How to Play Pyro — TFT Set 12: Magic N’ Mayhem
Welcome to our trait guide, where we’ll be covering the new Set 12 TFT trait: Pyro.
In this guide, we’ll explain how Pyro works, cover the different champions, provide notable Augment choices, and cover some potential team comps.
Explore all of the new Set 12 traits here!
How TFT Pyro Works
Pyro Trait Bonus
Pyro champions gain Attack Speed and execute enemies under 15% Health. Pyro champions gain an infernal cinder on each kill that you can collect during the planning phase. Your team gains 3% Attack Speed, increased by 1% for every 4 cinders collected.
- (2) 12%
- (3) 25%
- (4) 50%
- (5) 75%, execute increased to 20%
The first part of the Pyro trait is quite straightforward. Pyros will gain some Attack Speed and execute enemies. The second part of the Pyro trait is a little more interesting.
As the Pyro units kill enemies, they’ll collect Cinders, buffing up the entire team’s Attack Speed instead of just the trait units. Getting Pyro units early will help you collect more and more Cinders, snowballing into a powerful late game team comp.
Pyro Synergy
Here are all of the Pyro Champions and their other traits:
- Akali (2G) – Multistriker + Warrior
- Shen (3G) – Bastion
- Nasus (4G) – Shapeshifter
- Varus (4G) – Blaster
As expected for a small trait, there isn’t any overlap between the classes. However, Akali is has two classes, Multistriker and Warrior. This makes her a compelling carry option as you have two different traits to buff her up.
Shen and Nasus are both solid frontline units, and Varus is your typical 4-cost carry. Overall, the Pyro trait has a lot of options and flexibility.
TFT Pyro Champions
Akali (2G) – Pyro + Multistriker + Warrior
[See Akali’s Champion Page]
As previously mentioned, Akali looks to be a strong 2-cost reroll carry. She has three strong offensive traits to buff her up. Pyro will grant Attack Speed and execute, Multistriker scales better with Attack Speed, and Warrior grants Omnivamp and damage.
Overall, Akali looks to be a strong option to try out. However, the meta largely depends on if Akali’s damage numbers are high enough. While she’s clearly designed to be a carry, her viability will depend on the specific meta/patch.
Shen (3G) – Pyro + Bastion
[See Shen’s Champion Page]
Shen is our next Pyro unit and is a simple frontline unit. His ability is a mixture of tank/damage, which isn’t anything spectacular. However, he definitely plays an important role for building up your frontline.
Depending on the trait web, you may want to utilize Bastion in your team comp instead of other frontline units, making him a good option even for late game.
It’s even possible that Shen 3-star with an Emblem can become your carry or secondary carry alongside Akali.
Nasus (4G) – Pyro + Shapeshifter
[See Nasus’s Champion Page]
Nasus is one of two 4-cost units for the Pyro trait, and he’s a frontliner focusing on tanking through Health and dealing physical damage. While he doesn’t provide CC or utility, he can become a strong frontliner with the right items.
Building into Shapeshifter will also further empower Nasus, as the trait helps scale his Health. This synergizes with his ability which grants him extra Health sapped from enemy units.
Varus (4G) – Pyro + Blaster
[See Varus’s Champion Page]
Lastly, we have Varus, a traditional backline AD damage dealer. When it comes to backline AD carrys, there are generally two types. Some scale with Attack Speed and base damage, while others scale with Ability damage.
Since Varus’s damage deals pretty good damage, we expect him to be built with items like Infinity Edge to scale this further. His Blaster trait also grants him more damage upon casting, so mana generation items might be good as well.
Best TFT Pyro Augments
Pyro Crest/Crown
Gain a Pyro Emblem and an Akali.
Pyro Emblem is good for two main reasons. Firstly, if you want to reach Pyro (5), you will need an Emblem in order to do so. This provides a strong stat bonus and increases the execute threshold from 15 to 20%.
Secondly, the Pyro Emblem can be used to turn a non-Pyro unit into a strong carry. You can place it on another Blaster/Warrior/Multistriker unit to further buff them up.
Cauterize
Pyro auto attacks deal +3 magic damage for every 2 cinders collected.
Cauterize is the Pyro trait Augment and is a great way to further buff up your Pyro units. As the game progresses, Pyro units will collect Cinders as they kill enemies, increasing the team’s Attack Speed.
This synergizes very well with the Augment, as it provides extra damage on hit. With all this Attack Speed, every Pyro unit will provide a nice bonus of damage as the game progresses.
TFT Pyro Team Comps
As of writing this article, the PBE has yet to even release yet. While I was fortunate enough to participate in the playtest for Set 12, we definitely need more time to test/theorycraft team comps.
Be sure to check back as I’ll be updating this section with potential Pyro team comps. We also will be updating our TFT Team Comps page as our team plays the PBE.
Pyro Akali Team Comp
This is an example team comp that uses Akali as the main carry. With this comp, you activate all of her traits, and basically every trait on the board.
Arcana will require a second unit to activate, so that’s the only lacking trait to be activated. Furthermore, this comp currently is using 7 units, and you have flexibility at level 8. You can look to add in Varus for Pyro (4), Tahm Kench/Xerath for Arcana (2), or even a flexible 5-cost unit.
Thanks for Reading! If you want to try and come up with your own team comps for Set 12, check out our Team Builder. For a full overview on the new set, check out our TFT Set 12 Reveal Page.
