TFT Set 16 Guide: How to Play Shurima

How to Play Shurima — TFT Set 16: Lore & Legends

Shurima is a unique trait to TFT for one reason - it has units that only cost 4 and 5 gold. It has the Ascendants, Azir, Nasus, Renekton, and Xerath. If you play Legends of Runeterra, you might recognize these units from Mono Shurima decks where the goal is to rebuild the Sun Disk and ascend these units. Now, we have the same thing in Teamfight Tactics.

With all 4 Shurimans, your late game has a strong core with the added flexibility of being able to play 4 or 5 additional units. I love the idea of having these high cost units being part of their own trait as I have always loved high cap 5 cost compositions. I am excited to see how Shurima plays out in Set 16!

This guide was written by Silverfuse.

Explore all of the new Set 16 traits here!

Shurima Trait Bonus

Each second, Shurimans gain 2% Attack Speed and restore 20 Health. At combat start, they gain additional effects.

• (2) 20% max Health
• (3) 50 Armor and Magic Resist
• (4) A Shuriman ascends to GODHOOD every 3 seconds.

Shurima Champions and Synergy

Shurima has no synergies outside of Disruptor and heavily relies on the Shurima trait itself:

• Renekton (4G) - Only Shurima
• Nasus (4G) - Only Shurima
• Xerath (5G) - Ascendant
• Azir (5G) - Emperor & Disruptor

The Shurima Trait

There are almost no overlaps in traits because the power of Shurima is playing the Shurimans themselves. If they had too many tags, they would be too hard to balance where Shuriman units wouldn’t be too strong. 

One synergy point is Disruptor which Azir has. Most of the Disruptors are also high cost units, so it is possible that Shurima Disruptor is a composition in Set 16!

Renekton (4G) - Only Shurima

[Link to Champion Page]

Renekton must be unlocked in order to be played. He is unlocked by by winning 2/3/4 combats with Azir. Renekton is one of 4 ascendants with the ability to Slice and Dice.

For only 30 mana, he dashes to the farthest enemy within 2 hexes, dealing (AD) physical damage to all enemies in the path. Then he slashes 4 times, each dealing (AD & AP) physical damage. Subsequent casts increase the number of slashes by one.

Nasus (4G) - Only Shurima

[Link to Champion Page]

Nasus is an unlockable champion which comes from losing 2/3/4 combats with Azir in play. Nasus is also 4 gold like Renekton with his ultimate ability Fury of the Sands where he steals (AP) Health split between the nearest 4 enemies.

For 8 seconds, he gains Armor and Magic Resistance and deals (Health) magic damage to adjacent enemies each second.

Xerath (5G) - Ascendant

[Link to Champion Page]

Xerath is unlocked by alternating winning and losing 3/4/5 times with Azir in play. Xerath is the first of two 5 cost Shurimian units with an additional tag of Ascendant. The Ascendant tag allows him to have an Ascendant Charm appear in the shop after each combat which are powerful effects that can be bought for gold. 

Xerath’s ability Eye of the Ascendant makes him Launch 10 Arcane blasts randomly split between the 4 closest enemies that each deal (AP) Magic Damage.

Azir (5G) - Emperor & Disruptor

[Link to Champion Page]

Azir is the final Shuriaman at 5 gold. He has the Emperor tag which gives him two Sand Soldiers with health that can be placed anywhere on the board and act as extra front line to protect your units.

Azir’s ability Arise! Has a passive and active. The passive is after witnessing 3 attacks from Azir, Sand Soldiers deal (AP) magic damage to their target.

The active summon is a sand soldier near the target and commands them to strike. If 2 soldiers are already out, they all immediately deal (AP) magic damage instead.

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.