TFT is a fun, casual game mode for most players who want to reset their mental state after a rough game of League of Legends. But for some, it is just competitive as any other game. And now you can even team up with another player to raise the stakes of this strategy-based game mode.
Teamfight Tactics Double Up is a game mode that allows 8 players to face off against each other in teams of 2. They share one Health pool and damage taken. The game ends if they take damage at 1HP. This game mode allows you to gift items and units to your partner.
TFT can be fun even when you play solo, but having a duo partner only adds to this experience. The ‘Double Up!’ game mode introduced in TFT allows you to fight in a 2v2v2v2 manner and compete for Top 2 with extra mechanics added to promote team play.
Also read: How to Hyper Roll in Teamfight Tactics?
Duo Without Double Up
As far as regular TFT game modes are concerned, you can queue up with a duo partner but this does not affect how the game plays out. You will still be playing a 1v1v1v1v1v1v1v1, one of your opponents will be your duo partner and you will have to fight them just like you would fight anyone else.
There is no real incentive when it comes to playing this way except the fact that you get to have a friend in the same game lobby. This is why TFT introduced the Double Up game mode, which will be discussed below.
What is Double Up?
Double Up is a new experimental mode introduced in TFT that allows you to play the game as a team (with two players). It was launched with Patch 11.23 as a workshop. The game mode is 2v2v2v2 and you need to rank top 2 in order to win.
There are various differences introduced in the game to make it feel like a team game:
- You can invite a duo partner before queueing up in order to play with them. You can also queue solo and you will be assigned a partner by the matchmaking system.
- You will never have to face your partner in the game.
- Both players share the same health pool. The damage taken by one player is shared by both.
- When you lethal damage, you and your partner will not be eliminated. Instead, you will retain 1 HP and be given another chance. Any further damage taken beyond this point will eliminate both players.
New Game Mechanics
Some new game mechanics were introduced in this game mode to allow both players in a team to assist each other. These mechanics and their details are discussed below:
Reinforcements
If one player in the team wins their own fight 3 seconds or more before their partner’s battle ends, their remaining units will be teleported onto their partner’s board. These units retain their HP when they hop over but their mana is reset.
These units also bring item effects, permanent stacks, and trait bonuses including Hextech Augments. Keep in mind that these units don’t gain or contribute to any new traits or bonuses on the new board.
When you win the battle with reinforcements, you do not deal any extra damage to the opponent. Similarly, you don’t lose any extra health if you end up losing the 2v1 battle.
Also read: Is Teamfight Tactics a Matchmade game?
Assist Armory
When you’re playing a competitive game of TFT, every last bit of help counts. Especially when you are sharing a health pool with your partner and don’t want to let them down. Thankfully, TFT Double Up has a mechanic that allows you to gift items or gold to your partner to boost their progress.
Assist Armories show up at stages 2-5 and 6-2. First, one player from every team gains access to an Assist Armory and gifts something to their partner. Then, on the next stage (i.e: Stage 2-6 and 6-3), the other partner gets to return the favor by picking something for the first player.
The assist armory allows you to send each other very helpful things. The first armory usually includes stuff like item components and gold. The second Assist Armory allows you to send over completed items and trait emblems as well.
Rune Of Allegiance
As opposed to simple items from the assist armory and temporary reinforcements, Rune of Allegiance allows you to help your partner in team building by permanently gifting them a unit they require.
Rune of Allegiance is an item that you gain at the beginning of the game. The second Rune of Allegiance is gained at stage 4-2. The last one is received at stage 6-1. All you have to do is hover this item over a unit and release and it will be teleported to your partner’s board.
It is worth mentioning that any item already equipped by the selected unit is teleported over as well. However, the item does not remain equipped on the gifted champion. Instead, they are transferred in a loot bubble so that your partner may be able to use it on whatever unit they please.
Also read: Best TFT Overlays
How To Queue Up
Queueing up for a Double Up game is simple as demonstrated in these short steps:
- Launch the League of Legends launcher. Log in with your credentials and click the play button at the bottom left of the launcher.
- Once the client launches, click the ‘Play’ button in top left corner.
- Now select ‘Teamfight Tactics’ from the game modes available to you.
- From the list, select ‘Double Up (Workshop)’, and click confirm.
- Now you can either invite a friend to duo with them or queue solo and be assigned a partner by the game.
- Click ‘Find Match’ to queue up for the game.
Ranking
- Ranks in TFT Double Up are the same as the others (Iron, Bronze, Silver, and so on.) with four divisions per tier, You will progress to the next tier when you reach 100LP in the current one.
- Demotions between divisions do not stop at 0 LP unlike League of Legends. Any extra LP lost beyond 0LP will be deducted from the previous division (i.e: -10LP when you are at 5LP will place you at 95LP of the division below).
- When looking for opponents, the matchmaking system uses the higher tier player’s rank to find opponents. You will face high ranked opponents if you are in a duo with a high ranked player.
- The base value of LP gain/loss depends on your own main rank.
- If you are ranked Platinum or below, you can get streak bonuses when you place in the top 2 in 3 consecutive matches. These bonuses are capped at 6 consecutive top 2 matches but will end when the first time you fail to place top 2.
- You also get more LP for finishing the game above higher-ranked players. Similarly, you will gain less LP for finishing below lower-ranked players. These factors are not mutually exclusive and can occur in the same game.
Surrender
Surrendering in Double Up is a team decision. If at least 10 minutes have passed since the game started, one player can initiate a surrender vote. The other player has the option to vote Yes or No which will decide if the surrender goes through. If the other player is AFK, the surrender vote will be accepted immediately when the first player starts it.
Conclusion
Teamfight Tactics is a very fun game that requires you to excel through strategy and some amount of luck. Until the release of Double Up, TFT provided no incentive for queueing up with a friend. Double Up allows you to fight as a team and die as a team. As the name suggests, it’s double the fun when you have someone to share your experience with.
