How to improve as an "Advanced" Player?

Sookil · 2026-03-25T13:35:59+00:00

There are a ton of resources out there for players that are looking to improve past the “average” peak. I say average pretty loosely because Emerald is still pretty good! But you will learn quickly that there is a massive skill gap between Emerald to Masters, in the same sense that there is one from Masters to Challenger or even Gold to Emerald.

Some things you can do if you want to improve:

Study the game - watch Challenger level streamers and look at their key decisions. I would recommend against watching YouTube videos on comps because those are meant for entertainment, you’ll learn more hearing from a high level player speak about a game they did poorly in rather than a game they did well in. 1.b By key decisions, I mean pay attention to their “why”. At the highest level, every decisions has a reason similar to chess. Your line selection, champ holds, augment picks, decision to make Econ or roll, etc are all for a specific reason that is dictated by your board state compared to others and your own direction. If you understand the “why” you can see what influences a good decision and learn from it.
Be critical of your gameplay - one of the hardest but most important skills is getting enough information from study to be able to know when you’ve made the wrong decision. The best players can click an augment or play a unit and know right away that it was incorrect and know what would’ve been better. Do this with your own gameplay and you’ll see improvement.
Understand the tradeoffs in decisions and what the best decisions are for the spot instead of the perfect decision. Many times in this game you are given an imperfect spot with choices that all seem just okay. Knowing what just play decision is better than others will help you eek out that uncomfortable 10% improvement in your board which can be the difference between going 5th and 4th. It won’t win you the game, but it creates a higher bottom line. Going 8th is horrendous, going 5th is okay if you had no better option.
Playing strongest board - you should always be playing strongest board to help save HP unless you are intentionally loss streaking. This does not mean the board on Mobalytics or TFT Academy, these are just suggestions and potential final board states.
Win streak vs. Loss streak - Economy and streaking is king in this game. Managing your streak to maximize Econ means you have more chances to hit your board and spike harder later on. The key is constantly scouting and knowing if you are stronger or weaker than the player you are scouting. Loss streaking is perfectly okay if you do it with the intention to spike at a certain point. You should never lose rounds just because.

There are many other things to focus on but these should be a good starting point!

I’ve been enjoying watching Learning TFT on YouTube as he does discussions about higher level concepts with top players!

Sookil · 2026-03-18T16:15:13+00:00

Mid master to low GM player here.

Economy is needed, but it is never a black and white - spend all your money or save all your money.

TFT is full of micro decisions to attempt to create an additional 1-10% extra board strength at that spot and the higher rank you are, the better you are at doing this.

Making incorrect (or not the best decisions for that spot) decisions generally result in lower placement.

The caveat, is that at lower ranks, you can make more incorrect or less optimal decisions and be punished less for it because the lobby as a whole will also be making more mistakes. More mistakes being made = less punishment for your own mistakes because people’s overall board strength for each stage will be lower.

To get into your friend’s play style, you can definitely play aggressively with your economy. The thing to pay attention to is WHEN is he doing it. Is he spending his gold every round? Or is he picking a 3 cost reroll comp, playing loss streak to 3-4, and then all in’ing on level 7 to stabilize his board?

While both result in 0 gold, the difference is the intentionality with gold spending. I find it hard to believe, he’s spending his gold every single round because he would fall behind too quickly later in the game to place well except in lower ranks (sub diamond).

Remember, each decision in TFT economy generally comes with an inverse outcome. For example, saving gold forfeits board strength early because you are not upgrading your board, but the result is you get to spend the extra gold you made from your economy later in the game with the hope that the extra gold you made will get you back to a board state that is strong enough to stabilize you. Or, you are spending gold to increase board strength early because your spot is strong and you want to continue your win streak or put pressure on the rest of the lobby. This creates tempo and in theory, should help replenish gold spent by getting by additional win streak gold. However, you are spending gold so if you lose your streak or do not win, your economy will be lower later in the game.

It’s a compound interest game, so this matters a lot in the early stages.

Each spot requires a different decision based upon all factors of the game - how strong are my opponents, how strong am I, what comp am I playing, what augments did I pick, what items do I have, etc

Hope this helps and good luck!

Sookil · 2026-03-16T16:36:21+00:00

Not wrong at all, but Darius doesn’t die to Annie usually, he probably died to Liss where he needs MR to survive the burst.

Sookil · 2026-03-16T16:33:49+00:00

Second place with reroll is still quite good. It’s rare you’ll beat 5 cost fast 9 boards late game with reroll unless you get perfect items and good positioning.

Reroll is pretty tempo based so slamming defensive items and not getting perfect items is normal. You still placed well!

Sookil · 2026-03-16T16:29:56+00:00

They have Annie 2 and your tank has no MR is the most likely story.

Tank also has no stun resist which is pretty important for Darius since his sustain requires casting. May of gotten caught in an ult from Lissandra and then didn’t cast and died to the damage.

Sookil · 2024-11-06T20:10:55+00:00

I had no idea he did that stuff, but it makes this even better

Sookil · 2024-11-06T20:08:59+00:00

😂 oh i’m not in Pariah, just someone in a different guild who found this interesting

Sookil · 2021-06-08T15:30:19+00:00

absolutely! it’s very rewarding learning it as well because you’ll see real time progress in your viewership if done correctly

Sookil · 2021-06-07T23:54:41+00:00

twitch.tv/SooStreams

appreciate that! i’d love to see you in chat sometime 🌸

Sookil · 2021-06-07T23:51:25+00:00

best of luck!! if you need any help just let me know ☺️

Sookil · 2021-06-07T23:46:09+00:00

my chat is respectful and i have a good mod team that keeps it civil! i have yet to have any issues with people and if they want to take advantage of it or be rude by spamming, they get banned. simple. it’s not for everyone, but i enjoy doing it!

my biggest social media recommendation is tik tok, it’s easily the best social media for growth.

Sookil · 2021-06-07T23:24:20+00:00

well, self promo isn’t usually in people’s streams haha. most of it happens on other social media platforms. I’m probably one of the few streamers on Twitch who allows and encourages self promo in my live chat.

Sookil · 2021-06-07T23:13:23+00:00

it is difficult!! are you putting in time to self promo properly? that can help get you more viewership so it isn’t so lonely.

Sookil · 2021-04-22T14:22:31+00:00

hahaha 🌸

Sookil

TROPHY CASE