The most overpowered comp in Teamfight Tactics may finally have a counter

Teamfight Tactics has only somewhat recently been released to Riot Games’ live servers, and players have already discovered a game-breaking team composition that most high-ranked players have been spamming. Not all hope is lost, however, if you come up against a Rebels-focused team, because there just might be a slept-on comp that can counter Set 3’s most OP build to date.

TFT streamer Jeremy "Disguised Toast" Wang published a YouTube video Monday showcasing how to get “free wins” with a full team of Rebels. Current TFT leaderboards show that top-ranking players have focused on Rebel characters in their ranked matches. This meta-defining strategy is extremely straightforward but can overwhelm most other builds. Rebels has proven to be rock-solid during all phases of the game and becomes downright busted in the late game.

“There’s this strategy going around that everyone is abusing for first places,” Disguised Toast said. “I played in a high-ELO lobby for a bit and my god is it disgusting. Absolutely the grossest strategy ever that needs to be patched right now.” They work so well because this Origin grants all Rebels a health shield for 8 seconds and increased damage for each adjacent Rebel, so a 6-stack is able to deal an overwhelming amount of damage early on ... without taking any real damage at all.

A handful of innovative Redditors have potentially found an effective response to this seemingly broken comp, and it comes in the form of a team full of Cybernetics, which get increased attack damage and HP when stacked.

Here’s how both of these comps look when executed well and more on what makes them so strong:

TFT 6 Rebels Build

The overpowered comp everyone is talking about is literally just aiming to collect as many Rebel units as possible early on and saving enough gold to make it to Level 9 to roll for its crucial 5-cost units: Gangplank and Miss Fortune.

The core of your final team should be composed of 6 Rebels, 2 Demolitionists with other bonuses like 2 Blaster, 3 Blademasters, or 2 Valkyrie depending on how you choose to pad the rest of your squad.

Here’s are the two big stat boosts this team will net you:

This build has become so popular because there’s no point in the game where it’s weak. Other comps rely on stand-in units in the early phases of the game in order to win rounds and make it to the late-game. But this squad stays consistently strong even when you’re still collecting all of its parts because the Rebel bonus boosts survivability and damage output.

Ziggs will be your early-game carry and item holder, while you’ll use Malphite to tank. In the mid-game, Master Yi and Yasuo synergize with any other Blademaster you’ve managed to find. Finally, in the late-game, you’ll have 6 Rebels and you’ll want to start rolling for your 5-costs: Gangplank and Aurelion Sol, and you can slot in either Miss Fortune (more offensive) or Lulu (more defensive).

In the end, you’ll want to stack all of your items on Gangplank and Aurelion Sol. Aim to build items like Guardian Angel, Rabadon’s Deathcap, Bramble Vest, Dragon’s Claw, or Rebel Medal for Gangplank. You’ll want to equip Aurelion Sol with Seraph’s Embrace, Morellonomicon, Iconic Spark, Dragon’s Claw, or Demolitionist’s Charge.

TFT 6 Cybernetics Build

A team of full Cybernetics could be the one answer to defeating Rebels, but this build relies on finding Ekko, the sixth Cybernetic unit that costs 5 gold. That means you’ll need to make it to at least Level 8 to start rolling for him and the build requires you to swap in units in the early-to-mid game in order to win rounds early on. Your final composition should be 6 Cybernetics, 3 Blademasters, 2 Blasters, and 2 Chronos/2 Valkyrie.

This team’s bonuses have the sauce to go up against a full Rebels team, but it’s slightly more difficult to get to the late game unscathed and with enough gold to roll for Ekko.

Here’s what to expect out of this comp:

Unfortunately, this build stagnates in the mid-game, especially against strong comps like Rebels or even Sorcerer and Mech-Pilots that begin to spike in power around then. To top it off, securing Ekko is essentially your win-condition. Ideally, you’ll want to be the first one to get to Level 8 or 9 and start rolling for him or else you’ll never unlock the full Cybernetics bonus.

Early in the game you’ll want to pick up Fiora, Leona, Lucian to begin building your team’s core. You’ll also want to give them at least one item component each to activate their Cybernetic ability. These three units will open you up to a few other synergies, like Vanguard, Blademasters, or Blasters to hold you down in the mid-game while you work towards your crucial late-game carries.

Irelia and Ekko will be the backbone of your team in the late game and you’ll want to save your most powerful items for them to close out the game. Look to give Irelia Seraph’s Embrace, Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge, Deathblade, or Hand of Justice. Your Ekko should hold Seraph’s Embrace, Rabadon’s Deathcap, Morellonomicon, Guardian Angel.