This story was originally published by ESPN Brazil and translated from Portuguese.
Riot Games' Teamfight Tactics is a MOBA game that challenges its players in a different way than League of Legends. We have a little bit of Summoner's Rift -- including some of League's champions and items -- but the approach is totally different. Teamfight Tactics is a tactical turn-based challenge in which players assemble an army and put it on the battlefield to challenge their opponents. The challenge is to put together a winning team composition, combining skills and strategy to overcome opponents.
ESPN Esports Brasil has prepared a guide for the Teamfight Tactics universe. You'll discover the rules of the game, learn how to take down opponents, how to hit enemies, which items combine to form more powerful artifact and which combinations of heroes to use to gain valuable advantages.
Objective
Each Teamfight Tactics game features eight players facing each other -- one at a time -- until only one is left standing. In order to win, you need to put your army on the field. Once your champions find their enemies, they automatically fight on the board. These champions have basic attacks and abilities (active and passive). These powerful abilities require mana to be triggered. To fill the mana bar, the champion needs to use his/her basic attacks against enemy targets.
Map
TFT's map has a square board format similar to that of chess, but instead of squares like in Auto Chess, champions stand in hexagons, creating different formations.
Gold
Gold coins are the currency in the game, and that's how you create your team. Gold has three main roles inside the game.
(1) To buy champions and get them to the battlefield. As you set your team and pick the champions, you form a deck. These cards are listed randomly in the lower left corner of the screen, and new ones appear each round to fulfill those cards already put to use. In order to buy a champion, you have to buy the summon price of each card with golden coins;
(2) Update the list of character purchase options so that different names can come up;
(3) Buy experience, because when you level up, you can put more champions in your group to battle.
Champions
There are currently 50 champions in Teamfight Tactics (Riot Games says there are more to come), each one with unique abilities. We're not talking about a League of Legends copycats, so pay attention to their descriptions. Each champion has a cost in gold ranging from one to five, and they each have different rating levels (from weak to strong): bronze, silver and gold. All champions start play at bronze. To level them up, you need to have three champions of the same type and join them into one. Three bronze champions form one of silver and three of silver form a powerful champion of gold.
Damage
At the end of each turn, the damage count is made for the player who has lost all of his/her champions. The damage will be the sum of the cost of the champions who were left on the winning side. If three champions costing three coins are alive on the board, the loser receives nine points of damage, which depletes that player's life energy. The winner is the player who gets his/her enemy's vital energy to zero.
Carousel
From time to time during the game, a Carousel appears, which is a way to balance the actions and allow comebacks. Champions appear in a circle and the first player to choose his/her champion is the one with the least vital energy left.
Items
Items are key in TFT to make champions even more powerful. They are attached to the champions in order to improve them. There are eight types of items overall, and they give the following bonus when alone: Recurve Bow, Needlessly Large Rod, Negatron Cloak, Giant's Belt, Chain Vest, BF Sword, Spatula and Tear of the Goddess. Let's see the effect of each item and the result of its fusion with another one.
Recurve Bow adds 1 percent in attack speed
+ Recurve Bow = Rapid Firecannon (Doubles the reach of attacks and no errors in action)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Guinsoo's Rageblade (3 percent increase in speed of attack and infinite stacks)
+ Negatron Cloak = Cursed Blade (Attacks have a low chance of shrink and reduce enemy level by 1
+ Giant's Belt = Titanic Hydra (Attacks deal 10 percent of the wearer's max health as splash damage)
+ Chain Vest = Phantom Dancer (Wearer dodges all critical strikes)
+ BF Sword = Sword of the Divine (Each second, wearer gets 5 percent chance to get a 100 percent critical strike)
+ Spatula = Blade of the Ruined King (Wearer is also a Blade Master)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Statikk Shiv (Every third attack deals 100 splash magical damage)
Needlessly Large Rod adds 20 percent in spell damage
+ Recurve Bow = Guinsoo's Rageblade (adds 3 percent attack speed and infinite stacks)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Rabadon's Deathcap (50 percent increase in ability power)
+ Negatron Cloak = Ionic Spark (Whenever an enemy casts a spell, they take 200 damage)
+ Giant's Belt = Morellonomicon (Spells deal damage of 5 percent of enemy's max health per second)
+ Chain Vest = Locket of the Iron Solari (On the start of combat, allies gain a shield of 200)
+ BF Sword = Hextech Gunblade (Heal for 25 percent of all damage dealt)
+ Spatula = Yuumi (Wearer is also a sorcerer)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Luden's Echo (Spells deal 200 splash damage on hit)
Negatron Cloak adds 20 in magic resistance
+ Recurve Bow = Cursed Blade (Attacks have a low chance to do shrink and reduce enemy level by 1)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Ionic Spark (Whenever an enemy casts a spell, they take 200 damage)
+ Negatron Cloak = Dragon's Claw (Gain 83 percent resistance to magic damage)
+ Giant's Belt = Zephyr (On start of combat, banish an enemy for five seconds)
+ Chain Vest = Sword Breaker (Attacks have a chance to disarm)
+ BF Sword = Bloodthirster (Attacks heal for 50 percent of damage)
+ Spatula = Runaan's Hurricane (Attacks two extra targets; Extra attacks deal 50 percent damage)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Hush (Attacks have a high chance to Silence)
Giant's Belt adds 200 in health
+ Recurve Bow = Titanic Hydra (Attacks deal 10 percent of the wearer's max Health as splash damage)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Morellonomicon (Spells deal 5 percent of enemy's max health per second)
+ Negatron Cloak = Zephyr (On start of combat, banish an enemy for 5 seconds)
+ Giant's Belt = Warmog's Armor (Wearer generates 3 percent max health per second)
+ Chain Vest = Red Buff (Attacks deal additional 2.5 percent burn damage)
+ BF Sword = Zeke's Herald (Allies gain additional 10 percent of attack speed)
+ Spatula = Frozen Mallet (Wearer is also a Glacial)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Redemption (On death, heal all nearby allies for 1000 health)
Chain Vest adds 20 in armor
+ Recurve Bow = Phantom Dancer (Wearer dodges all Critical Strikes)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Locket of the Iron Solari (On the start of combat, allies gain a shield of 200)
+ Negatron Cloak = Sword Breaker (Attacks have a chance to disarm)
+ Giant's Belt = Red Buff (Attacks deal additional 2.5 percent burn damage)
+ Chain Vest = Thornmail (Reflect 35 percent of damage taken from attacks)
+ BF Sword = Guardian Angel (Wearer revives with 500 health)
+ Spatula = Knight's Vow (Wearer is also a Knight)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Frozen Heart (Enemies lose 20 percent attack speed)
BF Sword adds 20 in physical damage
+ Recurve Bow = Sword of the Divine (Each second, wearer gets 5 percent chance to get a 100 percent critical strike)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Hextech Gunblade (Heal for 25 percent of all damage dealt)
+ Negatron Cloak = Bloodthirster (Attacks heal for 50 percent of damage)
+ Giant's Belt = Zeke's Herald (Allies gain additional 10 percent of attack speed)
+ Chain Vest = Guardian Angel (Wearer revives with 500 health) + BF Sword = Infinity Edge (Critical Strikes deal additional 100 percent damage)
+ Spatula = Yomuu's Ghostblade (Wearer is also an Assassin)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Spear of Shojin (After casting, wearer gains 15 percent of its max mana per attack)
Spatula ... must do something ...
+ Recurve Bow = Blade of the Ruined King (Wearer is also a Blade Master)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Yuumi (Wearer is also a sorcerer)
+ Negatron Cloak = Runaan's Hurricane (Attacks two extra targets and extra attacks deal 50 percent damage)
+ Giant's Belt = Frozen Mallet (Wearer is also a Glacial)
+ Chain Vest = Knight's Vow (Wearer is also a Knight)
+ BF Sword = Yomuu's Ghostblade (Wearer is also an Assassin)
+ Spatula = Force of Nature (increase team size by one)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Darkin (Wearer is also a Demon)
Tear of the Goddess adds 20 mana
+ Recurve Bow = Statikk Shiv (Every third attack deals 100 splash magical damage)
+ Needlessly Large Rod = Luden's Echo (Spells deal 200 splash damage on hit)
+ Negatron Cloak = Hush (Attacks have a high chance to Silence)
+ Giant's Belt = Redemption (On death, heal all nearby allies for 1000 health)
+ Chain Vest = Frozen Heart (Enemies lose 20 percent attack speed)
+ BF Sword = Spear of Shojin (After casting, wearer gains 15 percent of its max mana per attack)
+ Spatula = Darkin (Wearer is also a Demon)
+ Tear of the Goddess = Seraph's Embrace (Regain 20 percent mana each time a spell is casted)
Origins and classes
Each TFT character has an origin and a class. Those attributes could give a bonus reward if combined to the right type (Similar to the chemistry in FIFA Ultimate Team.) You're not obligated to combine, but it will be helpful. Depending on the number of champions of the same class simultaneously on the board, you'll have a bigger bonus. Below are the advantages and the number of champions required (in parentheses) to trigger this bonus.
Assassin
Champions: Akali, Evelynn, Katarina, Kha'Zix, Pyke, Rengar and Zed
Bonus: (3) additional 150 percent critical strike damage; (6) additional 350 percent critical strike damage
Blademaster
Champions: Aatrox, Draven, Fiora, Gangplank, Shen and Yasuo
Bonus: (3) one additional strike; (6) two additional strikes
Brawler
Champions: Cho'Gath, Darius, Rek'Sai, Volibear and Warwick
Bonus: (3) additional 300 bonus health; (6) additional 700 bonus health
Elementalist
Champions: Anivia, Brand and Kennen
Bonus: (3) Summons a golem when combat starts
Guardian
Champions: Braum and Leona
Bonus: (2) All Guardians and allies receive additional 40 armor
Gunslinger
Champions: Gangplank, Graves, Lucian, Miss Fortune and Tristana
Bonus: After attacking, Gunslingers have 50 percent chance to fire additional attacks -- (2) attack one random enemy; (4) attack all other enemies in range
Knight
Champions: Blitzcrank, Garen, Kayle, Mordekaiser, Poppy and Sejuani
Bonus: (2) 20 damage blocked; (4) 40 damage blocked; (6) 60 damage blocked
Ranger
Champions: Ashe, Kindred, Varus and Vayne
Bonus: Chance to do double attack speed for 3s; (2) 25 percent chance; (4) 65 percent chance
Shapeshifter
Champions: Elise, Gnar, Nidalee, Shyvana and Swain
Bonus: (3) 100 percent bonus maximum health when transforming
Sorcerer
Champions: Ahri, Aurelion Sol, Karthus, Kassadin, Lissandra, Lulu, Morgana and Veigar
Bonus: Double mana from attacking, and allies have increased spell damage -- (3) additional 35 percent spell damage; (6) additional 100 percent spell damage
Champions also have an Origin. When your team has more than one champion of the same Origin, the champions receive bonuses.
Demon
Champions: Aatrox, Brand, Elise, Evelynn, Morgana and Varus
Bonus: Demons burn enemies' mana -- (2) 30 percent chance; (4) 50 percent chance; (6) 70 percent chance
Dragon
Champions: Aurelion Sol and Shyvana
Bonus: (2) All Guardians and allies receive additional 40 armor
Exile
Champions: Yasuo
Bonus: (1) If there are no allies at the start of the combat, gain a shield equivalent to 100 percent of maximum health.
Glacial
Champions: Anivia, Ashe, Braum, Lissandra, Sejuani and Volibear
Bonus: Attacks have a chance to stun for 2s -- (2) 20 percent chance; (4) 30 percent chance; (6) 45 percent chance
Imperial
Champions: Darius, Draven, Katarina and Swain
Bonus: Double damage -- (2) one Imperial; (4) all Imperials
Noble
Champions: Fiora, Garen, Kayle, Leona, Lucian and Vayne
Bonus: additional 100 armor and 35 health per attack -- (3) one ally; (6) all allies
Ninja
Champions: Akali, Kennen, Shen and Zed
Bonus: It's only activated when you have exactly one or four ninjas -- (1) one gains additional 40 percent attack damage; (4) all gain additional 80 percent attack damage
Pirate
Champions: Gangplank, Graves, Miss Fortune and Pyke
Bonus: Earn up to four additional gold after combat
Phantom
Champions: Karthus, Kindred and Mordekaiser
Bonus: (2) All Guardians and allies receive additional 40 armor
Robot
Champions: Blitzcrank
Bonus: (1) Robot starts combat with full mana
Void
Champions: Cho'Gath, Kassadin, Kha'Zix and Rek'Sai
Bonus: (3) All basic attacks ignore 50 percent of the enemies' armor
Wild
Champions: Ahri, Gnar, Nidalee, Rengar and Warwick
Bonus: Attacks generate stacks of fury (up to five times), and each one gives additional 7 percent attack speed -- (2) Wild allies only; (4) all allies
Yordle
Champions: Lulu, Poppy, Tristana and Veigar
Bonus: Attacks against fellow Yordles have a chance to miss -- (3) 20 percent chance; (6) 50 percent chance.