Lux
Lux is a 3-star champion ranked Tier A in Teamfight Tactics season 5. Her ability – Protective Prism can be considered one of the best defensive skills in TFT this year. However, the buff mechanism for the furthest champion from Lux’s position makes team composition a bit passive as the carry must always be in a position that Lux can buff.
Moreover, although ranked in Tier A, it has proven that Lux interacts best within the Celestial – Mystic team composition, and this champion is only used as a system activator and buffer, creating shields as much as possible in the Zombie – Sorcerer or Knight – Celestial formations. Additionally, Lux is only truly strong when reaching 3 stars and equipped with items, but very few strong metas currently support such gameplay, except for some “unique” compositions created by inventive players.
Vladimir
This 1-cost champion can be considered a solid defensive wall, and of course, this only happens when Vladimir reaches 2 – 3 stars and has the right items: those that provide Ability Power and healing. However, Vladimir’s strength lies in his ability to build as a tank with 2 AP items + 1 armor item or 2 armor items and just needs an additional Blue Buff or Spear of Shojin to be sufficient.
The downside of using Vladimir defensively, due to his 1-cost nature, is that he requires many items and many other names to activate the Race/System. Not to mention, the damage from Vladimir is single-target damage. Therefore, in the late game, when the opposing team has many champions that can dive in at once, it is impractical to take down each target one by one, and with his fragile nature, Vladimir is easily burst down without being able to cast his ability.
However, if reaching 3 stars and having the right items, Vladimir is indeed a very good defensive option. With both healing and dealing damage, it is not easy to take down a full-item 3-star Vladimir, making him one of the best shield choices for players who favor the “attack is the best defense” playstyle.
Syndra
There’s no need to say much about one of the best 2-cost champions when the LeBlanc “God Chain” meta was rampant, Syndra was once considered the most viable name to counter this meta. Not to mention, Syndra also has another strong point: not only can she throw opponents away, but this champion also deals area damage. In other words, Syndra in season 5 is a “less overpowering” combination of Sett and Lee Sin from seasons 4 and 4.5.
With her ability, Syndra is the best option against melee champions (Assassins) or later in the game, she can also effectively counter Mordekaiser’s Raging Inferno or Vel’Koz’s Life Disintegration Beam – some of the hottest champions currently.
Syndra’s weakness is her fragility and heavy reliance on Blue Buff. Sometimes, Syndra can be taken down before she even casts her ability, especially against agile champions like Katarina. However, if she has the right items and level, as well as activates the Race/System, Syndra can completely carry the team or at least share damage with other champions like Varus, Kayle, and Vel’Koz.
The champions on this list all share the common trait of being inexpensive and dealing magic damage while having limited durability, but in one way or another, they can be used defensively to effectively cover the main damage dealer of the team until the player reaches the necessary power threshold.