This week’s free rotation includes Twisted Fate, a character I cut my teeth on, so it seemed appropriate to throw together a quick guide for anyone interested in giving him a shot. Fate has one of the best skill sets in the game and is capable of completely dominating a lane and eventually a team. In the right hands, he can easily swing a game himself.
MasteriesRunes
There are a lot of different ways you can go with this. I would recommend CD reduction and mana regen or CD reduction and ability power. With 9% CD reduction from masteries, a mere 6% in your runes means you have capped CD reduction with golem buff. It is very easy to get golem with TF, so I don’t rune for more than 6%. I would avoid spell penetration if only because it’s so easy to break people down without the extra help. Having more mana is never a bad thing, though.
Playstyle
Twisted Fate’s strength comes in his ability to instantly outnumber the opponent. His third skill, Gate, when cast with his ultimate, Destiny, becomes a 1.5 second teleport to any location on the map. Your focus at every stage of the game should be unbalancing the other team, creating highly undesirable situations from what would normally have been an even fight.
If you haven’t yet mastered the Pick a Card skill, create a practice game, sit at fountain and practice. You should be able to hit a Gold Card 100% of the time during practice, which will greatly increase your chances in the middle of a fight. By the end of the game, a crit Gold Card can hit for as much as 50% of your opponent’s life, so get used to picking it.
Skills
My TF build focuses on farming with some mild harassment up to level 6. From that point forward you should be ganking heavily. By level 11, you will be breaking the game for your opponent. First six levels are as follows: Pick a Card -> Wild Cards -> Wild Cards -> Gate -> Wild Cards -> Destiny. From there, you’re leveling Wild Cards over Gate over Pick a Card.
The reason is this: Wild Cards is your primary nuke. It’s great for killing creeps early game and mowing down an entire team late game. Pick a Card is a decent nuke, but its mana cost can be prohibitive early game. Taking Gate instead reduces your teleport cooldown, giving you the chance to be a part of more team fights. Every time I’ve taken PaC over Gate I’ve regretted it. Not so the other way around.
The Game
If you feel confident enough to solo mid, take it. With your Wild Cards you should be able to push back even the most aggressive opponents. A side lane is a fine way to go as well. I always start off with a mana crystal and two health pots. For the first four levels just focus on your farm. If you have the opportunity for an early kill, by all means go for it. Remember, though, that you’re very squishy, and your opponent can easily bait you to an early death. Once you hit level four you have a little more mobility. Head back to base for your first item and port back.
I almost always take Tear of the Goddess as my first item. You are essentially spamming Wild Cards so you’re adding to that mana pool quickly. It also builds to Archangel’s Staff, which is the only uncapped AP item in the game – great for those 70-80 minute matches. If you’re getting run down a lot or feel like you can start getting several kills by level 4, you may consider boots or a soulstealer.
Once you have your first item it’s back to your lane for more farm. With Wild Cards it’s easy to last hit 80% of the creeps in a wave. Your lanemates might get frustrated but they’ll love you for it later. Besides, your teammates can farm solo while you’re roaming the map ganking.
At level 6, start watching for easy ganks. If you see an enemy lane close to your tower, ask that lane if they’d like a gank. Queue up your Gold Card, blow Destiny and Gate, preferably behind the enemy. As you’re about to land, press “A” and click your target. TF will throw the Gold Card immediately when he lands, granting you the stun and your team the advantage. It should be easy kills from there. If the gank was successful, push for outer turret. If not you can still push or head back to your farming. By level 10-11, these ganks will almost always be successful when played right.
Items
Your item build should look as follows. Obviously, personal discretion is advised. This is simply how I’ve been successful with TF.
Tear of the Goddess
Sorcerer’s Boots
Mejai’s Soulstealer
Lichbane
Zhonya’s
If you’re having trouble with HP, consider a Rylai’s or a Leviathan. Neither are ideal, but they will keep you alive. If your enemy is stacking MR, go with a Void Staff and an Abyssal. It’s completely feasible to have 250+ creep kills in every game with TF so you will have plenty of cash. Don’t do something stupid like Kage stacking. It will only hurt your early game ganking.
Final Thoughts
Remember, TF is all about team play. Yes, he’s a strong 1v1 character, but his real strength is dropping in on unsuspecting opponents. Once you get a feel for the Gold Card -> Destiny -> Gate combo you should be racking up serious kill/assist counts.
As an added bonus, you’re also a great pusher. With just a few stacks on your soulstealer you can one-shot caster creeps with Wild Cards and two-shot the rest. Once you’re on the tower, don’t forget to keep casting Wild Cards as you attack for the Lichbane procs. You can easily carve through an inhibitor while your team pushes another lane.
