TFT Reckoning Champions to watch: The biggest, baddest, and most bizarre champs hitting the Carousel

Good Vs. Evil, Order Vs. Chaos… Reckoning is shaping up to be an aesthetic banger - especially with the release of Viego and Gwen in LoL’s more standard format tying in so beautifully. But it’s not just slick visuals that Reckoning has going for it, there are some tasty mechanics under the hood that should have players excited as well.

Here are our picks for the Champs to watch when Reckoning goes live:

Mordekaiser

(Picture: Riot Games)

Cost: 4g

Traits: Dragonslayer, Legionnaire

The only 4 cost Champion on this list, but he’s here for good reason. Mordekaiser’s basic attacks hit like a truck… but they are glacially slow. When they do hit though, Mordekaiser ensures his Mace of Spades deals out Deadman’s Hands to his enemies. Read ‘em and weep.

There’s a couple of reasons why his attacks hit so hard, but number one amongst the culprits is his ability, Infernal Rise. When activated, Mordekaiser shields himself for 50% of his maximum health for 5 seconds, and empowers his mace to deal 450/600/5000 bonus magic damage and gain 1 hex of range for the same duration. You read that right - 5000 bonus magic damage on-hit if you can get him to 3*.

• Read more: Teamfight Tactics Reckoning: Battle Pass, content, and Set 4 ranked rewards

His Traits help the one-man wrecking crew in demolishing enemies as well. Dragonslayer grants him additional AP after he or another Dragonslayer take-down an enemy with over 1400 HP, making Infernal Rise hit even harder, while Legionnaire increases Mordekaiser’s infuriatingly slow attack speed and grants on-hit healing on the first attack after casting a spell. Remember, Mordekaiser hits hard, so the healing amount is similarly impressive.

Kindred

(Picture: Riot Games)

Cost: 5g

Traits: Eternal, Mystic, Ranger

“Never one without the other.” The first of our 5-cost offerings, Kindred, is the League of Legends’ Grim Reaper. Mystic and Ranger are solid, if generic, Traits offering additional Magic Resist to all allies and bonus Attack Speed every 4s, but it’s their unique Trait, Eternal, that should catch your eye.

Eternal means that the two halves of the Kindred, Lamb and Wolf, get to act separately from one another. Even better, Wolf won’t count towards your unit cap - i.e. you’re getting an additional unit on the board for free. They get separate abilities, too. Lamb’s Respite creates a temporary immortality zone for allies, while Wolf’s ability has him return to Lamb, healing them both, before launching at an enemy to deal impressive damage.

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What is not separate are their items - Wolf and Lamb share the stats of any items put onto them. You’re still capped at 3 items (not 6), but that Infinity Edge you put on Kindred will affect both Lamb and Wolf. If you can get three solid items on Kindred, you’ll effectively be doubling their value!

Kayle

(Picture: Riot Games)

Cost: 5g

Traits: Redeemed, Verdant, Legionnaire

Kayle is one hell of an avenging angel in Reckoning. She’s another 5-cost unit and the ultimate ticking time bomb. Her Divine Ascent ability has her power-up every 5 seconds, gaining first bonus True Damage,  then AoE explosions on attack, then 1s of Damage Immunity every 7 attacks, and then finally causing huge swords to rain down around enemies on every attack for massive damage.

If Kayle survives for 20 seconds and reaches her 4th ascension, there is little to nothing short of divine intervention that can bring her down - pun fully intended. Additional resists and AP from Redeemed, Attack Speed from Legionnaire, and then situational CC immunity via Verdant make dealing with Kayle before she goes full rapture is challenging to say the least. Best of luck.

Teemo

(Picture: Riot Games)

Cost: 5g

Traits: Cruel, Helion, Invoker

From heaven we take a rapid nosedive to hell. And look who it is! The Prince of Darkness, Teemo. He’s on the list for a number of reasons, not least because he’s straight-up bizarre. The Cruel Trait is the primary culprit - it means you don’t purchase Teemo with gold like other Champions, but rather your HP (not your soul, thankfully). When you sell him though he does sell for gold, which isn’t an awful way to make a quick buck.

More ominously is the cryptic note attached to the Cruel Trait, which reads “Never underestimate the hunger of a Cruel champion in one versus one combat…” Hellion and Invoker certainly help out with that. Hellion increases attack speed, and Invoker offers improved mana gain on basic attacks. The synergy is self-evident.

• Read more: TFT Set 5: All traits, Champions, and more

More mana means more abilities, which means more mushrooms - or in this case, Infernal Souls - littering the arena. Teemo doesn’t even die the first time you kill him, as Hellion means a second (albeit inferior) copy will spawn the first time he or any other Hellion falls.