Before you read through my guide I would like to introduce myself as a way to make my guide more credible. I'm Halfhand, the Rank 1 Twisted Fate player in the world. I've been playing Twisted Fate since season 6 and have accumulated over 1 million mastery points on him.
In season 12 I reached Grandmaster playing Twisted Fate with a 66% winrate. I am currently aiming for Challenger.
My accounts: Hålfhand (EUW), Halfhånd (EUW)
My Midlane Champion pool: Twisted Fate, Orianna, Viktor, Ryze, Cassiopeia, Syndra
📺 Halfhand Livestream
Feel free to follow me, I try to stream whenever I can.
🤔 Why you should play Twisted Fate
You don't need to be a mechanical god to win games on him. Most Twisted Fate players like 'Dopa' have great macro understanding which allows them to win a lot of games without having to rely on mechanical outplays and solo kills.
Twisted Fate
fits in basically every team composition. He's not AD, so you don't have to worry about having a full AD team and his kit is perfect for setting up your team for victory.
His ultimate
Destiny
is the perfect tool to abuse bad positioning from your opponents.
High elo junglers love playing with good
Twisted Fate
players, as he is the perfect champion to set them up for succes (Global Ultimate
Destiny
and point and click CC
Pick a Card
). This is especially important in the current meta where playing for your jungler is a really good strategy to win more games (jungle is OP).
Twisted Fate
's passive
Loaded Dice
gives you extra gold for every minion you kill. This allows you to get a gold lead without even getting any kills.
Check out my Dopa Twisted Fate review
Subscribe to my channel for more Twisted Fate related content. (Live commentaries, Reviews, Coaching sessions, ..)
❗ General tips
Try to get around 7cs+ /minute.
Twisted Fate
's passive
Loaded Dice
gives you extra gold for killing minions. Your last hitting skill will also be something you can rely on every single game.
Don't be tunneled in on trying to kill your opponent in lane.
Twisted Fate
's kit isn't really designed to do this. Focus on surviving the lane and try winning the game through good use of your ultimate
Destiny
.
Don't permanently group with your team. If you have your ultimate
Destiny
up you can easily go into sidelane to farm solo XP/gold. Keep watching your team though, so that you can ult in if they need you.
Play towards one win condition. Its often better to ult botlane 4 times than to split your ults between top and bot. Play towards someone on your team that is performing well, don't try to help your 0/6
Nasus
get back into the game. Ignore lanes if they are too far behind to become relevant again.
Make sure you have a fully
Stacked Deck
before using your ultimate
Destiny
for optimal damage output.
Watch some of my educational gameplay commentaries/coaching sessions to better understand how to play Twisted Fate.
Low damage compared to other meta champions in midlane
📜 Runes
👑 Dopa: 'I personally don’t think that the choice of runes matter that much. Runes are balanced, so using one rune over another is a matter of taste. The important thing is that you have to play according to the runes and spells that you have chosen.'
Electrocute setup
Electrocute
is the most standard rune setup for
Twisted Fate
and will serve you well in most games. It gives you a lot of extra kill pressure when using your ultimate
Destiny
. Electrocute will help with getting a kill when your jungler ganks or when you ult to sidelane. This rune setup is also very good against melee champions (easier to proc the rune on them), or non bully ranged mages (no need to go defensive spellbook setup).
Matchups where you want to take the Electrocute setup:
Electrocute
What do all my runes in the Electrocute setup do exactly?
Breakdown
Electrocute
Rune
Electrocute
gives you a burst of extra damage when you hit a target with 3 unique attacks/abilities. For Twisted Fate this means it procs when you hit an opponent with
Wild Cards
(Q) +
Pick a Card
(W) + one auto attack.
Taste of Blood
Rune
Taste of Blood
heals you when you hit an enemy champion. With this rune you will be able to heal up some of the damage you take during laning phase. This is really nice for skirmishes and makes laning a bit easier.
Eyeball Collection
Rune
Eyeball Collection
gives you extra ability power for every takedown (champion kill or assist). This goes hand in hand with Twisted Fate's kit as you tend to roam a lot. Use your ult as much as you can to get the 10 stacks faster.
Ingenious Hunter
Rune
Ingenious Hunter
gives you item haste on your items, meaning your item actives & passives will have lower cooldown. This also works on
Stealth Ward
&
Predator
! Whether you go
Relentless Hunter
,
Ultimate Hunter
or
Ingenious Hunter
is really just personal preference. I myself have the most succes with
Ingenious Hunter
. You get 1 stack in this rune for every unique opponent you takedown, meaning for 5 stacks you would have to get a kill/assist on every champion in the enemy team.
Minion Dematerializer
Rune
Minion Dematerializer
allows you to clear minion waves faster, meaning you can roam more efficiently. After the nerf to Twisted Fate's Q in patch 12.3 you want to use 1 demat on every type of minion. Try to pop it on the cannon if you are looking to base. Doing this you will be able to push in the wave really fast and your opponent can't match it, allowing a free base for you. At level 5 you will need 2 Q's to kill the backline, which is another concept you can use to get a good recall.
Time Warp Tonic
Rune
Time Warp Tonic
gives you a lot of potential for trading in the laning phase. Together with
Corrupting Potion
it has really good synergy. Pop this every time you are doing a heavy trade of health with your opponent. Also keep in mind this rune gives you 5% extra movement speed when under the effects of
Corrupting Potion
. So you can also use it to catch up to someone.
Unsealed Spellbook setup
Unsealed Spellbook
setup gives you a lot of extra defense. Take this rune setup when you feel like you will have a hard time in laning phase.
Matchups where you want to take the Unsealed Spellbook setup:
The reason it is good against these champions is because when going spellbook you can go into resolve tree secondary.
Bone Plating
&
Overgrowth
will give you the survivability you need against these champions.
Unsealed Spellbook
is also good when you play against a mage that can easily poke you out of lane and force you to take a bad base like;
Anivia
,
Orianna
,
Syndra
,
Zoe
or
Viktor
.
The reason spellbook is good against poke heavy mages is because you will be able to go
Teleport
and tp back to lane after you get poked down by them. You won't have to take a bad base, which you would have to take if you went
Electrocute
. After teleporting you can now swap out
Teleport
for another summoner spell like
Ignite
(for extra kill pressure) or
Exhaust
(for even more defense).
Spellbook
What do all my runes in the Spellbook setup do exactly?
Breakdown
Unsealed Spellbook
Rune
After 6 minutes in-game,
Unsealed Spellbook
gives you the option to swap summoner spells when out of combat. This rune works best with
Teleport
&
Flash
. You want to go spellbook page in hard matchups where you feel like you will have to take a bad base (losing a lot of minions when recalling). Example of hard matchups are:
LeBlanc
,
Anivia
,
Zed
,
Irelia
,
Viktor
,
Akshan
. These champions will trade you out of lane, so going this setup you will be able to Teleport back to lane, not miss any minions and swap to Ignite a few moments later in order to have extra kill pressure while on your first ultimate. Try to swap summoners as often as you can as this reduces the cooldown of this rune.
Perfect Timing
Rune
Perfect Timing
gives you a free
Stopwatch
at 14 minutes. This is really nice since you take this setup for more defence. Stopwatch will provide this. Activate this item to go in a 2.5 second stasis. No enemies will be able to hit you, but you also won't be able to move. Stopwatch is really nice to use when
Zed
or
Fizz
use their ult on you. It is also a really good tool for stalling. You can use it if you know your team will get there in time to save you. Keep in mind it only contributes 250 gold towards
Zhonya's Hourglass
instead of the 650 you will get with the
Stopwatch
from the item shop.
Minion Dematerializer
Rune
Minion Dematerializer
allows you to clear minion waves faster, meaning you can roam more efficiently. After the nerf to Twisted Fate's Q in patch 12.3 you want to use 1 demat on every type of minion. Try to pop it on the cannon if you are looking to base. Doing this you will be able to push in the wave really fast and your opponent can't match it, allowing a free base for you. At level 5 you will need 2 Q's to kill the backline which is another concept you can use to get a good recall.
Time Warp Tonic
Rune
Time Warp Tonic
gives you a lot of potential for trading in the laning phase. Together with
Corrupting Potion
it has really good synergy. Pop this every time you are doing a heavy trade of health with your opponent. Also keep in mind this rune gives you 5% extra movement speed when under the effects of your
Corrupting Potion
. So you can also use it to catch up to someone.
Bone Plating
Rune
Bone Plating
gives you extra survivability against all ins. This passive activates once an enemy hits you with a spell or basic attack. Bone plating will then be active for 1.5 seconds. During that time the next 3 spells or attacks your opponent uses on you will deal 30-60 less damage. This rune is good vs champions that will do short trades like;
LeBlanc
,
Fizz
,
Zed
,
Vex
,
Syndra
,
Zoe
, ...
Overgrowth
Rune
Overgrowth
gives you +3 maximum health for every 8 minions or monsters that die near you. At 120 minion/monster deaths you gain an extra +3.5% max health. This rune just gives health, which means extra tankiness and will make you harder to kill.
☄️ Summoner Spells
When I go the
Electrocute
setup I will always go
Ignite
to all in on damage for my level 6 powerspike. The powerspike I will be playing towards is having my ultimate
Destiny
,
Ignite
and
Electrocute
up. This will often be enough damage to get a kill onto someone. (Keep in mind
Twisted Fate
is not a champion like
Talon
. You won't really be able to one shot someone who is full HP, so make sure you have teammates around to help you.)
When I run the
Unsealed Spellbook
setup I will often go for
Teleport
with it. This is because of the really hard matchups where you will be forced to take a bad recall (miss minions/xp). Use
Teleport
to get back to lane faster and swap to
Ignite
or any other defensive spell like
Barrier
/
Exhaust
afterwards.
Spells
🃏 Abilities
If you're wondering what Twisted Fate's ablities do, feel free to watch this video :)
Ability skill order= Q
Wild Cards
-> W
Pick a Card
-> E
Stacked Deck
Of course you unlock your R
Destiny
whenever you can. This will be at level 6, 11 and 16.
For the first 3 levels you should go E -> W -> Q
I really like the
Stacked Deck
level 1 for farming and pressuring the opponent. The only time I go W-Q-E is when I am zoned away from my farm lvl 1. (Which could happen in these matchups;
Anivia
,
LeBlanc
,
Viktor
,
Akshan
.)
Skill Path
Twisted Fate
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
11
11
11
11
12
12
12
12
13
13
13
13
14
14
14
14
15
15
15
15
16
16
16
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17
17
17
17
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18
18
18
⌛ Item Build
Items
Standard Items
Corrupting Potion
Item
Corrupting Potion
is my standard first buy. The item gives a lot of sustain in the laning phase but the main reason you are buying this is the combo it has with your rune
Time Warp Tonic
. When under the effect of this potion you will get an extra 5% movement speed, which will allow you to walk into range for gold card a lot more easily. Dopa as well as myself tend to sit on this item almost the entire game. I only sell it if I'm finalizing my build.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Item
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
are a really cheap option and the most standard option for
Twisted Fate
. They give a lot of ability haste for the amount of gold you have to spend. These boots are more 'supportive' and therefore better in higher elo. Alternative boots would be
Sorcerer's Shoes
,
Mercury's Treads
or
Plated Steelcaps
depending on the game.
Everfrost
Item
Everfrost
is in my opinion still the best mythic item on Twisted Fate. The active synergizes really well with him. The way you use it is by landing your gold card and then using the active on the enemy as well. You can also use the active to clear waves faster. The item gives everything you want on a champion like
Twisted Fate
; AP, health, mana and ability haste.
Rapid Firecannon
Item
Rapid Firecannon
is good if you feel like you don't need
Zhonya's Hourglass
(No AD assassins in enemy team). You can buy RFC as a second item after your mythic. This item extends your gold card range and will catch a lot of people off guard. If ahead you can zone off an entire team when holding your card. The item also gives movement speed, which is a really nice stat to have on
Twisted Fate
as you will always have to walk into range to hit your gold card onto someone.
Lich Bane
Item
Lich Bane
synergises really well with Twisted Fate because of the movement speed it gives and the passive. Since Twisted Fate auto attacks a lot in fights you will be able to make full use of the passive.
Situational Items
Expand for a detailed explanation
Mejai's Soulstealer
Item
Mejai's Soulstealer
is a perfect option if you have a 10 stack
Dark Seal
from an early buy. If I have less than 8 I rarely upgrade my
Dark Seal
. Another thing to keep in mind is that this item requires you to stay alive in order to keep the stacks so I always make sure I have
Zhonya's Hourglass
or
Banshee's Veil
before I upgrade
Dark Seal
so I can make sure I don't die and lose all my stacks. This item is really good and extremely underrated. The reason for this is because it counts as a legendary item. Meaning, when you have your mythic it will give you a stack of its passive. For example, if I have
Everfrost
completed I will get 10 ability power for every legendary item.
Mejai's Soulstealer
is the cheapest legendary item in the game, hence why it is so good. I always make sure to buy a
Dark Seal
whenever I spare gold.
Zhonya's Hourglass
Item
Zhonya's Hourglass
active is really nice to have on a utility champion like Twisted Fate. The item allows you to ult into 3 opponents, stun the high priority target, do your damage rotation, activate Zhonya and wait for your team to arrive. Zhonya's gets you out of a lot of sticky situation were you would otherwise die. Whenever you are playing against heavy AD compositions or AD assassins like
Zed
,
Talon
or
Yone
its smart to buy this item.
Banshee's Veil
Item
Banshee's Veil
is really good against heavy AP comps or champions that start fights with one cc spell like
Blitzcrank
,
Sejuani
,
Thresh
,
Malphite
,
Nautilus
,
Evelynn
). Contrary to
Zhonya's Hourglass
you want to buy banshees against heavy AP compositions. For example:
Fizz
mid,
Diana
jungle,
Malphite
top,
Blitzcrank
support,
Ziggs
bot.
Morellonomicon
Item
Morellonomicon
is an item you have to buy whenever the enemy team has a lot of healing/lifesteal in their kits. Players like to refer to these items as 'Antihealing'. The item will make it so their healing/lifesteal is less effective. Buy this item when playing against champions like;
Yuumi
,
Soraka
,
Sona
,
Taric
,
Fiora
,
Sett
,
Darius
,
Sylas
,
Vladimir
,
Dr. Mundo
,
Warwick
,
Zac
,
Yone
,
Aatrox
,
Swain
Late Game Items
Expand for a detailed explanation
Rabadon's Deathcap
Item
Rabadon's Deathcap
should only be purchased when you already have around 3 AP items. This is because it increases your AP by 35%. So buying it second item means the passive goes to waste. Rabadon's Deathcap is a good item to finalize your build.
Void Staff
Item
Void Staff
is really good as a 3rd or 4th item when you are playing against a lot of tanks or when the enemy team is just buying a lot of Magic Resist items. Example of these items could be;
Mercury's Treads
,
Wit's End
,
Maw of Malmortius
,
Spirit Visage
,
Quicksilver Sash
,
Banshee's Veil
.
Elixir of Sorcery
Item
Elixir of Sorcery
can win you late game teamfights. This item gives a lot of value for the gold you spend. If after 20 minutes you have 500 gold to spare and you know a fight is coming up make sure you buy this item since it synergises really well with Twisted Fate.
Lich Bane
+
Elixir of Sorcery
allows you to shred down turrets like its nothing.
When do I buy which boots?
Expand for a detailed explanation
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Item
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
are a really cheap option and the most basic boots for Twisted Fate. They give a lot of ability haste for the amount of gold you have to spend. These boots are more 'supportive' and therefore better in higher mmr.
Sorcerer's Shoes
Item
Sorcerer's Shoes
are another basic option for Twisted Fate. I myself tend to run these boots most of the time since the magic penetration gives you a lot more damage against champions with little magic resist (like adc's). These boots will be good in most games.
Mercury's Treads
Item
Mercury's Treads
are really good when you play against heavy cc/ AP dmg (for example;
Lissandra
,
Leona
,
Sejuani
,
Ahri
, ...). When I play against an AP jungler and mid with stuns like;
Fiddlesticks
&
Syndra
or
Evelynn
&
Annie
I will base at 1100 gold and buy them first item.
Plated Steelcaps
Item
Plated Steelcaps
are really good if the enemy team has a lot of AD champions. For example;
Zed
,
Kha'Zix
,
Vayne
,
Pyke
,
Renekton
, ...) If this is the case, purchase your
Plated Steelcaps
first before buying
Everfrost
and finally as third item buy
Zhonya's Hourglass
. This will basically make you a tank.
Boots of Swiftness
Item
Boots of Swiftness
give you a lot of extra movement speed and are really good into champions that have a lot of slows. For example;
Ashe
,
Singed
,
Olaf
,
Zilean
. These boots are quite 'cheesy' and not that common. But there are players like 'The Crossman' who always buy them because of the extra movement speed it gives. Since
Twisted Fate
relies on movement speed to catch up to champions and land his gold card, these boots are also a nice option.
⚔️ Matchups
Twisted Fate
doesn't really have "winning lane matchups" as this champion is designed to play the map and win through macro, not by solo killing your opponent in lane. Keep this in mind when laning. Twisted Fate's laning phase is often just surviving and last hitting as many minions. When you hit level 6
Destiny
you play the map and outroam your opponent.
EXTREME
HARD
EVEN
EASY
Yasuo
Champion
Yasuo
can also block all your spells with his shield. Don't push the lane, try to keep the wave just in front of your turret range and wait for ganks or just scale up safely. Yasuo players tend to make 'silly' mistakes, punish him when he messes up.
Never push the wave, unless jungler needs prio or you are ahead. Make sure you watch your minions hp. Don't stand next to low hp minions as she will be jumping onto them if they are low hp. Try to get lvl 6 without dying, and start roaming with
Shen toplane is probably one of Twisted Fate's worst nightmares. When ulting bot always consider if shen has his ult
Stand United
or not, and maybe wait for your jungler to also come bot before using
Destiny
.
Nocturne
Champion
Whenever the enemy picks this I avoid picking Twisted Fate into it. His ultimate
Paranoia
basically counters your ultimate as you can't see anything. Since nocturne R is also a global it is also really easy for him to join in on fights where you ult to.
Akshan
Champion
He outranges and outtrades you. Hard matchup, try to focus on last hitting minions and avoid trading with him. I recommend going
Unsealed Spellbook
+
Teleport
here.
Anivia
Champion
Really hard matchup because
Anivia
has an easy time hitting her spells onto you. This is because your range is a lot lower compared to hers. Start W -> Q and play safe early levels. You probably also want
Unsealed Spellbook
setup +
Teleport
in this matchup.
Tryndamere
Champion
Don't focus too much on harassing him, he will probably regenerate all your damage with
Doran's Shield
+ his Q
Bloodlust
&
Second Wind
. Make sure you don't waste your W randomly, as this creates a window for him to get damage onto you. Careful for his lvl 6 dive potential.
Zed
Champion
This is one of the few matchups where I consider going
Barrier
or
Exhaust
instead of
Ignite
. Buy
Plated Steelcaps
first base.
Zhonya's Hourglass
is a good item to get after your mythic. Activate zhonya when he has his R on you. You can poke him early levels. But make sure you manage your waves properly.
This is basically the same as yasuo (he is his brother). This matchup is in my opnion a bit easier because he doesn't have windwall. Try to poke him a bit early levels and then focus on your wave managment. Let the waves come for you and don't let him freeze. Yone likes a really long lane, so try to keep the wave in front of your tower.
is a major threat is not because he will kill you in lane but because
Twisted Fate
is not the right champion to punish his scaling. Meaning a good
Kassadin
can scale for free in this matchup. Try to punish him if you can. If he started
Doran's Shield
, you should focus on last hitting minions more than trying to poke him out of lane.
Fizz
Champion
Crown of the Shattered Queen
is a really good mythic item in this matchup. You can also buy
Zhonya's Hourglass
. Activate zhonya when he has his ult on you. If the enemy team has alot of ap
Banshee's Veil
is also a good option. You can poke him early levels. But make sure you manage your waves properly. Don't push him in too far when he has his R
Chum the Waters
up.
Galio
Champion
In an isolated 1v1 this matchup is really easy but
Galio
completely counters your roaming potential. Always keep in mind he can ult anyone who you are trying to kill.
Swain
Champion
Swain is nearly impossible to trade with. If you play tf you have to walk into auto attack range in order to trade. Once you walk into range,
Swain
can easily do his full combo onto you. Preferably you sit back in this matchup and just farm up.
Morgana
Champion
When the enemy picks
Morgana
support and you ult bot wait out her
Black Shield
usage. When she blackshields her ADC instantly gold card her. This is mostly mind games. If you throw your q first most morgana's will panic
Black Shield
allowing you to gold card the proper target.
Tahm Kench
Champion
This champion when picked by enemy support alters the way you have to play. Consider playing for topside with your R instead of botside. Or when ulting botside focus him instead of the adc. Also make sure to
Ignite
him to reduce his healing.
Zoe
Champion
Only really bad midlaners lose lane with
Zoe
in this matchup. Ward behind the walls to see where she positions for her
Sleepy Trouble Bubble
. You are only looking to scale in this matchup and setting up ganks for your jungler.
Mercury's Treads
&
Cleanse
are both really high value here.
Aurelion Sol
Champion
This champion is a bit annoying since his waveclear is really good and his roaming too. Though I have not seen him alot in season 12 so it seems he is not that viable at the moment.
Zilean
Champion
When played support
Zilean
is pretty annoying for Twisted Fate once he hits level 6. He will ult the target you are trying to kill, so just like morgana blackshield this is kind of a mind game.
Azir
Champion
This matchup can be surprisingly hard if the
Azir
player is good. Try to not get poked too hard by his sand soldiers early. You will be a lot more useful than him when you can ult to sidelanes.
Ahri
Champion
Rush
Mercury's Treads
in this matchups and try to dodge her spells.
Katarina
Champion
The matchup in a 1v1 vacuum is quite easy to play. If you ping your sidelaners when she roams and don't die in the early levels this matchup is really manageable. Just be careful for her all in lvl 3. Always move away from her daggers on the ground.
Buy boots first item to dodge his q. Look at the boots section to see which ones you need.
Akali
Champion
Akali is just like any other melee assassin. But she is harder to execute in the early levels, hence why I place her under
Yone
,
Zed
and
Fizz
. This matchup is really playable untill she hits lvl 6, thats when you want to be careful for her all in.
Cassiopeia
Champion
This lane is pretty standard but try to avoid trading with her when she has poison on you. Also keep in mind she can cancel your ultimate with her W
Miasma
.
Talon
Champion
Crown of the Shattered Queen
is a good mythic here. Consider buying
Seeker's Armguard
&
Plated Steelcaps
if there are other AD threats on the enemy team. Ping your team when he is roaming.
Diana
Champion
Careful for her all in at lvl 6. You won't win it. Scale and look to play the map.
Ekko
Champion
His push is better than yours. This is one of the few matchups where Twisted Fate will get outpushed.
Syndra
Champion
Mercury's Treads
is a good first buy in this matchup. Trading with her will be hard. Consider going
Teleport
&
Unsealed Spellbook
. Careful for her lvl 6.
Ryze
Champion
This is a standard matchup, no need to rush specific items. Just follow the standard build path. Be careful for his 1v1, if the
Ryze
is good you will never win in a 1v1 scenario.
Xerath
Champion
Just like in the Karthus matchup you should look to buy boots first. Preferably
Mercury's Treads
. This allows you to dodge his spells really easy.
Vladimir
Champion
This is mostly a scaling matchup. Be careful for his lvl 6 all in. And make sure to buy
Oblivion Orb
if none in your team is getting anti healing.
Vel'Koz
Champion
Mercury's Treads
are a good first item here since it will allow you to dodge his spells alot better.
Veigar
Champion
Just like vladimir veigar is mostly looking to scale up. Be careful for his cage and get
Mercury's Treads
if you feel like you need them. Don't be trapped into going
Cleanse
, just don't walk into his cage.
Taliyah
Champion
This champion doesn't seem to be very popular in the midlane in season 12. But if I would play against it, I would stick to my standard build.
Vex
Champion
Don't trade with her in the early game. Try to get a good base at level 5 and be ready to roam. Don't fight her 1 on 1
Heimerdinger
Champion
This is the most predictable matchup in the game. He will always just look to perma push your tower. Make sure you push him in/ destroy his turrets before you consider roaming. Otherwise your tower will be gone really fast.
Annie
Champion
Be careful trading with her early. Try to wait out her spells. When she is level 6 be careful for her Flash + Tibbers engage.
Ziggs
Champion
Scaling matchup. Keep in mind Ziggs can ult botlane when he is in the river.
💖 Synergies
IDEAL
STRONG
BAD
Lee Sin
Champion
Perfect duo champion for TF. Gold card, lee can hit his q for free, easy kill. Since he is AD the enemy also won't be able to itemize mercs/banshees like they could when you play with eve/nidalee.
Kha'Zix
Champion
Same as lee sin basically.
Kha'Zix
has a free engage if you gold card enemy. Since he is AD the enemy also won't be able to itemize mercs/banshees like they could when you play with eve/nidalee.
Shen
Champion
If you have a
Shen
top try to coordinate ult usage and 5 man bot with the jungler.
Rengar
Champion
You can play sidelane kingdom with
Rengar
. Easy to catch out ADC's if you both have R up.
Nocturne
Champion
Same as
Shen
, this is a good combo since you can double ult botlane/toplane
Camille
Champion
Perfect toplaner for TF, should always be a kill if you ult top and
Camille
also has R. You can play sidelane kingdom with her after laning phase.
Gangplank
Champion
The reason GP is ideal is not because you want to play towards top but because you only play for bot. GP is the perfect weakside champion and is a perfect pick if you only want to play towards bot with Twisted Fate.
Viego
Champion
Try to give
Viego
a reset on his R in teamfights. If fed, he is the perfect hypercarry to play towards.
Taliyah
Champion
Taliyah jungle is perfect for Twisted Fate. Gold card your laner and taliyah can hit her combo for free.
Nautilus
Champion
Perfect support with Twisted Fate. Makes ulting botlane a lot better since you can chain cc your opponent.
Thresh
Champion
Perfect support with Twisted Fate. Makes ulting botlane a lot better since you can chain cc your opponent.
Leona
Champion
Perfect support with Twisted Fate. Makes ulting botlane a lot better since you can chain cc your opponent.
Zac
Champion
Easiest gank setup in the game with this blobber.
Kai'Sa
Champion
Kaisa can ult jump onto your gold card if you go for a target in the backline.
Elise
Champion
A lot of people seem to think this is a good combo because its easy gank setup. But if the enemy team buys
Mercury's Treads
you and elise will both have a lot less value as champions since you both rely on CC and magic damage.
Evelynn
Champion
Similar to
Elise
if the enemy team decides to start buying items like
Mercury's Treads
,
Maw of Malmortius
,
Banshee's Veil
&
Wit's End
the game is going to be very hard to win.
Nidalee
Champion
Similar to
Elise
if the enemy team decides to start buying items like
Mercury's Treads
,
Maw of Malmortius
,
Banshee's Veil
&
Wit's End
the game is going to be very hard to win.
🧠 Twisted Fate Concepts
Here are a few important concepts you should understand when playing
Twisted Fate
Identifying your win condition
Twisted Fate
is far from a solo carry champion. His identity is more that of a supportive midlane roamer comparable to
Karma
,
Galio
&
Ryze
. Therefore he will always in a way be reliant on his team to close out the game with him. Because of his identity it is really important to be able to identify who you should be playing towards during the game. The 2 strongest carry roles in the current meta are ADC and jungle. So most of the time you want to be playing towards either one of them.
When to play for your botlane ✔️
Your botlane has a lead over their opponent. (More cs, more turret plates, more items, ...) This indicates they are probably better players, hence why it might be a good idea to get them further ahead.
Your support has a strong follow up on your ultimate
Destiny
+ gold card combo. (Examples;
Nautilus
,
Thresh
,
Leona
,
Pyke
,
Blitzcrank
,
Bard
, ...) This makes it really easy to CC chain the enemy and kill them.
Your adc is a hardcarry marksman. (Examples;
Jinx
,
Aphelios
,
Vayne
,
Twitch
,
Tristana
)
When not to play for your botlane ❌
Your botlane is really far behind
Your support has a no decent follow up on your ultimate
Destiny
+ gold card combo. (Examples;
Lulu
,
Senna
,
Karma
,
Renata Glasc
,
Soraka
,
Janna
, ...)
Your adc is a supportive marksman. (Examples;
Jhin
,
Ezreal
,
Sivir
,
Ashe
)
When to play for your toplaner ✔️
Your toplaner is stomping his opponent.
Your toplaner has good followup on your ultimate
Destiny
+ gold card combo. (Examples;
Camille
,
Jax
,
Urgot
,
Renekton
)
The toplane matchup is volatile. Meaning; The first champion to get ahead will most likely roll over the other one. (Examples;
Fiora
vs
Irelia
,
Riven
vs
Darius
,
Jayce
vs
Tryndamere
)
When not to play for your toplaner ❌
Your toplaner is really far behind. (Don't help your toplaner when he is 0/5. Even when he is spam pinging for help. It makes more sense to play for a winning lane rather then trying to get a losing lane back in the game.)
Your toplaner has no followup on your ultimate
Destiny
+ gold card combo. (Examples;
Vladimir
,
Gangplank
,
Teemo
,
Kayle
)
The toplane matchup is tank versus tank or scaling vs scaling. (Examples;
Dr. Mundo
vs
Malphite
,
Vladimir
vs
Kayle
)
When to play for your jungler ✔️
Your jungler is stomping his counterpart. (more cs, higher level, more items, ...) This idicates he is probably a better player, hence why it might be a good idea to get him further ahead.
Your jungler is a carry champion. (Examples;
Rengar
,
Evelynn
,
Lee Sin
,
Hecarim
,
Kha'Zix
,
Kayn
, ...)
When not to play for your jungler ❌
Your jungler is really far behind compared to his counterpart
Your jungler is a tank. (Examples;
Amumu
,
Sejuani
,
Zac
,
Rammus
)
❗ Disclaimer. These are just general examples. League of Legends is far more complicated than this, but hopefully this gives you a general idea on how to play towards your win condition.
Map Awareness
🗺️ Map awareness is a really important skill for every
Twisted Fate
player. Looking at the map will make you be able to determine when and where to use your ultimate. When you are laning you should look at the mini map every few seconds. Once your ultimate
Destiny
is up, you should look at the minimap a bit more because now you will have to look for an actual opportunity to ult in. Playing with locked camera and never panning your camera towards your teammates means you will be missing opportunities for your R.
Wave pushing
At level 5 you will need 2 q's to kill the caster minions, this strategy can be used to get a good recall/base timer. You can shove in the wave fast, recall and by the time you are back in lane you won't miss any minions. Example of me doing it here: https://youtu.be/j_jvdevdvGE?t=308
Using Dematerializer properly
Running my rune setup you will have 3 dematerializers at the start of every game. Use one demat on every type of minion to get more damage on those minions throughout the game. For every demat used you will deal 6% extra damage to that type of minion. You can also use your dematerializer to get a good base. Example of me doing it here: https://youtu.be/bDILDuIr8Eo?t=266
River Control & Warding
Twisted Fate's ultimate isn't completely global.Ulting to a sidelane you will have to walk into the jungle/river. This is why you want vision control over these areas, as then walking into river/jungle is a lot less dangerous. Warding the river is the single most important thing to establish river control. It will allow you to use your ultimate a lot more effectively. Try to always have at least 1
Control Ward
on the map. Preferably you want to place this in 1 of the river bushes.
Example of where to place your trinkets and control ward below
First Crab spawn
Always try to play for your jungler when the first Scuttle crab is about to spawn. Scuttle crab gives a lot of gold and junglers will want to take atleast one of them. Make sure you have your wave pushed in so you can move first in order to help your jungler if needed.
If you can't move first because you managed your wave badly or the enemy outplayed you, ping your jungler back. Then he has to decide whether he wants to give the crab or contest it. If he doesn't want to contest try to coordinate with your team to get the other crab.
The important thing to remember here is that you have to play for your jungler. If he doesn't care about the crab then you can just stay in lane, no problem. But most junglers will want to get at least one crab at 3:15.
Jungle synergy
Synergy with your jungler is really important when playing Twisted Fate. Try to coordinate ganks together. If you want to ult bot at level 6, let your jungler know. That way he can alter his pathing to be botside when you are about to hit 6. If you are 4 man bot you can often easily secure dragon after ganking.
Wave management
Wave management is a very important skill to have as a
Twisted Fate
player or as a midlaner in general. It is very complicated and can't be explained in a compact guide. I will try to go over some of the more important things but if you are really getting into higher mmr (Diamond 3-2 +) I would recommend looking more into this yourself or booking a coaching session with me.
The first minion waves Into easy matchups like
Kassadin
,
Katarina
,
Talon
you mostly look to harass them in the first few levels. But make sure you don't sacrifice too many minions. Always make sure your wave is either; pushing in fully, coming to you or stable in the middle of the lane. Every time you cross the middle part of the lane to push in the minions under the enemy tower you should beware of the enemy jungler position since you are susceptible for ganks.
Into harder matchups where it doesn't really make sense to look for early trades like
Syndra
,
Viktor
,
Yasuo
,
Zed
you mostly want to keep the wave in the middle or just out of your tower range. This way you can safely farm and are not really gankable.
Once you hit level 6
Destiny
you can look to hardpush the wave in order to ult to the sidelane without losing too many minions. If you don't have your
Destiny
up ask yourself if it makes sense to push in or not.
These are some basic wave management tips for Twisted Fate. I could write a 30 page guide on wave management alone so to make it more easy for you guys to take in I highly recommend you to watch Curtis his video about 'Midlane Fundamentals - wave management' shown below.
Feel free to watch this if wave management interests you. All credit goes to Curtis!
Using your ultimate
Your ultimate
Destiny
is the single most important spell
Twisted Fate
uses to influence the game. This tool if mastered can win you unwinnable games, turn a 2v3 in a 3v3, backdoor the enemy nexus or camp one opponent so hard he decides to go afk. I have had it all and I can say
Twisted Fate
's ultimate is the reason I like him so much.
Your first ultimate method 1
This is the most basic method and is also used by Dopa in most of his games.
For your first ult you should try to base at lvl 5 to buy your first items. In most games you want these items on your first base;
Boots
+
Dark Seal
+
Amplifying Tome
+ 1
Control Ward
. Run to lane after buying your items, get level 6 and start looking for ganks. If there are no opportunities don't feel pressured to use your R
Destiny
. You can always hold on to it and wait for a better window.
Your first ultimate method 2
Method 2 is very abusable in lower elos. You can greed and stay in lane to get level 6, then base, buy items and look for an ultimate from the base (example; walking straight bot). After your ult bot you can walk back to midlane and you will most likely not lose a lot of minions.
The reason this only works in lower elos is because in Higher elos I often get poked out before that. Lower elo players will rarely punish you, meaning you can stay in lane longer and greed your base timings. Example of me ulting from base: https://youtu.be/68KBNki_iVk?t=424
Ult usage after that
Your ults after that are really dependent on the game state. I myself often try to ult after I base. I do this because I will have spend all my gold and therefore I will have more damage. If you ult somewhere with 2k in the bank you are missing out on alot of damage. So, run from fountain to bot/top, ult in and after that you can run mid to catch your minions.
Sidelane control
Always try to heavily control one side of the map. For example you play fully for botside in order to secure dragon soul. Or you play fully for topside in order to get multiple heralds and play the map. Ulting bot, then top, then bot again is often a bad idea since its better to play for one winning side instead of cutting losses on both sides.
Splitpushing
Since
Twisted Fate
his ultimate is a global ability, splitpushing is another really important skill/concept to understand.
DO NOT 5 MAN ARAM MID WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR R (
Destiny
) UP
After the laning phase ends try to go into a solo lane. This will give you a lot more xp and gold compared to sitting mid with your entire team and sharing all the xp/gold between 5 players. Whenever you have your Destiny up you can also splitpush and join the fight with your R
Destiny
if needed.
This is probably one of the most common mistakes lower elo players make. The amount of gold and xp that is wasted in lower mmr because everyone is always trying to 5 man aram in a lane is insane. You can get really big level and item leads by just focusing on catching sidelanes on your own.
Lane swaps
Once your bot ganks with
Destiny
start paying off and you manage to get bot tower, your botlane should swap with toplane. Let them both go top and you will farm up mid and pressure from there. You do this because a botlaner & support give off a lot more pressure than you on your own without R. Since you already took bot tower you want to move your pressure point from the botlane to toplane in order to get tower & herald.
Basic rule set of catching waves
After about 15 - 20 minutes the laning phase will most of the time be ending.
In most games the XP / Gold is shared like this;
- The ADC & Support will take the midlane experience.
- You and the toplaner will catch the sidewaves. This can change from bot to top depending on the game state.
- The jungler will catch waves if really needed and farm the jungle camps.
❗ Splitpushing Disclaimer ❗
Twisted Fate
is not a splitpusher like
Tryndamere
,
Camille
,
Jax
,
Fiora
&
Nasus
. These champions have the goal to 1v1 the opponent and get towers in the sidelane.
Twisted Fate
is far weaker in an isolated 1v1 compared to these champions. So you have to be a bit more careful when pushing sidelane on your own. When I refer to splitpushing I mean sitting in a sidelane and catching solo xp and gold. Only pressure the enemy with your sidelane push if you are a lot stronger or if you have someone shadowing you (jungler or support are backing you up).
💛 Outro
Congratulations you've made it to the end of my guide! I would like to thank you for reading through. I hope you learned something and wish you the best of luck with your games 🙂
If you have any questions feel free to join my discord server