Hello I am Kainalina (also Kainlaina on League of Legends) and I am an avid player of champions you rarely see outside of ranked games. I'm currently shifting between multiple champs and positions but I thought I should share my experience as Twisted Fate. Mainly because he is such a fun champion to play, but also because of how versatile he can be (I have even been trying out ADC Twisted Fate with some mild success).
Twisted Fate at the moment is one of my favourite AP Carries to play as (twinned with Gragas). He is a hybrid of AP Carry and Assassin. This is because of TF's extremely high burst damage and pretty decent sustained damage too (especially with Lich Bane). However this also means he has the squishyness of both. Which is very bad. As a whole TF is one of the easiest champs to kill early game with nothing but a quick gank from an enemy jungler like Rengar. You have to constantly be on your toes to keep control over your lane if you want to stay alive. I would really recommend getting some experience in mid-lane with other champions like Xerath and Katarina purely so you can learn how to dodge their attacks.

Pro's
1. Burst up the wazoo once he has a Lich Bane and Void Staff.
2. Able to go from mid to any other lane in the space of a few seconds.
3. Extremely good sustain with his blue card.
4. Very strong pusher against both minion waves and champ with Wild Cards.
5. A good laner once you can dodge pokes easily.

Con's
1. A very odd playstyle that will take getting used to.
2. Far too squishy compared to other mid laners.
3. Your a very easy target for early ganks.
4. Very slow movement speed early game.
5. Very open and easy to kill if you are without Destiny.

These runes are pretty standard for most TF players (with a bit of difference when it comes to armour and magic resist). The extra 10.71 starting AP is almost a free Doran's Ring in terms of AP. Which just makes buying one make you even better early game. The extra 7.83 magic penetration gives your spells an extra bit of punch early game (especially if you get Sorcerer's Shoes as soon as possible). the x3 Quintessence of Ability Power gives you 14.85 starting AP. This means if you really think you need to. You can replace the Glyph's of Ability Power with Glyph's of Magic Resist for 12.06 extra magic resist. Giving you some really good early game tankyness but still with enough AP to pack a punch.

Flash
Flash is wonderful on Twisted Fate. His strong need for maneuverability makes Flash a perfect choice for both escaping a teamfight gone wrong, or catching up to a retreating champion. This works well with Destiny because if your teleport goes wrong you can flash out of the way or even reposition yourself to get a better position.

Teleport
You already have 1 teleport, what's the harm in having a manaless one too? This allows you to go from mid to bot and help out there and be either back in lane or even top before the enemy team can react fast enough to stop you!

Exhaust
Twisted Fate relies on damaging champs enough to make them run away, it's that chase if they do start running that will allow TF to secure a kill and Exhaust will help greatly in that. Mostly because the slow will probably allow you to either gold card them or even flash and gold card just so you're a little closer when exhaust finally ends.

Ignite
Overall not really needed on TF. If you feel as if you're having trouble securing those final moments on a champ to get a kill then this will help you get them. But not really needed once you know how to stun effectively. Especially when Wild Cards has one of the longest ranged trickshots in the game.

Ghost
Ghost's a good gap closer and also good to get away. Combining flash and ghost would make TF very good at controlling lane. But not much else. Ghost and Teleport might allow you to quickly get to another lane in need or to a ward and quickly get back before anything bad happens in lane. But not much else.

Heal
Take this only when you're first starting out as TF if you've yet to master the dodges. Beyond that, heal is just a waste of a slot that could be better used with Flash or Teleport.

Clarity
This is the same as heal, only take it if you are just starting out. TF might be mana hungry but if you keep a good eye on your mana and cast a blue card every now and then while farming. You'll have no trouble when it comes to mana.

For TF you want to max your Wild Cards as soon as possible. But it's also a good idea to put points into your Pick A Card as well, Stacked Deck is nice purely for the extra damage every 4 auto-attacks. Best to try and wait until you've upgraded everything else before putting points into Stacked Deck because the damage from the other abilities is far superior. Unless you like having higher attack speed early game without the need for items. The reason I take Pick A Card first is because it gives you a stun, infinite mana (if you play it right) and an AOE slow all in one ability. It won't be long before you reach Level 2 anyway, so it's not long to wait without a poke. Blue Card's damage is also better than Wild Cards in terms of damage to single minions too. On another note, if you are leashing for the jungler (as you should) you can quite easily stun any enemy jungler that comes to steal your buff while your jungler is in a weakened position. Allowing your team time to close in on the enemy before they can run away.

As a whole, Twisted Fate is very much item dependent to get his maximum damage off. As a whole, your ability combo should be Gold Card from Pick A Card, an auto attack, Wild Cards, an auto attack, repeat until pummeled into the ground.



Lich Bane, quite literally the bane of the other mid's existence. This item helps you out hugely when playing Twisted Fate until you are able to rely on skill rather than auto-attack combo. Because of just how much you'll be chucking out Wild Cards the extra magic damage on your next auto attack and either help take out early game minions or even hit the other champion (Usually I would do this with a Blue Card, however Gold Card does have quite low damage so you could use that as well to get a little bit more damage off for your combo).


Sheen is a cheaper alternative if you still like having spellblade but don't want to keep Lich Bane late game to save some money. The extra mana and AP is good and you can easily sell it later on for a better item like Fiendish Codex to build Twin Shadows or Deathfire Grasp


This item works really when in conjunction with Lich Bane and Stacked Deck. because of the extra flat 15 magic damage +15% of your AP as bonus magic damage. The extra ability power and attack speed is nothing to be sniffed at either, helping you clear waves just a little faster.


These boots are pretty basic, I would say putting either Sorcerer's Shoes - Distortion for the extra mevement speed after using a summoner spell or Sorcerer's Shoes - Alacrity for more base movement speed all the time. Dodging is how you stay alive, do whichever you think is best.


One of my favourite AP items in the game. You can build it quickly and the base 70AP is pretty nice to get withing the first 15-20 minutes. However, it's the passive Void Staff has that makes it even better. By basically ignoring a portion of the enemy champions magic resist you'll deal considerably more damage than you would normally, stacked with Sorcerer's Shoes and you will be able to shred through people pretty easily. Only huge magic resist tanks like Maokai or Leona will be able to tank your combo pretty well.


This item is actually your main defense against melee champions. The active on it causes two ghosts to seek out nearby champions and slow them down. This can help you both in chancing and in escaping. The slow that the ghost's cause can reduce the movement speed of an incoming champ just enough to give you an edge over them. Also, 80 AP is just a bonus when really your buying this item for defensive purposes.


This item will probably be your second to last item unless you have enough gold to buy a Needlessly Large Rod. This is because of how expensive it is and Twisted Fate needs to get together as much AP as possible early game to give him an edge. Once you hit the 20+ mark you'll probably no longer be staying in mid very much to help out other lanes. So that should be a good time to start building it. At least build Seeker's Armguard if you are in need of some extra early game armour.


This item is extremely powerful on most mid laners. The active itself works very well with TF's burst damage but the only problem is getting near those champions to cast it anyway. In the middle of a teamfight, using that ability will allow your team to burst them down even faster than they would normally (especially against someone like Vayne). However it could also help if you are facing a hypertank than can cause a lot of damage like Darius or even on some occasions Wukong.


This item is what will push Wild Cards to do 600+ damage (disregarding magic resist) in one hit. The extra 30% AP makes this item your best final option to maximize its effectiveness. If you are doing well and you can finish your build with this before you even reach the enemies nexus you'll be tearing through any champion they have as long as you have either a tank like Darius or Garen or an active support like Leona, Thresh and Blitzcrank who can tie up single targets long enough for you to destroy them.

Destiny is as a whole one of my favourite ults in the game. For Twisted Fate it can mean the difference between life and death for a nearby ally. Or even your own. It can even be used to get past a tower to take out a low health champion.

Destiny in terms of an escape is very close. In a teamfight gone wrong you may have to use the fact that the other team is focusing on someone else to get yourself out. Or to wait in a bush, however, in this time you are very open. Sure you can move out to cancel it anytime. But you wouldn't survive if the team came after you. Especially when trying to escape from a Thresh or Blitzcrank. As a whole you want to be teleporting to somewhere like a bush in your jungle or a place with no enemy champions. Then you'll be too far away from any of them. However, this doesn't mean you're safe. Head back to base as soon as possible to regroup with your team. Or go to a lane with a large enemy creep wave to give yourself some free money.

Saving people.
Due to the speed of Destiny it is an extremely good ganking ability. Especially if you go straight into an un-warded bush. They'll never see you coming! Especially if you manage to come in when they're pushing your team mates against the tower. Giving the ADC time to turn around an get more kills. It is courteous to let the ADC get the kills if it's in their lane until the point where you are all roaming.

Tracking down the stragglers.
There's be times when an enemy champion will pull back behind the tower so that they can return to base. If you think they are low enough, teleport into a place you don't think they'd see, or even right next to them. A single Q will more often than not take them out, if not, get a gold card ready before you teleport. As soon as you come in (if you're close enough) you'll stun them and you can take them out.Once you do that though, make sure you get out of there as soon as possible as the enemy team won't be too far away!

Tips/tricks.
Make sure you put all your points into Destiny. It might seem better to put points into your Q for higher damage, but the lower cooldown and faster cast time could save your life.
Never teleport in place sight of an enemy champion unless they are extremely low! Twisted Fate thrives on dealing extremely high damage in the space of a few seconds. Which might not be enough to take out a full health champion. Especially someone like Darius.
Destiny can make TF an extremely good splitpusher. By pushing one lane with a team mate and then teleporting to another can cause the team to have to split itself up to try and take you out. Your other team mates can use this to take out one group, while you goad the rest into your team afterwards!
Do not EVER use Destiny when an enemy champion can see you (unless it's in a teamfight and they have other priorities). Because they probably will be able to hit you and cancel it which means a wasted teleport that could have saved your life.