Challenger Guide for Teamfight Tactics

Our guide list for patch 6.5 TFT is expanding today!

Today our topic of the day will be The Challenger trait and with it comes The Challenger guide for Teamfight Tactics

Introduction

The Clockwork and The Sniper traits are topics we’ve covered in the past. I have been trying to write these articles in an order that I will release Guides for traits that are somewhat compatibile with each other. This is also the case with The Challenger trait since both Clockwork and Sniper champions can overlap with The Challengers to complete a strategy and have the best composition with amazing harmony with the other traits.

The Challenger composition is our favorite pick of the day. This composition is an extremely strong and dependent choice. If you like high-speed-high-damage compositions, Challengers are the best choice for you. The Challenger trait is mainly focused on high speed attacks with the most of the time focused on the damage dealt by the basic attacks of the champions, but in case you haven’t figured it out by now, the faster a champion attacks, the faster his mana is recharging and as a result of that, your champions will be able to use their Ultimate abilities more times in that case , compared to compositions where Attack speed and Mana regeneration are not the main focus, or at least a result from the main bonus of the said trait.

Challenger Trait currently houses two of most powerful units in this game: Kai’Sa, and Tryndamere. These two powerful units can help you win virtually any matchup, and they are extremely useful because of their itemization. The Challengers are easy to learn, but most units require a lot Gold and luck in order to be obtained on time.

So you need to know the best way to transform the build into something strong. 

This Teamfight Tactics Challenger Guide will show you the most popular TFT Challenger build. You’ll learn how to use it throughout the game and become victorious any time you play it!

The Challenger trait:

Challengers get bonus Attack Speed. Upon scoring a takedown, Challengers dash to a new target and double this bonus for 2.5 seconds.

• 2
  • 25% Attack Speed
• 4
  • 55% Attack Speed
• 6
  • 90% Attack Speed
• 8
  • 150% Attack Speed

Champions:

Listed according to their respective in-game prices the list goes:

1. Cammile
2. Quinn
3. Warwick
4. Tryndamere
5. Draven
6. Kai’Sa

Cammile

Cammile can be a low-cost champion you might want to avoid, unless it is an essential part of your composition, such as this one. New players tend to make a mistake with equipping Cammile with best items early on in the game, this is a mistake. She simply doesn’t possess the strenght or the abilities to make good use of them. God knows I’ve tried every item. The ones that might just work if you really want to make your life difficult is Guinsoo’s Rageblade, combined with The Bloodthirster. She also needs some form of sustain (possibly in The Edge of The Night). But that was a huge waste of resources. 

Her inclusion in The Challenger as well as The Clockwork compositions is what makes her unique. She is just bought and used in the field to fulfill the position. You might disagree with my opinion on this, but I don’t see how she can be useful.And I am taking into account her being a one gold costing champion, but still? I mean, look at Caitlyin, Illaoi, Brand, and many others. When I think of it, she may actually be one of the useless champions in the whole set.

You can throw her anywhere you like on the board for her positioning. She will hopefully take the aggro on itself and at least be useful so that your carries can do some damage from the back.

I wouldn’t max her out for anything beyond level 2. Unless you are so fortunate to have three Camille’s appear in your shop. It can’t hurt any more, well, more then you having to play her.

Ability: Defensive Sweep

Camille gains a shield blocking damage over 4 seconds, then sweeps her leg, dealing magic damage to enemies in a cone. While this shield holds, Camille’s attacks restore 30 Health.

Quinn

This girl has been so underrated throughout the whole Set 6, and in my opinion, unfortunately, it has stayed like that with that patch as well. You need to know, Quinn is not a damage champion, I mean, yes she does deal some damage, but the damage is not something you should focus as much, for she is a Utility champion whose primary role is to disarm and disable her enemies with her ult. Hence the name ‘’Disarming Assault’’.

 She is a real catch if you know how to abuse her properly. If you addher an augment she can stay relevant in any composition. The benefits are immense. Apart from disarming her foes, she also reduces Attack damage to any nearby enemies for the full length of four seconds.

She is very important both to the Mercenaries and Challenger compositions. Relatively low cost, starting at just two gold, this champion is the one you can max with levels, and you won’t even feel it since she is so underused and played just to fill a spot for the trait.

As for positioning, she is quite versatile. She can go in the lower end of the board, along with some Snipers, or she can go in the middle, standing behind strong tanks, while giving them her massive support! 

Item-wise, I wouldn’t spend some of the better items on her since her primary role is not to deal damage but rather to disable and disarm. She would be most beneficial to your team if you equip her with some attack speed items so she can disarm as many opponents as she can while she is still alive in that particular combat. If you get a hold of The Sniper emblem she is the champion to put it on.

Ability: Disarming Assault

Quinn sends Valor out at her target, dealing magic damage to the target and nearby enemies. The main target is disarmed for 3 seconds and all nearby enemies have their Attack Damage reduced by for 4 seconds.

Warwick

This champion is one the most outstanding in the game. Warwick is one the most valuable champions in the game. He stays relevant until the end. Warwick is also a champion who can work with most of the current set’s items, regardless of whether you want to use him as a tank, bruiser or attack speed, or even damage bonuses. He can also use some AP items, but only if it becomes too easy or you need some challenge. (Pun intended. He is a challenger.)

WW is the very affordable starting champion. It costs only two gold and is easy to upgrade to level three. I am serious. He thrives in any role, whether it’s as a Chemtech, Challenger or both.

 With The Chemtech’s equipped with Titan’s Resolve, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, and The Bloodthirster, I promise you, this guy will not die. I am not joking. Once you have five to seven Chemtech’s infield, the hp regeneration from the traits benefit combined with his ability, and his hp just won’t drop for a split second. Also, add Titan’s Resolve with the stacking of size and defensive stats, and Guinsoo’s just doing the thing you like the most on that item. He becomes The Ultimate Hunter!

With The Challenger’s you can pretty much do the same items, but I would swap The Bloodthirster with something tankier, like The Bramble’s vest, since you will already have a lot of speed and power from the trait itself, but you will lack regeneration that you get from The Chems. In The Challenger composition, Warwick is likely to die among the first ones, but his sacrifice won’t go in vain since he will not die quickly, leaving just enough time for his buddies to shred your opponent’s backline.

Position him on the front center of the board so he can take as much aggro possible. Max him asap to level three.

Ability: Eternal Hunger

Passive: Warwick’s Attacks deal an additional percent of his target’s current Health as bonus magic damage, and heal him for the damage dealt.

Tryndamere

The strongest 4 gold costing champion in the game right now, Tryndamere.

Trynda is really the bread and butter to any comp he is put in.

In all honesty, I don’t know what Riot was thinking when they made the decision that he was balanced. I am physically sickened by the power he has and the power surge he experiences when he reaches level 2. . If you’re lucky enough to be granted an Ascension Augment, you will probably never lose a fight. When he has reached full mana, he can spin like a ballerina. You can scrap that. Perhaps a Beyblade would be a better description. Yes, Beyblade sounds great. Once he has reached full mana, he spins like a Beyblade, and then he just wipes out everything. Although he is quite squishy,with good sustain items he will be an animal.

If you have an Augment via Emblem or Crest to spare, Trynda is always a viable option to use it on, no matter the traits or comp you are fitting him in. Except maybe arcanists, but come on, who would do that?

My items of choice for Trynda are The Infinity Edge, The Edge of Night, and you can choose between The Bloodthirster (The Challenger comp) or The Guinsoo’s Rageblade (The Chemtech comp). As some of you eagle-eyed summoners will see, the last item really is there to compensate for the thing you will be missing in your comp that particular game.

Position him in the far back, and try to protect him in any way you can. After the initial five seconds of combat, he will just be flying everywhere over the arena, slicing and dicing everything on his path (sorry, Rene). 

You should max his level as soon as you can since he is an integral part of any comp he is in. He should be your priority when equipping items to champions.

Ability: Spinning Slash

Tryndamere spins in a line towards the most enemies, dealing 150% of his Attack Damage plus bonus damage to enemies in his path and empowering his next 3 attacks to deal 20% more damage.

Draven

Draven is another new champion that Riot has brought us with the arrival of patch 6.5.

Both in The Debonair composition and The Challenger, he fits the bill. He is a solid pick but I have yet to see him shine. Because The Debonair comp has a VIP subtrait, it is very popular. This is why he is a rare find. You will not be able to upgrade him to the level you want because he is a rare and expensive champion.. Even if you manage to upgrade him, your items will have been spent on a higher-level champion by that time. He still does damage. But compared to the ease of getting to Trynda level three, it is a mere shadow. 

When comparing both of Draven’s traits, I would say that he shines brighter in The Debonair comp since there is just no place among The Challengers for him to thrive compared to the other amazing picks in that comp. The best pick for The Debonair comp would surely be VIP Draven level two at least, but that thing is harder to achieve than finding the source of the Nile.

Items for Draven would be any kind of AD item, but some are standing above others for the sheer compatibility, and those are The Infinity Edge, The Bloodthirster, and The Last Whisper.

Position for Draven is somewhere in the back of the field, or even the middle behind your frontline.

Ability: Spinning Axes

Draven starts spinning an axe, empowering his next attack to deal a percentage of his Attack Damage plus bonus physical damage. The axe will return to his original location after striking the target. If Draven catches it, he will empower the axe again. Draven can spin up to 2 axes at a time. Passive: Draven ignores 50% of his target’s Armor. VIP Bonus: Draven gains infinite attack range and ignores 50% of his target’s Armor.

Kai’Sa

Kai’sa is one the most powerful five-gold costing champions in the game. Her ability is basically an superpowered Kassadin’s Mutant ult. I kinda get that since, after all, she is his daughter. Because she can max AD and AP or Attack speed, she’s versatile.

If I had to place her in the tier of five cost champions, she would be like second or third place sitting behind Tahm Kench and Zeri. If you are going for The Challenger comp, then you already have enough Attack speed, but she can benefit from Guinsoo’s Rageblade there too!

 As for Mutant comp, it really depends on what type of Mutation the game gives you in that particular game. The Hextech Gunblade is always a good choice for her and The Rabbadon’s Deathcap as well. 

Depending on the opponent’s composition, you should consider some sustain in the form of Quicksilver or The Edge of The Night if the enemy team favors some burst champions like the ones in The Assassin or The Arcanist composition. 

Since level three is virtually impossible to achieve, even at level 2, you’ll likely be able to delete any enemy player team within 10 seconds. It is as easy as that.

Positioning should be considered somewhat like The Snipers or Assassin’s since she tends to act like The Assassin. That means far away from potential early fight aggro. To simplify, that means in the back of the board.

Items for Kai’Sa are The Guinsoo’s Ragebalde, The Bloodthirster, The Infinity Edge, The Rabbadon’s Deathcap, The Blue Buff, The Edge of The Night, and The Quicksilver.

She should be leveled as much as you can.

Ability: Icathian Monsoon

Kai’sa dashes to the hex furthest from all enemies. She then fires a volley of missiles spread evenly among all enemies that deal magic damage. Kai’Sa fires a bonus missile for each time she has attacked this combat.

The Challenger composition wouldn’t be complete and wouldn’t have a needed strength on it’s own. We need something to support it. After many games and many different compositions I have tried out, I figured that the supporting trait for The Challenger composition should be The Clockwork trait.

Supporting champions:

Listed according to their respective in-game prices the list goes:

1. Zilean
2. Jhin
3. Orianna

Zilean

Zilean is a low-cost champion starting with the price of two gold coins. He was released with the Set 6 called The Gizmos and Gadgets and he was among the lucky bunch to stay with the arrival of The Neon Nights.

I personally quite like Zilean, and I can’t say why. I mean he is old man that’s throwing some kind of bombs or rocks, I’m not even sure. His look’s are definetly due for some upgrades, and I hope Riot is going to finalize that project in the days that are coming.

 Even though he is on the relatively lower end of the champions spectrum, I have always had the difficulty of getting him to level 3. And he isn’t even played that much since Clockworks aren’t something that people usually decide to play since it is a weaker strategy compared to some others.

But in case you are among the lucky ones, and you get him to the max level, he can do some serious damage with his bombs. He will work well with any kind of AP items you can grab. Try positioning him behind your tanks so the focus won’t be on him but still won’t receive much damage if the enemy is playing assassins.

Zilean can benefit the best with The Blue Buff, The Jeweled Gauntlet and The Rabbadon’s Deathcap. If he is your carry try to protect him the best way you can, but it is not something I would do, If I were you. At least have some backup carrie behind him, possibly some ADC would be the best choice.

Ability: Time Bomb

Zilean places a bomb on the closest enemy, stunning them.

When the stun ends, or the target dies, the bomb explodes dealing magic damage to adjacent enemies and applying Attack Speed Slow for 3 seconds.

Jhin

 Jhin is an overpowered sniper that costs four gold.

The Khada Jhin, as his stage name sounds was with us from the start of Gizmos and Gadgets and he has always been one of the top 5 champions when it come to price-quality ratio. The level three Jhin is a game-ender. If you manage that, the enemies leave the game without the fight.

This is a very dangerous man. The adversary will only have to pray to Lord the saviour when he’s ready for his Ult. But, the problem is, he is squishy and won’t be able to sustain and is likely to be blasted by any assassin that comes across his path. It’s your responsibility to determine if you wish to use him simply as a squishy weapon or if your aim is to grant him an Quicksilver or any other defensive item.

As far as positioning goes, Jhin should never touch the edge of the board unless he has Quicksilver. Items should always be Infinity Edge and Last Whisper no matter what, but for the last item, you have many options and combinations. You can go Blue Buff which is the highest damage output combination, since he will ult immediately as the fight starts, or you can go for Quicksilver and take some necessary precautions. If you happen to have The Rabbadon’s Deathcap to spare, you can equip that one on Jhin too.

A very difficult champion to obtain even at level one, let alone two or three, your goal is to have him at level two by the end game if it is possible. Like most of the Snipers, Jhin’s isn’t working great against burst compositions like assassins and arcanists.

Ability: Curtain Call

Jhin transforms his weapon into a powerful sniper rifle for his next 4 shots. Each shot deals a percentage of his Attack Damage as physical damage, reduced by 33% for each target it pierces through. The 4th shot is guaranteed to critically strike, and deals 44% more damage based on his target’s missing Health. Passive: Jhin always attacks .9/.9/1.4 times per second. He converts each 1% of bonus Attack Speed into .8 Attack Damage.

Orianna

One of the best midlaners of The Summoner’s Rift, on the arenas of TFT, comes Orianna.

Her power doesn’t end at The Summoner’s Rift. She also brought this strength to TFT. She is The Clockwork Enchantress, and she’s not someone to play with. You’ll get a SHIELD and a STUN and damage against opponents. It’s amazing what Riot has accomplished with this champion.  Who in Riot Games has ever said, “Hmm, a stun and shield, as well as damage to your adversaries, it sounds great for me.” Since the beginning of Set 6 the Lady Orianna has been creating chaos within the TFT world.

 Since you can understand what I am talking about, you should abuse it as well until they understand what they have done and nerf her to the point of uselessness. She does have a huge power spike after hitting level two.

A powerfull mage to carry your games, Orianna is great champion for a late game with incredible damage output and shielding potential. She is definetley a game changer.

Her place should be somewhere in the middle of the board so you can maximize all of the perks in her ult. 

For items, I would go for The Rabbadon’s Deathcap, The Spear of Shojin, and The Blue Buff.

Ability:Command: Shockwave

Orianna sends out her ball towards the largest group of champions, then commands it to release a shockwave. Allies within two hexes gain a shield for 4 seconds, while enemies within the area are briefly knocked up and dealt magic damage. Enemies adjacent to the ball are drawn in, stunning them.

The in-game guide:

Early Game

This team should always be composed of Camille, Quinn and Warwick in the early game. This allows for a Challenger-four team synergy bonus. Zilean is the fifth champion. Clockwork two will also be available to the team, with Cammile and Zilean in there. This build has the main goal to reach level eight fast to unlock the Epic, Legendary units you need.

Mid Game

This point will usually see you on a losing streak. It’s okay. Keep your Gold level at 50 to maximize the bonus gold (via interests) and to earn experience points. Get to Stage eight quickly and grab Orianna, Jhin, and other goodies.

Late Game

Roll at level 8, and try to get your full team up and running. If you don’t get the core champs early in the late game, you’ll likely lose quickly. Ideally, you’ll want to have Camille,Warwick,Zilean and Trynda. These units are able to travel the round until you find Orianna & Kai’Sa. Clockworks gives them an additional bonus which completes their Challenger build.

The Challenger composition

Conclusion

The Challenger Comp is not one you want to mess around with. When combined with The Clockworks, they form a formidable duo. It seems that they aren’t picked as often as other comps. This means that you can exploit this to your advantage in the lower tiers of ranked play. This comp is simple and easy to pick up. 

Shake things up and try out different combinations of positioning and items for your  champions. This will make it harder for  your rival to catch up with your strategy, and you will always be the winner!