As the new season approaches, there aren’t many compositions left for Teamfight Tactics players to experiment with. However, players can certainly “reminisce” with some compositions that were quite strong in the past and haven’t been nerfed much in the current patch 12.1. Specifically, it’s the Graves Academy – Marksman – a name that has been popular as one of the “quirky yet effective” strategies.
Overview and Gameplay Mechanics
Like every playstyle revolving around 1-cost champions, a composition with Graves as the main carry also requires the right items and a level sufficient for the champions to hit 3 stars. Additionally, since this is an Academy composition, it will always ensure enough slots for the champions. Lastly, players need the Academy emblem for the composition to operate most effectively.
Because it is a 1-cost composition, players need to have as many Graves as possible in the early game. In fact, during the stage from round 2-4 to round 3-3, players should aim to have a 3-star Graves. The early game playstyle will be slow-roll to achieve 3-star Graves, so players should also take advantage of accumulating gold, preparing for the late game. Accept losing a few rounds early to “turn the tables” in the late game.
Moving into the mid-game phase, this is the right time to increase damage for the Academy composition. Since this composition only has 2 champions with shielding duties, which are not too strong—Leona and Garen—players should also aim to level them to 3 stars whenever possible, alongside Graves. A strong source of damage at this time is Katarina. However, it’s advisable to save AP items for a more powerful champion with ability power – Lux.
In the late-game phase, players need to bring Jinx in to both empower this composition and complete the 8 Academy – Marksman. The ideal composition is: Graves – Garen – Leona – Lux – Yone – Yuumi – Katarina – Jinx. In case Jinx is not available, Braum can be substituted to enhance durability, or Akali with the Academy emblem will provide a massive source of damage.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This is a composition that is easy to build with all Academy champions. The Academy emblem is also easy to combine, and in the late game, any champion from the 5-cost lineup (Yuumi, Akali, Kai’Sa, Galio, Viktor, Jayce, Jinx, or even Tahm Kench) can be effective. Additionally, Graves is also easy to upgrade to 3 stars as he is one of the least contested champions in TFT season 6 right now.
However, like all other 1-cost champion compositions, the weakness of this composition lies in needing the right items (Infinity Edge/Guinsoo’s Rageblade/Guardian Angel), which are often contested items. Furthermore, in the late game, players must arrange the positioning of their champions appropriately and have backup damage sources in case Graves gets burst down too quickly. Nevertheless, this is a composition worth trying, especially if players want to find moments of relaxation even while ranked or simply test their luck.