A Master guide to climbing with Yordles in TFT: Gizmos and Gadgets

The metagame is starting to stabilize in the Teamfight Tactics: Gizmos and Gadgets expansion and one of the premier comps for TFT Set 6 is the Yordles composition. In this Yordles TFT guide, Upcomer’s TFT expert and 16-time Master ranked player will give players everything they need to know in order to climb up the ranked ladder with one of the strongest compositions in the game.

Disclaimer: Only play this comp under these conditions

• You have three Yordles by 2-1
• You have a gold start/econ based augment
• You are uncontested
•  You are ok with POTENTIALLY losing LP

This composition is by far the most volatile composition of the entire set but also the most fun comp. This is the ultimate reroll composition. Historically, reroll compositions have been hard to pilot due to their random nature. In Reroll comps, players must get ahold of nine copies of a couple of specific units in order to make them three-star. In this comp, players have to hit six different three-star units. The reward for doing so is great but getting there without dying is rough. If you have the above requirements, however, you can win.

Having three Yordles by 2-1 is an absolute. You need to be able to generate Yordles immediately and even losing out on one round of Yordle generation is crucial. Also, just like other reroll compositions, the chance of hitting the units you need goes up if there is no one looking for the same units. The kicker here is the augment. There are a few augments that make reroll compositions inherently easier to hit. For silver augments, Hyperoll and Calculated Loss are fantastic econ-based augments for Yordles. For gold augments, there are a couple. Rich Get Richer and Trade Sector are good. For Prismatic starts, there are a few choices. Windfall, Loaded Dice and Golden Ticket are ideal.

There are many generically good augments for the comp too. Underdogs, Featherweights, and many of the hearts and emblems are good too. But, it’s recommended that you play with an econ augment before trying to play with the other augments.

Early game

On the very first carousel, it’s important to prioritize a Yordle champion. In this comp, items are not a priority; the strength comes from the raw power of hitting all the Yordle champions. Try to get to 10 econ as fast as possible and do not level. The caveat here comes when you don’t have three Yordle champions after the last PvE round before Stage 2. You can use a method called “pre-leveling.” This mean that you spend the four gold to level before 2-1. This makes your shop at 2-1 a Level 4 shop, which increases the chance of acquiring high-cost Yordles like Lulu, Tristana, Heimerdinger and Vex. Once you have three Yordles, it’s go time.

Throughout Stage 2, only hold onto Yordle champions and nothing else and try your hardest to lose rounds closely. Lose-streaking generates a lot of gold. On the Stage 2 carousel, look for more Yordle champions.  You should be able to beat Krugs with just four Yordle champions, assuming that your front line is upgraded. Keeping Ziggs on the frontline is actually optimal; he will always be able to cast in the early game and he has a better chance at hitting his target. At Level 4, play an additional cheap bodyguard like Darius or a backline damage dealer like Caitlyn. Only upgrade these if it won’t cost you econ intervals.

Mid game

After Krugs, it’s time to start rolling. It’s really important to get the one-cost champions three-stared as fast as possible. This is because once they are three-star they will no longer show up, which increases the chances of hitting the more expensive units. After Krugs, reroll until you have at least one of your one-cost Yordles three-star, while also picking up copies of all other Yordles. At Level 5, add in the unit you didn’t add in the level previously. Caitlyn and Darius should be complementing the Yordles of Poppy, Tristana and Ziggs. Even if you have the potential to level and play six Yordles, do not do so. Wait until you have two or three Yordles three-star. The odds of hitting Lulu’s and Tristana are optimal at Level 5. Wait until one of them are three-star before moving to level six.

At the end of Stage 3, you should be in a position to hit Level 6. The, go ahead and play all six of the Yordle champions. You will stay at this level until all of them are three-star. You may be here until the start of Stage 5, which is okay. At Level 6, start to focus on making the best items you possibly can and asses which units will be the main carries. AD items go on Tristana. AP items go on Heimerdinger and tank items go on Vex.

Late game

So you have made it to the late game. At this point, Veigars should start popping out. If you think you can realistically get Veigar to three-star, go ahead and commit to playing him and level to seven. Veigar can utilize any AP and mana items. However, if a you don’t think you can hit Veigar three-star, or find you’re losing due to being under-leveled, you now have an extra five gold per round because it’s time to sell every Veigar that pops up for econ. Use this advantage to catch up to your opponent’s level. At higher levels, it’s time to look for units to complement the Yordles.

If your main carry is Tristana, add in a sniper like Caitlyn or Jhin to help her out in the damage department. If your carry is Heimerdinger, adding Janna doubles as an Enchanter and a Scholar. Vex being the carry is also buffed by Janna. You can also take advantage of emblems. The beauty of Yordles is that the comp can flex a lot of emblems and hearts since the core is only six units deep. At Level 8, just try to fit in another unit that can fill out a synergy.

Pivots

What happens if you don’t think you are going to hit? In some games, it will not be possible to top four games by trying to hit the six Yordle dream. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on Yordles entirely. Playing with just three Yordles is actually great.

In this scenario, players will want to three-star a couple of different Yordles while selling all the others for econ along the way. Usually, this means that players will look at one main carry and two supporting units. For example, this could mean playing Tristana and keeping Lulu’s and Poppy’s while selling any other Yordle that pops up. Or, it could mean playing Heimerdinger while keeping Lulu’s and Poppy’s, and selling off Tristana’s and the rest of the Yordles. In these scenarios, you can play exactly the same as six Yordles, except you can hang onto other units. If playing Tristana’s, you should hold onto Caitlyn’s. Heimerdinger means you can hold onto units like Zyra and Lissandra for Scholar buffs. These are easier to hit since its like playing a standard reroll composition while also having built-in econ, since you get gold every turn from the Yordle trait.

This comp rewards intuition. The more you play it, the better you become at recognizing different paths to go once you hit the core. It also rewards players that are aware of needing to pivot. The more you play, the better you will get and the more often you will hit. And, if you do hit, you will more than likely win more games.