[Set 9] Piltover Zeri

This is one of the most fun and explosive comps of Set 9. An early loss streak with Piltover can stack up a huge T-Hex that can carry you into the late game and create a board that is much higher cap than any of the other 4 cost carry comps. You can even sell the T-Hex late game for a burst of items/econ, though I recommend on keeping it since it makes for a very strong board.

We pair Piltover with Gunner Zeri since there's a ton of overlap in units. Zeri is a Zaun Gunner, two traits that are also in Piltover (Ekko and Jayce) and Vi makes for a strong frontline with Sejuani that can even splash Freljord if you have extra space from something like a Gunner/Zaun Emblem or a Tacticians Crown.

This comp requires a Piltover opener, which means you won't be able to play it every game. You need to high roll either an early Jayce, Ekko, or Piltover +1 from augments. Ideally you get Piltover in sometime during stage 2, the sooner the better, since the less HP you have, the less you can take advantage of Piltover.

Loss streaking is VERY IMPORTANT with Piltover since the bigger your loss streak, the more energy you generate. You need to be scouting your opponents and making sure that your board is weaker than theirs. This often means not slamming items, sometimes not even upgrading units, and in the last 2 fights of stage 2, if you are on a loss streak, you can even put your backline units on the frontline to ensure that you lose.

This is the basic core of the comp. Jinx can item hold well for Zeri. You can add an extra Gunner or Brawler to this board on 6. Try to maintain loss streak while saving as much HP as possible. Usually you can play for a Level 7 spike at 3-5 to stabilize your board.

If you have a ton of gold from loss streaking and you high roll a bit, you can hit this board on 3-5. Zeri 1 with 2-3 items should hard carry on this board and allow you to win to convert your T-Hex's Energy to Power. From here, look to econ back up for the rest of the stage. If you're very low HP, you can roll on 7 at 4-1 to try to hit 2 star 4 costs. If you're relatively healthy and strong, you can wait until 4-5 or even 5-1 and go Level 8 and hit everything 2*.

• Adaptive Implant: Best on Urgot/Zeri
• Hextech Skeleton: Best on Urgot/Ekko
• Virulent Bioware: Insane on Zeri
• Shimmer Injector: Insane on Zeri
• Unstable Chemtech: Good on Urgot/Ekko
• Robotic Arm: Good on Zeri

• +1 Gunner is solid in this comp for early game, but late game you want to add Senna anyway so it's sort of wasted (can always cut Jinx + Urgot for other units though)
• Zeri damages the entire board, so augments like Know Your Enemy that boost your damage vs all champions are strong
• Healing augments like Harmacist are good since you often don't have room for healing on Zeri
• Jeweled Lotus means you can skip Infinity Edge for something like Hand of Justice or Guardbreaker
• Augments like Unburdened and All Natural work on the T-Hex, so they are very strong
• Almost all combat augments are good, you want to play for a strong capped board late game, so anything that makes your board even stronger is good

• Tahm Kench can be used to take an early econ augment to played super greedy, but DO NOT take his later econ augments; you need board strength
• Vladimir can be nice for Transfusion to take advantage of your loss streak
• Twisted Fate can help guarentee you hit perfect Zeri items
• Ornn can give generally strong items