The Best Set 4.5 Champions Returning from Set 4
The PBE server has had Set 4.5 up for about a week now, and we’ve seen a lot of new units with lots of promise.
However, in this article, I will be going over the champions that are coming back who show a lot of promise.
With this information, you will hopefully be able to ease into the new set having a good idea of what returning champions have good promise.
Keep in mind that this article will only cover returning units. Many of the new TFT Set 4.5 units are very strong and have great potential, but that won’t be covered in this article.
1-Cost Champions
A lot of the 1-cost champions are great for transitions and early game power, but I will be talking about the champions that have carry potential.
Wukong
Riot hasn’t changed many things about Wukong, but the most notable change was giving the Vanguard synergy bonus Magic Resist. Wukong saw some play early in Set 4 as a slow roll carry, but he slowly phased out as players discovered stronger builds.
[See Wukong’s TFT champion page]
While I don’t expect Wukong to break the meta, I do think there is some potential as a slow roll carry.
Yasuo
Duelists were one of the most popular comps in Set 4 even though they weren’t usually considered to be a top tier comp. The Duelist comp likely won’t change much going into 4.5 other than the addition of Kayle.
[See Yasuo’s TFT champion page]
Yone is still a very powerful late game carry for Duelist comps. The question is whether Yasuo will be worth investing into early game.
2-Cost Champions
Pyke and Zed
I grouped these units together because of the amazing synergy they now have. Zed was a very strong carry in Set 4, and Pyke was a common unit run in many comps for his traits and CC.
Now that they both share the Slayer trait, they will be a very strong early game combo.
[See Pyke’s TFT champion page] [See Zed’s TFT champion page]
Slayers also have a lot of promise as Olaf, Tryndamere, and Samira are all potent late game units.
Zed can either be a very strong early game transition unit or the main carry of a team. Cultists are also a strong early game trait, so putting these two together will be very strong.
3-Cost Champions
In the mid game, a lot of 3-cost champions have good usage and play a role within a team comp. Not all of them will have carry potential, but units like Nunu and Irelia definitely have their use cases depending on the team comp.
Katarina
Of the returning champions, Katarina has the best potential as a 3-cost carry. She is quite item dependent, but her items don’t require multiples of the same item in order to be effective.
Because of this, she can be a very consistent carry if you are able to find her early or find her as a Chosen.
[See Katarina’s TFT champion page]
You can either use her in the traditional Warlord comp, or you can also pair her with Keepers. Keeper Katarina is a fairly new innovation that seems to be quite strong.
Assassins in general usually perform well as they have the unique ability to jump to the backline. Katarina is no exception and I expect her to be a solid carry for most of the set.
4-Cost Champions
Unfortunately, almost all of the carry units in the 4-cost pool have been replaced with new carries. However, there are some notable returning carry champions.
Morgana and Talon
I grouped these two units because once again, you will usually play the two of them together. They have natural synergy together as they mainly deal different types of damage. Morgana is now a Syphoner, which means that she will give the team a bit of lifesteal assuming you can fit in at least one more Syphoner.
[See Morgana’s TFT champion page] [See Talon’s TFT champion page]
Personally, Talon is one of my least liked units. There is counterplay to Talon, and he does fall of a bit late game, but playing against him is unfun to me. He can sometimes feel like he is unstoppable and kills the entire team.
Other times, he falls flat and does nothing in the fight. Nevertheless, these two units are still strong carries that will likely be in the meta for the entire set unless they are nerfed into the ground.
5-Cost Champions
All of the 5-cost champions play a solid role in the game. They won’t all be main carries, but they are all very powerful units that serve a role in the team they’re on. Because of this, there aren’t really any spectacular returning units that stand out above the rest. However, if I had to pick my favorites going into Set 4.5, it would be these two.
Azir
Of all the returning 5-costs, Azir possesses, in my opinion, the most unique ability. Being able to add in two Sand Soldiers provides immense utility to the team. It can be additional frontline, baits for Assassins, or used to keep your team cornered. His ability also provides great CC throughout the fight.
[See Azir’s TFT champion page]
Azir fits into a lot of comps as well as he only needs one other Keeper to proc one of his traits. Overall, Azir was one of the best 5-costs in Set 4, and I expect it to be the same in Set 4.5.
Yone
The core Adept units are some of my favorite units in the game. The core only requires 3 units, allowing for many possibilities and combinations with other synergies. Yone is a very powerful late game carry, and the other two units, Shen and Irelia, are also very strong utility units.
[See Yone’s TFT champion page]
In Set 4, Adept has been seen in many comps including, Divine, Enlightened, Moonlight, Hunter, or Duelists. While some of these traits aren’t returning to Set 4.5, I believe that Adept has some of the best potential with how easy it is to fit into comps.
Closing Thoughts
This article mainly focused on the returning units with carry potential. However, keep in mind that many units not covered here still can play an important role in the game. This article is intended to be a general idea of what familiar units will still be strong in Set 4.5.
It’s also very important that you try out the new units to get a feel for how strong they are and what traits to build around them. However, if you’re just trying out the new Set, it can be beneficial to play something a little familiar before jumping into all the new additions.
Thanks for reading! Head to our Team Builder to start theorycrafting and be sure to check our best meta comps to find another answer to climb with once TFT Set 4.5 hits live!
