TFT Opener Guide Set 17

Patch 17.5a has a lot of different win cons in each tier. Xayah has an extremely high cap and is likely to win most lobbies. Fast 9 is a close second for the highest cap in the game.

Guide will be updated every patch

Broken Openers:

• Verticals/Hard Force:
  • Stargazer Xayah
• Conditional:
  • Emblems Augment -> Space Groove, Dark Stars, Brawler Yi
  • 8+ Winstreak? -> Vex Fast 9, Vanguard Fast 9
  • Anima Cash Out -> Stargazer Xayah, Mecha
  • Artifacts -> Mecha, Brawler Yi, Lulu Reroll, Stargazer Xayah
  • Gnar + Slam -> Gnar Printer
• Reroll Check:
  • Stargazer opener? -> Lulu Reroll
  • Treasure Hunt -> Lulu Reroll
• Lose Streak:
  • Always play Timebreakers or Primordians if offered
  • Play for a strong stage 4 comp like Stargazer Xayah, Corki Riven
  • 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

Although this patch is predominantly AD focused, there still are a wide variety of lines available. AP can be played from high tempo spots but is often hard to justify from loss streak due to reliance on 2 star 5 costs.

Augments

• Expedition
  • Full open while feeding 3 gold worth of units to the hex each turn. Aim to cash out by 4-1. Radiant Nashor’s performs very well so consider Dark Star Lissandra or Lulu Reroll. Mecha with Radiant Gargoyle’s is also great.
• Prismatic Ticket
  • Look to play Lulu Reroll or another reroll comp reliant on hitting multiple 3 stars.
• 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: TF 2 with a Jax in a good Stargazer constellation.
• Portable Forge/Living Forge
  • Data check your artifacts and hard force any interaction that averages 4.5 or better.
• Worth the Wait I
  • Veigar is very stable early mid game and opens up playing for Veigar 4 in the Veigar Meeple composition.
  • Finding Lissandra 3 without having to roll is very powerful as she can be main carried the entire game.
  • Ezreal and Cho infinitely scale but without a slam can often be a bit too slow.
  • Anything in B tier will be good for a top 4 but if you get to 9 will likely not be part of a fully capped board.
    C and F tier is the stuff you don’t want to see.

• Worth the Wait II
  • Just like 1 cost this augment is pretty consistent. It’s not as good as the power level of Prismatics is much higher than golds, but it is still a great augment.
  • Millio 3 deals a lot of damage and is an easy slot in for Corki Riven and Lulu Reroll
  • Gwen is very likely to win streak you and will remain strong later on into the game, just make sure you keep 2 Rogue in.
  • Pantheon is a premiere front liner that solves your front line for the rest of the game.
  • Gnar 4 can be achieved earlier by using the 7 Meeple printing hex.
  • Morde and Meepsie are great 3 trait flex units you don’t mind having 3 starred a lot of the time.
  • Pyke is S if you have Target-Lock Optics as a Psionic item in the early game.

• U.R.F./URF’s Gambit
  • Emblems are currently very strong and these augments should be prioritized heavily. Prioritize Darkstar Emblem.
• Anima Commander
  • Full open, if you win a fight you are down an augment. It’s kind of hard to take this augment if your lobby is weak and playing into time breakers. If you lose your loss streak you are in a bad spot. Getting extra HP also makes it hard to be in the bottom 2 for reforgers and item anvils.
• Calculated Loss
  • Full open and look play a 3 cost reroll line. Lulu Reroll and Urgot Reroll are ideal.
• Two Tanky
  • Play Two Tanky Samira.
• No Scout No Pivot
  • Consider Dark Star Lissandra, make sure Lissandra is fielded after Cho’Gath to ensure she is the super massive.
• Early Learnings
  • Play any 1 cost reroll comp, ideally Leona Teemo or TF but Ezreal Cho’Gath works as well. Your cap is very high if you reroll 1 costs with this augment.
• Solo Plate
  • This augment is very broken and BIS on Leona and Mecha.
• 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 Savings Account, Calculated Loss 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 Timebreaker and Primordian. Consider augments like Trade Sector, Patience is a Virtue and
  • 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 gameplan 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.

All tier lists below are focused on how easy it is to 5 win streak with these units, they do not take into account what line they lead down.

Items

Burn and utility items are very important in this meta and are also decent early game slams. Sword is the best component in this meta as it is very heavy towards AD. Both Xayah and Yi’s traits don’t provide a whole lot of base stats so items like Deathblade perform very well on both these units. Bows are also a high priority due to Kraken Slayer and Red Buff’s strength. If you have to make AP items avoid itemes like Shojin as the best AP unit at the moment is Asol who does not want mana generation items. If you do make mana generation items look to end in some comp that itemizes Sona.

Win Streak

If you can win streak while taking an econ augment or 2 look to go level 9 as Vex is one of the highest caps in the game at the moment. Level 8 lines are much easier to play from win streak as you have HP and are able to go 9 to transition to legendaries or play for a 3 star 4 cost. 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.
• Your options are incredibly open from win streak.
• Most level 8 lines can cap out decently high on level 9 if you are forced to roll on 8.

When you are playing for a win streak look to complete items on the Gods round aggressively. When you slam an item consider what components you will be left with because you want to be able to continue building items to maintain your win streak. 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

Brawler Yi, Vex Fast 9, Asol Flex, Stargazer Xayah, Gnar Printer

Unit Priority Stage 1

1 Costs

2 Rogue remains the strongest early game trait due to the high base stats and aggro drop. Slam AD items on either one and look to play Yi or Xayah. Prim and Brawler are great early game traits so Rek’Sai is S tier. Lissandra when paired with a Pantheon can make for an above average AP spot that leads into Asol. Vanguards are quite strong in the early game. Lower tier units are more conditional to get online. Units like Caitlyn can start to look better if you have specific items for them like a Guinsoo’s.

2 Costs

Pantheon and Millio are strong as is 2 Timebreaker. Bel’Veth herself is not great but Primordian is a great early game trait. Psionic items are more generically useful and provide value regardless of if you’re AD or AP. Pyke was already a great unit in the early game but with the buffs to Psionic he is now amazing. Jinx has been buffed thoroughly and is very strong with 2 Challenger. All of the B tier units are playable within the right context or traits, they’re about equal in power. Akali is not very strong but her NOVA buff can be useful later in the game.

3 Costs

Illaoi is one of the tankiest units in stage 2 and can often lead to a 5 streak. MF is decent in all of her forms but Challenger MF is very strong without traits and an absolute demon with 2 Challenger. Kai’Sa is a great unit that will carry stage 2 and 3 consistently. The fact that she’s a Rogue also means she synergizes with other S tier holds. She also opens up 4 Dark Star which is a really high tempo mid game, hold her every time you see her. The B tier units can be ok if you have traits for them but not very high priority and can be sold to hold lower cost pairs. If you happen to have 2 upgraded backliners and no front line, Rhaast can be an ok hold in the early game, otherwise sell him.

Lose Streak

Checklist for considering a loss streak opener

• No/weak direction
• No or low upgrade count
• An econ augment
• Econ Gods are preferred.

How to Lose Streak

Loss streak is not great at the moment. Timebreaker got nerfed to require 3 units and Anima is only good if you can cash out 400 which requires having it on 2-1.

The only 2 reliable game plans from a weak opener are to either take an econ augment on 2-1 or having some sort of condition that allows you to hard stabilize on stage 4 and play for a win out. There are not a lot of reroll lines at the moment so only consider them if you have a special condition for them. Ex: Radiant Nashor’s into Lulu Reroll or Dark Star Lissandra

Primordian is the worst econ trait in terms of gold value but is by no means bad. Primordian gives it value in the form of units which can be tempo. By playing this trait with a few lucky generated units you can put together a strong enough board to start winning fights in stage 3.

If you end up winning and snapping your loss streak. Don’t full open from this point. Keep playing your econ trait but otherwise play strongest and look to kill units or beat other people opening. If you can’t keep the loss streak look to save HP instead.

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 contest Corki Riven or Master Yi if you have to due to their strength through stage 4 and early 5. It is often better to flip your game with econ augments and try to hit Corki 2 and Rammus 2 on 4-1 as opposed to playing an uncontested line. Playing AP from loss streak is almost always a recipe for disaster due to tough match ups against Corki Riven and Master Yi players.

Lose Streak Comeback Mechanic

When playing loss streak your main advantage is a hidden comeback mechanic of getting anvils on neutral rounds instead of random components. Your top priority is item quality. 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.

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.

This board can go directly into Lulu Reroll if you natural enough copies in a good Stargazer and are uncontested. If you choose to level it can play into any level 8 line or Vex Fast 9 if you win streak for long enough. If you have the Boar Stargazer and win most of stage 3 take augments to go fast 9 as you will be very rich.

Comps to play:
Lulu Reroll, Vex Fast 9, Brawler Yi, Asol Flex, Corki Riven, Stargazer Xayah, Gnar Printer

2 Rogue + Front

Gwen with 2 Rogue is very consistent at win streaking. She has a lot of damage and is very safe compared to full melee rogues and has a lot of scam potential. Almost any slam is good in this opener as Talon can hold almost any AD items and Gwen can hold any AP items. Overall a premium win streak opener due to how strong Gwen is early game.

Comps to play:
Vex Fast 9, Corki Riven, Asol Flex, Brawler Yi, Stargazer Xayah

Timebreaker Fateweaver

A weaker opener around Timebreakers to build econ but still has access to flexible carries that can hold any item you might want to slam. Look to spike hard on stage 4 if you are too weak early on into the game.

Comps to play:
Lulu Reroll, Vex Fast 9, Brawler Yi, Asol Flex, Corki Riven, Stargazer Xayah

Generic AD

Gnar Meeple

Gnar is a great user of Guinsoo’s and can win streak you into fast 9 or Brawler Yi.
Consider Xayah if the Stargazer is good.

Comps to play:
Jhin Fast 9, Vex Fast 9, Stargazer Xayah, Corki Riven, Brawler Yi, Gnar Printer

Primordian

Win streak opener around Bel’Veth and Akali holding AD items. Great if you have Brawler or Marauder emblem. Most of the time you will play into Brawler Yi from decent HP from this opener on this patch. If you win for long enough you can play for a Fast 9.

Comps to play:
Brawler Yi, Vex Fast 9, Jhin Fast 9

Timebreaker Snipers

Loss streak AD is not recommended. Gnar and Ezreal have good single target and will get a decent amount of kills however. Look to play Corki Riven or into some sort of special condition. Xayah in a combat Stargazer can be considered. If you are loss streaking play into Corki Riven.

Comps to play:
Brawler Yi, Dark Stars, Corki Riven, Gnar Printer, Stargazer Xayah

Generic AP

3 Shepherd Lissandra

The core for this set up is 3 Shepherd. Play 2 Replicator if you have it, ideally with Pantheon. Lissandra is one of the few 1 cost that dodged nerfs this patch so she holds AP items very efficiently. Don’t make mana items if you are planning on playing Asol.

Comps to play:
Asol Flex, Vanguard Karma Leblanc, 7 Shepherd, Vex Fast 9,

Zoe Leona

Opener to play when Arbiter is good. If you are not planning on playing LeBlanc or a a line that keeps Leona, prioritize econ Arbiters. Otherwise look for Arbiters gain max HP on 50 Mana spent to make a huge Leona or anything that produces copies of Leona to cheat out Leona 3. Zoe is very strong and holds Asol items very efficiently because they both dislike mana items

Comps to play:
Asol Flex, Vanguard Karma Leblanc, 7 Shepherd, Vex Fast 9