The mid-set expansion for Teamfight Tactics Reckoning has finally been released onto live servers with patch 11.15, and with it comes a whole new challenge for players to solve.
The Dawn of Hope expansion brings 12 new champions, as well as two important game mechanics that will change how players approach the game in this set. The first of the two mechanics is a newly improved version of Lucky Lantern orbs from previous sets, now called Radiant Blessings, and the second mechanic is Radiant items, which are replacing the Shadow items of Set Five.
It’s important to understand how these two mechanics work because its the biggest difference between this set and the last, with the meta not changing all that much despite the many new champions. Players can still expect to find Dawnbringer Karma compositions, Jax Skirmisher builds and Heimerdinger Invoker teams ruling most lobbies they play in. There is one noteworthy champion addition this set that can help carry you for some early-set wins, however.
Here are three comps that every player should learn how to play on Patch 11.15.
Lucian with utility champs
Lucian is the best new carry in Set 5.5, hands down. The Sentinel and Cannoneer traits synergize particularly well with his kit, the amount of damage this unit can output even at just one-star is sometimes ludicrous. Lucian’s ability scales with attack speed, meaning the duration of his ability is lengthened depending on his current attack speed. His ability also procs the extra Cannoneer damage as it essentially functions like a slew of auto-attacks, so Guinsoo’s Rageblade Lucian’s attack speed will help him to fire off more shots during his ultimate and that will trigger the Cannon bonus even more often.
Because Lucian is currently such a high DPS world-beater of a champion, he doesn’t necessarily require the high vertical trait building to support him. Just three Sentinel and two Cannoneer will be enough to help him carry. This frees up a lot of board space for utility champions that will help to give Lucian space and time to pop off. Still, one of the highest value front lines available in the game is Revenant with Volibear and Ivern. With the addition of Fiddlesticks to the Revenant trait in Set 5.5, Mystic should be another easy splash trait for this build that will help in lobbies full of AP-reliant teams.
Positioning for this composition depends on whether or not Gwen is played. Gwen gives bonus Magic Resistances and Armor to those she begins battle next to, so clumped up positioning will gift the greatest amount of bonus stats to your team. Otherwise, a standard style is fine here, with Galio, Ivern and Volibear at the front and the rest scattered along the backline. Be careful not to corner Lucian should there be an abundance of Thresh and Zyra players in your lobby.
Six Skirmisher Jax
This is the good old Skirmisher composition that has been around since the beginning of Set Five, except that with the addition of Olaf in the mid-set expansion, Skirmishers now have a better one-cost champion to help them during their typically very poor early game. Play this comp if you hit a two-star Olaf, or can play three Skirmishers early on.
Jax is the be-all and end-all of this composition, and so the items are crucial in helping Jax find success. Players must either build a Rapid Fire Cannon or Quicksilver to avoid early crowd control onto Jax, allowing the unit to gradually ramp his damage and begin to chain together his jump resets to finish off opponents. The other two items on Jax are usually Bloodthirster and Runaan’s Hurricane, but Deathblade and Last Whisper can also work. Units like Nidalee and Viego can provide valuable damage in fights if they have some items on them.
Karma Dawnbringer
Another composition that everybody should already know how to play has been seeing a lot of use at all skill levels during the first few days of the new set. The most impactful change to this build for patch 11.15 is the changes to Garen now that his trait-twin Darius has been removed. Garen is now much more of a damage-oriented carry champion now, rather than just a trait bot or front line tank. After every ultimate use, Garen’s next auto now does an additional 50 percent magic damage. This incentivizes itemizing Garen after Karma, instead of Riven.
This comp is always easy to force unless it’s heavily contested in your lobby, otherwise a strong Dawnbringer opening with Soraka, Gragas and Sett should be a solid foundation in almost every situation. If you happen to find a lot of attack damage items or an early Riven, you can also simply use Riven as your mid-game carry and then prioritize Karma items in the late game.
The TFT patch 11.13 will run until Wednesday, Aug. 11.
