3 Best TFT Strategies for Patch 10.23
A New TFT Patch means new strategies coming into vogue, and hopefully the dominance of more oppressive compositions falling out of style. Patch 10.23 released Nov. 10 and since then the meta has had time to shake out, and it’s becoming clear what the more dominant strategies are going to be. If you’re looking to climb the ladder and reach the heights of Challenger, Diamond, or even just Gold then it’s important to keep up with the ongoing changes. Let’s talk about what’s working.
Ashe Hunters (With Any Other Synergies)
This patch brought an attempt to retune hunters through direct champion nerfs so that they aren't always such a safe pick. However, this change does not seem to have done much. The main scenario where Hunters are vulnerable, especially after the patch is against Assassins, specifically Talon. The reduction in Ashe’s armor from 25 to 20 makes it so that she will almost always be targeted by Talon who now targets the champion with the lowest armor. But this is the same as it was before the patch, the weakness has only been exacerbated.
Despite this change, Hunters is still a strong team and still a safe and straightforward strategy to implement. Most games will go in a similar fashion, build the strongest board possible until you can find an Ashe, build a strong frontline (preferably Shen, Irelia), and go top 4. The chief downside of this team is that it is so straightforward that you’ll often be competing with others to secure your champions. This is why it’s important to be flexible with your frontline, if Shen and Irelia aren’t coming your way then look for Nunu and Maokai, that can work well if you find a Sett in the late game. But if you can get your hands on level 2 Shen and Irelia then always look for Yone.
Nami Carry
I think it’s safe to say that Nami is no longer a sleeper pick. By this point, everyone has come up against a double bubble Nami that has two Luden’s Echoes. It’s terrifying. This one champion with the right items can carry a team through the early and mid-game with ease, even if the rest of your composition is not great.
The strength in Nami lies in her flexibility. It’s possible to go Mages and double bubble your way to victory, in this case, look for Lillia in the late game (especially since she was just buffed). But it’s also perfectly viable to stack Enlightened champions to give Nami constant spellcasting. In either composition, the ideal frontline is once again going to be Irelia and Shen, with a Yone later. The Adept synergy is just too good to pass up right now, slowing down enemies and giving Nami time to get going is essential to making it work. In the later game, Nami has trouble solo-carrying so look to add in a second carry. Yone, Talon, or Morgana are good fits for this.
Chosen Cultists
If you wanna talk about straightforward compositions then look no further. With the adjustment to Galio, trying to get 9 Cultists is actually viable. Of course, this is all determined by your ability to find a Chosen Cultist early on and hyper-focus on this composition. It doesn’t particularly matter which Chosen Cultist you find, it just matters that you find it. Ramping up to that beautiful Supreme Overlord Galio is a tough prospect because Cultists often struggle in the early to mid-game. To solve this, always try to build the best board you can, don’t focus on having the Cultist synergy always out there. Hold onto your chosen cultist and only deploy the Cultist synergy when it makes sense. Before that point, look for small synergies to hold you over.
Aatrox, Evelynn, and Kalista are incredibly strong when paired with their respective class synergy. Try to find Shades or Duelists to stave off too much damage before you can pop off with that 9 Cultist synergy.
The best way to keep up to date with TFT Changes is to follow the news, and there is no better source than the lead designer of TFT himself! Riot Mortdog often streams himself playing TFT and uploads the games to YouTube. Here is a video of him on the PBE server testing out some changes.