TFT: What is TFT in League of Legends?

TFT, or Teamfight Tactics, is an auto-battler made by Riot Games for not only PC but also mobile devices. While it's only available on PC as a separate game mode in League of Legends, it's treated as a unique game with individual installable applications for Android and iOS devices.

Unlike the five vs. five regular game mode that relies heavily on teamwork and cooperation, TFT is an eight-person free for all tactics game where each player recruits champions, deploys them, and uses them to battle other players and their champions to be the last one standing.

Every match consists of three types of rounds:

• The Carousel, where players can choose a champion
• PvE round where you face a group of minions/monsters to get items and gold

And finally, the PvP round, which is the main round, as players randomly get assigned an opponent where they use their gathered champions and items to battle. A player is counted as defeated if there are no units of that player left standing.

The losing team takes damage depending on the tier and upgrades the level of each surviving champion on the winning team. If the timer runs out and neither team has been defeated, it is considered a loss for both players, and they are each damaged accordingly.

Players start with 100 life points, and a player's LP reaching 0 leads to defeat. Upon defeat, players can either exit the game or continue to watch it as a spectator. In the case that there's an odd number of players, one team might get matched up with an already defeated player's ghost army, which, upon winning, will deal damage as if any player normally would.

What are the phases in a TFT match?

There are three phases in a TFT match that everyone goes through.

Planning

Before the start of a round, players are given a 30-second setup phase, during which players can organize the starting positions of their champions for combat.

Arrival

Some players get transported to the arena or base of other players so the battle can happen.

Battle

Finally comes the most important phase. You could still purchase champions in this phase, but they won't affect the current battle at all. However, you could also equip items to champions, and they will function as they should from then on.