Valiant Squad
As a completely new faction in Teamfight Tactics 5.5, the Valiant Squad is gaining popularity among players testing it on the PBE server due to its inclusion of many new and powerful names like Rakan (3 gold), Lucian, Galio (4 gold), and especially Akshan (5 gold).
Notably, the Valiant Squad is predicted to dethrone the Celestial team composition in the comprehensive offense-defense category as achieving 3 champions to activate the trait grants 200 Shields and an additional 30% attack speed for 4 seconds. Some players may feel that the time extension to 1 second at the 9 Valiant activation for 1000 Shields and 1000% attack speed is too little, but it’s important to remember that Lucian, Irelia, Senna, and particularly Akshan all have extremely high attack speeds. At 3 stars, Lucian can deal 200 physical damage; if he gains around 100% attack speed (at the 6 trait activation) or 1000% (at the 9 trait activation), just 1 to 3 seconds is more than enough for Lucian to wipe out the enemy team.
Moreover, the Valiant Squad also benefits from the sturdiness provided by Olaf, Galio, and crowd control from Senna and Pyke, making it one of the top choices when season 5.5 officially launches.
Lucian (4 gold)
As mentioned earlier, Lucian is one of the main damage dealers of the Valiant Squad in version 5.5, and thus, this champion possesses an incredibly high damage output. When Lucian uses his Reckoning ability, he will focus on the farthest enemy and fire 16 shots. Notably, Lucian’s shots will integrate damage from items and include magic damage as well. This 4-gold champion can interact with both physical damage items and ability power items.
In season 5.5, Lucian is placed in the Gunner class (along with Senna, Tristana, Miss Fortune), gaining a significant boost in damage. It can be said that Lucian is one of the champions that deals excellent damage, countering compositions that place key damage dealers in distant corners, but he also requires some protection from surrounding champions to maximize the effectiveness of Reckoning in battles.
Gwen (5 gold)
A completely new faction, but it is certainly not a coincidence that Gwen is classified as 5 gold by Riot. The reality is that this season, while some 1 and 2 gold champions may be strong, those assigned to 5 gold are undoubtedly very powerful. Therefore, players can fully trust in Gwen’s strength when appearing in a composition with the Mystic trait alongside the Inanimated trait.
The Inanimated trait of Gwen helps the entire team reduce damage by 33% right from the start of combat, lasting for 8 seconds (almost 2/3 of the total combat time of a round). As long as the Fog created by Inanimated is still effective and allied champions remain within it, they almost take no damage. Moreover, Gwen also has the Mystic trait, providing significant magic resistance reduction if the trait is activated (90 magic resistance at the 3 Mystic activation).
Gwen’s ability in TFT 5.5 will be Snip Snip. This skill allows Gwen to dash to an enemy, using her scissors to cut 3 times in front, dealing magic damage based on a percentage of the enemy’s health and reducing their armor and magic resistance. Some players have experimented with Gwen using Blue Buff + an item that increases ability power and achieved results beyond expectations even at just 1 star.
Fiddlestick (4 gold)
Currently, the number of matches players have tested with Fiddlestick, the Ancient Fear, is still not too high as version 5.5 has only been available for testing since the morning of August 8 (Vietnam time). However, it can be confidently stated that Fiddlestick will be one of the strongest names in Teamfight Tactics in the near future, as he carries 3 traits considered to be among the strongest currently: Mystic – Demon – Undead.
Perhaps there’s no need to elaborate too much on the “dominance” and impact of these 3 traits since the beginning of the season. The ability to combine with strong compositions like the Celestial – Mystic, Undead+ or Divine – Demon – Brawler enables any champion possessing at least 2/3 of these traits to easily fit into a team composition.
It can be said that while Ryze from the Undead – Mystic has been removed in 5.5, Riot has introduced a Fiddlestick that is even stronger, as he now has the Mystic trait to synergize with powerful champions like Lux or the newly released Gwen, or even activate the 5 Demon trait with already strong champions like Volibear, Ivern, and Nocturne.
Akshan (5 gold)
Recently, the League of Legends community has been buzzing about the new champion Akshan, a member of the Valiant Squad, who is truly very powerful with his W ability that can revive teammates and bypass cooldown. However, those who frequently play Teamfight Tactics can rest assured that in the luck-based game, while he remains very strong at the 5 gold level, he is not as dominant.
Akshan’s passive in TFT 5.5 will help him reduce enemy armor by 50% for 4 seconds. When activating his ability, Akshan swings towards the farthest enemy not targeted for 4 seconds, then releases the swing and deals damage to the nearest target at that moment. Akshan’s attack speed is also doubled while he is swinging.
However, Akshan will only be able to maximize his strength when equipped with sufficient items, and players reach level 7 or 8 and purchase him early, as Akshan is a 5 gold champion. But based on what has been demonstrated, this champion, like Gwen and Lucian, will be a strong counter to compositions that position key damage dealers in the backline, and even with just a defensive item (like a Guardian Angel, for example), Akshan can be considered nearly invincible.