Magic n' Mayhem Overview

Welcome to the Magitorium, where the most talented Mages, wizards, magic wielders, Incantors, etcetera, etcetera, gather to prove their mastery over various spellcrafts. Whether it’s through conjuring portals, or straight-up Witchcraft, each magical origin has the power to leave your opponent cooked—in the case of Pyro or Sugarcraft this could be literal. All this magic in all its mayhem-inducing glory goes live with patch 14.15 on July 31st. With that, let’s open up a Portal to our first trait: 

PORTAL (3/6/8/10)

• Jayce 1G Shapeshifter

• Zoe 1G Witchcraft, Scholar

• Galio 2G Vanguard, Mage

• Kassadin 2G Multistriker

• Ezreal 3G Blaster 

• Ryze 4G Scholar

• Taric 4G Bastion

• Norra & Yuumi 5G Best Friends, Mage

Open a Portal to unleash disruptive debris and helpful antics every few seconds. The contents become more impactful based on Portal units’ star level. Portal units also gain a shield at the start of combat that lasts 15 seconds. Contents include Ziggs Bombs, Poro Snax, Temporary Items, and even the occasional lost Krug—I hope they find their way home…

Portal’s the perfect vertical to pop into. Play it with a Fast 8 strategy and field all these realm travelers, or find the Deja Vu Hero Augment, that will make Galio your carry, giving this otherwise melee AP tank range, ramping AP per attack, and increased damage at the cost of its utility…sound familiar? The trait is capped out by two AP carries, Ryze and Norra & Yuumi. Ryze opens up even more portals (same same but different) that fire bolts at the closest enemies, while our iconic duo from Legends of Runeterra, Norra & Yuumi, launch magical swirly balls that will bounce faster if you cast quickly (read: activate Mage). With the Mage trait active, Norra & Yuumi can hit even more enemies, so be sure to add just one more Mage alongside Galio and our cat-touting Yordle. 

DRAGON (2/3)

• Nomsy 1G Hunter

• Shyvana 2G Shapeshifter

• Smolder 5G Blaster

If you were a fan of Darkin back in Runeterra Reforged, we’ve got another small splash trait with a fiery and adorable twist. 

When fielding two Dragons, their attacks and abilities will Burn and Wound their targets for 5 seconds. As a reminder, Burn means they deal a bit of the bad guys' total health as true damage every second. Wound makes the bad guys heal less by a third! When you manage to field all three Dragons, the power of friendship upgrades all Dragon abilities! 

Splash 2 Dragon in during the late game when you can’t find another source of healing cut (Wound), or star-up Nomsy, whose Hunter trait grants her extra AD and even more after her first takedown in combat, only to upgrade her single target ability to an AOE dragonfire sneeze in the late game. But while running a carry Nomsy may be cute and fun, the other cute and fun carry, Smolder, provides a more consistent source of damage. This 5-cost flies around and attacks the nearest enemy. Smolder’s ability will gain him AS and replace his attacks with fireballs that deal more damage, synergizing perfectly with his Blaster trait which grants bonus damage amplification that increases briefly, yet sharply, after casting an ability. With friends at his back, Smolder’s Dragon (3) upgrade allows each fireball to heal a bit of HP, which is super useful if you’re flying all over an active magical duel. 

WITCHCRAFT (2/4/6/8)

• Poppy 1G Bastion

• Zoe 1G Portal, Scholar

• Cassiopeia 2G Incantor

• Neeko 2G Shapeshifter

• Fiora 4G Warrior

• Morgana 5G Bat Queen, Preserver

When stricken by these wicked champions, enemies sicken, losing Max Health at (2) Witchcraft, healing the lowest Health Witch for damage taken (4), becoming frail, taking bonus true damage from Witches (6), and finally transforming into a frog (8), becoming stunned, with all other curse effects increasing in strength. While getting to Witchcraft 8 will take two craftable Emblems, running a reroll Witchcraft comp is also an option, especially with Witchy Wallops, a Gold Hero Augment that will make Poppy, who typically gains a shield and wallops a target, into a terror, no longer gaining a shield but instead walloping her foe 3 times. While you’re rolling at a low level, grab bows for Cassiopeia, whose ability allows her attacks to scale with AP and deal magic damage, perfect for her Incantor trait which gathers AP every time an Incantor casts, or every other attack. 

Leading this crafty coven is the Bat Queen, Morgana, who gains a shield and summons swarms of bats to seek out enemies dealing damage, true damage if they’re low HP, and sometimes abducting them as one star copy to your bench or an item component. If that’s not bee-witching, this next trait will bee!

HONEYMANCY (3/5/7)

• Blitzcrank 1G Vanguard

• Ziggs 1G Incantor

• Kog’Maw 2G Hunter

• Nunu & Willump 2G Bastion

• Veigar 3G Mage

I’m buzzing with excitement about this one. Honeymancer summons a swarm of Bees, each dealing a small portion of their damage dealt, and an even smaller portion of damage taken, as magic damage every 3 seconds. If a Honeymancer falls, one of their loyal Bees will bee-line to another Honeymancer and stick around for the rest of the battle.

If you don’t think that’s the bee’s knees, Veigar will have you beelated! With Veigar’s ability, King Bee’s Judgement, he’ll gain Ability Power for every Charm purchased. AP that’ll come in handy with a spammable single-target damage ability. Oh yeah, Charms! We’ll talk more about Charms in another article, but for now, just know they’re our set mechanic that comes in the form of purchasable consumables that appear in the shop every so often. You can only buy one per round, and their cost will scale with their power, and the stage they become available.

ELDRITCH (3/5/7/10)

• Ashe 1G Multistriker

• Elise 1G Shapeshifter

• Nilah 2G Warrior

• Syndra 2G Incantor

• Mordekaiser 3G Vanguard

• Nami 4G Mage

• Briar 5G Ravenous, Shapeshifter

Our premiere summon trait resurrects an Old God after your team loses a portion of their combined Health. At (3) Eldritch, your team summons the Tainted Golem, and at (5) the Dark Monolith joins the fight, their arrival stunning all adjacent enemies, and their ability hitting nearby enemies causing attacks to briefly chain. The Many-Eyed Beast (7), builds off of (5), also stunning enemies, but this beast’s attacks always chain lighting to nearby enemies, and their ability splits the sky, dealing damage to enemies near their target and boosting the beast’s AS. Finally, there’s Eldritch 10 which calls upon the Stormbringer, who will visit your board causing enemies to briefly flee before slamming the board, stunning enemies for 5 seconds and raining down lighting over another 5 seconds. Note: Lightning hurts, and you can get struck by lightning twice, in fact, the Stormbringer could do so 30 times to you.

While the summons may be stealing the moonlight, there’s one 5-cost worth talking about here that’s hungry for some context. Briar leaps into the largest group of enemies, damaging and stunning them, before entering a frenzy. With her Legendary trait, Ravenous, Briar's damage increases with each player health you're missing. Each round you can feed her a small amount of player health for her to permanently gain HP, and a bit more damage as you approach 0 HP, or the top of the lobby—regardless, Briar’s gonna eat. 

ARCANA (2/3/4/5) 

• Ahri 2G Scholar

• Hecarim 2G Bastion, Multistriker

• Tahm Kench 4G Vanguard

• Xerath 5G Ascendant

Don’t be confused with your reading. The Arcana may appear as complex signs and symbols (aka tooltips), but they really present five distinct yet simple strategies you can use the Arcana signifier to choose from. 

Activate Ahri as your High Arcana, and your team gains Ability Power for each 3-star champion. Hecarim grants champions holding items Damage Reduction and AD. Tahm Kench gives your team bonus Health for each active trait. Xerath allows abilities to deal bonus true damage for each Charm purchased this game. Lastly, when an Arcana Emblem wearer is designated as your High Arcana, your team gains Damage Amplification for each fielded champion holding a Spatula item—get ready to cook! 

Slot in Arcana champions with your chosen High Arcana to best fit your strategy. Ahri greatly enhances AP reroll comps, while Tahm Kench gives you a healthy version of the Stand United Augment. But the real crown jewel of the comp is Xerath. 

Xerath’s ability may be simple (screams in lightning bolts), but Xerath’s Legendary Ascendant trait gives you access to Ascendant Charms, which are much more powerful, and usually more expensive than standard Charms. We’ll talk more about these Charms another time, but there’s a lot to get excited about. 

FAERIE (2/4/6/8)

• Lillia 1G Bastion

• Seraphine 1G Mage

• Tristana 2G Blaster

• Katarina 3G Warrior

• Kalista 4G Multistriker

• Rakan 4G Preserver

• Milio 5G Scholar

All you need is faith, trust, and...an entire fae armory at your disposal. Faeries gain Health and create special items that become stronger with trait tiers. At (2) and (4) Faerie, you’ll be able to equip the Faerie Queen’s Crown which grants (DA) Damage Amplification. At (6) Faerie, you’ll also receive Glamoured Armor which grants healing based on the queen’s damage, as well as a bunch of defensive stats. Lastly, at Faeries (9), the Armor and Crown will become Radiant, becoming much more powerful! Only Faeries can wear Faerie items, but a Faerie Emblem (Spatula + Tear) can make it so anyone can sit with these Queens. 

The Faerie Queen’s Crown has many units that can be crowned. My favorite though are Katarina and Kalista. Running just (2) Faerie is enough to compliment a Warrior Katarina carry comp, benefiting greatly from the additional damage amplification and Omnivamp that the Warrior trait also provides. Multistriker Kalista also benefits from the Crown, with her Multistriker trait granting her attacks a chance to trigger two more times, stacking more spears from her ability, Rend, that she can then … rend for additional damage. Looking for a Glamoured Armor wearer, look no further than Rakan (or Lillia if you are rerolling more), who loves the sparkle and feel-good healing of this dazzling drip. 

Milio returns to TFT as the 5-cost of the Faerie trait (welcome back, buddy!)! Milio is a Faerie that pulls trinkets out of his bag to help allies (items) and throw at enemies for a painful surprise.

DRUID: WUKONG 3G 

• Wukong 3G

Just because Wukong doesn’t benefit from traditional trait power doesn’t mean he can’t be a threat! Need a frontliner in a comp that lacks it? What about a defensive item holder? Or, how about a Druid with a can-do attitude? Look no further than Wukong. Wukong gains bonus Armor and MR from all sources, making him a solid item holder, or solo front-liner. His ability, Cyclone has him spin, gaining a shield and dealing physical damage that scales with his defenses.

In addition to opening up comps that lack frontline, Wukong has a Hero Augment, Spin to Win, that will have you skipping the Stoneplate for a more Sword-based build. The Augment grants 2 Wukongs and allows your strongest Wukong's Ability to scale with Attack Damage instead of resistances. He’ll also gain 30% Attack Damage and 30% Attack Speed after each cast. But enough monkeying around. It's time to really get cooking!

SUGARCRAFT (2/4/6) 

• Soraka 1G Mage

• Rumble 2G Blaster, Vanguard

• Bard 3G Preserver, Scholar

• Jinx 3G Hunter

• Gwen 4G Warrior

Sweet! It’s baking time! Sugarcrafters have increased AP and AD, and collect sugar for each equipped item component after player combat. They then use this sugar to cook layers of cake, each layer increasing their bonus AP and AD. After 7 layers, their elaborate cake is cooked to convection perfection, serving out bite-sized treats each round in the form of gold and other surprises!

As a medium-sized trait, there are a couple of ways to play Sugarcraft. There’s a sweet synergy with Honeymancy, rolling at Level 7 mostly for copies of Jinx, Bard, Rumble, and Honeymancers like Kog’Maw, Nunu, and Blitzcrank. From there, you can go a couple of directions, opting deeper into both traits while activating Mage with Soraka, Veigar, and an Emblem (or another Mage), or taking the path of fire, fielding Shen and Varus. Regardless, honey, heat, and a whole lotta magic, sure help bake a good cake!

CHRONO (2/4/6) 

• Jax 1G Multistriker

• Zilean 2G Frost, Preserver

• Vex 3G Mage

• Karma 4G Incantor

• Camille 5G Multistriker

This isn’t the first time we’ve collaborated with Wild Rift (see Zoe from Inkborn Fables), but it is the first time we’re collaborating with them for almost an entire trait…about time, right? At the start of combat, a 16-second countdown begins and Chronos gain 15 AP. From here, each Chrono cast speeds up the countdown by 1 second and grants a powerful bonus when complete.

At (2) Chrono, the team restores a portion of their health, and Chronos gain AP. At (4) all units freeze except allied Chronos for 2 seconds; Chronos gain even more AP. And at (6), Chronos gain AS and heal 100% Health. 

The trait will have you at the edge of your seat, waiting for the Chrono countdown to kick into effect and hopefully change the tide of battle. While you’re waiting for the Chrono effect to occur, the Legendary unit of the trait, Camille’s already diving into the fray, hookshotting to the lowest percentage Health enemy within 3 hexes every time her current target dies. On arrival, she deals damage and empowers her next attack, which will also be empowered every time she uses her ability—that’s right, that’s just her passive. Her ability, Temporal Anomaly, has her knockback and stun enemies adjacent to her target for 1 second, dealing physical damage and creating a containment zone. In the zone, Camille gains damage reduction and AD.

PYRO (2/3/4/5) 

• Akali 2G Multistriker, Warrior

• Shen 2G Bastion

• Nasus 4G Shapeshifter

• Varus 4G Blaster

Pyro is a smaller trait with an Attack Speed fantasy that hits fast enough to ignite any enemy. The trait gives Pyros Attack Speed and executes low-health enemies. On kill, Pyros store a Cinder that you can collect during planning. Your team gains a small amount of Attack Speed plus 1% for every 4 cinders collected. At 5 Pyro, the Pyro execution threshold is higher, resulting in more Pyro kills and more cinders to collect. 

My favorite way to play Pyro is as a fast 8 comp with Hecarim’s Arcana active. Varus, Tahm Kench, and Nasus are your core 4-costs to itemize, with Shen, Akali, Briar, Hecarim, and Rumble rounding out the roster. You don’t have to play fast 8 here though, as rerolling at level 6 and running Akali alongside a few Eldritch units like Nilah, Ashe, and Mordekaiser is incredibly effective as well! 

FROST (3/5/7/9) 

• Twitch 1G Hunter

• Warwick 1G Vanguard

• Zilean 2G Chrono, Preserver

• Hwei 3G Blaster

• Swain 3G Shapeshifter

• Olaf 4G Hunter

• Diana 5G Bastion

Brrr, is it cold in here? Frost champions freeze the first enemies that die into allied ice soldiers. Enemies hate being cold and will prioritize attacking ice soldiers within range upon retargeting. Frost champions also gain Ability Power and Attack Damage that increases as you reach higher trait breakpoints.

Do you want to build an ice soldier? At (3) Frost, you’ll get 1 ice soldier, at (5) you’ll receive 2, at (7) 3 soldiers and they will explode dealing damage upon death, and at (9) Frost you’ll be able to assemble 5 soldiers and their explosion power will double—trust me, the cold will bother them. Soldier’s Health will increase with each stage. 

The ice queen of the trait is quite the nice queen, but that doesn’t mean this 5-cost won’t sleigh her foes. Diana’s ability, Snowfall, has her dash to hit the most enemies and heal. After a brief delay, she’ll deal magic damage to all enemies within 2 hexes and create a snowfall every other cast that Chills all enemies (reduces AS) and heals all allies over 3 seconds. Excess healing becomes a Shield that lasts 3 seconds instead. Her ability is quite spectacular too—just look at those VFX, sparkly enough to warm even this Frozen Heart.

And that’s a wrap on the magical origins from our Magic n' Mayhem set which goes live with patch 14.15 on July 31st, and hits PBE on July 16th late in the afternoon. Be sure to keep on the lookout for other Magic n' Mayhem content from charmers such as myself, or others.