How does the Threat trait work in Teamfight Tactics?

Whenever a new Teamfight Tactics Set comes out, some traits are a little tricker than others. Star Guardians are super simple. All they do is boost each other’s mana. Meanwhile, Threat units can be tougher to figure out. After all, what do they do? How do you even build them into a team? Let’s break down the biggest supervillains in TFT and work through how they might aid you in your gameplay.

The Threat trait

Unlike any trait before it, units with the Threat trait do not have any other classes or traits. They don’t even get bonuses from each other. The greatest benefit of a Threat champion is that, on their own, they are stronger than your average unit. For example, a single Rammus on the board will likely be a stronger unit than a single Nilah. That can be useful, but there is a catch: there’s (conceptually) no benefit to having an all-Threat team. You might just toss a Fiddlesticks on your board late-game to see if it makes your team stronger. On paper, that kind of situation seems disastrous. However, Threat units definitely have their uses.

Related: Which items stack in Teamfight Tactics (TFT)?

How to use Threat champions

Threat champions fill a fantastic niche for helping people build strong boards while waiting for late-game additions to their teams. If you’re waiting for a Mordekaiser but found an Urgot instead, that can be a useful, un-wasteful way to hold items, wait for your true champion, and still do damage along the way.

Also, another surprisingly useful component of Threat units is that they are chock-full of crowd control, attack speed, ability damage, and front-line potential. In a build filled with squishy champions (Sureshot, for example), a front-liner like Zac, who is sturdy and sustainable, can be invaluable in keeping the powerful backline alive.

Overall, they’re versatile units who, in the right situation, can be game-changing for a team that needs a little extra CC or tanking. If you happen to be rolling a lot of Threat units, you could put together a pretty frightening team based on the sheer damage and knock-ups they have to offer.

All Threat champions

• Aurelion Sol: Throws stunning meteors. Costs four gold.
• Bel’Veth: Uses a dashing attack, but can also Omnivamp and spawn voidlings with special Hero Augments. Costs four gold.
• Cho’Gath: Shoots a cosmic beam. You can build him tanky or damage. Costs three gold.
• Fiddlesticks: Relies on the death of other allies to make him stronger. He stays dormant on the board until all other allies are dead or he’s at 40% health. During that time, his bonus trait (Corrupted) lets him steal 40 Ability Power from dead allies. Then, he teleports into the largest collection of enemy units and fears them. Costs five gold.
• Rammus: Leaps into enemies, does magic damage, and knocks them all up. Costs three gold.
• Urgot: Fires five attacks per second and his ability summons a gigantic wave behind the enemy team. It deals magic damage, pushes them forward one hex, stuns them, and has a chance to reveal treasure. Costs five gold.
• Vel’Koz: Targets the champion that’s done the most damage this round and freezes them in place. Costs three gold.
• Zac: bounces up in the air. When he lands on enemy champions, he does percentage-health damage and regains some of his own health, too. Costs four gold.