TFT Guide: How to Optimize the Duelist Comp in Set 4

Our TFT guide series looks at the staple comps of Set 4. Today, we look at the Duelist comp.

In the last of our guides, we looked at the Brawlywood comp and how it will continue to be a staple of Set 4 in Teamfight Tactics. Today, we are going to take a look at the Duelist comp which has dominated TFT: Fates in our latest TFT guide. We’ll break down all the units you’ll need, itemization, and which Chosen units to go after in order to build a proper Duelist comp.

What is the Duelist comp?

Core Comp: Yasuo, Kalista, Lee Sin, Jax, Fiora/Xin Zhao

This is a simple comp with 6 Duelists and 2 Divines that allows a lot of flexibility to build out depending on which items and units you land. For instance, you can hyper roll Yasuo, slow roll Jax or Kalista, or just go with a straight standard leveling to get Aatrox plus Zilean for Cultists as well.

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Because there are so many variants of the Duelist comp, it’s almost completely meta-proof unless the trait itself gets nerfed into oblivion. You can mold it based on which traits and units are strong in a particular meta, but the three wrinkles listed above are going to be the most consistent across this set.

The most popular variant of the Duelist comp is a hyper roll Yasuo comp. If you do manage to get a 3-star Yasuo (this is particularly helpful if you get a Yasuo Chosen early), you can also add Yone to get the 2 Exile bonus and make Yasuo even more threatening.

If you decide to slow roll for Jax, you’re probably going to go for Lee Sin plus two more Divines to set Jax up as a hyper-tank and CC bot. In this situation, adding units like Warwick and Irelia perfectly complement your comp.

Finally, the Cultist variant can come with either slow rolling Kalista or just going straight to Aatrox and Zilean as your last pieces. This is an extremely strong option if you get proper itemization or you have a lot of glass cannon damage and need the tankiness of Galio and Aatrox, plus Zilean’s revive.

What Are the Key Units and Items?

We already gave you the key units above, but let’s go into itemization for each of the variants.

For the Yasuo/Exile comp, you want to prioritize Brawler’s Glove items, particularly Hand of Justice and Infinity Edge. One defensive item like QSS or Guardian Angel is also adviseable. However, if you can get a Sword of the Divine (the Divine Spatula item) you can make that your last item, as the Divine passive gives you extra tankiness.

In the Divine comp, you want tank items for Jax. Sunfire Cape, Titan’s Resolve, Ionic Spark, and Gargoyle’s Stoneplate are all fine choices, but a Spear of Shojin can also be beneficial to get more stuns out of Jax.

Finally, for the Cultist/Duelist comp, you are absolutely looking for a Runaan’s Hurricane on Kalista. After that, you probably want to go double defensive items like GA/Bloodthirster or QSS/GA. For the other units in your comp, you want straight tank for Aatrox.

One last item that could affect all of these variations is the Duelist’s Zeal, aka the Duelist Spatula item). If you get this, drop either Xin Zhao or Fiora and place the item on Yone (if you’re going for hyper roll Yasuo) or on a Jinx. This is actually super underrated but a Duelist Jinx is an incredible CC bot if you get her in the right comp and give her enough protection.

What are the Ideal Chosen?

Obviously, Duelist is the Chosen trait you will be looking for, primarily. The best champions to get Chosen Duelist on are those champions that you will be building around (Yasuo, Jax, Kalista).

Otherwise, there are a few unique Chosens that you can look for should you find yourself already going down the path for the Duelist comp. The first is Divine Chosen on a unit like Jax (primarily) or Irelia. This will give your frontline units more survivability, protecting your backline carries like a Kalista.

Cultist Chosen on Kalista is, obviously, another good option as it allows you to get the Cultist bonus and Galio at Level 7. You also have the option to go 4 Duelists/6 Cultists which is an appealing option if you manage to hit like 2-star Aatrox/Zilean.

How do You Counter this Comp?

The Duelist comp is scary because it scales so well into the late game, while still having the potential to do damage early. That said, there are some easy ways to counter this comp.

The first is, obviously, any trait that provides attack speed or damage reduction, like Dazzlers, Adepts, and Divines. Because Duelists tend to be very squishy (Jax excepted), any comp that can reduce their damage output early or kill their essential carries quickly will do quite well into them. This is why Shades and Assassins also do quite well, as their time-to-kill on opponents is quick enough that the Duelists will die before their attack speed steroid kicks in.

Next. TFT Guide for Beginners Part 1, the Basics. dark

Finally, proper itemization, particularly armor items like Frozen Heart or Bramble Vest, can counter Duelists. It can be difficult to counter Duelists purely through itemization because they ramp up so heavily over the course of combat, but again, if you can neutralize and kill Duelists early before they ramp up, it can be an effective counter.

Be sure to check back next week for another TFT guide and let us know which comp you’d like to see broken down in the comments!

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