How to Build the Best Astral Team Composition in TFT

The Astral composition has a lot of similarities with the Mercenary and Fortune compositions from previous sets. It provides quite an insignificant buff towards the units themselves but rewards a player differently.

Fortune and Mercenary compositions provided gold and items, and Astral composition provides orbs that could contain both! But the most crucial aspect of the Astral design is the one that every fifth reroll you have a high chance to receive an Astral in your shop. That means that you will be able to get the maximum level on your units a lot quicker than your opponents. This is crucial, especially when we take some higher-powered units later in the game. If you receive them before the other players do, that can be a gamechanger.

Introducing the Astral Teamfight Tactics Trait

The Astral team composition is all about luck and maximizing the levels of your units. It is not among the most complex designs to master, so even a beginner can be expected to master this composition quickly. It is also a pretty strong, early-game composition, which also makes it more beginner-friendly.

There is a high chance that in most of your games, your initial unit will be an Astral unit, simply because a whopping 3 units cost 1 golden coin and share an Astral trait. Those units are Nidalee, Skarner, and Vladimir. Now, they all have their strengths and weaknesses but the unit that holds the most damage is Vladimir, while Skarner is the unit you should go for if you are looking for some additional sustain. Needless to say, you will need all these units if you plan to go for the Astral build in TFT.

You won't make a mistake if you equip Vladimir with some high-end items since he can deal with some much stronger and more costly units and leave the battle victorious! As the game progresses so does your advantage. This is true because the Astral composition shines the brightest in the early phases of the game.

If you manage to get the 12 Astral units buff in the game, there are high chances that victory shall be yours. But, you will need some luck. Luckily for you, this composition relies on luck so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

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Astral Builds are All About Maxing the Levels of Your Champions

The most important thing for Astral composition is to level your units before your opponent does so and to use your items wisely. That is, of course, if you manage to get some nice items in the first place. The best units to spend your items on are by far Aurelion Sol and Illaoi. Illaoi can benefit from ability power items but she thrives the best when equipped with tank items, with the best one being The Titan's resolve. On the other hand, Aurelion Sol is only viable if he is granted ability power and mana items.

Best Classes to Pair Astral With in TFT

The Astral team composition works best with the Mage trait in TFT. Yet as a substitute for Mages, you can use the Bruiser trait as your secondary composition. Why is that? Some of you may wonder. It's simple. With Nami and Vladimir being both Astral Mages, you only need one more Mage to activate the Mage trait bonus and allow your Mage units to cast their abilities twice. The unit to go for is Ryze, which should be equipped with the best items on hand after you finish building Aurelion Sol.

The other trait that you can go for is Bruiser. This is because both Illaoi and Skarner are Astral Bruisers, and while you need 3 Mages to activate a Mage bonus, Skarner and Illaoi are enough to activate the basic Bruiser trait bonus.

If you manage to get a hold of The Mage emblem, then the best champion to use it on is Aurelion Sol, but right after him, Illaoi comes in the place.

If you receive The Astral Emblem by any chance, then Ryze is a champion that you should use it on.

Since this is an Astral guide, let's learn what the Astral trait does, what the units in this composition are, and what they are suitable for.

Bonuses Provided by the Astral Trait

Every 5th Shop has increased odds to show Astral champions and also grants an Astral orb. Your team gains bonus Ability Power.

• 3: 10 Ability Power
• 6: 20 Ability Power; orb value increases
• 9: 50 Ability Power; orbs may contain components

Astral Trait Units in TFT

The champions are listed according to their respective in-game prices.

Nidalee

Nidalee is the weakest link in this TFT Astral build. She is simply there just to fill a spot. Items are a waste on her, and leveling up is a waste of money. She still is among the cheapest units in the game, costing just one gold coin so she is important for an early game since with her and two other Astrals you will be able to activate The Astral Trait bonus.

If by any chance you receive The Astral Emblem, Nidalee should be the first champion to get replaced. She should be positioned in the front to take as much aggro as possible while your stronger units deal damage from the back rows. Ideally, Nidalee should be the first or second champion to perish in the battle.

Nidalee's Ability in TFT - Primal Surge

Nidalee transforms into Cougar Form for the rest of combat, reducing her Attack Range to 1 and gaining bonus movement speed and Attack Speed. While in cougar form, every 3rd attack swipes her target for 210% physical damage.

Vladimir

Vladimir is your go-to unit when it comes to the start of the game. Being an Astral Mage gives Vladimir a huge advantage since he can cast his ultimate twice in a row if you manage to get 3 Mages on board. This is very important since not only does Vladimir deal a significant amount of damage with his ability, but he will also heal himself for a percentage of the damage dealt. Now imagine this with Vladimir on level three and casting it twice. Pretty sweet, right?

He is quite a cheap unit, too cheap if you ask me. With the price of just one gold coin, you couldn't ask for a better champion to start your game with.

When it comes to leveling up, you shouldn't have a problem, but also remember that both Astral and Mage TFT team compositions are popular right now, so that can make things just a little bit more complex in terms of levels. In fact, the combination of Astral and Mage on one Teamfight Tactics team is also a very good choice right now.

As for items, the standard rule applies: cheap units shouldn't be equipped with items. Now, Vladimir is a strong unit even with his low cost, so if you have some ap items to spare after you have equipped them on Aurelion Sol and Ryze, then you should go for it. You will not make a mistake if you equip Vladimir with items like Blue Buff,Rabbadon's Deatchap, and Hextech Gunblade.

Vlad's TFT Ability - Transfusion

Vladimir deals magic damage to the target and heals himself.

Skarner

Coming on to Skarner, your first line of defense in the game's earliest stages. Skarner is an Astral Bruiser that is definitely worth the price of 1 gold coin. He is there to take as much aggro as possible. He is a unit without a lot of damage since even his ability is focused on shielding him and helping him stay alive just a few seconds longer, while your back row units shred the enemy.

After equipping all the tanky items on Ilaoi, Skarner should be buffed with tanky items, but that is only if you have some to spare. Otherwise, don't bother.

Being quite an underplayed unit, you shouldn't have a problem upgrading him to a maximum level.

He should always be positioned in the front row, so he is the first to go head-on with the enemy.

Ability - Crystalline Exoskeleton

Skarner shields himself for 8 seconds and gains Attack Speed while it holds.

How to Make the Most of Nami in Your Astral TFT Build

Nami is our second Astral Mage in our Astral guide. She is a great addition to the team since, combined with Vladimir, she allows you to have 2 Astrals and 2 Mages on the board. So you just pop in one Mage with Astral Emblem or an Astral with Mage Emblem, and you have quite a strong early game composition that is unlikely to lose any fights early on.

Apart from being an Astral Mage, Nami is also a Mystic, so if you manage to get an additional spot on your team, she can work wonders with Bard in the field and help your team with some magic resist.

Not only does Nami damage enemy champions, but she also heals the champions in her team. This makes her an exceptionally valuable pick for any of her traits. She is heavily underplayed, so you will get her on level three reasonably quickly.

With the mage trait providing two sets of heals, it's almost like running a Jade team comp in TFT with how often your champions will be getting healed!

When it comes to items, she is still on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to the price and the strength, but if you have some mana items to spare, I promise you she can work wonders with them.

Ideally, Nami is placed near the back of the field so she has enough time to gather some mana and heal the brave frontliners of her team.

Namie's Ability is Ebb and Flow

Nami launches a wave at her target that bounces to additional targets, prioritizing low Health targets. Enemies hit take magic damage and allies hit heal.

Illaoi

We now arrive at the champions that cost 3 gold and the best value for money you will get for that price is Illaoi. She is one of the strongest bruisers and front-line champions in the game.

Not only does Illaoi work wonders with her traits Astral and Mage, but also will do wonders if you have a Mage emblem to spare. If you equip it on her and throw some ability power and mana items with that as well, she can do some serious harm.

There is no need to mention that she should be a priority when leveling up. Yet, that won't be such an easy task since almost everybody wants to have her on their team.

Illaoi is a front-line unit; no matter what, she should always be placed there. Even if she has a Mage or some other emblem, she is the best at taking aggro. Yet, if she manages to deal some decent damage with that, even better.

If you aren't looking for another Mage on your team, then Illaoi will work wonders with some standard tanky items like Titan's Resolve, Warmog's Armor, and Sunfire Cape. But other items like Dragon's Claw will also do wonders. You get the point.

Illaoi's AoE Ability is Cosmic Lash in Teamfight Tactics

Illaoi slams her idol into the ground, summoning 3 lashing tentacles and dealing magic damage to enemies in a cone. Illaoi steals Armor and Magic Resist from each enemy hit for 5 seconds.

How to Build with Varus in Your Astral Teamfight Tactics Comp

Another three gold cost champion in this TFT Astral build guide is Varus. You will want to make sure you have strong interest and gold income in TFT to afford copies of this unit. Yet, I am not really sure why Varus costs that much to be honest with you, since he really isn't that strong. I mean yes he has decent damage, but compared with Illaoi he is just a cloud of fairy dust.

Not a lot to say about this guy. He is an Astral Swiftshot. He is pretty challenging to level up due to his cost, but on the other hand, the thing that will go in your favor is the fact that almost no one plays Swiftshot composition.

When it comes to items, some standard items work on him, like Giant Slayer and Runnan's Hurricane, but unless you have those to spare, save the items for someone better.

He should be placed somewhere in the back, with the best-case scenario being that he protects champions like Ryze and Aurelion Sol.

Ability - Chain of Constellations

Varus sends out a cosmic tendril towards his target that strikes the first enemy hit, dealing physical damage and stunning them. Tendrils then spread to 3 nearby enemies, dealing magic damage and stunning them for the remainder of the duration.

Aurelion Sol - Your Astral Dragon

There he is, the Dragon, the Myth, the Legend, Aurelion Sol ladies and gentlemen. The strongest unit in the Astral guide for TFT is, without a doubt, Aurelion Sol. He is also the most essential champion in your Astral TFT build.

Aurelion Sol is an Astral, Evoker Dragon that costs a whopping 10 gold for a single unit. To put things in perspective, you need a mind-blowing amount of 90 gold to level him up to the maximum level. Needless to say, that is almost impossible considering the gold you will have to spend rerolling your shop.

Aurelion Sol is a champion that will wipe the entire enemy team with solid items and at least on level two. If you are a magician and get him to level three, the game is over before it starts.

He should be placed in some corner, surrounded by his allies, and safe from harm's way.

The best thing you can do is to stack mana items on Aurelion Sol, like Blue Buff, Archangel's Staff, and Spear of Shojin, in combination with some strong AP items like Rabbadon's Deathcap or Jeweled Gauntlet.

Aurelion Sol's Ability - Black Hole

Aurelion Sol summons an unstable black hole underneath a random enemy. After 2 seconds, it implodes, dealing magic damage to all enemies in the area and reducing their Attack Damage by 40% for 3 seconds. Each cast the area increases by 50% and damage by 200.

How to Play and Build Your Team with the Astral Trait in TFT

Early Game

As mentioned, the Astral composition thrives in the earliest phases of the game, simply due to the large number of cheap units that can activate your Astral trait early on in the game. This composition makes Astral units appear in your shop every fifth rerol. Therefore, there is a high chance that you will be able to get your early game units at maximum level in the blink of an eye. That is especially applied when you are playing the TFT Hyper Roll game mode.

Early Game Astral Focus on Mages

The unit that you should shift your focus on is Vladimir. His damage is pretty awesome for the unit that is so cheap. If you manage to get the Mage trait as your secondary composition, Vladimir will be the most vital part of your composition.

This is also very likely to happen since to activate the Mage trait you need 3 Mages on the field. With Vladimir and Nami you already have 2. Therefore, you should always add another Mage unit on the field so your Mage units can cast twice and have their abilities boosted with ability power. Ryze would be the best choice for this, as mentioned above.

Focusing Early on Bruisers in Your TFT Astral Team Comp

Skarner is also a vital unit since apart from the Astral trait, he rocks the Bruiser trait that Illaoi has, and with two of them in the field, you will have the Bruiser trait activated too. The bonus from the Bruiser trait is not too large if you only have two Bruiser units on the field, but it can get you out of some sticky situations where you can win the battle if you have just a few more health points than your opponent.

Staying Alive in the TFT Mid Game with Astral

This is the part of the game where you will encounter the first issues since your power spike declines in the mid-game. The Astral trait's mid-game bonus is not that powerful compared to other compositions. The best thing that you can do is to have at least three Mages on the field, with the best situation being the one where you equip Illaoi with The Mage Emblem and secure your 3 Mage trait. But the other solution is to buy Ryze.

Illaoi should be your priority when leveling up your units since she provides both the damage and sustain to your front line. Varus is also a must-have if you intend to go for the maximum Astral bonus, but I would leave him without items unless you have the items that would only suit him.

Dominating the Late Game with an Epic Astral Team Comp

This is the moment where it all depends on luck. You need Aurelion Sol to activate the 9 Astral bonus that can win your game. It's needless to say that once you get the first Aurelion Sol, he becomes the priority when it comes to the leveling of your units. If you have some spare ability power items, now it is time to use them and place them all on Aurelion Sol.

Ideally, you should save the best ability power items for Aurelion Sol. Still, we all know that a lot of times, TFT games don't go exactly according to plan, since there are a lot of factors that players do not have control of, like Augments, Items, and champions that will appear in their shop.

Wrapping Up Our TFT Astral Team Comp and Build Guide

Our Astral guide for Teamfight Tactics is done. Hopefully, this guide will help you learn the basics of the Astral composition, and within a few games, you will become a master of the Astral Trait. This trait is very important for those who are struggling in the earlier stages of TFT and simply do not possess the knowledge of advancing to the later stages of the game. If you find yourself struggling with many TFT team comps, we highly recommend our Teamfight Tactics beginners guide to get you on the right track.

Astral builds in TFT are also very forgiving on how you spend your coin. Every 5 shop refreshes, you are guaranteed to get more champions to level up your team. After reading this guide, we hope you are now an expert on playing Astral in Teamfight Tactics! Good luck!

Images Courtesy of Riot Games.