When can you surrender in Teamfight Tactics?

When playing competitive, not every game goes the way we want. Whether it’s a sports rivalry or a match of Teamfight Tactics, there are no rules. Sometimes you just lose, and when you do, it’s better to simply surrender. 

There’s nothing to be ashamed of. In competitive games, surrendering often means saving time. That’s the case with TFT, where by giving up the game early, you may jump to the next one faster. Obviously, though, this doesn’t mean you should surrender in each of your games. But, if you want to do it essentially, it’s worth knowing when and how you can do it.

Can you surrender in TFT?

To put it short, yes. Surrendering isn’t a new mechanic in Riot Games titles, with League of Legends, VALORANT, and League of Legends: Wild Rift having it as well. In other competitive multiplayer games, specific things need to happen first. In Counter-Strike 2, for example, a player from your or the enemy team must leave the game before a surrender vote is allowed.

Luckily, there is no such requirement in TFT. There’s another one, though.

When can you surrender in TFT?

To give up on a match and surrender in TFT, 10 minutes must pass in the match first. So if you’re in an emergency situation right after the game began and need to leave, you won’t be able to before that 10 minute threshold is surpassed. Naturally, after this 10-minute mark is passed, you may surrender any time you want if you’re still competing.

How to surrender in TFT

There are two ways of surrendering in TFT. You can press Escape and find a gray button with “Surrender” written on it and simply click it. However, players have often reported this button to be bugged and not working properly, which wouldn’t be surprising, since we experienced this ourselves (though, don’t tell anyone we surrendered our games). 

In those cases, there is still the in-game’s chat to give you a hand. Simply open it and write “/ff” in it. This will make you surrender immediately as long as the 10-minute mark has been passed. 

Should you surrender your TFT games?

Now that we have the basics of surrendering in TFT out of our way, let’s dive into its philosophy. In the end, TFT is a game where your fate revolves mostly around your own decisions. You can’t have a teammate who’s trolling or dealing team damage, right? This in theory means each game and situation is salvageable.

But is that really true? We’re not certain. Surrendering early may save you some precious time, especially if you’re a casual gamer who only has a couple of hours weekly to enjoy TFT in your spare time. In those cases, if you feel like your game is doomed and a waste of time, hitting that Surrender button and jumping into the next match or calling it a day may be the best solution. 

Like with many things, though, there is the other side of the coin. Even if you’re destined to lose a TFT game due to a few bad calls and decisions, sometimes it’s best to stay in it until you meet your demise. In the end, giving up early and not experiencing defeats may make you lose valuable lessons, both in life and TFT. So perhaps it’s sometimes better to see where your in-game calls might lead so you can learn from them.

Last but not least, you should always keep in mind how complex TFT is as a game. Sometimes, late-game decisions about purchasing a new champion or completing a specific combination may turn the tables. We’ve had plenty of matches where we thought all is lost only to score a comeback in the second half. 

Should you just abandon your TFT games if you can’t yet surrender?

That is a question we often see asked, and the definitive answer is: no. That is, of course, if you don’t want to hurt your matchmaking. 

Abandoning or dodging matches in TFT will result in queue restrictions. They will forbid you from entering the queue for another match until the timer hits zero. This time penalty grows depending on how frequently you leave games, so don’t just abandon matches unless you want to ruin your TFT experience.