With hyper-roll compositions not disappearing but rather transforming into different forms, the meta of Teamfight Tactics 10.10 still revolves heavily around the early game with 1-cost 3-star champions. Naturally, the number of 3-star units in the game is limited and not everyone can possess them, so players must find new strategies if they do not want to die in frustration from unsuccessful hyper-rolls.
One of the ways that high-ranking players choose is to adapt old compositions to fit the new meta. One of them is the Marksman composition centered around the Dark Star – Jhin. In reality, this champion hasn’t been nerfed at all, but the continuous nerfs to the Dark Star trait have significantly reduced Jhin’s availability. And when no one pays attention to this champion, we can easily use him without fear of competition.
Basically, this new Marksman composition still builds on the foundation of the old Vanguard – Marksman composition. You still upgrade the composition normally in the early game with strong combos like 2 Vanguards with Poppy and Leona, then gradually transition to Jayce in the mid-game. Marksmen like Caitlyn and Ashe are also must-buy units in the early game to supplement damage.
In the mid-game, if you are lucky, you could play with 4 Vanguards, and having Wukong would be even better. If you can’t get 4 Vanguards, you can settle for 2 Vanguards and select quality units and traits to add, such as Pirates and Cosmic… The ultimate goal at this point is to maintain as much gold and health as possible to reach level 8 early.
The turning point in building the composition will come at the end game. Instead of using 4 Vanguards like before, you will ditch 1 and 2-cost units like Mordekaiser and Poppy and add 2 Demolitionists with Gangplank and Rumble. The goal, of course, is to create widespread crowd control and deal significant damage to the entire opposing team to compensate for the single-target shooting weakness of the Marksmen.
Furthermore, having 4 Vanguards is not necessary when the Giant Slayer is becoming more and more common; your 1-2 cost units will have little effect in the late game, so it’s best to replace them with damage dealers. Don’t forget to add Mystic units like Lulu for added magic resistance and crowd control. With the crowd control from Demolitionists, Ashe’s ability, and Lulu’s transformation, Jhin will have plenty of time to take down the enemy team.
One thing to keep in mind when building this composition is that it heavily relies on items; Jhin can only shine with the Giant Slayer and Infinity Edge, so if you don’t have these two items early on, you should reconsider building this composition. Once you have the items for Jhin, Gangplank also needs attention. Like all other compositions, this pirate needs Guardian Angel the most, and after that, he can use almost anything.
In summary, Jhin – Demolitionist is an upgraded version of the Vanguard – Marksman composition, strongly oriented towards the late game to counter strong early game compositions.