Teamfight Tactics (TFT): Best Items Tier List
The best items in Teamfight Tactics (TFT) explained and split into four tiers depending on their strength and usefulness.
There is not a “best” item or item combination that works in every game and with any champion, but generally some items are certainly better than others.
I have split the best TFT items in four tiers going from Tier S to 3 based on the impact they have in a game, and explained why we should prefer them and in which situation. Ultimately, you should try building the higher tiered ones in almost any lineup.
Tier S
Guinsoo’s Rageblade
Gain 4% stacking Attack Speed on it. Stacks infinitely.
Attack Speed is one of the most useful stats in Teamfight Tactics because attacking the opponents you won’t only damage them, but also charge your mana bar and finally cast the champion special ability. The faster you do it, the higher your chances to turn the outcome of the game in your favor.
Guinsoo’s Rageblade is composed of Recurve Bow and Needlessly Large Rod. It is not easy to build because those are generally used for the best items in the game, so most experienced players look for them during the Carousel stage.
Rapid Firecannon
Attack Range is doubled. Attacks can’t miss.
Rapid Firecannon is another difficult item to build as it requires two Recurve Bow (so it brings also lots of attack speed).
It is a hard counter against Yordle lineups, units with Phantom Dancer, and Shen as it nullifies his special ability Spirit’s Refuge (it creates a zone around him where the allies dodge all the attacks).
The attack range bonus is truly helpful on your carries because you can just place them at a long distance (even at the corner of the map) and let them attack safely for the whole battle.
Phantom Dancer
Wearer dodges all Critical Strikes.
Phantom Dancer is the perfect item for tanks if your opponents have lots of physical damage because dodging the critical strikes is better than mitigating the damage via armor or healing.
Dragon’s Claw
Gain 83% Magic Resistance.
Dragon Claw makes your units almost immune to magic damage, so it is godly versus caster lineups.
You should consider using it not only on tanks but also on squishy damage dealers as helping their survivability increases also their total damage in a round.
It is relatively easy to build because it requires two Negatron Cloak, which is not a popular item.
Spear of Shojin
After casting, recover 15% of maximum Mana per attack.
Each unit in the game has a mana bar. It is empty and requires to be filled in order to cast their special ability. Not all the champions need the same amount of mana, and the strongest abilities in the game can demand up to 150 mana (100 is the average).
Spear of Shojin doesn’t provide a flat amount of mana per hit but a percentage, so it is amazing on champions who require lots of it. It helps to pull out a second use of a powerful ultimate during the same round, especially if you have also more items that increase your starting mana.
Force of Nature
Gain +1 team size.
Force of Nature is self-explanatory. I see no reason to not build it whenever you have the chance to as adding an extra unit to your lineup will always be beneficial.
You can unlock more synergies or even just increase the fighting power of your team.
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Tier 1
Rabadon’s Deathcap
Gain +50% Ability Power.
Ability Power doesn’t increase only the damage inflicted by the ultimate abilities, but it also buffs most of them, so Rabadon’s Deathcap isn’t an item limited only to casters.
The combination of this item and Guinsoo’s Rageblade on some characters (such as Brand) can really bring massive results.
Sword Breaker
Attacks have a chance to disarm.
Sword Breaker is a very underrated item as most players prioritize damage over crowd control, but being able to disarm the right opponent for two seconds can make the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, RNG is always a main factor in TFT, so you can’t predict exactly the hero that will be affected at the start of the fight.
Gunslingers (especially long-ranged ones) are the best carriers because their attacks have a chance to hit more targets.
Red Buff
Attacks burn for 2.5% max Health.
Red Buff is particularly strong against tanks and high-HP unit as it deals 2.5% of their maximum health as damage every second.
It is easy to build (Chain Vest and Giant’s Belt), and the debuff also denies any form of healing on the unit affected.
Once again, Gunslingers are the perfect carriers for this kind of items as they can target several opponents at the same time.
Morellonomicon
Spells deal burn damage equal to 15% of the enemy’s maximum health over 5s and prevent healing.
Morellonomicon is harder to build than Red Buff because it requires Needlessly Large Rod, but its effect is stronger if used on the right champion. Garen is probably the most abused one, but any unit with AoE spells will work.
Zeke’s Herald
At the start of the combat, allies within the same row gain 15% attack speed for the rest of the combat.
Zeke’s Herald has been nerfed several times already as the developers and the players noticed quickly the impact of attack speed in Teamfight Tactics.
If placed on the right unit, you might be able to buff three to five champions easily.
Tier 2
Yuumi
Wearer is also a Sorcerer.
Among the Spatula upgrades, Force of Nature and Yuumi are the only ones I will talk about as the others are situational and depend on your synergy goals.
The Sorcerer trait is very strong because it grants double the mana from basic attacks, so using this item on a champion with a strong ultimate can make a big difference in battle.
Frozen Heart
Adjacent enemies lose 20% Attack Speed.
Frozen Heart has basically the same effect of Zeke’s Herald, but reversed and empowered. I believe many players still do not understand the strength of this item because everyone just tries to increase their own damage.
Frozen Heart prevents lots of damage and spells. You may place it on your tanks, but it is exceptionally good also on Assassins because they will penetrate the enemy back lines and slow down their ranged carries.
Statikk Shiv
Every 3rd attack deals 100 splash magical damage to 3 additional targets.
Statikk Shiv is another underrated item. Honestly, it is a poor choice in the late game as there are better items you can make with Recurve Bow, but it totally dominates the early and mid game if placed on a unit with a high attack speed.
Titanic Hydra
Attacks deal 10% of the wearer’s max HP as splash damage.
Tough champions with a good attack speed are the best carries for this item, but there are also many long range DPS who achieve a high amount of HP after reaching three stars.
Lancer Paragon Blitzcrank & Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank v2 - Riot
Tier 3
Thornmail
Reflect 100% of physical damage mitigated as true damage.
Thornmail is not an item you want in every game, but if you have a beefy tank such as Cho'Gath or Leona, you can make it even tankier with the extra armor (Thornmail is composed of two Chain Vest) and even reflect a portion of the opponents’ damage.
Bloodthirster
Attacks heal for 35% of damage dealt.
Bloodthirster increases the survivability of your carries and it’s a direct counter of Thornmail. Generally, you might consider it as the third item on a DPS because you want to build damage items first.
Hextech Gunblade
Heal for 25% of all damage dealt.
Hextech Gunblade is the Bloodthirster for casters as it works with both auto-attacks and spells.
Seraph’s Embrace
Regain 20 mana after each spell cast.
Seraph’s Embrace is best used on champions with a low mana pool as they will be able to cast their spell almost immediately. For example, Akali has just 25 mana.
Warmog’s Armor
Regenerate 6% missing Health per second
Warmog’s Armor is amazing on a four Brawler lineup (or on any high-HP unit) as it will drastically increase the survivability of the frontliners.
Infinity Edge
Critical Strike Damage is increased by 100%.
Infinity Edge does bring a noticeable burst-damage boost. It isn’t ranked higher because attack speed has a lot bigger impact on TFT than critical damage and attack damage (IE is composed of two B.F. Sword, so it also gives +40 Attack Damage).
Luden’s Echo
Spells deal 200 splash damage on hit.
Luden’s Echo is a cheaper version of the Morellonomicon that works better in the early/mid game because the damage isn’t percentage based but flat.
Note: This tier list only includes the best items in TFT up to tier 3 as the others are either subpar or very situational. If you would like to know more about the remaining ones, check out the item cheat sheet.
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