TFT CODEX

Blackthorn Malphite & Ezreal

Also called Malphite Ezreal Fast 8 · Blackthorn Fast 8

Fast 8Carried by Malphite & EzrealA Teamfight Tactics Set 18 comp, measured on patch 18.5 ranked games.

Difficulty Easy None of the difficulty signals we could measure apply (3 of 4 measured)

Updated 21 Oct 2026, 06:18 UTC · ranked games, last 7 days, Diamond+ · Patch 18.5

Too few games to grade in Diamond+: 90 in the last 7 days, and its numbers start at 400. All ranks shows what we measured.

Which version?

15 comps play Blackthorn around Malphite; the biggest four and this one are compared here. They share the two below; the units only one of them plays tell you which one you are on.

All of these play
AzirMalphite
You are here
No tier yetBlackthorn Malphite & Ezreal
— avg— top 490 gamesFast 8
Carried by Malphite & Ezreal
Only this one plays
AlistarEzrealor Ornn
10 smaller versions

Ranked games, last 7 days, Diamond+. A dashed portrait is a flex slot: many of its games play another unit there.

No tier yet fewer than 400 games this week   Not graded played too rarely to grade

When

  • #4.25 with one other32% of games
  • #4.22 with two or more55% of games

Others on Malphite or Ezreal in the lobby, over 246 games of this patch at all ranks.

Level plan

  1. Stage 2 Lv 4 plan
  2. Stage 3 Lv 6 plan
  3. Stage 5 Lv 8.3 measured
  4. Stage 6 Lv 8.8 measured

Its games end at Lv 8 46% · Lv 9 46% · Lv 10 7%

Carries

Malphite 3★ on 1% of boards

Gargoyle StoneplateWarmog's ArmorSpirit Visage Gargoyle Stoneplate, Warmog's Armor, Spirit Visage

Ezreal 3★ on 0% of boards

Spear of ShojinLast WhisperDeathblade Spear of Shojin, Last Whisper, Deathblade

Malphite

Game plan

How it’s played
Fast 8 Players of this comp who go out in stage 6 are level 8.8 on average.
Roll
Level 8 around 4-2: about 22 rolls (44 gold) to 2-star Malphite; about 33 if three copies of each are on other boards. model
Contested?
Others holding Malphite / Ezreal: 1 other: #4.25 · 2+ others: #4.22
Pace
Level when its players go out — stage 5: 8.3 · stage 6: 8.8
Games end
Lv 8 46% · Lv 9 46% · Lv 10 7%
Vs its level
Finishes at level 8.6 on average. Boards at its levels average 4.14 across every comp; this one averages 4.43, 0.29 worse. Level is partly how a game went and partly the plan, so this is context, not a grade.

Open in Builder

Final board

The whole board at level 9, where most of its games end, drawn from its games at all ranks over the last 14 days. A dashed slot is one its games fill differently; an open one, no unit holds on a quarter of them.

The Night Arena: an obsidian TFT board lit in gold
★★
★★
★★
★★
★★★
★★

Positions are our rule, by attack range: melee in front, ranged behind, the most-itemed carries in the back corners. Riot's match data has none. Dashed level buttons are planned, the rest measured.

4Ezreal★★
  • Spear of Shojin
  • Last Whisper
  • Deathblade
carry
4Malphite★★
  • Gargoyle Stoneplate
  • Warmog's Armor
  • Spirit Visage
carry
3Azir★★
  • Guinsoo's Rageblade
  • Hextech Gunblade
  • Void Staff
2Alistar★★
1Rek'Sai★★
1Veigar★★★
5Kennenflex
4Sorakaflex
1Ornnflex

Paste it into the game’s Team Planner to have these champions marked in your shop.

Stage by stage

What to do at each stage, from the numbers below: stages 2 and 3 are our plan, 4 to 6 the level its players were measured at.

Stage 2 Level 4 plan

Play Rek'Sai, Veigar, Yunara and Azir.

Malphite's items go on Rek'Sai until Malphite comes in at level 8.

Ezreal's items go on Yunara until Ezreal comes in at level 7.

Stage 3 Level 6 plan

Add Ornn and Alistar.

Stage 5 Level 8 measured

Its players average 8.3 when they go out in stage 5.

Add Ezreal and Malphite; sell Yunara.

3★ targets: Veigar 34% · Rek'Sai 31% · Ornn 28%

46% of its games end at level 8.

Stage 6 Level 9 measured

Its players average 8.8 when they go out in stage 6.

Add Soraka.

46% of its games end at level 9.

Its games end around round 5-7 on average, with 9 gold left.

How it’s played

The board at every level from 4, with what each level adds and sells. From level 8 up it is measured over 244 games at all ranks over the last 14 days; below that it is planned.

72%846%946%107%
Lv 4planRek'SaiVeigarYunaraAzir32Ezreal’s items on YunaraMalphite’s items on Rek'Sai
Lv 5planRek'SaiVeigarAlistarYunaraAzirAddedAlistar322Ezreal’s items on YunaraMalphite’s items on Alistar
Lv 6planOrnnRek'SaiVeigarAlistarYunaraAzirAddedOrnn322Ezreal’s items on YunaraMalphite’s items on Alistar
Lv 7planOrnnRek'SaiVeigarAlistarAzirEzrealYunaraAddedEzreal3332Malphite’s items on Alistar
Lv 846%EzrealMalphiteAzirAlistarOrnnRek'SaiVeigarSorakaAddedMalphiteSorakaSoldYunara143321
Lv 946%EzrealMalphiteSorakaAzirAlistarOrnnRek'SaiVeigarKennenAddedKennen414321

3★ targets Veigar34% Rek'Sai31% Ornn28%

How these rows are made

Level 8 and up are the boards this comp’s games ended on. Riot’s match data keeps only that last board, so the levels below are planned by one rule from this comp’s own units and traits and Riot’s shop odds, and marked plan — how the rule works. Hover a trait badge for what it does.

Contested?

How this comp placed by how many of the other seven players in the lobby held Malphite or Ezreal, over 246 games of this patch at all ranks. We keep all eight boards of every game, so this is measured, not guessed; part of the gap is the lobby itself, so read it as how it placed, not only why.

Others holding itAvg PlaceShare of games
1 other player#4.2532%
2 or more#4.2255%

Questions

What people search for about this comp, answered from the numbers on this page.

How do you play Blackthorn Malphite & Ezreal in TFT Set 18?

Fast 8. Players of this comp who go out in stage 6 are level 8.8 on average. Its games end most often at level 9 (46%).

What items does Malphite need?

On its final board Malphite holds Gargoyle Stoneplate, Warmog's Armor and Spirit Visage.

Is Blackthorn Malphite & Ezreal good in patch 18.5?

Not graded yet: 118 games at all ranks in the last 7 days, and a grade needs 400. Its average place over them is #4.31.

Is Blackthorn Malphite & Ezreal contested?

Contest costs it little: with one other #4.25 (32% of games), with two or more #4.22 (55%), over 246 games of this patch at all ranks.

Items

The three items this comp’s carry was measured holding most often, the placement of the boards it held them on, and the difference against the comp’s own average. Every board of the family at all ranks over the last 14 days.

ChampionItemAvg Placevs compGames
MalphiteGargoyle Stoneplate#4.22-0.09206
MalphiteWarmog's Armor#4.41+0.1071
MalphiteSpirit Visage#4.64+0.3344

Variations

Other boards this comp ends on, over the last 14 days. Each row is a version’s usual final board and what it plays instead of this comp’s own board at that level.

Lv 9LuxEzrealMalphiteSorakaAzirAlistarOrnnRek'SaiVeigar4.26avg place105 gamesPlaysLuxInstead ofKennen

Augments that fit

What each augment grants, set against what this comp measured: the same rule the overlay uses when it reads the three on offer. A measured line is the comp’s own placement at a trait level; a line by rule is a fact about the comp, such as the damage its carry is built for.

MeasuredThe comp’s own placement at a trait’s levels, beside the augments that give the trait.

#3.60

Blackthorn 6: averages 3.60 here, against 4.41 at Blackthorn 4 (223 boards)

AP carry

By ruleSuits this carry: Malphite is built for ability power here (182 boards)

Baron's LairCoronationDeadlier CapsHold the LineSoul AwakeningDark RitualDouble TroubleEarly LearningsEmbiggenNO SCOUT NO PIVOTSeraphim's StaffTons of Stats!
1 moreStand United
Works against it: Wrong damage type (3)

By ruleWrong damage type: Malphite is built for ability power here (182 boards)

Deadlier BladesCybernetic ImplantsFocused Fire

Riot’s match-v1 data does not report which augments a player took, so no augment has a number of its own on this page or anywhere else on the site. The augment reference lists what each one grants.

More about this comp

At the top of the ladder

The newest boards of this comp from the players on our leaderboard, best placed first. A name opens that player’s games, board and items included.

  1. #1MJS Leofloresdc#ChembChallenger · LAS · 1,812 LP · level 10 · 2026-10-09

Traits

Active on the final board above, with the next breakpoint the trait offers.

Executioner4Monolith1Blackthorn4next 6Elderwood3next 5Brawler2next 4Flora Fatalis1next 2

What each tier of this comp’s own traits was worth on its boards. The small number under each average is how many boards sat at that tier.

TraitPlacement at each tier
Blackthorn44.4112663.6097

By bracket

Diamond, Master, Grandmaster and Challenger against the whole sample. Each board carries the tier of its own player where the sampler held it.

BracketGamesAvg PlaceTop 4 %Win %
Diamond+90#4.4344.4%11.1%
All ranks118#4.3149.1%15.2%

Trend

Avg Place on each of the last 7 days. The bars are scaled to the range shown, so the shape is the comparison and the figure under each bar is the day.

Also played

Families sharing at least 4 core units with this one — the same board taken a different way.