egg, a lot of the various combat and economy Augments are new to Set 9.

In this guide, I’ll be sharing how to best play each Legend. I’ll cover the basic strategy, which Legend Augments are good, and other Augments that compliment each Legend.

Note: Riot recently disabled Augment stats for various websites such as ours, which used to be able to display things like pick rate or average placement of Augments. These stats will be returning in Set 9.5, so look forward to seeing those back on our Augment Stats Page.

How to Play each Legend

Firstly, I want to start off by saying not all Legends are created equal. At the current moment, Ornn is simply just better than Tahm Kench. However, I’ll still briefly cover each Legend and their strengths. If you’re not trying to reach Challenger, you can still have a lot of fun playing with different Legends, even if they’re not optimal.

In general, Legends are mostly used for their 2-1 Augments. The Legend Augments at 3-2 and 4-2 are overall a bit weaker than non-legend Augments. However, some still have their uses.

Aurelion Sol (The Ancient) – Become High Level and play awesome units!

Aurelion Sol is used to pick strong economy Augments on 2-1 like Patient Study (Gold) or Level Up (Prismatic). These Augments help you reach level 8 or 9 quickly by building up your economy faster than other players.

The 3-2 and 4-2 Augments also give more Gold or XP in order to rush toward level 9 to put together a powerful board of 5-cost units. Because of this, you’ll often see ASol players pick their Legend Augment at 2-1 and 4-2. (Sometimes 3-2)

This play style is very 1st or 8th, and if you trip up during your roll down at level 9, you can quickly lose LP.

Complimentary Augments:

In general, you want to pick other Augments that syenrgize with the fast 9 playstyle. These Augments either further your economy growth, or provide additional HP so you can survive to hit level 9.

• Tiny Titans
  • Your Tactician heals 30 Health, grows larger, and has 130 maximum Health.
• Final Reserves
  • The first time you would be eliminated or reduced to 1 Health, instead remain alive. After this effect triggers, Gain 80 XP and 25 Gold.
• Last Stand
  • The first time you would be eliminated or reduced to 1 Health, instead remain alive. After this effect triggers, your units permanently gain 180 Health, 18 Armor and Magic Resist, and 18% Omnivamp.
• Hedge Fund
  • You have no interest cap. Gain 22 gold.

Bard (The Traveler) – Gain even more Power when you level up!

Bard’s Augments usually will grant additional items, but will do so later in the game. This can be good if you want more items, but don’t want to necessarily win streak the early game.

However, the issue with Bard is that there is usually a diminishing return on the amount of items you get. If you already have strong items for your main carry or two, having more and more items will only do so much compared to other Augments.

Even still, there are comps in the game that can make good use of a lot of items.

Complimentary Augments:

In general, Bard is a somewhat flex Legend that doesn’t necessarily force a certain playstyle. However, since you will have more items, the Cybernetic Augments are usually good picks to synergize with the additional items.

• Cybernetic Bulk III
  • Your champions holding an item gain 500 health.
• Cybernetic Leech III
  • Your units holding an item gain 225 Health and 25% Omnivamp.

Caitlyn (The Peacekeeper) – Get strong units – at the start of the game!

Caitlyn is all about getting an advantage in the early game by quickly getting stronger units. The current Caitlyn play style mainly revolves around the 2-1 Gold Augment, Stars are born. This immediately upgrades the first 1-cost and 2-cost unit you purchase, quickly giving you upgraded units.

Caitlyn is all about win streaking the early game to finish top 4, or to use your HP lead to transition into a strong late game comp to finish 1st.

It can be very skill testing to play Caitlyn, as you want to constantly play your strongest board to win streak. However, if there are multiple Caitlyn players, only one will be able to win streak, while the others will be put at a disadvantage. If you don’t win streak with Caitlyn, you are giving up a Gold Augment that could have been an economy or combat based Augment.

Complimentary Augments:

Caitlyn is another Legend that focuses on win streaking, so your other Augment choices should simply be the best combat Augment you can find. There are plenty of different combat augments to choose from, so pick the best one that synergizes with your board.

Draven (The Executioner) – Win big, and get bigger payouts!

Draven is similar to Caitlyn in that he incentivizes being strong early game. His signature Augment is Spoils of War at 2-1. This Augment will grant loot orbs when you take down enemy units. If you can win streak early with Draven, you can gain a lot of extra loot in items or gold to further power up your team.

Unlike Caitlyn, you can have some leeway when playing Draven, as you are gaining additional gold and combat power through loot you gain.

But, if you have a poor early game, you are putting yourself quite far behind of other players in the lobby, and it will be unlikely to catch up.

Complimentary Augments:

I would say that Draven is similar to Caitlyn in that you simply want to pick the best combat Augment you are given. This will make your board stronger immediately, giving you more chances for loot drops.

Ezreal (The Item Collector) – The more items, the better!

Ezreal’s 2-1 Augments are Buried Treasures, which will give you more item components. This makes Ezreal similar to Bard, except you don’t need to wait as long for your items. Ezreal is strong in comps where you want to itemize a lot of different units, like Noxus or Invoker.

There is less of a drawback to Ezreal than Bard, but if you play comp that doesn’t need lots of items, you have diminishing returns on the additional items you get.

Complimentary Augments:

Ezreal is similar to Bard in that you’ll be getting more items than the rest of the lobby if you pick Buried Treasure. You’ll want to prioritize combat Augments like usual, but the ones that synergize with items will be stronger with Ezreal.

• Cybernetic Bulk III
  • Your champions holding an item gain 500 health.
• Cybernetic Leech III
  • Your units holding an item gain 225 Health and 25% Omnivamp.

Lee Sin (The Playmaker) – Refresh your Shop for perfect units!

Lee Sin’s 2-1 Augments grant additional rolls, while his 3-2 and 4-2 Augments grant more gold or a Champion Duplicator. Lee Sin excels in comps that reroll 1-cost carries. The extra rerolls can help you 3-star you units, but you do sacrifice a bit of economy in doing so.

Things like Trade Sector is nice for 3 starring units, but you struggle to build economy quickly if you are buying up more units in the early game. Because of this, we usually don’t see Lee Sin used in reroll comps for 2 or 3-cost carries. By using Lee Sin in a 1-cost reroll comp, you can stay healthy early game, while also helping guarantee you hit your 3-stars.

However, if you are able to hit your 3-star units without Lee Sin, you should be in a stronger spot, as you didn’t need to pick his Augment over something like a combat Augment.

Complimentary Augments:

Lee Sin is a bit weird to dissect when it comes to synergistic Augments. If you’re rerolling Kayle, Augments like Hedge Fund or Level Up are great to rush level 9. If you’re playing around a 2 or 3-cost reroll, something like Infernal Contract can be really strong.

In general, simply picking a strong combat Augment will be good with Lee Sin, unless you are in specific situations.

Master Yi (The Wu-Ju Master) – Grow stronger and stronger with every fight!

Master Yi is the first Legend so far that grants combat power at 2-1. You can consider Ezreal and Bard as combat Augments as they grant additional items, but Yi is the first true Combat Augment.

Pumping Up is the signature Augment at 2-1, and this grants your team Attack Speed, and additional AS as the game progresses. Since the Attack Speed is ramping, you can still opt to lose streak early, and look to make a strong comeback when the Augment scales in power.

You rarely take the 3-2 Augment, but the 4-2 Augment is an interesting choice (and somewhat under explored). The 4-2 Augment grants your team additional move speed and mana generation. This can be very powerful on the right team. If you have lots of units that want to generate mana, this can be a strong choice. However, if you have a hyper carry that scales with Attack Speed, the 4-2 Augment may not be as good.

Complimentary Augments:

Most Master Yi comps make use of both Pumping Up (2-1) and Gotta Go Fast (4-2). Because of this, you only really have a choice at 3-2, and once again, just picking the best combat Augment in this selection will be good.

Ornn (The Forgemaster) – Gain the Power of Ornn’s Creations!

Ornn is arguably the most consistent Legend. The 2-1 Augment will grant you an Ornn item, which can greatly boost your combat power in the early game. These items can fall off in the late game, but these items can often be BiS for many units.

You won’t always get the Ornn item you want, but you’ll still be able to pick from a selection to best suit what units and other items you have.

Ornn’s 3-2 and 4-2 Augments grant additional items, which can be a bit weak as you may have too many items. Similar to Ezreal and Bard, these additional items have diminishing returns on your team comp, so it’s often better to choose a different combat Augment.

Complimentary Augments:

Ornn is an extremely flexible Legend, so I wouldn’t necessarily say there are specific Augments that compliment him. You can play a default 4-cost carry, or you can even reroll if you find the right units and items.

Like others, prioritize picking strong combat Augments.

Pengu (The Tactician) – Play it safe! Great for Beginners!

The description for Pengu is “Great for Beginners,” but I would argue it’s not. All of the 2-1 Augments for Pengu are about saving HP. Tiny Titans gives you 30 HP, while Metabolic and Tiniest Titans heals you every round. These augments are best used when you’re trying to lose streak the early game.

You use your HP to build up a strong economy to stabailize later and make a comeback. I wouldn’t exactly consider this a beginner strategy. For an absolute beginner, I can see this being helpful as you just get more HP to work with, but ideally, these Augments are used in more advanced lose streaking strategies.

The 3-2 and 4-2 Augments are also only ok. They mostly grant random items, which can be hit or miss.

Complimentary Augments:

Pengu is basically the inverse of Aurelion Sol. Instead of getting gold/economy augments early, you are given Health or healing Augments.

If you’re planning to Fast 9 with Pengu, try to find things that boast your economy (Hedge Fund, Level Up, Final Reserves, Last Stand, etc).

If you end up playing just a default comp with Pengu, pick your best combat Augments and hope the extra Health gives you a higher placement than a different Augment or Legend would have.

Poro (The Imporoble) – No tailoring, just a classic game of TFT!

Poro is a solid choice and always will be. In general, non Legend Augments are stronger than Legend Augments, so getting 5 or 6 options to work with can be very strong.

If certain Augments are overpowered during a certain patch, Poro will also increase the odds you find those Augments compared to picking other Legends.

The main drawback is that there are cases where you will find 6 bad Augments and not have a Legend Augment as a fallback, but that is usually rare.

Complimentary Augments:

There isn’t anything complimentary with Poro since you’re not given any tailored Augments. Pick the strongest Augments you see that compliment your team and stay flexible to make the most of Poro.

Tahm Kench (The Glutton) – Collect as much gold – as possible!

Tahm Kench is all about Gold. All of his Augments revolve around building up Gold or simply give more Gold. For Fast 9 players, ASol is simply better.

The one upside for Tahm Kench is that you can potentially use him to try and 3-star a 4-cost unit. That would probably be the most competitive strategy for Tahm Kench, albeit not consistent.

Complimentary Augments:

When it comes to Tahm Kench, you can choose to double down on your economy, picking other Augments like Hedge Fund or Level Up, or you can look to stabilize at level 7/8 with your extra gold.

As usual, you can always just pick combat Augments along with Tahm Kench, and hope you can stabilize with the extra gold generation.

Twisted Fate (The Gambler) – Get the exact items you need!

Twisted Fate’s signature Augment is Pandora’s Items at 2-1. This rerolls your item components every round, allowing you to build the exact items you want (mostly).

Twisted Fate is only really strong if you’re playing around a hyper carry that you can buff up with things like Chalice of Power or Zeke’s Herald.

If anything, I would recommend Twisted Fate for beginners, as you have an easier time building the items you want, so you only need to worry about finding your champions and upgrades.

Complimentary Augments:

Twisted Fate is another Legend where outside of Pandora’s Items, you mainly want to pick combat Augments. You will get BiS items for your units, but you still will need more combat Augments to keep up with other players that just hit the right items.

Urf (The Emblem Collector) – For the Player that loves Emblems!

Urf is another advanced Legend, as his signature Augment, Ancient Archives, opens a selection of Emblems to choose from. This lets you play into strong vertical traits, and explores team comps you wouldn’t be able to build most games.

You can also tailor your Emblem selection by putting more traits into your board, but that is a more advanced topic. In general, Urf can just be used at 2-1 to give your team some direction while also striving to play big vertical comps.

If you want to play Urf, you should have a good grasp of the entire set, as you’ll likely be playing different comps most games.

Complimentary Augments:

For Urf, you can think of Heart/Crown/Crest Augments as complimentary as they will let you hit very high vertical traits.

Urf is difficult to assess because there are many different paths your board can take when you’re given an Emblem early on. In general, the usual combat Augment will be fine for Urf.

Veigar (The Caster) – Deal big damage with your champions abilites!

Veigar is all about Combat Augments. His 2-1 Augment is Jeweled Lotus, which grants your team the ability to crit on their abilities. This means you can forgo building items like Infinity Edge or Jeweled Gauntlet.

The main issue with Veigar is that you’re pigeonholed into specific comps and can’t stay flexible. However, if the comp you want to play has strong ability damage, you can look to play Veigar for some strong combat Augments.

Complimentary Augments:

Since you’re given Jeweled Lotus with Veigar, you will want to get combat Augments that synergize with this ability crit.

Augments that provide flat AD or AP can help scale your damage on abilities.

Vladimir (The Hemomancer) – Trade your Health for Power!

Lastly, Vladimir is another combat Legend similar to Master Yi. Transfusion gives your units more Health the less HP you have. This is great for lose streaking the early game, as you won’t have as much combat power early in the game.

After you build up an economy, you can look to stabilize with a bunch of extra Health on your units. Vladimir also synergizes better with units that scale better with Health like Bruisers.

However, if you are high rolling and win streaking, your Augment is extremely weak compared to other Augments until you lose a bunch of HP. Even still, this isn’t a huge downside as if you’re win streaking with Vladimir, you should still be fine in the late game as you’ll only get stronger.

The main downside to Vladimir is that you are incentivized to lose HP, which can be a slippery slope if you don’t stabilize enough.

Complimentary Augments:

When it comes to Vladimir, you’ll usually want to prioritize playing comps and units that synergize with HP like Bruisers. However, there are some Augments than can synergize well.

Unified Resistance is a great example. Giving your units extra Armor and MR will multiply with the extra Health to make your team very tanky.

• Unified Resistance II
  • Combat start: Your units that share a row with at least 2 other units gain 35 Armor and 35 Magic Resist.

Conclusion

This concludes my guide on how to play each Legend in TFT. These new Legends bring a whole new layer to TFT in how you play the game. There’s also a lot of replay value when you can try different strategies and comps with different Legends.

Learning every single Legend can be a tall task, but you can try things out until you find one that you like.

I hope this guide helped you, and good luck on your climb!