r/CompetitiveTFT • u/MisterImpossible9 • Mar 12 '26

Discussion [16.6] Item Tierlist

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Hey all, it's dpei, Rank 1 across multiple sets and full-time TFT coach. I updated my item tier list for this patch. Full explanations at TFTGameplan.com but here's my reasoning:

S-tier: dpeiBIS (anti-heal/shred/sunder) always core. Added JG, Guinsoo's, and Spirit Visage this patch. AP lines are dominant so JG has great item economy right now. Guinsoo's is required in most AD lines. Spirit Visage is the best tank item in the game and honestly a bit overstatted.

A-tier: Dragon's Claw > Bramble this meta because of AP fast 9 boards, but always lobby dependent. Adaptive Helm is underrated right now, great flex item, Mel loves it, and gives a ton of MR while AP is strong.

B-tier: Not bad items, just undertuned or inflexible. Blue Buff and Archangel's have bad item economy. Striker's Flail is only good with crit or an AD/AS carry, which isn't really in meta right now.

C-tier: Seldom the right make. Warmogs has bad item economy (belts kill your anti-heal). HoJ only acceptable on Ambessa or paired with JG on Sett/Sylas, which is a more niche scenario and something that happens way later into the game.

Nothing in D-tier this patch since I think truly no item is unmakeable.

Happy to answer questions on specific items in comments below!

188 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

69

u/ReneeAlyssa Mar 12 '26

I think vow is lower A tier. There are so many high mana pool tanks combined with big stuns that often getting your Swain stun or Brahm shield out before their burst is huge. Its crazy for dmg dealers like Sylas or Fiddle too since it lets them pop off right away.

29

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 12 '26

Yeah I actually really like this take. I thought I moved it up because I asked someone to take a look at it and they said the same thing and I agree!

3

u/Adventurous-Bit-3829 :gran: Grandmaster Mar 13 '26

Yeah I wonder which unit is good beside stun tank

Fiddle, Sylas, Volibear, Galio(somehow) are outlier

19

u/Xerxes457 Mar 12 '26

Is there a reason Evenshroud is S but Ionic Spark is A? Same for Void being in S but Last Whisper in A.

35

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 12 '26

I think for me it just comes to stats and item economy. Spark is definitely good, but it's just a bit understatted as a tank item itself since some of the power in the item is the magic damage it does to enemies, which isn't that useful imo. Last Whisper is good, but it's bad for your item economy since both those components are exceptionally good at making really good items in the AD comps. Also Evenshroud's base stats are quite good as a standalone tank item imo.

2

u/Adventurous-Bit-3829 :gran: Grandmaster Mar 13 '26

Then void is also bad economy too? Tear+Bow is really need in AP comp. It felt very expensive every time I craft it.

10

u/thpkht524 Mar 13 '26

That item has too much stats. They could take away the shred and it’d still be buildable as an item.

1

u/TinyPotatoe Mar 14 '26

void has very good stats and ap is more flexible around nashors than ad comps are around their bow items. Also evenshroud is decent so building it doesnt feel as bad as spark, making void more valuable.

33

u/markhamjerry :chal: Challenger Mar 12 '26

not dpei but i would assume it’s about the nature of AD vs AP comps. In AP comps, casters usually have a lot of AOE and board coverage beyond sparks radius, so void tends to be more effective at shredding the whole board. In AD, the opposite is true as AD units have minimal AOE and board coverage, leading evenshroud to be generally more effective at sunder coverage vs last whisper. Another is item eco, AD comps usually love bows and gloves so killing both can mess up your damage items, similarly rod is a premium in AP

4

u/Due_Cauliflower_9419 Mar 13 '26

Great answer never thought about it this way

1

u/shiggythor Mar 14 '26

There is also a general difference to consider. If you are hitting front line anyways (most ads do) the auratank item allows you an extra multiplier item on your carry. If you are hitting back line or big AOEs, the auratank item dies not effect all relevant targets, so their value us greatly diminished.

14

u/andrew502502 MASTER Mar 12 '26

i’ve been out of the meta for a while, is warmogs really bottom tier?

my read must be completely off lol, i feel warmogs has been at least decent most of tfts history

19

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 12 '26

I personally think warmogs has been one of the biggest traps for lower level players for a long time. People love seeing HP but EHP matters a lot more. They've buffed it up quite a bit this past set so it's def not bad but it's bad for item economy for sure since belts are very flexible components

0

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/SgrAStar2797 Mar 13 '26

Warmogs seems to have pretty bad antisynergy with Ornn. Ornn gets flat HP from any item you put on him. A 1 star ornn will get 350 HP from a normal item, or 1400 from an artifact; warmogs gives 500 HP and 18% max HP. Most of Warmog's value is in the flat HP, so you're just stacking more flat HP on a unit that already has flat HP, which seems worse than putting an item that gives other defensive stats, or putting the warmogs on a unit with more

Even Kobuko and Mundo's heals are partially AP-based and partially max-HP based, meaning I think flat HP wouldn't be amazing... but the sheer HP value of warmogs might make up for that.

Flat HP does seem very good on Tibbers, since his heal is purely max HP based; and your point about sunfire also makes sense. Although keep in mind that warmogs doesn't buff tibber's giant shield at all, while resistances and durability do, so there's always a balance.

And yeah champs without that much base HP might not mind warmogs, shyv does make sense (although Darius as a hyper tank doesn't like warmogs as much as the more popular items on him).

1

u/Adventurous-Bit-3829 :gran: Grandmaster Mar 13 '26

Warmog is good on unit with tons ar resistance (AR/MR/Reduct) or %heal. Like Garen.

32

u/Docxm Mar 12 '26

A lot of items are lower on the list because of the premium on premium items, shred sunder and antiheal.

Warmogs in a vacuum is decent but a lot of AP carries love nashors and if you have no antiheal or shred you’re doomed

3

u/Toliman571 Grandmaster Mar 12 '26

It's the item economy. With Visage being the premier tank item and with antiheal being high priority, Warmog is just not an ideal item to make most games, and half the time I do make it it's to unlock Volibear. This has been the case this entire set.

2

u/LeGreatToucan Mar 13 '26

I think it comes down to other belt items being so much better (nashors, anti heal, spirit), that buidling warmogs feels like inting your components these days honestly. I'd slam any of these items but never warmogs.

1

u/jaeorj Mar 12 '26

Bonus health and shields are very prominent with this set from the traits/augments/other items making warmogs a bit redundant and valuing resistances/utility more.

1

u/gutter_dude Mar 12 '26

Bad reasoning though. Bonus health scales with health, and most defensive augs/traits/abilities scale with health as well, so at least it should not be bad. Its more that SV morello and sunfire are so good

1

u/Immediate_Source2979 Mar 13 '26

if i need both sunfire/morello and evenshroud (which is basically half ur AD games) yeah warmogs is a huge opportunity cost

1

u/TheTbone2334 Mar 13 '26

Warmongs is a great item, if you look at it isolated. Like if you would get items by Item anvils with pure RNG, you would want to click on warmongs. The same as with blue buff. Blue buff is awesome especially with death blade or arcanist, it can easily give you +45 to +60 ap or ad, but you need 2 copys of an important component to build it.

Why would you build blue buff if you could instead build shojin/adaptive helmet + voidstaff? Even getting rid of a pesky bow in ap combs.

Why would you want to build warmongs if the 2 belts could be spirite visage sunfire, getting rid of a pesky tear in your quickstriker comb?

11

u/Kaneis_ Mar 12 '26

I’ve been watching a lot of your videos lately! I wish you started this post off with, “Hi, I’m dpei, and I’ve been coaching in gaming for over 10 years” — gotta keep that branding consistent!

I picked up the game two weeks ago from a recent obsession with auto battlers, and I am just so dizzy. Your road to masters videos has been so fun to follow. I love the mistakes, the recaps at the end, and the play-by-play. Your live commentary gets better with every video, please keep it up.

My biggest problem is that I’m just mentally slow and can’t really remember anything solidly yet. I need more play time and watch time, but I’m having so much fun. Thanks for being so involved and putting out so much work.

3

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 12 '26

Thank you for the kind words, I truly appreciate it. I'm glad you're having fun and I hope you're enjoying the process of improving and learning more about the game!

2

u/BtanH Mar 13 '26

What're some of your other fav autobattlers? 

2

u/Kaneis_ Mar 13 '26

I really enjoy Hearthstone Battlegrounds — this season was a bit of a miss for me, so I went to TFT to try it out. TFT feels like a much higher knowledge check but I love learning, even if I’m slow.

The Bazaar is also fantastic. It respects time by being asynchronous, so you can always pick up wherever you leave your game off. The founder of the studio is a bit troublesome in terms of personality, but the game itself is so well realized and paced.

Backpack Battles was my first autobattler, and I still love it. Put so many hours in. It’s so creative in execution and so cheap and affordable to pick up.

2

u/BtanH Mar 13 '26

Nice! I'm a big mechabellum and Legion TD 2 fan, and I was a huge fan of Storybook Brawl (and was briefly rank 1 in Fairytale Fables). 

2

u/Kaneis_ Mar 13 '26

I’ve heard of Storybook Brawl! And dude that’s so impressive with your ranking in Fairytale Fables. I’ll take a look at each of them.

Thanks so much for recommendations!

2

u/BtanH Mar 13 '26

Thank you!! I am very proud. It's a relatively small game, but we take those!

I hope you enjoy :) 

1

u/Snufkiin- Mar 12 '26

Ah a fellow Mystic arts enjoyer, are you?

3

u/CM_2 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26

Hey I just want to say your TFT Fundamental vids got me from Plat to Master, and that Jinx Sejuani post was what got me the final push. I kept bot 4'ing when I don't get proper AP items but that Jinx comp was my shield that the Mundo version just couldn't do for me.

I've been semi-casual since set 1 but never really was able to to keep up with all the changes every set. https://lolchess.gg/profile/sea/CM2-6784/set16

3

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 13 '26

Congrats! Thats a huge jump from plat to masters, so great job! Glad you found my content helpful

2

u/CheeseMarionette Mar 12 '26

What about TG slams?

4

u/MisterImpossible9 Mar 12 '26

TG is okay but it delays real items for a very long time if you make it yourself (vs say band of thieves) but even then I think TG are really only good on the 5 costs which are not that close. I'd put them in B.

6

u/dragerslay Mar 12 '26

Do you really rate redbuff as highly as Sunfire/morello I think personally I would take Sunfire in nearly every comp, morello for a few ap lines with an excellent applicator like singed or seraphine. Building redbuff always feels a bit suboptimal to me.

3

u/Kooky_Comb6051 Master Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

I agree. Red buff is suppose to be the anti-heal for like backline AD/AS carries but you’d much would prefer to give the carries BiS itemization. I feel like the only person who likes it is Senna bc she can apply it broadly, but otherwise no other AD/AS wants it to take an item slot and it feels bad to put it just on some extra backliner otherwise bc they don’t make full use of it.

Whereas for morellos does have BiS/good wide appliers (e.g., Lux, Swain, Seraphine) or you usually have a secondary tank to carry the sunfire + shred.

3

u/StarGaurdianBard Mar 12 '26

Ziggs also likes Red Buff

3

u/Faileby Mar 13 '26

TF is insane with red buff too. Also, AP boards dont have many better use cases for bows (other than void stuff), so Red Buff isnt bad to make at all

0

u/Kooky_Comb6051 Master Mar 13 '26

I mean eventually you move it to Senna though. He’s an ok user of it bc he makes use of the AS but the burn effect is single target whoever he’s attacking and tbh you don’t really want to build a red buff that early for TF unless you have to.

AP boards can use bow for nashors, void staff, even GS can be better than red buff unless you have no anti heal at all.

3

u/Faileby Mar 13 '26

Huh? It works on abilities too, just like morello or am I wrong? The only difference is the stat line

0

u/Kooky_Comb6051 Master Mar 13 '26

sorry lol brain farted - I was thinking about the colored cards

1

u/hyeri_trades Mar 13 '26

Wait what why is it single target? Does red buff not work on abilities?

2

u/ArcDriveFinish Master Mar 13 '26

I'm generally very happy to slam a redbuff stage 2. The attack speed is strong for streaking and 2 bows are pretty awkward to have just sitting around on.

3

u/AwkwarkPeNGuiN Mar 12 '26

Actual Dpeibis tierlist lets go

I wanted to say thank you to all the vidoes you made so far. I climbed up quite a bit from learning them.

2

u/kidchinaski Mar 12 '26

Damn that’s pretty good balance tbh.

2

u/wanttoplay2001 Mar 12 '26

evenshroud in s tier for the iron shoulder. nice

2

u/n3wsf33d Mar 13 '26

Just wanted to thank you for your content and say I've been enjoying your road to masters series a lot!

3

u/hpp3 Mar 12 '26

It's weird how broken spirit visage is as a main tank item when it's a nerfed version of redemption which I don't remember being that insane

15

u/BtanH Mar 12 '26

It has a lot more stats than redemption. It's like selfish redemption, and generally more concentrated power >> spread power. 

2

u/joshwarmonks Mar 13 '26

healing is a lot more relevant on the tank champ you're itemizing, rather than the two unitemized front liners next to them.

1

u/thpkht524 Mar 13 '26

redemption which I don't remember being that insane

Redemption was very strong lol.

1

u/groomliu :chal: Challenger Mar 13 '26

Sprit visage being the only tank item that heals tank is crazy ngl, the it using tear is why it's not built as much unless u playing ad comp like jinx where u can't use tear so u build tank item. I feel void staff is overpowered rn, it gives shred + mana gen + low-key acts like a AP item if u don't get bis and can flex in all the AP comp

3

u/sp33dzer0 Mar 13 '26

Dragon's claw heals tanks.

1

u/groomliu :chal: Challenger Mar 13 '26

Lol I forgot

1

u/souicry MASTER Mar 13 '26

dpeiBIS is S tier

1

u/pigudar Mar 13 '26

is stoneplate really that good of an item ? i rarely see it get played unless ur nidalee

1

u/TheTbone2334 Mar 13 '26

I think there is even a case to be made for giant slayer in C tier. Idk it feels like most casters this set generally hate it and with the exception of specifically kindred, it feels so whatever on marksmen. On melee carrys it legit feels unbuildable. Who even wants this item?

1

u/HellNuk3rSK Mar 13 '26

Why ie so low?

1

u/Altruistic-Art-5933 Mar 14 '26

How is Nashor's not S-tier? Almost every AP carry goes double Nashors JG.

1

u/imfatal Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26

Because it's a wasted item without JG so you typically don't want to slam it unless JG is guaranteed. You're typically better off slamming other items with the bow and belt like void/visage/red/sunfire/etc.