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Everything New in TFT Set 13: Into the Arcane
In this article I’ll be covering all of the new TFT Set 13 Champions and Traits from the reveal. “Into the Arcane” is just around the corner, and with that, comes a brand new cast of champions to learn.
Set 13 also introduces a new Set Mechanic: Anomalies. We’ll briefly cover this new mechanic, and any other unique additions to Set 13.
Keep in mind that the information for new champions are constantly being updated on the PBE. Our website will continually be updated, so make sure to check out the Champions Page to stay updated on any changes.
To see ALL the new changes, head to our all-in-one TFT page for Set 13.
Set 13: Into the Arcane Release Date
TFT Set 13: Into the Arcane will be set to release on November 20th with Patch 14.23.
The Set 13 PBE will likely start around November 11th-13th.
TFT Set 13 Mechanic: Anomalies
The set mechanic for TFT Set 13 will be “Anomalies.” At round 4-6, you will get the chance to “evolve” one champion with one Anomaly effect. You will get a special Anomaly shop where you can reroll different Anomaly bonuses to tailor to your needs.
All things considered, the Anomaly mechanic is on the simpler side of things we’ve seen so far. Considering TFT is already a complex game, it’s understandable to not want to push the envelope too much.
The Anomaly mechanic will likely change how the meta, but it shouldn’t be too drastic for most players. You will definitely want to find your main carry around this time (4-6) in order to buff them up with the Anomaly.
TFT Set 13 New Augments
Set 13: Into the Arcane is a callback to Set 6: Gizmo’s and Gadgets, which released during the first season of Arcane. As expected, Augments are returning and likely won’t be going anywhere. There isn’t too much new this time around, but we’re seeing new additions to things like Hero Augments and High Stakes Augments.
Team-Up Augments
With a set based around the Arcane show, Riot have decided to add “Team-Up” Augments. These Augments add traits to characters from the show that don’t usually share a trait. You can pair Vi and Jinx together with this Augment, Vi and Ekko, etc.
Hero Augments
Hero Augments were introduced in Set 8: Monsters Attack as the main Set Mechanic. This allows you to buff up every champion with their Hero Augment. Since then, we’ve seen Hero Augments be created for low-cost tanks to turn them into carry units. With a new cast of characters, there’s a new list of Hero Augments to try out.
High Stakes Augments
High Stakes Augments are also returning with new additions. As it sounds, these Augments incentivize high-risk, high-reward gameplay. We’ve seen this style of gameplay in the past with traits like Fortune, Underground, etc. With them now being tied to Augments, it allows for more creativity in how you play the strategy, rather than force a specific trait.
TFT Set 13 Traits
With a new set comes a new roster of traits to go through. Here’s a rundown of all the traits as well as my first impressions on each.
TFT Set 13 Origins
Academy
Champions: Lux 1g / Leona 2g / Ezreal 3g / Heimerdinger 4g / Jayce 5g
The Academy sponsors 3 items each game. Copies of sponsored items grant bonus max Health and Damage Amp. Academy units holding sponsored items gain double the amount, plus an additional 5% Health and Damage Amp.
- (3) 2% Health DA; gain 1 sponsored item.
- (4) 3% Health DA; gain 1 sponsored item.
- (5) 4% Health DA; gain 1 sponsored item.
- (6) 8% Health DA
First Impressions:
Academy is another trait focused on items, which the game has seen time and time again. There’s a new twist this time with “sponsored” items, and it’s a fairly fresh take on the system. It appears that sponsored items are simply copies of regular items that grant a small additional bonus.
You won’t get all three sponsored items unless you play all 5 units, which can be taxing for your board. Overall, there’s a solid amount of power in this trait, and it reduces the variance of your item drops by giving you the sponsored ones.
Automata
Champions: Amumu 1g / Nocturne 2g / Blitzcrank 3g / Kog’Maw 3g / Malzahar 5g
Automata gain a crystal when they deal damage. At 20 crystals, they blast their current target, dealing magic damage + 20% of damage dealt since the previous blast and reset. They also gain Armor and Magic Resist.
- (2) 125 damage, 20 Armor & MR
- (4) 300 damage, 40 Armor & MR
- (6) 625 damage, 70 Armor & MR
First Impressions:
Automata is a mixture of backline, frontline, and midline units. The Armor and MR won’t be too impactful for your backline units, but it can come in handy sometimes. Overall, this is very similar to Honeymancers from last set or Laser Corps from Set 8.
The trait simply gives you more damage, and I expect the trait to be carried by the individual units. However, there’s a world where the numbers are balanced too high, making the trait strong compared to others.
Black Rose
Champions: Morgana 1g / Vladimir 2g / Cassiopeia 3g / Elise 4g / Leblanc 5g
- (3) Summon a chained Sion. He is freed after 5 casts from Black Rose units or when he drops below 65% health.
- (4) Sion grows stronger and his enemies take more damage from Black Rose units.
- (5) Sion unleashes dark magic and heals to full Health when freed.
- (7) When Sion dies, he restores to life with power beyond death!
Each Black Rose champion’s star level increases Sion’s power
First Impressions:
Black Rose is the “summon” trait of Set 13. We’ve seen summon traits basically every set, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. If you’re just starting TFT, these traits look to summon an extra unit onto the board. As you add more Black Rose units, the summon (Sion in this case) will get stronger.
The interesting part of Black Rose is that there’s only 5 units total. In the past, summon traits generally had 6-8 units. Because of this, putting all 5 onto your board isn’t as big of a cost.
Chem-Baron
Champions: Singed 1g / Renata Glasc 2g / Renni 3g / Smeech 3g / Silco 4g / Sevika 5g
Gain Shimmer after each player combat. If your loss streak is at least 3, gain more. At each stack of 100 Shimmer, the Black Market offers you contraband that only Chem-Barons can use. Chem-Barons gain max Health for each Black Market you pass on.
- (3) 15 or 30; 20 Health
- (4) 20 or 40; 50 Health
- (5) 20 or 60; 90 Health
- (6) 30 or 80; 125 Health
- (7) 30 or 120; 180 Health
First Impressions:
Chem-Baron marks the return of “econ” traits. In Set 12, there was no true economy based trait that incentivized lose streaking. Instead, the game introduced High Stakes Augments. With Set 13, this style of trait is coming back.
The main difference this time around for Chem-Baron is that they grant you special items when you cash out. So instead of getting crazy loot tables, you’ll have more predictable results. Some of the Chem-Baron items are extremely powerful, so don’t think the trait is bad compared to econ traits of the past.
Conqueror
Champions: Darius 1g / Draven 1g / Rell 2g / Swain 3g / Ambessa 4g / Mordekaiser 5g
Conquerors’ takedowns grant stacks of Conquest. After gaining enough Conquest, open War Chests full of loot! Conquerors gain Attack Damage and Ability Power, increased by 3% for each War Chest opened.
- (2) 18% AD & AP; 1x Conquest
- (4) 27% AD & AP; 3x Conquest
- (6) 42% AD & AP; 6x Conquest
- (9) 100% AD & AP; 20x Conquest
First Impressions:
Conqueror is another loot trait, similar to Chem-Baron, but instead of lose streaking, you want to win fights. We’ve seen traits incentivize winning early before, and the thematic matches Draven’s LoL kit as well.
With a trait like this, getting it up and running early is going to be very important. This way you can start stacking up the takedowns and keep the win streak going. Ambessa is also part of the trait, and she recently released in League of Legends.
Emissary
Champions: Tristana 2g / Nami 3g / Ambessa 4g / Garen 4g
This trait is active only when you have exactly 1 or 4 unique Emissaries.
- (1) Gain that Emissary’s bonus
- (4) Gain all bonuses. Emissaries gain 300 Health and 30% DA
- Ambessa: Allies gain 2 Armor and Magic Resist for each opponent defeated.
- Garen: On Combat Start, Garen and allies to his left and right gain 20% of his max Health.
- Nami: Allies’ attacks grant 2 bonus Mana.
- Tristana: Allies gain 6% Attack Speed per star level.
First Impressions:
Emissary is a throwback to the Ninja trait all the way back in Set 1. With this trait, you either play around 1 Emissary, or all 4. It can be a bit tilting to roll down and only find Garen or Ambessa but not both.
It’ll be interesting to see whether going for 4 will be worth it to make up for the detrimental condition.
Enforcer
Champions: Maddie 1g / Steb 1g / Camille 2g / Loris 3g / Twisted Fate 3g / Vi 4g / Caitlyn 5g
Combat Start: Enforcers gain Shield and Damage Amp. The highest Health enemy units become WANTED!
When a Wanted enemy dies, Enforcers gain 30% Attack Speed.
- (2) 1 units; 15% Health, 12% DA
- (4) 2 units; 25% Health, 25% DA
- (6) 4 units; 40% Health, 40% DA
- (8) 6 units; 55% Health, 60% DA
- (10) ALL enemies; 100% Health, 150% DA; Combat Start: Confiscate all enemy items!
First Impressions:
Enforcer 10 has probably one of the most insane trait bonuses I’ve ever seen. Confiscating all enemy items is essentially a surefire win. So much of a board’s power comes from their items. It’s definitely a fitting buff matching the difficult condition.
Outside of that, the trait has a scaling factor that gives you more Attack Speed as you take down enemies. However, you will need to invest into the trait to have more Wanted enemies. If you only have 2 Enforcers, you’ll just have one Wanted enemy for one 30% buff.
Experiment
Champions: Zyra 1g / Urgot 2g / Nunu & Willump 3g / Dr. Mundo 4g / Twitch 4g
Gain Laboratory hexes on your board. Combat start: Experiments standing on Laboratory hexes gain the Experiment bonuses of all Experiments on Laboratory hexes, plus max Health.
- (3) 2 Laboratories, 100 Health
- (5) 3 Laboratories, 200 Health
- (7) Experiment bonuses increase by 100%!
First Impressions:
Every Experiment champion has their own Experiment bonus unique to them. By putting certain ones on the special hexes, you’ll grant this bonus to them. We don’t currently know if there’s only one Laboratory Hex setup, and if there is, it’s definitely limiting to your positioning.
For most players, it can be nice to leave your Champion on a specific spot, but in higher level play, it can definitely be cumbersome.
Family
Champions: Powder 1g / Violet 1g / Vander 2g
Family members support each other, reducing their max Mana and gaining extra bonuses.
- (3) 25% reduction, 12% DR
- (4) 30% reduction, 20% AS
- (5) 40% reduction, heist on topside! After combat, progress the heist, increased for each surviving family member!
First Impressions:
The family trait is a surprise to see, as it uses 3 TFT specific champions. If you didn’t know, these characters are from the Netflix show “Arcane” based on the LoL world. With season 2 of Arcane coming out, it makes sense for TFT to celebrate the show with some special champions.
Overall, the trait bonus incentivizes you to play all three together, and they’ll likely make a simple reroll comp to play.
Firelight
Champions: Zeri 2g / Scar 3g / Ekko 4g
Every 6 seconds, Firelights dash. While dashing, they attack with infinite range and heal a percentage of the damage taken since their last dash.
- (2) 25% of damage taken
- (3) 40% of damage taken
- (4) 45% of damage taken. While dashing, gain a massive burst of Attack Speed.
First Impressions:
The Firelights are also from the show Arcane, and feature Scar as a TFT exclusive. Ekko and Zeri are already beloved League of Legends characters, so there’s no surprise there. The trait makes them nimble and dash around.
Hopefully the AI for these dashes are good and they dont dash into danger and ruin your fight.
High Roller
Champions: Sevika 5g
When casting, Sevika rolls a random Jinx modification to her Ability and gains 80% Durability for 1.50 seconds.
Mods:
- Rocket: Launch 8 rockets that deal 100 physical damage each
- Shield: Gain 500 Shield for 4 seconds
- Coin: Gain 3 gold
- Triple: Enhance her rolled ability!
First Impressions:
High Roller is the Sevika specific trait, and it grants her a random bonus while casting. We don’t know if every roll has equal odds, so we can’t comment too much there. Either way, the bonuses are all very powerful, so getting her to cast quickly will be ideal.
Junker King
Champions: Rumble 5g
Every 3 rounds, open an armory to purchase permanent upgrades to your strongest Rumble’s mech.
First Impressions:
We’ve seen this Mech style gameplay all the way back in Set 3 with Mech-Pilots. One improvement they’ve made is that the mech upgrade is now it’s own Armory shop instead of taking up one of your shop slots.
We don’t know the details of the upgrades yet, but endgame boards will likely use Rumble. If you have the gold to make the strongest board, a fully buffed up Rumble surely makes it onto that board.
Rebel
Champions: Irelia 1g / Vex 1g / Akali 2g / Sett 2g / Ezreal 3g / Illaoi 4g / Zoe 4g / Jinx 5g
Rebels gain 12% max Health. After your team loses 30% of their Health, a smoke signal appears, granting Rebels 60% Attack Speed for 4 seconds and extra power for the rest of combat.
- (3) 15% AD & AP
- (5) 25% AD & AP, 12% Health
- (7) 45% AD & AP, 20% Health, and Stun all enemies for 2 seconds
- (10) The smoke signal triggers at Combat Start and every 6 seconds.
First Impressions:
Rebels are another vertical Origin trait, and their 10 piece bonus looks very powerful, but not quite as much as Enforcer. Overall, the bonus is quite good, granting a variety of buffs which you’ll want if you go deep into the trait.
Only time will tell if going vertical is better than focusing on key strong units with other supporting pieces.
Scrap
Champions: Powder 1g / Trundle 1g / Ziggs 2g / Gangplank 3g / Corki 4g / Ekko 4g / Rumble 5g
Combat start: Components held by Scrap units temporarily turn into full items. Scrap units gain Shield for 30 seconds for each component held by your team, including those that make up a full item.
- (2) 1 component, 25 Shield
- (4) 3 components, 40 Shield
- (6) All components, and full items become lucky! 65 Shield
- (9) Generate Radiant items! 70 Shield
First Impressions:
For our last Origin, we have Scrap. Like Academy, this trait plays with the item system, incentivizing you to place as many items onto units as possible. This will grant your entire team more shield and even temporary completed items.
You won’t have control over what completed items you’ll get, but you can influence it based on the component you place on a Scrap unit. Once the late game comes, you’ll definitely want to place your 3 ideal completed items on your main carrys, and use components to get more value elsewhere.
The 9 Scrap bonus is also quite powerful. Getting multiple Radiant items, albeit semi-random, is very strong. You will still need two Emblems, but getting a 9 trait is much easier than 10.
TFT Set 13 Classes
Ambusher
Champions: Powder 1g / Camille 2g / Smeech 3g / Ekko 4g / Jinx 5g
Damage from Ambushers’ Abilities can critically strike. They also gain bonus Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage.
- (2) 20% Crit, 10% CritMult
- (3) 30% Crit, 20% CritMult
- (4) 40% Crit, 30% CritMult
- (5) 55% Crit, 35% CritMult; also gain 15% Durability
First Impressions:
Ambusher is a simple crit based trait that allows Abilities to crit. With this, you won’t need to build things like Infinity Edge or Jeweled Gauntlet and can focus on other damage items.
Artillerist
Champions: Tristana 2g / Urgot 2g / Ezreal 3g / Corki 4g
Every 5 attacks, Artillerists launch a rocket that deals 125% Attack Damage around the target. They also gain Attack Damage.
- (2) 10% AD
- (4) 40% AD
- (6) 50% AD, Launch a rocket every 5 attacks that deals double damage.
First Impressions:
Artillerist is an Attack Damage scaling trait, so pairing it with Attack Speed scaling will result in good damage. Running all four can be tough on your board, but if you get an Emblem, it can be much easier to fit in.
Bruiser
Champions: Steb 1g / Trundle 1g / Sett 2g / Nunu & Willump 3g / Renni 3g / Elise 4g
Your team gains 100 max Health. Bruisers gain more.
- (2) 20% Health
- (4) 45% Health
- (6) 70% Health
First Impressions:
Bruiser is a trait we’ve seen time and time again. It’s a simple HP scaling trait, but the wording is a bit ambiguous. We don’t know currently if this iteration of Bruiser scales the Health from items like Giant’s Belt or Warmog’s Armor.
In general, you want to combine high Health with high Armor and MR, but it’s still something to note.
Dominator
Champions: Ziggs 2g / Blitzctank 3g / Cassiopeia 3g / Dr. Mundo 4g / Silco 4g / Mordekaiser 5g
Combat start: Dominators gain a Shield for 15 seconds. When Dominators cast, they gain stacking Ability Power based on the Mana spent.
- (2) 250 Shield, 25% AP
- (4) 500 Shield, 50% AP
- (6) 800 Shield, 75% AP
First Impressions:
Dominators have built in AP scaling, which removes a layer of item building. With this, you can focus on other sources of damage scaling like Crit or Mana generation. For frontline units like Mundo and Mordekaiser, you can focus on tank items. They will generate mana as their hit by enemies, so tank items and Omnivamp/sustain will be great.
Form Swapper
Champions: Gangplank 3g / Swain 3g / Elise 4g / Jayce 5g
Innate: Form Swappers change their stats and ability based on if they’re placed in the front 2 rows or back 2 rows. Frontline Form Swappers gain Durability. Backline Form Swappers gain Damage Amp.
- (2) 15% DR or 20% DA
- (4) 30% DR or 40% DA
First Impressions:
Form Swapper is kind of like Shapeshifter, except you can choose their form on the start of battle rather than have them transform and gain more Health. This gives the trait some flexibility, as you can decide whether you need more damage or more frontline.
However, the meta may just make it so one style is playable while the other is not. In an ideal world, both options should be good.
Pit Fighter
Champions: Draven 1g / Violet 1g / Urgot 2g / Gangplank 3g / Vi 4g / Sevika 5g
Pit Fighters gain 15% Omnivamp and deal bonus true damage. Once per combat at 50% Health, they heal a percentage of their max Health over 2 seconds.
- (2) 6% true damage, 10% Health
- (4) 12% true damage, 25% Health
- (6) 20% true damage, 40% Health
- (8) 50% true damage, 99% Health
First Impressions:
Pit Fighters are a trait much like Warrior from Set 12. These champions are mostly frontline tank/damage/sustain hybrid champions. Draven is the exception being a ranged backline unit, but the rest follow this trend.
Quickstriker
Champions: Akali 2g / Nocturne 2g / Twisted Fate 3g / Ambessa 4g
Quickstrikers move faster and gain Attack Speed, based on their target’s missing Health.
- (2) 20-60% AS
- (3) 30-80% AS
- (4) 40-100% AS. On target death, Quickstrikers dash to a new target and gain 200 shield for 3 seconds.
First Impressions:
Quickstriker is somewhat similar to Duelist from the past, except their Attack Speed is based on their target instead of being inherent. This can lead to some sticky situations as they refresh their target, but the shield from the (4) bonus will help.
Sentinel
Champions: Irelia 1g / Singed 1g / Leona 2g / Rell 2g / Loris 3g / Illaoi 4g / Rumble 5g
Your team gains Armor and Magic Resist. Sentinels gain triple.
- (2) 10 Armor & MR
- (4) 25 Armor & MR
- (6) 50 Armor & MR
First Impressions:
Sentinel is the classic Armor/MR trait. Just like Bruiser, there’s always one every set. Sadly, they don’t have a fun (8) bonus that turns them into a potential full team comp, but that’s ok.
Sniper
Champions: Maddie 1g / Zeri 2g / Kog’Maw 3g / Twitch 4g / Caitlyn 5g
Snipers deal more damage to targets farther away.
- (2) 7% damage per hex
- (4) 16% damage per hex
- (6) 35% damage per hex and +5 Attack Range
First Impressions:
Sniper is also a trait we’ve seen multiple times in the past. They deal more damage to far away targets, and naturally have high attack range. Many of their abilities will also target the furthest enemy. Like Artillerist, Snipers generally don’t see vertical team comps without an Emblem. Spending 4/5 units on squishy backline champions can make for a very squishy frontline.
However, with an Emblem and the right Emblem holder, your team’s damage can make up for the lack of utility/frontline.
Sorcerer
Champions: Lux 1g / Zyra 1g / Vladimir 2g / Nami 3g / Swain 3g / Zoe 4g / Leblanc 5g
Your team gains 10 Ability Power. Sorcerers gain more.
- (2) 20 AP
- (4) 50 AP
- (6) 85 AP
- (8) 100 AP, Abilities reduce their target’s damage by 25% for 3 seconds
First Impressions:
Sorcerer is another trait that’s making a return, and it’s a simple AP buffing trait. Vertical Sorcerer’s have seen play in the past, but it usually hinges on the frontline power of certain units like Swain. If Swain has potential to solo frontline at 3-star, a vertical Sorcerer comp can be very viable.
There could also be other supporting frontline units that synergize well with 6 Sorcerer, so we’ll see when the time comes.
Visionary
Champions: Morgana 1g / Vex 1g / Rell 2g / Renata Glasc 2g / Nunu & Willump 3g / Heimerdinger 4g / Malzahar 5g
Whenever Visionaries gain Mana, they gain more.
- (2) 25% Mana
- (4) 50% Mana
- (6) 80% Mana
- (8) 100% Mana, Abilities heal an ally for 20% of damage dealt
First Impressions:
Visionary is a new name, but this style of trait has been seen before. (such as Invoker) The trait is essentially another flavor of Sorcerer. It’s similar to how some traits will buff AD, while another might buff Attack Speed.
You simply want to build items that pair well with the mana generation. Items like Blue Buff and Shojin will grant more Mana with the trait, but you also will want some AP to scale your damage as well.
Watcher
Champions: Amumu 1g / Darius 1g / Vander 2g / Vladimir 2g / Scar 3g / Garen 4g
Watchers gain Durability, increased while above 50% Health.
- (2) 10% or 25% DR
- (4) 20% or 40% DR
- (6) 30% or 60% DR
First Impressions:
For our last Class Trait, we have Watcher. Watchers simply have Durability or Damage Reduction, which is another flavor of Armor/MR/Health. Most notably, Durability scales well when combined with those other tank stats, so keep that in mind.
TFT Set 13 New Champions: Abilities, Positioning, and First Impressions
With all of the mechanics and traits covered, let’s finally dive into all of the new TFT Set 13 champions. Considering this is TFT’s 13th set, many champions will have similar/returning mechanics.
Even still, the different combinations and trait webs are what make new sets exciting.
We’ll be providing basic positioning suggestions for every champion to get the ball rolling for you. Just remember that positioning is incredibly contextual in TFT and to always adapt to the situation at hand.
The terminology we’ll be using in this article will be frontline, midline, and backline.
1-Cost Champions
Amumu Automata Watcher 1g
Ability:
Obsolete Technology Passive: Reduce all incoming damage by 12/15/25. Every second, emit sparks that deal 10/15/25 (AP) magic damage to adjacent enemies.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Amumu is your stock standard tank that reduces damage by a flat amount. This damage reduction can be extremely powerful early game, but falls off very hard once the late game comes and hits start hitting harder.
Even still, a fully invested Amumu 3-star can still be quite tanky in the late game.
Darius Conqueror Watcher 1g
Ability:
Decimate 30/70 Spin, dealing 2.4 (AD) physical damage to adjacent enemies and healing 150/175/200 (AP). Apply a 2 (AD) physical damage bleed to target over 4 seconds.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Darius is another frontline tank, but he also has a good amount of AoE damage with his spin. His base stats will make him tankier, but these stats will fall off as time progresses. He also applies a Bleed which is not very common.
Draven Conqueror Pit Fighter 1g
Ability:
Spinning Axes 30/60 Passive: If Draven has an empowered axe in hand, it replaces his next attack, dealing 10/15/25 + 1.6 (AD) physical damage. Empowered axes return to Draven after hitting an enemy.
Active: Spin an empowered axe.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Draven is a fairly standard backline AD carry, but he has a unique axe throwing mechanic. As long as Draven stays in the same spot, he will continue empowering his auto attacks. Once he moves, he will drop an axe, leading to a regular auto attack.
Irelia Rebel Sentinel 1g
Ability:
Defiant Dance 30/70 Enter a defensive stance and gain 400/475/575 (AP) Shield that rapidly decays over 3 seconds. When it expires, deal 70/100/150 (AP) magic damage + 0.3% of the damage absorbed to enemies around and in front of Irelia.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Irelia is a hybrid tank that does a nice bit of damage while also having a Shield to tank extra damage. Nothing is too out of the ordinary for her kit, but she does do a lot for a 1-cost unit.
Lux Academy Sorcerer 1g
Ability:
Prismatic Barrier 0/50 Grant 160/180/240 (AP) Shield to the lowest current Health ally. Lux’s next attack deals 360/540/900 (AP) bonus magic damage.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Lux is a simple AP caster unit that grants a Shield and deals some AP damage. Her skill empowers her next auto attack rather than being a damage source itself. This shouldn’t matter for the most part, but it’s unique enough to mention.
Maddie Enforcer Sniper 1g
Ability:
Fan the Hammer 20/120 Fire 6 shots towards the farthest enemy that deal 1.25/1.25/1.4 + 10/15/25 (AD) physical damage to the first enemy they hit.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Maddie is a new Sniper unit coming from the Arcane tv series. Her ability fires toward the furthest enemy, which synergizes with the Sniper trait. She’s very similar to old 1-cost Caitlyn, except instead of 1 big shot, she fires 6 smaller shots.
Morgana Black Rose Visionary 1g
Ability:
Tormented Soul 0/40 Curse the nearest non-cursed enemy, dealing 500/750/1150 (AP) magic damage over 10 seconds and reducing the effectiveness of shields used on them by 0.5%.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Morgana is our next 1-cost with a straightforward AP damage ability. She deals strong single-target DoT, which also debuffs shield effectiveness. She also has a low mana cost, meaning an early Blue Buff can be very good for her.
Powder Family Scrap Ambusher 1g
Ability:
Misfit Toy 40/120 Send a monkey towards the largest group of enemies, causing a 2-hex radius explosion on impact. Enemies hit take 305/460/680 (AP) magic damage, reduced by 0.33% for each hex they are away from the epicenter. Wound and 1% Burn applied for 5 seconds to all enemies hit.
Burn: Deal a percent of the target’s max Health as true damage every second
Wound: Reduce healing received by 33%
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
If you didn’t watch Arcane, Powder is Jinx as a young child. As the one of the show’s protagonists, they definitely will want players to use Powder in game. As it stands, the trio of Powder, Violet, and Vander look to form a reroll comp as they’re all low-cost and synergize with each other.
You may use Powder in other builds to fill out bonuses since she has 3 traits.
Singed Chem-Baron Sentinel 1g
Ability:
Dangerous Mutations 0/50 Gain (AP) Durability and grant the ally who has dealt the most damage this round 100/120/160% Attack Speed, decaying over 4 seconds.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Singed is a frontline tank with his Sentinel ability, but his ability is extremely potent. He grants a massive Attack Speed buff to the ally who’s dealt the most damage, meaning you get a short, but powerful, buff onto your main carry.
Even as the game progresses, Singed will continue providing strong utility.
Steb Enforcer Bruiser 1g
Ability:
Field Medicine 30/90 Passive: On heal, heal the 2 closest allies for 25% of the amount.
Active: Heal for 270/310/360 (AP) and strike target for 260/390/585 (AP) magic damage.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Steb is another frontline with healing, damage, and ally healing as well. His heal will scale with AP, but you probably aren’t looking to focus on this. If Set 13 has another “Double Trouble” type Augment, placing two Stebs close together could lead to a funny build.
Trundle Scrap Bruiser 1g
Ability:
Desperate Chomp 30/90 Heal 160/190/230 (AP) and chomp target for 2.8 (AD) physical damage. Both effects are increased by up to 0.75% based on Trundle’s missing Health.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Trundle is another frontline unit, and he has some built in damage and healing as well. His heal will scale off AP while his damage will scale of AD. This makes things a bit awkward since you can’t easily build him into a carry. One one hand, he can make use of any item. This synergizes well with the Scrap trait that randomly generates an item.
On the other hand, you won’t be able to effectively scale all aspects of his kit, unless you devote your entire board to buffing him up. Either way, he’s a valuable early unit to make up your frontline.
Vex Rebel Visionary 1g
Ability:
Looming Darkness 0/60 Deal 200/300/450 (AP) magic damage to target and create a one-hex radius zone of darkness around them. After a brief delay, deal 100/150/225 (AP) magic damage to enemies still in the zone.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Vex is another 1-cost AP damage unit, with a bit of AoE compared to units like Lux and Morgana. There isn’t too much else to expand upon here. Her Rebel trait makes her efficient to use early as you can place one component and upgrade it into an item during fights.
Violet Family Pit Fighter 1g
Ability:
1-2-3 Combo 20/70 Jab target 2 times for 1.35/1.35/1.4 (AD) physical damage each. Then uppercut them, dealing 4/4/4.25 + 40/60/90 (AD & AP) physical damage and briefly knocking them up.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Violet is the young version of Vi, and as previously mentioned, you can pair her with Powder for an early reroll comp. Her Pit Fighter trait does give her a place in other team comps, but she doesn’t have three traits like Powder does.
Zyra Experiment Sorcerer 1g
Ability:
Grasping Roots 10/60 Send vines towards the current target, Stunning them for 1 second and dealing 260/390/585 (AP) magic damage. Then smaller vines seek out the 2 nearest enemies and deal 80/120/180 (AP) magic damage to them.
Experiment Bonus: Ability damage bleeds enemies for % bonus true damage over 3 seconds.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Zyra is the only 1-cost unit with CC built into her kit, making her quite good already. She also has AoE AP damage, giving her a lot of utility for a 1-cost unit. While she might not carry the early game as hard as other units, she will continue to provide utility even through the mid game.
2-Cost Champions
Akali Rebel Quickstriker 2g
Ability:
Shuriken Flip 0/60 Throw a shuriken at target, dealing 80/120/185 (AP) magic damage and marking them to take 0.15% more damage for 4 seconds. Then dash away from target. After a brief delay, dash towards them and deal 240/360/600 (AP) magic damage.
Positioning: Midline
First Impressions:
Akali is often a 2-cost unit for some reason, but it works. Her ability makes her target take more damage from all sources, but her playstyle is more of an Assassin type than a utility unit. For the most part, the damage amp will be most useful as it applies to her own damage.
However, if the enemy has a tough tank, you can use Akali to amp the damage of your entire team onto that target.
Camille Enforcer Ambusher 2g
Ability:
Adaptive Strike 0/25 Kick the target, dealing 2.4/2.4/3 + 45/70/120 (AD & AP) Adaptive Damage. Heal for 0.4% of the damage dealt.
Adaptive Damage: Uses the damage type the target resists less
Positioning: Midline
First Impressions:
Camille is a unit that switches her damage type based on the enemy she is hitting. This is good because she can effectively deal with units that have high Armor OR high MR. Since her damage may be AD or AP, you’ll want to build items that focus on other aspects like Attack Speed, Bonus Damage, Damage Amp, etc.
Leona Academy Sentinel 2g
Ability:
Eclipse 40/80 Fortify for 3 seconds, gaining (AP) Durability. Afterwards, deal 115/175/270 (AP) magic damage to adjacent enemies.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Leona’s ability deals a bit of damage, but mainly grants her Durability. This makes her very tanky while her ability is active, and she’ll generally cast it after taking a bit of damage to gain Mana.
Nocturne Automata Quickstriker 2g
Ability:
Overdrive Blades 0/40 For 6 seconds, attacks also cause adjacent enemies to bleed for 1.2/1.2/1.4 + 15/25/40 (AD) physical damage over 1 second.
Positioning: Midline
First Impressions:
Nocturne has an AoE cleave auto attack ability, and his Quickstriker trait will also give him some Attack Speed. He’s nothing too crazy, but he can shred through enemies if given enough resources.
Rell Conqueror Sentinel Visionary 2g
Ability:
Shattering Strike 40/90 Gain 300/350/400 (AP) Shield for 4 seconds. Lance enemies in a line for 120/180/270 (AP) magic damage and steal 10/12/15 Armor and Magic Resist from enemies hit.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Rell is a tank with three traits, making her a valuable pick up for staying flexible. Her ability is also quite good, stealing Armor and MR from enemies, dealing damage, and shielding herself.
Renata Glasc Chem-Baron Visionary 2g
Ability:
Loyalty Program 30/90 Fire a pair of missiles at target. Allies they pass through gain 95/120/150 (AP) Shield for 3 seconds. When they collide, they deal 280/420/650 (AP) magic damage to target and 140/210/325 (AP) magic damage to adjacent enemies.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Renata is a damage/utility unit that deals AoE damage and shields in an AoE as well. With this, you want to position her in a way where she can pass her shield through as many allies as possible.
Sett Rebel Bruiser 2g
Ability:
Facebreaker 50/100 Pull in an enemy on either side and slam them together, dealing 180/270/420 (AP) magic damage and Stunning them for 1.5/1.5/2 seconds.
If only one enemy is grabbed, the damage and Stun duration are increased by 50%.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Sett wants to hit multiple enemies with his ability, so leaving him in the front alone can be viable early on. This way, enemies will walk toward him, giving him targets to slam. Once the game goes long, Sett likely won’t survive long enough to do this reliably, but you can still find creative ways to position.
Tristana Emissary Artillerist 2g
Ability:
Draw a Bead 20/60 Fire a cannonball at target, dealing 5.25 + 50/75/115 (AD) physical damage. If they die, the cannonball ricochets to the nearest enemy, dealing the overkill damage. When it does, permanently gain % Attack Damage.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Tristana’s ability focuses purely on damage, which makes her interesting to build around. However, if her damage numbers aren’t good enough, she will feel lackluster as that’s the only thing she provides.
Urgot Experiment Pit Fighter Artillerist 2g
Ability:
Corrosive Charge 20/70 Fire an explosive charge, dealing 3/3/3.3 + 35/50/75 (AD) physical damage to target and 1.5/1.5/1.65 + 35/50/75 (AD) physical damage to adjacent enemies. 20% Sunder all enemies hit for 6 seconds.
Sunder: Reduce Armor
Experiment Bonus: On Combat Start and after Ability casts, dash to the target, then gain % max Health Shield and % Attack Speed for 5 seconds.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Sunder is quite good in the early to mid game on a champion as it’s a form of damage scaling that isn’t easily accessible. Once the game goes longer and you build items such as Last Whisper, the value of Urgot’s Sunder goes down, but it’s still solid.
Vander Family Watcher 2g
Ability:
Hound of the Underground 0/50 Stop attacking and brace for 2.5 seconds, gaining 100/125/150 (AP) Armor and Magic Resist. Empower the next attack to deal 4 (AD) physical damage, increased by 2 (AD) physical damage for each 1 or 2 cost champion on your team.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Vander is a 2-cost tank that finished up the Family trait. His ability also plays well with reroll comps, as it will deal more damage depending on how many low-cost units are on your team. When he braces, he also gains a LOT of Armor/MR, making him extremely tanky during that time.
Vladimir Black Rose Watcher Sorcerer 2g
Ability:
Transfusion 20/80 Heal 190/230/280 (AP) and deal 120/180/280 (AP) magic damage to the target.
Positioning: Midline
First Impressions:
Vladimir is back and his ability is very simple, he deals damage and he heals. In the early game, an upgraded Vladimir can be your solo frontline. As he tanks damage, he’ll gain mana, cast his ability, and outheal the damage he takes.
As time goes on, this won’t work anymore, but it’s quite good to utilize this in the early game. He also has three traits, making him a flexible item holder early on.
Zeri Firelight Sniper 2g
Ability:
Living Battery Passive: Every 3rd attack is replaced with a spark that deals 1.8 + 10/15/20 (AD) physical damage to target and 1.8 + 10/15/20 (AD) physical damage to 2 nearby enemies.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Zeri is the Sniper version of Tristana, a 2-cost AD damage dealer who’s kit only deals damage. Much like Tristana, her value will hinge greatly on whether or not her damage can keep up. She can certainly be used in the early/mid game as an item holder, or as a trait bot.
However, as a carry, her balance will need fine tuning to keep her relevant.
Ziggs Scrap Dominator 2g
Ability:
Bomb Full of Bombs 15/60 Toss a bomb at target, dealing 160/240/375 (AP) magic damage. 3 mini-bombs fly out, dealing 80/120/180 (AP) magic damage to random enemies.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Ziggs is the AP version of Tristana/Zeri. He’ll be great for item holding or for traits, but as usual, his carry potential hinges on if his 3-star damage can keep up with late game team comps.
3-Cost Champions
Blitzcrank Automata Dominator 3g
Ability:
Static Field 20/70 Passive: After surviving damage, deal 0.03% of the damage absorbed as magic damage to target.
Active: Gain 415/440/465 (AP) Shield for 4 seconds. Shock the nearest 3 enemies for 40/60/100 (AP) magic damage and reduce their damage by 0.1% for 4 seconds.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Blitzcrank is a shielding frontline unit, and his ability is fairly unique. He deals some flat damage as his active, but his passive will also dela damage to enemies based on the damage he absorbs. This could make a pure tank Blitzcrank build viable as you watch enemies melt from his reflect damage.
However, TFT generally isn’t very kind to these tank carry builds. Set 13 could be different though.
Cassiopeia Black Rose Dominator 3g
Ability:
Thorned Miasma 10/40 Blast target for 230/345/550 (AP) magic damage. Every third cast, splash miasma to 2 enemies within 3 hexes, dealing 160/240/385 (AP) magic damage to each.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Cassiopeia is a simple AP carry unit with a low mana cost. This means you’ll want Blue Buff so she can cast frequently. For the most part her ability is AoE, but she will need time to deal damage to multiple enemies.
Ezreal Academy Rebel Artillerist 3g
Ability:
Essence Flux 0/60 Fire a shot towards current target that deals 1.4 + 20/30/50 (AD) physical damage to all enemies within 1 hex. Then, deal 1.4 + 20/30/50 (AD) physical damage to the unit in the center of the blast.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Ezreal is another straight forward AD damage caster. There’s nothing too special about his kit, but having three traits is noteworthy.
Gangplank Scrap Form Swapper Pit Fighter 3g
Ability:
Harvest from Flames 0/10 Cleanse all negative effects and heal 100/125/150 (AP). Slash, dealing 3 (AD) physical damage to enemies in a line. If only one enemy is hit, the damage is doubled.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Gangplank is a Form Swapper, meaning you can use him either as frontline unit or backline unit. However, his Pit Fighter trait generally means he wants to be in the frontline to make use of his healing.
Kog’Maw Automata Sniper 3g
Ability:
Upgrading Barrage Module 0/40 Passive: Attacks deal 55/85/140 (AP) bonus magic damage.
Active: Gain 0.25% stacking Attack Speed for the rest of combat. After every 2 casts, gain +1 Range.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Kog’Maw is an Attack Speed AP damage scaling unit, much like other’s we’ve seen in the past. Items like Guinsoo’s Rageblade will be ideal for getting his damage scaling up through the fight.
Loris Enforcer Sentinel 3g
Ability:
Piltover Bulwark 50/100 Gain 500/575/675 (AP) Shield for 4 seconds. It redirects 0.5% of damage taken by adjacent allies. When it expires, deal 150/225/360 (AP) magic damage in a cone.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Loris is another Arcane TFT exclusive champion, and he’s a tank that also redirects damage from the allies adjacent to him. Players often place their strongest tanks on the outside of a line, but with Loris, you’ll want to put him in the middle to make use of his ability.
Nami Emissary Sorcerer 3g
Ability:
Ocean’s Ebb 0/60 Launch a wave at target that bounces 3 times to enemies within 3 hexes and deals 120/180/290 (AP) magic damage.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Nami is a simple Sorcerer that deals AoE AP damage. Nothing too much to comment on here. Her Emissary trait gives her a unique bonus when by herself.
Nunu & Willump Experiment Bruiser Visionary 3g
Ability:
ZOMBIE POWER!! 60/125 For 3 seconds, gain (AP) Durability and create a 2-hex cloud of noxious fumes that deals 30/45/65 (AP) magic damage to enemies within. Afterwards, detonate the cloud and deal 150/225/340 (AP) magic damage to all enemies within.
Experiment Bonus: After dealing damage, deal max Health bonus magic damage (1s cooldown).
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Nunu’s ability is quite multi-faceted. He gets durabilty, deals AoE AP DoT, and deals % max Health damage with his Experiment bonus. This Experiment bonus can also spread to other experiment units if you are able to find it.
Renni Chem-Baron Bruiser 3g
Ability:
Sludgerunner’s Smash 40/100 Heal 320/350/400 + 0.15 (Health & AP) over 1.5 seconds. For the duration, raise target into the air, Stunning them, and dealing 5 (AD) physical damage. Afterwards, slam them down, dealing 2 (AD) physical damage to all adjacent enemies.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Renni has a long single-target stun that deals a bit of AoE damage as well. When placed correctly, it can be a fight saving ability.
Scar Firelight Watcher 3g
Ability:
Sumpsnipe Surprise 70/140 Lob bombs at the nearest 3 enemies, Stunning them for 1.5/1.5/1.75 seconds and dealing 120/180/280 (AP) magic damage to each. Heal 240/280/330 (AP).
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Scar is yet another Arcane TFT exclusive, and his ability stuns 3 enemies, which is very good for a 3-cost unit. The damage and healing will also be nice, but he generally will get outscaled in the damage/tank department.
Even still, his stun ability can be useful even in the late game, so if you need his traits, he can be a valuable addition to your final board.
Smeech Chem-Baron Ambusher 3g
Ability:
Scrap Hacker 20/80 Leap towards the enemy with the fewest items within 4 hexes. Slash 3 times, dealing a total of 5 + 70/105/170 (AD) physical damage. If they die, leap again, dealing 0.3% less damage.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Smeech has an Assassin like ability, jumping from enemy to enemy after killing them. However, he does need to take down the enemy with his ability to do so. Since he jumps to the enemy with the least amount of items, it’s likely he jumps to a weak unit and is able to take them down with his ability.
Swain Conqueror Form Swapper Sorcerer 3g
Ability:
Demonic Ascension 0/10 Heal 250/300/350 (AP) and ascend for 6 seconds. While ascended, heal 75/90/115 (AP) and deal 40/60/95 (AP) magic damage to adjacent enemies every second. On takedown, the ascension’s duration is extended by 2 seconds.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Swain is back with his signature healing transformation ability. With enough items, Swain can turn into a Raid Boss, dealing damage, healing, and tanking enemy damage. As a 3-cost unit, he likely will be able to scale well into the late game if 3-starred.
Swain is a Form Swapper, so you could run him in the backline, but his kit generally prefers being in the front.
Twisted Fate Enforcer Quickstriker 3g
Ability:
Wild Cards 25/75 Throw 3 cards at different targets.
Blue Card: Restore 80/100/125 (AP) Health to the lowest Health ally.
Red Card: Deal 110/165/255 (AP) magic damage to the largest circle of enemies.
Yellow Card: Deal 200/300/465 (AP) magic damage to target and Stun them for 1 second.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Twisted Fate is a backline DPS with a variety of effects. It’s unclear whether he fires three random color cards, or one of each toward enemies. Either way, he’s a mixture of both damage and utility. He may have reroll carry potential, but he won’t be a pure damage carry. Even still, that’s fine if his utility remains strong throughout the game.
4-Cost Champions
Ambessa Emissary Conqueror Quickstriker 4g
Ability:
Unrelenting Huntress 40/100 Ambessa switches between two stances on cast:
Chains: Gain +1 Range. Attacks deal 1.5/1.5/3 (AD) physical damage.
On cast, dash to target and strike in a half-circle, dealing 2.5/2.5/5 (AD) physical damage to enemies hit.
Fists: Gain 0.25/0.25/0.35 (AP) Omnivamp and attack twice as fast.
On cast, briefly Stun target before slamming them into the ground, dealing 4.5/4.5/9 (AD) physical damage, then dash away.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Ambessa is our first 4-cost unit, and her ability switches between two casts back and forth. Her two abilities have a melee and ranged aspect, but they synergize as she dashes closer or away based on which form she switches to.
As the latest LoL champion, I somewhat expect Ambessa to be balanced well. Not saying this is a bad thing, but it would generally be exciting for players if the new champion is also strong in game.
Corki Scrap Artillerist 4g
Ability:
Broadside Barrage 0/60 Lock onto target and strafe to a nearby position, unleashing 21/21/35 missiles split between the target and all enemies within two hexes. Each missile deals 0.35/0.35/0.6 + 6/9/36 (AD) physical damage and reduces Armor by 1.
Every 7th missile deals 0.35/0.35/0.6 + 6/9/36 (AD) physical damage and reduces Armor by 1.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Corki is a massive AoE AD damage dealer, hitting multiple enemies with his missiles. If you’ve played in the past, he’s somewhat of a reskin of Kai’Sa’s kit from Set 10. You’ll want damage items to scale Corki’s damage, but also some mana generation or Attack Speed to have him cast more often.
Dr. Mundo Experiment Dominator 4g
Ability:
Maximum Dosage 30/100 Become energized and heal 450/500/1000 + 0.25 (Health & AP) over 2 seconds. While energized, deal 80/120/500 (AP) magic damage to a nearby enemy each second. Afterwards, deal 0.12/0.12/0.4 (Health) magic damage to all enemies within 2 hexes.
Experiment Bonus: On takedown, gain max Health for the rest of combat.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Dr. Mundo is all about being tanky. He does deal a bit of magic damage to nearby enemies, but his healing is the main attraction. He will suffer from anti-heal, which many late game boards have. Even still, he can be a raid boss just like Swain with the right items and team comp.
Ekko Firelight Scrap Ambusher 4g
Ability:
Splitting Seconds 0/60 Summon an assault of afterimages that deals 270/405/1200 (AP) magic damage to the target and 135/200/400 (AP) magic damage to 2/2/4 other nearby enemies. Afterimages reduce their target’s Magic Resist by 5 for the rest of combat.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Ekko is a melee AP damage dealer that also reduces enemy MR. This is quite powerful since it’s not the same a Shred. This will stack with Shred, so it’s a valuable source of damage to both him and his team.
Elise Black Rose Form Swapper Bruiser 4g
Ability:
Cocoon 0/10 Jump to a nearby hex and web all enemies within 2 hexes, Stunning them for 1.75/2/8 seconds and dealing 120/180/1200 (AP) magic damage. Heal 200/250/1000 (AP).
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Elise is a Form Swapper that has mostly CC from her kit. Once again, even though she’s a Form Swapper, her kit seems to prefer being in the frontline. This makes use of her Bruiser trait as a tank and also potentially lets her slam more enemies with her ability.
Garen Emissary Watcher 4g
Ability:
Demacian Justice 60/125 Passive: After dealing damage, heal 0.015/0.015/0.03 (Health).
Active: Gain 0.2 + 180/200/1500 (Health & AP) Shield for 4 seconds. Slam a massive sword on target, dealing 2.5/2.5/10 (AD) physical damage to them and 1.25/1.25/5 (AD) physical damage to enemies within 2 hexes.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Garen is back in TFT with an interesting kit this time around. He will heal (most likely % health) every time he deals damage, making him another “raid boss” type unit. His ability has AD scaling and also hits multiple enemies, meaning he can sustain well with Lifesteal items as well.
Heimerdinger Academy Visionary 4g
Ability:
PROGRESSSSS! 0/40 Fire 5/5/7 missiles at random enemies that deal 60/90/270 (AP) magic damage. Each cast fires 1 more missile than the last.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Heimerdinger’s kit naturally scales the more times he casts, and he has a low Mana Pool. Blue Buff will be a core item on him, as well as the usual damage scaling items like Rabadon’s or Jeweled Gauntlet. His kit scales his ability through extra missiles, so you don’t need to worry about building specific items to be the most efficient.
Illaoi Rebel Sentinel 4g
Ability:
Test of Spirit 65/125 Gain 0.5/0.5/0.9% Durability for 3 seconds. Over the duration, drain 50/75/225 (AP) Health from the nearest 4/4/10 enemies. Then slam down, dealing 0.6/0.9/5 + 0.6/0.9/5 (Armor & MR) magic damage to all enemies within 2 hexes.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
From the looks of things, Illaoi’s ability damage scales based off her Armor and MR rather than things like AP or AD. AP will still scale her Health drain, but traditional tank items will be the way to go for Illaoi.
Silco Chem-Baron Dominator 4g
Ability:
Canned Monstrosity 50/80 Throw a canister at target, dealing 100/200/1000 (AP) magic damage to them and releasing 4/4/8 monstrosities. Monstrosities attack 5 times and deal 36/55/100 (AP) magic damage per attack.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Silco’s ability brings monstrosities to deal the damage for him, which is very fitting for his character.
Twitch Experiment Sniper 4g
Ability:
Spray and Pray 0/60 For the next 8 attacks, gain 0.85% Attack Speed, infinite range, and replace attacks with a piercing bolt that targets random enemies. Bolts deal 1.45/1.45/2.9 + 18/25/120 (AD) physical damage, reduced by 0.4/0.4/0.3% for each enemy they pass through.
Experiment Bonus: After every 5 attacks, deal physical damage to the nearest enemy equal to % of their max Health.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Twitch fires at random enemies with his ability, but you can try to position in a way where the enemy team walks toward your board and lines up in a semi diagonal. As more units get placed on the board, it won’t be perfect, but it’s still something to try and optimize around.
Vi Enforcer Pit Fighter 4g
Ability:
Wrecking Crew 40/100 Gain 250/300/1000 (AP) Shield for 3 seconds, then Stun target for 1.5 seconds. Slam them down, dealing 5.5/5.5/11 (AD) physical damage to them and causing a shockwave in their row. Enemies hit take 1.5/1.5/3 (AD) physical damage and are briefly knocked up.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Vi has a great AoE CC ability, making her a premium 4-cost unit. Even still, she will largely only see play in team comps where her traits are relevant.
Zoe Rebel Sorcerer 4g
Ability:
Paddle Star! 20/80 Launch a star at target that deals 140/210/400 (AP) magic damage. It bounces to the farthest enemy within 4 hexes, then bounces back to the target. This effect repeats 2/2/4 times, hitting a different enemy each time.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Zoe is our last 4-cost unit, and her ability looks to deal AoE AP damage, and her ability can even snipe an enemy carry if the positioning is done well. You can’t control how the enemy places their board, so you can’t always do this perfectly.
Her ability also won’t burst down one far away enemy, but with multiple casts, she can still take down an enemy carry before they can deal with you.
5-Cost Champions
Caitlyn Enforcer Sniper 5g
Ability:
Air Raid 0/50 Enter a sniper’s stance and call in an airship that circles the battlefield for 5 seconds, dropping 4/4/20 bombs at a random cluster of enemies over the duration. Bombs deal 1.5/1.5/7.5 + 20/30/100 (AD AP) physical damage in a one-hex circle.
Whenever an enemy is caught in the epicenter of an Air Raid blast, reduce their Armor and Magic Resist by 20 and fire a shot towards them, dealing 2.5/2.5/13.5 (AD) physical damage.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Caitlyn is our first 5-cost unit, a big upgrade from her usual 1 or 4-cost status. Her Air Raid is a massive AoE that drops bombs and she also snipes enemies who are hit by these bombs. Overall, she’s a large AD damage dealer that can randomly snipe enemy backline units.
Jayce Academy Form Swapper 5g
Ability:
Special Delivery 0/10 Passive: Summon a placeable Hextech Forge. On cast, the 3 allies closest to it gain 200/275/1800 (AP) Shield for 4 seconds. If it’s dead, revive it with 1% Health.
Active: Summon 2 Hexgates and knock target into one of them, dealing 4.5/4.5/20 (AD) physical damage and sending them flying back to their original position. While flying, they deal 2.25/2.25/15 (AD) physical damage to all other enemies in the path.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Jayce is our last Form Swapper, and once again, his kit seems to prefer placing him in the frontline. His Forge will grant a Shield to allies, meaning you want him to place it close to the frontline. You could still place him in the 2nd row, but his kit seems to prefer the frontline in general.
Jinx Rebel Ambusher 5g
Ability:
Ruin Everything 0/60 Jinx alternates between Zap, Flame Chompers, and Death Rocket for her ability.
Zap: Deal 2.75/2.75/15 (AD) physical damage to enemies in a line and Stun them for 1.25/1.5/10 seconds.
Flame Chompers: Deal 2.75/2.75/15 (AD) physical damage to 3 1-hex circles of enemies.
Death Rocket: Fire a rocket at the center of the board that 7/7/90.01 + 60/90/300 (AD & AP) physical damage to ALL enemies, reduced by 0.1% for each hex they are away from the epicenter.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Jinx is another 5-cost unit that swaps between different abilities, just like Sevika. She has an AoE Stun, AoE damage, and a Death Rocket that will hit the entire board. Her ability also does have some consistency since she appears to cycle between them rather than picking one randomly.
LeBlanc Black Rose Sorcerer 5g
Ability:
The Chains of Fate 45/90 Chain together the nearest 4/4/20 enemies for 5 seconds, dealing 650/975/5000 (AP) magic damage split between them. When one takes damage, 0.15/0.2/1% of the amount is split as bonus true damage to the others.
LeBlanc’s next 3 attacks deal 150/225/900 (AP) bonus magic damage, increased by 0.5% for each enemy killed by the initial damage.
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Leblanc is our first AP 5-cost unit and she chains multiple enemies together dealing damage. This chain also amplifies the damage your entire team does by spreading it to the other chained units as true damage.
Malzahar Automata Visionary 5g
Ability:
Call of the Machine 45/105 Summon a gate in a 5-hex line across target. Enemies hit take 80/120/1000 (AP) magic damage and are 20% Shredded for 4 seconds. Malzahar spreads 5 stacks of infection between enemies hit.
Infection deals 18/27/400 (AP) magic damage per second for the rest of combat. This effect can stack infinitely. When an infected target dies, they spread their stacks to nearby enemies.
Shred: Reduce Magic Resist
Positioning: Backline
First Impressions:
Malzahar is our next AP 5-cost unit and he summons a large gate, dealing damage and Shredding them. He’ll infect targets, dealing damage over time which can stack. The stacks of infection will also bounce to other enemies once they die, meaning he naturally scales as the fight progresses.
Mordekaiser Conqueror Dominator 5g
Ability:
Grasp of the Iron Revenant 40/100 Briefly gain 0.4% Durability and summon a massive claw, dealing 160/240/800 (AP) magic damage to the most enemies in a line. The 4 closest enemies take 0.25% more damage and are pulled towards Mordekaiser.
For the next 10 seconds, gain 0.3% Omnivamp, +1 Attack Range, and replace every attack with a slam that deals 330/500/3000 (AP) magic damage to target and 110/115/1500 (AP) magic damage to all other enemies within 2 hexes.
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Mordekaiser is our 5-cost “raid boss” type unit. He’ll pull enemies in and start slamming away with bonus attack range, omnivamp, and damage. The damage from his scale scales with AP, so don’t build traditional AD items on him.
Rumble Junker King Scrap Sentinel 5g
Ability:
The Equalizer 40/120 Call down a rain of 5 missiles on target’s row that each deal 500/750/4000 (AP) magic damage, Wound, and 1% Burn units hit for 5 seconds. For each missile that doesn’t hit an enemy, restore 20 Mana.
If there’s only 1 enemy left, fire all of the missiles at them.
Burn: Deal a percent of the target’s max Health as true damage every second
Wound: Reduce healing received by 33%
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Rumble is a giant nuker with a large AoE ability. His ability also applies Wound, which is an important utility to have in the late game to combat healing. His Junker King trait will also let him buy improvements from an Armory shop, letting him get stronger and stronger.
However, if you don’t have the Gold to support him, he may be lackluster until you upgrade him enough.
Sevika High Roller Chem-Baron Pit Fighter 5g
Ability:
Beat the Odds 40/90 Randomly cast 1 of 3 spells, with a chance of a Jackpot!
- Flamethrower
- Extendo-Punch
- Chomp
Positioning: Frontline
First Impressions:
Lastly, we have Sevika who, like Jinx, has different abilities to choose from. Unlike Jinx, her ability choice is random, so you won’t always get top tier performance from Sevika. But when things roll your way, she may solo carry the fight.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our meta team comps page, or head to our Team Builder to try and come up with your own comps.
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