In the late days of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, one of the rising compositions in the TFT community, especially at lower ranks, is Mage. However, due to the high damage output, this composition is often quite fragile. Therefore, creating a proper shield for the Mage composition not only enhances its effectiveness but also makes climbing ranks easier, which is a necessary requirement.
To counter the Mage composition’s vulnerability to burst damage, some players have combined it with the Defender trait – a system boasting durability along with many crowd control and healing skills that have been very popular since its introduction in TFT Season 6.
Overview and Operation
In this composition, Mages will be the main axis. Therefore, even a 1-cost champion like Twisted Fate should be utilized. It may not be necessary to upgrade to 3 stars, but it will be a quality name to have at least a 6 Mage threshold (not counting Viktor and the trait emblem). Defenders will also have names distributed evenly from 1-cost to 5-cost, and almost any champion will be effective. With this composition, players only need to focus on items; otherwise, almost any level will have suitable names.
At level 1, players will not have difficulty getting at least 2 Defenders. An important key point is that: defense is more important than damage in the early and mid-game stages. Mages at this round can utilize Twisted Fate and Ziggs. Each of these champions reaching 2 stars is sufficient.
As the game transitions into the mid-game, players will need to have Swain and Vex – 2 Mage champions with excellent tanking abilities along with healing capabilities (Swain). If you have upgraded to level 6 or 7, replace Darius with Leona and Blitzcrank with Braum. Lux at this point is also a quality name, potentially serving as the main damage dealer in case Viktor has not yet been obtained. If players roll into Lux, they should replace Twisted Fate or Ziggs with her. It’s important not to sell these 1-star champions, as they will still help trigger the trait at the end of the game.
In the late game, if you manage to roll Viktor, you can sell one of either Ziggs or Twisted Fate. If you have an additional Mage emblem, players can consider triggering the 8 Mage threshold. However, this is a flexible choice because at this point, balancing both defense and attack capabilities is essential.
The complete composition at level 8 will be: Leona – Braum – Swain – Vex – Malzahar – Viktor – Lux – Ziggs.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of this composition lies in its ease of play, straightforward operation, and the only difficult-to-find champion being Viktor, not heavily relying on the Tech Core. At 6 Mages, this composition is already quite strong. Moreover, most Mage champions have wide-area damage (Lux, Ziggs, Twisted Fate) while the Defender champions provide both durability and crowd control.
The weakness of this composition is its heavy reliance on items. While Swain, Vex, and Defender champions require defensive items, Lux and Viktor need items that provide energy and skill damage. Therefore, players need to carefully consider and choose suitable items in the shared draft rounds and hope for good luck in the monster rounds.
However, if players can manage it well, this will be a composition that becomes increasingly strong, and by the end of the game, players can almost certainly reach at least top 4 if the composition is arranged properly.