How do Swain and the Darkflight Trait work in Teamfight Tactics (TFT)?

As Teamfight Tactics’ Set 7.5 bursts onto the scene, so do new traits, including the riveting Darkflight trait. While it’s a little complicated, involving sacrificial units and hex placements, many players have had success with this trait’s play style. If you’re interested in trying a Darkflight build, let’s break down what Darkflight is all about.

What is the DarkFlight trait?

As one of the newest traits added to Set 7.5, Darkflight is an exciting way to play the game. It’s a wild mix between the Coven and Abomination traits of Set 5 and the Legend trait of Set 7. If you have two or more Darkflight units on your board, a hex appears somewhere in between them. If you put a unit in that hex, at the beginning of the round, that champion will be sacrificed. From this sacrifice, all Darkflight units will get a boost of health (200+ depending on how many Dakrflight units are on the board) and a random item from the sacrificed unit. Important note: many players only put one item on the sacrifice so they know what item their Darkflights are getting.

The Darkflight units include Aphelios, Rell, Rengar, and Swain.

All the changes to Dragon Tyrant Swain in TFT

Like some of the other new dragons in this set, Swain is a unit featured in Set 7, but in a very different way. He used to be a Ragewing Shapeshifter. Now, he plays the game in his full dragon form, spewing fire and dragonlings at all his enemies. This power helps him heal himself and makes him a very annoying unit to fight. Also, his 3-count toward the Darkflight trait buff makes him a necessary addition to any Darkflight team.

Alongside Sy’Fen, Idas, and Daeja, Swain finishes out the 7-cost dragon roster. Arguably, this group of dragons is the most powerful in the game, especially if you get them to their silver-tier/two-star form.

Related: All new Dragons in TFT Set 7.5, explained

If you want to rely on Swain to do a lot of damage, equip him with items like Archangel’s Staff, Bloodthirster, and Titan’s Resolve (AKA some of the favorite items of all bruiser-like units).

How to build the Darkflight trait

Despite its seemingly particular build style, the Darkflight trait is surprisingly flexible. It all depends on which units you want to carry you through to the late game. If you want to make the most deadly assassin team in the game, focus on units like Rengar and Nilah. Cannoneers more your style? A stacked Aphelios and the scariest Graves can take you to first place. Look at the four Darkflight units (Rell, Aphelios, Rengar, and Swain), and, by relying on their secondary traits, you can create competitive builds that way.

When it comes to items, that mostly depends on which route you go. For example, an Aphelios focus needs a Guinsoo’s and a Giant Slayer, while Rengar prefers an Infinity Edge and a Rapidfire Cannon. So, knives and bows will be some of your most important early items for Darkflight.

When it comes to your sacrificial units, great items for them include Protector’s Vow or ZZ’Rot Portal. The latter used to be a meme, dropping out a cute little monster when your units died. But when that happens to each of your units, it becomes a whole second army hiding under their skins. As silly as it can seem, it works surprisingly well.

For positioning, put your carries in the back, your Rell(s) in the front, Swain somewhere in the middle ground, and the sacrifice in the center. That tends to be the best way to play.