The Rise of the Sage System in TFT
In patch 14.9, Riot Games made some notable changes aimed at the level system and champion distribution rates in TFT. In short, players will spend more gold to reach level 9, and rolling for 3-star 4-cost champions will be significantly harder due to reduced rates by Riot. The result is that strong compositions at level 8 that do not heavily rely on reaching level 9 or 5-cost champions are becoming very popular.
A prime example of this is the playstyle using Sage, easily activated with a 3-champion set (Zyra, Diana, Morgana). Additionally, this system provides a 30% total lifesteal for frontline champions or 45 AP for backline champions with the aforementioned threshold. With such strong stats, players just need to use their carries wisely to deal damage and dominate fights.
Furthermore, the flexibility in building Sage compositions helps players maintain health. Players can start with the Scholar system to sustain health early on, then adjust their carries based on the match situation with champions like Sylas, Lee Sin, or Kayn… Thanks to this flexible composition building advantage, players will almost never be countered or struggle for carries. Thus, players can achieve superior health and aim for high placements by the end of matches.
Powerful Variants of the Flexible Sage Playstyle
The first and most annoying variant is using Sylas as the carry combined with Sage champions. Essentially, players tend to build healing items and defensive stats such as Bloodthirster and Titanic Hydra for Sylas. Therefore, players should place Sylas in the second row to gain additional AP stats and enhance this unit’s damage output.
Another more challenging but extremely powerful variant at the end of the game is using Lee Sin as the carry. The framework with 3 Scholars, while retaining the Sage champions, focuses on using Lee Sin and Qiyana in the mid-game. The high total lifesteal from Sage will allow Lee Sin to sustain fights incredibly well. Moreover, when reaching level 9 and adding 5-cost units like Wukong and Rakan, this composition becomes extremely hard to take down.
Additionally, Kayn is also an excellent carry that interacts well with the stats provided by the Sage system. However, this unit still has relatively low base health, so players should equip Kayn with at least one Bloodthirster for better survivability. Combined with the significant damage amplification from the Shadow Assassin trait, Kayn can easily obliterate the tanks and carries of opponents.
Conclusion
With the advantage of providing strong stats and diverse composition building options, the flexible Sage playstyle is proving to be extremely effective for players climbing ranks. By effectively utilizing the various Sage composition variants, players can quickly achieve their desired rank milestones in the current patch.