How to Play Country
Welcome to another in the series of our How to Play TFT trait guides.
Country is a new trait coming to Set 10, and the trait will be the “summon” trait. Almost every TFT set has had a trait that summon an extra unit onto the board, and this time around, we get Country.
Let’s get right into the guide.
Note: The information provided is based on early information and can change rapidly in PBE. While the exact numbers may change, the overall mechanic of the trait should remain the same.
If you haven’t checked out all of the Set 10 information yet, check out out Set 10 Reveal Page!
How Country Works
Country is the spiritual successor of traits like Void and Cultist. As you place more Country units on the board, you will be able to access an extra Dreadsteed unit (Hecarim). He will be on the side of the board and will enter battle after your team takes some damage.
Traits like Country are usually quite good at win streaking as you gain access to an extra unit on board in the early to mid game. As the game progresses, you usually either transition into stronger units or try to reach the highest tier of Country to win the game. Country only has 5 units and the max bonus is at 7, meaning you will need an Emblem and a Headliner to reach 7.
Country Trait Bonus
When your team loses a portion of their Health, a Dreadsteed charges onto the battlefield and empowers your team.
Each Country star level increases its Health and Attack Damage.
- (3) Dreadsteed
- (5) Midnight Dreadsteed
- (7) Infernal Invocation Dreadsteed
Country Synergy
Here’s a list of the traits you can branch into from the Country units:
- Bruiser
- Crowd Diver
- Executioner
- Mosher
- Guardian
There’s only 5 Country units, so I wouldn’t expect too much overlap between the units. Even still, with only 5 units required to hit the mid-tier bonus, there is a lot of room for extra units to fill out traits. Bruiser and Guardian provide easy direction for frontline, while Executioner and Mosher are possible directions for damage traits.
Crowd Diver is definitely the weirdest trait to fit into Country comps as it doesn’t really fit with the comp, but it’s definitely possible to branch into a Crowd Diver Country comp as well.
Country Champions
Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Country trait and what you can do with them.
Tahm Kench – Country + Bruiser
[Link to Champion Page]
The first unit of Country is Tahm Kench, with a classic TFT ability. Almost every set has a unit with this damage reducing ability. It’s a simple and effective ability for a frontline unit.
There isn’t much else to say about Tahm Kench other than he can start up an easy frontline with Bruiser units in the early game.
Katarina – Country + Crowd Diver
[Link to Champion Page]
Katarina is the only 2-cost Country unit, meaning you will need to find one of the 3-cost units in order to activate Country. Her ability is a simple damage ability that bounces and will Wound, which is nice for some utility.
While there is likely potential for a Crowd Diver Country comp, for the simple playstyle, I would consider Katarina more as a trait unit for Country. The comp is likely easier to play when focusing on the 3-cost units rather than Katarina and Crowd Divers.
However, I could be completely wrong and maybe Crowd Diver Country will be a broken comp. I simply expect Katarina to find more success in a more Crowd Diver focused comp than a Country one.
Samira – Country + Executioner
[Link to Champion Page]
Samira is the first 3-cost unit for Country, and she is clearly designed to be a potential carry for the trait. Her ability deals more damage the more time she crits, and her Executioner trait also scales her crit stats as well.
Considering Samira is a 3-cost unit, it’s very possible that Country comps will look to finish at level 7 in order to slow roll for Samira. Depending on which Headliner you hit, the comp will likely adjust accordingly.
Urgot – Country + Mosher
[Link to Champion Page]
Urgot is the other 3-cost unit for Country, and he also looks to be a strong item holder. This just gives more reason to slow roll at level 7, as this way you can roll for both Urgot and Samira.
Urgot’s Mosher trait will grant him some Omnivamp and Attack Speed, which scale with his ability very well. While Samira can hold glass cannon AD items, Urgot will want a mix of defensive and offensive items like Titan’s Resolve, Bloodthirster, Sterak’s Gage, etc.
Thresh – Country + Guardian
[Link to Champion Page]
Lastly, we have Thresh as the final unit for Country. He’s the only 4-cost unit for the trait, and he isn’t a carry. This roster of units very clearly points into the direction of 3-cost reroll.
Overall, Thresh’s ability is very strong as it’s an AoE CC ability. Even in non-Country comps, Thresh will likely be a popular unit to fill out frontlines or activate the Guardian trait.
Country Best Augments
For this section, I’ll be covering some Augments that particularly synergize with the trait. Lots of Augments are universal, like economy based Augments or item Augments, but I’ll try to cover particular synergies to look out for.
I won’t be able to cover every single Augment, just some notable ones. You can check out the full list of Augments here.
Country Augment – Bounty Hunters
The Country specific gold Augment is quite solid, but mostly ideal the earlier you get it. If this is your first Augment, you can reach Country (3) very easily by already having Samira, and you can start racking up extra gold to build your economy. Even getting this Augment at 3-2 can be very solid.
However, at 4-2, it’s probably better to pick a stronger combat Augment as the late game will be approaching. Maybe you need just one more Samira for Samira 3, and you can still pick this Augment as a safe way to upgrade her, but that’s a niche scenario.
Reroll Augments
If you’re playing Country around Samira and Urgot, you can look to pick good reroll augments as your early choices. While these don’t power up your board late game, they provide more consistency with hitting your upgrades.
- Army Building
- Trade Sector
- Infernal Contract
Country Team Comps
Team comps are very fickle, but we’ll try to keep this section updated with the best team comps you can play around.
If you want an updated look at team comps, be sure to check out our Tier List.
Country Samira/Urgot Team Comp
[Link to Builder]
This comp is what is very clearly incentivized when looking at the units and traits. With a Country Headliner, you can run Samira, Urgot, Thresh, and Tahm Kench as a trait unit.
We have Sett as an additional reroll target and tank while also providing the Mosher trait with Urgot. With 3 spots left, we have Illaoi as a strong late game tank, and Vex/Amumu.
Vex and Amumu both provide traits, Executioner and Guardian respectively, making them perfect additions for the comp. They too can be 3-cost reroll targets if you’re swimming in Gold or take Infernal Contract.
Lastly, if you don’t find a Country Headliner, you can replace Amumu/Vex for Katarina to complete Country 5. The comp will be a bit weaker, but it’s a small downgrade while keeping your options more open.
Country Punk Team Comp
[Link to Team Builder]
This Country Punk team comp looks to be a good starting point for the trait. You can slow roll at level 6 to find Twitch 3 and Pantheon 3 while also 2 starring Samira and Urgot.
The Punk trait is also very useful for slow roll comps as you get to save 1 gold on your first reroll each turn. At the time of writing, this comp isn’t seeing much play, but that can easily change with balance patches.
Katarina Crowd Diver Team Comp
[Link to Team Builder]
Lastly, I want to cover a Katarina comp. This comp doesn’t use the Country trait, but in the early to mid game, Country can definitely be something you use for strongest board.
Katarina is the main carry of this comp, so I figured it would be best placed in this guide as we don’t cover class trait guides.
For this comp, Country Katarina is quite a downgrade as you don’t want any of the Country units in the team. You also want to be able to hit 6 Crowd Diver, which is a strong power spike for the comp.
Conclusion
All in all, Country is bringing back the Void playstyle with a slight change. With Void, players were often incentivized to chase the big vertical, but Country seems to incentivize slow rolling instead. (More like Rek’Sai Reroll in Set 9)
This can definitely change, though. It’s very possible that Country 7 will be strong one patch, but the design of the champions indicate otherwise.
We hope you enjoyed this guide, and hopefully it helps you climb some ranks. Good luck and have fun!
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our meta team comps page, or head to our Team Builder to try and come up with your own comps.
