Teamfight Tactics strategy makes champions basically immortal

Joe O'Brien

While testing out the upcoming Teamfight Tactics changes on the League of Legends Public Beta Environment (PBE), Twitch streamer Hafu encountered a strategy that made an enemy champion effectively immortal.

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Hafu is one of the top Teamfight Tactics players, being the highest-ranked during the original PBE phase and finishing in the top-four of Pokimane’s TFT tournament, but she was completely shut down by a strategy that allowed the enemy Shyvana to win a 1v8 against her team.

It was a must-win round for Hafu, who only had 1 HP, and she started off the fight looking strong, with her team wiping out the enemy line-up with relative ease and leaving only a single champion for eight of her own units to deal with.

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Unfortunately, that champion was a level-three Shyvana wearing a Thornmail, Hextech Gunblade, and Warmog’s Armor, which proved absolutely impossible for Hafu’s team to kill, and she could only watch as it wiped out her team one-by-one.

Unlike some carry builds which put focus on maximizing the damage output of the carry champion – such as the Akali one-shot build or the Lucian strategy that deals absurd amounts of damage incredibly quickly – this strategy focuses more on keeping the carry alive.

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The Thornmail reflects 35% of all damage taken, while on the PBE Hextech Gunblade allows the champion to heal 33% of the damage they deal (up from 25% on live) and Warmog’s Armor regenerates 6% of their max health (up from 3% on live).

These aren’t the only defensive bonuses Shyvana gets in this composition, however. With an Aurelion Sol also in the line-up, Shyvana benefits from the Dragon trait bonus, becoming immune to magic damage, and with three Shapeshifters she also gets 100% increased health.

Riot GamesTeamfight Tactics’ is Riot Games’ take on the autobattler genre.
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The result is a Shyvana that is effectively immortal, with the significant damage of Hafu’s Elementalist-Assassin composition barely even making a dent in the champion’s health as she marched to a solo victory.

With the likes of Hextech Gunblade and Warmog’s Armor getting buffs on the PBE, this strategy obviously won’t be quite as powerful on the current live servers – although it might still be very successful, and unless Riot make further balance changes this patch is likely to go live in a matter of days.

It’s also very possible that this item combo could prove effective on a variety of champions, although it’s certainly especially powerful when used with Shyvana under these circumstances.

About The Author

Joe O'Brien was a veteran esports and gaming journalist, with a passion and knowledge for almost every esport, ranging from Call of Duty, to League of Legends, to Overwatch. He joined Dexerto in 2015, as the company's first employee, and helped shape the coverage for years to come.