TFT Academy Build Beginner's Guide

Yuumi, Yone and Lux are currently most popular units in TFT and they are Academy units, so it makes sense to build around them right? Academics gain a substantial amount of bonus stats from allies' ability casts which synergizes really well with Yone's innate ability to dish out incredible damage, provided he has decent items on him. Lux is also a very strong pick right now as her ultimate does insane amounts of AoE damage. In this Teamfight Tactics Academy Build Guide we'll showcase the most popular beginner-friendly TFT Academy build and how to play it throughout the early, mid and late game, which are the best Hextech Augments for this build, as well as how to gear and position your units.

OTHER POPULAR BUILDS

Arcanist • Chemtech • Innovator • Scrap Enforcers • Challenger • Syndicate • Bruiser • Yordle • Imperial Colossus • Mutant • Clockwork Sniper

Academy Synergy Bonus

Academics have bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power. They also learn from their allies, gaining and additional bonus whenever an ally casts their Ability.

2 → 20 Attack Damage and Ability Power; 3 from allies' casts
4 → 40 Attack Damage and Ability Power; 5 from allies' casts
6 → 60 Attack Damage and Ability Power; 10 from allies' casts
8 → 80 Attack Damage and Ability Power; 15 from allies' casts

Best Academy Build

• Leona
  • Leona calls down a beacon of light upon herself, granting herself a Health shield for a few seconds. Leona and all allies within 2 hexes gain Armor and Magic Resistance for the same duration.
• Taric
  • Taric heals himself and the lowest % Health ally. Any overhealing is converted to a shield that lasts 4 seconds.
• Braum
  • Braum slams his vault door into the ground, creating a fissure towards his target. Enemies within 2 hexes of Braum and those struck by the fissure are stunned for a few seconds and take magic damage.
• Fiora
  • Fiora becomes untargetable and strikes 4 times at her target's vitals. Each strike deals 160% of her Attack Damage as physical damage, bonus true damage, and heals her for 15% of the total damage dealt. If the target dies, Fiora will change targets to the nearest enemy.
• Janna
  • Janna summons a Monsoon, knocking back nearby enemies and stunning them. The Monsoon heals your team over 3 seconds.
• Lux
  • After gathering energy, Lux fires a beam towards the farthest enemy target, dealing magic damage. If she kills a unit with her beam, she gains 30 mana.
• Yuumi
  • Yuumi and the Book detach and then launch waves toward the farthest enemy, each dealing magic damage and stunning enemies for 1 seconds. She then attaches to the nearest ally.

• Yone
  • Yone summons his spirit to attack an enemy up to 3 hexes away for a few seconds. The spirit is an untargetable, invulnerable copy of Yone and heals him for % of the damage it deals. If Yone dies, his spirit dies with him.

Academy Team Comp Guide

Early Game

Academy units are a bit weak early on in the game because they rely on ability casts to give them bonus stats and well... In most cases when a level one unit casts their spell they'll be close to dying. Run Garen, Twisted Fate, Ziggs, Blitzcrank and Leona at level five as this combination grants the team a plethora of tier-2 synergies: Academy, Bodyguard, Scrap, Arcanist and Protector. The main strategy here is to focus on a healthy economy and keep upgrading Leona as she's the only unit that will be used in the late game team.

Mid Game

If lucky, during middle game you're going to get Lux or Yone (both would be even better!). This allows you to run the Academy-four synergy and itemize one of them so that they carry you to the late game. The main goal again is going to be to keep working on the economy in order to hit level 7 by stage 4-1 and level 8 by stage 5-1. The very core of the middle game transition would look like this: Leona, Garen, Lux (or Katarina) and Yone (or Katarina). Additionally, you can add Braum and Janna to the mix if you find them, or opt to run a Academy-six synergy by adding in Graves and Katarina as well (provided you have Lux and Yone).

Late Game

In the late game (around level eight) the core of this build should be finally complete: Leona, Taric, Braum, Fiora, Janna, Lux, Yone and Yuumi. This team composition is very realistic and can be acquired relatively consistently. If you end up getting a +Academy Emblem or Hextech Augment it may very well be worth it to push for 6 or 8 Academy units instead. Here's a sample of an Academy-eight setup with just +1 to Academy synergy: Garen (replace with Fiora if you have +2 Academy), Graves, Leona, Katarina, Lux, Yone, Yuumi and Taric. At level nine add Janna to the team for a total of 8 Academy, 2 Enchanter, 2 Scholar, 2 Challenger and 1 Socialite.

Recommended Items & Hextech Augments

Leona → Sunfire Cape, Dragon's Claw, Warmog's Armor.
Yone → Guinsoo's Rageblade, Infinity Edge, The Bloodthirster.
Lux → Blue Buff, Infinity Edge, Jeweled Gauntlet.

The most powerful Hextech Augments for this build would obviously be the ones which grant you +Academy synergy, but really any other ones that boost the stats of your team will do just fine. Bonus Gold and Experience are also good ones, as well as the Augments which burn enemies at the start of every combat.

Unit Positioning

Braum and Leona are positioned in the first row as they're the main tanks for this team comp. Fiora is located in the second row as a distraction, third row holds Yuumi and Yone. Janna is in the middle of the third row because her Ability allows her to push out any enemies away from your carries. Lastly, the back-line holds Lux as she's the main ap carry of this team composition, with Taric supporting her.