Shen (1G) - Brusier
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Shen has the ability Stand United which grants (AP) shield to himself and a nearby damaged ally for 4 seconds. He is just a nice utility unit who has a nice tag of Bruiser who will be paired with Wukong’s Bruiser.
His shielding utility with his tag will keep him on a number of Ionian boards for this reason and make him a decent early game unit!
Jhin (1G) - Gunslinger
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Jhin is a 1 gold Gunslinger with the ability Curtain Call. For the next 4 attacks he gains infinite range and replaces attacks with a cannon shot. Cannon shots deal (AD & AP) physical damage.
The 4th shot deals 1.44% more damage. This makes Jhin a decent item holder in the early game no matter what you plan to play in the late game.
Xin Zhao (2G) - Demacia & Warden
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Xin Zhao is unique as he is from two primary regions - Demacia and Ionia. He also has a hero augment where you can reroll him and later transform him into Zaahen.
His ability - 3 Talon Strike is basic where it strikes 3 times dealing (AD) physical damage and restoring (AP) Health. The final strike stuns for 1.5 seconds which is useful throughout the entire game!
Yasuo (2G) - Slayer
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Yasuo is a Slayer who has the ability Sweeping Blade for only 30 mana. He dashes then deals (AD & AP) physical damage to adjacent enemies. If only one enemy is hit, deal double damage instead. He also has a unique bonus when Yone and Yauso are fielded together - Blade Brothers.
When you field Yasuo and Yone, Yasuo assists in Yone’s casts. When your strongest Yone casts, your strongest Yasuo blinks to every target Yone hits and deals damage to each.
Yone is a 4 cost unit, but rerolling Yasuo and getting Yone in will make Yauso strong, especially in the reroll paths of Ionia.
To play Yasuo effectively you need Yone, and the only way to unlock Yone is by 3 starring a Yasuo. This is important to think about as you are deciding which composition you will play on each Ionian path.
Kennen (3G) - Yordle & Defender
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Kennen is a 3 gold unit with Defender and Yordle. Although the Yordle may not help much, the Defender tag is potentially useful. His ability Slicing Maelstrom is he gains (AP) shield and summons a storm of lightning. Then 6 waves of bolts hit enemies within, dealing (A:) magic damage over 3 seconds.
The first 3 targets to be struck by bolts are stunned by 1.5 seconds. Multiple stuns on the same enemy have less effectiveness. This is a pretty loaded ability where you are also getting stuns for 1.5 seconds - making Kennen a good option as a tank in Ionia!
Ahri (3G) - Arcanist
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Ahri is an Arcanist and has her signature ability Fox-Fire. Foxfire is only 30 mana and fires 3 flames at a target, each dealing (AP) magic damage. Every third cast, she fires 9 flames split between the target and up to 2 nearby enemies. If there are nearby enemies, she dashes away keeping her safe from danger.
Ahri is a solid option for a 3 cost reroll carry as she is able to dish out a lot of damage while staying safe. I would be surprised if there were no Ahri Ionia or Ahri Arcanist compositions in this set.
She will need to have a mana item along with flat damage and potentially jeweled gauntlet to get the most out of her Fox-Fire ability.
Yunara (4G) - Quickstriker
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Yunara is one of the newer League of Legends champions and has joined Set 16! She is a Quickstriker with the ability Transcendate State for 50 mana. It reads, for the next 4 seconds she gains (AP) attack speed, infinite range, and replaces attacks with lasers.
Lasers deal (AD) physical damage in a line, reducing damage for each enemy they pass through. When lasers critically strike, they deal bonus true damage. This means you will definitely want to throw an Infinity Edge onto Yunara.
I really appreciate how we have some lasers in the game outside of Lux. It feels like it is easy for these ranged AD carries to become the same old, same old, but these lasers definitely spice things up a bit!
Yone (4G) - Slayer
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Yone is an unlockable champion who can only be unlocked by a 3 star Yasuo. Yone is a pair with Yasuo as they are both slayers and have the ability Blade Brothers when Yasuo and Yone are both fielded together. Yasuo assists on Yone’s cast with Yasuo blinking to each target and dealing physical damage.
Yone’s ability Kin of the Stained Blade has an active and a passive ability. The passive ability is his attacks alternate between dealing (AD) bonus physical damage and (AP) bonus magic damage. We have seen Yone do this before splitting damage almost 50/50.
His active is to strike through the most enemies possible within 3 hexes, knocking them up for 1.5 seconds and dealing (AD & AP) magic damage. Yone then splits (AD & AP) physical damage and (AD & AP) magic damage among all enemies hit.
Yone is really hard to itemize a tank for because not only does he do mixed damage, but he also hits the most enemies within 3 hexes. Players will have to be thoughtful to position around Yone to make sure he doesn’t get too much value.
If Yone is ever allowed to wrap into the backline, it is a free win for the Yone player. Also, remember that if Yasuo is on board too then he is helping Yone out on each of the ultimate casts.
Wukong (4G) - Bruiser
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Wukong is a 4 cost bruiser which pairs well with Shen of Ionia. His ability Diverting Trickster is exactly what Wukong is known for in League of Legends, however it works a bit differently here than in League.
First, it has a passive and an active. The passive is simple. On death, Wukong summons a stone copy with (Health) health and Wukong’s items. This means that Warmogs will likely be king on Wukong.
His active is for 4 seconds, he gains (AP) armor and magic resistance. THen he spins dealnig (AD) physical damage to all enemies within 2 hexes. These resistances once again mean that health is very good on Wukong so expect to build belt items on him in general!
Sett (5G) - The Boss
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The final unit of Ionia is the one, the only, the boss. Of course Sett has his signature ability The SHow Stopper where he grabs a target and slams them forward dealing (AP) damage as well as (AP) of their max health as magic damage to them.
All other enemies within 3 hexes take a percent of the total damage as well. This is classic Sett that we have seen in a couple of Sets of TFT where Sett comes out and slams units and does percent health damage which makes him unique and strong in the late game as not many units deal percent health damage.
With a number of 7 gold and large, tanky units, this means that Sett will get a lot of value out of these percent health damage. On top of this, Sett does really well into reroll compositions for this reason too.
Ionia is interesting because the paths will take you down different compositions each game. There will be a lot of trial and error figuring out what the best compositions are for each path.
Inevitably one will be found to be busted and players who figure it out will be rewarded with LP. I recommend you try different builds and think out of the box when trying to figure out how to play each Ionia path.
Good luck,
Silverfuse
Thanks for reading! If you want to try and come up with your own team comps for Set 16, check out our Team Builder. For a full overview on the new set, check out our TFT Set 16 Reveal Page.
