TFT Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the Mana Printer Comp

A new TFT Guide is here to kick off Patch 10.9, breaking down the Mana Printer comp.

While the Mana Printer comp isn’t technically of Patch 10.9 (Scarra first played it during the final days of Patch 10.8), the buff to the Rebel shield strength as well as Sona buffs in this patch have made it a unique, but strong, comp in the current TFT meta. If you’re looking to a comp not a lot of people know about, our latest TFT guide will break down the Mana Printer comp.

What is the Mana Printer comp?

Core Space Jam: Sona, Syndra, Poppy, Zoe, Ahri, Neeko, Soraka

This is a variation of the Star Guardian/Sorcerer comp, which is still fairly strong despite the nerfs in Patch 10.9 (Star Guardians mana share on spell cast dropped from 60 to 50 at 6 Star Guardians). To supplement that, you add the “Mana Printer” which is Sona with at least one (ideally two) Chalices of Harmony.

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For those of you unaware, Chalice of Harmony grants 10 mana to all allies within two hexes after casting her ability. That means, if you position Sona correctly (basically in the middle of all the other units), your Sorcerers will get 20 mana every time Sona casts her ult, which also heals nearby allies.

Since she only needs 40 mana to cast her ability and she will also get the 20 mana from her own Chalices, her ability is basically always off cooldown. This is why she is called the “Mana Printer” because she is always spitting out mana to her nearby allies, while also healing them.

What Are the Key Units and Items?

The only real key unit is Sona. She works best in the Star Guardian/Sorcerer comp, but she can also work well in a Dark Star/Sorcerer comp, you can run a Rebel comp with this build, or you could even run this inside a Celestial/Protector comp. Basically, any comp where you have carries that are heavily ult-reliant Mana Printer Sona works.

For items, as noted above, you need at least one Chalice of Harmony. Two Chalices is preferable, but you can supplement with a Seraph’s Embrace if need be. The ideal build on Sona is two Chalices plus a Seraph, but you can also swap for a Star Guardian’s Heart to accelerate the printer. Just make sure you prioritize getting her two Chalices if at all possible.

When Should You go the Mana Printer Comp?

The beauty of this comp is that it is not at all dependent on leveling your champions. You can just get Sona and the Sorcerers to 2-stars and not worry about them, because the goal of the comp is to just spit out spells over and over again. So, your decision to go this comp is largely going to depend on the early game items you get.

If you don’t have at least one Tear of the Goddess and one Negatron Cloak, do not consider going this build. If by the start of Round 3-1 you don’t have at least two Tears (ideally at least three), abandon this comp as well. The difficulty of this comp is that it is very difficult to pivot out of, as Chalice of Harmony isn’t great on a lot of other units in TFT.

How do You Counter this Comp?

If you’re facing someone with the Mana Printer comp, you need something that can cut through the healing or slow down the print job. Morellonomicons and Red Buffs are going to be your primary way to counter the Mana Printer’s healing, while Mana Reavers will jam up the printer.

Having Mystics on your side will certainly help to reduce the magic damage this comp is sure to spit out. However, reducing the incoming damage does nothing if you don’t have any way to stop them from pumping out damage.

One other good method to counter this comp is to go Mech-Pilots/Infiltrators. The Super Mech is extremely difficult to kill, even with solid burst, while the Infiltrators can get into the backline to assassinate the Sona. If you manage to kill the Sona quickly, this comp quickly falls apart.