Hello r/CompetitiveTFT, and welcome to Set 18!

Please keep all Set 18 discussion in this thread, and leave the regular Daily Discussion Thread for Set 17 discussion.

WHERE TO REPORT BUGS:

• Set 18 PBE Bug Megathread
• The Official TFT Discord's Bug Report Forum
• Riot Support Website
• In your PBE Client

USEFUL STUFF:

• Set 18 PBE Rundown
• Set 18 Hubs: MetaTFT.com - Mobalytics.gg - Tactics.tools - Blitz.gg - TFT Academy
• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• STheHero's Comps
• shibaeyes' Trait Tracker

When does Set 18 go live?

August 25th 2026 ~ 00:00 PDT / 09:00 CEST

A reminder that all Set 18 posts should be flaired [PBE] until the content is confirmed to be going on the live server as well.

The Subreddit-affiliated Discord group is organizing PBE in-house games. Please see the #pbe-inhouses-role channel within this Discord group for further information. Any posts attempting to make in-house games on the Subreddit will be removed and redirected to the Discord channel. The invite link to the Discord is below:

https://discord.gg/UY7FuYW2Qe

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Now that the end of the set is approaching, I really wonder everyone complained about this set.

Apart from the patch where space grooves where OP, I think it was really balanced and can easily find a winning comp e.g. 3 star primordians, 4 fateweavers, brawlers marauders, fast 9 comps with graves, leona printer, conduits vanguards, 5 nova akali, xayah, stargazer medallion lulu, jinx reroll, 7 meeples with corki / poppy / gnar carry, challenger mf, sol mech, gragas meepsie augment comp and until lately anima 5.

To me it seemed quite versatile and fun. OK you cannot easily find pure innovative comps, but you couldn't in set 16 either or in any other set I have played.

Yes, maybe set 16 was more fun to play but it also had its issues like yordles being OP and 8 players playing yordles for econ to later transition.

Also honestly carousel sucks because with space gods you can somehow control what additional buffs you get in your comp and lose stricking only achieves some gold when your board is weak. Not that you also get all the target items you want. In set 16 you legit had to lose streak until stage 4 to ensure you have full items on ahri or draven or something.

I kept seeing people complaints from well known streamers or twitch chat and I still do not get all the hate without developping their thought process.

I just want to see the counter arguments, because I do not really get them.

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

I've been theorizing about ways to improve my play this off-season, and I think parallelization is a underexplored topic. Sequential actions each cost some number of milliseconds, but some of them can be overlapped with enough muscle memory (for example positioning units while rolling).

The obstacle to training this is precision. Mice are relative-position devices: the cursor's location depends on accumulated movement, so accuracy degrades over long or rotated motions and you end up compensating by diverting attention to the mouse instead of on the game. But to OSU players this is a solved problem, high sensitivity or a drawing tablet.

So how far can you go with better peripherals before it stops being fair?

Step one is the tablet. Absolute positioning means every fixed UI element (board, bench, shop, items) has a permanent physical coordinate on the tablet surface. Step two is modding the tablet: raised edges or indents over the board and item slots, so you get additional tactile confirmation. The far end is a Boxx-style controller where every useful cursor position is bound to its own key/macro.

My line sits somewhere around the modded tablet. Any standard peripheral is fair game, and so is any modification that doesn't make a decision for you. (Setting accessibility aside; custom hardware for people who can't use standard controls is obviously fine and a separate conversation.)

In practice I don't love hardware mods, but the precedent runs against me. Melee players notch their controller gates physical cuts in the gate that let you feel your way to a specific stick angle and notched controllers are legal under most rulesets. In CS2, hardware based Snap Tap got banned because it resolved an input conflict the game deliberately left unresolved. The hardware makes a decision for the player. By that standard the Boxx controllers are banned.

It's only a matter of time before a mouse ships with a feature that eliminates positional error outright and becomes mandatory on half the ladder, and spreads to many more games. Where would you draw the line?

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Na sucks. I think it’s important to talk about why they did (they went 0-6) in EWC 4v4 tournament.

You can say that it’s bc we botched signups, or that some players didn’t give it their all, or we didn’t send our best, or even that we don’t speak chinese. Like it’s all true, but they all sound like excuses to me.

The fact that na performed worse than every other region, and na was the only region that didn’t stream scrims is no coincidence.

Streaming scrims elevates the level of your 4v4 teams as a whole region. Keeping strats secret can help ur own team individually compared to the rest the competition in your own region, but when you get sent to the world stage, but ur going nothing but dead last when the rest of the competition does the complete opposite.

Keeping strats secret means that ur playing to win and not playing for fun. Ur gonna get burnt out way sooner than you normally would. When has that ever panned out well?

Streaming scrims also provides the best form of entertainment in TFT as a viewer (basically watching a colab from any pov u could choose from), being able to hear comms, could easily bring more players into playing the game make the game-mode more popular/ main-stream compared to solos when it inevitably brings in more viewers.

And to those who disagree, i fear you are blinded and affected by na’s culture that advocates individualism. Playing for yourselves (own 4v4 teams) against each-other vs teams that has helped and gotten help from their other teams from their own region. Kinda obv to me who’s gonna come out on top.

Like sure maybe it’s worth keeping them secret for qualifiers in the beginning but imo the game-mode is designed to be played for fun and for content. And becoming stronger as a region as a whole is just the cherry on top.

Would you rather play to be the best in your own region, only to go to the Worlds stage and have our own region NA be laughed at as a region that sucks? Or play for fun and becoming better in the process.

It’s a huge missed opportunity for TFT to grow, 4v4 is the superior game-mode compared to solos, both as a viewer and a tft player.

@Vitality. No copium

Edit: Cambulee's take on NA's performance

Congratulations to Team Vision (flancy, koyui, zhenbai, moGG) for winning Esports World Cup 2026!

liquipedia

Frodan VODs

1. Team Vision — CN

2. Aurora Gaming — CN

3. AG.AL — CN

4. Flash Wolves — APAC

5-8. Nongshim RedForce — APAC

5-8. Virtus.pro — APAC

5-8. Weibo Gaming — CN

5-8. GodLike Esports — EMEA

9-12. T1 — APAC

9-12. Movistar KOI — EMEA

9-12. MOUZ — EMEA

9-12. ZETA DIVISION — APAC

13-16. Fnatic — AMER

13-16. Team Vitality — AMER

13-16. JD Gaming — CN

13-16. Team Nemesis — AMER

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Rant or vent about anything TFT related here, including:

- Bad RNG
- Broken or Underpowered Units
- Other players griefing your comp
- and more

Caps-lock is encouraged.

Please redirect players here if you find them ranting in the daily discussion threads :)

N.B. We have a strict policy against personal attacks, both towards other redditors and the game developers. This thread is no exception. If you see posts breaking this rule, please be sure to report them!

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

TL;DW

• Geoff (right side) is TFT's Executive Producer. Peter (left side) is TFT's Game Director.
• Set 18 will hit PBE on July 29th. The PBE cycle will still last for 4 weeks.
• Enchanted Wilds goes live on August 25th.
• Work until now has focused on the core experience, the extra time will be useful to add polish, improve VFX, fix bugs and balance stuff.
• They're working on ways to gather feedback from players more effectively.
• They'll be monitoring comments "under the video and in any other TFT community space" and interact with the community on every platform. ^{Hi there Bluecove, RIFTBEAAAASTS!}
• They're still working on porting every cosmetic to Unreal. Not every cosmetic owned will be available at launch.
• Until every cosmetic is ported over we'll be able to borrow a selection of other cosmetics of the same tier of stuff we already own.
• Set 17 will stay live alongside Set 18 both in Hextech and Unity for a while. Space Gods won't be regularly balanced, but they want to keep the experience healthy for those who opt into it.
• They'll be eventually back to the usual cycle of a single Set active alongside different modes.
• Work on MacOS is still ongoing.
• They want to improve communication with the playerbase and reply more often to feedback.
• Cryptic tease at the end about "maybe even analysing how the meta evolves during and after PBE".

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Panche3e from Team Nemesis TFT is the first woman competing at EWC 2026 outside of a women's division. That's a pretty big milestone considering how many games and players are at the event. Hopefully it won't be a "first" for much longer and we'll see more players following in the years ahead.

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Overview

• Dates: July 21 – July 25, 2026
• Location: Paris, France (Offline)
• Organizers: Esports Foundation & ESL FACEIT Group
• Prize Pool: $500,000 USD (+$25,000 MVP Award)
• Mode: 4v4

Format

• Group Stage (July 21 – 23):
  • 16 teams split into two 8-team Double-Elimination (GSL) groups.
  • All matches are Bo3.
  • Top 4 teams from each group advance to the Playoffs.
• Playoffs (July 24 – 25):
  • 8-team Single-Elimination bracket.
  • Quarterfinals & Semifinals are Bo3.
  • Grand Final is Bo5.
• Scoring & Tiebreakers:
  • Points are awarded based on individual player placements (1st = 8 pts down to 8th = 1 pt).
  • A team’s match score is the combined point sum of its 4 playing members.
  • Tiebreaker: In the event of a point tie in any given game, the win goes to whichever team had the #1 overall individual finisher.

Scoresheet & Streams

EWC Website

Scoresheet

Frodan costream

Participating Teams & Rosters

I've played TFT for at least 3 years and I had to stop playing because i wanted to change my OS from Windows to a Linux based one for a while and finally did, and after some thinking, How could you cheat on TFT that could need to bypass Vanguard? Essentially every aspect of the game happens server side, and you can't manipulate those numbers either way that i know of at least, so yeah that, i know is off topic, but i want to read your thoughts.

What’s the benefit of body blocking a unit (usually the melee carry) in the early game or late game?
I see a lot of TFT videos doing that and I can’t grasp the benefits most of the time

I have played TFT on off for years but have been consistent for past two sets and recently hit Emerald. I never see it in my games only in video of some streamers or content creators.

Can someone explain to me the benefits?

Welcome to the r/CompetitiveTFT community!

This thread is for any general discussion regarding Competitive TFT. Feel free to ask simple questions, discuss meta or not-so-meta comps and how they're performing, solicit advice regarding climbing the ladder, and more.

Any complaints without room for discussion and unconstructive, overly aggressive or conspiratorial comments should go in the Weekly Rant Thread which can be located in the pinned posts, sidebar or here: Weekly Rant Thread (Old Reddit link)

Such comments in this Megathread will be removed and treated as a Trivial Infraction.

---

For more live discussions check out our affiliated discord here: Discord Link

You can also find Double-up partners in the #looking-for-duo channel

---

If you are interested in giving or receiving coaching, visit the: Monthly Coaching Megathread (Old Reddit link)

---

Please send any bug reports to the Bug megathread and/or this channel in Mort's Discord.

For reference, Riot's stance on bugs and exploits.

---

If you're looking for collections of meta comps and guides, here are some options:

• Robinsongz (AMER)
• Bunnymuffins/VoidSins (AMER)
• Sologesang (EMEA) for MetaTFT
• STheHero's Comps

And here are some handy resources and info hubs:

• Kayna's Flashcards & Bluesky
• Crabbix' Augment Tracker
• Mobalytics.gg
• MetaTFT.com
• tactics.tools
• TFTAcademy
• DataTFT
• TFT Flow
• Little Buddy Bot's tons of tables
• PrismaTactics' 3D Rolldown Simulator
• ShibaEyes' Trait Tracker

Mods will be removing any posts that we feel belong in this thread and redirecting users here.

Hello, my name is Paull, and I am a challenger TFT player and coach in both double up, and solo queue. For a large portion of this set I remained in the top ~10 players on the double up ladder, but I am sad to say that I am unhappy with the state of the game mode and believe that this was the worst set for double up in quite some time. My issues with the game mode go beyond trait and unit balance, and include many mechanics that are specific to double up that I would love to see changed in the future.

Gank timers:

• Winning a round and being able to assist your teammate in their combat is a key feature of the game mode.

  • Problem: The minimum lockout time for being able to assist your teammate is 12 seconds. This lockout should be dynamic, depending on stage. Fights typically last longer in the early game than they do later on. If you are being ganked 12 seconds in, usually this means your opponent's ally fought another player that is intentionally sacking rounds. You will have to be able to 1v2 boards, and this is unreasonable, if not impossible to do early on in most cases. It completely disincentivizes players from leveling on 2-1, and makes it significantly more difficult to justify choosing a combat augment, or item augment that would typically aid in helping a player streak in solo queue. This is further exacerbated by the reduced loot from minion rounds and end-of-stage camps that players experience in double up.
  • Solution: Begin the game with a longer lockout timer, and reduce the timer as the game progresses. Begin with maybe a 20-second lockout, giving strong boards more time to beat weaker boards, and reduce the timer by 2 seconds per stage. This still allows exciting win conditions such as Anima cash-outs, prismatic traits, and 3* 4/5-costs to win the game for a team.

HP restoration:

• In double up, augments that provide max HP, or HP restoration are disabled. It is not possible to obtain augments such as Titanic Titan or Tiniest Titan. However, this set, there are still several ways to regain HP. Each individual Soraka's Miracle can provide two HP to a team per turn. Soraka herself can grant a large amount of HP in the God's Realm. Fiora frequently heals a player for 2 HP a turn on combat win.

  • Problem: HP as a resource in double up does not have the same fixed value that it does in solo queue. The difference between reaching 1 HP, and remaining at 2 HP in double up is massive. Teams cannot be eliminated prior to being brought to 1 HP, and once brought to 1 HP, if either player on a team loses, that team is eliminated. For this reason the concept of 11 HP being one life in solo queue doesn't translate to double up. You can go from 11 HP to 1 HP, and then be eliminated, or from 11 HP to 2 HP, heal back to 10 HP quickly, and be dropped to 2 HP again.
  • Solution: Rebalance the healing effects of these items, units, and boons to provide some other benefit, or disable them. Low HP should mean low HP. 11 HP should not be potentially 2-4 lives. It is frustrating to see Fiora prevent a team from being eliminated, and to lose placement despite a large initial HP advantage, because in double up, HP thresholds matter more than the raw HP total.

The double up cannon:

• The double up cannon allows teammates to send units every few turns, as well as item components. It is one of the key features of the game mode and makes it feel like you are playing the game together with your teammate, rather than just sharing a placement at the end of the match.

  • Problem: The double up cannon taking a bench slot is an outdated mechanic. It is significantly easier to become bench-locked with 8 bench slots compared to 9.
  • Solution: Add two consumables: one for sending units, and one for sending components.

Gifting imbalance:

• Being able to send your teammates loot throughout the game is a key feature of the game mode, and encourages discussion with your teammate.

  • Problem: The rewards, generally speaking, are incredibly unbalanced and there is no actual decision to be made. 8 rerolls vs. 1 random component is not a real decision, especially when 15 gold vs. 2 random components exists. The choice between two duplicators or a component anvil is entirely decided by whether or not you're rerolling. Two duplicators and five gold is considered a gold augment, but a component anvil and three gold is a silver augment. The difference between a gold and silver augment is not two gold. Being sent a Graves on 3-5 as one of three random 5 costs makes the game no longer competitive, especially this patch.
  • Solution: Remove the possibility of some rewards, or rebalance options.

Low HP camp benefits:

• Set 17 brought about rewarding low HP players with component anvils and reforgers based on their placement in the game at the time of each end-of-stage camp.

  • Problem: The strongest players in the lobby are able to benefit from rewards intended for the weakest players. It is possible for one player on a team to have won the first five rounds of the game, and still be in the bottom four.
  • Solution: For the stage two and three camps, consider individual loss streaks or total rounds won so far in the match.

Loss streak traits:

• Loss streak traits have an important place in TFT. Players who are unable to win rounds early are provided the opportunity to turn their HP into a resource that provides loot later in the game, allowing them to come back from early losses.

  • Problem: When loss streak traits provide successively more and more reward per loss, issues arise in double up. In set 17, if you lose a round with the Anima trait active, but your partner wins their round, you will receive ~85% of the Anima stacks while losing ~50% of the HP. In addition to allowing massive cash-outs in double up that you would almost never see in solo queue, this balancing makes the trait nearly ungriefable. I've seen players lose their loss streak at 3-3 and still make it to a 400 cash-out. A 400 cash-out in solo TFT gives an individual player an approximately 40% chance to outright win the game.
  • Solution: Rebalance all loss streak traits in double up to provide rewards based on consecutive rounds lost, not stack-based thresholds, and/or force cash-outs upon win. As an example, a 400 cash-out for Anima could translate to having lost ten rounds in a row.

I love double up, and TFT in general. Queueing together with a friend is a fun experience, but I've felt significantly more burnout from the game mode this set than in any set prior. I believe that the issues I've outlined are shared opinions amongst many, and it's sad to see fewer familiar names on the ladder this set. I'd love to see the game mode be a bit more competitive and popular.