Reroll or fast 8? How to choose your TFT game plan
The numbers come from high elo:
Set 18 Patch 18.5 77,232 high-elo games Games from 6 Oct to 20 Oct
Every TFT game comes down to one question about gold: do you spend it on shop rolls at a low level, or do you save, level up and roll later? The first plan is reroll; the second is usually called fast 8 (or fast 9). Both win games, but they ask for very different things from the first stages.
What each plan is
- Reroll: you stay at a lower level (often 6 or 7) and roll hard to find copies of a cheap carry until it reaches 3★. A 3★ low-cost unit is very strong for its price, and you reach that power earlier than any expensive carry can.
- Fast 8 / fast 9: you save gold, gain interest, buy experience until level 8 or 9 and then roll for your expensive carries and upgrades. The board is more flexible, but it reaches full power later.
What the data says
Final boards of comps with at least 50 games, classified by their carry and typical level:
| Plan | Comps | Games | Top 4 | Avg. placement | 1st place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reroll (3-cost or cheaper carry at 3★) | 61 | 150,609 | 42% | 4.93 | 9% |
| Level 8 final board | 172 | 278,979 | 50% | 4.52 | 10% |
| Level 9 final board | 157 | 179,349 | 57% | 4.05 | 19% |
Read the table with care. It measures boards that were completed, not intentions. Level 9 boards come out on top partly because you only reach level 9 when the game is already going well: a strong economy is both the cause and the consequence of finishing high. Reroll comps look the weakest, but that is also biased: when a player doesn’t find the copies, the board ends up as something else or as a half-built reroll, and that failure is counted against the plan. So don’t read this as “level 9 always beats reroll”. Read it as: reroll is the riskier plan, and level 9 is what a game that is going well looks like. What decides your result is whether you execute the plan you chose.
When to choose reroll
- You open with several copies of the same cheap unit and the shop keeps giving you more.
- Nobody else seems to be on the units you need (check the boards with scouting).
- You are on a win streak with good health and gold is not a problem.
- Your items fit the carry: reroll carries need their items early, not at stage 5.
When to choose fast 8
- You have strong economy and a decent board that can hold your health while you level.
- Your shops are scattered: many different units and no pair to build around.
- Your items are flexible (they work on several carries) and your target comp needs expensive units.
- Others are rolling on the same cheap units you would need.
The cost of rolling the wrong plan
Most lost games with these plans come from the same mistake: half-committing. You roll down to find a carry, don’t find it, and end the round with no gold, no level and a weak board. Or you save for level 8 while your health drops so fast that you get there with too little life left. Choose a plan at the moment the early rounds give you enough information, and stick with it until a clear signal tells you to change (a contested carry, a health emergency, an unexpected strong item).
Rolling is worth a lot when it finds exactly what you need and almost nothing when it doesn’t. Before you press the button, answer: which units am I looking for, how many copies are still in the pool and how many rolls can I afford? If you can’t answer, the gold usually works harder as interest. The rolling guide has the numbers on copies and stars.
Switching plans
Pivoting from reroll to level up is easier than the opposite. If your reroll carry is not appearing by the end of stage 3, you still have units that carry over into a standard comp. Going the other way, you give up the gold that took you rounds to save. Check the economy guide before changing, and remember that the best time to change is the round before you spend, not after.
How TFT Coach helps
Each comp page labels its style from the data (reroll or level 8/9) and lists the typical final level, so you know what you are signing up for. In My matches, the analysis flags games where you reached stage 5 with several cheap units still at 1★, which is the typical sign of a half-committed plan.