How to Play Dragonlord — TFT Set 11: Inkborn Fables
Welcome to our TFT trait guide series, where I’ll be covering the Dragonlord trait and how to play it. I’ll be covering how Dragonlord works, analyzing each champion, and go through some potential team comps.
The Dragonlord trait is reminiscent of the Tempest trait back in Set 7. However, you need to invest further to get the same stun effect. Because of this, only a few comps are able to make use of Dragonlord’s powerful effect.
Let’s get right into the guide.
If you haven’t checked out all of the Set 11 information yet, check out out Set 11 Reveal Page!
How Dragonlord Works
Dragonlord Trait Bonus
After 8 seconds of combat, the Dragon strikes the board, dealing true damage to enemies and granting all allies Attack Speed for the rest of combat.
- (2) 5% Health damage, 12% AS
- (3) 10% Health damage, 18% AS
- (4) 10% Health damage, and Stuns for 1.5 seconds.
- (5) 15% Health damage, 40% AS
Champions: Janna (2), Diana (3), Lee Sin (4), Xayah/Rakan (5)
Unlike the Tempest trait of the past, Dragonlord only stuns if you have the (4) trait bonus or higher. While that is disappointing, Dragonlord definitely has a place in the meta.
While many level 8 4-cost carrys revolve around vertical traits, Dragonlord provides a lot of small global bonuses. This can be powerful for comps that can flex in many traits.
Every Dragonlord unit can become a carry depending on the patch, but fitting in Dragonlord 4 is a tough constraint for any team comp. Even still, if you can manage to do it, you’ll be rewarded immensely.
Dragonlord Synergy
Here’s a list of the traits you can branch into from the Dragonlord units:
- Invoker (Janna)
- Sage (Diana)
- Duelist (Lee Sin)
- Altruist (Rakan)
- Trickshot (Xayah)
As expected of a small trait, none of the classes overlap. It’s very possible for Dragonlord (2) to flex into comps, but getting to (4) looks to be quite difficult. Only a few late game team comps make use of the Dragonlord (4) buff, but completing it is very powerful.
None of the units share classes, and none of the units are dedicated frontline units outside of Rakan. It will be interesting to see what kind of comps can afford to fit 4 slots for Dragonlord.
Dragonlord Champions
Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Dragonlord trait and what you can do with them. To check the updated stats and ability values, be sure to check each Champion Page.
Janna (2) – Dragonlord + Invoker
[Link to Champion Page]
Janna is up first for the trait, and she’s a simple utility unit. Her ability shields herself and an ally while also dealing some damage.
Reroll Janna has been a comp that’s been around in the set for a while now, so Janna carry is definitely viable. Outside of that, using Janna as a utility unit for Invoker can also be good.
Diana (3) – Dragonlord + Sage
[Link to Champion Page]
Up next, we have Diana who is quite similar to Janna. While Diana is more of a frontline tank unit, her Sage trait also provides utility similar to Invoker. There aren’t too many Sage units in the set, so having Diana to grant Omnivamp/AP from Sage can be quite good if your comp can fit it.
Diana 3-star does see some play in reroll Zoe/Soraka comps, but that comp hasn’t seen much success yet.
Lee Sin (4) – Dragonlord + Duelist
[Link to Champion Page]
Moving on, we have Lee Sin, the only 4-cost for the trait, and a potential carry. However, we’ve seen in the past that Duelist units usually prefer to be in a vertical Duelist comp.
Lee Sin will either be a strong carry for Vertical Duelist comps or as a flex carry for Dragonlord comps. You can flex Duelist (2) into Dragonlord or Dragonlord (2) into Duelist comps, giving some flexibility.
Lee Sin’s ability is also quite multifacted, mana reaving, stunning, and dealing damage. He also does a little bit of AoE damage with his ability as well.
Xayah/Rakan (5) – Dragonlord + Lovers + Trickshot/Altruist
[Link to Champion Page]
Xayah & Rakan are back in Set 11, but with a twist. They will now appear in the shop as one unit, and you can now pick between the two depending on where you place them. If you place them in the front two rows, Rakan will take the field, with Xayah on the side. The opposite is true if you place them in the back two rows.
This can be nice as you now have options as to which champion to field, but I fully expect players to quickly figure out which one is better for which comps.
Xayah tends to fit more into Trickshot team comps as a carry while Rakan is a strong utility unit for level 9 boards with space for extra late game units.
Dragonlord 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.
The set has yet to come out on PBE yet, so I’ll only take a look at the trait specific Augments. I’ll definitely be back to add more as we learn more.
You can check out the full list of Augments here.
Dragonlord Crest
Gain a Dragonlord Emblem and a Janna.
The Dragonlord Crest can be very powerful if you’re able to reach (4) Dragonlord. This will let you stun the entire enemy team after 8 seconds, which can be round winning.
With this Emblem, you can drop a unit like Diana or Janna to fit in other units while still keeping the powerful Dragonlord (4) effect.
Enter the Dragon
“After the dragon strikes, Dragonlords deal 20% bonus true damage. Gain a Janna.”
The Dragonlord specific trait is a nice buff if you plan on running Lee Sin and/or Xayah as your main carry. While the 20% bonus damage may seem low, the fact that it’s true damage makes this a very powerful buff.
Dragonlord Team Comps
With the meta settled for the most part, here are some of the standout Dragonlord comps.
As the player base plays more and more games, stronger meta comps will definitely rise up or old comps may be nerfed. Be sure to stay up to date on the current meta at our TFT Team Comp Tier List.
Janna Reroll
[Link to Full Guide]
This first comp takes Janna as the main carry and builds around her Dragonlord and Invoker trait. Dragonlord (4) is when you activate the stun effect, so reaching 4 is a good power spike to aim for.
Other than that, the comp fits in a variety of traits like Storyweaver, Altruist, Sage, etc.
Fast 9 Capped Board
[Link to Full Guide]
Another comp that frequently uses the Dragonlord trait are Fast 9 comps. These are comps where you sacrifice some HP to save up gold and build economy. Eventually, you look to hit level 9 before other players to put together an unbeatable team comp.
Dragonlord units flex into a lot of powerful traits, and also provide a strong trait bonus as well. While there aren’t many dedicated Dragonlord comps, Fast 9 comps can fit them in while taking advantage of their traits.
In this comp, the three Dragonlord units are providing Sage, Invoker, and Altruist on top of Dragonlord 3. It’s quite common for these level 9 comps to forgo vertical traits and instead flex into a lot of small traits with strong global bonuses.
Here’s another variation of a level 9 board that uses Dragonlord (4).
[Link to Builder]
Zoe/Diana Reroll
[Link to Full Guide]
This comp uses Diana as the main tank of the team and rerolls for multiple 3-cost units. Dragonlord 2 is active, but you can easily reach 3 in the late game by adding in Rakan over Morgana, dropping 3 Sage for Dragonlord 3.
This can be especially good if you can get a Dragonlord Emblem from an Augment to reach Dragonlord (4).
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.
