Teamfight Tactics Tips

Whether you've played an Auto Chess style game before or you're just jumping straight into Teamfight Tactics, there's a lot of stuff that you're expected to know, and none of it is obvious. Riot has put out their own full guide on the game, but here we'll give you a run-down of the most important things to remember.

Combining Champions

Combining three copies of the same champion will get you an upgraded version of that champion. If you buy three Garens for one gold each, for instance, you'll get a 2-star Garen, which has way better stats and a stronger ability. To get a 3-star Garen, though, you need to have three 2-star Garens.

Getting Items

At certain specific intervals, you will be matched up against enemies from the jungle instead of an other player. If you beat these waves, you'll be rewarded with an item that you can give to one of your champions. Any two normal items in a champion's inventory will automatically combine into a unique stronger item, so you want as many items as you can get.
Here's the schedule of neutral encounters:
1 - 2 Melee Minions
2 - 2 Melee Minions, 1 Ranged Minion
3 - 2 Melee Minions, 2 Ranged Minions
9 - 3 Krugs
15 - 4 Murk Wolves, 1 Greater Murk Wolf
21 - 4 Raptors, 1 Greater Raptor
27 - 1 Dragon
33 - 2 Mech Cannons, 4 Mech Melee Minions
39 - Rift Herald
45 - Elder Dragon

The Carousel

The Carousel is an opportunity for every player to get one free champion. The first round of the game is a carousel round where everyone scrambles to choose one champion, but after that there's a pick order. Players with lower health pick champions first, while players with higher health pick last. You have to make decisions quickly during Carousel rounds, so be sure to think about your options ahead of time.

Earning Interest

Interest is one of the weirder mechanics in Auto Chess games, but you have to know about it to do well. Interest acts like a bonus to the gold that you earn for finishing a round, in addition to bonuses like win streaks and losing streaks.
For every 10 gold you have at the end of a round, up to 50, you earn 1 extra gold in interest. That means that your #1 goal in the early-mid game should be to get up to 50 gold and stay above that number.
Remember that you take damage at the end of a loss based on the enemy's champions. Earlier on, players have fewer champions and their champions are lower levels. That means taking losses early is safer than taking losses later — so you should save gold early even if it means your wave won't be as strong as someone else's. 5 extra gold every single round adds up quickly.