How to Play Emo
Welcome to another in the series of our How to Play TFT trait guides.
Emo is a new trait coming to Set 10 with the theme of reducing mana cost. The trait isn’t anything spectacular, but it has a small cast of interesting units.
Let’s get right into the guide.
If you’re new to Set 10 and want to check out all the information, check out out Set 10 Reveal Page!
How Emo Works
The Emo trait is all about mana. When active, the mana cost for Emo champions will be reduced. Furthermore, when an ally dies, Emo champions will also gain mana.
Emo Trait Bonus
Emo Champions have reduced maximum mana. Whenever an ally dies, Emo Champions gain Mana.
- (2) -20% , +10 gained
- (4) -30% , +30 gained
- (6) -40% , +40 gained. Emo Champions gain 10 AP
Emo Synergy
Here’s a list of traits you can branch into with Emo:
- Spellweaver
- Guardian
- Executioner
- Mosher
As expected, there isn’t any class overlap between the units considering there’s only 4 Emo units. The Emo bonus only affects Emo units, and the trait is quite small. As such, I expect Emo to be a bit more niche as there isn’t a ton of flexibility with the comps.
Splashing in Emo is unnecessary unless you’re investing into an Emo unit like Poppy. Even still, there may be some reroll comps that revolve around Annie and Vex, so there’s some testing to be done there.
Emo Champions
Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Emo trait and what you can do with them.
Annie – Emo + Spellweaver
[Link to Champion Page]
Annie is the only low cost Emo unit, which will make the trait difficult to put together until the mid game. Annie’s ability ramps up the more she casts, which synergizes very well with the Emo trait.
Annie will likely be a potential reroll carry, but her supporting cast will be interesting since there are no other 1 or 2-cost Emo units you can reroll for alongside her.
Amumu – Emo + Guardian
[Link to Champion Page]
Amumu is the dedicated frontline unit for the Emo trait, and his ability also has a strong CC portion as well. He does need to cast 3 times in order to stun, but hopefully the Emo trait will help accelerate his casts to do so.
The bonus Armor from his passive is also quite good. As long as he can survive long enough to get to max stacks, he can become harder and harder to take down.
Vex – Emo + Executioner
[Link to Champion Page]
Vex is the other 3-cost Emo unit and has a mix of damage and CC with her ability. Since her ability is part CC, I don’t expect the numbers to be too strong, but it could be enough to be a reroll carry.
The Executioner trait makes me believe that a reroll Vex comp is possible due to the extra offensive stats she gains from her class.
Poppy – Emo + Mosher
[Link to Champion Page]
Poppy is back, and she’s not a 1-cost unit this time. Poppy is looking to be a potential melee carry type unit with her ability and Mosher trait.
Emo is very effective at splashing into other comps as you only need 2 units to activate the trait. Because of this, units like Poppy, Vex, and Amumu can easily find their way into other comps that can utilize their traits.
Emo 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.
Emo Augment – Emmotional Connection
The Emo specific Augment is quite interesting as it potentially allows you to branch the Emo trait into a variety of AP comps. Even still, I don’t expect this Augment to branch into unique comps that much as it requires too much team space.
Even still, I expect this Augment to be quite strong in any comp that can run at least Emo 4. This will give the non-Emo units 18 Mana on ally death which is quite substantial.
Furthermore, gaining and Annie and a Vex is 4 gold worth of champions, making it above average in it’s class.
Twin Terror
Twin Terror is the new “Double Trouble” Augment for Set 10. This augment wants you to build your board with multiples of the same unit to buff them up.
This Augment can really only be played in very specific team comps, and Emo is one of them. We’ll cover this team comp more in depth below.
Infusion
Infusion is an Augment that doubles down on the Mana generation aspect. This can make it so your Emo units cast extremely fast and frequently.
On the other hand, this Augment could potentially be overkill, especially if you have a mana generation item on your carry already.
Combat Caster
Combat Caster is an Augment that is quite mediocre by itself, but in the right team comp, it becomes almost overpowered. Emo comps will naturally cast often due to their reduced mana and extra mana generation.
This combined with the bonus shield from Combat Caster will make the team much tankier.
Emo 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.
Annie Reroll Comp
[Link to Team Builder]
This first comp is an Annie reroll comp that pushes more into the Spellweaver trait. Emo is still active with Amumu, and you can technically still play this comp if you hit other Headliners like Lulu or Ahri.
In general, this comp is mainly a consideration if you find lots of Annie copies early and can build some strong items on her. This will let you power spike early and hopefully carry you into the late game.
While you can technically force this comp, you’ll find much more success if you keep this comp as an option and go for it in the right situations.
Emo Vex Team Comp
[Link to Team Builder]
This comp looks to utilize the full Emo trait, building around vex and Amumu. Annie is simply in the comp to provide the final Emo bonus, but if your Headliner is Emo, you can easily drop Annie for another unit like an Executioner or Mosher.
Since the comp uses Vex as the main carry, we definitely want her to be the Headliner. You can likely still do well with a Poppy Headliner, especially if it doesn’t seem like Vex 3 is coming anytime soon.
We currently don’t rate this comp near the top of the meta, but it’s an option to keep in mind if things line up. The comp uses a mixture of AD and AP items well with Vex and Poppy, so if the units come, you can definitely finish top 4 with this comp.
Emo Twin Terrors Team Comp
[Link to Team Builder]
This comp uses the Twin Terror augment to buff up your carries by playing multiple copies of them. Amumu is a very strong frontliner, and Twitch is now a strong carry behind him. The Punk trait allows you to get cheaper rerolls as well.
Overall, this comp is more niche as it requires a specific Augment, but if you enjoy playing many different comps, this is definitely one to learn.
Emo Country Team Comp
[Link to Builder]
I’ll only touch on this briefly, as this comp is mainly a Country comp. You can read more about it in my full Country Guide. The main point is that Vex and Amumu slot in very nicely as they pair with Samira and Thresh for Executioner and Guardian respectively.
Furthermore, they’re both 3-cost units, so you can stay at level 7 to 3-star lots of units like Samira, Urgot, Sett, Vex, and Amumu.
Conclusion
Overall, Emo is a simple trait, but the units look quite exciting to play with. Poppy can definitely turn into a frontline monster while Annie can ramp into a fireball slinging backline carry. Vex and Amumu can also see play in a variety of comps due to their low investment and strong traits.
We see Emo being played as the focus or being flexed in comps like Country or Pentakill. As such, these units will likely see a lot of play even as the meta continues to evolve.
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.
