The Carousel Is Back in Set 18
Set 17 "Space Gods" did away with the shared-draft carousel, replacing it with the Realm of the Gods. Set 18 "Enchanted Wilds" brings the carousel back — and for emblem players that is one of the most consequential changes in the set, because it opens a supply channel that simply didn't exist last set.
A carousel round is a shared draft. Every player in the lobby walks into the same arena, champions circle the middle each holding an item, and you grab one by walking into it — champion and item together. Pick order is set by health: the players in the worst shape choose first, so being low is the one thing in TFT that reliably buys you priority.
The part that matters here: the items those champions carry can be emblems. That turns the carousel into a round where the specific emblem you want may simply be sitting on the board — visible, contested, and available to exactly one person.
How You Get Emblems in TFT Set 18
Set 18 gives you five channels:
- Crafting (most reliable): Combine a Spatula with a component to make an origin emblem, or a Golden Frying Pan with a component to make a class emblem. If you hold the right components, this is the only fully controllable emblem source. See our Emblem Crafting Guide for all sixteen recipes.
- The carousel: Emblems appear on carousel units. Powerful, but gated by your health relative to the lobby — a source you can influence, not control.
- Augments: Several augments grant an emblem outright, let you choose one, or convert gold into emblems. If you are offered one and it fits your direction, it is often a strong pick.
- The Armory: On certain rounds you select an item or emblem from a small offering. This lets you target a specific trait.
- PvE / loot drops: Creep rounds, orbs, and loot occasionally drop emblems, especially around augment stages.
Four emblems — Coven, Defender, Flora Fatalis, and Juggernaut — are non-craftable, so they can only reach you through the last four channels. Because you cannot build them on demand, you never plan for them; you react. React on the count and the data, not on the rarity.
Working the Carousel Round
The carousel is a round you can prepare for, and most players don't.
Decide before you walk in
You have a few seconds of hover time and seven other people moving at once. Know your answer in advance: what is the one item on that board you most want, and what is your fallback when someone takes it first? Deciding on the spot is how you end up walking into whatever is closest.
Health is priority, and priority has a price
Low health means an early pick. That is genuinely valuable when there's a specific emblem on the board you need — but it is not a reason to throw a round. Being low enough to pick first and low enough to die are uncomfortably close together. Take the priority you already have; don't buy it.
An emblem is not automatically the best item on the board
This is the mistake the round invites. A visible emblem feels like the prize, but a carousel pick is one item, and the correct one is whichever moves your board most. A completed component your carry needs to finish its second item often beats an emblem for a trait you run one of. Run the same threshold check you'd run anywhere else: does this emblem cross a line for me right now?
Read the unit, not just the item
You take the champion too. A carousel unit that fits your board is a real bonus; one that doesn't is a bench slot and a small amount of gold when you sell it. When two items are close in value, let the champion break the tie.
Watch who else needs it
The carousel is the one round where you see the whole lobby's intentions at once. If a rare emblem is on the board and two players ahead of you are visibly building that trait, plan around not getting it rather than being surprised.
The Slam-or-Hold Decision
When an emblem lands on your bench, run through four quick questions before committing:
1. Does it push a breakpoint you will keep?
An emblem is worth the most when it takes a trait you are already running to its next breakpoint — the power jump from hitting a threshold is far larger than a flat stat. An emblem that does not reach a new breakpoint is usually just an item slot.
2. Is it build-defining for your comp?
Some emblems are the piece a composition cannot exist without — the second trait a hybrid board needs, or the rung that makes a vertical's top tier reachable. But "build-defining" is a property of the comp, not of the emblem's rarity: a non-craftable Coven drop into a board with zero Coven units defines nothing, because Coven doesn't switch on until 3. A flex emblem on a comp that does not need it is low value — pass and stay flexible.
3. Do you have an alternate source?
If you can craft the emblem you need from components already on your bench, you do not have to spend a carousel pick or an augment choice on it. Save those choices for emblems you cannot make yourself — especially Coven, Defender, Flora Fatalis, and Juggernaut.
4. What is the opportunity cost?
Every emblem you commit to is an item slot and a tempo decision. Slamming an emblem that swings a top-4 is worth it; forcing one that only marginally helps can cost you the components for a real carry item.
Emblem Priority Tiers
A rough guide to which emblems are worth chasing when you have a choice. Always weigh these against your specific board — the right emblem is the one that pushes a breakpoint you are keeping.
Tier 1 — Take it almost every time
- Lunar, Hunter, Invoker, Rapidfire, Executioner — their thresholds sit one unit apart, so nearly every board that can use them crosses a real breakpoint rather than just gaining progress
Tier 2 — Strong when your count is odd
- Brawler, Blackthorn, Vanguard, Ravager, Spellweaver — 2/4/6 ladders, so they cross a threshold from a count of 1, 3, or 5 and contribute their component stat otherwise
- Defender, Juggernaut — same 2/4/6 shape, but non-craftable and with no component stat riding along, so an even count really is a miss
- Inferno — its 2 and 3 thresholds are a single unit apart, which makes early Inferno grabs land easily
Tier 3 — Fine when you are already committed
- Fae, Primal — only two tiers exist, so check your count before you spend a pick on one
- Coven — excellent from 2 or more Coven units, worthless from zero. Its 3-unit entry makes it the most situational rare emblem in the set
- Sprykin — first threshold at 3, so very few boards sit one unit away
Tier 4 — Check the page before you chase
- Blossom, Elderwood — 3/5/7/9/11 ladders. Real payoffs at the top, but only for a board already deep in the vertical with the slots to climb
- Flora Fatalis — non-craftable, and its 1-unit activation means any board that can run the trait already has it on. The rarity is real; the unlock usually isn't.
When to Slam vs. When to Hold
- Slam early when the emblem completes a breakpoint you are confident you will keep all game.
- Hold on the bench until around Stage 4 if your board direction is not locked yet — there is no rush to commit an emblem before you know your final comp.
- Place it on the right unit: put emblems on dual-trait units that already fit your board so they become a pure plus-one. Avoid your main carry — save its item slots for damage.
Common Mistakes
- Chasing an emblem that does not push a breakpoint. "It is an emblem" is not a reason — value comes from thresholds.
- Wearing the emblem on your main carry. That burns an item slot your carry needs for damage; use a flex holder instead.
- Forcing a contested non-craftable vertical. If the lobby is fighting over the same units, a single emblem will not carry a vertical you cannot field.
- Spending your carousel priority on an emblem you could have crafted. If the components are already on your bench, take the item you can't make instead.
Using EmblemComp.gg to Decide
When an emblem drops, you have seconds to decide. Click the emblem on our home page and you instantly get the current meta comps ranked by how much that emblem actually helps — with the comps that hit a new breakpoint flagged. It turns a guess into a data-backed decision.
Summary
Emblem decisions are one of the highest-leverage skills in TFT Set 18. Get them right by:
- Knowing your sources — crafting, the carousel, augments, the Armory, and loot
- Planning the carousel round before you enter it — pick a target and a fallback, and don't treat a visible emblem as automatically the best item on the board
- Prioritizing breakpoints — value comes from hitting the next threshold, so count the trait on your board first
- Chasing emblems with a ranked home — check the emblem's page rather than assuming a rare drop is a strong one
- Holding when unsure — wait until your board is locked before committing
- Letting the data decide — use EmblemComp.gg to rank comps for the emblem you have
Riot documents mechanic changes like the carousel's return in its official game updates — worth a read when a new set changes how emblems reach your board.