Kalista
To be honest, Kalista is the strongest physical carry in Teamfight Tactics at the cost of 1 gold. This champion has a significant amount of starting damage and can deal extremely strong damage early in the game. With just a B.F. Sword, a 2-star Kalista can take down 1-2 enemy backline units after each ability cast at the beginning of the match. This creates a huge advantage for players to build an early winning streak along with a generous amount of gold.
Not only that, players can build items for Kalista early without worrying about losing equipment. The reason is that this unit can hold items very effectively for other physical carries, so you can easily switch to playing Draven, Aphelios, Ashe… If you can buy Nunu & Willump and Brand early, you can push Kalista to become the main carry in a Zombie team composition. In short, you should start with Kalista if you have items that boost physical damage and attack speed.
Vladimir
Vladimir’s greatest strength is his astonishing resilience, possessing an incredibly strong healing ability. With this resilience, Vladimir can withstand fights exceptionally well and has a relatively strong single-target damage output. If you’re lacking a good tank early in the game, Vladimir can fully take on this role. With items like Warmog’s Blood Armor and Rabadon’s Deathcap, Vladimir proves to be very hard to take down early in the game, even at just 1 gold.
If you manage to buy multiple Vladimir units early, pushing this unit to 3 stars is a great option. With support from Dark Sorcerer units, Vladimir can carry the team very effectively. If you can’t push this unit to 3 stars, you should consider turning Vladimir into a holder for items meant for magic carries towards the late game. With his inherent resilience, Vladimir will help you maintain health very well and accumulate a large amount of gold for reconfiguring your team composition in the late game.
Syndra
In the context of the current meta where the Celestial team composition remains very strong, Syndra is an extremely hot unit. Although she doesn’t deal excessive damage in the late game, this 2-gold unit plays a crucial role in helping players operate the Celestial team most effectively. In the early stages of the game, Syndra’s ability damage is incredibly strong even when she doesn’t hold too many items. Therefore, Syndra will help you secure a winning streak quite easily.
Moreover, Syndra’s skill is very strong against Assassin units. Whether early or late in the game, this unit ensures that your backline will survive for a long time without requiring too much protection or defensive items. Additionally, you can pivot to a Sorcerer team with Syndra if you notice many players competing for the Celestial composition. Therefore, if you see Syndra in the shop, buy this unit immediately to unlock powerful compositions for the late game.