Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppUnlockables is the new Set Mechanic in Set 16 - Lore & Legends! There are 40 Unlockable Champions that each have a certain unlock rule or condition to gain access to them.
Unlocked Champions that you don't want, will simply appear less often in your shop if you don't buy or play them.
In this guide, we’re going to explain how to unlock each unlockable champion and offer a few tips on when to do it and the best ways to do it.
Starting with the 2-cost units, we have Bard. He’s a pretty unique one, because you need to decide early if you want to play around him. To unlock him, you must reroll your shop four times before the Stage 2 carousel. This becomes much easier if you have free rerolls from traits like 4 Yordle or augments such as Trade Sector, since they let you save your own gold.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Bard!
Next up we have Graves. To unlock him, you’ll need to field the other 2-cost Bilgewater unit, Twisted Fate. You can reroll these two together since they enhance each other’s abilities, or simply play them both in a vertical Bilgewater comp. If you already have Bilgewater active, you can play the stage normally, but if you’re rerolling, you’ll want Graves to appear in your shop as soon as possible. If you start with three components, build two items on Twisted Fate, one full item and 1 component will count as 2 items.
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Moving on, we have Orianna. Some unlocks are much easier than others, and for Orianna you simply need to activate 3 Piltover or higher, and she will appear in your next shop.
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Our first unlockable Yordle is Poppy, and you can unlock her in a couple of ways. You need to be playing either a Demacian or a Yordle and have 2 items on them for one round. If you’re planning to reroll Yordles, it’s best to do this ASAP as once you get 4 Yordles online, you’ll see one in every shop. It’s worth being weaker for a round to double item a Yordle, even if the items aren’t ideal
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Next up we have Tryndamere. To unlock him, you need his wife Ashe, who shares the same traits, to hold 2 items for one round. These two are usually played in the Freljord line, but you can also reroll them. If you hit a reroll augment on 2-1 or you’re just in a strong spot, it’s better to get the unlock early so Tryndamere can start appearing in your shop, letting you 3-star him even faster.
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Our last 2-cost unlockable champion is Yorick. To get him, 2-star a Viego and put 2 items on him for one round. Since he’s in the Shadow Isles squad, you’ll want him early to start collecting souls and work your way up to Thresh.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Yorick!
The first 3-cost unlockable we have is Darius. To unlock him, you need to play Draven and have him drop 1 gold. This usually takes 1–3 rounds, depending on how many units Draven can kill. If you get Draven from a loot orb early. by the Stage 2 carousel you should have Darius unlocked quickly. This gives you an extremely strong early and mid game power spike especially with the help of.
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Next up we have Gwen. She’s a 3-cost Shadow Isles unit, and all Shadow Isles units unlock the same way. You need to reach a soul threshold to unlock the next-tier unit. That’s why it’s important to only play this trait if you get an early Viego, if you try to pivot into it mid-game, you probably won’t reach Thresh in time. Gwen requires 20 Souls, which you should have by Stage 3 if you fielded that early Viego.
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Back to the Yordles, and we have the 3-cost Ninja himself, Kennen. He can be unlocked by reaching a certain number of star levels within specific traits. You’ll need a total of 8 star levels in either Ionia, Yordle, or Defender. So whichever route you choose, having four 2-cost units from one of those traits will give you the required 8 star levels, causing Kennen to appear in your next shop.
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Another 3-cost Yordle you’ll need to unlock is the duo Kobuko & Yuumi. They function similarly to Kennen but require 6 star levels of Bruiser, Yordle, or Invoker while being level 7. It’s generally easier to unlock them using the Yordle trait, since Yordles have more low-cost units. With 4 Yordles active, you’re guaranteed to see one in every shop, which leads to much faster upgrades.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Kobuko & Yuumi!
The last unlockable 3-cost is the Deceiver herself, LeBlanc. She can be unlocked extremely early. If you see a Sion in your shop during Stage 2 or get one from a loot orb, you simply need to field him for one turn with two items equipped. As mentioned before, if unlocking LeBlanc will spike your board by giving you 3 Noxus, then place two items on Sion even if they're not ideal just so you can secure the unlock and power spike starting from the next round.
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Our first unlockable 4-cost champion is Diana, and she’s pretty straightforward. All you need to do is play a 2-star Leona with 3 items on her while being level 6 for one round. If you’re playing the Targon route, getting Diana online will let you streak extremely hard, especially during Stage 3 or 4. If you already have 3 items on Leona and you’re offered augments such as Heroic Grab Bag, it may be worth upgrading Leona immediately to spike your board, then adding Diana the following turn. She is extremely powerful and brings you one step closer to unlocking Aurelion Sol.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Diana!
The second 4-cost unit we have is Fizz. All you will need to do is be level 7 and field either 5 Yordles or 5 Bilgewater units. If you're going the Yordle route you will need to go back and look for the Poppy, Kennen and Kobuko & Yuumi unlocks as you will need at least 1 unlocked to activate 5 Yordle.
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Next, we have our first unlockable Void unit, Kai’Sa. To unlock her, you need to play a Longshot champion with 3 items while also being level 8. This makes her difficult to unlock early, especially because of the level requirement. Ideally, on 4-1, you can level up to 8, and before you start rolling, you should field your Longshot unit with 3 items then wait a turn. This way, during your 4-2 rolldown, you’ll be able to find copies of Kai’Sa in your shop.
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Back to the Shadow Isles, the next “Thresh”-hold of souls is 75, which unlocks Kalista. If you started collecting Souls in early Stage 2, you should have Kalista ready by your Stage 4 rolldown, giving buffs to all your Shadow Isles units and helping you generate even more Souls as you work toward the final unit, Thresh.
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We have our first unlockable Ixtal unit, the 4-cost Hunter Nidalee. She is unlocked by fielding two 2-star Neekos in combat for one round. Ideally, if you’re planning to play around Nidalee, you’ll want to 3-star Neeko anyway, since her Huntress trait makes her untargetable as long as your strongest Neeko is alive. If you’re committing to an Ixtal line, look for augments like Heroic Grab Bag, which help you work toward a 3-star Neeko or you might even get Champion Duplicators from your Ixtal cash out.
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If you’re familiar with Summoner’s Rift, then this next 4-cost is for you. Up next is the Rift Herald, your 4-cost Bruiser tank in Void comps. You can get Shelly as early as Stage 3, since all you need is to have Void active for 8 player combats. So if you hit that early Void opener, you can have big Shelly ready just after the Stage 3 carousel.
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Moving on to everyones Crazy Scientist it's our 4-cost Zaun unit Singed. If you're going for Mr. 100 then this unit is not for you as you need to lose 30HP while playing 4 Zaunites or 4 Juggernauts. You can get him extremely early as there's no level requirement.
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Our second Ixtal unlock is Skarner. He’s a 4-cost tank who buffs the whole squad by granting everyone Armor. He’s fairly easy to unlock at level 7, you just need to have a Gargoyle Stoneplate equipped on a non-tank unit. So either do it on a combat round or even during a PvE round If you don't want to mess up your streak.
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For our next unlockable champion, we have Veigar. To unlock him, you need to field a unit holding two Rabadon’s Deathcaps for one round. So if you’re committing to playing Yordles in the early game, keep in mind that you’ll want to save your Rods to build the Deathcaps needed to bring out this tiny master of evil. If you don’t get enough Rods from PvE rounds or carousels, you can look for augments such as Pandora’s Items or Wand Overflow to help you complete the items.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Veigar!
Next up, we have our second 4-cost Zaun unit, Warwick. He’s fairly easy to unlock, all you need is to get 1 copy of jinx and a 2-star Vi while being level 7. If you decide to reroll Jinx, you’ll most likely be able to unlock Warwick toward the end of Stage 3.
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Moving on, we have the only unlockable 4-cost Ionia unit, Yone. He’s a bit of a niche one, as you can only obtain him by having a 3-star Yasuo, who is a 2-cost. You’ll need to decide early whether the Ionia bonus is good for your Slayer reroll board, and commit to it. Look for reroll augments like Prismatic Ticket or Heroic Grab Bag so you can get your 3-star Yasuo online quickly. Once unlocked, Yone is a great payoff, both he and Yasuo buff each other’s abilities, giving your board a strong spike.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Yone!
Lastly for the 4-costs we have our first unlockable Shurima units and it's pretty unique so buckle in. The 4-cost unlockable champions are Nasus and Renekton. To unlock them, you first need to field Azir and then meet specific conditions. If you win combats while Azir is on your board, you’ll unlock Renekton, and if you lose combats, you’ll unlock Nasus. Once you acquire one Shurima unit after Azir, the conditions become harder, requiring more rounds to unlock the next unit.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Renekton!
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Nasus!
Let’s dive into Xerath, who is also a Shurima unit and unlocks similarly to Nasus and Renekton. As before, you need to field Azir, but instead of just winning or losing, you’ll need a combination of both. You must alternate between winning and losing rounds until Xerath appears. This might mean playing your strongest board and then benching a unit or even using your Magnetic Remover on a champion to weaken your board strategically.
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Moving on, we have Aatrox, a high-damage, 5-cost Slayer. To unlock him and get him onto your board, you need to be at level 8 and have a unit with 40% Omnivamp. The best way to achieve this is by building items like Bloodthirster and Hand of Justice. You can also equip these items on a Slayer unit just to reach the 40% threshold.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Aatrox!
Finally, back to some Demacia, we have the 5-cost and strongest unit in this line: Galio. Galio can’t actually be fielded directly. Instead, his traits count from the bench, and when the Demacians rally, he jumps into the fight. To unlock him, you essentially need to be playing Vertical Demacia, as he requires 12 Star Levels of Demacia, that’s six 2-star units. So, if you’re level 8 and running around seven Demacia units, make sure at least six are upgraded to 2-stars, and he will be unlocked.
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Next, we have Mel, a 5-cost unit and easily one of the strongest champions in Noxus. Unlocking her is pretty straightforward, you just need to 2-star an Ambessa and have her die while holding at least one item. There’s no level requirement, so during your level 8 rolldown when you’re aiming to hit Ambessa and Swain 2, make sure Ambessa dies and has an item once upgraded. That will unlock Mel for the next turn, giving you a strong power spike for the rounds ahead.
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Unlocking the Boss is probably the easiest 5-cost unit to unlock in this set. All you have to do is field one unit in the first two rows for combat. Place your tankiest unit in the front rows and keep the rest of your units in the back two. This will unlock the Boss for the next turn. You can also do this during PvE rounds.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Sett!
Everyone's favorite 5-cost is back, but unfortunately, he's not purchasable in every comp. To obtain him, you’ll need to spend 500 Silver Serpents, which is a hefty amount. You’re most likely only going to be able to play him if you’re running Bilgewater for a few stages. Once you have him you can find copies in your Bilgewater shop making it easier to 2-star him. Lastly, don't forget to feed him, he likes the taste of tanks.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Tahm Kench!
Next up is the T-Hex, a unit in this set that deals massive damage with its powerful AOE laser. Unlocking this champion depends on your Piltover star level, once you hit 9, the Hex is all yours. To achieve this, you’ll need at least four 2-star Piltover units and a random 1-cost unit.
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Thresh is the last unlockable Shadow Isles unit, requiring 150 Souls to unlock. This makes it crucial to 2-star Viego in order to unlock Yorick, as collecting 150 Souls will definitely take a few stages. It’s well worth the effort, though, since Thresh activates Warden alongside Yorick and is an incredibly strong unit which will spike your board massively.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Thresh!
Back to Freljord, and we have the highest unlockable unit for this trait, Volibear. He’s an absolute beast, but unlocking him requires some careful item management. To unlock Volibear, you need to be at least level 8 and have a unit with 3800 Health. The best approach is to stack HP items on a Bruiser and play around 4-6 Bruisers, which will help you easily reach this health threshold. You can also run Freljord, as activating 7 Freljord units gives your units on the hex a 16% health increase, with Freljord units gaining even more. If you commit to Freljord early, be sure to save a couple of belts for a Warmog’s Armor.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Volibear!
Our last 5-cost champion is Ziggs. Unlocking this little guy early can be tricky, as you need to be level 9. The other part is simple, you just need to field a Yordle or Zaunite with three items. If Ziggs is a key unit you want to build around, look for econ augments like Upward Mobility or Level Up, and just make sure you have the required unit with three items.
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Our first unlockable 7-cost champion is the magical dragon, Aurelion Sol. Unlocking him is pretty straightforward, you just need to field 5 Targon units for one round. Of course, you’ll need to check out how to unlock Diana again, and then the dragon is all yours. This 7-cost is probably the one you can unlock the earliest, it just depends on how quickly you can get a 2-star Leona to bring in Diana.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Aurelion Sol!
Next up is Baron Nashor, an insanely cool and strong 7-cost unit. To unlock him, you simply need to have 7 Void activated and be level 10. To reach 7 Void, you’ll need to have unlocked Kai'Sa and Rift Herald, but hitting level 10 can be tricky, as it’s not always realistic in every game. To play towards Baron Nashor, Look out for high-gold encounters like Scuttle Puddle and Gold Subscription. Augments also help you get to level 10, so keep your eyes peeled for Hedge Fund and Upward Mobility.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Baron Nashor!
Next up is Brock, an insanely strong Krug with tons of crowd control and damage. Brock is probably the rarest 7-cost unit you’ll encounter this set, as unlocking him requires a total of 500 Ixtal Clues. This is really only manageable with an Ixtal opener on 2-1 and completing multiple quests to reach that 500 threshold. If you do start with an Ixtal opener, pick quests you can realistically complete and work your way up to the magic 500. Some augments can help, like Calculated Loss, which benefits you from losing, or Titanic Titan, which gives you the HP to survive a few extra rounds for quest progress.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Brock!
Sylas being locked up? What a surprise. To finally free him, you need to sell a 2-star Jarvan, a 2-star Garen, and a 2-star Lux. Jarvan is the easy part since he’s a 1-cost, but Garen and Lux are both 4-cost units. You definitely don’t want to sell these units at level 8, as a Sylas 1-star isn’t going to match the value of those 2-star 4-costs. Ideally, look for Sylas when you’re level 9, have the gold to roll down for these units again, or if you still have 1 or 2 copies of them on your bench. Alternatively, you can sell these three units and pivot into a fast level 9 board that doesn’t rely on them. Then, play Sylas alongside Annie to activate the Arcanist bonus.
CLICK HERE to find all Meta Comps that use Sylas!
Zaahen is another 7-cost champion you won’t see much, as he’s only playable with Xin Zhao’s Hero Augment, Trials of Twilight. You also need to survive 5 combat turns, and then Zaahen will kill Xin Zhao and take his place. To ensure you hit this, keep an eye out for reroll augments like Prismatic Ticket and Heroic Grab Bag. The quicker you can 3-star Xin Zhao, the faster Zaahen takes his place, and the power spike will be insane.
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Our last unlockable 7-cost champion is Ryze, He's one of the most unique champions in TFT history, and here's why. Ryze benefits from every region trait activated, making his spells gain different abilities from each region, so the more traits you have, the better. To unlock Ryze, you need to have 5 region traits activated for one round while being level 8, and then he will appear in your next shop. Ryze is commonly played in Fast 9 boards, as his kit is incredibly strong, and he fits easily into different comp variations. The easiest way to fit in 5 Regions is to go for ones that only need 2 units, like Shadow Isles, Shurima, Piltover and Yordle. Here is a level 8 board with low cost units that will activate Ryze.
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That’s how you unlock every champion in Set 16!
We hope this guide has been helpful. Be sure to visit our meta team comps page for full guides, and don’t forget to download our in-game overlay to enhance your experience while you’re playing.
Good luck and have fun!
