TFT: How Glacial comps can help DESTROY the Blender

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After the Blender comp took nerfs in Patch 9.24b, its natural counter has risen to become one of the strongest TFT comps.

A few days ago, I broke down the fabled “Blender comp” in TFT (basically Blademaster/Assassins with Nocturne getting a Blade of the Ruined King). Hopefully, you spammed it enough (I personally rose three divisions) before it got nerfed in Patch 9.24b.

Yes, unfortunately, both Assassins and Nocturne got nerfs in the final patch of 2019 but that doesn’t mean that the Blender comp isn’t still incredibly strong. Like Hyper-roll Predators (which I think will remain a viable pick for a while unless Kog’Maw gets nerfed), the natural synergies between these comps and the champions in them will make them a pretty standard option for TFT players, so by all means consider running it if you have the proper units and items.

However, it is important to note that, with the Blender comp being weaker, that has given more room for its natural counter to rise up as one of the strongest comps overall in TFT. Scarra recently broke it down in his video but if you want the quick strokes for what this new comp, which I will name the “King of the North” comp, read on!

The King in the North comp

The King in the North comp has several variations but there are two fairly weak items and two other fairly weak units that will largely dictate how you build this comp. The two items: Locket of the Iron Solari and Thornmail (before it gets removed in Patch 9.10). The two champions: Volibear and Braum.

That’s why I call this comp the King in the North (or KitN) comp, because it revolves around getting Thornmail on Braum, Locket on Volibear, or, ideally, both. Depending on which of these items you manage to build, you should be set up to completely counter the still-prominent Blademaster/Assassin comps.

The ideal KitN comp in TFT would have the following units at Level 8:

Braum
Volibear
Ornn
Renekton
Jax
Dr. Mundo
Sion
Olaf
Ornn

Alternatives:

The only alternatives I would advise would be to swap Amumu, Malphite, or Taric for Ornn if you can get one of those to 2-stars.
If you are unable to get a Thornmail or at least a 2-star Braum, you should swap him and Ornn for a two-unit synergy (the

Items

1. Thornmail

In their description for why they removing Thornmail, Riot bluntly said that the item only works on Braum and no one else. That is true, and it’s also a big reason why he can be integral to the KitN comp.

If you’re able to get a Thornmail on Braum, Blademaster/Assassin comps can basically do nothing to you. They’ll take damage and have reduced healing every time they attack that Braum (Nocturne cries in the corner). Don’t forget, not only does he block all projectiles whenever he raises his shield, he also takes reduced damage (including melee) from that direction, meaning that if you have his shield constantly up he’ll be unkillable.

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2. Locket of the Iron Solari

This item can, theoretically, go on any of the Berserkers in the comp, but Volibear is the one that most people seem to want it on. Specifically, you want to stack multiple Lockets on Volibear so you can have a more powerful shield to all of your nearby Berserkers. This is because you want to keep the other Berserkers as high-health as possible so they can survive longer and have a bigger health pool available when the Assassins and Blademasters use their ultimates.

3. Frozen Heart

This tends to be an overlooked item, but in a KitN comp I think Frozen Heart is actually quite powerful. It’s nice to put on a Braum so he has more mana to get that first ult off. It’s also generally strong into Blademasters, as it reduces their attack speed.

4. Guinsoo’s Rageblade
5. Rapidfire Cannon
6. Guardian Angel
7. Bloodthirster
8. Hand of Justice

These items are less important because they are designed to go onto the only “carry” unit in this comp: Olaf. Your goal is to buff up that Olaf with Locket Shields as much as possible and let him safely auto-attack those Blademasters down while they fail to kill him or your frontline. You can go with any of these items on Olaf, or just standard tanky items if you don’t have the necessary components.

9. Iceborn Gauntlet

This is an extremely niche item that I wouldn’t recommend you build on anyone other than Jax. If you have a fed Jax, you can get a lot of benefit out of this item. Otherwise, though, I wouldn’t recommend building it.

When to build the comp

Into Blender comps, as this is what it was specifically designed to counter, this comp is great, but it also works well against any attack speed-based comps (Rangers, Light, etc.). This is especially true when you get that early Thornmail and 2-star Braum. However, the Locket variant is much more flexible if there aren’t a lot of Blender builds at the top of the leaderboard.

When not to build it

This comp doesn’t do great into the fairly popular Ocean/Inferno/Mage comps (though the Locket variant can hold up alright). However, both of these comps get absolutely destroyed by Summoner comps, so be aware if you run into someone with a big Zyra/Malzahar/Annie you will be in trouble.

What to pivot to

Unfortunately, KitN comps aren’t quite as flexible as Blender comps. However, there are still some okay comps you can pivot into if you’re not able to find the right items or if the enemies are building a lot of Mage/Summoner-based comps.

1. Six Berserker comps

I touched on it earlier, but if you’re not able to get the Thornmail or necessary Wardens, you can just go into a straight-up six Berserker comp with any other two-unit synergy (Soulbound, Mystic, etc.) tacked on. Just do what you normally would do and build around the Olaf to carry and still try to get multiple Lockets on Volibear.

2. Warden + Rangers

On the other hand, if you’re not able to find the Lockets or the stronger Berserkers like Olaf, you can transition to this straight front-to-back comp. Just add Amumu and either Nautilus or Thresh to your Braum/Ornn (ideally you could just replace those two and go Nautilus + Thresh + Amumu + Taric) and add Rangers. The best-case would be to have Amumu along with Kindred and Varus for the Inferno comp as well.

This is a great option if you get a lot of attack speed items from drops and don’t have enough components to make a full-defensive comp work. However, keep positioning in mind here, because a Blender comp can easily get onto your fragile carries and nuke them if you’re not careful.

3. Warden + Electric

This is a great option should you be unable to get Beserkers, get a lot of Brawler’s Gloves, or somehow get an early Zed. Just load up your Zed with crit items, pair him with Ornn + Volibear watch the lighting zap your opponents.

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4. Berserkers + Glacial

This is very similar to six Berserkers, but usually its better in cases where you’re way behind early since it only requires on 4g or higher piece (Olaf). It’s a little less flexible since you’re completely relying on the Olaf (in a Berserker + Soulbound comp you could also put items on the Lucian, for example) but it’s a decent option if you’re stuck with a lot of 2-star Berserkers you don’t want to dump.

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