Kalista
The 1-cost champion of the Undead – Legion composition has never gone out of style with her multi-target damage potential from Piercing Spear. Not to mention, in the Undead composition, Kalista can be considered a primary damage source since Nunu only has a burst damage ability through Devour, while Brand and Fiddlesticks primarily focus on system activation and defense.
Kalista’s damage output, combined with Sion the Undead and Fiddlesticks as well as Nunu as a shield, can be extremely powerful, especially in the late game. Additionally, Kalista can also fit into the Angel – Mystery – Legion formation, providing both attack speed and good defensive capabilities with strong burst damage and healing.
However, Kalista is currently viewed with caution by some players due to a bug related to this champion from Riot. Although it has been fixed, if Kalista, as the team’s main carry, suddenly falls into a “frozen” state, it could lead to a bitter defeat for players.
Tristana
As a new 2-cost champion in TFT Season 5.5, Tristana quickly proves her value by adding a quality damage source to the Demon composition, reducing reliance on Teemo for this formation. Moreover, Tristana is one of the most mobile champions in the new Gunner lineup introduced in this season, as she can leap behind the furthest enemy champion and deal damage. Tristana can be seen as an affordable and effective damage source that this new season brings, as her cost is not too high (only 2 gold) to reach level 3.
However, due to her Rocket Jump ability, one weakness is that Tristana can be easily countered. Specifically, players don’t even need to focus on her from the start; they can simply place a sturdy champion in the furthest row, then eliminate the rest, leaving Tristana isolated. Additionally, while she can increase her attack speed through Demon, she won’t deal significant damage unless the Gunner bonus is activated, typically requiring Senna, Miss Fortune, or Lucian to be added in.
Vayne
With her ability to deal true damage on the third shot, Vayne is seen as a counter to all defensive systems, provided she is positioned well to output damage, and her items and level are maxed out. Meeting these conditions makes Vayne one of the best affordable champions.
Furthermore, Vayne also has the added advantage of synergizing with both the Archer formation (providing attack speed) and the Requiem formation (providing damage). Therefore, in the Archer composition, alongside Aphelios and Akshan, Vayne is the most favored champion instead of Varus. With a price of 1 gold and not often contested, players can achieve level 3 for Vayne very early without worrying too much about damage output.
The only weakness is that Vayne is somewhat fragile and requires the right items to be effective in combat. A meta revolving around Vayne is currently popular, achieving a top 4 rate of over 60% and a top 1 rate of over 15%, specifically 4 Requiem – Archer – Knight – Cavalry.