Elderwood Capstone
A greedy Fast 9 line (filed under fast8 — the schema has no faster label) that stabilizes briefly at level 8, then rolls at 9 for a board full of five-costs around an Elderwood core. It caps higher than anything else in this list but bleeds badly when the roll-down misses. Tier is C like all comps here: the set has no ranked data yet, so no rating can honestly claim more.
When to commit
Only with a genuinely strong opener or econ augments — you need the HP cushion and the gold curve. If you are below 60 HP entering stage 4, downgrade your ambitions to a normal level-8 board instead of forcing 9.
Endboard
★★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★★
★
Glowing ring = carry, border color = unit cost, stars = target star level.
Four tanks across the front because five-cost fights are attrition wars — Maokai center as the item tank, Taric beside him so his Emerald Aspect utility covers the clump, Amumu and Alistar closing the lanes. Ezreal center-back hits whatever the wall pins down; Draven takes the corner because he is the priority target and needs the longest possible walk to reach him. Ivern and Gnar float mid-board as flex pieces you reposition against divers each stage.
Active traits
Carries & items
Ezreal★★ target
AD carry
Ezreal is the mid-game carry who later shares the damage role with Draven. Deathblade and Striker's Flail scale his hits, Shojin accelerates his casts — and every piece transfers cleanly if you decide Draven should be the late-game item holder.
Draven★ target
AD carry
Draven's Bounty Seeker trait pays gold per kill, so the faster he executes, the richer you get: Guinsoo's ramps his attack speed, Kraken's Fury keeps adding damage, Deathblade makes each axe count. Even at one star he outputs like a carry.
Kennen★ target
Utility
Kennen slots in as a five-cost stat check. Thief's Gloves means he needs zero committed components — his job is board power and AoE presence, not itemized carrying.
Maokai★ target
Tank
Maokai's Old Growth trait makes him grow throughout the fight, and Warmog's feeds exactly that HP scaling. Vow and Evenshroud add team-wide value the moment he is focused. If Maokai is contested, move these onto Taric and make him the main tank.
Route to the board
Stage 2-1Level 4
Any strong opener works — this one leans on Inferno and Defender pairs. Level to 4 and fight for the streak; the whole plan is financed by early HP and gold.
Stage 3-2Level 6
Level to 6, keep playing the strongest board you can field, and bank everything else. You are not looking for a comp yet — you are buying time.
Stage 4-2Level 8
Reach 8 and stabilize with a small roll if you are bleeding — Ezreal takes the AD items now. Do not roll deep: gold kept here is what makes level 9 happen.
Stage 5-2Level 9
Level 9, then roll for the five-cost wall: Draven, Maokai, Kennen, Gnar, Ivern, Taric. Each one you hit replaces the weakest holdover. The board is done when five-costs outnumber everything else.