TFT Opener Guide Set 18

This patch is a fast 9 patch. If you want to win the game play for Ashe Fast 9. Loss streak is not great and if you are in a bad spot default to an A tier 4 cost comp like Primal Malphite. 4 costs can still have great games but Fast 9 is the highest cap.

Guide will be updated every patch

Broken Openers:

• Hard Force:
  • Fast 9
  • Flora Malphite, Primal Malphite
• Conditional:
  • Emblems Augment -> Flora Malphite, Invoker Ahri Morgana, 5 Rapidfire Aphelios
  • 8+ Winstreak? -> Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9,
• Reroll Check:
  • Yunara copies + slam? -> Yunara Reroll
  • Veigar 2 + slam? -> Veigar Reroll
  • Guinsoo’s + Caitlyn? -> Caitlyn Reroll
• Lose Streak:
  • 2-1 Econ Augment
  • Play for a strong stage 4 comp like Malphite Variants
  • Click a strong directional augment on 3-2 if available
    • Things like Emblems, Artifacts or other random output augments that enable win out set ups.

This patch is very Win streak centric as Fast 9 is the most powerful strategy. There are some Reroll conditions and Fast 8 can be played for top 4, but will often lose to a capped Fast 9 comp. Do not opt to play loss streak if it can be avoided.

Augments

• Expedition
  • Make econ intervals in stage 2 as you would normally, feeding only if it doesn’t break future intevals. Play a reroll comp and feed upgraded units in stage 3.
• Prismatic Ticket
  • Look to play a Solar Comp or a comp that requires multiple 3 stars. Consider Veigar Reroll, Solar Kayle or Solar Yunara.
• Branching Out/Spreading Roots/Legion of Threes/Trait Tree
  • Take these and allow the game to give you strong direction. Avoid them if you already have a very solid direction you rather play into. Avoid if you already have a strong a strong direction. Ex: Caitlyn 2 with Guinsoo’s.
• Portable Forge/Living Forge
  • Data check your artifacts and hard force any interaction that averages 4.5 or better.
• Worth the Wait I
  • There are a lot of decent hits in here and even the low rolls are playable.
  • Veigar infinitely scales and is a very free top 4.
  • Ornn is incredible if you are able to make a tank slam. It’s a free artifact down the line if you solo front line him from 2-1 on.
  • Cinderling, Akali and Camille are very strong tempo options that can be used to go fast 9.
  • Karma is great but only leads to Invoker Ahri Morgana, and is hard to justify keeping items on late game as you rather stack Ahri and Morgana. She is a great tertiary carry if you have enough items.
  • B Tier front line options are great if they fit your desired line and get you through the early game.
  • Lower tier back liners lack a consistent comp to play towards and aren’t strong enough to enable fast 9 but still offer decent tempo.
  • Leona and Kobuko almost always get sold at some point but Leona is much tankier.

• Worth the Wait II
  • Worth the Wait II is by no means a bad augment, it is however up against other Prismatic augments making it harder to justify compared to Worth the Wait I. There are a few hits that can make for a great game.
  • Teemo and Caitlyn are very strong if you have items for them and can be carried the entire game while pushing levels.
  • Kayle is great as it provides much needed tempo in that line but you must stay down and roll for 4 other 3 stars for Solar.
  • LeBlanc is decently strong and also provides econ.
  • Yunara can be used to play Solar Yunara in a similar way as Kayle.
  • All 3 Riftbeasts are great for tempo and can be used to fast 9.
  • Warwick is good if you have a good slam such as Shojin but doesn’t lead to a solid line.
  • B Tier front line options are only useful as fast 9 vessels or early tempo. If you can’t play for level 9 find a way to keep these units at level 8 as they are decent secondary tanks late game.

• U.R.F./URF’s Gambit
  • If you have a Sword and a good AD holder consider a line that uses 4 Fae. Otherwise only consider with a reforger as pan emblems such as Executioner, Invoker, Hunter and Rapidfire are all very strong.
• No Scout No Pivot
  • Consider a Solar Line if you have all the units. Most of the time the easiest one will be Solar Akali,
• Early Learnings
  • Play Solar Akali or Veigar Reroll.
• Solo Plate
  • Decent tempo augment BIS in Malphite lines such as Primal Malphite and Flora Malphite.
• If you don’t have direction at all augments such as Expected Unexpectedness and Birthday Reunion provide units to begin playing around.
• Econ Augments:
  • Econ from augments can come in the form of raw gold, units, rerolls, or EXP. Each resource interacts with your spot in different ways and have distinct advantages from each other.
  • Raw gold is best when your goal is to loss streak and make interest intervals quickly. Consider augments like Capital Gains, Money Hungry, and Cognitive Tax when you want to focus on making econ.
  • Units provide tempo, if you take an augment that gives you units you should be looking to be decently strong, specially if it provides star levels. Consider augments like Kick Start, Booster Pack, Warpath, and Birthday Reunion to turn a somewhat strong opener, into a very strong opener.
  • Rerolls can be used immediately if you already have a lot of pairs and can provide a meaningful spike in the early game. Take these when looking to complete pairs or trait break points for things like Coven. You can also consider using a free reroll every turn if you are fishing for specific wisps. This is specially impactful if you are playing reroll and want to see something like the 2 star shop or a duplicator. For spots like this look for augments like Trade Sector, Epoch and Patience is a Virtue.
  • EXP is by default going to make you stronger than your opponents as you will be higher level. This almost always leads to some sort of level 8 or 9 strategy where you try to capitalize on the fact that you are naturally over leveled. Take these type of augments when you want to level quickly. Consider Epoch, Level Up and Silver Spoon if you want to get ahead of the lobby’s curve.

How to find and decide on an Opener

The highest priority when choosing an opener is solid direction. Choosing a solid game plan early and committing to it confidently. If you see a strong reroll augment, don’t be afraid to commit. If you see an artifact that boosts a comp up a tier, be willing to commit and play a simple but efficient game of TFT.

Items

Shojin’s the best item in the game due to it’s flexibility. It has a lot of great holders for AD and AP at every point in the game. Heavy damage items such as Deathblade and Rabadon’s are great early game and very efficient on almost traitless fast 9 units which shape the meta. Gargoyle’s and Warmogs are the 2 best tank items and will make win streaking easy. Sword, Rod and Belt are the highest priority components at the moment because they make they all make high quality items. There are not a lot of bad items at the moment so don’t be afraid to slam aggressively. The current meta rewards those who reach 9 so heavily consider slamming anything in S and A tier.

Win Streak

If you can win streak while taking an econ augment or 2 look to go level 9 as Fast 9 is the easiest way to win a lobby. Level 8 lines are decent from win streak as you will likely eventually reach level 9 but all the good 5 costs might be out of the pool at that point. If you win enough rounds, try to find a way to reach level 9. Overall if you can win streak you are less constricted in the lines you can successfully play to a top 4.

• If you have a special condition play into that.
• A wider pool of tempo lines that lead to top 4.
• Most level 8 lines can top 4 and get to level 9 even if you are forced to roll on 8 for a while.

When you are playing for a win streak considering the item you will be left with after you slam is key to having higher quality items. Your item options will be limited and you are unlikely to get a sword, rod or belt which are the highest priority components. Think ahead of ways to kill bad components. You want to find ways to continue slamming decent items to potentially extend your win streak by playing around the premium components.
Ex: Making Kraken in a sword, bow, cloak opener as opposed to GS. As having an open sword in this case is more likely to lead to a good completed item on carousel even if GS is a slightly better item.
You are likely not going to get your desired items so build items that fulfill similar roles.
Ex: Deathblade instead of Kraken even if you might prefer Kraken as they both fulfill the role of providing AD.

Checklist for considering a win streak opener

• A strong item slam on a 2 star unit
• Upgrades
• A item or combat augment
• Thorough scouting of the lobby to ensure it is realistic to win streak for 3+ rounds

Comps to play from win streak

Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Invoker Ahri Morgana, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios,

Unit Priority Stage 1

1 Costs

Since Fast 9 is the most powerful strategy of the patch holds are all based on how likely they are to open up a win streak. Ravager is a trait that offers sustain making it great for long early game fights so Akali and Camille are S tier. Cinderling is the Premium AD backline holder, Karma is the AP counterpart. Rakan and Yorick are good 3 trait units, that will be useful in many lines, and the Juggernaut frontline can be used to set up a fast 9. Rek’Sai and Kobuko and good for tempo but have less flexiblity. The Defender front liners are not bad but do not lead to any viable lines and doesn’t enable fast 9 as hard as Juggernauts. Lower tier backliners are more conditional but can perform in the right set ups. For example, Xayah is generally not great unless you have a Guinsoo’s and sufficient frontline. Varus isn’t unplayable but requires multiple items that increase his casting output to be useful.

2 Costs

LeBlanc and Teemo are great AP holders and can perform in most circumstances but LeBlanc has an added bonus of providing econ. Scuttle Crab is a key hold as it enables the 3 Riftbeast opener a lot more than any unit other than Krug. Caitlyn is a great guinsoo’s holder and can enable fast 9. All 3 A tier frontliners are good in with their respective traits and very good if 2 starred. Murkwolf and Warwick are good when paired with Camille and Akali. Yunara opens up 3 Blossom that can be used for Econ or Yunara reroll, making her a great alternative if your spot lacks direction. Lower tier units are usable within the right context but are outclassed. For example, 3 Inferno can be used to cheat out higher cost units so if you must loss streak Shen can be valuable.

3 Costs

Rengar farms money and holds every AD item in the game decently, making him great for any AD line. Krug enables a 3 Riftbeast opener, protects melee carries with his taunt on death, and is very tanky. Cassio is a premium AP holder. Kha’Zix can open up alternative and creative lines but is also a great early game unit. Diana deals a lot of damage and opens up 4 Ravager. Vi is the second best 3 cost tank. B Tier front liners are fine and useful if their traits are active. Yi and Kog’Maw are alright but outclasssed. Azir can be awkward but ok with Yunara. Tristana and Mama Beak need Guinsoo’s and are underwhelming.

Lose Streak

Checklist for considering a loss streak opener

• No/weak direction
• No or low upgrade count
• An econ augment

How to Lose Streak

Loss streak is not great at the moment. There are no reliable ways to cap out and win the game from loss streak and you will die to successful fast 9 players.

The only 3 reliable game plans from a weak opener are to either take an econ augment on 2-1, having some sort of condition that allows you to hard stabilize on stage 4 and play for top 4, mainly emblems or a Solar line. If you have to play a Solar line you need to find a way to save HP on stages 3 and 4 so you don’t die to a highroll fast 9 player.

Coven isn’t terrible and worth playing if you natural into it, but it is not as powerful as older iterations of econ traits. If you have it, play it but don’t worry too much about keeping your loss streak solely due to Coven.

Full loss streak is generally not good, instead look to mix streak most of the time. If you are forced to full loss, try to farm at least 1 turn of 6+ loss.

If you are heavily loss streaking and you are not playing to spike very hard on stage 4 you are likely to bot 4. Most of the time if you are loss streaking and you don’t have a special condition such as an emblem, it is advised to play Primal Malphite or Vanguard Aphelios, if you have to due to their strength through stage 4 and early 5. This doesn’t always net in a top 4 but it is

Lose Streak Comeback Mechanic

When playing loss streak your main advantage is carousel priority. This gives you 2 advantages, access to higher quality items, and the potential to high roll higher cost units that can be used for direction and stability. There is no need to slam subpar items if you know you are likely to lose fights anyway. Look to greed BIS so you can spike hard on stage 3 around a reroll carry or use your item quality to carry stages 4 and 5.

Generic Openers

These sample boards are generically strong and can be flexed into different lines depending on your augments.

Flex

These boards can carry both an AD or AP carry easily. There are a lot of comps with duo carries in the meta at the moment so these flex boards hold for duo carry set ups extremely well.

2 Ravager + Front

This board can go directly into Solar Akali if you natural enough copies, have some slams and are uncontested. If you choose to level it can play into any level 8 line or Fast 9 if you win streak for long enough. Akali can hold virtually any damage item in the game, preferrably AP, while Camille is one of the most consistent AD holders in the game. The front line can be any 2 piece you have upgraded. This is a very premium opener.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Invoker Ahri Morgana, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios, Flora Malphite, Solar Akali, Defender Cassiopeia,

3 Blossom + 2 Juggernauts

Blossom openers can hold both AD and AP items decently. Ideally this opener is played with AP items and feeds into Invoker Ahri Morgana. Most of the time this opener does not get to fast 9 but generates a lot of value due to the upgraded wisps. A great default if you are looking to play fast 8.

Comps to play:
Invoker Ahri Morgana, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios, Flora Malphite,

4 Ravager

Strong opener around ravager units, can itemize any Ravager. Akali or Diana can take AP items decently. Camille or Murk Wolf can be used to hold AD items. Warwick is tanky and can be strong stage 2 with casting items like Shojin or Guinsoo’s. Great opener to win streak with, but starts to fall off around stage 3 carousel. Can be used for tempo if you are playing Solar Akali.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios, Flora Malphite, Solar Akali, Adaptor Reroll,

Riftbeast Gromp Opener

Gromp is an Adaptor and can hold either AD or AP items decently. Scuttle Crab is as important as Gromp in this comp as 3 Riftbeast can provide extra front line or damage depending on who you mark. This opener is decently flexible.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Primal Malphite, Invoker Ahri Morgana, Riftbeast Reroll,

Generic AD

2 Hunter + Front Line

Cinderling can hold AD caster items that can be great on Sivir, Ashe or Nidalee later, while Caitlyn can hold on hit items like Guinsoo’s for Aphelios or Draven. Front line is flexible but try to play 3 Riftbeast as it is pretty strong. If you win enough with this opener it can lead to anything.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Caitlyn Reroll, Riftbeast Reroll, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios

Rengar Orb

A Rengar orb can make for a very powerful opener as he provides both tempo and econ. Any frontline can work with him and he can be paired with either other Melee carries to protect him or a back liners to finish fights faster. His itemization is very flexible, anything that makes him cast more often, has AD or offers tankiness can be used.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios, Adaptor Reroll,

Elderwood Rapidfires

Xayah and Varus deal damage a little slower than the openers listed above, making a strong front line pretty important. Xayah needs Guinsoo’s or some sort of attack speed source while Varus needs mana from something like Shojin to perform. From a high item opener this can streak for a long time with a few upgrades.

Comps to play:
Dragon Fast 9, Ashe Fast 9, Draven Fast 9, Primal Malphite, Vanguard Aphelios,

Generic AP

2 Spellweaver + Frontline

This set up plays around 2 Spellweavers + front line. The front line sets up what other traits you have available. The board above can consider 3 Elderwood or sub out the defenders for Yorick +1 Juggernaut and consider 3 Blossom. Any spellweavers can work like for example if you have Cassiopeia, you can consider Defender Cassiopeia.

Comps to play:
Invoker Ahri Morgana, Defender Cassiopeia, Flora Malphite, Blossom Ahri, Invoker Nidalee

3 Sprykin

A strong opener if you find Teemo. Can lead into Veigar Reroll if you high roll enough copies, have items and get kills to start your snowball. Otherwise default any fast 8 AP comp while itemizing Teemo or Veigar. Do not feed anything to Blackthorn unless you are itemizing Rek’Sai as your tank.

Comps to play:
Invoker Ahri Morgana, Defender Cassiopeia, Flora Malphite, Blossom Ahri, Invoker Nidalee, Veigar Reroll

Kha’Zix Orb

Kha’Zix orb can lead to many interesting game states in stage 3. He is quite strong early game and holds almost any AP items. It is very easy to get at least 1 evolution off in stage 2 if you have a slam so he can be used with a variety of different back lines. If you get him early he can be used to fill traits in certain set ups decently efficiently.
Ex: Executioner and Spellweaver evolutions -> Replace a missing Kennen with Kha’Zix in Flora Malphite.
Ex: Rapidfire + Ravager evolutions -> Replaces Xayah in 5 Rapidfire Aphelios

Even if you don’t have these special circumstances Kha’Zix is still great for generic AP openers.

Comps to play:
Invoker Ahri Morgana, Defender Cassiopeia, Flora Malphite, Blossom Ahri, Invoker Nidalee,