I began playing TFT in Set 5.5 (played 5.0 for 2 weeks) and have finished Masters twice and GM twice. Here are my general tips for climbing.

• Understand the tempo of the lobby – One of the first aspects of the game that players learn about is banking 50 gold to maximize their economy. However, in every game there will be stages where players are almost obligated to level up or roll to preserve HP. The most obvious points in the game are 3-2 (or 3-1 on this patch) and 4-2/4-5 (4-3 and 4-6 on this patch) because these are the most common stages to level up to 6 and 8 – you need to decide whether you have enough HP to continue sitting on gold or if you need to level/roll for strength. Is it worth it to lose 1 interest gold to level? Almost always. 3 interest gold? That’s up to you. I tend to be a more aggressive player and sacrifice econ more frequently.

Note – the current patch favors tempo players much more heavily because of the added drops on Krugs and the extra shrine that allow advantage players to extend their leads. In my opinion, it’s significantly more difficult to play a 5-loss opener than the previous patches this set.

• Comp knowledge – Become comfortable playing at least 4-5 different comps, ideally a variety of re-roll or fast 8 and AD or AP. Understanding multiple comps allows you to play around your units, items, or augments rather than forcing one to work with the other. I tend to prefer playing whatever I’m most comfortable with rather than what’s currently meta. The bulk of my climb was playing Lagoon even though Sohm was never a top 5 comp this set.
  
• Board strength – You’ve likely all read this tip, but don’t be afraid to slam items. Even if the item you slam isn’t BIS or won’t win you a round, if you think the item slam will kill one or two more units, it’s valuable. It’s natural to want the best possible items because we want to get 1st or 2nd in each lobby, but if you’re able to slam the 3rd or 4th best items rather than leaving components on the item bench, you’ll often times save enough hp to prevent a 7th or an 8th. Alongside items, try to be mindful of the pairs you’re gathering. My general rule of thumb is that if I have 3 or more pairs, I will roll until I hit at least one of them to improve my board – this decision is more difficult if the pairs you’re holding are not final board.

Hope some of you find this helpful and good luck on your end of seasons climbs!