Vander’s Rise in TFT Season 13
Although a key character in the Arcane series, Vander’s influence on the TFT Season 13 meta has been quite lackluster. Essentially, he is a fairly solid tank unit in the Watchers – Marksman lineup and plays no other role. Even when Riot generously bestowed upon him the “Hero Augment” named Gauntlet, this upgrade was not enough to elevate Vander’s power before patch 13.5.
It wasn’t until patch 13.5 was updated and a series of popular carry compositions were nerfed that Vander Gauntlet became more widely used. The reason lies in the emergence of more melee carry reroll compositions in patch 13.5, and Vander, after being empowered by the “Hero Augment,” can counter them extremely well. Essentially, melee carries need to approach their targets quickly to deal maximum damage. However, the ability to knock back opponents from the Gauntlet augment makes it take longer for targets to return to attack positions, significantly reducing their damage output.
Building Vander Gauntlet Composition in TFT Season 13
One of the signs indicating players should lean towards the Vander carry playstyle is to have Violet, Powder alongside this unit to activate the 3 Family trait early on. Additionally, placing Vander on the board in the first 3 rounds against monsters helps players increase the chance of receiving the Gauntlet augment in round 2-1 afterwards. At level 4, players need to add a durable Watcher unit like Amumu or Darius to ensure survivability.
Similar to other 2-cost carry reroll playstyles, players will also stop buying experience upon reaching level 6 and search for Vander. During this process, Vladimir will be a great addition to activate the 4 Watcher trait, making the carry more resilient and better able to withstand fights in the mid-game. This trait reduces damage from this system when combined with strong healing items, making Vander very difficult to take down in the mid-game.
After successfully upgrading Vander, players need to quickly level up to level 8 to complete the 6 Watcher trait as soon as possible. Garen will undoubtedly be a crucial unit at this stage, as the Herald effect will provide Vander with additional health to endure fights better. If players have enough resources to reach level 9, they can add some 5-cost carry units like Malzahar, Jinx… Even if players are lucky enough, 6-cost champions like Warwick, Mel, and Viktor will make it extremely easy for them to secure victory.
Some Tips When Building the Composition
With a playstyle leaning towards brawlers, Vander will need Bloodthirster and Giant Slayer to endure fights most effectively. For the third item slot, players can choose between Infinity Edge, Hand of Justice, or Sterak’s Claw depending on the situation of the match. Additionally, items like Shadow Claw, Death Dance, or Silvered Hammer are also very suitable for Vander. A small note when choosing unusual upgrades is that Vander fits many options such as Stalwart, Comeback Kid, and Brutal Claw… so players can be flexible in their choices instead of spending too much gold to reroll.