How to Build the Best TFT Mage Team Comp

We have prepared a guide to building a full Mage-focused team comp in Teamfight Tactics!

Introduction to Mage Builds in TFT

Mage team comps are one of those that stick around for a long time and keep repeating themselves with every set. Most of the time, Riot Games sticks with the name Mage, but they have been known to change it every once in a while. One thing is for sure, every set that has been released had a Mage trait in it, no matter the name that the trait had in the set.

When we say Mage, we think about the trait that has a bonus of granting additional ability power to the champions holding this trait. Another thing that has stayed constant with all TFT sets released is that Riot always overpowers the Mage team comps.

It is much easier to counter champions that perform basic attacks with enhanced attack damage than it is to do with the ones that do ability power. That is because Armor is much more effective than magic resist in TFT. But that also depends on the other factors, such as the champions in the set.

The best trait for countering Mages was Mythic. But the problem for players playing the Mythic composition is that they lack the sustain against other compositions. But we aren’t here to talk about Mythic team comps but Mages.

With Mage composition, your main goal is to deal as much damage as possible with your champions' abilities. The thing that makes life a lot easier is that the Mage bonus rewards you with additional ability power, which scales according to the number of champions you have on board.

Since most of the time, you will have a couple of other traits active, apart from the main one, which is the Mage trait, you need to know what those traits will be. If you follow our guide completely, apart from 7 Mages on the board, you will also have 3 Astral, 2 Bruisers, 2 Mythic, 2 Guild, 1 Bard, and 1 Spellthief.

You don’t want to mess with this composition; trust us!

The Mage Trait

Mages cast twice and have modified total Ability Power.

• 3: 80% Ability Power
• 5: 105% Ability Power
• 7: 125% Ability Power
• 9: 150% Ability Power

Mage Units in Teamfight Tactics

Champions associated with the Mage trait are focused on dealing as much damage as possible with their abilities. Since there are many champions to choose from, their powers are quite different yet very effective. They range from taking your champion’s health points and healing to stealing other champion’s abilities. The list of units that have the Mage emblem goes as follows:

Vladimir

Vladimir is an Astral Mage, a champion with some strength to his name. Furthermore, he is a bargain with the price of just one gold. Vladimir is a core champion for both Astral and Mage traits. Regarding TFT Mage builds, you have two options on level one: Vladimir and Heimerdinger. I can not stress enough how much of a better choice Vladimir is.

His ability allows him to deal damage and even heal himself for the chunk of the damage he has dealt. Combine this with a Mage trait, and you get a champion that has both damage and sustain. Not only that, but he can easily be leveled up to the maximum level for a tiny amount of 9 gold coins.

Regarding leveling up, both Astral and Mage traits are played frequently, which can pose a problem. In fact, Astral-Mage builds in TFT are some of the best combos in the game. Still, the obvious thing is that the player with an Astral build in TFT will have many more chances to level up his Vladimir than a player playing a design with 0 Astral bonuses active on the field.

Vladimir, like every AP champion, benefits from AP and mana items. Some of the best pairings include Rabbadon’s Deathcap, Blue Buff, Hextech Gunblade, and Jeweled Gauntlet. You should save those items for other late-stage mage champions.

Regarding position, Vladimir should be placed somewhere in the back in the earlier stages of the game, but as the game progresses and you receive more powerful units, Vladimir should make his way to the front of the field. Ideally, not the first row, but the second one behind Illaoi and Sylas. (Yes, Illaoi, we need her too, you will find out later.)

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Ability - Transfusion

Vladimir deals magic damage to the target and heals himself.

Heimerdinger

Another champion that sits on the lower end of the pricing spectrum is Heimerdinger. Unfortunately, Heimer doesn’t even come close to Vladimir regarding the quality. Vladimir is a much more valuable unit for the same cost.

When it comes to Heimerdinger, most of the time, players will not even buy him for their Mage composition, simply because there are so many other mages available in the early levels of the game. You can buy Vladimir, Nami and Lillia, secure the 3 Mage bonus trait, and not bother with Heimerdinger.

Heimer is also a Trainer, apart from being a Mage, and that is a trait where he is useful. Don’t get me wrong, he is still useless with the damage he has, but at least in the Trainer trait, he is necessary for the trait to work as best as it can.

Heimer is a champion to avoid in the Mage trait, but if you are going for 9 Mage composition, which is a rare sight, then he should still be on your team.

One thing good about Heimerdinger is that he is possibly the easiest champion to level up to the maximum level in this set due to him being quite underwhelming.

If you decide against scraping Heimerdinger, then please, under no circumstances, use any items on him. He simply doesn’t have the kit to make any investment in him a good decision.

When it comes to the position, if you manage to get him level two in the first two levels of the game, then place him somewhere behind until your other units reach the same level. After that, he can go in the front and be sacrificed so your other units can deal real damage.

Ability - Egg Toss

Heimerdinger lobs an egg at the highest health enemy, dealing magic damage and stunning them.

Lilia

Coming onto the two gold coins squad. Lillia is first on the line. Although cheap this unit is quite versatile and is blessed with 3 traits. She is a Cavallier Scalescorn Mage. Those traits may seem random at first, but let me tell you that’s not the case. You see, one of the best Mage compositions is the Cavallier-Guild-Mage composition which focuses on having 4 or 5 Cavaliers on the field and finding the Mage emblems in your Augments, Tome of Traits and combining Spatula with Tear of Goddes.

Coming back to Lillia. Amazing champion with a lot of sustain and decent damage. She is a front line unit and should stay there in any composition she is placed at.

She benefits from tanky items like Titan’s Resolve and Warmog’s Armor but you will not make a mistake if you put some ability power items on her, like the Jeweled Gauntlet.

Leveling tends to be easy, which may not seem logical due to her large amounts of traits, but it seems that players aren’t aware of her potential.

Ability - Watch Out!

Lillia strikes a small area around her target's current location, dealing magic damage spread amongst all enemies hit and bonus magic damage to the enemy at the center of the blast.

Nami

Another two gold costing Mage on this list is Nami. Coming in hot with three amazing and compatible traits of Astral, Mage and Mystic she is the glue that holds together compositions like Astral – Mage and Mage- Guild. (Bard is a Guild Mystic, so Nami is quite important here because Bard is the strongest Guild champion in the game).

Leveling up Nami usually goes well, but you may encounter some issues if you find yourself in the game with a lot of Astral players.

Nami’s ability is quite helpful in the game and she acts as true Mage support, dealing damage and healing her allies. Because of this, you want her to be tucked somewhere in the back, protecting your prime damage dealers. In this mage TFT team comp, that would be Ryze.

Ability - 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.

Ryze - The Focal Point of Our TFT Mage Build

The most important champion in the Mage guide for Teamfight Tactics is Ryze! Ryze has a medium price of 3 gold coins, but you get a lot for your money. His reasonable price and relatively enough units in the champion pool make Ryze a perfect contestant for Mage carry.

Ryze’s ability power scales with his mana like it does on Summoner’s Rift. The most critical thing to do is to have perfect items for him and protect him as much as possible when it comes to Ryze.

Ryze needs Guinsoo’s Rageblade so he can cast his ability as much as possible. Another item that goes amazingly well with Guinsoo’s is Hextech Gunblade which provides the much-needed Omnivamp for Ryze. This way, Ryze can take a lot of aggro and still survive the battle. The third item should always be a mana item. The best item for this is undoubtedly Blue Buff, but Spear of Shojin and Archangel’s Staff can also do wonders.

Ryze is the champion to focus on leveling,so you should spend all of your gold on this. This is not a too easy task since you start getting your first Ryze units in the mid-game, so you don’t have too much time to do this. But it’s still doable.

When playing a Ryze carry Mage comp in TFT, you should tuck Ryze somewhere in the left or right side of the map, in the middle of the field surrounded by other units so he can stay alive for the longest time. If you execute this correctly, Ryze should be your last man standing.

Ability - Overload

Ryze hurls an arcane orb at his target, dealing magic damage. Each cast increases his maximum Mana and the number of orbs thrown.

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Sylas

Sylas is quite a strong mage unit in TFT. He costs three gold coins, and he carries three traits to his name. Those being Whispers, Mage, and Bruiser. In this TFT mage team comp, he is very valuable if you plan Astral as your secondary composition since he works wonders with Illaoi. Together they activate the bruiser trait, but if you by any chance have The Mage Emblem equipped on Illaoi, they make the dream team.

Sylas is one of those champions that shouldn’t be easy to maximize to level three due to his three traits, but he somehow is. This is probably because Bruiser and Whispers traits are somewhat underplayed. Bruisers are quite easy to pull off and do well in this composition. Still, Whispers are among the most challenging team builds in Teamfight Tactics, so no wonder that it is underplayed.

When it comes to positioning, he is a front-line unit whose job is to protect his units. He does this well because he receives a shield from his ability. With his shield and Bruiser trait active he can stay alive for quite a long time in combat.

He is a decent pick to place your items on, and you should go for a mix of tanky items and ability power. You should have Titan’s Resolve, Warmog’s Armor, and Jeweled Gauntlet on him.

Ability - Petricite Burst

Sylas whirls his chains, dealing magic damage to enemies hit and applying Mana-Reave, increasing the cost of their next ability by 35%. If this hits at least one Mana-Reaved enemy, Sylas shields himself.

Zoe

As her price dictates, Zoe is the strongest champion in this composition. Like all other 5 gold costing units, she is extremely difficult to level up to level three, but if you are lucky enough to get her to level two you have high chance of winning the game. To do that, you really need to have a strong income in TFT.

Even without items she is incredibly strong once she reaches level two. She has three traits. Shimmerscale, Mage and Spellthief which is unique to her. This means that she can copy other champions’ abilities. From experience these are usually Lux’s ultimate, Ivern’s Ultimate and Janna’s tornadoes but instead of one, there are multiple.

There is no need to say that she is the best champion to equip with items, but at the later stages of the game, you are unlikely to have a lot of them on hand. If you do, then you should use standard mana and ability power items like Rabbadon’s Deathcap and Archangel’s Staff.

She is a backline unit and should be protected along with Ryze at all costs.

Ability - Nothing!

Zoe doesn't have her own spell. As a Spell Thief, she will borrow spells from other dimensions during combat and cast them as if they were her own.

Supporting Units for Your Mage Build in TFT

Even though the Mage composition is quite large, and the best possible thing that can happen is to have 9 Mages on board, most of the time that won’t be the case. Now you must understand that Teamfight Tactics in-game leveling goes as far as level 9. That means that you are to have a maximum of 9 units on the board. This may change with certain buffs like an Augment or with combining the two golden spatulas, which will allow you to have additional units on your board. But either way, you have 7 Mage units on the board, which means that you have 2 additional spots open on the field, that you can use to place some other units that do not carry the Mage emblem, but rather a different one that is compatible with the ones that your units have on board. These are the champions that we would go for!

Illaoi

Cosmic Lash: 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.

Bard

Unstable Portal: Bard sends magical energy toward the largest group of enemies, stunning them and causing them to take increased damage while stunned. If he hits at least one enemy, Bard dances in celebration.

Now you might ask, why would we choose these two units? Well, let us explain. Illaoi is a great addition to our team because she carries two very important traits when combined with certain champions from the Mage composition. She shares the Bruiser trait with Sylas and activates the two Bruiser bonus when placed on the field with him, and with Vladimir and Nami, she shares the Astral trait. With all three of them on the field, they grant you the bonus of the Astral trait.

Bard is another excellent choice because he shares the Mythic trait with Nami. With two of them simultaneously on the board, your team will have the 2 Mythic bonus activated, which can help you through some brutal battles with additional magic resistance. Bard also rocks the Guild trait that he will share with Ryze, and the trait that shares the name Bard and that is unique to him.

While these are great choices, there are some poor choices to almost never include. In particular, champions from Jade builds in TFT are usually not good with mage builds. This is because Jade champions often scale best with health and relly heavily on their statues. Always consider how other champions will fit into your TFT mage build if you deveat from your core set of mages.

Universally Good Items for Mage Builds in Teamfight Tactics

There are some items that work well on all Mage units and you will not make a mistake if you equip any Mage with them. Those items are Archangel’s Staff, Blue Buff, Jeweled Gauntlet, and Rabbadon’s Deathcap. But the two items that are the best of the best for any Mage champion are Guinsoo’s Rageblade and Hextech Gunblade.

In-game Guide to Running Mage Team Comps in TFT

Early Game

This composition is one of the rare ones that are strong during the whole game. You have rather a lot of cheap but useful units that cost 1 and 2 gold coins. You should always try to start the match with Vladimir since he is very strong.

Yet if that doesn’t go according to plan, Heimerdinger is there to take his place. That is our last resort since Vladimir is the much better pick. If you aren’t going for 9 Mages in your team build, scrap Heimer and focus on buying Nami and Lillia as soon as possible.

TFT Mage Builds in the Mid Game

During the mid-game you should try to secure Sylas and Illaoi to round up the Astral and Bruiser bonuses, so you can make it to the late game. This is also the time to buy Ryze since he will be quite useful in the later stages of the game since he carries a lot of damage, but also a Guild emblem that can be later combined with Bard so that you have the Guild bonus active.

Ryze is your main champion in a full TFT mage team composition, so you should always have a Guinsoo’s Rageblade ready for him.

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Late Game Mage Build in Teamfight Tactics

This is the time when you should round everything up with Zoe and Bard. Use your items wisely and decide which champions will be your main carries through the game. My recommendation is that you should use your best items on Zoe and Ryze. You should also place some defensive items on Illaoi or Sylas to have a lot more sustain in the latter stages of the game.

Wrapping Up Our Mage Comp TFT Guide

And there it is! That concludes our guide to running a mage team comp in TFT. We hope that it was both fun and valuable to you. You should never forget that sometimes the game might go the other way around, and you will not be able to pull out this composition every time.

Yet, we think it is a good thing, so you can try some of your own compositions and find the ones that work the best for you! If some of this went over your head because you are just starting out in TFT, check out our in-depth Teamfight Tactics beginners guide. to get started. Good luck out there!

Images Courtesy of Riot Games.