The early game is generally the stage before or right as you start playing PvP rounds. Any time you have four or fewer units, you’re still in the early game stage of Teamfight Tactics.
Focus on getting synergies ASAP! In the early game, you have very little gold, likely only one completed item (if any), and you’re not going to be able to select champions that are more than Tier 1 or Tier 2. The way you succeed is, therefore, to get champions with synergies in either their Origin or Class with your other champions to win those early rounds (focus on pairs like Wild and Knight so you can get multiples).
Spend your gold! While maximizing income and hitting breakpoints for interest will be important later, early on you just don’t have the gold to make meaningful interest. Don’t bother keeping gold in the bank early, just fill up your bench with as many units as possible so you can…
Combine units often! If you can get three Fioras, three Garens, or three Mordekaisers, do it so that they’ll combine into a two-star unit. Those units are not only stronger and take up fewer slots on your board, but they can be sold back later in the game if need be, making them incredibly valuable early.
Do not spend gold on XP and re-rolls! This seems to contradict rule two, but in that early game stage spending money to re-roll your inventory or level up is a trap. With such little gold, you need to be spending it on champions so that you have stronger units and more options as the early game ends.
Don’t waste your items! In this early part of the game, you’ll probably get some components that could make up a combined item (see our item ranking if you’re not sure what items you should look for) like a Guardian Angel or Hush. Don’t fall for the trap of thinking you need to combine items right away! Instead, hold onto your components (you can also place them individually on champions for the stat bonuses, but be careful not to accidentally combine them on a champion, which can’t be undone) until you can combine them to get an impactful combined item later on.
Don’t be afraid to lose! You’re going to lose rounds, it happens. But if you’re going to lose rounds it’s actually better to do it at the beginning of the game because 1) you won’t lose as much life as you do later into the game and 2) you’ll get a better position for the first Carousel round of the game. Speaking of which:
Get the best item or most expensive champion in the Carousel! This applies both to the first Carousel and the early Carousel rounds, but you should focus more on the item the champion is holding (B.F. Sword, Recurve Bow, Spatula, and Needlessly Large Rod being the priorities) than the champion itself. If you can’t get a champion with a good item, just grab the most expensive champ and immediately sell them so you can buy more low-cost champions. This is especially good after the first Carousel, where you can get a 2g or 3g champion, then sell them to grab a bunch of 1g champions for synergies.
Always try to build a front line and a backline!
As a general rule, you want to have a mix of both tanks and damage dealers. This doesn’t mean you need to do the traditional League of Legends set-up of an ADC, mage, and tanks, but it does mean you want at least some tanky champions and some champions that do damage. Try to find a mixture that also has some good synergies.
