Learn Teamfight Tactics properly

Most TFT advice is a list of things to do. This is an attempt at the other thing: why those things are correct, so that when the game hands you a situation the list doesn't cover — and it will, every game — you can work it out.

Read it in order if you're learning, or jump to the chapter covering the decision you keep getting wrong. If you don't know which one that is, the honest answer for most players below Diamond is economy and leveling, in that order.

Brand new to TFT? Read how to play TFT first — the whole game in a quarter of an hour, then a plan for your first ten games — and come back here for the depth.

The twelve chapters

1. 01 How a game of TFT actually works Before any strategy makes sense you need the shape of the game in your head: what a stage is, where gold comes from, and which four decisions repeat every single round. The shape of a gameStages and roundsWhere damage comes fromThe four decisionsWhat good looks like 8 min
2. 02 Economy: gold, interest and streaks Every gold decision in TFT is the same trade: strength now against strength later. This chapter gives you the numbers that decision is made of. The income tableInterestStreaksThe three econ plansWhen to break econCommon gold leaks 11 min
3. 03 Leveling: the XP table and when to push Leveling is the single biggest lever on your board strength, and it is the one most players pull at the wrong moment — either too early on a whim, or too late out of fear. The XP tableHow XP arrivesLevel timingsLevel or roll?Level 9 and 10 10 min
4. 04 Rolling: shop odds, the pool and rolldowns The shop is not random in the way most players think. It is a fixed set of probabilities over a shared pool, and both halves of that sentence are exploitable. Shop odds by levelThe shared poolBeing contestedExecuting a rolldownSlow rollingKnowing when to stop 13 min
5. 05 Items: components, recipes and slamming Items decide fights more often than units do. The skill is not memorising best-in-slot lists — it is knowing which imperfect item, built right now, keeps you alive to reach the perfect one. The ten componentsThe recipe gridSlammingSplitting your itemsEmblems and artifactsThe expensive mistakes 14 min
6. 06 Augments: reading the offer Three choices, three times a game, and each one quietly sets the ceiling on everything after it. Augments are the highest-leverage twenty seconds in TFT. How augments workRarity patternsWhat each round asksFit beats ratingThe archetypesA note on the clock 12 min
7. 07 Team comps: choosing, flexing and pivoting Most players pick a comp before the game tells them anything. The better habit is to hold a direction loosely and let items, augments and the lobby narrow it for you. Forcing vs flexingWhat actually picks your compThe commit pointPivotingReading a tier list 12 min
8. 08 Positioning: the free LP Two identical boards can finish first and fifth. Positioning is the cheapest source of placement in the game because it costs nothing but attention. Reading the boardThe default shapeCounter-positioningThe threats to answerRound by round 12 min
9. 09 Scouting: playing the lobby The information that decides your placement is on other people's boards. Scouting is the habit of going and getting it, at moments you choose in advance. Why scouting wins gamesThe checkpointsWhat to look atActing on what you see 10 min
10. 10 Combat: mana, damage and targeting Combat resolves itself, which is exactly why it is worth understanding — every decision you make in the planning phase is a bet on rules you cannot see running. The combat loopManaTargetingArmor and magic resistCrit and attack speedWhat this means for items 11 min
11. 11 Wisps: the Set 18 mechanic Set 18 adds a purchase decision to the shop itself. Wisps are small, single-use and easy to autopilot past — which is exactly why they are worth reading properly. How Wisps workThe seven categoriesEvery WispWhat they cost youWhen to buy one 9 min
12. 12 Climbing: LP, consistency and tilt Everything in the previous chapters is mechanics. This one is about the part that actually decides your rank: doing them consistently, game after game, including the bad ones. Top 4 before firstVariance and sample sizeReviewing your gamesTiltA practice planThat's the guide 9 min

If you only read three

The chapters are ordered for a first read, not by impact. Ranked by how much LP the average player is leaving on the table:

What this guide isn't

It isn't a tier list. Tier lists rot within a patch and teach nothing that survives one — the current ones are on the comps page, updated every six hours, and you should treat them as a snapshot rather than a plan. It also isn't a promise: reading twelve chapters doesn't raise your rank, playing differently does, and the last chapter is about the gap between those two.

The data behind the guide

Set-specific numbers in these chapters come from the same dataset as the site's statistics pages: 60 comps, 65 champions, 149 items and 261 augments, rebuilt every six hours. System rules — shop odds, XP costs, pool sizes, interest — are Riot's, cross-checked against multiple public sources and collected on the shop odds page.

If twelve chapters is too much right now

The seven habits that actually climb is the same material in one page — a paragraph each, with a link into the chapter that covers it properly. And if you'd rather learn with someone watching your games, coaching with a Master+ player starts at €15 — a lesson on the basics and four games played together, or a review of six of yours.

Want help while you learn? The in-game TFT helper shows what is left in the pool and grades augments for your comp during the round, so the habits from these chapters have something to lean on.