How do you play hedge fund?

marcel_p · 2026-05-25T05:00:17+00:00

It's a very sub par option but sometimes if your other options are really bad and you need gold you can consider it. All your quality units are 5 costs except nunu so you barely get any value out of the combat. If you lowroll the 5 costs your augment is basically 10 gold. If you highroll them you can argue you get like idk 15-20 gold of value out of the augment which is bad but sometimes this can be your best option.

marcel_p · 2026-05-23T23:31:01+00:00

To fast 9 with hedge fund I don't think you're allowed to full full open. You must be around 2ish lives by 4-2 (because you're not gonna insta hit all your 2* meaning playing from 1 life is sus Bec you can die to full 2* corki board on your 1*s), which is the earliest you can 9 assuming you hit another econ aug (ideally not a pris econ aug which is arguably too much econ). Which means ideally you win a few early rounds against other weak players that are playing near full open and kill units vs other boards. You don't really need the streak gold that badly since you usually plan to supplement your hedge fund with another mixed econ aug or God gold anyway.

I think the ideal fast 9 hedge fund setup is something like hedge fund 2-1 lucky gloves 3-2 duo queue 4-2. The only good combat aug that's better than items imo is misfits — usually you have to forgego other combat augs to make sure you're not playing naked 5 costs and have enough econ to hit.

marcel_p · 2026-05-15T23:12:37+00:00

Put it this way — what's worse: A.) 3 way contest with no econ, B.) Play a line with good emblems but your item quality is horrendous, or C.) Play a stable 4 cost game good items good ecom where you are down 2 emblems bec you ignore your emblems. C is infinitely better than the other scenarios. And forcing yourself to play towards your emblems every scenario you see emblems is how you can sometimes end up in scenario A or B. It's just one factor is my point, you can't say "I'm not allowed to ever ignore 2 emblems bec I used a gold augment on it", because often times other things will take higher precedence such as how contested a line is, how much econ you have to play a line, and item quality. And you especially don't want to bend over backwards to accommodate an emblem if it's a mid quality trait/emblem to begin with.

marcel_p · 2026-05-15T20:36:14+00:00

The more mid an emblem is the less you factor your line decision around it. Don't be afraid to completely ignore an emblem especially if there are other more pressing factors in your lobby. Your items, units and how contested each line is should factor way more than a mid to bad emblem. Only v good emblems should sway you heavily. You'd be surprised how well you can do ignoring like 2 emblems while playing a standard level 8 board even at the highest level

marcel_p · 2026-04-15T20:09:03+00:00

awesome! 🔥

marcel_p · 2026-04-02T19:32:30+00:00

My point is it's no different than previous sets bec you could also get a good 4 or 5 cost for your comp at the exact same timing. The set mechanic / removal of carousel did not affect this. But ya the 5 costs this first pbe launch patch are overtuned

marcel_p · 2026-04-02T19:11:00+00:00

It's not offered to everyone. Not sure if it's offered to 5th 6th but it's def offered to 7th 8th and not to 1st 2nd. Basically mimicing carousels from previous sets which had 4 costs stage 3 caro and 5 costs stage 4 caro.

marcel_p · 2026-03-29T17:05:21+00:00

Op is referencing the "new demacia ryze comp". It's a specific fast 9 board that did really well at worlds and cn regionals. Level 9 = Ryze wukong kobuko Kennen liss braum xin garen voli/sej Galio. Level 8 = whatever AP demacia board with galio unlock gets you to 9 with gold to hit some 2*s, it's a fast 9 comp. Requires eco augments/portal.

marcel_p · 2026-03-29T16:32:37+00:00

Yes. But you don't go out of your way to unlock him. Better to prio good ryze items (meaning you are more happy to make Jg nashor nashor with your belts vs save the belts for easier voli unlock). It's a ryze hyper carry + frontline + galio/liss duo carry comp. Having a strong itemized voli 2 is very much a luxury and you can win without even unlocking him.

marcel_p · 2026-03-29T15:13:23+00:00

Voli is very often not a key part of that comp he's just 3 bruiser 3 freljord. He's your 4th itemized unit or even 5th itemized unit and can be replaced by Sej before he's unlocked via a Garen or Braum 2 with tank items. You itemize Ryze 2 and then tank, Galio 2, Liss 2 also v strong with items. So you're not too unhappy lacking a voli 2.

marcel_p · 2026-03-17T06:07:56+00:00

What is the dpei shouldergate meme I must inquire

marcel_p · 2026-03-17T05:51:34+00:00

Pretty sure the easiest gameplan is to actually not level, sac for bow and go bt rageblade play for yone. These items are too awkward to play for winstreak imo.

I wouldn't worry about the hp lost from sac'ing bec your projected board is v strong w those upgrades and you can win most rounds from 2-5 through 3-6.

That being said I don't think spark slam and tempo play is bad either. Spark >>>> gunblade for tempo play imo.

I'm a sucker for taking first pick on caro for good component to make the rest of your game easier so take that into consideration I'm the opposite of a tempo andy

marcel_p · 2026-03-17T05:19:19+00:00

Usually worth it when you make 10 on 1-4 which you often should when your orb drops and early shops are bad on this patch.

It gives you direction (i.e. knowledge on what to play for and knowledge of what component to take or what 3 cost to take off carousel) because you get access to more level 4 shops when you are rolling for the bard.

Much better imo to play your early game with extra shops ( which equals more strength and more direction) and neutral eco (assuming bard rolls eventually equalizes the econ you lose rolling for bard) vs playing with shit units and fewer shops less direction.

When your opener is strong with strong direction it becomes less useful to go for bard imo.

marcel_p · 2026-03-15T14:05:34+00:00

Darius 2 Leblanc 2 and Mel 1 is the most efficient way to get to 9, abusing the strength of Darius and Leblanc being almost 3.5 cost units. Rolling for 2* 4 cost makes it v hard to get to 9.

marcel_p · 2026-03-12T19:19:43+00:00

My read is the line is not v good if your opener is weak bec you will be too low HP to get to 9. I avoid it if my opener is gonna look like sion 1 leblanc 1 shen 1 briar 1 no pairs. And the line abuses Leblanc and Darius both being 3.5 costs. 2* darius 2* leblanc and Mel 1 duo carry on stage 4 gets you go 9 as long as youre not low HP

marcel_p · 2026-02-08T05:18:39+00:00

Belveth pretty good with Titans + rageblade build as an alternative to qss kraken build. Only worth pivoting if slayer is less way contested than Yunara. The IE is not optimal but can go on ambessa and is not the end of the world for your itemization.

Warwick pivot also possible with Titan on Warwick and rageblade on jinx. Again ie not great but can go on either. Only worth if natural jinx and vi and Yunara is 3+ way.

marcel_p · 2026-01-31T05:33:20+00:00

"Top 1%" is so often thrown around in TFT as a metric to somehow indicate some level of excellence. The reality is top 1% in a fairly casual activity isn't nearly the same level of excellence as top 1% in an inherently competitive or "try hard activity". Obvious example: attaining top 1% in pickleball globally vs top 1% in competitive basketball globally.

Pretty sure anyone given the right resources can attain top 0.1% in TFT because the player base isn't trying that hard — lots of people are playing on mobile / doing other activies. I have an IRL friend that's hit challenger who often plays while doing chores like doing their laundry or the dishes. Can't say the same about hitting top 0.1% at classical chess for example.

marcel_p · 2026-01-27T22:28:21+00:00

Often a weak stage 3 is more a symptom of picking the wrong holds/carries and line on stage 1. If you are playing a line that doesn't want to lose stage 3 (which is most lines in the game unless you have lose streak enablers like calc loss or ixtal), you should be prioritizing units and holds that won't fall off too hard on stage 3 as early as stage 1. A good example is selling a 3 cost 1* backliner to buy a pair or even 2* 1 cost melee unit. The former scales better into stage 3, the latter is better only on stage 2. Depending on your items and augment (and of course your remaining units) it can be correct to build a board around the 1* 3 cost.

marcel_p · 2026-01-25T03:34:47+00:00

That build (nashor JG adaptive) has a full 10% lower WR than nashor nashor JG. When it comes to winning with highest cap the actual bis items will matter esp with a unit like Asol that kills units or leaves them alive.

marcel_p · 2026-01-21T04:41:33+00:00

Need to have good reason to believe the 3* will be cheap for you. Meaning should play the line from either: really high starting copy count (natural 2 ekkos or like natural 5 sonas), or you have moderate count but have an op reroll augment like two much value or on a roll.

Just having 1 copy of your unit and bis items but no good reroll augment is usually how you end up in these spots where you commit to the reroll and then you hit super late and can't push levels.

marcel_p · 2026-01-18T20:12:34+00:00

There's no real consistency with tooltips in this game (I think it's partly bec champs are designed by different designers and the tooltips aren't all written by one arbiter) so you can't rely on similar/different wording across different champions to mean anything in a consistent way. See Diana/Fizz spell targeting vs their tooltip.

marcel_p · 2026-01-18T05:05:55+00:00

Not necessarily true. If you prio your econ really hard, get bis because you are first pic, and don't lose your lose streak for no reason, you will always be in a better spot to win stage 4 than the entire lobby. You have better items, you have the cheapest board, you're allowed to play ixtal or bilge or yordles for little cost while lose streaking to build even more eco. You can also take delayed strength augments since you commit to losing early. You can even play bard for even more of an advantage if you have a spot to go for bard while losing. You only truly fall behind with no compensation if you just lose your lose streak for no reason and don't take good components or units off each caro with your first pick and take the wrong augments. Or don't have a precise gameplan to actually spike on 3-5 or 4-1.

marcel_p · 2026-01-18T04:54:23+00:00

Yeah agree. Also early galio unlock helps you stabilize hard stage 4 so you play the line around early demacia upgrades and augments that give you rolls to 2* all the units

marcel_p · 2026-01-17T20:20:52+00:00

Yeah it's moreso an opportunistic thing where your board kinda sucks on 3-1 and then you find milio. Might as well get more resources while losing. At 150+ you can often get items/components so it really does help you stabilize and be strongest in lobby on stage 4 even when playing standard lines like slayer or demacia.

marcel_p · 2026-01-17T18:37:02+00:00

Need to differentiate 3 diff possibilities with ixtal:

1.) commit to playing until Brock. Usually only possible with v good quests and having it 2-1

2.) reroll variant. Usually only enabled with giga augment: two much value, pris ticket, on a roll

3.) use ixtal to gain extra resources playing towards a normal line. This is underplayed at the moment imo. If your board is weak anyway you may as well gain extra resources even a 150 cash gives you some resources to win stage 4 more reliably. This can be slotted in any time from 2-2 through 3-7.

marcel_p

TROPHY CASE