Vanguard Aphelios

The plan with Vanguard Aphelios is fast 8: preserve health where you can, reach level 8 early, and spend the roll-down on the key upgrades. 103,355 ranked games deep, the average sits at 4.64 — a Tier B showing for Set 18.

Zoom out and it is the 23rd-strongest of 53 tracked comps and, as 8th among 12 Tier-B comps, 0.03 behind the 4.61 midpoint of its tier. At a 6.41% pick rate — the median comp sees 0.5% — this is one of the lobby's popular lines, so scout before you commit.

Give your first completed items to Sentinel — Gargoyle Stoneplate, Protector's Vow, and Warmogs Armor shows up more than any other setup in the sample.

Trait-wise you are holding Vanguard 4 as the anchor of 8 active synergies, and Riftbeast (3) close behind. Mama Beak marks this comp out — only 2 other tracked comps field it. One synergy is still switched off: Invoker, at 1 unit, and a single Invoker Emblem is all it takes to bring the bonus online.

If the Armory or an augment offers one, Invoker Emblem is the emblem this board wants most; Lunar Emblem is the next-best hold. Run the emblem-first search for Invoker Emblem and this board appears at #11 of 20.