Added since season 1, Death’s Sword can be said to be an item that no one bothered to use in Teamfight Tactics due to its extremely low appearance rate. With its construction requiring 2 B.F. Swords, Death’s Sword represents a significant trade-off for players when they could instead craft a plethora of more versatile, easier-to-use, and stronger items like Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, Guardian Angel…
This remained true until patch 10.9, where no one used Death’s Sword. Providing pure damage without adding any other stats was too risky a move that no one wanted to try. However, everything changed dramatically in patch 10.10 when the usage rate of this item skyrocketed; almost every physical carry like Jinx, Xayah, Lucian… began using it, and they became monsters capable of clearing teams very effectively.
The main reason for this change lies in the gradual disappearance of the Candyland composition in general and the Vanguard units in particular, making items that provide armor penetration less crucial. Instead, players need carries that can deal massive damage to finish rounds as quickly as possible, and Death’s Sword, with its ability to stack damage continuously, is the best item to meet this requirement.
Moreover, the current meta places significant emphasis on carries being able to use their abilities early and ramp up damage (Kayle reaching Ascended state, Darius constantly using his skill, or Xayah being able to cast her ability). Therefore, frontline units tend to die very early to buy time for those carries to carry the team, and having Death’s Sword allows the carries to increase their damage significantly and potentially take down the enemy team’s carry early.
So, which champion is best suited to use Death’s Sword? Perhaps there is no one better than Jinx in the number one position; as a Marksman, she can not only quickly take down a single target but also wipe out the entire enemy team. Xayah is also a good option because her terrifying attack speed will allow her to take down opponents very quickly, and Lucian is also a solid choice simply because he is the best unit to hold the item for Jinx later on.
In summary, Death’s Sword is the item that has benefited the most from the fluctuations in the Teamfight Tactics meta, as players demand an immediate burst of damage, making this item shine.