When battling in Teamfight Tactics, you often encounter ironic situations where the items come out one way while the champions appear another, making it difficult for you to choose a team composition. This is particularly frustrating when you select item-dependent compositions like Marksman (Jhin requires Infinity Edge and Bow of the Blue), but this issue has been addressed with the upcoming patch 10.12 along with the mid-season update.
With Riot Games introducing Teemo, a Marksman unit whose damage primarily comes from skills, you can rest assured that even if you stack AP items, you can still play this composition effectively. Moreover, the Astronaut trait, which reduces the energy cost of abilities, will significantly enhance the damage output of the team, making Jhin’s battlefield cleaning much easier.
Building the Composition
Early in the game, it’s best to have a Caitlyn unit as soon as possible, ideally at 2 stars, as this champion is very strong in the early game and can hold items for your future carry. For the frontline, having a Nautilus unit early on is also excellent; this champion has decent stats, good crowd control skills, and is a perfect tank for the early game.
The most special thing about the Marksman – Astronaut composition is that you need to level up to 8 as soon as possible; don’t try to roll too much at level 7, as the chances of obtaining important 4-cost units are very low. In the mid-game stage, your team may consist entirely of 1-star 4-cost champions, but rest assured that the strength of the composition will still be maintained due to the good damage and tankiness of the traits and classes in the team.
In the late game, to rank high, you need to observe the remaining players to make the best decisions. If the enemy has a lot of strong magic damage early on, you need to remove weaker late-game Marksmen like Ashe and Caitlyn to add in Mystic units. If your opponent is going for a late-game strategy, you can save up to level 9 and add in strong 5-cost units.
Recommended Items
As mentioned earlier, the two most important units in this composition are Jhin and Teemo, as they provide a mix of damage that is very difficult for opponents to counter. Jhin in this new patch is not much different from before, even stronger with Infinity Edge granting 100% critical strike chance, which synergizes perfectly with Bow of the Blue. The best defensive item Jhin needs is Trap Claw to dodge enemy crowd control skills.
Teemo is a bit more complex; this champion requires both AP items and energy to continuously and effectively “throw bombs.” Blue Buff (the old Rod of Ages) and Rabadon’s Deathcap are the best items for Teemo. If the enemy has a lot of healing from champions like Soraka or Warwick, you should consider adding Morellonomicon.