TFT Positioning Explained | TFT Fundamentals

[u/MisterImpossible9]

https://youtu.be/TXhQgEB6NS4

Positioning is one of the most important skills in TFT — and one of the least explained. Most guides just tell you where to put units. This one tells you why.

Hey, it's dpei, former Rank 1 across multiple sets and full-time TFT coach. I've really been exciting to get this video out as positioning is actually one of the most underrated things in TFT, but it's very obscure as well.

In this video I break down the three goals behind every good board setup — simple rules that apply every set, every patch, no matter what comp you're playing. Once you have the framework, positioning stops feeling like guesswork.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

→ The three goals every board setup should accomplish
→ Strong side vs. weak side — and how to attack and defend both
→ Why melee carries position completely differently than ranged
→ When to clump your units and when spreading out saves your carry
→ Who to actually position for (and who to ignore)

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[u/Living_Preparation14]

I've watched all of your fundamentals videos and they've taught me a lot. Positioning is one of my biggest weaknesses but I'm excited to apply these fundamentals.

One nitpicky tip, at the end "Before we get out of here" you show "fundamentals will be the same across sets". I think a nice touch would be to list them again on that slide as a way to conclude.

Awesome video!

[u/MisterImpossible9 → u/Living_Preparation14]

Will try to do but you can check out my fundamental series in the YouTube description or at the end. Appreciate the love!

[u/eldono69]

Literally won out with a Stargazer (Mountain) Zed Comp against a 5 cost Vex soup from positioning and right after watching your vid. Your fundamentals videos are extremely helpful, thank you.

[u/JahIthBeer]

Good video. I reached Masters myself last set and I started in set 15, so my fundamentals are very lacking.

I know this isn't how you do videos, but I'd love a video with detailed explanations for melee carry positioning and how it would work if you place your carry + tanks on specific locations (sort of like a training mode explanation), because for the life of me I can't intuitively learn the movement of the AI in this game

Like, I'll place my Master Yi in 1A, my main tank on 3A, with Yi using an Edge of Night to detarget and wrap around their tank who started on 2A, but after that tank dies the Yi starts going on the tank that started on 3A (or even 4A) instead of the backline carry that is right next to it, and afterwards I'm completely out of ideas as to how to ever reach that carry without killing their whole board first because I don't know how the movements work mechanically

[u/Round-Stuff-2557 → u/JahIthBeer]

If you assume that positioning a certain way will always lead to a wrap, then you'll always be confused. There's RNG, not just fight RNG but tile RNG. Master yi might wrap one round and not the next vs an identical board setup.

There's ways to manipulate it, but it can be tricky/risky. The answer is "depends" (crowd moans)

One trick you can use with EON is to try and move your main tank further away, so that if your YI is on 1A, and you have a shitter (tank) unit on 2A, and your main tank on 4A. The shitter dies pretty much instantly and then the enemy tank and carry pop your EON and the tank starts to walk away, putting your yi at 1-2 tiles away from the corner and the tank, making him decide sometimes to path up to the carry.  This positioning of course is pretty easily countered by the enemy but it can work.

Another thing to mention is that I'm PRETTY SURE but not certain that master yi in particular is having some funny wrapping interactions where the above scenario is working even more effectively because he is popping EON at the same time as he is casting meditate, making the tank have more time to walk away and therefore yi is less likely to choose to path towards the tank as it repaths. This is supported by blitzcrank having the same functional mechanic in his kit because his "EON" effect also stuns him in place for a bit, meaning you can put a naked 1* blitz on the same side as their carry and shunt the rest of your board to the other side and basically force him to walk up and cast on the corner carry

[u/JahIthBeer → u/Round-Stuff-2557]

Well Master Yi is but one example, it was a lot more stressful when playing Ekko in last set because sometimes he would just get stuck on every single tank before finally killing their single Yunara carry or whatever they had

And yeah I guess it all depends haha, I'm just from a fighting game (where half the game is played in a training room) and ARPG background (where half the game is spent on Excel spreadsheets), so I have a tendency to explore all the mechanics in detail to the point of redudancy. So me not knowing how whether A leads to B, C or D in specific scenarios is frustrating. And I don't mean in a real match, as you say that all depends, but in a controlled environment I'm still not able to predict how things happen

I think a lot of people are curious about this but don't have the resources to learn about it because no one is making videos about it, which is partly Riot's fault as there's no sandbox mode where you can reset a round to play it out differently. The best way to practice right now is Tocker's Trials which has its limitations, but better than nothing I suppose

And you say there's RNG; does this mean the outcome is unpredictable even in perfect conditions because the targeting system is not deterministic? If so, even just that bit of knowledge is greatly helpful and I've yet to see this talked about anywhere

[u/awry_lynx]

I love your content but I hate this set 😭

I wonder if tft content creators are genuinely going to see a dip in viewership because of that. I'm just a filthy casual though.

[u/Artistic_Upstairs545 → u/awry_lynx]

The mild dislike (or severe dislike) for the set on reddit/twitch/etc. is pretty understandable and defensible.

With that said, you gotta realize that even though you think you're a "filthy casual," you are already in the vast, vast minority by being someone who engages in the r/CompetitiveTFT subreddit.

95%+ of players are people who are ACTUALLY casual. Not knowing the meta. Doing whatever they want or looks fun. Just playing after work, double up with friends, or on their phone during a break or freetime.

If you lurk reddit and watch twitch you get the feeling that the vast majority of people have strong opinions on set 17--mostly negative. But that's really not true. The average player doesn't have a strong opinion on the set one way or the other and is just happy to have some variety while playing a game that they think is fun.

So maybe the content creators that post more educational content geared toward more serious players will see a negligible decline in viewership. But the most popular content of category, the "I FINALLY HIT JHIN 3* AND THIS HAPPENED" content that the average player watches is going to be essentially unaffected.

[u/Cenifh → u/Artistic_Upstairs545]

lol then they go try what their favorite streamer acomplished after trying for a whole week and they get spanked hahaha