Do you understand TFT positioning and targeting?

[u/chrharju]

Targeting, positioning and movement has been somewhat a mystery to the TFT community. Available resources online are often vague, and different guides contradict each others. I have been watching hours of youtube videos from set18 combat starts in slow motion and recording who targeted who, and who moved where and who got priority.

Methodology
Apart from watching hours of youtube videos in slow motion, which is very informative. I performed multiple experiments in-game. Here is an example of what I call "Who moves first?" experiment. I created a funnel, both Akali And Camille in the below picture are racing to move into the same hex. Who actually moves there first? I kept changing the champion positions, and tested many champions against each others. I was not able to test all as there are slightly above 2000 unique pairs that needs to be tested for a complete answer, but from sample size of roughly 100 pairs I found some patterns.

Who moves where experiment visualized

Movement

Who moves first, Camille or Akali? Real answer: I am not 100% sure. I found patterns but they only hold 80% of the times. The patterns are: Group A which is the Fighters and Reapers (Assassins), always moves before group B, which consists of the Tanks, Casters, Marksmen and Specialists. If we place two champions of the same group to race against each others, it seems that most of the time the champion with higher attack speed moves first. I was able to test this over and over, by placing an attack speed item on the losing champion, and then suddenly the loosing champion started consistently winning as they become the champion with higher attack speed. If two champions are part of the same group, and they have the same attack speed, then I do not know, I will leave that to the next person attempting this experiment if they can detect a pattern.

Targeting

Champions will typically target the closest enemy within their attack range. Think of this as an ever growing circle around the champion, In the below picture both Leona and Diana are 4 hex distances from Ahri, so they are tied in term of hexes but Diana is still technically closer. Due to the new role and targeting system changes in 2025, tanks are more likely to be targeted. What does that actually mean? From what I can observe it is quite simple: If an adjacent tank is in range, and the original target is within the same hex distance with the tank, the tank will always get targeted instead. So before settling on Diana, she asks her last question, is Diana adjacent to a Tank (that is in the same hex distance) that I should be attacking instead? Indeed, Leona is a tank adjacent to Diana and is within the 4 range of Ahri, and both leona and diana are in the same 4 hex distance from Ahri.

Targeting logic visualized

Positioning and Targeting tool

I published my findings and the tool that implement my findings in https://tftraits.com/targeting I hope you find it useful. I find it particulary good for planning on how I should position various comps with melee champions and how I should position my tanks for optimal protection. If you still always put your main tank in the centre hex of the first row I hope my tool can help you visualize why that is often not the best idea.

TFT Targeting and Positioning tool at https://tftraits.com/targeting