TFT Beginner Guide Part 4: Transitioning Between Comps

In this TFT beginner guide, we break down how to transition or pivot from from one comp to another.

One of the hardest issues most Teamfight Tactics players run into is a situation where they think they have a good composition set up (see our last TFT beginner guide for more on how to pick a good comp), but run into roadblocks. This could be because they start hitting sub-optimal items or the priority units they need are getting taken. In this TFT beginner guide we’ll break down how to transition between comps.

When Should You Transition?

The first question you need to ask yourself is when you should transition from one comp to another. This is a distinct question from which situations in which you should transition, which we’ll cover in the “why” section.

The answer to when you should transition is as soon as you possibly can. The sooner you recognize that your comp is not going to come together, either because you don’t have the necessary items for key carries or because you are losing too much to survive long enough to get those key carries, the easier your transition will be.

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The most important thing I can tell you about transitioning is that when you do pivot to another comp you have to full-on commit to it. Once you’ve sold those key carries from your original comp, there’s no going back. No matter if you get the ideal comp or champion on the next carousel, you just have to make the best of your new lot in life.

Why Should You Transition?

There are basically five scenarios that indicate that you should transition from your initial comp:

You needed to hit a certain item but it’s unlikely that you will be able to get that item for a key carry.
You were hyper rolling and didn’t hit on enough of the key units.
Someone else is going your same comp and is further ahead (has more units) or has better items than you.
You’re losing too much of your health to wait for the optimal breakpoint to get the late-game carry.
You realize that the players at the top of the leaderboard have comps that counter (or will counter) your intended comp.

If you find yourself in one of these situations, you need to strongly consider transitioning. But you also need to make sure you’re going about it correctly.

To demonstrate, we’ll use a hypothetical scenario throughout this TFT beginner guide. Consider a scenario where you tried to hyper roll for a meta comp – Bomberman – but at Stage 3-1 you realize this comp will not work (let’s say you only have one Tear, a completed Guardian Angel, and another Giant’s Belt, four Ziggs copies, five Malphite copies, two Sona copies, and a few random copies of champions like Blitzcrank, Shen, Xayah, and Vi).

Step 1: Find a Strong Comp You Can Easily Transition To

The first question to consider when you’re deciding to pivot comps is which comp (or comps) exist that use the most champions and items you already have. If you will have to sell all your units or put items onto sub-optimal champions, reconsider the comp you’re going to transition to.

In our example, you realize that you are unlikely to hit on 3-star Ziggs and get multiple Tear items, but you do have at least one 2-star copy of two champions. So how can you use what we have?

Well, Guardian Angel is a good item in almost any comp, but the Giant’s Belt with Tear is going to give you Redemption, which is a pretty mediocre item. Ziggs can fit into a Rebel comp that’s centered around Jinx, but that comp is fairly weak. However, we also have a 2-star Malphite and a Blitzcrank, which means we could look at transitioning to a Brawler/Blaster comp.

Step 2: Econ as Best You Can

Once you’ve made the decision to transition to another comp, you need to build your income for whenever you inevitably need to roll for the units you need. That means you sell any unnecessary units as soon as you can to try to get to that next interest breakpoint. However, you don’t want to sell every unit you have all at once, because you need to find the new units for your comp first.

So, in our example of this TFT beginner guide, you want to sell those random copies of Ziggs and the Xayah, with the Shen only if you need to hit an interest breakpoint. You’ll hit Level 5 on the next round so there’s no need to spend any gold to level and you’re not going to re-roll because Blaster/Brawlers doesn’t require you to hyper roll.

You don’t sell the 2-star Ziggs quite yet because he’s still a strong damage-dealer with Tear and Guardian Angel. You would also choose to hold the Sona because you can still have 3 Rebels, giving Ziggs and Malphite the shield. Finally, you keep the Shen to round out your comp because with Blitzcrank you’ll also have the Chrono trait. So you’ll have

Step 3: Full-sell Once You Hit the Needed Items/Units

The last step in the process comes when you hit those key units that enables you to full sell and make the transition to your next comp. Typically, this will be after you get a key unit to 2-stars (or if it’s a 4/5-cost unit just once you get the first copy).

You can also full sell if you manage to hit on a key item spike, even if you don’t have necessary champions. It’s almost always better to have a decent, completed item on a decent champion than to have bad items on a ridiculously strong unit.

Next. TFT Beginner Guide Part 1 - the Basics. dark

In our Blaster/Brawler example, once we hit a 2-star Lucian or Ezreal paired with another Blaster we should be ready to full sell, put the GA on your stronger carry, and whatever other items you can. If you manage to get a Chain Vest for a Red Buff to put on Lucian or a Luden’s Echo for Ezreal.

It’s important to recognize that when you need to transition comps, you’re probably not going to be in a strong position to win the game or place very high. Your goal with transitioning is to minimize the damage as best you can and finish as high as you can. If that means putting sub-optimal items on the strongest units you have, then do it, just try to do the best you can.

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